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Spacebats – Alright

By Chris Gedos

spacebats

Spacebats recently dropped an unexpected gem in our laps called “Alright”. There’s a lot of genre bending here, with a great arrangement and nice mixture of live instrumentation with beatmaking expertise. Fans of the jazz fusion gamut, from Jamiroquai to Spyro Gyra, will find a familiar sonic landscape. In addition, the vocal pays respect to the best of 70’s soul / 80’s R&B. I’m not sure if this is the completed track, as it unfortunately cuts off near the end, but it’s a nice little teaser with solid commercial potential.

Spacebats england (Soundcloud)

Rating 8.05

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reviewed by
02-25-12

Theme Park – Two Hours

By Chris Gedos

theme-park-3

Theme Park’s new single, “Two Hours”, premiered on Huw Stephen’s Radio 1 show late Wednesday night. A unanimous hit here @b3science HQ, the track features a rollicking beat with a little less Sting / Orange Juice / Reggae tinge, in contrast to their previous release, “Ghosts”. The lush, Ian Broudie style production on “Two Hours” is the sort of pop rock sound which toes the threshold without going overboard. The single is set for official release on 2 April, so I would expect the LP sometime this summer. These cats are one timeless hook away from dropping the “Pumped Up Kicks” of 2k12.


Theme Park – Two Hours

Theme Park england (Facebook) (Official)

Rating 8.2

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reviewed by
02-16-12

Porcelain Raft – Something In Between

By Chris Gedos

porcelainraft

The Brooklyn band Porcelain Raft proves once again that great things can happen by sticking to the shoegaze formula with zero deviation whatsoever. Most shitty shoegaze takes the formula and tinkers unnecessarily, but Porcelain Raft writes and performs shoegaze pop very, very well, and “Something in Between” is a great example of that, right down to the blatantly ambiguous title. The accompanying video is also of great merit, featuring an animated black dot dancing about the image throughout. With both Porcelain Raft and Damien Jurado making serious noise, shared label Secretly Canadian is having a mammoth 2k12 thus far.

Porcelain Raft – Something In Between

Porcelain Raft newyork (Facebook)

Rating 8.07

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reviewed by
02-13-12

B3SCI on VML 2:1 (ft. interview w/ The War on Drugs)

thewarondrugs_bygrahamtolbert

Our first mix of 2012 hit VML yesterday! The show features some choice jams plus a phone-in with Adam Granduciel from The War on Drugs who chatted with Chris Gedos about writing, the band, Zeppelin, and more. Get it below:

TRACK LIST

Intro
Fast Years – Young Heart
mic up: Yuna – Live Your Life
Schoolboy Q – Hands On The Wheel (feat. A$ap Rocky) [edit] mic up: Bruce Rave with Rave’s Fave of the Week
The 2 Bears – Work
The War On Drugs – Brothers
mic up: Chris Gedos phone-in interview with Adam from The War On Drugs
The War On Drugs – Baby Missiles
The Record Company – Born Unnamed

Release date: Feb 10, 2012

Check more b3sci on Virgin Mobile Live, Fridays and Saturdays 12pm pac/ 3pm east. 2:1 on Soundcloud.

Click for b3radio archives.

reviewed by
02-11-12

tree – Universal (Feat. Ariel Thiermann)

By Chris Gedos

tree

Our homie tree keeps the hits rollin’ with “Universal” (feat. Ariel Thiermann). The song, which also features Finn Rivera and Shelf Nunny, is captivating from its inception, clear and concise proof that previous offerings “People” and “This is Separation” were not simple flukes. Per his Soundcloud: “This track is sending positive energy to the beautiful people of planet earth.” If that’s not a reason to partake in the process of creative actualization, I don’t know what is! tree sings songs about the slow movement of time and the presence of a universal consciousness. And then at 2:10 he starts riffing off Bon Iver. #sickasfuck

tree – Universal (Feat. Ariel Thiermann)

tree california (Facebook)

Rating 8.67

brown8

reviewed by
02-08-12

The Hairs – I’ve Been Working Out

By Chris Gedos

thehairs

Stereogum unveiled last week The Hairs’ new single, “I’ve Been Working Out”, a song with such a facile understanding of the canon it’s deserving of several encores within the blogosphere. The refrain lyric, “I’ve been working out, I get to wear a Jesus crown”, is rooted in the iconoclasm and sacreligiousness which has permeated Rock since Bill Haley. Be sure to check their bandcamp for a collection of ditties which clock in at less than two minutes, in preparation for the I’ve Been Working Out EP, out Feb. 21st on WeePOP! Records.

