Swell Album: Triptides - Azur [psychedelic rock / indie pop / surf]

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Los Angeles's new residents Triptides have come a long way from the bedrooms of founding members (and primary songwriters) Glenn Brigman and Josh Menashe in Bloomington, Indiana. They have since transformed into a four-piece and have been steadily pushing out recordings for almost five years now. The psychedelic guitar pop band's most recent LP and followup to last year's Colors EP is Azur, which came out July 10 via Requiem Pour Un Twister.

As you may have gathered from the band's name and album art, Azur is a very warm, summery listening experience, but it shouldn't be limited to that. Although Triptides' intricate guitars and overall breezy vibe may recall current bands like Real Estate at times, it's their effortless ability to fuse 60s-influenced psychedelic, surf, and pop melodies together into fresh, memorable songs that makes them irreplaceable.

Considering the balance that the guys of Triptides have crafted between upbeat guitar pop songs and more relaxed psychedelic tunes on Azur, it's clear that they are more than just a one-trick pony hoping to get one of their sunny tracks lost amongst the uniformity of someone's Summer '15 playlist. Azur is an impressive album front to back and deserves to be listened to in full, no matter the season.

Grab yourself a copy of Azur here and check out the excellent singles "Wake", "Dark Side", "Hideout", and "Where You Are" below!

Just Rolled In: Sans Parents - "Loose People" [indie rock / garage pop]

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Yet another new project rising from the ashes of the breakup of the beloved Australian indie pop band Hungry Kids of Hungary (see Rolls Bayce and Born Joy Dead), Sans Parents have just released  "Loose People", their second single as a band.  The four-piece is made up of two ex-Hungry Kids, Kane Mazlin (vocals/keys) and Ryan Strathie (drums), as well as former HKOH touring member Alex Bennison (lead vocals/guitar) and Babaganoüj/ex-Yves Klein Blue member Charles Sale (bass). They debuted their first single, "Coming Back To You", last November before Sale had joined. That 2-minute aggressive garage pop jam is followed by "Loose People", another short and catchy song that sounds kind of like the 90s indie rock equivalent to Paul Simon's "Kodachrome", filled to the brim with breezy guitar hooks and irresistible vocal melodies. Seeing as they're two for two so far, you can add Sans Parents to that list of up-and-coming Australian bands that churn out nothing but instantly appealing pop greatness.

Stream "Loose People" and "Coming Back To You" below.

Swell Album: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Oddments [garage / psychedelic / soul]

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Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have just released their fourth LP, Oddments, in as little as eighteen months. The most impressive part is that each album successfully pulls off something different—the Thee Oh Sees-indebted garage-psych of 12 Bar Bruise, the experimental narrative-led spaghetti western album Eyes Like the Sky, the 60s-influenced psychedelia of Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, and the soulful pysch-pop kaleidoscope of their most recent LP Oddments. Since the first installment of this hyperactive recording series, the Gizz & Liz Wiz have scraped away a good amount of the fuzz signature of any psychedelic garage rock band to let the vocals breathe a bit more and to reveal their more soulful side, making this record the most dynamic and accessible listening experience.

While there's no doubt that garage rockers like Black Lips or Thee Oh Sees have played a part in driving the seven-piece to produce their energetic, and often humorous, brand of psychedelic garage rock, a likening to Unknown Mortal Orchestra is also plausible, especially in the comparably unhurried lo-fi track "Stressin'". The main difference between Oddments and its predecessors is that it doesn't cling too hard to any one idea. Each song brings something different into the mix, leaving us with a melting pot of influences and most importantly, a really fun record, maybe just as fun as saying the band's name—King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

Stream the entire album below or listen to it on their Bandcamp, along with the rest of their discography.