First base wins first place (in our hearts)

In the past couple of years, there has been a sudden influx of bands mixing bubblegum pop with fuzzed-out noise rock, including Wavves, Vivian Girls, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

First Base, an anonymous one-man band from Ontario, has received none of the publicity of the bands listed above, but his sugary lo-fi pop is just as infectious. Recorded using the most rudimentary methods (Windows Sound Recorder), First Base juxtaposes dirty electric guitars against goofy toy keyboards and then cranks the volume until it all distorts. The lyrics are rendered almost indecipherable by thick vocal harmonies, which bring to mind the Beach Boys run through a fuzzy PA system. There’s even a dash of rockabilly thrown in for good measure; it might be called the blues, if only it weren’t so euphorically happy.

The band does not yet have an album, but released a cassette single through Pizza Party Records, which promply sold out. The MySpace tunes are updated regularly, so check back frequently to hear the latest. Especially make sure to listen to “First Base,” a perfect summer pop song with a driving electronic drumbeat doubtless culled from a cheap keyboard’s pre-set beats. As much as I love Belle & Sebastian, this is the best eponymously-titled song I’ve ever heard.

Bathed my heels in Jasper

That picture isn’t a placeholder—it’s the actual artwork of Pre-Release EP by the Victoria-based singer-songwriter Aidan Knight. He plays guitar in the power pop quintet Maurice, and as a solo artist he has released a series of low key mini-EPs through his website. The latest, Pre-Release EP, was posted in January of this year, and it is the best of the bunch. As the title and artwork suggest, it’s not intended as a stand-alone work, but is a teaser for his forthcoming (as-yet-untitled) debut full-length.

“Jasper” follows a traditional folk blueprint, with simple three-chord strumming, lap steel guitar, and banjo arpeggios. It’s the kind of tune that could have been written any time in the last 50 years, sounding timeless without pretension—don’t worry, there’s no faux-Southern twang here. The lyrics, which describe bathing in a river to be reborn, presumably refer to Jasper National Park in Alberta. Given the resolute secularism of most modern indie music, it’s tempting to read the song as a celebration of communion with nature; still, it’s tough to ignore the biblical implications of lines such as “What a relief to see all your sins absolved.”

“Knitting Something Nice for You,” the second of the EP’s two tracks, takes things into a more experimental direction. Beginning with sparse acoustic plucking and synthesizer drones, the song soon swells to a chorus of densely layered vocals. Halfway through, it unexpectedly changes completely, with the sudden entrance of keyboards and drums. Even though the chord progression remains constant, it’s not until the reentrance of the vocal line that it even sounds like the same song. This ultimately gives way to an experimental noise outro, as the final 45 seconds are made up of static swells and sampled vocal loops.

Based on Knight’s written description of the EP, the songs on Pre-Release are rough mixes of tracks that will appear on the upcoming full-length. There are no other concrete details offered regarding the LP, but these songs provide a compelling reason to keep checking back for updates. The EP is available from Aidan’s website as a free 128k download, with 320k files being offered for a donation.

A back-to-school gift (six months belated)

Prairie Cat writes cutesy, twee pop songs, but his deadpan delivery prevents them from ever sounding silly or disposable. Even when singing quirky tunes like “Grumpy Forever” and “Trust Don’t Rust,” Prairie Cat (whose real name is Cary Pratt – get it?) always comes off like the straight man. I was a big fan of his debut EP, 2007’s Attacks!, but I hadn’t heard much of him since then, given his limited touring schedule.

I’m not sure how I missed it, but Prairie Cat released a free back-to-school EP last fall, bundling two new songs from his forthcoming album. The mini-collection is called Summer’s Done, and it includes the bouncy piano pop ditty “Just Cuz” and the shimmering, synth-driven “It Began/Ended with Sparks.” Both songs concern a break-up, but neither one sounds too bummed out about it; “It Began/Ended with Sparks” in particular features a campy but surprisingly sweet dialogue between a boy and girl as they bring their relationship to an amicable conclusion (“I never wanted to leave you”).

Download: Summer’s Done

There’s also a slightly creepy video for “Just Cuz,” featuring a many-limbed Cary Pratt playing piano, drums, and trumpet at the same time, while still having a hand free to feed himself what looks like a Twinkie.

There are no concrete details about the upcoming album other than that it will be released this fall via Fuzzy Logic Recordings, and a Canadian tour will follow.

Pop goes punk

When Pop Levi released his debut full-length, The Return to Form Black Magick Party, in 2007, he was a mop-topped retro-rocker with a penchant for T. Rex and psychedelic backmasking. Then, just a year later, he reinvented his sound with the funk-infused follow-up Never Never Love, coming off a bit like Prince by way of Scissor Sisters.

Clearly not one to stay stagnant for long, Pop Levi is issuing a new double A-side single, bundling “Police $ign” and “Terrifying (for Kenneth Anger).” Predictably, the single is nothing like anything he’s done before, this time drawing on the scuzzy garage blues of MC5 and the Stooges. The punkish sneer of “Police $ign” makes it the obvious choice for radio, with its slashing guitar chords and Casablancas-inspired vocal distortion. “Terrifying” is only marginally less vitriolic, with a lumbering, Zeppelinesque riff and high, yelping vocals.

