Back and Forth is the third EP release for Austin based rockers The Bright Light Social Hour. Like its predecessor "Love Like Montopolis" the album only consists of three tracks, one of which is “Back and Forth-Part Two,” a catchy tune and undeniable crowd pleaser.

The first track entitled, “Back and Forth-Part One,” serves mostly as an instrumental prelude to “Back and Forth-Part Two,” the EP’s standout track. The 2 ½ minute ambient keyboard line and soft cymbal tapping adjusts into the gateway bass and drum riff for “Part Two” two seconds before it ends. “Back and Forth-Part Two,” continues where “Part One” leaves off but manifests a polka-esque kuitar beat and rock guitar riff.

A placid innuendo at the beginning, Roush sings “I’m going back and forth, been going back and forth, been going back and ahh I want you feel everything that I feel….” Only is it apparent what the song is really about when the song goes into the fourth verse--- “I’m going in and out, then going in and out, then going in and out, I just don’t know what to do—to move with you.”

Midway through the song, O’Brien adds some Spanish lyrics admist Roush and Vincent’s soft “ooohh oohhhs,” which is preceded and concluded by the ‘back and forth’ chorus. The third track, “Rhubarb Jam” begins with a sound bite reasoning why the wind blows hard before a titillating bass riff commences a loud explosive jam which mellows out halfway into a cool jazzy groove.

You can catch The Bright Light Social Hour at Stubb's tonight with Zlam Dunk, Car Stereo (Wars) and Driver F. Guaranteed to be a fun show. Tickets are available for $10 at the link.

• The Bright Light Social Hour - "Back and Forth (Part 2)"
• myspace.com/thebrightlightsocialhour

“Clues” is the self-titled debut album for Montreal indie poppers Clues. Brain child of ex-Unicorn Alden Penner and ex-Arcade Fire member Brendan Reed, the quintet includes multi-instrumentalists Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble, and Nick Scribner. Forming in 2007, Clues has established a following despite the use of any social media promotion such as Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.

The album's opening track, entiled “Haarp,” is reminiscent of early Flaming Lips circa Clouds Taste Metallic. An incomprehensive lyric begins the song but is quickly disrupted by the clash of a sole cymbal followed by rumbling guitar distortion. Penner’s falsetto vocals peak in periodically throughout the track, setting a steady tone for the dense layer of guitars and drumming that saturate the album.

“Remember Severed Head,” begins with an almost robotic instrumentation subtly joined by a clanky marching band drum beat before churning into a very “Unicorns” sound lullaby. The lyrics “who here wants to sleep in the dragon’s mouth, who here wants to feel” are also sung on the album’s eighth track, “Cave Mouth” which sounds more like a refined version of “Remember Severed Head.”

A tedious piano riff formulates “Perfect Fit,” one of the album’s catchiest tracks. “Elope,” is the LP’s longest and softest track---a serenity level comparable to that when listening to Simon and Garfunkel is sure to transpire. Penner’s quiet vocal amidst soft organ and gentle guitar strumming is a change of pace for the album before resuming into the funkiest album track, “Cave Mouth.”

• Clues - "You Have My Eyes Now"
  
• cstrecords.com

Clues will play in Austin on June 10th at The Independent, a new 300 capacity venue on E 5th St. and I-35. If these guys are as fun as their debut album, their live shows are not to be missed.

During SXSW I caught a very brief set by Here We Go Magic, and though I was only able to hear a few songs I really dug their whole vibe. Luckily I'll be able to see them at the Austin City Limits Music Festival this year, and it doesn't matter who their time slot competes with because I'm not going to miss a second of this one. Here's a little band bio from ACL:

"At its heart, Here We Go Magic’s self-titled debut — released this year by the Austin label Western Vinyl — is really just another Temple solo record, in that he recorded all of the album’s Afro-beat pop gems and lo-fi psychedelic freak outs on his own.

But live, Here We Go Magic becomes something else entirely: an honest to goodness band, with Temple joined onstage by friends Peter Hale, Mike Bloch, AJ Lambert and Kristina Lieberson.

For his next trick, Temple just might squeeze the whole gang into his home studio and make a full band record. Until then, Here We Go Magic literally has to be seen to be believed."

