Yoofs

Bandcamp is becoming a crowded place. The longer it lives on, the more bands (quite rightly) upload their music to it. But, as we know, most music is pretty rubbish. So when after hours of trawling you stumble upon something even vaguely good, the feeling is euphoric. Of course the risk is that if you find something that is only half-good, in comparison to all the dreadful rap-rock, singer-songwriter folk and nu-rave electro dance, your brain mistakes it as something excellent. Bournemouth's Yoofs (up until very recently going under the name AC SLATER), however, really is very good.

Be skeptical of me and my shattered and musically overloaded brain if you must. I urge you to be skeptical and pessimistic in fact. That way, when you finally get to clicking the play button down at the bottom of this page, you can share in my feelings of joy. Ramshackle, fun, catchy, scruffy pop songs - if there's any justice in the world (thank-you, Lemar) these will 'go somewhere'.

Yoofs - Sidewalk

Yoofs - Good Guyz Make Bad Friendz

Bandcamp | SoundCloud

Holy Fun

Lo-fi garage rock from Texas, I think. If you like this kind of thing you'll like it, if you don't you'll probably hate it. Don't think it needs too much explanation. I like it for it's 'I really couldn't care less' and 'I know these demos are scrappy as fuck but meh' attitude. Yeah.


Holy Fun - Little Girl?


Holy Fun - Weak As Shit

Bandcamp |

New: La La Vasquez

Some new recordings from Brighton all-girl three-piece La La Vasquez... They were ace when I saw them play in Cardiff last year and it looks like they've been pretty busy since; preparing a release for Sex Is Disgusting, and putting out a split with Neonates on onec records. Like I said, they were good when I saw them in Cardiff, but it seems like they've 'upped their game' some more. Listen:

La La Vasquez - Other Side

La La Vasquez - I Will Follow

Facebook | SoundCloud

Michael Christmas

The rain continues to fall during the British summertime, just as bands continue to make lo-fi surf and garage rock tunes - fronted on bandcamp with a hazy image of a beach - that I fail to resist. Again, nothing incredibly original or new from LA Florida act Michael Christmas (who were named Dali Jensen up until about a week ago), but it's just the kind of 'vibe' that I want staring depressingly out of the living room window. And that these (self confessed "sloppy and thrown together") demos were written and recorded by one dude alone, that's pretty impressive, right? New stuff is promised soon but until then listen below, or download a full EP's worth of material for free at bandcamp.


Michael Christmas - Serff Jones


Michael Christmas - Nada one

Bandcamp |

Dolfinz

You know you hear something and immediately get hairs standing up on the back of your neck? Yep, that's how excited I was to stumble upon the SoundCloud of Dolfinz.

Ignore the acoustic guitar, ignore the Slipknot tee, this will give you the entirely wrong impression about the Stonehaven two-piece. There's no dull acoustic strumming, there is nothing anything even close to Slipknot-style screaming or double-base-drum overload. Dolfinz are excellent. Noisy, lo-fi and almost grungy-influenced yet still comfortably lumped in with the rest of the garage rock crowd, they give the slightly tired genre a massive kick - songs thrive through infectious choruses and guitar lines, satisfying and distorted shouts, crashing drums and guitar riffs, and some thoroughly enjoyable lyrics (personal favourite, given their name, being "I've got a blowhole on my head"). Songs are perfectly balanced in pop and rock measure, and have a fresh care-free feel.

Honestly, I am so excited to have found these and I honestly hope they get massive. Listen for yourselves below. Oh, and if you book gigs, let it be known that they'll be touring in August and are looking for some shows. Please book them somewhere near me.

Dolfinz - Coral Reefer

Dolfinz - Blowhole

Dolfinz - So Mean

SoundCloud |

Horses

Abrasive and anti-social bluesy garage rock from Sheffield/Manchester two-piece Horses, who kind of come across as a mixture of Manchester's Brown Brogues and Sheffield's Bhurgeist if you were looking for an easy, lazy comparison. It's scrappy, it's lo-fi, it's good.

Hear more stuff at SoundCloud and catch them live at Sheffield's Tramlines festival in July.

