Tennis Is Carried By an Incredible Voice

• Tennis - Cape Dory (Fat Possum) [MySpace]



Cape Dory - Download here

• What a voice. It sounds like The Sundays never died; they just went into hibernation, listened to all the best music ever made and returned as an even cooler pop band.
• Light on the noise, but it still sounds like minimalist noise pop to me. Very inspired by '60s bubble gum of the sha-la-la variety, and it really works.
• This boy/girl duo from Denver is returning from the UK this weekend to continue their tour stateside. They have a pretty impressive tour schedule that extends into mid-March.
• Yeah, and apparently they're sailors, but you can read about that anywhere.
• The last band I heard with a voice like this was Cryptacize, last year. This is a different style of pop, but it's the same kind of shock knowing that girl's voice is the major reason you like this band.

I think my favorite track on this album is the title track. All the tracks are pretty short, and this is the shortest at just over two minutes. And it has a pretty cool video.

Tennis - "Cape Dory" (Cape Dory; 1/18/2011)

Smith Westerns Take On the World Like Grown-Ups

• Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum) [Blogspot]



Dye It Blonde - Download here

• Four young men from Chicago, including a pair of brothers, making hi-fi noise pop that is happy, confident and easygoing. Just enough keyboard in the background. 
• Pretty great. Can't really find anything wrong with it, but it's not for your tough moods. Can definitely brighten your day, though.
• Their second full-length, and a very impressive release. These kids could go really far.
• Kind of a country feel, and yet sounds like a full choir  at some point in nearly every track. Masterfully orchestrated. A true feel-good record.
• Engineered by Chris Coady (TV on the Radio, Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
• Streamable at NPR's site here.
• Currently on a long tour of the U.S. SW is a true American band, and they probably deserve your attention. Hopefully they won't wear everybody out with too much promotion.

This here track is just too much. Wow.

Smith Westerns - "Still New" (Dye It Blonde; 1/18/2011)

Ducktails Inspires Me to Go Fishin'

I'm a little overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to blog about all the noise pop being released just today! But I'll do the best I can as I can get to it.

But first...here's a picture I took of Cloud Nothings at The Basement in Columbus Friday night. 

Their leader, Dylan Baldi, should really keep these guys around. The drummer was particularly amazing and really brought CN's songs alive. I was ecstatic and bought some old tape from Baldi that sounds like chillwave, I guess.


You can hear my favorite CN song, "Should Have", on my radio show, in the sidebar to your right.

Anyway, back to new releases. I suppose I'll start with Ducktails.

• Ducktails - Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (Woodsist) [alexphelan.com/ducktails]



Arcade Dynamics -
Download here

• One-man band Matthew Mondanile, also of the band Real Estate, presents his, um, third full-length solo album (I'm guessing from the title).
• This is bedroom pop that not only sounds homemade but also makes you feel at home. Not lazy, but not quite ready to face the day, either. If you can imagine noise pop for goin' fishin', this is it. It's not all that noisy, really, though, but appropriately lo-fi.
• He finally moved out of his parents' house exactly one month ago and is preparing his own record label called New Images.

Here's one of my favorite tracks from the album.


Ducktails - "Killin' the Vibe" (Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics; 1/18/2011)

MINKS Are Fun For '80s Children

• MINKS – By the Hedge (Captured Tracks) [Blogspot]



By the Hedge -
Download here

• New York boy/girl duo, though they play with as many as four other people on stage. Not a lot known about them so far.
• The whole album has kind of an '80s goth-pop vibe to it. Fans of The Cure are sure to like it, though the vocals are laid back, sometimes more Bob Dylan than Robert Smith.
• Nice use of female backup vocals on many tracks.
• High-quality recording that many music fans will eat up. And I like it, too.
• Touring the U.S. this spring with Dum Dum Girls and Dirty Beaches. Maybe some of the mystery will go away then.

Here they are playing one of the album's singles at Glasslands a few weeks ago.

MINKS - "Funeral Song" (Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn; 11/21/2010)

The Return of the 8-Tracks Fierce Radio Show

It's 1/11/11, and that means it's time for the monthly radio show to make a comeback! Incredibly, the old 8-Tracks Fierce show has been in the top 20 alternative music podcasts at PodOmatic.com for the past few months, and with its new format and higher audio quality (thank you, Jesus Geek!), I'm hoping it will climb into the top 10 very quickly.

The new show features eight all-new noise-pop and noise-punk tracks from all over the scene. All of this music is coming out in the next couple of weeks, and some is available today. And here it is:

8-Tracks Fierce - January

The show will always be streamable in the sidebar to the right. You can add it to your iPod at my PodOmatic page. If you use something other than an iPod, you can download the MP3 using this link.

The track list for January

Disappears - Guider -
Download here

Me You Us Them - "Research" (from the 7" vinyl split with Bloody Knives, out 1/2011 on Triple Down/Kill Red Rocket)

Porcelain Raft - "Dragonfly" (from the Ghosts of the Perfect Language cassette, out 1/2011 on Sixteen Tambourines)

Disappears - "Guider" (from the album Guider, out 1/17/2011 on Kranky)

Tape Deck Mountain - "P.I." (from the Secret Serf EP, out today on Lefse)

Cloud Nothings - S/T -
Download here

Mike Adams At His Honest Weight - "Bad Weather" (from the album Oscillate Wisely, out 1/25 on St. Ives/Flannelgraph)

Beach Fossils - "Calyer" (from the 7" single, out today [supposedly] on Captured Tracks; also the What a Pleasure EP, out 2/22)

Cloud Nothings - "Should Have" (from the album Cloud Nothings, out 1/24 on Wichita and 1/25 on Carpark)

Young Prisms - "Breathless" (from the album Friends For Now, out 1/25 on Kanine)

Bama's Nightmare Waterfall Rocks My Fanny

• Nightmare Waterfall - S/T EP (self-released) [MySpace]



Nightmare Waterfall EP-
 Download here

• A great noise-punk duo from Birmingham, AL. Toured the East Coast with Auburn's surf rockers Man or Astroman? this past fall.
• They put their free, self-titled EP on MediaFire at my request last night. So I promised I'd tell everyone about them. Uh-oh, am I their agent now? 
• Sounds like they may have produced the tracks themselves, but you know I respect that. Very much. The music industry is becoming less and less useful, and I love that. Sorry about all those jobs...you can blame Al Gore and his blasted Internet.
• Not sure when NMWF put these songs on MySpace and Last.fm, but they weren't downloadable until now. You're welcome. 
• It's very noisy and quite brilliant. Hold on to your hats.

Check out this track [I got the title wrong on the video--sorry]. Pretty amazing.

Nightmare Waterfall - "Nightfall Waterfall" (Nightmare Waterfall EP, ca. 2010)

Wait Fer It

The noise-pop world has been quiet lately, but it's about to burst wide open. January is going to see so much great new noise pop that holes may open up in the ocean floor. Pretty sure I heard that on the news or something. Have no fear, 8-Tracks Fierce will be here to cover all the new releases, starting next Tuesday with so much new stuff, you won't believe your ears.


Along with new tunes for you to read about, stream and download, my podcast will also return on Tuesday. Unlike previous episodes, the rebooted 8-Tracks Fierce podcast will be all new noise pop/punk, and there's plenty to dish out. We'll definitely hear from Me You Us Them (hi guys), and we'll also check out new stuff from Beach Fossils and Young Prisms along with more artists from even further underground. It's gonna be a heckuva show. And hopefully the sound quality will be better than it was previously.


So join me right here next Tuesday, 1/11/11, for eight new tracks you won't want to miss, along with commentary from yours truly. See you then!