Here We Go Magic were featured on Daytrotter earlier this week, and the session includes a new, unreleased song called "Collector." Find out more about the song, read a review, and hear the rest of the session at Daytrotter.com.

• Here We Go Magic - "Collector"
• myspace.com/herewegomagic
  

You can pick up a single day ticket for Sunday if you want to see these guys at ACL. If you like to keep it intimate, try to find your way into their sold-out show with Grizzly Bear at the Parish next month.

Here's some party tunes to send you into the weekend on the right foot. I'm thinking about doing this kind of thing every Friday from now on, saving this spot for any good dance-disco-DJ type stuff I come across. These first five are all from the NYC production duo Streetlab.

Streetlab remix rock, dance, and electronic music as well as anyone I've heard recently. They have added their touch to everything from Zeppelin, Creedence and the Stones, to Crystal Castles, Chemical Brothers and Hot Chip. Best of all you can download most of their stuff in high quality, for free, at streetlab.net. Hit up RCRDLBL for some background info.

• Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Streetlab mix) (@ Emo's 6/3)
  
• The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's (Streetlab mix)
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son (Streetlab Mix)
• Heartsrevolution - C.Y.O.A. (Streetlab mix)
• INXS - Need You Tonight (Streetlab mix)

• myspace.com/streetlab

There's some pretty good live music going down in Austin this week, as always. Here are our picks along with a few tunes to get you in the mood. The Melvins show at Emo's on Wednesday is going to completely rule, the Do512 party at Buffalo Billiards on Thursday will have free beer for the first hour, and I'm told that Harlem will be joining Matador Records soon. Just throwing that out there. Use the links to get more information about everything.

Tonight:

• Isis and Pelican at Emo's

• The Crystal Method, LA Riots at La Zona Rosa

Wednesday:

• Melvins (performing Houdini) at Emo's

• Ponytail and Harlem at Red 7

Thursday:

• Do512 Presents: Buffalo Billiards 10th Birthday Party with The Black & White Years and Car Stereo (Wars)
  

• Followed By Static, Daniel Francis Doyle, Transmography at Club 1808

Friday:

• The Thermals and The Shaky Hands at Mohawk

• The Pack A.D. at the Hole in the Wall

Saturday:

• Times New Viking and The Strange Boys at Emo's

• Lil Cap'n Travis at Club de Ville

Sunday:

• Harlem at the Hole in the Wall

For your ears:

• The Thermals - "When We Were Alive"
• The Pack A.D. - "Wolves and Werewolves"
  

Ducktails is New Jersey native Matthew Mondanile, who creates psychedelic beach-pop using nothing more than a few loops, a guitar, and a Casio keyboard. After putting out a handful of various cassettes and singles, the debut Ducktails full-length album was released earlier this month on Not Not Fun. SXSW tells me there are several follow-up albums in the works too.

This brand of experimental pop goes really well with a pair of headphones and a heightened (ahem) state of mind. Not Not Fun describes the sound well:

"Plastic palm trees. Beach scene snowglobes. Airbrushed neon sunset hotel paintings. All shining examples of potent Fake Escapism at work, in real life. And if you’ve ever wondered what the audio equivalent of this kind of cheap coastal utopian simulacrum is, take a good listen to the recorded works of Mr. Matt Mondanile aka Ducktails, a crazy talented suburban New Jerseyan who serves up masterpiece after blasterpiece of shimmering, smoke and mirrors exotic fantasia, rainbow psych-pop muzak for imaginary helicopter rides over crystal lagoons and lost waterfalls."

• Ducktails - "Backyard"
• Ducktails - "Daily Vacation"
• myspace.com/ducktailss

more:

• @ WFMU
• @ Tiny Mix Tapes
• @ Vice Mag
  

Austin got a visit from a pretty massive rainstorm on Saturday, so for most of the day I wasn't sure if the TV on the Radio show was going to happen at all. Luckily the rain let up right about five o'clock and the sold-out show went on as planned.

