Letting Up Despite Great Faults

Letting Up Despite Great Faults has released the first single "Visions" off their new album, Untogether, due out Oct. 9. The new track "sums up the sentiment of the the whole release," says frontman Mike Lee. "Confident, with a sense of being lost," Untogether is an album that radiates infectious melodies, heartbreaking sentiments, and danceable dreampop.

The new album sees the band continuing to refine and expand their sound, picking up where last year's Paper Crush EP left off. The EP's lead single 'Teenage Tide' was featured on the television show 90210, with Rolling Stone calling it "a blissful, shimmery track" and USA Today raving, "it captures the essence of teen dreams." In 2009 the band released its self-titled full-length, which was met with unanimous critical acclaim.

Download: Visions
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Finn Riggins Are Big News

I must admit I don't know much about the mighty Finn Riggins. Hell, I thought they/he was some Irish folk singer that sang about Guinness and Dublin.  So with that in mind, I'll share what I've learned outside of the fact that they're a great band.

The collaborative brainchild of three music school graduates from the University of Idaho -- Cameron Bouiss, Eric Gilbert and Lisa Simpson -- Finn Riggins relocated to Boise in 2009 where they've become key players in the young music and art scene of Idaho's largest population center. Eric Gilbert is the festival director and talent buyer for Boise's Treefort Music Fest, which made its debut in March. They also played the first ever Boise Showcase at SXSW this year with Built to Spill and Youth Lagoon.

So you could say that Finn Riggins owns Idaho and judging by their output of quirky indie rock (and cool videos) it's well deserved.  As if to prove that point...check out their tour dates...they may very well have played every nook and cranny in the state!

Tour Dates....
Aug. 4 Heise, ID - Kelly Canyon Music Festival
Aug. 8 Jackson, WY - JacksonHoleLive! w/ The Features
Aug. 9 Priest Lake, ID - Millie's
Aug 10 Sandpoint, ID - Downtown Crossing
Aug 12 Moscow, ID - John's Alley
Aug 16 Stanley, ID - StanleyStreet Dance
Aug 17 Boise, ID - Radio Boise PRE Fat Block Party w/ Brainstorm + Buster Blue + Ssssnake
Aug 23 Idaho Falls, ID - D'Railed w/ Tartufi
Aug 24 Jackson, WY - Pink Garter Theater w/ Tartufi
Aug 25 Pocatello, ID - Old Towne Block Party w/ Tartufi
Sep 1 McCall, ID - Salmon River Brewery

Download: Big News
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Fergus & Geronimo Surprise Us

Like some of history’s most well-regarded and oft-reissued acts, Fergus & Geronimo is doing exactly what they are compelled to do for their anticipated sophomore LP Funky Was the State of Affairs: making an album that actually plays like a cohesively complete statement.

And yet the record is entirely unpredictable, even as it tackles reoccurring themes, which the band says include, “aliens, technology, intergalactic dating/hooking up, the Roman Empire, and the earthling resistance movement.” 

Though at times it sounds like fairly serious subject matter, the group employs a sharp-tongued attack with the same sort of gallows humor cracked wise by the likes of their equally Doubting Thomas inspirational figures, everyone from the Mothers of Invention to Devo. 

You can hear this for yourself below.  "No Parties," is a jumpy, punky, new wave tune that seems to have a nervous twitch about it that propels the whole thing into pop oblivion.     If this and "Roman Tick," are anything to go by we're in for a coneheaded blast from the past that's as cool as it is interesting.  Known for throwing left hooks, Fergus & Geronimo may have just thrown us a right one out of nowhere with Funky Was the State of Affairs.

Download: No Parties
Download: Roman Tick
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Freedom Fry Are Tasty

Freedom Fry is the French & American duo of Marie Seyrat and Bruce Driscoll. Based between Paris and Los Angeles, the pair met when Marie worked as a stylist on a video for Bruce's other band, Blondfire (Where The Kids Are). After being blown away by hearing Seyrat sing with her whispery, unique, French accented vocals, Driscoll asked her if she'd be interested in writing some songs together. The first five songs they ever wrote together became 2011's Let The Games Begin EP.

Their following single Earthquake garnered rave reviews and was a single-of-the-week in the well respected French music mag, Les Inrockuptibles. They continue to write songs for their debut LP and in the meantime they're releasing a steady stream of singles & videos leading up to its release of which you can check out below.  If you ever liked Ivy...you should do yourself a favor and have a summer fling with Freedom Fry...

Download: Summer In The City
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Red Ax Jam Cross the Line

Red Ax Jam (Jared Rood, Paul-Peter Merron, Josiah Gladwell, Nima Chatrizeh and Max Davey) are a new London based blues rock influenced band. That sound more like they're from deep in the heart of the American South than the bustling metropolis of London.

Gritty, snarly, raw, and uncompromising Red Ax Jam turn their amps up to eleven and just kick some arse wherever they manage to show up. It's not complicated stuff but it doesn't need to be because it's hooks are what lure you in and overrun your mind.

They've just released their single Cross The Line and its available from all the usual outlets.

Download: Yeah, It's About You
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Borgeous and Club Life Know It's You

After spending the last couple of days in the indie disco...it's time to head out to the club and get our groove on. Here to do just that is Borgeous & Club Life. While I normally don't like the whole "electro house," thing because it's primarily NOT electro nor is it very house. Put it this way, if house is a feeling than electro house is like a beat-down of tuneless noise in a dark alley. Anyway, there are exceptions to every rule and that's where these guys come in.

