Saturday, November 6, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

big kids - hoop dreams

big kids' debut full length, hoop dreams, is one of the best albums of the year. hailing from oakland, california this band has a guaranteed place in my top ten if not top five favorite albums of the year. i immediately fell in love with this band upon first listen. there is something very positive about their sound that i don't know how to describe. before i got the album i just listened to the three songs they have on their myspace on repeat for weeks. lyrically this album is very hopeful. in 'parents are still a handful' jason sings "this time we'll do it right," with a constant look to the future without ignoring the present. the back and forth between both vocalists is perfect - i love it. my only complaint with the album is that it's too short. it's only eight songs long, one of which is instrumental. but because it's so short i just keep listening to it on repeat. it's by far the best debut i've heard from any band in recent memory; a perfect introduction. it's currently out of print on cassette from mountain man records which is a bummer because the packaging alone on the release is worth it. this label is currently one of my favorites, and lucky for you i think they're repressing it. they're also releasing a split 7" between big kids and koalacaust which should be awesome. the vinyl version of hoop dreams can be purchased from top shelf records.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

crystal antlers - summer solstice


the new crystal antlers song sounds awesome. i love the new direction. they are one of my favorite local bands (one of the few that made not feel so embarrassed about being from orange county), and i have been following them for what seems like forever now after seeing them play with bronco tatonka at the santa fe cafe years ago, i wound up buying their first 7". their newest 7" was the first record i ever reviewed for this site, and i'm really stoked that they're still making music. got this email from them today seeing that i'm on their mailing list. here is what it said:

Hey there friends,

It's been a while since we've last reached out. We went to Mexico early in the year and spent a little over a month in a barn writing new songs for our second record. When we got back we decided to premiere 3 of those songs with Room 205, our friends practice space hosted by Incase.

Take a minute and check it out the first of them here:

http://goincase.com/room205/crystal-antlers/summer-solstice/

This song is titled Summer Solstice. The songs Knee Deep and Seance will be posted to the site on Nov. 8th and Nov. 15th.

We're currently mixing the record and making some decisions on how best to release it. Sadly, Touch and Go Records, our brief home, has shut it's doors for good and will not be involved this time around.

Hope you like the song and make sure to check back on the site or follow us on twitter to catch the other two when the premiere.

Twitter: @crystalantlers
www.crystalantlers.com (new site coming December 2010)
our email: crystalantlers@gmail.com

Thank you to Michael Videothing for the visuals and to you for listening/watching.

CA