Good submissions are pushing our inbox to its structural limits. Here’s new music for your weekend from The Sarandons, Ten Kills The Pack, Harlow Lake, Gerdie, Upstairs and Mother Sun.
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The Sarandons – “Caught In A Dream”
The sprawling and spacious nature of “Caught In A Dream” by The Sarandons give us immediate Pink Floyd vibes, and the reverb soaked guitar progression on the chorus conjures up a hazy alternate-timeline 50’s high school slow dance. A gorgeous three and a half minute song that feels like a full movie.
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Ten Kills The Pack – “Only Thinking Of You”
Sparseness can often be a song’s greatest strength, and such is the case with “Only Thinking Of You” by Ten Kills The Pack. Backing vocals, percussion and strings swell in and out for dynamics, but the song hangs on Sean Sroka’s vocals, which prove to be more than enough. Plaintive yet hopeful, Sroka makes the bare bones lyrics feel like a full meal.
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Harlow Lake – “Body In The Bathtub”
With musical production reminiscent Bowie/Reznor’s “I’m Afraid Of Americans” and vocals that sometimes shift into an almost Serj Tankian of System of a Down territory, “Body In The Bathtub” is one of the more interesting submissions we’ve received in a while. Not quite industrial, not quite rock, it’s something else entirely and worth checking out.
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Gerdie – “Soggy Bottom Blue”
Lackadaisical and smooth, “Soggy Bottom Blue” is easy like Sunday morning. The perfect soundtrack to daydreaming, its slow motion jangle guitars and soft horns ride over bass and drums that keep things moving in a relaxed and unhurried manner. While it doesn’t sound like Stephen Malkmus on valium, it feels like it, and what a great feeling that is.
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Upstairs – “Underwater Apartments”
The key to surviving a Midwest winter is layers. Layers and more layers. Chicago’s Upstairs have applied that same philosophy to “Underwater Apartments.” A percolating drum loop, guitars on guitars, keys, samples, vocals and more vocals all blend together for a song that doesn’t have defined parts ala verse/chorus/bridge, but rather one continuous sound that ebbs, flows, evolves and grows in its warmth.
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Mother Sun – “Five Leaves”
Subtle hints of psych wind their way through the shambling, affable and easy going indie rock of “Five Leaves.” This is the sound of the morning after the trip, sun rising on a freshly scraped brain as all the pieces fall into place in a familiar but new way.
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