EL ÚLTIMO VECINO - "Tu Casa Nueva" (maxi-single 2014)

La primera vez que escuche a EL ÚLTIMO VECINO me recordaron instantáneamente a bandas añejas como Golpes Bajos y Joy Division. Luego cuando los vi en directo complete sus influjos (parece ser que totalmente casuales) con The Smiths y los más contemporáneos The Drums.

La banda barcelonesa capitaneada por Gerard Alegre ha irrumpido como un torbellino en el panorama estatal y siguen a saco, con su actuación el pasado 28 de febrero en el Festival NRMAL iniciando una minigira por México, y estando presentes este mes de marzo en el SXSW de Austin (Texas). Seguro además que formarán parte del cartel de varios festivales españoles como el ya confirmado SOS 4.8 (1-2 de mayo en Murcia).

EÚV, después de su exquisito debut con el álbum homónimo (Domestica Records 2013) y más de 50 conciertos con actuaciones en Berlín, Lituania o festivales como el Primavera Sound; se encuentra actualmente presentando Tu Casa Nueva, un maxi-single con tres temas nuevos coeditado por los sellos Canadá y Club Social a finales del año pasado.

Made In America - ABSOLUTELY FREE, "Absolutely Free" (2014)

Toronto trio Absolutely Free were not on my radar before I caught them playing last month with fellow canucks Alvvays at the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta.

Absolutely Free formed after the breakup of MM/DD/YYYY by core members, Matt King, Moshe Rozenberg, and Mike Claxton in 2011. The trio trickled out a couple of singles over the past few years and has recently released their self-titled full-length debut on Lefse Records in the U.S. and through the Arts and Crafts label in Canada.

I've never been a huge fan of prog, math-rock, or most electronic music but there is something in the way that Absolutely Free approaches their songs that really has me mesmerized. There's an abstract approach that you would expect from a band like this but the African polyrhythms mixed with nicely grounded pop sensibilities is what really sets the hooks in.

Made In America - THE BEVERLEYS, "Hoodwink" (Single)

Three piece Toronto garage-punk outfit The Beverleys take a heavy-handed approach when creating songs. Employing a dual guitar attack in lieu of a bass can be tricky but the Bevs skillfully pull it off and have delivered a small handful of eardrum collapsing ragers recently.

"Hoodwink", is the follow-up single to the three song EP that the Bevs realeased earlier this year. This latest hook laden face-slapper will get a digital release on October 10th via Bandcamp and be released in November as a split 7" with label mates HSY through Buzz Records.

The Beverleys "Bad Company" from EP.

Made In America - ACTUAL WATER, "Call 4 Fun" (2014)

Toronto, Canada quartet Actual Water have been slowly churning out riffy guitar-driven power-pop for the last decade or so. Their latest album Call 4 Fun, out now via Bad Actors Records, is a maturing shift from their last full length album The Paisley Orchard (2011). Where The Paisley Orchard was very 60's British Invasion/garage/psyche-rock influenced Call 4 Fun is still in the garage, less psyche-rock, and a whole lot more fun.

Ripping through nine songs in under 23 minutes, Call 4 Fun, is just that, fun. It's simplistic, no-frills approach holds true throughout the album. It doesn't want to be anything more, it doesn't need to be anything more, other than the album you'll want to have queued up at your next pants-off dance-off party.

Made In America - ALVVAYS "Adult Diversion", cassette single (2014)

Another Made In America, Canadian edition. This week we have Alvvays (pronounced always), the Toronto-based five piece indie-pop band fronted by Molly Rankin. Rankin is the daughter and niece of The Rankin Family, a multi-award winning folk family collective from her hometown of Cape Brenton Island, Nova Scotia. Rankin formed Alvvays with fellow bandmates Kerri Maclellan, Alec O'Hanley, Brian Muphy, and Phil MacIsaac and self-released a cassette-only debut last year which was only sold at shows. That album, produced by fellow canuck Chad VanGallen, is expected to get a proper release on a yet-to-be announced label this summer.