By Jon Herriot
When LA duo Capital Cities puts out new music, I have come to expect huge Electro-Rock tracks. This song shows a softer side of their music which works surprisingly well for them. Without the booming beats they have to rely a bit more on songwriting and vocals here, but us at b3Sci are feeling it nonetheless. This one comes off their recently released “Safe and Sound” EP.
Capital Cities 
(Facebook)
Rating 7.9
L.A.-based trio Wildcat! Wildcat! put on for the quiche loving set (W! W! tweet at us and we can talk quiche recipes) with it’s 8-o’clock-in-the-bedroom jam “Mr. Quiche”. Like on a tune for tune basis, this is one of the better pop melodies we’ve heard so far this year. So yr probably not going to want to miss out on “Mr. Quiche” now, before you hear it covered by Adam Levine on “The Voice” next week.
Wildcat! Wildcat! – Mr. QuicheWildcat! Wildcat! (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.5
The Knocks absolutely smash this cover of M83’s big “Midnight City” track from last year. Grabbing popstress Mandy Lee (who sounds uncannily like Deadmau5 collaborator Greta Svabo Bech), the NYC duo put a spotless pop/electro shine on the M83 jam. Easily the song of the week.
The Knocks – Midnight City (Feat. Mandy Lee) (M83)The Knocks 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.8
We’ve got an exclusive(!) preview of evergreen pop duo Josh and Mer’s “So It Goes”. The Portland-based artists will be releasing their debut LP Planet Music next week on V-Day 2012. Check it out below!
Josh and Mer – So it GoesJosh and Mer 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.1
Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” is one of best pop songs of all time. Heavy is the song that wears a crown like that, as it’s often that the most iconic of songs are the most often targets of (really bad) covers. Active Child cut this version of “Sweet Dreams” while in Australia this week and while it’s maybe not our favorite all time version of the track, AC’s go does stand well enough on its own to merit a spin.
Active Child – Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)Active Child (Facebook)
Rating 7.8
By Jon Herriot
Remember when “Freedom Fries” started popping up on diner menus across America? That was funny. The fact that this duo consists of a girl from Paris and a guy from NY, brings an irony into their band name which is just great. Enough about that. Marie Seyrat’s vocals are right on the money, the way Bruce Driscoll shadows her is also very nice. All around a very smooth, catchy, pop sound.
Freedom Fry – EarthquakeFreedom Fry (Facebook)
Rating 7.9
Freddy Woods is a young Swede to hone-in on for a minute. Tracks like “Not Today” and “Slow Down”, highlights from Woods’ What She Writes In Her Diary release, bring progressive elements of pop, electronic and hip hop production together with clarity.
Freddy Woods – Not Today Freddy Woods – Slow DownFreddy Woods 
(Bandcamp)
Rating 8.4
By Jon Herriot
Of Monsters and Men have nailed down a super catchy folkie-pop sound with “Little Talks”. The vocal banter in the song recalls Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros or even The White Stripes. I would be amiss if I didn’t also mention how great the brass section sounds in this song. Just a pleasant track with feel good vibes…
Of Monsters and Men – Little TalksOf Monsters and Men 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.2
THREE B3SCI FAVS ON ONE TRACK! The stars do really align, as the homie B.Lewis dials Shadow and Yukimi’s “Scale It Back” into the stratosphere. Starting the mix with just an a capella Yukimi vocal (listen to Yukimi just shred that melody), the track then builds into an uplifting power jam, complete with spacey electronics and scaled up chords.
DJ Shadow – Scale It Back (Feat. Yukimi Nagano) (B.Lewis Remix)B.Lewis (Facebook)
Rating 8.7
Cults take on Commander Cohen’s latter day jam “Everybody Knows” for an upcoming cover LP Old Ideas With New Friends. The set also includes tracks from Bradford Cox and Cold War Kids. Cults choice to put an almost “Runaway” feel under the track (a cold rumbling guitar supporting one-the-ones single note piano stabs) ably maintains the original’s isolation and coolness while keeping Uncle Len’s tune up to date. Thumbs up.
Cults – Everbody Knows (Leonard Cohen)Cults (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
French chanteuse SoKo returns with a new single and new video for “First Love Never Die”. It’s charming, it’s whimsical, it sounds of a Sunday afternoon in France but it’s also sincere and, dare we say, even moving? Try not listening to that “Four years and I still cry sometimes” line without at least a tiny lump forming in your throat; a charming, whimsical, adorable lump – but a lump all the same.
SoKo – First Love Never DieSoKo 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.0
This one right here is bananas. Chiddy Bang beatman Xaphoon Jones, goes 110% in on St. Lucia’s already awesome “We Got It Wrong” single. Using syncopated handclaps and a two-step shuffle Xaphoon takes “We Got It Wrong” next level. Expect this mix all over your favorite blogs the next couple days. Xaphoon, we got ourselves a burner.
St. Lucia – We Got It Wrong (Xaphoon Jones Remix)Xaphoon Jones 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.5
