You've heard it here before, and we'll say it again (and undoubtedly, again sometime in the future): we sure do love The Young Evils, and if you're not already on their wagon, you are missing the f*ck out. Their brand of indie-pop went from a blast-of-sunshine sound on 2010's full-length Enchanted Chapel to deeper, darker waters -- with plenty of light still filtering through, mind you -- on Foreign Spells, the band's most recent EP.

You can listen to the albums yourself and see, of course, but we think you should get yourself over to Barboza, that rad new space underneath current-day Neumos, and check them out for yourself. The Young Evils will be celebrating the formal release of Foreign Spells there on Friday, July 13th {yep! That's this Friday!} and for a mere eight bucks, you can get your hooks into what they're cooking up live and in-person. The night opens with The Grizzled Mighty and tunes from none other than DJ Marco Collins, so it's a win-win-win all around.

PS, we've been hearing from a few Barboza frequenters that the shows tend to get started relatively soon after doors open, so make sure to shake a tailfeather and get over to Capitol Hill on time so you don't miss a beat.

{21+ / 7p doors / $8. Advance tickets available here. Photo courtesy of The Young Evils.}

Let's jump right in: I'm torn between starting this post with "this Lemolo album is seriously haunting me" and "Lemolo could totally beat up your favorite synth-y indie dream-core band" because they're both true. In the case of the former, I find myself humming harmonies absentmindedly at varying points in my days and nights, wondering what the song is -- and then realizing it's a track off of The Kaleidoscope; and the case of the latter, the lyrics are smarter and more gripping than anything I've heard in this genre before, and the emotion-pendulum they swing on is more vast.

Whichever way you slice it, The Kaleidoscope is a keeper. It'll be your new go-to for warming up, coming down, pondering, soundtracking, arriving, leaving, making out, and everything in-between. The album as a whole is intelligent and tight, meandering over to casually shred your face off in one moment and placing it's hands directly on your heartstrings the next. There's such a big-yet-right-in-the-next-room feeling that pervades from start to finish, and it would be easy to make comparisons like 'Beach House with a better edge!' or 'Phantogram with less dance party and more smart-kid!' but we'd be doing Lemolo an injustice by saying so. Instead, I'll fine-tune it a bit and say that this album holds up to the landscape of Washed Out's "Feel It All Around" {one of my favorite dream-jam tracks} and the brilliance of a portion of the Broken Social Scene catalog {"Sweetest Kill" and "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl come to mind}, while still standing apart with a tone and center all it's own.

Every single song has a piece in it somewhere that punches us square in the gut, in the very best of ways. "On Again, Off Again" is the big single from the album, and of course there's the "Open Air" video... it's great to finally hear tracks from shows put to waxdisc, like those two, "Who Loves" and "Whale Song" -- but "Move Me" is taking the proverbial cake at the moment. "Move Me" wraps the listener around the axle with the line that repeats I don't / want to / be away / from you / too long, and coincidentally enough, that's exactly how we feel about this album (and this band in general, PS).  I'd strongly encourage every single one of you reading this to be sure and catch Lemolo at Columbia City Theater this Friday and Saturday, but both shows are sold out. You'll just have to get yourself over to the Capitol Hill Block Party for a chance at taking in a live set.

While the Lemolo release and this next one have nothing to do with each other, they both hit my stratosphere in the same week, and so I've taken them in at the same time -- and as a result, there has definitely had a yin-and-yang effect taking place. When I'm all full-up on Lemolo's smart soundscape-y vibes, I shift my attention to my other favorite thing of the moment, the equally smart yet sonically-opposite Foreign Spells {the new Young Evils EP}. Foriegn Spells is short, to the point, and provides an excellent sampler-pack of songs that show the direction the band is headed in. While we've made no secret here in the imaginary office about how much we loves us some Enchanted Chapel, we're double-down excited about the new tunes that the Young Evils have seen fit to bestow us with, especially now that we've got "Darker Blue Bayou" in the flesh and can add it to the next mix we make. With the last release as evidence to compare and contrast against, the songs seem smarter, darker, fuller, and more concise -- the EP really shows the listener the difference between a bright idea and more of a fully-formed realization of what these stellar musicians are capable of. And while Foreign Spells is totally killer on the stereo, as is the case with many other bands, we think these lady-and-gents do their best work live -- so be sure to get yourself to the formal release party at Barboza next month, on July 13th.

There have been a handful of tracks that are making their way onto mixes of late, and a few doing repeat duty, so I thought it best to mention them as well if we're talking about what's been filling our imaginary ears and iPhones with happiness. Some are new-new, some are new-to-me, and some are just new in that they were buried at the bottom of the stack and recently found their way back up into heavy rotation.

