2010 is finally starting to crank into high gear: January brings with it yet another release from my favorite band in high school, a second full-length from Vampire Weekend (whose music leaves me cold but whose fashion sense I cannot help but applaud), and god knows what else. Beach House and Love Is All, I think?
Since I’m swearing off negativity for the new year, let’s skip over these new releases and devote one last post to “guten times 2009.” Specifically, a couple of bands whose work I slept on last year: Screaming Females‘ Power Move and Christmas Island’s 7″ on Captured Tracks and full length, Blackout Summer, on In The Red.
There’s not much to say about Christmas Island in terms of stunning originality, but there’s certainly lots to enjoy. To use a Disneyworld metaphor (as a child, Christmas and Disneyworld were pretty much my big things, along with dinosaurs, astronauts, and firefighters), Christmas Island forms the perfect frozen Dole Whip, swirling Fergus and Geronimo and early Dodos in a lo-fi, Siltbreeze waffle cone. I’ve uploaded a couple of their songs below and, like any good pusher, can promise more to those who “ask nicely.”
Screaming Females, to go in a totally opposite direction, combine classic stoner-rock chug (think a more sophisticated version of tourmates JEFF the Brotherhood) with a tremendous, Gracie-Slick-gone-Chainsaw-Records-riot-girl vocalist. This sounds pedestrian on paper but, I SWEAR, it manages to raise them beyond the usual 70s-shag-carpet cliches. As a side note, this band isn’t exactly slept-on in the wider world, having been tapped to open for Arctic Monkeys last year. Anyway, I’ve also got Screaming Females mp3s for you here, same deal as above.
So please enjoy. Next time we’ll do something more topical. I promise.
–guten MORGAN
Christmas Island:
- NineteenNineteen
- Bed IslandBed Island
Screaming Females:
- Halfway DownHalfway Down
- I Believe in EvilI Believe in Evil
- Starving DogStarving Dog
- Sour GrapesSour Grapes
