Just Rolled In: Redspencer - "Ride It Out" and "Happy Slow Riverbends" [jangle pop / indie rock / lo-fi]

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Based in Melbourne but originally from New South Wales, the jangly indie rock trio Redspencer have shared two catchy singles this month in anticipation of the June 1st release of their debut EP.

The first single, "Happy Slow Riverbends", is the sunnier of the two and gives off a sort of Darwin Deez or Spoon vibe with its bouncy rhythm, punchy guitar riffs, and distorted vocals, while the newest single, "Ride It Out", is a more introspective cut, allowing the restless guitars to do most of the talking, much like summery guitar-pop poster boys Real Estate and Mac DeMarco.

Stream Redspencer's two new singles below and be sure to buy the debut EP coming out June 1st via Deaf Ambitions! And if you're in Melbourne, hit up their EP launch show at Bar Open on Friday, June 5th with Tourist Dollars and Head Clouds.

Swell Album: Gibberish - 'Winter Coat' [psych pop / indie rock / experimental]

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Released just after the turn of the year, Winter Coat is the beaming debut album by Fayetteville, Arkansas psychedelic duo Gibberish, a.k.a. married couple Derek and Lorie Bromley. They started writing music together under the moniker 'monsterheart' last year but were recently forced to change their name, deciding on 'Gibberish' a couple months ago, just before the release of the self-produced and self-released Winter Coat. Considering that the Bromleys had only been performing live for audiences for just over two months at the time their debut effort hit the proverbial shelves, it shows that they are wasting no time in establishing Gibberish as a force to reckon with in this ever-expanding world of independent music.

With only one song coming in under the five-minute mark, this gem of a record pushes along for a solid 45 minutes, relentlessly charming the listener with its penchant for lustrous melody, abstract soundscapes, and spacey ambience. Winter Coat is a psychedelic concoction of organic instruments, electronic embellishments, and reverb-heavy vocals carefully thrown together with plenty of loops and effects via lo-fi-leaning production techniques. By listening to its eight individually diverse tracks, I was able to draw some comparisons to Animal Collective, Atlas Sound, Gauntlet Hair, and Youth Lagoon, but when asked about Gibberish's influences, this is what Derek had to say:

Our influences vary, but lately we've really been getting into Morgan Delt, Viet Cong, and Cant. We've also been listening to a lot of ambient, space-hop type stuff (or whatever you call it) like, Shlohmo, Balam Acab, Gold Panda and Teebs. When I first started really getting into music as a teenager, Radiohead was the gate-way drug that led to what's probably our "main" musical influences like – Animal Collective, Pavement, Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Beck, The Flaming Lips, Sigur Ros, Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear, Menomena, Chad VanGaalen, Modest Mouse, Portishead, Broadcast, etc... 

Stream Winter Coat in its entirety below and hit up Gibberish's BandCamp page to download it on a pay-what-you-want basis.

holaTUBE: Mac DeMarco - "Passing Out Pieces" [jizz jazz / indie rock / experimental]

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During an interview with Exclaim! Magazine around the time of the release of his sophomore effort entitled 2, Mac DeMarco, Canada's most interesting export, was asked how dedicated he was to making 'jizz jazz' a legitimate subgenre, to which he replies, "I'm going to pump the world's ass full of jizz jazz." Much like that record, his third release Salad Days is filled with sleazy minimal lo-fi rock'n'roll gems that could be more easily labeled as 'jizz jazz'. Wondering what the hell is going on in DeMarco's new video for the synth-ridden "Passing Out Pieces"? Well, I think he made it perfectly clear: He's pumping your ass full of jizz jazz. Enjoy!

If you found that interesting in any way and want to see more of Mr. DeMarco, I recommend you check out "Pepperoni Playboy" below. If you have half an hour to kill, that is.

Just Rolled In: SALES - "Chinese New Year" [indie pop / electronic / lo-fi]

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Since we last checked in with Orlando, Florida's endearing indie pop duo SALES about eight months ago, they have released a handful of catchy tracks on their SoundCloud and expanded their fan base considerably. On their fifth single "Chinese New Year", SALES continue their minimal sound but kick the tempo up a few notches, resulting in a tender indie pop song that recalls the clarity and candor of The Drums while preserving their originality thanks to Lauren Morgan's indelibly sweet voice and Jordan Shih's less-is-more approach to electronic production.

Stream "Chinese New Year" below along with four other beautiful SALES tracks.

Swell EP: His Clancyness - Charade EP [indie rock / dream pop / psychedelic]

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Born in Ottawa, Canada but living in Bologna, Italy, Jonathan Clancy, who plays in A Classic Education and has made solo recordings as His Clancyness for a few years but now has a full band, has recently signed to Brighton/Brooklyn label Fat Cat Records, which will release his band's debut album Vicious in the fall. Lucky for us, Fat Cat put out the Charade EP cassette (also available digitally) a few weeks ago, which gives us a couple tastes of that upcoming full-length on one side, and on the other, four of Clancy's dreamy songs from his previous bedroom recordings.

All six songs on the EP are outstanding, exploring the sounds of indie rock, lo-fi, psychedelia, and dream pop. The new single "Machines" sounds a lot like psychedelic indie rockers The War on Drugs and lead-off track "Safe Around The Edges" leans toward the indie pop of Say Hi. Although certainly not on purpose, I can't help but liken his voice to a more subdued and mature Darwin Deez. Upon listening to the other 4 tracks, some other musical similarities that come to mind are Kurt Vile, Deerhunter, Ariel Pink, and Lower Dens.

Listen to the latter five tracks of the Charade EP below and get your beautiful hands on the cassette and a digital download here. Look out for His Clancyness's Fat Cat Records debut album Vicious on October 7!

Artist Making Waves: Wampire [indie rock / synthpop / lo-fi]

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Complete with organs, tape hiss, lo-fi vocals, and an overall spookiness, Portland, Oregon's Wampire live up to their horror film-inspired name while nodding proudly to their precursors, Ariel Pink and John Maus. The duo recently signed to Polyvinyl Records, home to Portland pals STRFKR and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and is set to release their debut album Curiosity on May 14, which, excitingly enough, was produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra's bassist, Jake Portrait, who rubbed off some of UMO's sound in the process. One half of Wampire, Eric Phipps, describes the record as "a platter with an assortment of sounds", so if you're curious, have a listen below for a few different tastes off that platter.