DEB AND THE MENTALS - "Feel The Mantra" EP (2015)

After a long and much needed hiatus Made In America is back kids! Continuing the tradition of giving you the gift of listening to music that I like, and I think you should like too, I'll bring you up-and-coming bands from the western hemisphere on an occasional and infrequent basis. Mainly when I can find time to get away from my real job. In the past I've covered the United States, Canada, and Mexico but in what will be a first for blog, South America is now on the list!

Deb and The Mentals are a four piece no-frills garage rock band out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Their debut EP Feel The Mantra (2015) is chock full of energetic 90's alternative and Riot Grrrl angst. 

Veterans of the Sao Paulo indie music scene, Deborah Babilonia (vocals), Giuliano Di Martino (drums), Stanislaw Tchaick (bass), and Guilherme Hypolitho (guitars) have cut their teeth over the years with bands such as End Hits, P.U.S, Debbie and The Rocketeers, Veronica Kills and Water Rats. 

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 - ARVID, "Old Factory Living" (2014)

I was more than presently surprised when I recently came across the new album by Rochester, NY artist Arvid, "Old Factory Living". At the same time I was a little angry at myself for missing it's release over the spring.

Luke Ross, who records under the name Arvid, previously released a digital album under the name Fuzz Daniels last year. With Fuzz Daniels and now under Avrid, Ross's leanings are clearly toward the 90's lo-fi/alternative set, which suits my ears just fine. With tinges of Built To Spill and late era Pavement or solo Stephen Malkmus sprinkled throughout, Avrid has managed to make his influences his own and has turned out a very nice album.

Made In America - THE MONSIEURS, "The Monsieurs" (2014)

Made up of veterans of the Boston music scene, The Monsieurs, fronted by Andy MacBain (Tunnel of Love), with partner-in-crime/guitarist, Hilken Mancini (Fuzzy, Shepherdess), and drummer Erin King (Where My Beat Be At), have recently released their self-titled debut via Slovenly Recordings.

Slammed full of grainy and glorious garage punk, MacBain's abrasive vocals are tempered just enough by Mancini's backups to level up their sound and make this album more than a treat to listen to.

Get your hands on the album via Bandcamp here.

Made In America - MODERN VICES, "Modern Vices" (2014)

Chicago continues to churn out dirt-laden garage-rock with the likes of Heavy Times and The Orwells, both of who we featured here in the past. The newest kids on the scene are Modern Vices. The five-piece formed last year began putting together tunes that, while less punk than Heavy Times and The Orwells, still retain a gnarly edge.

Front man Alex Rebek's tone-heavy vocals give me an Ian Astbury feeling and helps to set Modern Vices slightly apart from your typical garage rockers by adding more depth to their sound.

Their self-titled debut is our now via Autumn Tone Records and check out the first single from Modern Vices Cheap Style via Soundcloud.

And the video for "Cheap Style" here:

Modern Vices - "Cheap Style" from RYAN OHM ▲ on Vimeo.

Made In America - CANCERS, "Fatten The Leeches" (2014)

I'm a little late to the game in coming across the debut album Fatten The Leeches from the Athens, Georgia based duo Cancers. As soon as I clicked on the opening track "Be Cool" I was immediately transported back to my teenage years. On the cusp of graduating high school, long dark brown hair hiding a pimpled face, I was moving out of my "metal only" phase and beginning to open my ears up to a burgeoning grunge scene while falling in love with college rock that was transitioning into 90's alternative. 

What I loved most about 90's alternative were the introduction of more melodic choruses and catchy-as-hell hooks over crunchy guitars. It was hard-edged but welcoming at the same time.

Members Ella Kaspar and Lenny Millar are able to create a fat and filling sound with just the two of them with Kaspar's vocals adding an extra sweetness to their sound in a way that Kristin Herch did with Throwing Muses or Kay Hanley did with Letters To Cleo. What separates Cancers from the aforementioned is that they deliver the sweetness with a crunchier outer shell.

Made In America - LUBEC, "The Thrall" (2014)

Lubec, Maine is the easternmost point in the United States. Lubec, the band, from Portland, Oregon, which is about 3,000 miles due east on the opposite coast, writes dreamy, textural songs that blur the lines between shoegaze and noise-pop. Atmospheric with swirling harmonies and hook-heavy melodies, their songs make their way deep into your bones. Not unlike the cold damp winters of the band's namesake city.

