“The Falls” off Racing Glaciers’ new EP, Ahead Of You Forever, keeps with the groups’ paradigm of creating layered music that builds into a cascade of sound, yet it is a more danceable departure from their previous EP. With uptempo percussion, guitars and bass, rounded out with horns and keys, “The Falls” is a full track that will make your ear hairs happy to be moving. Reviewed By Desiree Autobee
Racing Glaciers 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Nick Thorburn’s band Islands are celebrating their ninth anniversary this month. Bruce Rave enjoyed a chat with Nick at the Troubadour prior to their fine LA show last month. They of course chatted about the new album, band mortality, and Islands’ decision to go DIY. Nick’s actor friend Michael Cera produced a Spinal Tap-flavored Islands rockumentary that you can see below. Bill Hader, formerly of SNL, perfectly plays the role of Island’s ‘fictitious manager’. Enjoy the interview, then check out the video. You’ll probably see characters who remind you of people you know. Side note on the interview: the very beginning of the recording got cut off. Nick has lived in various cities and was in Montreal when Arcade Fire were first coming up. I asked whether that time in Montreal was his most formative musically and he replied that it was actually high school that really set him in motion. That’s where we join the chat.. By Bruce Rave
Islands 
(Facebook)
Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
If you fancy seeing a new band that aces a modern version of early Stones meets The Yardbirds meets soul, you can put this in the bank: You will love The Strypes live. These Irish kids are in their mid-teens, they’ve played hundreds of shows around the UK and Europe, and their “Snapshot” album went top ten in England. The time has finally come for them to invade America. The Strypes will surely have a high profile at SXSW, and they recently flew over for a handful of major market shows in addition to their winning US TV debut on Conan O’Brien.
The Troubadour in LA show was star-studded on January 28. Elton John, whose management company handles The Strypes, was perched in the VIP balcony. Members of Muse, Blondie, and many other bands were on hand to see this band getting some much deserved attention in the States. I’d seen The Strypes and interviewed them last May at The Great Escape in Brighton, England so I knew what I was in for. The young lads more than delivered, playing over an hour. Like their album, there were lots of cover songs and there was only one song that wasn’t blazingly fast. This band is letter tight and, if anything, they might have actually played a bit too fast. Chalk that up to LA adrenaline.
The Strypes even dressed smart with suits with open shirts and they really locked in to a perfect groove with about five songs remaining. They band especially hit their stride during a covers medley of “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” into “Si Si Rider”. Their “Blue Collar Jane” EP is out now with the album “Snapshot” dropping stateside in mid-march. Beyond their youthful intensity, this is a supremely talented band. See this band live! Reviewed by Bruce Rave
The Strypes 
(Facebook)
Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
Fé s recent run of strong singles continues forward with the excellently atmospheric “Turn Your Light On”. On the track, the London-based band ably combine their penchant for singable souful melody and big mood-inhabiting spaces. (The way “Turn Your Light On”‘s tune abides within the track’s captivating groove is particularly special). “Turn Your Light On” is part of a AA-side release coming March 24th on Generator.
Fe (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Leeds UK trio White Royal debut the impressive indie balladry of “False Widow”. Perfectly paced and contained in a well-sculpted atmosphere of dreamy tones and subtle nods to R&B, the quality of “False Widow” is indicative of a new band w/ their arrow firmly pointed up.
White Royal (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
It was 2005 when Hard-Fi released their successful Stars of CCTV album, featuring songs such as “Cash Machine”, “Tied Up Too Hight”, and “Hard to Beat”. The UK band will soon release a new “best of” compilation. One fresh track will be added to the compilation, and it’s their best song since their debut offering. Hard-Fi typically makes music that resonates well for working class people. “Move Over” is almost like a message to the government about income inequality prevailing while white collar crooks avoid penalty. The groove is smooth, dark, jazzy, and retro. Singer Richard Archer sounds a bit like The Clash’s Joe Strummer on the verses, and it’s a song The Clash could have probably come up with themselves. Hard-Fi are currently working on their fourth studio album. Reviewed by Bruce Rave
Hard-Fi – Move OverHard-Fi 
(Official)
Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
YES! We need more noisy, loud, melodic rock and roll in 2014. Broken Hands, out of Canterbury UK, channel the groove-driven distorted guitar drama of early Verve on new demo “My Orbit Changes Everyday”. The band, who headline The Miller in London next Tuesday and Wednesday (11th & 12th) will also be in the U.S. for SXSW in March (F yes).
Broken Hands (Official)
Rating: 8.8
London newcomers Sons & Lovers are hitting the road for the first-ever Satellite Tour with Eliza & The Bear and Fred Page. Having already shared stages with the likes of Ellie Goulding and Naked & Famous, the band is celebrating this tour with the release of a new video for their track “The Only One”. What makes “The Only One” particularly special is that the song was actually written around the video. As S&L frontman Tom puts it, “This is something we made with our friend Pip – a ridiculously talented photographer/director. We wanted to think of a story, film it, then write the track after the video was finished. Putting music to a video rather than the other way around was a cool and new fun thing for us.”
Have a first look at the cinematic “The Only One” from Sons & Lovers below.
Sons & Lovers (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating 8.4
Madness – pure utter, beautiful madness has occurred in the hot bed of the music world. The Echo recently hosted a Red Bull backed “Sound Select” concert featuring Mac DeMarco, Puro Instinct and Avid Dancer this past Wednesday, and I was lucky enough to even get in (the line ended up past the local dinner Brite Spot — ‘record breaking’ according to Echo staff members).
Starting the evening to the anxious crowd was Jacob Summers, aka Avid Dancer. Fairly new on the LA scene, Avid Dancer has impressed us here at team B3SCI since his early performances at the Bootleg. His first single “Stop Playing With My Heart” was released via 7″ on Hit City U.S.A. and was the crowd winner, as the already very packed Echo was grooving to the pysch-pop sound. It was the perfect opening set for the madness about to occur. Side note – Overheard in the crowd was a female who would not stop professing how much singer Jacob Summers looked/sounded like Morrissey.
Puro Instinct hit the stage next and given that their sound seemed more geared for Mac DeMarco’s set, it sounded it bit off. The production was there, but the hazy vocals, downtempo pysch feel had the crowd finding other things to occupy their time before Mac.
Once Puro Instinct took down and Mac’s team started setting up, the crowd got a bit more intense, pushing forward. The Montreal-based, wizard of things weird knew the packed house, and all of those fans waiting outside, were there for a fun time, and DeMarco had the set list to provide nothing less. The uproarious crowd became enamoured by the energy Mac and his crew brought to the stage as their brand of indie-pysch rock took over. Highlights of the show were “Ode ToViceroy”, “Freaking Out The Neighborhood”, as well as an attention-starved fan who would not stop trying to stage-dive and the crowd continually stopping her from doing it, with the band even chiming in to commenting about it. Other highlights of the night were all the other crowd surfers in the tiny Echo space, security trying to contain people, Mac shredding through “Annie”, “Robson Girl”, “Rock & Roll Nightclub” and “Still Together”. Like how I started this article, this Wednesday night in late January was pure utter, beautiful madness.
Review by Brian Litwin
Photos by Erik Voake/Red Bull Content Pool
Mac DeMarco 
(Facebook)