The opener was a pretty cool band from Sweden called Little Dragon, who mostly stuck to danceable, synth-heavy pop songs. They were already in the middle of their set by the time we got to Stubb's, but I liked what I heard and the crowd was really getting into it. (Allmusic gave their debut album 4.5 stars)

TV on the Radio was great, as expected, but the show was slightly less incredible than the last time they were in Austin. There was nothing wrong with their performance, I just think it was the generally poor sound quality more than anything else.

There were certain parts of the stage that you couldn't even hear, (mind you I had the best seat in the house on the balcony,) and all of the other instruments kind of blurred together. The review on Austin360 focused on the sound issue as well. It seemed like they had most of the problems worked out for the encore, because "Family Tree" and "Staring at the Sun" both sounded great.

These photos are supplied by Ed Lehmann, and you can see more from this show (including Little Dragon) at austinexposure.net.

• Little Dragon - "Blinking Pigs"
• myspace.com/yourlittledragon
  

Here's the first video from the Monahans album we told you about.

"Dim the Aurora" is out on Misra Records tomorrow.

Get more.

San Francisco's Fresh & Onlys make jangly garage-psych-pop recommended for anyone who is into the familiar Bay-area garage sounds of Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall. In fact, all three of them share the Castle Face record label. The Fresh & Onlys played a few gigs in Austin during SXSW '09 and performed at San Fran's Noise Pop Festival before that, who described the band like so:

"With their hallucinogenic brand of garage rock and eerie backing female vocals, The Fresh and Only's are reminiscent of San Francisco's earlier Haight & Ashbury ancestors. Their music takes it easy and lets the rock-out take a backdrop to their swooning, heavy- set garage rock vocals, simple but strong chord progressions, all coated in droplets of keyboards and undemanding drums."

These guys backed up Rodriguez on his recent West Coast tour, so it's not surprising that I would come across their self-titled debut album and enjoy it from the start. You can read a review of the album at Dusted Magazine, check out an interview at Sound Bites, hear more tunes at myspace, and get your hands on an album through their official website or at Insound.

• The Fresh & Onlys - "Feelings In My Heart"
• The Fresh & Onlys - "Fog Machine"

Here is a high-quality recording of Fleet Foxes live at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California on April 21st, 2009. The set list is below, minus two new songs with unknown names. I found that sweet photo of the show right here. If you like the sound of this, there is another Fleet Foxes live set posted here. Head over to myspace and the BBC to see what's new.

• Fleet Foxes - Live at The Fox Theater

1. Sun Giant
2. Sun it Rises
3. Drops in the River
4. English House
5. White Winter Hymnal
6. Ragged Wood
7. Your Protector
8. My Only Son
9. Furr (tease)
10. Oliver James
11. ?
12. ?
13. He Doesn't Know Why
14. Mykonos
15. Katie Cruel
16. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
17. Silver City
18. Blue Ridge Mountains

Deerhunter's new five-song EP "Rainwater Cassette Exchange" will arrive digitally on May 18 (in stores June 8) and features some of their most accessible tunes yet. Entertainment Weekly has the inside scoop, along with a little history behind each song from frontman Bradford Cox. On "Circulation":

"Moses [Archuleta], our drummer, wrote that song, and he's never written a song before. We had our friend make this weird video collage that we took the audio from for the outro. It sounds like a Magazine song or something."

• Deerhunter - "Circulation"

Deerhunter has been added to the lineup for All Tomorrow’s Parties New York 2009, along with Caribou, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Panda Bear, and a bunch more. Check the Deerhunter blog for a new micromix and Virtual 7'' from Atlas Sound.


It's been four years since the last Eels album, and in that time the band created a new concept album all about desire. Here's a bit of info found at their official website:

"Hombre Lobo features twelve songs from the point of view of a hirsute man enraptured by the beauty of his muse, and frustrated by his desires. Sometimes our anti-hero is melancholic, wishing only for a look his way, other times his instincts overtake him with bloodcurdling howls, and sometimes he can only celebrate the infinite beauty he desires."

As he sings in the song "My Timing Is Off":

Believe it or not
We Don't have a choice in matters of the heart
Just gotta be brave enough
To love and let yourself be loved

• Eels - "My Timing Is Off"
  

Here's a groovy new Black Lips single from the Sub Pop Singles Club 3.0. I think I like "Disconnection" more than anything on their newest album, 200 Million Thousand.

