These guys are a band that I’ve come to enjoy recently. Coming off of a win for Best Indie Artist at the 2010 OC Music Awards, and then an April 3rd full-length album release, The New Limb is working it hard to stay ahead of the game.

Referred to by some as “melodic indie rock”, Sounds People Can Hear is definitely an album that deserves hearing from front to back. If you only check out a couple of tracks, you’ll definitely miss out on killer keyboard work, orchestral movements, and harmonies so solid that you could build yet another Yankee Stadium on top of them. Between Joey’s croon, Lauren’s masterful piano/synth work, and Adam and Danilo holding down the rest of the arrangement, you can’t help but feel like that nothing short of the absolute best went into making this album.

The New Limb stands apart from other bands not only by their excellent musicianship, but by the hard work and dedication they put into connecting with their fanbase. From what I hear, it’s not uncommon to show up to a New Limb show to be greeted with cookies or hugs. They’re also active in the local music scene, supporting other artists in their hometown of Costa Mesa, California.

Check out one of my favorite tracks from the album, “Birds and Stuff”:

The New Limb – Birds and Stuff:

This is one of those moments that, as a music journalist, I’ve been personally waiting on for a long time.

I’ve known the guys in CastleLights on a personal level for a while now, and have been a fan of various incarnations of bands that they’ve been in (Leeland and The Blinding, among others). So, when I found out that Aaron Eaves and Jeremiah Wood (a founding member of Leeland) were working together on this project, I knew that it would be something that would blow up in a big way for them.

And, in this line of thought, I’m not alone:

Everyone needs to follow CastleLights. They’re going to be huge! – Stephen Christian, Anberlin

Vocalist Tyler Susaras enlivens you with images of space and the fantastic, deftly drawing parallels to the realm of everyday experience. Soaring choruses collide with multifaceted harmonies in songs that are both driving and iridescent, with melodies that are memorable in their pop spirit. As guitarists, Wood and Susuras each bring a distinctive energy to their songs, playing off of one another in a way that, when coupled with the hard-hitting percussion by Grady Saxman and Aaron Eaves’s heavy basslines, pushes each song into new terrain of velocity and tone. Personally, I’ve found there to be a very European glimmer to the tracks I’ve heard. You can tell they are fans of stadium bands like Coldplay, Muse, and U2, but have kept the sound from being overly pretentious.

Recently, the guys have gotten the opportunity to co-write with some major players in the industry. Knowing (and hearing) the pedigree of songwriting and arrangement this band has, along with help from guys like Joshua Moore (Caedmon’s Call/Derek Webb), and Stephen Christian (Anberlin), it’s going to be one of those albums that gets talked about before it ever gets on the store shelves.

In the near future, you can catch CastleLights at the legendary South By Southwest music week, in a showcase hosted by Connect The Dots (www.ctheds.com) on March 18th, and then they’ll be taking the stage with a recent favorite of mine, Barcelona, in Denton, TX at Andy’s on March 20th.

To finish, I’ll leave you with two singles that, until today, have been previously unreleased. You heard it here first, folks.

Saint Era:

Paint The Stars:

I found a Listmania list on Amazon for the Essential Indie Albums of 2009. Lot of good choices on there (Passion Pit, Dark Was The Night Compilation, Andrew Bird), but also a few that are kind of “meh” in my mind.

Check out the list, and grab a couple for Christmas gifts!

When I first listened to this band, my first though was that they sounded a LOT like Relient K. And, come to find out, it was for good reason, as their latest album was produced by Mark Lee Townsend. Townsend has produced nearly all of Relient K’s material, along with being credited to producing The O.C. Supertones and The Wedding.

Even though they come from the (great?) state of Arkansas, Deas Vail is straightforward indie rock band with a southern California slant. Andy Moore’s guitar work reminds me of bands like Phantom Planet, or even Chris Walla’s guitar work on a older Death Cab For Cutie album.

