speed of dark

Good stuff! Wish I could say more.

The Shondes

The Red Sea is the self-released debut album of Brooklyn's The Shondes. Their press blurb says: "Their songwriting fuses the various musical traditions of feminist punk, classical, Jewish, and queercore..." I don't know what queercore is, but I can tell you that Elijah Oberman totally shreds soundwaves with his violin on "Let's Go," and co-vocalist Louisa Solomon has a voice that makes comparisons to Sleater-Kinney and Rasputina.

The Shondes were Spin magazine's Artist of the Day on January 14.

From The Red Sea (2008):
The Shondes: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
The Shondes: Let's Go
MySpace | Website | Label: Independent
Buy at Insound, Amazon.com



Admiral Twin



Tulsa's Mark Carr, Jarrod Gollihare, John Russell formed Admiral Twin in 1996, and The Center of the Universe is their 5th album. Check out the Beatles-style harmonies that inspired the likes of Matthew Sweet (big Gramma favorite) on "Renegade Planet." Sweet pop-rock!

From The Center of the Universe (2007)
Admiral Twin: Good As Gold
Admiral Twin: Renegade Planet
MySpace | Website | Label: The Pop Collective
Buy at Admiral Twin's Store, iTunes, and Amazon.com



pacificUV



pacificUV are Portland, Oregon, space-rockers who will release their second LP, longplay 2 on April 1. NPR has been using "Alarmist," a song from this record, as a segue during their news segments. Chilling, sizzling, and beautiful.

pacificUV: Need from longplay 2 (2008)
MySpace | Website | Label: Warm Records
Buy at Warm Records, iTunes



Devastations


Tom Carlyon, Hugo Cran, and Conrad Standish left their home of Australia several years ago after forming Devastations to split their time mostly between London and Berlin. Somehow it's hard to imagine this dark, cloudy music coming from the sunny island continent, but grey Berlin seems fitting. Their new CD Yes, U, was recently released in the U.S.

Devastations: Mistakes from Yes, U (2008)
MySpace | Website | Label: Beggar's Banquet
Buy at Beggar's Banquet