• Black Lips - "Disconnection"
• myspace.com/theblacklips

Here's some Krautrock-n-roll from the London-based duo Higamos Hogamos, already infamous for their former incarnations as Black Neon, Squire Of Somerton and Fort Lauderdale. I'm told this is a band that creates "the unholy union of analogue synthesizers and the sexual exuberance of 70’s rock n’ roll...that somehow naturally fits into the weirdest end of the English psychedelic tradition."

• Higamos Hogamos - "Black Forest Gateaux"
• myspace.com/higamoshogamos
  

Austin hard rockers Lions recently supplied a cover of Dylan's "Girl from the North Country" for the FX series Sons of Anarchy. Later this month they will begin recording the follow-up to "No Generation" before touring coast to coast this summer. They'll have a tour kick-off show at Emo's on June 12th with Ume.

• Lions - "Girl from the North Country"
• myspace.com/lionstheband

Fun facts:

"The song was written following his first trip to England in December, 1962, upon what he thought to be the completion of his second album. The song is a tribute to a former girlfriend, Echo Helstrom who Dylan knew before leaving for New York. Dylan left England for Italy to search for his then-girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, whose continuation of studies there had caused a serious rift in their relationship.

Unbeknownst to Dylan, Rotolo had already returned to the United States, leaving about the same time that Dylan arrived in Italy. It was here that he finished the song, ostensibly inspired by the apparent end of his relationship with Rotolo. Upon his return to New York in mid-January, he convinced Rotolo to get back together, and to move back into his apartment on 4th Street. Suze Rotolo is the woman featured on the album cover, walking arm in arm with Dylan down Jones Street, not far from their apartment."

TV on the Radio is playing Stubb's on Saturday, and you don't want to miss it. I saw them play Stubb's last year and left the show in awe, deciding right then and there that TV on the Radio is surely one of the best bands in America. If nothing else you can see a large group people simultaneously geek out when "Wolf Like Me" is played. I will definitely be one of them.

This show will sell out, so pick up a ticket right now unless you want to deal with some hygiene-challenged scalper outside of the venue.

• TV on the Radio - "DLZ"
• tvontheradio.com

Also...back on Feb 19th we mentioned the "Dark Was The Night" charity album. Hopefully you heeded our advice and picked that up, because if you haven't heard the Sufjan Stevens track you're only cheating yourself. Seriously, it's really, really sweet. If you still haven't checked it out then you also missed Dave Sitek (of TV on the Radio) providing a cover of the Troggs' "With A Girl Like You." Have a listen:

• Dave Sitek - "With a Girl Like You"
• www.darkwasthenight.com

Following their 2007 debut full-length Hymns for a Dark Horse, Bowerbirds now offer the first glimpse into their sophomore album, Upper Air. "Northern Lights" sees the Raleigh, N.C. trio further expand on their minimal folk approach with subtle hints of Blues, Country and Americana. The album will be released July 7th on Dead Oceans, and the band will make a few stops in Texas on their summer tour.

• Bowerbirds - "Northern Lights"

• 08/12/09 Denton, TX - Hailey's
• 08/13/09 Austin, TX - The Mohawk (tickets)
  
• 08/14/09 Houston, TX - Walter's On Washington

From the label:

"Everyone struggles when they try to describe this music, including us, but we’ll try: it has the spirit of Richard and Linda Thompson, the currency of Devendra Banhart, the addictively sweet melodicism of Iron & Wine, but it churns with an underlying energy closer to a Beirut or something farther out, more raw, more wild. The songs don’t hide behind the instrumentation, the deontological conviction, or, frankly, anything; and that is what makes Upper Air undeniable, simple, and breathtaking."

• bowerbirds.org
  

Here's a couple of news bits and random remixes I found in the inbox:

• Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp will perform at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock on August 4th. Tickets go on sale May 16th.

• Blondie will play the Austin Music Hall on August 20th. Tickets are on sale now.

• NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams interviews Deer Tick, sadly calls the new series "BriTunes." (I liked them first.)

• Photos from the Brew B Que at Waterloo Park.