Vocally, Wes Blaylock doesn’t flirt with falsetto like most front men. He takes it out to a seedy dive bar and then on the way home, he has his way with it. That being said, it would be remiss of me to not mention the keyboards/synth work of Wes’s better half, Laura Blaylock, or the rhythm section comprised of drummer Kelsey Harelson and bassist Justin Froning.

Deas Vail is on an upward momentum, touring with acts like Mae and Owl City over the next few months (and probably coming somewhere near you). You can find the latest album, Birds & Cages, on AmazonMP3, and it’s available starting today.

Classifying themselves as “New Garage”, The Swipes are a German band that have deep roots in the protopunk/garage punk genres. Upon listening to the song Nighthawk, there definitely is a surf rock slant to some their material that surprises you now and then.

Previous incarnations of The Swipes have been fairly successful, being loved by legendary British DJ John Peel, and making frequent appearances at Liverpool’s Cavern Club. They are also currently ranked by Somojo’s Top Rock chart (a major UK music site)

Among bands that they list as influences are The Hives, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Boss Martians, The Von Bondies, and quite a few others. If you’re a fan of ANY of these bands, I think you’ll find The Swipes to be a great addition to the collection.

In popular music, independent music, often generally abbreviated as “indie”, is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing. – Wikipedia

I was having a conversation the other day about where exactly the line is drawn. Sure, it’s easy to say bands like Paper Rival as truly indie. They were unsigned and still made a mark on the genre/industry. On the other hand, you have bands like The Dears who are label mates with Silversun Pickups. Not exactly bargain basement and do-it-yourself.

Leave us a comment, and tell us what your answer to the question “What is indie music?”

Family Of The Year just dropped their new EP, Where’s The Sun on the 22nd.

Now, I’ve known about Family Of The Year for a while now, but when I heard there was actually an EP coming out, needless to say, I was pretty excited. It’s just really good, uncomplicated art. If The Polyphonic Spree slimmed down from 429 members to 5, that’s the kind of music that we’re dealing with here.

Down To The River kicks off the EP with a poppy, acoustic-driven singalong. Handclaps and a shaker really make it feel like you’re sitting around a warm campfire on a crisp night…just having a genuinely good time.

The vocal harmonies really tie together the entire album as a package deal. Summer Girl really highlights the huge vocal sound that Family Of The Year can get, even on such a minimally arranged song.

My most favorite song on the EP, Cast Off, is skillfully fronted by Vanessa Jeanne Long. It’s a sultry, smoky mess that perfectly communicates the pain of the breakup. Vanessa’s vocal grit really piles on the desperation in the song. However, James Buckey’s “barely working Fender Twin”-sounding solo (along with the slide work all throughout) delivers the final blow, pulling the song inescapably into a Reno-dive-bar-I-want-to-drink-until-my-liver-punches-me-in-the-face vibe.

Long story short, you need to get this album. They’re sure to take off in a big way after some of the upcoming shows that are scheduled. They are going to be playing an opening date for Ben Folds and the Boston Pops this weekend (October 2, 2009), and then going on tour with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros shortly thereafter, with dates in California, Tucson, Austin, Dallas, and Birmingham (November 3-9, 2009).

Purchase Where’s The Sun on Amazon or iTunes.

I found this band because they submitted their information on our Contact page. Lucky for us (and you), these guys are making some awesome tracks available for FREE on their website. The Fast Escape is a well-thought out album. From the lo-fi croon of The Welcoming, to the texture-laden build of A Punch To The Nose, it just all works.

It’s rare that you find a full album these days that don’t have at least 1 or 2 tracks tossed in as afterthoughts. Source Victoria’s arrangements reflect a level of compositional maturity that is tough to find these days. Tasteful, in-context solos, laid-back percussion, and using the guitar to build texture versus being the centerpoint of every song makes for an easy listen.

