Hikes - Shepards Clock (2012)

First off...take a moment...breath.... now click on the bandcamp link below and listen to the track Hikes has on for display. Come back when you are done I'll wait here.
















WTF?@!  THAT OPENING RIFF IS DEVASTATINGLY GORGEOUS. OMFLIP.

Seriously it could open a portal into another dimension. The rest of the song? equally gorgeous. These cats have something truly special brewing and I need more of whatever they are currently dishing out. Math Rock? yea sure but that guitar has clear Folk finger picking down home goodness baked in. harmonies? check. Sweet memorable melodies? check. Soaring boy/girl vocals? check. If this was part of an album and every song was this arresting I would dare say I'd need to block off some time to digest it. Can't say enough good things about this other than "I NEED MORE"


hikes

Bellow Below - EP

Fairly new Scottish 4 piece that plays an interesting mix of vocal led alt. indie mathish pop? Again just one of those things that you've gotta taste and see. The EP covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time and always seems to head in some very interesting directions. Some of the vocal melodies and harmonies are pretty left field but can also be stunningly beautiful in another moment. Sounds a bit like Pharaohs if they were a bit less happy and never stayed in one place for too long in a song? I dont know tough call they are truly their own beast. I have to say though that I was immediately struck by these guys on first listen and it honestly just keeps getting better with each listen. If this isn't on your radar.....lets just say it needs to be.  

BANDCAMP FOR THE DOWNLOAD

Yeah Great Fine - Yeah Great Fine (2010)

Portland boys always seem to know how to mix the genre's into a delicious slurry of awesome. Yeah Great Fine continue this general position by angling themselves in a fairly unique way.  Lets cheat and at the fore front say guitar led indie rock. On top of this is a healthy dollop of sweet sweet pop music. This is mostly evident in the vocals and harmonies...kinda summery beach boys type progressions (the simple ones that is)  I can hear you thinking already  "jesus dude this sounds like your describing 100,000 bands" but wait theres more.  This is where the Math Rock steps in. A lot of it is yes the drums being awesome and all over the place but there is certainly some rhythmic complexity weaving in and out with the guitars.  Some of the songs do come off a bit generic when they dont try and stick their head above water to soak in the math rock rays of the sun as much as they should. Thankfully the EP rectifies this issue and injects some seriously saucy rhythmic jaunts. Makes me all the more excited for a full length.   

ps. im catching like a sun shiny maps and atlases with a less tap happy bent.

Yeah Great Fine (2010)
Circadian EP (2011)

Anathallo - Floating World (2006)

The now defunct Anathallo (hailing from Michigan and Chicago) had a couple releases under their belt before dissolving in ought 9 . Floating World being the one in which left the greatest mark on me. Think a mess ton of soulful singing and harmonies. Baroque pop and indie pop make the solid base with an emphasis on rhythm and interesting structures. First of get the thoughts of "sleepy pop group" lulling you to sleep out of your head. Sure some songs are crawlers but they are nice enough to get through to the brass and percussion awesome that more often than not makes its presence known.  Not the usual post for me but don't let that fool you, there is more than enough here to like.

Floating World (2006)

Marvins Revolt

Something familiar about their sound that I will never be able to place. This is POWER math pop rock really on its finest hour. The guitar are anthemic and the drums surprisingly complex and hard hitting.  If this was the only thing this Denmark group had going it would still be\ open and shut awesome music, thankfully this is not so. We have soaring melodies and occasionally startlingly beautiful harmonies. Some appropriate gang style shouting crops up when needed as well. The melodies themselves always remind me of drinking songs or Irish folk tunes but this is much more of a feeling. I could not hope to give this high enough praise.

Killec