• The Austin Chronicle announces Sound Wars, a two-month digital battle of Austin bands.

• Passion Pit - Little Secrets (LehtMoJoe Remix) (at Emo's 6/3)
  

• Royksopp - Happy Up Here (Holy Fuck Re-Interpretation)

• La Roux - In For The Kill (Clash The Disko Kids Remix)

• Fischerspooner - We Are Electric (Hot Chip Remix)

I'm pretty hooked on Wooden Shjips right about now. They come from California, and they jam like its the last day of 1969. I put their self-titled album on my list of "dark horses" from 2007, but I don't see their new album falling anywhere outside of my Top 10 for 2009. I talked about "Dos" over a month ago and still haven't been able to stop spinning it.

Psychedelic to the core, Dos is chock full of delicious drones and groovy organ loops that seem like they could jam into eternity. "Aquarian Time" is the one song I keep going back to, where "a steady plink of keys blipping like bright satellites in dark space accents blissed-out sludge."

• Wooden Shjips - "Aquarian Time"

Dos certainly isn't an album for everyone, as this review says it's "a kind of blues that's got three chords but only really bothers with the first, a maddening, seductive LP subscribing to a view of rock as a sort of esoteric cult of transcendence decipherable only by the privileged few." If you're into it, check out their live stuff, the Neil Young cover, and pick up their records at Holy Mountain.

• Wooden Shjips - "Vampire Blues" (Neil Young)
• myspace.com/woodenshjips

Regardless of the fact that the album was first released in 1970, and I didn't discover the 2008 reissue until January, Rodriguez's Cold Fact is one of my favorite albums of 2009. I just tried out the follow-up reissue Coming From Reality, which also arrived via Light in the Attic, but it's not nearly as good.

Cold Fact became a cult favorite in Australia and New Zealand almost a decade after its release, then again in the late '90s in Africa, and finally in the Unites States over the past year or so. Rodriguez has been playing some high profile shows since returning to touring, with upcoming gigs in Paris, Rome, London, and a slot at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October.

He also recently stopped by the Daytrotter studio, who had this to say:

"The two albums that Rodriguez taped back in the mid-60s – “Cold Fact” and “Coming From Reality,” both re-issued on Seattle’s Light In The Attic Records over the past two years – are full of the kinds of idiosyncratic details that have become the man’s general thematic discourse, the colorful tapestry of mind-bending, mood-altering drug effects, a stilted distrust of the government, warnings of the abuse of substances, an amazement with the feelings that can come from rock and roll music and a handle on the peculiarities of different people that’s keen and cool."

Check out one song from the session below, go here for the rest, and hit up LITA for more all-around info.

• Rodriguez - "Inner City Blues"

Tonight there's a town hall meeting at Emo's with Brewster McCracken and local entertainment folk where they will discuss some of the current issues surrounding the Austin music scene. Did someone say noise ordinance? Zookeeper and DJ Mel perform along with others. Free. Info is here.

Thursday:

• White White Lights at the Mohawk
• Flight of the Conchords at Bass Concert Hall

Friday:

• Brazos ACL Stage Left taping - free with RSVP
• Birds Barbershop party with Astronautalis and Neiliyo - free
  
• Bill Callahan in-store at Waterloo Records - free 5pm
• Black Joe Lewis at Emo's
• Toadies at Stubb's

Saturday:

• Glass Candy at the Mohawk with Learning Secrets
• Three 6 Mafia at the Austin Music Hall
• Hacienda with Grupo Fantasma at Antones
• Supersuckers, Mother Truckers at the Texas Brew-B-Que
  
• Reverend Horton Heat at the Texas Rockabilly Revival

Sunday:

• Afroman at Aces Lounge

For your ears:

• Brazos - Live on WOXY
• Bill Callahan - "Sycamore"
  
• Glass Candy - "Rolling Down The Hills"

After we first mentioned the new Bat for Lashes album Two Suns I haven't been able to put it down. I'm not a huge Kings of Leon fan anymore, but I wouldn't put myself on the bus of people hating them nowadays. So when I ran across a cover she did of their "Use Somebody" track, I was pretty interested. This song was recorded during a BBC Live Lounge session, check it out.