Jacob Faurholt - Geek Love Is the Best Love [2012]

Take a listen to Jacob Faurholt's music and you'd probably assume he's holed up in some medium-sized town in Ohio, laying down finely-crafted Americana in a bedroom. You'd only be half right, because it's beaming to you from a Dane in Berlin. Anyway, regardless of location, these songs are real well-realized, mostly wistful ballady tunes of past lovers and their associated nostalgia -- you know, music for when yer feelin' down and want to stay there a while. Hints of Daniel Johnston and the whole Dylan/Young school of singer-songwriters are apparent (when he sings "I'm guided by voices, not the band" it sounds like he's channeling the capital-B Band as well as Robert Pollard's group). I've been spinning this EP quite a bit the past couple months, and it definitely rewards repeated listens.

Geek Love Is the Best Love was released in association with Raw Onion Records. It's up for free on bandcamp, along with a slew of releases going back to 2005. So if this is your kind of thing, dive on in.

Divine Intervention Now - Demo [2012]

I just heard this from Ongakubaka and felt compelled to pass it along. Doom-laden lyrics delivered in a captivating folk-pop fashion. This is some masterfully played stuff from one Phillip Mahoney over in Philadelphia. He calls it a demo but the production is razor sharp. I don't want to talk your ear off on this one, you should just listen.

If you want to shell out $20, you can get a copy of the album sent to you in a unique beetle-shaped flash drive. To quote Mr. Mahoney:

After the coming apocalypse, only the bugs will remain. Contains full five-song demo, lyrics, original image for playback display, and the full text of Erich Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods."

Short of that you can download the songs for free on bandcamp. Highly recommended.

The Chaw - LP [2012]

I'll kick off the submission pile with the Chaw, hailing from the East Bay. The guy who sent me this expressed an affinity for the Janitors, whom you are probably familiar with if you visit this blog with any regularity. The Chaw are definitely kindred spirits in that realm of dark, fuzzed-scuzz psych rock; but whereas those Swedes like to drive a jam into a well-dug repeating groove, these guys sound more like the kind of dudes who'd sucker you into a drunken brawl at one in the morning. There's a palpable unifying ambiance in these songs, whether they're playing straight-ahead gutter blues or sinister ballads. The baritone vocals feature prominently and recall Nick Cave (especially the Grinderman stuff) more than a little bit -- though you'll hear no objection about that from me. At its heart this is an LP of meticulous pop songs, but with the rough edges of a Jim Morrison or Tom Waits sort of vehicle.

This untitled (self-titled?) LP got released earlier this month. They're offering free listens here, and you can stream/purchase a copy over at the Chaw bandcamp page. Down a few tumblers of whiskey and stagger around to these jams.

Davey Dynamite - Some Thoughts [2011]

Saw this fellow in a Champaign basement a few nights ago, and since he gave me this CD for free I'm passing it on to you. Davey Dynamite hails from Dekalb, Illinois and plays some of the best folk punk around these days. He barks out a Johnny Hobo rasp with the sincerity of Phil Ochs, but without the former's druggy nihilism or the latter's newspaper headline lyrics. The politics Davey sings about are more personal, which is probably why he resonates with so many people. I don't know what more to say about this guy, other than that he's a grade-A Nice Dude, can ably carry a tune and conjures up some clever lyrics that will probably get stuck in your head and make you feel all warm inside. It's all very heartfelt, but before you start getting down on me about this hokey-folky bullshit, remember the wise words of  G.I.S.M.: "punks is hippies."

You can download this album and the rest of Mr. Dynamite's stuff for free (+ pay what you want, you know the drill) at the bandcamp link below.

Davey Dynamite bandcamp

Easter - Demonstration [2011]

On Sunday Mr. J.H. Christ regains consciousness in a dank, cavernous tomb. "Oh my Dad, what happened this weekend?" he thinks. "I must have been pretty hammered for two days to go by like that. I think we had a good time on Friday ... shit." Looking through his hands and feet, he exclaims, "I really got hammered." So he crawls out of the cave on his holy hands and knees into town to find some falafel to try and keep down. His twelve friends came by later to see if he was still passed out, but he had Risen.

So happy Easter to ya, heathen. This band's name is Easter, which is why I'm posting it today. Here is a sixteen-minute demo EP that Kyle down here in Champaign made last year. It's some really good Calvin Johnson-inspired stuff. I think he recorded everything on here himself, but Easter has been playing shows around town as a full band. The sound is unapologetically poppy, but has nonetheless spurred some frenzied moshpits. Have a listen for yourself -- it's as sweet as the chocolate eggs you're scarfing down today.

Easter bandcamp