I’m SO completely loving this band right now. I was already pretty excited about Local Natives since hearing them for the first time about two weeks ago, but after seeing them live last night my excitement has escalated bigtime.

They’ve been compared to the likes of Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend and although you can hear faint hints of Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend in them, they definitely can’t be compared to the Arcade Fire. And let’s face it, no one can! They’ve got the lovely harmonies of Fleet Foxes and the upbeat, energetic melodies and drum beats of Vampire Weekend (but in my opinion, they’re heaps better).  This, combined with their ability to write seriously catchy tunes makes them a brilliant band.

It was a difficult decision because ALL of their songs are super but I think Sun Hands is probably my favourite as it really stuck with me after the gig, I love how their harmonies work so well together throughout the whole song and the breakdown makes the song that much better! They played this at the end of their set last night and it was just awesome and seriously left an impression on the crowd. Anyway, review soon!

SO GOOD!

I stumbled across this nice indie band from the Netherlands while I was cruising La Blogotheque’s ‘In the Van’ sessions and they played this song. It sounds really quirky and light-hearted but the song definitely holds a much deeper meaning. And, with an opening line of ‘Don’t trust the man with the creepy little eyes’, it doesn’t really take long to come to this realisation

Check out the video and keep a lookout for the man in the back shaking the shaker – He’s well into it!

Myspace

Grizzly Bear are an awesome band. This is my favourite song – I just love how it’s beautifully sung and the ‘Ahhhh ahhh ohh oh ohh’s’ are really nice You can just imagine how good it would be to hear live. They’re playing with the London Symphony Orchestra later this year which is such a great idea and would be a seriously special gig to go to!

from Black Cat John Brown, 2007.

En fin liten sak fra nederlandske Alamo Race Track:

I just wanted to post a shameless plug for my own website, Inner Ear. Inner Ear is a music website that used to focus solely on promotion, but because I do pretty much everything myself, it was kinda hard to keep on doing a good job on that. So the focus has shifted more towards reviews & interviews. Things are going slightly better again lately, after a few months where things were quiet (well, i had to graduate too).

You can also find us on Myspace & Last.FM

As for interviews and reviews that we feature so far:

Interviews:

Jim Gaven
The Craze
Honor Society
Republic of Letters
Lazyeye
Kendall Payne
Rosemary’s Sons
AM
Days Difference
Elseworth
Lisa Redford
Carbon Leaf
Kill The Alarm
Chad Perrone
Fenix Tx
Patrick Park
Fiction Plane
Fedchenka
Syd
Mark O’Shea
Joe Hedges
Rooney
Dakota Fate
JJ Appleton
Francis Martin
the Tom Glenne 5.5
Ernie Halter
SLAB
Cordless
Alphaspin
Mike Finley

apart from the 4 reviews that are expected soon, we are also negotiating interviews with several other artists and bands, but none of these have yet been confirmed. I hope to get answers from these people soon and I will let you know!

Reviews:

(the italic reviews listed are to be expected (relatively) soon)

