For every season, turn, turn, turn…
Just when you thought I’d tired of the synthesizer, along comes this post. What can I say. It takes a village. Or something like that.
Any act described by at least one blog as a fusion of Crystal Castles and The Smiths is certain to get my attention. I’m not sure if Class Actress are exactly that (could any band be?), but they do have some excellent songs.
Class Actress are Elizabeth Harper, Scott Rosenthal and Mark Richardson, and they have a brand new EP, Journal of Ardency, out February 9th via Chris Taylor’s (of Grizzly Bear fame) Terrible Records.
Download EP tracks “Careful What You Say” and “Journal of Ardency” here. Read the group’s Pitchfork “Rising” interview here. Hear the rest of the EP at the group’s myspace page, including the shimmering “Broken Adolescent Heart” and “Let Me Take You Out.” Like the record Stars has been trying to make for the past three years.
And speaking of female-fronted synth-pop groups, Parallels’ debut record comes out next month. Who? What? Well, this Toronto-based trio (Holly Dodson, Joey Kehoe and ex-Crystal Castle, Cameron Findlay) have been the object of considerable interweb buzz for some time now. Their song “Find the Fire” was recently featured on Kitsune Maison Compilation 8 (released in November), and the group seems poised for something of a breakthrough (whatever that might mean these days). Break out your acid-washed jeans. It’s time to party like it’s 1989.
Check out a live performance of their ever stellar “Reservoir” below:
And what’s a blog about retro-leaning, female-fronted groups without an Italians Do It Better shout out? I am an absolute sucker for anything this label does. Breaking my heart slowly since 2007. Watch the official video for Chromatics’ “In The City” below. And if a cryptic entry on their myspace page is to be believed, they’re currently working on new material. If you don’t own IDIB’s After Dark compilation, please do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Now.
