Leave it to an Aussie band to truly appreciate a name like Cadillac. Leave it to a track like “Dreams” to be on repeat all day. If this song doesn’t get your dance party started, then face it your dance party will likely be a disaster.
Cadillac – DreamsCadillac 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.2
Multi-instrumentalist Jeff Widner and singer Steve Ortega team up on HP EP, the debut EP from Happy People. There’s a lot of acts which try to sound like these guys but with only a fraction of the same success. ‘Apt’ sounds like wall-of-sound Feist or stripped-down Broken Social Scene, depending on how you look at it. Fans of fellow Jerseyites The Wrens will find much to love here, including a similarly eclectic range on the rest of the EP. Contributed by Christopher Gedos
Happy People – AptHappy People 
(Soundcloud)
Rating: 8.2
London producer Chemo loosens a hinge or two from the vault on his forthcoming The Stomach Of The Mountain LP. Jareth’s vocal adds a perfect layer to the cinematic “Cause and the Cure”, and finds the pocket better than anything else I’ve listened to this week.
Chemo – The Cause and the Cure (Feat. Jareth)Chemo 
(Official) (The Stomach Of The Mountain) (Preorder)
Rating: 8.7
Pet Scenes continue to piss people off everywhere with the release of their forthcoming EP, Idle Children. Fav track “Melt” evokes the sort of madness/mayhem that other bands can only have wet dreams about.
Pet Scenes – MeltPet Scenes (Info) (Soundcloud)
Rating: 8.2
Works of great critical acclaim often suffer from a backlash against their popularity, not through any fault of the creative enterprise but rather the whims and caprices of the general public. For example, we’ve become sick of hearing that The Beatles released five of arguably the top ten albums of all time (Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s, White Album, Abbey Road), or that Dylan released three of the top twenty over a period of less than eighteen months (Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61, Blonde on Blonde). Especially with the proliferation of information, hearsay via the opinions of others provides a sustainable mode of expression. Why restate the opinion of 1,000 others to change an adjective or preposition?
Lovers of “alternative rock music” are understandably sick of hearing about In the Aeroplane over the Sea, which has been lauded unconditionally for as long as there’s been rock journalism on the internet. We’ve grown to take the combo of feedback and irony for granted, but Jeff Magnum is one of the best exporters of the style, on full display during all 39 minutes of his 1998 magnum opus. Become best friends with that tortured writer across the hall if you live in Boston and they have tickets to Magnum’s concert at Jordan Hall on Sept. 10th. Tracks 1-4 of In the Aeroplane are sublime, but the rest of the album is the glue which gives the LP its infinite replay value. Contributed by Christopher Gedos – Chris performs tonight @ The Comedy Store in Hollywood, CA. 7pm.
Neutral Milk Hotel – Holland, 1945 Neutral Milk Hotel – The Two Headed Boy Pt. 2 Neutral Milk Hotel – UntitledNeutral Milk Hotel 
(Official)
Rating: 9.7
The anthemic “Stay Gold” will be the lead single from Future This, Big Pink’s upcoming follow up to the massively successful A Brief History of Love.
The Big Pink – Stay GoldThe Big Pink (Facebook)
Rating 8.1
A little something beautiful from Louisville band The Deloreans. The epic “Dandelion”, complete with picked uke, cinematic string pads, and a great 3/4 step, is gorgeous and will have you in love immediately. Jawdropper.
The Deloreans – DandelionThe Deloreans 
(Facebook)
Rating: 8.0
Check out this video from MTV’s 120 Minutes of lo-fi prodigy Dean Wareham and his band Luna playing “California (All The Way)” from the 1994 album, Bewitched. The show, which ran from 1986 until 2000 on MTV and until 2003 on MTV2, has been recently revived with Matt Pinfield as its host. Indie’s current preponderance on late night TV is nothing short of phenomenal given its marginal status even ten years ago. We simply wouldn’t have Fleet Foxes playing SNL if it weren’t for Dean Wareham fighting the good fight 20 years ago. Luna never really escaped from the shadow of Galaxie 500, Wareham’s previous band, but “California (All The Way)” is one of the sweetest songs in all of nerd rock. “And now I realize I’m livin’ like a trucker does, although I haven’t got the belly” = pure brilliance. Now let’s get James Franco to act, write and direct the biopic! Contributed by Christopher Gedos
LUNA – California (All The Way)LUNA (Official)
Rating: 8.75
I’ve had Girls’ 2nd LP, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, on repeat since last weekend. I knew after hearing the single, ‘Vomit’, that it wouldn’t be a sophomore slump, but I wasn’t expecting all eleven cuts to be of a similarly uniform quality. Father, Son, Holy Ghost doesn’t have the extreme polarity of Album, their debut, but a devotion to songwriting and slightly warmer production values make for an equal if not superior listening experience.
If the sonic point of reference on Album was Joe Strummer, the muse on Father, Son, Holy Ghost has to be Elvis Costello. Lead singer Christopher Owens’ highly publicized upbringing in the Children of God facilitates an influence that’s ostentatious but not heavy-handed. He retains a 1950’s moral compass, grasping onto those last vestiges of innocence. Like Costello, Owens plays 50’s rock with proto-punk panache.
Owens is a master amalgamator and takes the best from his other primary influences, Neil Young, Eric Carmen and Alex Chilton, all of whom, like Costello and Strummer, also hit their creative peak during the 1970’s. ‘How Can I Say I Love You’ and ‘Magic’ are deep cuts that shine through on this album of deep cuts. Probably my favorite American band right now. Catch them at the FYF Fest in LA on September 3rd; they’ll be touring a smattering of American cities from September 14th until October 9th. Contributed by Christopher Gedos
Girls – Magic Girls – How Can I Say I Love YouGirls 
(Facebook)
Rating: 9.08
B3SCI radar makers Spector have returned with their second offering “What You Wanted”. The new single has proved worth the wait and is a solid follow-up to the irresistible qualities of “Never Fade Away”. More to come from this five-piece out of London…
Spector – What You WantedSpector (Facebook)
Rating: 8.28
“What The Water Gave Me” is our first look at Florence + The Machine’s forthcoming sophomore LP expected this November. Florence and producer Paul Epworth waste no time going for the anthemic and empowering sound that suits Ms. Machine so well. “What The Water Gave Me” will be available for download tomorrow 8/23/2011. Get into it below:
Florence + The Machine – What The Water Gave MeFlorence + The Machine (Official and Purchase)
Rating 8.3
In fine ambient fashion, the BretonLABS collective deliver “The Commission”. It’s our first glance at their fourthcoming debut Other People’s Problems LP expected February 2012.
Breton – the Commission by bretonlabs
Rating 8.2
