We’ve been massive fans of the searing political pop-punk provocateur Ted Leo and his inimitable Pharmacists since the Tyranny of Distance, and we’ve followed with fascination his meteoric indie-rock rise, blasting through all spectrums of punk from soaring post-pop anthems to gnarled, grizzled fist-pumpers. Still, we were never prepared for the treat that is The Brutalist Bricks, [...]]]>

We’ve been massive fans of the searing political pop-punk provocateur Ted Leo and his inimitable Pharmacists since the Tyranny of Distance, and we’ve followed with fascination his meteoric indie-rock rise, blasting through all spectrums of punk from soaring post-pop anthems to gnarled, grizzled fist-pumpers. Still, we were never prepared for the treat that is The Brutalist Bricks, a stunning masterwork of punk songwriting that’s every bit as ferocious and cathartic as the most pummeling of Rollins records while still maintaining the pitch-perfect pop sensibilities that have always separated Leo from the herd. In short, Brutalist Bricks might just be the bands best record to date – it’s certainly their most thought-provoking, political and perfectly punk to date. With the Pharmacists in their finest form in years, the band truly sounds like a cohesive whole and the record is mixed in such a way to give a sense of live immediacy, that these songs are being crafted and composed of pure energy right before your eyes. Leo, always the top-notch songwriter, outdoes himself with subtle yet stark condemnations of our nation’s current state of affairs while still inviting the listener in for his sonorous guitar-rock. Ted Leo has always been a rock god, but we didn’t know he could change the world – with this record he just might. Check out some tunes below!

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – “Ativan Eyes”

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – “Woke Up Near Chelsea”

We’ve been following the progress of Swedish indie-pop wunderkinds Love Is All ever since the first time we spun Nine Times That Same Song years and years ago – and now it seems that after relentless touring and a solid sophomore LP they’ve fallen back into the finest of forms with their Polyvinyl debut Two [...]]]>

We’ve been following the progress of Swedish indie-pop wunderkinds Love Is All ever since the first time we spun Nine Times That Same Song years and years ago – and now it seems that after relentless touring and a solid sophomore LP they’ve fallen back into the finest of forms with their Polyvinyl debut Two Thousand and Ten Injuries. Picking up where the first LP left off, Love Is All remains every bit as scattershot and whimsical, without losing their basic pop focus, as they’ve ever been. Standout tracks include “The Birds Were Singing With All Their Might” and lead single “Kungen” both of which delight with their ‘Life-Without-Buildings-esque’ vocal delivery and newfound ‘High-Places-esque’ percussion and instrumentation. Lead singer Josephine Olausson lets her lyrics breathe with more definition on this record, singing and crooning on more songs rather than her traditional bark. Altogether the first great indie-pop record of 2010 – watch your formulas people, these guys are already tearing it up.

Love Is All – “The Birds Were Singing With All Their Might”

Back and on the attack the Joy Formidable, masters of the rock and roll gut-punch, are continuing their reign over the booming indie-shoegaze world with their upcoming tour of Europe and a new single “Popinjay” accompanied by the video below. While the song features the same snarly, snaky guitar lines we’ve come to [...]]]>

Back and on the attack the Joy Formidable, masters of the rock and roll gut-punch, are continuing their reign over the booming indie-shoegaze world with their upcoming tour of Europe and a new single “Popinjay” accompanied by the video below. While the song features the same snarly, snaky guitar lines we’ve come to expect from the inmitable trio, the video showcases some clever stop-motion animation that somehow seems right at home with amplifier exploding antics of these Welsh loud-gazers. Check it below!

The Joy Formidable – “Anemone”

To say that we’ve waited with bated breath for any new tunes from Slayer-acolytes and potty-mouth purveyors of shred-tastic shoegaze Giant Drag would be doing Annie Hardy a huge disservice – we’re blue in the face, unable to resucisate from waiting so long. So when we finally nabbed out copy of the Swan [...]]]>

To say that we’ve waited with bated breath for any new tunes from Slayer-acolytes and potty-mouth purveyors of shred-tastic shoegaze Giant Drag would be doing Annie Hardy a huge disservice – we’re blue in the face, unable to resucisate from waiting so long. So when we finally nabbed out copy of the Swan Song EP it came as an instant revival, placing this blazingly original duo back on the forefront of indie rock. Hardy sits in the middle of a massive maelstrom, whipping guitar snarls and pummeling drumlines flying past her quiet but assured vocal delivery. Even more so than Hearts and Unicorns the Swan Song EP shows the potential for Giant Drag to produce truly massive, mind-blowing sounds, while at the same time equaling their volume punishment with sincerity and heartfelt emotion on slower tracks. Definitely one of the best releases of 2010 so far. Check out the track featuring “Slash” below and let us know if you don’t agree people!