1 Giant Leap – 1 Giant Leap
2nd Place Driver – 2nd Place Driver [EP]
2nd Place Driver – Leave [EP]
2nd Place Driver – …1
2nd Place Driver – The Hungry Ones
2nd Place Driver – Full Speed, Bare Naked
3 Doors Down – The Better Life
3 Doors Down – Away From The Sun
3 Doors Down – Another 700 Miles [EP]
3 Doors Down – Seventeen Days
3 Doors Down – 3 Doors Down
12 Stones – 12 Stones
12 Stones – Potter’s Field
12 Stones – Anthem For The Underdog
30 Seconds To Mars – 30 Seconds To Mars
30 Seconds To Mars – A Beautiful Lie
39 Reasons – 39 Reasons [EP]
a balladeer – Rumor Had It [EP]
a balladeer – Panama
Aaron Lines – Living Out Loud
Aaron Lines – Moments That Matter
All She Wrote – Coshade
Alli Rogers – Always Eden
Alli Rogers – One [EP]
Alli Rogers – The Day Of Small Things
Alli Rogers – At Sea
Alli Rogers – You & The Evening Sky
Alphaspin – Through The Solar Waves
American Hi-Fi – American Hi-Fi
American Hi-Fi – The Art of Losing
American Hi-Fi – Hearts On Parade
Augustana – Midwest Skies & Sleepless Mondays
Augustana – Mayfield [EP]
Augustana – You’ll Disappear [EP]
Augustana – All The Stars & Boulevards
Augustana – Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt [EP]
Augustana – Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt
Billy Boy On Poison – Sweet Mess [EP]
Blyss – Diff’s Lucky Day
Chad Perrone – Used To Dream
Chad Perrone – Wake
Clockwork Noise – Myspace Tunes
Cordless – Something Real [EP]
Cordless – Bright Lights
The Craze – Introducing.. The Craze
The Craze – Get Up! [EP]
Dan Wilson – Free Life
David Beebee – dB²
David Beebee – David Beebee [EP]
The Fray – Reason [EP]
The Fray – How To Save A Life
The Fray – Live @ Electric Factory
Honestly – Have A Nice Life
Honestly – Ghosts Of A Brilliant Past [EP]
HoneyHoney – Loose Boots [EP]
Honor Society – The Green Light [EP]
Honor Society – A Tale Of Risky Business [EP]
Hotspur – Myspace Tunes
Hotspur – Beta
Hungry Hungry Hypocrites – Rock, Roll, Fire & Magic
JJ Appleton – 500 Moments
JJ Appleton – Uphill To Purgatory
JJ Appleton – Someone Else’s Problem
JJ Appleton – Black & White Matinee [EP]
John Taglieri – Leap Of Faith
John Taglieri – Half & Half
John Taglieri – NOW!
John Taglieri – Wide Awake & Dreaming
Keaton Simons – Currently [EP]
Keaton Simons – Exes & Whys
Keaton Simons – Blink [EP]
Keaton Simons – Can You Hear Me
Keith LuBrant – Searching For Signal
Lazyeye – Lights In The Attic
Lifehouse – No Name Face
Lifehouse – Stanley Climbfall
Lifehouse – Lifehouse
Lifehouse – Who We Are
TMATSMM & God Is An Astronaut – Split 12″ [Vinyl]
Matt Swachman – Uncharted Territory
Mike Finley – Mike Finley [EP]
Mike Finley – The Way We Are [EP]
Missing Leg Compartment – Myspace Tunes
Nephu Huzzband – Papers [EP]
Patrick Park – Loneliness Knows My Name
Patrick Park – Mondays In Spaceland
Patrick Park – Stickbirdsongs [EP]
Patrick Park – Everyone’s In Everyone
Patrick Ryan Clark – Translation
Radiohead – Pablo Honey
Radiohead – The Bends
Radiohead – OK Computer
Radiohead – Kid A
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Republic of Letters – Spirit Or A Ghost [EP]
Rocco DeLuca & The Burden – I Trust You To Kill Me
Rosemary’s Sons – Misery Loves Company
Rosemary’s Sons – All In Hand
Rosemary’s Sons – St. Eleanor’s Park
Rosemary’s Sons – “The Others” [working title]
Seven Mary Three – Day & Nightdriving
SLAB – Betray The Past.. Infect The Future
Snow Patrol – Songs For Polarbears
Snow Patrol – When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up
Snow Patrol – Final Straw
Snow Patrol – Live & Acoustic @ Park Ave
Snow Patrol – Eyes Open
Souls A Fuse – Under The Spotlight [EP]
Three Days Grace – Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace – One-X
the Tom Glenne 5.5 – .married
the Tom Glenne 5.5 – White Soul
the Tom Glenne 5.5 – Free Rock

reviews for (among others): Untyde, Making April, Dakona, Fiction Plane, Silkstone, Rooney, Erny Green, Solo, Radford, Steve Bertrand, Emerson Hart, Avion, Voicst, Racoon, Krezip, Days Difference, My Favorite Highway, Jim Gaven, Kill The Alarm, Leaf, Alamo Race Track, Little things that kill, Big City Rock, We The Living, T.E.A. & Marwood are expected to follow.

Alamo Race Track, Bohren und der Club of Gore, Dirty Projectors, Editors, Flaming Lips, Foals, The Heavy, Iron and Wine, Jack Penate, Joan as Police Woman, Kate Nash, Lykke Li, The Dodos, The Kilians, Mintzkov, Okkervil River, Ólafur Arnald, Scott Matthew, The National, White Lies, Yeasayer

check their site.

Dutch band Alamo Race Track performing their infectious album opener while perched and peaking out of a condemned and unstable Parisian building.