Taking a proper song and roughing it up just a bit, Borgeous & Club Life with the additional help of Sophie Leonard have created a dance floor gobbler of such magnitude it's impossible to escape from. Taking a huge pop hook, running it through enough commercial house to make it huge, and then sharpening it's edges with electro house touches the whole thing is one massive jam that should be Top 40 somewhere, if not everywhere.

Borgeous & Club Life answer the question, "You know it's summer when...." And It's You who knows that answer.

Download: It's You
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Slam Donahue Pull A Quick One

When you name your band Slam Donahue I think you can expect listeners to view you a certain way. It's all in the name...it's kind of violent and my mind went straight to some cage match wrestling imagery. But as the say goes, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." And that's especially true with this bunch.

Slam Donahue is anything but violent. In fact, these guys are so sunshiny, frivolous, and jolly that they're probably Disney employees. Anyway, they've just released their rather sinister EP Hemlock Tea. Once again, a red herring as judging by the first tune, "I Turn On," it's not really to sinister at all. This is all jumpy rhythms, strummy guitars, folky rock vocals, and a sense of this being a feel good hit of the summer.

Hear for yourself...just don't drink the tea. I mean they sound happy...it doesn't mean they are happy

Download: I Turn On
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Making Marks Makes One

Making Marks, from Oslo, Norway are the latest addition to Fika Recordings label. After 5 years as My Little Pony, they’ve slimmed down to a 4 piece to become Making Marks. They’ve gigged with the likes of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Asobi Seksu and Marit Larsen, toured extensively around Europe and the USA, including appearances at SXSW.

The debut single from Making Marks, Ticket Machine, will be released by Fika Recordings in October 2012 on 7″ vinyl. They’ll be in the UK playing some shows in September. A full length album is due in the spring of 2013.

Download: Hard To Be Good
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The Young Evils Plot A Return

The Young Evils have returned with a new EP, Foreign Spells, and while their alluring boy-girl harmonies remain the band have taken a darker turn down pop's corridor, combining '60s doo-wop melodies with a bombastic rhythm section and noisy guitars. Gone are the cheery acoustic strummings of Foreign Spells' predecessor, 2010's acclaimed debut Enchanted Chapel. The band instead opted to focus on creating a sinister pop framework to underscore the talents of the band's better half, starlet Mackenzie Mercer.

If the infectious pop The Young Evils conjure has strayed from its sunnier former-self, so too have their lyrics, revealing the band's propensity for the dreary and dark. "Dead Animals is what we'll become" members, Mercer and Nelson proclaim in the four-track EP's first single "Dead Animals." The song perfectly exemplifies the band's duality, charming but realistic and gloomy all at once.It's disturbing and true...but yet easy on the ears.  Check it out below.

Download: Dead Animals
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Romans Head Back...Way Back

What would happen if Spoon went a bit glam? Well that's question Romans might know a little something about. Just releasing their debut single, Mystery Girl, Romans will make you forget everything you knew about rock n’ roll. Bonded together by Jeremy Fury (Singer for Ohio-based band, We Are the Fury) and Craig Bonich (Guitarist of Head Automatica and Jaguar Love), Romans strive for a timeless sound that knows no boundaries.

Incorporating the best parts of 50’s Doo Wop, 60’s Brit-Rock, and 70’s Glam, Romans bring together an array of sounds to create the perfect blend of musical nostalgia while looking forward. With elements of The Rolling Stones and a nod to T-Rex and Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie, there is no denying that Romans are in love with the past...and the future.

"If you go far enough into the future and look back at a specific period from the past, everything seems to blend together," Fury says.  And that's where these Romans want you to lend them your ear.

Download: Mystery Girl
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Dinosaur Jr Bet On The Sky

On September 17th 2012 Dinosaur Jr will be releasing a new album entitled I Bet On Sky through [PIAS].

The tracklisting is:
1. Don't Pretend You Didn't Know
2. Watch The Corners
3. Almost Fare
4. Stick A Toe In
5. Rude
6. I Know It Oh So Well
7. Pierce The Morning Rain
8. What Was That
9. Recognition
10. See It On Your Side


I Bet on Sky is the third Dinosaur Jr. album since the original trio – J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph – reformed in 2005. It marks the band’s 10th studio album since their debut on Homestead Records in 1985 and their first since the 2009 album Farm.

Listen: Watch The Corners

Jon Lindsay Launches A Summer Wilderness Program

Jon Lindsay has been on a pretty incredible tear since emerging on the national indie rock scene in 2010. After going solo in 2009 from prominent roles in several well known bands (most notably Benji Hughes and The Young Sons), the Oregon-born, North Carolina-raised singer/songwriter/instrumentalist released 2 critically acclaimed EP's, a stunning debut LP (2010's Escape From Plaza-Midwood), and a debut LP Rumormill for his side band, The Catch Fire, all while playing upwards of 150 national shows between 2010 and 2011.

Up next is Lindsay's highly anticipated LP #2, entitled Summer Wilderness Program. This new record LP is a tight yet expansive 12-track concept album that finds Lindsay revisiting some previously established strengths while also exploring plenty of new territory, as his listeners have come to expect.  If you can imagine Ben Gibbard in a bit of a power pop mood you've pretty much got Jon Lindsay pegged.  It's super melodic stuff that's got just enough spikiness to it to keep in interesting.  Check out, "After Dark," and I think you'll agree.

Download: After Dark