THURSDAY JUN 09, 2016
Shampoo
Shampoo is a three-piece band from Atlanta that plays a misty-eyed, blissful update of c81 indie and top 40 new wave. Their new album, Terrible Heat, is as emotionally wrought and pleasure-center direct as a soap opera, and draws influence from anime theme songs, new jack swing, deep psych, and lots of Madonna. It was recorded, re-recorded, and fine-tuned throughout 2015, and will be released August 17on Bear Kids Recordings.
Rush, Catherine, and Chandler met on the dance floors of the Atlanta pop underground some time around 2009, and finally started playing together during the winter of 2013. Their early shows and a rough, three-song demo garnered local attention and rave reviews. Tours up the east coast, and shows with TOPS, Pure Bathing Culture, and Memory Tapes followed.
Shampoo is a three-piece band from Atlanta that plays a misty-eyed, blissful update of c81 indie and top 40 new wave. Their new album, Terrible Heat, is as emotionally wrought and pleasure-center direct as a soap opera, and draws influence from anime theme songs, new jack swing, deep psych, and lots of Madonna. It was recorded, re-recorded, and fine-tuned throughout 2015, and will be released August 17on Bear Kids Recordings.
Rush, Catherine, and Chandler met on the dance floors of the Atlanta pop underground some time around 2009, and finally started playing together during the winter of 2013. Their early shows and a rough, three-song demo garnered local attention and rave reviews. Tours up the east coast, and shows with TOPS, Pure Bathing Culture, and Memory Tapes followed.
Dots
"It’s been just over a year since Dot.s released their sophomore full length, the whimsical and prismatic We Swim, and while the band has kept plenty busy with shows and touring, their musical output has remained noticeably quiet. Today, however, we’re happy to announce the group is finally breaking their silence with “Rose Lens,” a taut and sleek new single that highlights Dot.s penchant for turning bubbling synths and twitching rhythms into art/dance rock of the highest caliber. Recorded with Damon Moon at Standard Electric Recorders Co., the track unfurls in steady waves, each atmospheric pulse and burbling groove striding confidently into the next. Yet, despite its swaggering self-assurance, “Rose Lens” finds the band working in a darker mood than in the past, confronted by the dread of isolation, fallible memories, and the silent voices that keep us awake at night. Still, the vibe here is more meditative than dreary, more coming to terms than a statement of disillusion. Throughout it all, the methodical beat and throbbing ambience thrust inexorably forward, shrouding any thoughts of gloom in a shimmering haze of brooding electropop. Life is still full of wonder, after all, even if it isn’t always pretty." -Immersive Atlanta
"It’s been just over a year since Dot.s released their sophomore full length, the whimsical and prismatic We Swim, and while the band has kept plenty busy with shows and touring, their musical output has remained noticeably quiet. Today, however, we’re happy to announce the group is finally breaking their silence with “Rose Lens,” a taut and sleek new single that highlights Dot.s penchant for turning bubbling synths and twitching rhythms into art/dance rock of the highest caliber. Recorded with Damon Moon at Standard Electric Recorders Co., the track unfurls in steady waves, each atmospheric pulse and burbling groove striding confidently into the next. Yet, despite its swaggering self-assurance, “Rose Lens” finds the band working in a darker mood than in the past, confronted by the dread of isolation, fallible memories, and the silent voices that keep us awake at night. Still, the vibe here is more meditative than dreary, more coming to terms than a statement of disillusion. Throughout it all, the methodical beat and throbbing ambience thrust inexorably forward, shrouding any thoughts of gloom in a shimmering haze of brooding electropop. Life is still full of wonder, after all, even if it isn’t always pretty." -Immersive Atlanta
Operator Music Band
Operator Music Band are a New York quartet with an eclectic take on krautrock. The group compiled reworked tracks from their first EP alongside a number of unreleased songs to present their upcoming debut album, Puzzlephonics I & II. Lead single “Creative Tube Bending” is a slab of syncopated art-rock with razor wire guitars and lustrous synth beds, altogether resembling something along the lines of David Byrne fronting Gang Of Four. It’s the kind of punctuated, zig-zagging groove that hits you first in the shoulders before gradually taking over your whole body, with vocalist Jared Hiller maneuvering through an assortment of novel phrasings, defining hard edges around lyrics as initially abstruse as “I was falling in, falling out/ A recognized pattern/ Throwing shapes at the crowd/ I found nothing, but the threat of discussion/ A lapse in my judgment.” The meaning starts to coalesce once you have a bit more context, which Hiller offers below:
"The lyrics of this song are primarily about my experience with a benign brain tumor in early 2016. I didn’t want to come at it from a serious angle because I think writing a sad song about a sad thing is sappy and obvious. I remember we recorded everything but the vocals and as is my usual habit, I didn’t write lyrics till the absolute last second. I wasn’t even really sure of the approach but I had a basic idea of the phrasing and cadences when I, in a stupid amount of pain, recorded the first take. Dara dug it and helped me fill in some of the blanks (she also wrote most of the song). I think it’s an overall fun and light ditty about a horrifying and confusing process that I am even still dealing with residual symptoms from – but also, nobody cares."
-Stereogum
Operator Music Band are a New York quartet with an eclectic take on krautrock. The group compiled reworked tracks from their first EP alongside a number of unreleased songs to present their upcoming debut album, Puzzlephonics I & II. Lead single “Creative Tube Bending” is a slab of syncopated art-rock with razor wire guitars and lustrous synth beds, altogether resembling something along the lines of David Byrne fronting Gang Of Four. It’s the kind of punctuated, zig-zagging groove that hits you first in the shoulders before gradually taking over your whole body, with vocalist Jared Hiller maneuvering through an assortment of novel phrasings, defining hard edges around lyrics as initially abstruse as “I was falling in, falling out/ A recognized pattern/ Throwing shapes at the crowd/ I found nothing, but the threat of discussion/ A lapse in my judgment.” The meaning starts to coalesce once you have a bit more context, which Hiller offers below:
"The lyrics of this song are primarily about my experience with a benign brain tumor in early 2016. I didn’t want to come at it from a serious angle because I think writing a sad song about a sad thing is sappy and obvious. I remember we recorded everything but the vocals and as is my usual habit, I didn’t write lyrics till the absolute last second. I wasn’t even really sure of the approach but I had a basic idea of the phrasing and cadences when I, in a stupid amount of pain, recorded the first take. Dara dug it and helped me fill in some of the blanks (she also wrote most of the song). I think it’s an overall fun and light ditty about a horrifying and confusing process that I am even still dealing with residual symptoms from – but also, nobody cares."
-Stereogum