We All Want Someone To Shout For

Don’t be surprised to someday turn on your radio and hear the sweet sounds of California’s Young The Giant being played. For comparisons sake, I could see these guys blowing up in the same way Kings Of Leon did. I say this because they write ambitious rock songs that just seem destined for bigger and better things.

You can hear a little bit of an old Kings Of Leon kick in “My Body”. Then they go on and deliver the winner that is “I Got”, with a chorus that may tug a heartstring or two.

After one listen to their self titled debut album, I was impressed. Sometimes people need to list reasons as to why a song is great. I didn’t need to do that while listening to their record.  Young The Giant have got it going on. They possess a great load of talent and it’s breathes naturally through their impressively strong set of tunes.

The bands debut album will be released digitally on October 26, 2010, via Roadrunner Records. The band has already toured with the likes of Marina and The Diamonds, and is currently touring with The Futureheads. They will be at CMJ, and if I make my way to see CMJ, you can bet I will be catching their live set, which is rumored to be something special.

Check out “My Body” & “I Got” below. Jump aboard the bandwagon now.

[mp3]: Young The Giant – My Body
[mp3]: Young The Giant – I Got

If you pre-order the band’s album on iTunes you will get a person phone call from one of the band members themselves. How can you possibly pass that up? Pre-Order it here.

Happy 70th Birthday John. You’re dearly missed, but your legacy will continue to live on.

The Walkmen dropped by NPR to deliver a great World Cafe Session. They played “Blue As Your Blood”, “Angela Surf City”, “Juveniles”, and “Woe Is Me”.

Stream the whole session below, or just grab the mp3′s:

[mp3]: The Walkmen – Blue As Your Blood (NPR World Cafe Session)
[mp3]: The Walkmen – Angela Surf City (NPR World Cafe Session)
[mp3]: The Walkmen – Juveniles (NPR World Cafe Session)
[mp3]: The Walkmen – Woe Is Me (NPR World Cafe Session)

Sports are a three piece from Seattle. They have sent me their first single, “To Catch A Thief”, and I’m impressed. It’s right up my alley with a smooth vocals over blissed out electronics. It sounds like a journey through a dark lonely down. With hazy memories of the past, your journey is taking you far away to a new beginning.

Enjoy this little gem:

[mp3]: Sports – To Catch A Thief

The band has some demos that you can listen to on their myspace. Here’s their blog as well.

Emay & Blackbird Blackbird are two young artists who have been on my radar all year, so it excites me to see them teaming up. Along with Star Slinger, these three combine to make up a new project called Seeing Suge.

“Breaking” is their first single. It’s a all too cool for school electronic track that allows plenty of free range space for Emay to spread the word. The single features a Memoryhouse sample.

The single is a free download that also includes previously unreleased tracks from all three artists (Blackbird Blackbird’s instrumental “Little Respect” is stunning). Grab the download below via Vinyl Meltdown:

Big Deal are going to be a big deal.

Big Deal is the duo of Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe, hailing from the UK. Both play guitar, and sing. Their songs are honest displays of emotion, playing as personal vignettes, letting you get as close as you can as a listener. It’s almost as if they’re in your living room playing to you, for you. You don’t want them to leave.

They have no official releases yet, but there are 5 delicious songs to enjoy over at their myspace. Try not to be moved by the pure innocence of “Homework” (their first single) or the understated brilliance of “Locked Up”.

Their songs contain nothing more than their two guitars, and their two voices. Sometimes the guitars are acoustic, sometimes electric. With duel voices and changing guitars, it provides an interesting contrast that bodes well for their sound in the end. The female/male vocals remind me somewhat of the xx, and we all know that is saying something.

The band is slowly starting to receive some well deserved hype in the UK. They’ve already received attention from The Guardian & NME, and they already have a decent amount of shows set up in London. It’s only a matter of time until they pick up some steam over here.

I’m excited and proud to call Big Deal one of my favorite new bands, and one of the best new bands to look out for in 2011. Now I know why their myspace says this:

“we don’t know how to put this but we’re kind of a big deal”

I’m allowed to share the song “Locked Up” as a free download below. Grab that and be sure to check out some more songs on the bands myspace!:

[mp3]: Big Deal – Locked Up

You can also visit them on facebook. First single “Homework” will be released on November 8th as a limited 7″. It will be backed with a cover of Big Star’s “13″ as it’s b-side. Check out a video of the duo performing “13″ live:

13

Big Deal | MySpace Music Videos

“Little Bird Courage” is a song taken from Old Canes 2009 album Feral Harmonic. I couldn’t help but hear a little bit of Okkervil River in the upbeat organic rootsy pop-rocker. Weirdly enough, Old Canes sits right under Okkervil in my iTunes.

The album came out last year, but Old Canes are a new find for me. There’s something pure and uplifting about their sound. I really enjoyed the song and wanted to share:

[mp3]: Old Canes – Little Bird Courage

Right now I’m smiling alongside the sweet sounds of Mumdance’s “Don’t Forget Me Now”, a song featured on his debut EP, Mum Decent. Mumdance goes by Jack Adams in real life, and before he started making his own original productions, he was remixes songs for the likes of Santigold, Gucci Mane, and Radioclit.

Now he is on his own, and he is proving that he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. “Don’t Forget Me Now” is an effortlessly cool dance track that will help get any party started. It’s chill and laid back, but also dance floor worthy.

Check it out below via Mad Decent:

[mp3]: Mumdance – Don’t Forget Me Now (Feat. Esser)

While your at it, check out it’s music video:

BIG ASS LENS has been pretty unstoppable of late. They have captured some truly great concert footage over the last few months, and they show no signs of quitting. Their last capture was on 10/1 when Menomena stopped by NYC to bring the rock. BAL caught the band in a way that made me feel like I was there. I wasn’t, but damn, do I want to see Menomena live now!

Watch the first clips below, and to see another, head over to their site.

Menomena – TAOS / BOTE / Evil Bee (Live in New York):

Menomena – TAOS / BOTE / Evil Bee (Live in New York) from Big Ass Lens on Vimeo.

Now you can watch trippy crocodile themed imagery when your listening to Avey Tare’s “Lucky 1″. Check out the music video that his sister, Abby Porter, directed:

Lucky 1 from Abby Portner on Vimeo.