Many say that UK guitar bands have become less relevant and inventive as the indie pendulum has swung towards softer and more electronic music. Of course it’s only a matter of time before the guitars reclaim the throne. The Crookes consistently deliver refreshing, energetic, catchy songs. Their third album Soapbox comes in April and “Play Dumb” is the lead single. Behind the uptempo tune is a joyous vibe and monster collection of hooks. Frontman George Waite sings about hitting his midlife crisis at age 25 and about not letting a certain relationship get the best of him. The Crookes hail from Sheffield, England — same place the Arctic Monkeys come from. If there are those who feel that UK guitar-based bands fell off in the wake of the Arctics blowing up years ago, it might be the Crookes who help bring the sound back to the forefront. They will be at SXSW this year. Reviewed By Bruce Rave
The Crookes 
(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!
We love MISUN. The D.C.-bred now L.A.-based band’s stylistic breadth (from R&B to surf rock to country-western, there’s seemingly not a genre the 4-piece won’t touch), pop songwriting skill (melodically and lyrically slay your faves w/ every track), and crazily impressive run of singles over the last twelve months (“Hills and Trails”, “Promise Me”, “Darkroom”, etc all knockouts). So clearly, partnering with MISUN to launch their first physical release on B3SCI Records was a 100% no brainer for us. We present the first single from MISUN’s brand new 7″ “Travel With Me”, a track that again finds the band pushing not only the boundaries of their own sound but of the indie 2014 palette as well (there’s tropical refs in there, a little bit of 60’s, Asian melodic structures, etc). “Travel With Me” is out Feb. 18.
Rating 8.4
In his new mix for King Krule, French producer 20syl ingeniously bends R&B and trap to create a truly standout and orginal remix. Blending seemlessly soaring 70’s R&B orchestration & wah pedals w/ crazy cut-up and chops in the rhythm (that coupled with/brilliantly juxtaxposed against King Krule’s modern transatlantic grumbling), to create a resulting product that really quite special (and bangin). 20syl rules!
20syl 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.2
L.A. producer Templeton adds a great early 90’s-styled piano house sound to our buddies Blondfire’s killer in its own right “Walking With Giants”. Turn this one all the way up.
Blondfire 
(Facebook)
Templeton (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.5
The lush “You Do” is the latest from Cleveland(!) R&B artist Freeze-Tag. Sophisticated in sound without being tired or hokey, “You Do” reveals more and more of its many facets with its each successive listen (you will be hooked like that, believe it.), as sprawling electronics give way to Isley Brothers-esque riffing and genre jumping beats swirl into unexpected but compositionally on the mark chord voicings. F-T’s Last Night I Grew Tentacles is out soon via Long Division Records.
Freeze-Tag 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
The Jetpacks crew are readying a live album E Rey (Live in Philadelphia) (which will be out Feb. 25 on FatCat) and to mark its release, the band debuted today a live version (ostensibly from said Philly set) of a brand new track “Peace Sign”. The turning, high drama “Peace Sign” is the band’s first new material in two years.
We Were Promised Jetpacks 
(Twitter) (Facebook)
Rating 8.5