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Japandroids are the high-energy musical collaboration of Vancouver, B.C. natives Brian King (guitar/vocals) and David Prowse (drums/vocals). Much like No Age or The White Stripes, Japandroids make the most out of their two instrument set-up --often giving the impression that the full sounds they are making are coming from more than just two people. Their 2009 release Post Nothing was a 36-minute blast of energy, highlighted by shout-along anthems "Young Hearts Spark Fire", "The Boys are Leaving Town" and "Wet Hair".

June 5th marks the release of their second full length album, Celebration Rock. The album doesn't veer far from their familiar formula of grabbing the listener by the arm, taking them on a wild ride, and not letting go until the album is done. The album is already getting rave reviews and is currently streaming over at NPR, which you can take a listen to here.

If their recorded work is any indication, their live show promises to be a sweaty, beer-fueled affair. They kick off an American tour at Neumos on Monday, June 11th with Cadence Weapon opening up -- and we want to send you and a friend to a show! Just send an email to us at tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "CelebrationRock" sometimes between now and the end of the day on Thursday, June 7th. We'll pick a winner and let you know by Friday that you're on the list for Monday's show!

Good luck!

{Japandroids with Cadence Weapon / Neumos / Doors at 8:00 / 21+ / $13.50 adv. Photo courtesy of the Japandroids Facebook page.}

Ben Kweller's been a little off my radar. I mainly know about him via a mix given to me that contained "Wasted and Ready," which is a fine song. He's definitely someone I've been interested in, but I'm better at keeping up with movies than I am with music -- and so my awareness of Mr. Kweller faded into the background. Until now.

His new album Go Fly a Kite has been rocking my world since I picked it up this weekend on RSD and I seriously LOVE IT you guys. It's packed with power-pop goodness and great lyrics (take a listen to opening track "Mean to Me" below), and bonus! The box transforms into a diorama!!! Look at it. It's covered in super-neat illustrations by Josh Cochran and it's blacklight-friendly! 

And so -- this guy's live show kind of snuck on me, because it's this Saturday at Neumos. And I bet it's going to be awesome. Kweller is playing with Sleeper Agent, which upon a brief listen, seems like the perfect match. I'm diggin' their fun, jumpy pop vibe. More importantly: this show is all ages AND 21+, so you can bring some underage music fans with you. 

{Ben Kweller with Sleeper Agent | Neumos | Saturday 4/28 | Doors at 7pm | $16 ADV at Moe Bar or etix.com | 21+ Main Floor, All Ages Balcony}

Waiting for Record Store Day is the grown up version of waiting for Christmas. You know you’re going to get lots of cool stuff but it's so hard to wait until Santa comes. Well, guess what? Santa came!

Since Record Store Day is all about trying to get people to do something they don’t usually do – go to record stores and buy music – I think it’s best that the music be something the artists don’t usually do, too. That’s why the release I’m most excited about is Feistodon, the 7” split by indie-pop goddess Feist and American heavy metal royalty Mastodon. Both are at the top of their respective genres. They are rarely played in the same room, unless it’s my living room. There Feist’s single “1234” has been on heavy rotation since my toddler could ask for a song, sharing the speakers with Mastodon’s album The Hunter since their performance at the Sodo Showbox last November.

Topping the fact that these two incongruous acts put out a split together is that they cover each other’s songs. Mastodon do a nice, heavy cover of Feist’s “A Commotion” with more intelligible vocals than they’ve ever sung before; and Feist goes all dark and Nick Cave-y on Mastodon’s “Black Tongue” before literally adding bells and whistles to the more electronic final third of the track.

You can listen to the originals and their covers below, and read more about Feistodon here, but of course the point is for you to go out and buy the record at one of the lovely independent record stores we already talked about. And while you’re out there, what other goodies are you going to pick up?

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Spoek Mathambo's Father Creeper may be the sleeper of the year. It is disguised as world stew glitch brew, but its album cover somehow perfectly captures both the sturdiness and destruction: A glistening facade of a corporate building reflecting a fire and sinister Nomadic tribe leaving an accident or attack. In the face of the future, the mystery of the past destroys.

South African rapper-singer-gizmo grifter Mathambo has been criticized for relentlessness and lyrical jackassery in his mix of rock, hip-hop, and all those things rock and hip-hop fans can't easily identify. Sure, there's crunk bass and Krautrock squiggles surrounding lyrically rude and mocking low life rebellion ("We Can Work"), which actually reminds me quite a bit of a Black Rock version of best aspects of the first Shabazz Palaces EP (the self-titled one, not Of Light). It's all about shirking work and digging whatever cake is called down in SA.

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One of my favorite bands ever (that my awesome friend Carl introduced me to) is Smoking Popes—who, in addition to creating catchy, hyperkentic lovelorn tunes, totally kill it live every. single. time. they play—and they are FINALLY releasing some new songs!

