Yeah, we’re definitely into this. “I Saw You”, from deep in the dark woods of Washington state hailing Beach Vacation, is about as strong a reverb-washed jangle pop track as there is. The melodic quality both vocally and in the guitar lines suggest a band who’s talent far eclipses their profile at this juncture; something we don’t expect to last too much longer. Listen to Beach Vacation!
Beach Vacation 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
Nashville via Arizona duo Brotherun (the pair are actual real life brothers) release new single “The Dissonance Between Us”. Previewed from Brotherun’s debut s/t EP due later this summer, the dark pop of “The Dissonance Between Us” marks a maturation for the Tillery Brothers as writers and arrangers. Neat and inventive bits of layering in the rhythm tracks and in the song’s flourishes of synth do well to complement the pacing and phrasing of “Dissonance”s excellent swath of emotively precise melodies. Check the b3 premiere of Brotherun’s “The Dissonance Between Us” below.
Brotherun 
(Official)
Rating 8.3
UK trio F.U.R.S. release second single “Just Kids”. The track (& band), another great find for Loose Lips Records (Chad Valley, Mausi, Night Works), tick all the anthemic UK indie rock boxes (rather amazingly actually) incredibly accurately & well. Every bit of the modern rock song formula is represented here and executed quite flawlessly; a huge singable chorus, a rumbling hooky bass & drums, a neatly melodic but still neatly lo-fi vocal, etc.
F.U.R.S. 
(Official)
Rating 8.4
PAPA continue their crushing of the indie rock and roll game on the reg w/ latest track “Young Rut”. Previewed from the band’s debut LP due in the Fall, “Young Rut” is an excellent further realization of the PAPA sound; soulful rock tinged with enough “modernness” and “relevance” to make accessible good feeling music to even the coldest of cold indie music critics & dudes.
PAPA 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.5
Yesssss. Body Language make their much-awaited return to B3SCI with the summer in the city bounce of “Well Absolutely”. The first single from BL’s upcoming Grammar LP due out in September, “Well Absolutely” is floor to frame loaded with hooks; hook after hook after hook (It’s like aw shit, that verse was great, and damn @ that prechorus, and then the chorus pushes the track into some previously unrealised 6th or 7th gear or something and then forget it, it’s all toe taps and hip shakes from there on out.) Get into “Well Absolutely” now before everybody on yr block is bumping out their boombox below.
Body Language 
(Facebook(/a>)
Rating 8.2
Bloc Party have announced another indefinite hiatus, to begin following their summer tour dates. Before they leave us, they will add a new EP Nextwave Sessions to the party. The first single is “Rachet”, which brings to mind the offbeat rhythms we heard on their Silent Alarm debut. They are planning six different festivals this month. By Bruce Rave
Bloc Party 
(Official)
* Links and playlists from Rave’s weekly new music show can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
Here’s my full chat with the English rock band Tribes, recorded during my recent visit to Brighton, UK’s The Great Escape Festival (full coverage here). Tribes had a high-profile gig while at The Great Escape, which was two days prior to the late May UK release of their second album Wish to Scream. Expectations were high for the band following their top ten debut album Baby, and this new release is another fine album. Together we talked about the evolution of the band, some specific tracks on Wish to Scream, and also their experience recording the album at the legendary Sound City studios in L.A. Yes, the place that Dave Grohl’s recent documentary was about. We lamented the fickleness of the British press and hit on other relevant topics as well. Have a listen to our conversation below. By Bruce Rave
* Links and playlists from Rave’s weekly new music show can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
“Be All Be Easy” goes down easy with an always classic makeup of soothing harmony and folk rock roots music. The NY collective Woods will release the song as a new single on July 9 and be sure to catch them on tour throughout this summer and fall. Sample “Be All Be Easy” below along with a B-side cover of “God’s Children” from The Kinks.