Keyboardist Caroline Jackson, guitarists Eddie Charlton and Nick Laurich, and drummer Matt Dressen make up the four-piece that formed in 2011. Caroline, Matt, and Eddie share vocal duties and at times come together with these layered harmonies that really highlight the band's abilities and puts them on par with some of the great predecessors of the genre. The Thrall is sure to be one of those albums that will helps me get through the upcoming winter.

Made In America - MEATBODIES, "Meatbodies" (2014)

Chad Ubovich is yet another super-talented musician from that prolific ocean of playmates that Ty Segall surrounds himself with. Ubovich played in backup bands for both Segall (Fuzz) and Mikal Cronin early in his career before forming Chad and the Meatbodies. After releasing some home recordings the band garnered the attention of Los Angeles based In The Red Records, shortened their name to just Meatbodies and have recently released their self-titled debut.

Taking a page from but adding a distinct chapter to Southern California's flourishing scuzz-rock soundscape, Meatbodies comes at you with a full on sonic bombardment that rarely lets up through the album. Ubovich has gotten much deserved attention for his guitar wielding ability, which is exhibited most nicely here, and uses it to effectively rip through a brazen and dirty rhythm section at the most opportune times.

Purchase "Meatbodies" from In The Red Records here.

Made In America - NUDE BEACH, "77" (2014)

Brooklyn based Nude Beach have been churning out melodic 70's flavored power-pop since around 2008 when Chuck Betz, Ryan Naideau and Jim Shelton formed the band. After two full-length albums that skirted the line of angsty rock with hints of early Elvis Costello and the classic jangle-pop of Big Star, Nude Beach have gracefully matured into blue-collar classic rock territory that sure to evoke feelings of those past warm summer evenings with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers playing over your FM airwaves.

Nude Beach's third album 77, set for an October 21st release through Don Giovanni Records, will be a double-album that's sure to deliver you straight to the American heartland so grab a cooler full of beer and your best friends and light the bonfire, it's going to be a fun night.

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 - WAND, "Ganglion Reef" (2014)

L.A.'s Wand is one of the newer and more contagious bands to emerge from the west coast garage/psyche rock revivalist scene that include Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, and King Tuff. 

After putting out a handful of singles earlier this year, Wand has finally hit the streets with their full-length debut Ganglion Reef. Released in August on Ty Segall's Drag City Records - God? imprint, Ganglion Reef is a trippy, fuzz-filled journey rooted in 60's and 70's garages but adeptly levels-up with more colorful and structurally sound songs that linger on the verge of reckless abandon yet are infectious enough to make their way out of the underground and on to the radio. 

Made In America - TWEEDY, "Sukierae" (2014)

Jeff Tweedy doesn't need much of an introduction these days. As a founding member of Uncle Tupelo along with Jay Farrar, Tweedy was successful in melding punk and country music influences in what would help propel alternative country to the forefront in the 90's. After Farrar's departure from Uncle Tupelo, the remaining members would go on to form Wilco. With Wilco, Tweedy's writing style would slowly diverge from alternative country and begin to display more influence from alternative rock, americana, indie and experimental music.

When it came time to work on his first solo album, Jeff Tweedy began working on music with his son Spencer on drums. As Spencer Tweedy became more involved in the development of the songs Jeff decided to change the solo venture into a duo and would release the album under the family name Tweedy.

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 - WINTER BEAR, "Take It Back" 7" (2014)

A fresh addition to your 2014 summer mix comes from Milwaukee's Winter Bear. Winter Bear is the latest project from Erin Dorbin (Cave Weddings, No Bueno). Along with Amelinda Burich, Ryan Bollis, and Stacy Zwirlein, Winter Bear has to date churned out two summer surf classic singles. The first, Jump In The Fire, was released to copious fan fare through Hozac Records last year, and the latest, Take It Back, is now out via the Selfish Agenda label.

Take It Back will take you back with a tasty blend of 60's surfy garage-pop and doo-wop. Teeming with reverb-soaked guitar riffs and classic girl-group harmonies, the single is definitely worthy of heavy rotation honors through the rest of your summer and beyond.

Made In America - UNITED WATERS, "Sunburner" (2014)

As half of industrial experimental duo Mouthus, Brooklyn-based guitar destroyer Brian Sullivan has been crushing eardrums since the early 2000's. In 2011, Sullivan went solo as United Waters and released his debut record Your First Ever River via Arbitrary Signs. With Chris Shields and Patrick Cole rounding out the trio, United Waters have recently released their follow-up, Sunburner, through Bathetic Records.

