“You’ve never been dumped? You poor bastard.” TLOBF meets Vancouver’s Shimmering Stars to talk about heartbreak, the Everly Brothers and Samoan teenage strife.
New Music Introducing
Introducing // Outfit
“I’ve consistently made decisions in my life which have prevented me from doing anything other than playing music. It’s gone too far now.” Outfit talk ambition, art and murderers in their garden.
Introducing // The Stepkids
After a sonically and visually spectacular debut UK show in London earlier this month, TLOBF caught up with Connecticut psychedelic-soul trio The Stepkids to find out why the three seasoned musicians finally decided to form a band. And we were also intrigued to discover just how big a twat 50 Cent actually is.
Introducing // Fear Of Men
Brighton and London four piece Fear of Men produce perfectly crafted indiepop full of sensual melodies and sweeping harmonies. Their debut single ‘Ritual Confession’ is a fuzz laden DIY dream. TLOBF meets them before they steal everybody’s hearts.
Introducing // Theme Park
London’s Theme Park aren’t a band to be downhearted by a regularly-muttered comparison. Their first track ‘Milk’ brought forth mentions of Talking Heads but a forthcoming double A-side single shows there’s far more to this four-piece than the debut offering.
TLOBF Introducing // Brontide
There are few bands out there whose name so perfectly suits the music they’re making. Brontide – which means a sound like a distant rumble of thunder – craft instrumental pieces that are going to make you yearn for the bygone days of Don Caballero, or Mirrored-era Battles.
Introducing: I Break Horses
The legendary comedian Spike Milligan has one of the most famous engravings on his tombstone. It reads ‘I Told You I Was Ill’. If Milligan required death to prove a point, Sweden’s I Break Horses have used their rampant hypochondria to create something that illuminates the living – their beautiful debut album Hearts.
Introducing: EMA
What did the alien high-quality mattress salesman use as his slogan? TLOBF meets Erika M. Anderson to discuss the last-chance saloon that created her stunning album Past Life Martyred Saints and to discover the punch line to EMA’s only joke.
Introducing: Fixers
Despite their dizzying psych-pop compositions, Fixers find themselves at a critical juncture. Andy Johnson spoke to them before a gig in Stoke to find out about touring, Dianetics, and embracing exuberance.
Introducing: Rayographs
TLOBF meets London’s Rayographs to find out why their woozy mix of dark pyschedelia, brooding art-rock and guttural blues takes as much from literature and the photographic art of Francesca Woodman, as it does from their musical influences of Nick Cave and Patti Smith. Plus which Prince they prefer.
Introducing: Other Lives
Other Lives’ debut album demonstrates an unusually fully formed vision, and is evidence of a talent that defies simple comparison. Josh Hall spoke to them about making widescreen music in a small Midwestern town.
Introducing: Botched Fairytale
Irish two-piece Botched Fairytale have been kicking around the blogosphere for a while now, their masterful blend of experimental, lo-fi, dirgey folk piquing the interest of many a keen-eared music nerd. We caught up with them to discuss Springsteen, Actimel and fightin’.
