Artist: Liars

Hails From: Brooklyn, Los Angeles

Musical Style: Art Rock, Punk, Experimental

For Fans of: Gang of Four, Sonic Youth, Radiohead

Scissor

Why you should check them out:

If the apocalypse were slated to begin tomorrow, Liars would very well be the band to sing us out, offering a challenging omen of darkness to come.  Their at-times-blistering yet always atmospheric sound captures all the grit and decay that surrounds us.  However, while the joy may at first seem difficult to discern, the seizure they induce may well be mistaken for a raucous, celebratory dance, straight into the afterlife.

Background Check:

In 2000, Los Angeles art students Aaron Hemphill and Angus Andrew relocated to Brooklyn, NY where they joined Pat Noecker and Ron Albertson to form Liars.  Less than a year later, the incredibly named debut They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top was released, instantly tagging them with the experimental post punk rock label that would follow them for years.

Liars went on to release three more albums as a trio (Julian Gross replacing Albertson and Noecker), each one expertly crafting thumping bass and roiling guitar around pre-recorded programmed drum beats and vicious pockets of noise.  Their most recent effort Sisterworld landed this past March.

Sisterworld finds them back in a Los Angeles that has been permanently stripped of its Hollywood sheen. “No Barrier Fun” is a carnivalesque death march blending chimes and strings with an eeriness that leaves you sinking, while “Proud Evolution” buries within it a warning to be careful.  Liars throw a lot at us with Sisterworld and while they may lack the immediacy of many bands today, their unique blend of spit-personality punktronica burrows slowly underneath and will get you in the end.

– Eric Quist

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

Myspace

Official Website

On Tour:

Jambase



Similar Artists:

• The Bronx
• Yeasayer

Arist:She and Him

Hails From: LA, CA/Portland, OR

Musical Style: Retro/Folk/Pop

For Fans Of: Patsy Cline, Jenny Lewis, M. Ward

Thieves

Why You Should Check Them Out:

While the simple pronouns of She and Him may be misleadingly nondescript, just one glance at the corresponding names behind the moniker is enough to make any indie pop minded heart flutter.

Background Check:

She and Him’s Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward first began working together in 2007 when director Martin Hynes united the two for a cover of “When I Get to the Border” for the film The Go-Getter starring Deschanel. Much to the surprise of both M. Ward and music critics alike, Dechanel not only had a great taste for vintage albums and dresses, but had spent years writing an arsenal of pop and country influenced songs primed for M. Ward’s renowned folk rock embellishments. With musical chemistry abound, She and Him went to work on their debut, Volume One, an album soaked in Deschanel’s sweet and wistful retro pop vocals complete with Ward’s supporting folk instrumentation and production expertise.

Backed by the overwhelming success of Volume One, She and Him returned to the studio for their just released, and aptly titled followup Volume Two. Ranging from country ballads with slide guitar to upbeat songs like “In the Sun” that are pretty much made for summer, She and Him’s newest plays like a mix of bittersweet lyrics and vintage sounds you can sway to. If Volume One was an album that showed that Deschanel’s talent isn’t limited to the big screen, Volume Two is clearly an album that situates She and Him as a free standing musical force among indie pop contemporaries.

–Anne Ostrowski

Where You Can Find Them in Cyberspace:

myspace

sheandhim.com

On tour:

jambase

Similar Artists:

• Leopold and his Fiction
• Blind Pilot
• Monsters of Folk
• Mark Kozelek
• Mumford and Sons

Artist:

Hails From: Denton, TX

Musical Style: Indie, Alternative, Electronic

For Fans of: MGMT, Washed Out, Air

Terminally Chill

Why you should check them out:

It’s an easy/bad pun, sorry, but Neon Indian has more buzz than a, err… neon light bulb.  The band has become the leading figure of the new indie microgenre called chillwave. This new sound applies a garage lo-fi aesthetic to a sleepy 80’s-style synth pop. Much of this genre’s success can be credited back to Neon Indian’s sleek and gratifying songwriting.  There are hooks at every turn and they know how to present a cool retro sound fitted for the listeners of today.

Background Check:

The band started as the brain child of Alan Paloma, who wrote the music and lyrics, and his long-time high school friend Alicia Scardetta, who supplied visual elements to accompany the music. They released their first EP in 2008, but it wasn’t until the spring of 2009 when they released two tracks “Should Have Taken Acid With You” and “6699 (I don’t Know if you Know)” onto the web. Several indie music blogs caught wind and started to spread the word.

They released their first LP Psychic Chasms, on Lefse record in October and since then the buzz has just continued to grow.

Where you can find them in cyberspace:

MySpace

Wikipedia

On Tour:

JamBase

Similar Artists:

• The XX
• Harlem
• Rogue Wave