From the Source Victoria MySpace:

Source Victoria, known for its impactful live performances, are favorites among musicians in and around the city, including the likes of Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World, who assisted the band to early accolades and attention with a remix of the song “opportunistic.” Now, working with Grammy-award-winning engineer, Chris Testa, (Dixie Chicks, Jimmy Eat World, Switchfoot) who is mixing source victoria’s new record, the band is poised to move to the next level. Singable pop stuctures and melodies married with thoughtful and evocative lyrics (think coldplay, elbow and wilco mixed with low, elliott smith, and talk talk), source victoria makes what has been described by many as “epic pop.”

If you like what you’ve read so far, check out Source Victoria’s website, and click on the “take the fast escape” link to download The Fast Escape for FREE. You’ll thank me later!

We make music.  We make art.  We do what we do.  If we make an impact- love it or hate it- we’ve done our job.

That’s what Lang Freeman wants you to know about Austin-based alternative rockers Sounds Under Radio. Think you may have heard of them?  That’s because they aren’t new.

In 2007, Sounds Under Radio found themselves as the only unsigned band on the Spiderman 3 soundtrack with Portrait of a Summer Thief: a mainstream-sounding anthem that caught the attention of Sony/Epic, if only for a short time.  Ever a hard-working group of guys,  they signed a deal under a philosophy of indie-do-it-yourself freedom, only to find themselves shelved by label politics.  They quickly bought back the rights to their album, Cinematica, which was released in October, 2008.

Using Cinematica as a womb where bandmates Lang Freeman (vocals, guitar), Bradley Oliver (bass, keyboard), Doug Wilson (guitar), and Sonny Sanchez (drums) could develop their sound and identity as a band, they bred an album rich with poetic, abstract lyrics and smart melodies.

Nobodysomeone opens the album with Freeman’s soaring vocals contrasting against the simplistic rage of the lyrics: I know about the things you said/but hold on to this and bring back the love/I should have known way down.  It closes with a quiet solemnity which builds into a passionate explosion of music that envelopes the listener and causes his heart to share the rhythm of the song in Perfect Machine.  Sounds Under Radio’s live performances only seem to eclipse the brilliance of the debut effort.

Often drawing from fringe artists such as Bjork and Spinnerette, as well as mainstream, well-known musicians such as Radiohead or Coldplay, it isn’t all too surprising to find Sounds Under Radio labeled as “emo,” and that’s not something from which they hide.  Heavy doses of emotion drive their creative process and when their not yet titled sophomore album releases in February 2010, Freeman says that we can expect a darker, angrier, and heavier Sounds Under Radio, where beautiful melodies will collide violently with bigger, more grandiose strokes of that emotion.

Sounds Under Radio will be returning to the stage after some much-needed time off on September 25 in San Antonio.  Later in 2009, be on the look out for early releases from their new album.  Until then, you can find their music in any of the usual places: iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, etc.

Music Video for Sell Out from Cinematica

I was tipped off to Paper Rival as a recommendation based on As Tall As Lions. To me, these guys definitely have a bit of The Album Leaf sound also (which, I’m a huge fan of The Album Leaf).

From Paper Rival’s Last.FM Artist Page:

Paper Rival was an indie rock band formed in late 2005 from Nashville, Tennessee. Originally known as Keating, the band changed its name to Paper Rival in 2007 after a tour in Canada where the band was mistaken for a Canadian band who already possessed the name. In December 2007, Paper Rival was named Spin.com’s “Artist of the Day.” The band released its debut full-length album, Dialog on May 20, 2008. The group cites artists Broken Social Scene, Neutral Milk Hotel and Bruce Cockburn (whose song Pacing the Cage was covered on their 2007 self-titled EP) as musical inspirations.

I am loving the Bruce Cockburn cover, Pacing The Cage, and Home Is Right Out Your Window is really reminiscent of (mostly defunct) The Finalist’s Here With Me.

Which brings me to another point: as of right now, Paper Rival is no longer. However, their music lives on Amazon, so be sure to pick up some tracks for the iPod. Just because a band is long gone, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the music.