As densely layered as Mouthus was to the industrial and experimental world United Waters seems at first to be the polar opposite. Lo-fi, subdued and distant, but hypnotizing in the same way Sullivan's music has been in the past, but this time the entrancement creeps up on you and you don't realize you're in it until you're in it. Listening, I'm instantly transported to a steamy New York summer night. Too hot to sleep, the city sounds muddled deep in the background which seem clamorous at first but as you keep listening soon become recognizable.

Made In America > EX-PET, "Green Accent" (2014)

Greg Nissan writes catchy-as-hell, lightly-sweetened yet cynically themed power pop under the name Ex-Pet. As part of the New York music collective Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen, Ex-Pet recently released their debut album Green Accent.

In the vein of The New Pornographers, Ex-Pet's pop is breezy and ephemeral in a way that makes you feel like you are well into summer and quickly approaching the second half where you're running out of time for that, if I can quote Lloyd Dobler, "dare to be great" situation, that fleeting romance, or you're just trying to eke out those last minutes of an orange summer afternoon before packing up and leaving those memories behind.

Made In America - DARK BLUE, "Just Another Night With The Boys" 7" (2014)

John Sharkey III (Clockcleaner, Puerto Rico Flowers) has a velvety-smooth baritone voice that could easily find itself in a golden age smokey Las Vegas lounge pumping out American standards until the wee hours. Instead, Sharkey, joined by Andrew Mackie Nelson (Ceremony, Paint it Black, Puerto Rico Flowers) and Mike Sneeringer (formerly from Purling Hiss, Puerto Rico Flowers) make up Philadelphia's Dark Blue. 

Dark Blue, together less than a year, have been touring and making preparations for their second 7" single release Just Another Night With The Boys, out July 15th via Jade Tree Records. The A Side, "Just Another Night With The Boys", will hit you from a post-punk angle that will transport you back to the days of Joy Division with the late great Ian Curtis or Dave Vanian of The Damned only smoother. The B Side is a respectable cover of John Cale's "Hungry For Love".

Made In America - OUGHT, "More Than Any Other Day" (2014)

Art-punk quartet Ought formed as students at Montreal's McGill University in 2012. Soon after, the band made up of vocalist/guitarist Tim Beeler, keyboardist Matt May, bassist Ben Stidworthy and drummer Tim Keen, released their EP New Calm via Bandcamp. Ought's initial release hinted at the bands angular and experimental approach to song craft that set them in the same light as the forefathers of art-rock Talking Heads and descendants Cap N' Jazz.

Ought's full-length debut More Than Any Other Day, out on the Constellation label, maintains that skewed approach for the most part but also highlights the bands ability to maintain direction without straying too far off the beaten path with post-punk gems like Habit, The Weather Song which sets them slightly apart from their forebearers.  Other songs like title-track, More Than Any Other Day, are slow-burners which set you up and ease you into a beautifully raucous crescendo.

Made In America - BLEACHED, "For The Feel" 7" EP (2014)

L.A.'s Bleached (Jennifer and Jessica Clavin) were one of the first two bands covered on Made In America way back in 2013. Since then the band has been endlessly touring and no doubt contributing to summer playlists around the world.

Their new EP For The Feel, out digitally on July 24th and as a 7-inch single on September 16th via Dead Oceans, is a continuation of the summer sound and L.A. feel of their debut album Ride Your Heart. It's actually from the Ride Your Heart sessions but failed to make the album cut and was re-recorded for the new EP. The B-side will contain the song "Poison Ivy" and a cover of The Damned's "Born To Kill".

Made In America - WHITE REAPER, "White Reaper" EP (2014)

Louisville, Kentucky garage-punk rockers White Reaper are the latest noise-makers to emerge from Louisville's burgeoning DIY scene. The trio, made up of Tony Esposito (vocals/guitar) and twin brothers Nick (drums) and Sam Wilkerson (bass) have developed a knack for writing noisy, amp-melting tunes that let you in, shove you around for two or three minutes, and leave you standing in a puddle of you own sweat with your ears ringing.

White Reaper's self-titled debut EP is set for a June 24th release on Polyvinyl Records and promises fast-paced scuzzy sonic deliciousness that bleed from the same vein as Ty Segall or a lightly sweetened MC5 with the pedal to the metal.