Smile by HORSES

Die tonight by HORSES

Facebook | SoundCloud

Best Friends

Sheffield four-piece Best Friends' lo-fi garage-meets-surf rock racket may be nothing overly original but it's an excellent blend of sounds and perfectly executed also. Distorted vocals, twanging guitar, buzzy bass, crashing drum sounds and the soundtrack to your summer, maybe. Patriotism may largely be a racist's excuse, but it makes me feel a little proud when stuff like this comes out of the UK. Listen below or download the full EP on bandcamp or SoundCloud


Best Friends - Lip Curl


Best Friends - Beach Bitches

Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter

Yung Mums

Scrappy, abrasive and lo-fi garage-punk from Vancouver all-girl three-piece Yung Mums, showing that good music is often knowing when enough is enough rather than messing around with being 'tight' or sounding clean. They're fairly simple jams but perfectly judged - just the kind of excellent stuff that would start out on Sex Is Disgusting were they UK-based.


Yung Mums - Thru With U


Yung Mums - Dead South


Yung Mums - Cobra

Bandcamp | Facebook | MySpace | Image from Bodies of Water

Deadbeat Beat

Has anyone had enough garage and 60s pop inspired lo-fi alternative rock kinda stuff yet? If not, and there’s every reason that that be the case, continue reading. If so, this isn't for you. Deadbeat Beat are from Michigan. They make music along said lines – catchy, scruffy, semi surf-ish, garage-y poppy rock, if that's not too many musical genres to include in one sentence. Comparisons to the likes of Surfer Blood and Cloud Nothings are perhaps a little predictable but fairly justified I’d say. I can imagine this being slightly cleaned up and sounding ace on a full-length.

Apparently they have an upcoming split single with Secret Twins on Sneaky Eurekas. That might mean more to you than it does to me. Listen to stuff below or grab a collection of demos for free from bandcamp.


Deadbeat Beat - See You All The Time


Deadbeat Beat - Body Shakes


Bandcamp | Facebook

The Yes Club: Change Name & New Song

New York jammers The Yes Club are now known as Night Collectors.

Basement Fever posted about them a little while back (here, to be precise) because their raucous, noisey psych-influenced, old-school synth-laden garage rock jams had us getting all excited. We looked forward to hearing lots more music from The Yes Club, but now we look forward to hearing more music from Night Collectors.

To celebrate the name change, they've also got a new song. It's called 7/11. It's good. Hear it below.



Facebook | Bandcamp

Livid Kids

This is a lazy and frankly half-arsed write-up, but I’m in a bit of a rush (which is a poor excuse, I know), and all you really want is to hear the songs rather than read my words anyway.

Livid Kids are a two-piece from Indiana, making lazy lo-fi garage rock along Beat Happening and Moldy Peaches lines. Vocals have that lack of caring, atonal quality – slowly dragging on whilst the guitar and drums and franticly worked alongside them, which makes for a nice effect. It was apparently recorded in a bedroom. I wish I was the next door neighbour.

Michael Bishop/On The Green LP, their second release, is out now and available on their bandcamp.


Livid Kids - Be Cool


Livid Kids - Arcade

Bandcamp | MySpace

Mowbird

Fuzzy garage rock from Wrexham, with hints of surf, punk, and pop. Who’d have thought it?

Download some tracks below, at the band's Last FM page, or download the Excellent, OK EP plus two demos from their bandcamp.


Mowbird - Oh, Susan


Mowbird - Thank You, You Are Revolting (demo)

Facebook | MySpace | via waitfortheclick

The Yes Club

Dirty, dusty, abrasive, fast-paced, and noisey, New York-based The Yes Club have only two songs uploaded on to bandcamp for free download, yet have caught the attention of music bloggers worldwide. Awesome noisey psych garage. We don’t have much info or music from these yet (MySpace suggests they may have only been a band for 3 months), but I’m expecting we’ll hear lots more about and from them soon.

Until then, download 'Whoa' and 'Second Sunday' below (or at their bandcamp), or hear a third track on MySpace.


The Yes Club - Second Sunday


The Yes Club - Whoa