On May 1, The Complete Control Sessions: Smoking Popes will be released on SideOneDummy Records, both digitally and in a limited vinyl pressing. Vinyl will be pressed in black, black w/gold splatter, and gold w/black splatter (fancy!).

This live EP will have classic Smoking Popes ballads "Writing a Letter" and "Grab Your Heart and Run", plus two new songs: "Let’s Call It Love" and "Hey Renee"—and a cover of the Les Mis song "I Dreamed a Dream." AWESOME.

Download the EP or order a record off SideOneDummy’s webstore on 5/1. I’m so excited! Who else is excited?

What's up, haterade-makers? Are you ready for the next Wavves or Coco Rosie to dump "comments" scorn on in this city of ciphers? Well, Claire Boucher (who is Grimes) sees herself as Phil Spector per Pitchfork, and the multiple internal personalities she evokes through her Nylon magazine collage of fashion-friendly-but-flirting with sounding roguishly ugly, J-Pop and K-Pop, and astrology-reading cassette-funk, is prime target for chillwave lads imagining their jittery jams have some sort of deeper meaning. (You can start that process by comparing yourself to Phil Spector and not sounding anything like Ronnie.)

I don't know if any in the bloggy woggy boy glitchy gang has any scholarly Scott Walkers (crazy cosmopolitan craftsmen) compared to this expressionist Nico (who used cigarette-scarred vocals to paint romantic distance as Grimes uses sugar-stuffed pixie-sticks from-the-diaphragm sprays). I don't listen to their mates closely enough. I do know Visions is a very pleasant trip through Asian pop plagiarism meets Flying Lizards novelty rock, and if the deeper ideas Boucher espouses in interviews don't seem to quite make it into the sequence, there is historical precidence for enjoying weird stuff for just being weird stuff. Grimes for me falls somewhere far away from Tuneyards' ecstatic, erotic, energizing DIY cosmic body rock, and maybe a little closer to Amy Grant's cute, pure odes to some theocratic order based on a monotheistic editor. 

My utterly reductivist wife, walking through the living room while this played, was like "Oh, the new Cocteau Twins." That's a little shorthanded, but my wife really likes the Cocteau Twins, so you know --

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It was a great long weekend for sight and sound as we took in some goings-on around Seattle, the most notable of which was the release party for Damien Jurado's Maraqopa this past Friday at the Neptune. Sharing the bill with Gold Leaves and Bryan John Appleby, Jurado and the most recent incarnation of his band sold out our newest favorite venue to an attentive, appreciative crowd. Maraqopa {which is officially out today}, his latest brand of soundscape, is the perfect blend of everything we've come to love about Damien Jurado's work, packaged in a collective series of sounds we've never quite heard from him before. There's a little bit on Maraqopa for everyone: it's part singer-songwriter, part freak-folk, part guitar-shredding psychedelia heaven, and fourteen other different kinds of good. {Read a little more about what we've heard and adore about Maraqopa thus far here.}

Here's a few shots from Friday's show:

Another knock-it-out-of-the-park win this weekend was the screening of Fever Year, the documentary that followed Andrew Bird along for a seemingly insane 180-date tour a few years back. As avid fans, we've seen everything from those early 2000s shows where six fellow attendees stood in rapt appreciation to bursting-at-the-seams capacity nights from this most recent grueling tour {including a sold-out show at the Paramount and a set for a few thousand people at Austin City Limits in 2009} -- and it was an absolute delight to see every facet of Andrew Bird's career represented so brilliantly in this film. Historical flashbacks to his Bowl of Fire days fused together perfectly with recent tour clips and an incredible glimpse of his on-, off- and backstage life, all of which blended together into a gorgeously intimate eighty-minute portrait of the Andrew Bird of today. The mini-doc was warmed up perfectly by the screening of the Fleet Foxes' The Shrine / An Argument, an absolute delight to take in -- both visually on the big screen and as it poured out of the theater's state-of-the-art soundsystem.

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...when the tissue paper layers of his songs build to sufficient thickness, it’s impossible not to be swept away, as evidenced by Blues Funeral.

Blues Funeral is the first album released under the name Mark Lanegan Band since 2004’s Bubblegum, but don’t think Lanegan hasn’t been busy. He has released albums with Isobel Campbell, The Twilight Singers, Soulsavers, and The Guttertwins, in addition to making numerous guest appearances in the meantime. Despite eight years and nine albums separating them, Blues Funeral follows logically from Bubblegum. Blues Funeral is the more cohesive of the two, yet rarely dips into monotony. Guest appearances by frequent collaborators, Josh Homme, Greg Dulli, and Jack Irons connect the album to Lanegan’s other projects.

Blues Funeral is best enjoyed in its entirety in a darkened room, through headphones, with a bourbon in hand. Throughout the whole, lyrics are placed front and center, where, like the Man in Black, Lanegan yearningly explores unwholesome themes with only a flickering hope of Christian redemption.

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