Three cheers for new New Mexi rock and roll. More cheers for music pressed on wax. This vinyl 7-inch contains four Farfisa-driven, greasy garage tracks. Due to the prominent organ, it bears similarities to the first album by—and I know bands hate to be compared to other bands, but I can’t not mention this—British ghouls The Horrors. The songs are short, sweet and dirty. There’s even a dance craze. And it’s all over too soon. For more, go see The Scrams live at Burt’s Tiki Lounge this Saturday.
Dead Man's Bones Dead Man's Bones (Anti-)
Singing children annoy me more than a fat man in a unitard, so the fact that this Zach Shields / Ryan Gosling project bears the work of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir did not make it sound appealing. Or cute. As it turns out, this collection of indie-doo-wop-prog-something-or-other monster-ghost love story-themed songs is well-done, and it does contain more good tracks than bad (although it’s still hard to get over singing children). Just in time for Halloween!
Hockey Mind Chaos (Capitol Records)
Little did I know last summer, when these four Portland hipsters crashed on my living room floor (twice), that within a year Hockey would attain incredible success and a deal with Capitol Records. If you’ve yet to hear this super-fun union of new wave and soul, get your hands on a record now, and see the live show if you can—it’s even better. I bet the 15 of us who attended their shows here last summer feel pretty cool now. The moral of the story: Go see live music, Albuquerque! You might find something interesting, excellent or undiscovered.
