Magnolia Sons
“How Can I Get Over You? / Leave Your Troubles Behind”

I am, admittedly, a fan of throwback soul and R&B. Nick Waterhouse is a great example of someone copping an established style but continuing to make it entertaining with original tunes. Magnolia Sons falls right into that same category of creators. The influences are painfully obvious but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to listen to. In fact, it makes it more enjoyable because you have a familiar touchstone to use as a jumping off point. So far the band has released a handful of 7″‘s and, frankly, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate format for their intentionally retro styles.

Black Static Line
Every Vibrating Body
Free Download

A new project from Cole Street (Hollow Ox) and Matt Swanson (Lambchop, Dave Cloud) that focuses well more on the ambient and drone side of musical undertakings. They’ve not played out yet but have been kind enough to post a video for Heart Drone 36, one of the fine tracks from their debut album Every Vibrating Body.

Scale Model
Scale Model EP
Digital Album

“Pop Music” is such a tricky term. It has so many legitimate meanings depending on its application that it’s almost as useless of a description as “Indie.” However, I think we’re all friends here. You know what I mean when I say POP music when I’m talking about a local band, right? Upbeat music, catchy hooks and an excellent underlying melancholy vibe to it all. If you need a solid introduction I say you start with “Mindreader” as it embodies the whole undertaking quite well in my opinion.

Anchor Thieves
Malefactors
Digital Preview
Release: Sept 4th, 2012

It won’t be officially available for another few weeks but I’ve been diving into the new full-length offering Anchor Thieves, Malefactors. It’s a refreshingly solid dose of straight ahead rock that manages to maintain a level of emotional expression often lost on straight ahead rock. I’m partial to the likes of “Rode Sines” or “Romeo” but there is, undoubtedly, something in there for everybody that calls themselves a fan of the rock music.

They’ll be playing 8 Off 8th on August 20th – so be sure not to miss that.