Summer/Fall Roundup! Music for your ear-brain-heart mechanism to digest.

  Hey everyone, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It's been a strange couple of weeks for me, but I've managed to have some Halloween fun, watch my beloved Red Sox win the World Series, and possibly have secured a new job. Needless to say, I've been swamped with shit to do, and really haven't been able to get around to writing about everything that has been sent my way. Unfortunately, some things slip through the cracks. Here are some albums that came out over the last couple of months that deserve a listen. It's an eclectic group of mostly friends/local artists, and there ought to be something for everyone in here somewhere.

The HBR new music research team. Our employees are our greatest asset.

In order of release date:

Dead Leaf Echo - Thought & Language

  DLE is a really rich, almost symphonic, shoegaze meets kinda pop-goth band. I don't even know what this stuff is called anymore really, but there's a lot of attention paid to detail and if you give it a deep listen, you'll be rewarded. "Memorytraces" is my favorite track on this album, give it a listen... Oh, and they are playing three shows on the East Coast this month. I highly recommend catching them if you can.




American Darlings - With Love, In Retrospect

  When I first saw these guys, at Legion, like, in the spring... I thought they were a super loud, indie guitar death, kinda overpowering huge Jazzmaster squeal tsunami wave murder squad. But I guess that's just how bands come off in loud small rooms, after everyone has had a couple. On With Love, In Retrospect you can tell that these guys really put songwriting first, and it's almost surprising how poppy they really are. American Darlings are that mix of catchiness, rawness, attitude and sweetness that really makes indie rock special. "No Clue" is the opening track on the album, and is one of the strongest tracks, right off the bat.

Radical Dads! Japan/CMJ/Songwriting... They are awesome. Just listen to them.

Last night's showcase went off without a hitch... Everyone had fun... I had fun, which is all that really matters. Tomorrow's showcase (10/19) is going to be incredible. I really can't wait to share all these bands with you. Radical Dads has been one of my favorite local acts since I first saw them play about two years ago. The trio of Lindsay Baker (guitar vox), Chris Diken (Guitar), and Robbie Guertin (drums) play bombastic indie rock that is very representative of the genre, without being generic. If you don't know these guys, check them out. You're going to love them. I did a little email interview with Robbie and Chris.

Here's the exchange:

Hearts Bleed Radio: Robbie, when I was talking to you last, after one of your Northside shows, you said you absolutely had to play with Lindsay and Chris when you heard they were getting something going. What about them makes them so special?

Robbie: Well first off, I wanted to play with them because they're my best friends! That makes them super special in my book. On top of that, though, they are also two of the best musicians and songwriters that I know, so I just couldn't bear the thought of not being involved! So, as I told you before, they were both playing guitar, and they needed a drummer, so I decided it was time for me to learn how to play the drums.

HBR: How do you guys compose? If I had to guess I’d say it would seem like a group effort?

Robbie: Yep, usually it ends up being a group effort. The general Rad Dads songwriting formula is that Chris or Lindsay will come in with some guitar parts. Sometimes it's just one part, sometimes 2 or 3 parts that fit together, and other times, it's 7 or 8 parts that fit together (that's usually what Chris does). So whoever brings in the new parts plays them while the other two play along and figure out our own parts to fit with it. It is very scientific. Sometimes new parts are added, or parts are taken away. Then we usually try it in a bunch of different configurations, usually with me being very bossy about it, until we find the right combination/length that works. Vocals and lyrics usually come last, but sometimes they are figured out somewhere along the way. Now you know our secret.

Rad Dads are going to make you as happy as a bear with a watermelon. 

HBR: How have you evolved in the period between Mega Rama and Rapid Reality? Has your approach changed?

Robbie: I think in a lot of ways we've stayed the same, but overall we've just become more confident in playing together, and we've started to figure out what works and what doesn't work.

My Teenage Stride: Salt water up your nose and CMJ on your brain.

Hello world. CMJ is underway here in New York City (where they make a certain kind of picante sauce that is most definitely NOT Pace brand picante sauce) and I've already seen some killer bands. Our buddies Crazy Pills and Sharkmuffin rocked Legion last night, along with The Brooklyn What (playing our showcase on 10/19) and Hippy (a great garage/indie pop act, who I'd never seen before) and Sideasideb (their first show ever!). It was are really good start to a week that is always parts fun, annoying, surprising, and exhausting. We have two festival showcases this year, HBR CMJ #1 at Legion on 10/17, and HBR CMJ #2 at Matchless on 10/19. My Teenage Stride is closing out the night on Saturday. As far as I'm concerned, they are really closing out the entire official festival (though there's a sweet unofficial show at Spike Hill on Sunday), because after they play, I'm going straight home to pass the F out. I had a little Gchat with the main man behind My Teenage Stride, Jed Smith.

Here is the transcript:

Hearts Bleed Radio: Who exactly is in My Teenage Stride these days?

Jed: Live My Teenage Stride is myself, Jedediah Smith, on guitar and vocals, John Grewell on drums and backing vocals, and Ed Chittenden on bass and backing vocals, although recorded My Teenage Stride is largely myself on all instruments and vocals.

HBR: Do you ever write a song from the drum kit? Or with a bass guitar? Or do you usually form those parts around the guitar/vocal melody?

Jed: Generally I just work it all out in my head and then record it, I find that picking up an actual instrument and trying to write like that doesn't really produce results, I don't know why. Although, if I were to start a song with an instrument, it would be drums. But generally something pops into my head and I arrange it "internally." That's not to say I've never ripped something off...

Jed with an artist's representation of the two cats that live in his head and write music all day.

HBR: I call that like, the internal iPod. Do you listen to songs in your head sometimes and it's just as good as if you were listening to it? I do that on the walk to work a lot.

Jed: Yeah definitely, music largely is a mental rather than physical thing for me, although it's hard to say that without sounding pretentious. Everybody works differently though and that fascinates me.