Tour Dates
Fri-Jul-12 Hudson, NY – Half Moon
Sat-Jul-13 Boston, MA TT – The Bears *
Sun-Jul-14 Portland, ME – Space 538 *
Mon-Jul-15 Burlington, VT – Signal Kitchen *
Tue-Jul-16 Montreal, QC – Il Motore *
Wed-Jul-17 Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern *
Thu-Jul-18 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
Fri-Jul-19 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
Mon-Jul-22 Louisville, KY – Zanzabar *
Tue-Jul-23 Charlottesville, VA – Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar *
Wed-Jul-24 Philadelphia, PA – Morgan’s Pier *
Thu-Jul-25 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *
Sat-Jul-27 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom #
Thu-Aug-01 Berlin – Berghain Kantine
Fri-Aug-02 Katowice – Off Festival
Sat-Aug-03 Vienna – Flex
Sun-Aug-04 Nürnberg – Folk im Park
Mon-Aug-05 Hamburg – Aalhaus
Tue-Aug-06 Köln – King Georg
Wed-Aug-07 Sibenik – Terraneo Festival
Sat-Aug-10 Helsinki – Flow Festival
Sun-Aug-11 Amsterdam – MC Theater
Wed-Aug-14 Luxembourg – Exit07
Thu-Aug-15 Paris – Plage de Glazart
Fri-Aug-16 St. Malo – La Route du Rock
Sun-Aug-18 Powys – Greenman Festival
Mon-Aug-19 London – Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
Mon-Sep-16 Vancouver, BC – Electric Owl %
Tue-Sep-17 Seattle, WA – Barboza %
Wed-Sep-18 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios %
Fri-Sep-20 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel %
Sun-Sep-22 Big Sur, CA – Woodsist Festival @ Henry Miller Memorial Library
Wed-Sep-25 San Luis Obispo, CA – SLO Brew %
Thu-Sep-26 San Diego, CA – Casbah %
Fri-Sep-27 Los Angeles, CA – Center for the Arts Eagle Rock %
Sat-Sep-28 Pioneertown, CA – Woodsist Festival @ Pappy and Harriet’s %#
* = w/ Parquet Courts
# = w/ Alex Bleeker and the Freaks
% = w/ The Fresh & Onlys
Woods (Official)
Rating 8.3
Smooth Hound Smith, the male/female duo out of Venice, CA, ably connect the roots of rock and soul to the more modern palette with their just released debut self-titled LP. A favorite of ours (of many) from the album is the stomping, compact, blues-in-motion sound of “Get Low”. You can stream stream Smooth Hound Smith in its entirety on bandcamp.
Smooth Hound Smith (Facebook)
Rating 8.5
Major Major Major a new rock and roll duo out of Austin score major B3 points with the 60’s pop-informed crunch of awesome debut single “Scream Queen”. Get into Major Major Major before all yr friends (inevitably) do RIGHT NOW.
Major Major Major 
(Bandcamp)
Rating 8.3
Ooh yeah, we likey. The well-worn genre of “dark brooding post-punk” comes and goes (as all genres in the larger rotation of the literati do) among the turnstile consciousness of the indie literati. July 2013, scene: The United States, neither the time or place are particularly friendly (at least broadly) to post-punk and the genre’s charms. It’s awesome to find a band that in addition to playing great music in the face of its current trends; but the the fact that Swedish band (where post-punk is still alive and well apparently) Holograms do it so well and so convincingly is something truly worthy of admiration (& a spot on B3). “Meditations” is single #2 from Holograms sophomore Forever LP.
Holograms 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
“Irene” is the lead single from Autumn Tone (Aquarium Drunkard) teenagers Twin Peaks. Excerpted from the Chicago band’s upcoming Sunken debut, “Irene” walks the well-done-to-get-there line between a song poppy enough that the melodies are sing-a-long-able while still being laced with enough rock history (most definitely The Velvet Underground) and interesting instrumentation and arrangement (we like how the lead vocals are a little bit mixed back) to flatter the tastemaker sensibility. Sunken is due July 9th.
Twin Peaks 
(soundcloud)
Rating 8.1