Giant Drag – “Heart Carl”

Seems our favorite experimental artist/hip-hop megastar/motivational speaker Abe Gil aka Treasure Mammal has been busy as of late, putting out a split-7″ with fellow up and coming Arizona dwellers Feel Free, and let’s just say that upon placing the needle to the wax we were blown away by the leaps and bounds these bands have [...]]]>

Seems our favorite experimental artist/hip-hop megastar/motivational speaker Abe Gil aka Treasure Mammal has been busy as of late, putting out a split-7″ with fellow up and coming Arizona dwellers Feel Free, and let’s just say that upon placing the needle to the wax we were blown away by the leaps and bounds these bands have made with their uncompromising, indefinable sounds. Treasure Mammal channels R & B and soul with a liberal application of bizarre and phantasmagorical sound waves cascading over his diatribes on topics like “Bromance” and “Real Talk”. This is Gil at his most otherworldly, stretching his artistic bounds in new and exciting directions.

On the flip side Feel Free jam with a collective rock sureness that bespeaks a band much more experience than the claim to have. They noodle and whip through tracks with confidence in their lack of structure. Overall an incredibly satisfying 7″, be sure and grab yourself one pronto!

Check out Treasure Mammal performing “Bromance” at our 2009 SXSW party below:

Check out a live performance by Feel Free below.

Treasure Mammal – “Best Friends Forever”

Here’s our second installment in our ‘Versus’ video series featuring none other than local blues-rock rebel rousers White Dress led by the inimitable Arum Rae. On Saturday Feb. 6th the crowd at Trophy’s here on South Congress in Austin, Texas was brimming with excitement – local legends like Britt Daniel of Spoon [...]]]>

Here’s our second installment in our ‘Versus’ video series featuring none other than local blues-rock rebel rousers White Dress led by the inimitable Arum Rae. On Saturday Feb. 6th the crowd at Trophy’s here on South Congress in Austin, Texas was brimming with excitement – local legends like Britt Daniel of Spoon and Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards anxiously awaited the first downbeat of the indie-up and comers White Dress whose fearsome brand of blood-in-your-spit rock and roll recalls equal parts PJ Harvey and a riot grrrl garage band.

With sexy, sultry vocals and pounding, loud-quiet-loud song structure, the band is a churning and understated as a forever burning underground gas fire – and just about as hot. Arum Rae commands attention with every slight gesture, every tilt of her guitar and snarl of her lips. With a ferocious snarl she barks and howls the lyrics and pummels her guitar with impressive flair only to return to a demure, slow burning songstress in the next beat. The understated value of White Dress is actually what can’t be overstated. The band has just enough understanding of the genre, just enough attention to detail, just enough inhibition to keep the group careening into derivativeness and instead planting them firmly on the cutting edge of punk meets blues rock and roll.

Drummer Abbey mirrors this cool collectedness, slamming down on her cymbals in one breath and effortlessly swaying her sticks to the tune of a ballad in the next. Bassist and keyboardist Chris also churns the still waters, creating a cool, dark musical surf that Rae quickly spins into whirlpools and tidal waves of fury with each breath.

Overall a fantastic show, definitely one of our favorite new bands, not only in Austin, but ever! Check out our video interview below and the band’s performance of standout track “Warranted Queen”. Get on this bandwagon before it ships out CC faithful!

White Dress – “Warranted Queen”

We’re a little late on posting this but we don’t see enough of our favorite NYC songstress Lissy Trullie crashing about the blogosphere these days. Here’s a little acoustic performance of “Self-Taught Learner” from Papermag.

Lissy Trullie – “Hold Your Head”

Here’s the actual video of standout track “Landmines” from the Action Design, now in post-worthy form! Check it out y’all!

The Action Design – “Move On”

Local Austinite Melissa Hagen aka Melissa and the Pink Guitar swirls a brand of lonely bedroom-pop with such ease and confidence as to conjure images of the rudiments of sadcore greats like the inimtiable Carissa’s Wierd. Much more than a simply sad singer-songwriter, Melissa delivers a brand of literate guitar-pop that any post-collegiate [...]]]>

Local Austinite Melissa Hagen aka Melissa and the Pink Guitar swirls a brand of lonely bedroom-pop with such ease and confidence as to conjure images of the rudiments of sadcore greats like the inimtiable Carissa’s Wierd. Much more than a simply sad singer-songwriter, Melissa delivers a brand of literate guitar-pop that any post-collegiate twenty-something can pour their feelings into and she does it with such sincerity as to make the listener almost voyeuristic to her tiny dreamscapes and confessions. Overall a very worthwhile and catchy Austin artist, definitely worth seeing around town – here’s hoping she continues to perform and expand on her already formidable sound. 

Melissa and the Pink Guitar – “Samantha”

We here at Cannibal Cheerleader have been waiting with bated breath since even before we started the blog for new material from our favorite foul-mouthed ferocious songstress Annie Hardy aka Giant Drag and finally her infamously delayed Swan Song EP gets a release date – Feb. 16th people on Roar Scratch. Get on [...]]]>

We here at Cannibal Cheerleader have been waiting with bated breath since even before we started the blog for new material from our favorite foul-mouthed ferocious songstress Annie Hardy aka Giant Drag and finally her infamously delayed Swan Song EP gets a release date – Feb. 16th people on Roar Scratch. Get on this immediately folks, check out the tracklist below, the sweet as shit video for lead single “Stuff to Live For” below that, and a live version of “Swan Song” below THAT. Exciting stuff.

Swan Song EP
1. Swan Song
2. Stuff to Live For
3. White Baby
4. Heart Carl

Giant Drag – “Swan Song (live)”