The Hairs – I’ve Been Working Out

The Hairs newyork (Facebook)

Rating 8.2

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reviewed by
02-07-12

Moonlight Bride – Diego

By Chris Gedos

moonlight1

“Diego” is the opening track from Moonlight Bride’s upcoming Twin Lakes EP, set for release Feb. 28th, the day before leap year day. These Chattanoogans are adept at toeing the line between noise-pop and shoegaze, however faint that line may be. A lullaby acoustic and accompanying vibraphone provides a great intro for the rollicking beat, but when the acoustic returns after the noise pop verse and 90’s chorus, we begin to hear a method behind Moonlight Bride’s madness. Kinda like if the Gin Blossoms decided to play like MBV. Expect these cats to generate a stir at SWSX. Oh! And BTW, Super Bowl XLVI prediction: Giants 30, Patriots 21.

Moonlight Bride – Diego

Moonlight Bride tennessee (Facebook)

Rating 8.08

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reviewed by
02-04-12

THROWBACK: The Reflections – (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet

By Chris Gedos

the-reflections-just-like-romeo-and-juliet

O.k. so this one’s slightly obvious given its sporadic rotation on OBG / Sirius 60’s radio, but The Reflections’ one hit wonder, “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet”, occupies a unique place in Detroit music history. Originally released by Golden World Records, the song climbed to #6 during the week of May 30th, 1964, one of the greatest in the history of pop music (the top three that week included “Love Me Do”, “Chapel of Love”, and “My Guy”). “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet” was one of Golden World’s centerpieces when they were acquired by Motown in 1966 and became the “Studio 2” to Hitsville’s “Studio 1”. Had it not been released during such a contentious week, The Reflections’ would’ve been a top three wonder. Only the thin production keeps it from approaching perfection. #allrightnowimspeculating

The Reflections – (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet

The Reflections michigan (Wiki) (Purchase)

Rating 9.37

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reviewed by
01-30-12

Wild Nothing – Nowhere

By Chris Gedos

wild-nothing-nowhere

Wild Nothing follows up “Golden Haze” (and its glorious fade-in) with “Nowhere”, which constitutes Jack Tatum’s first official live instrumentation studio recording! For this reason I can forgive the somewhat heavy, baroque jangle-jam production. Tatum guides “Nowhere” home to safety with an unconventional lyric and effective yet truncated bridge. The 7” is set to drop on February 21st, but I would expect an LP before the summer solstice.

Wild Nothing – Nowhere

Wild Nothing virginia (Facebook) (Official)

Rating 7.85

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reviewed by
01-28-12

REVIEW: Tribes – Baby [LP]

By Chris Gedos

tribes-baby-lp

A lot of great things have already been said about Tribes’ Baby, which was released digitally and in the UK on January 16th. Here’s another English band that’s easily mistaken as American. Globalization has erased many of the boundaries in our arts, to the point where a band doesn’t immediately disclose themselves as English (Joy Division), Irish (U2), or American (REM) as they did 30 years ago. Tribes’ most autochthonous moment, “Corner of an English Field”, is no “Village Green Preservation Society” in terms of a prototypical homage to the English pastoral. Bands claim a greater allegiance to genres these days, as is the case with WU LYF (Heavy Pop), Holwer (Garage Rock) or Tribes (Power Pop). But Tribes is so fully rooted in the power pop tradition; this is the true flag to which they pledge allegiance. They know to always go big in the chorus, and they know how to keep a listener on their feet with shifting dynamics. While Holwer practices more of a ‘kitchen sink’ approach on America Give Up (with solid success), Tribes opts for a very specific language and employs an economy of sounds (gimmicks, if you must) within that language. As a result, Baby sounds like the direct result of several decades of combined musical experiences. On “Himalaya” and “Night Driving”, ditties which other bands may chicken out and play too soft, Tribes retains their raw energy and ‘fuck off’ ethos throughout. The Londoners have truly hit it out of the park with Baby. If they hadn’t already released “We Were Children” and “Sappho”, even more pundits would be comparing Baby to The Blue Album. Better poised than The Vaccines to make a US splash, they’ve set the bar awfully for the first half of 2012.

Tribes – When My Day Comes

Tribes – Half Way Home

Tribes: england (Official)

Rating 8.9

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reviewed by
01-26-12

The Micks – A

By Chris Gedos

themicks

The Micks are buddies of The N’ere Dowells. These are New York rockers who (it’s safe to say) compose anti-Manhattan music, for there’s something quintessentially iconoclastic and anti-capitalistic in their tone, something which speaks to the root of Rock itself. Just peep The Micks’ double A-side, oh-so-fittingly entitled, A. The raw production compliments songs fresh out of the think tank. Both groups will be playing at the Brooklyn Knitting Factory this Saturday the 28th (74 Leonard Street, New York, NY 10013). It’ll be seven of the best dollars you’ll ever spend. I promise.

The Micks newyork (Bandcamp)

Rating 7.9

brown71

reviewed by
01-24-12