Even through it’s new territory for Levi personally, it’s nevertheless a very familiar sound, especially in the wake of the garage rock revival of the early ’00s. Still, you’ve got to admire an artist as restless as Levi—by the time he gets around to his third LP, he’ll probably have gone through another stylistic overhaul.

The single is due out on Counter Records, although no release date has been confirmed. In the meantime, you can listen to both tracks on Pop Levi’s MySpace.

Toffee with your Vicodin

For all of the fuzzed-out guitar noise, there’s something delightfully twee about the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Part of it is the band name, which has a wounded religiosity pulled straight from the Belle & Sebastian book of tricks (If You’re Feeling Sinister anyone?). And part of it is the track-listing to the group’s self-titled debut album, which contains schlocky puns (“The Tenure Itch”) and ’50s doo-wop send-ups (“A Teenager in Love”). But mostly, it’s the music itself that makes the New York four-piece so damn cute. Case in point: the new single “Young Adult Friction.” Unlike the fuzzy shoegaze of much of the band’s material, this song is pure Britpop jangle; with its dreamy reverb and sugary melodies, it could almost be “There She Goes” by the La’s. Like everything the group does, the tune has a hazy, nostalgic quality, so here’s hoping the band makes a sun-bleached Super-8 video to go along with it.

Download: “Young Adult Friction”

“Young Adult Friction” will be released on 7″ on March 31 via Slumberland. It can also be found on the group’s self-titled album, which was released last month.

I think it’s German for “The Wanderlust”

I don’t recall ever being so genuinely terrified of a singer as I am of Laura Simmons from the group Das Wanderlust. Hailing from Middlesborough, England, her voice is high and girlish, and inflected with a thick northern accent. During low-key moments she sounds pleasant and tuneful, with just the slightest trace of tension to upset the prettiness. But when the band erupts – as it does on nearly every song – her voice becomes suddenly manic, with squeals and yelps that sound genuinely unhinged. Rather than releasing the tension, these screams have a quivering anxiety that only builds the sense of uneasiness. What makes it so truly frightening is that no matter how crazy she gets, Simmons never loses that girlish quality in her voice. It’s the same thing that makes young children so effective in horror movies – nothing is more sinister than tainted innocence.

The band’s instrumental arrangements are fittingly twisted, with goofy keyboards set against jagged guitars and explosions of drums. It’s a juxtaposition of cutesiness and abrasiveness that is something like the auditory equivalent to Happy Tree Friends.

The single “Puzzle” is a noisy highlight, beginning with dissonant pounding and wordless hollering that sets an ominous tone for the song’s (comparatively) quiet middle movement. But in the song’s final moments, it becomes unexpectedly tuneful, with a propulsive beat and upward-reaching keyboard arpeggios that are as close as the band ever gets to catharsis.

“Turn to Grey” is the band’s gentlest moment, and despite its chorus of “I’m filled with disappointment,” it’s genuinely beautiful. Based around piano and glockenspiel, it features no guitar and only minimal percussion. Given the rest of the band’s material, it sounds like it could blow up at any moment; it never does however, settling for an sped-up version of the chorus as its understated climax.

The band has released several 7″ singles (including “Puzzle”), some of which are available digitally through iTunes. The group’s debut full-length, Horses for Courses, will be officially released on May 18 (although it will be sold at shows prior to that).

Because one supergroup is not enough

Both of Jack White’s bands have experienced a decline in quality on recent albums – Icky Thump (the White Stripes) and Consolers of the Lonely (the Raconteurs) lacked the fire of White’s early work, with hyper-compressed guitars and gimmicky arrangements. But you’ve got to admire him for not beating a dead horse. Less than three weeks after the White Stripes reunited to perform on the final episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brian, Jack White has announced his new band, the Dead Weather. This time around, White is playing drums, forfeiting lead vocal duties to Alison Moshart of the Kills. Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs and the Greenhornes is the bassist, while Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age rounds out the lineup on guitar.

The band debuted at a private party in Nashville, where guests were handed a limited edition 7″ of the single “Hang You From the Heavens.” It’s not exactly a song for the ages, and it can’t quite match when the Raconteurs stormed out of the gate with “Steady, As She Goes.” Still, it’s a rocking tune, with fuzzed-out bass and a jolting stop-start chorus. Even though Jack White is ostensibly taking a back seat in the Dead Weather, it’s hard not to hear his mark all over this one – especially since it bears a strong similarity to the Raconteurs’ “These Stones Will Shout.”

For us plebs not cool enough to be at the performance, the single can be purchased on iTunes along with the b-side, a cover of Gary Numan’s “Are Friends Electric?” The band will release its debut full-length, Horehound, in June via White’s own Third Man Records. (Incidentally, horehound is a type of plant, not to be confused with whorehound.)