Wax Idols - Lonely You

Thru the shadowy thicket of gloomy, guitar slangers, we find the decrepit remains ancient mansions once home to Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Chameleons, Dead Can Dance, and other murk lurkers. Wax Idols with its equally cryptic name, follows in the dusty footsteps of gothic heavyweights, crankin the flange and chanting through the wind. Like the sounds of a death swamp, where one has lost their way, Lonely You is a journey into scarce complexity. Like infectious madness churned through a meat grinder into a terrific pop tune, if you like it bleak and refinded you will dig this song. Wax on, not off:

Lusts - Mouthwash

Blending the rigid basslines of Post Punk with the shimmers of Dream- Pop, Lusts craft a gripping tone that reaches deep into your cavities. Reminiscent of The Wild Swans and possibly REM, or Echo and The Bunnymen, this is a soaring jam with overblown guitars and synths. You'll probably dig this one:

Nic Hessler - I Feel Again

Soundtrack to a speedway, Nic Hessler's rollickin new single really spunks things up! Nic Hessler is the poppiest artist Captured Tracks has signed since Wild Nothing, yet Pop is not their only commonality. Both groups share a familiar thread of Post-Punk guitar work, that shakes their tunes with dreamy nostalgia. I Feel Again is a real strumbucker, with super groovy riffs, pepped up to get us in the mood (for Spring?). Whether your into this kind stuff or not, you cant deny Hessler's accessibility. Check this one out, guys:

Robyn Hitchcock - Ghost In You

For Mr. Hitchcock's latest addition to his catalogue he cover's the Psychedelic Furs' wonderful Ghost In You. Sounding a bit like a cut from Punk Goes Acoustic meets Suede, Hitchcock paints his own version of this New Wave classic, in a very bare yet appealing shade.

Merchandise - Little Killer (video)

Merchandise's latest single is a succinct pop anthem, that sits somewhere between something like The Comsat Angels and New York Dolls' Looking for a Kiss. The post-whatever Floridians have shed their lower-fi skin and this new number proves they're ready for their close-up. After bearing witness to an engulfing weekend gig at Glasslands, Merchandise seemed poised to become one of the most interesting and accessible bands strumming today. The video finds the gang mucking about a trippy green screen, with Mr Cox looking a bit like the beautiful love child of Michael Pitt & Sky Ferreira. Sick:

Institute - Giddy Boys

Institute are guitar people from Texas. Post Punk done roite. Television Personalities, Gang of 4, even Jay Reatard seem to be references here. I don't want to talk to much about this, but one could say it makes giddy!

Motorama - She Is There (video)

Craft Spells + New Order meets The National? Pretty much. Motorama thresh out an excessively catchy tune that transcends the sum of their influences.

The Jesus & Mary Chain - April Skies (video)

Look Back In Anger: We're almost done with these April Skies, so why not revel in their grandeur just a little bit longer. I've been spinning a lot of 21 singles recently, but if you want to get a little more in-depth with this section of Chain history, I'd love to point you towards Darklands. This is one of, if not the best records of JAMC. April Skies is the perfect combo of familiar Mary Chain fuzzpop, with nods to traditional Rock-N-Roll, and Rockabilly. Hardbody, Guitarville, UK. Population: These Scottish dudes...makin love on the edge of a knife, forever and ever:

The Jasmine Minks - Cold Heart

Look Back In Anger: It's a beautiful Monday, you must be pining some real jangley sort of tunage. Behond, The Jasmine Minks, early signees of Creation Records, who garnered some critical esteem, but ultimately faded into the fog of blisstory. They have a very lofi strummy sound that sits comfortably between The Clean and The Monochrome Set. Don't let this be last song you ever hear! Feel free, drop me line! Write in the comment box and I'll fetch you a whole bucket of moldy oldies!

Psychic TV - Are You Experienced

Look Back In Anger: After last night's True Detective finale and a recent thumbing-through of Thee Psychick Bible at a local book store, I've been overwhelming intrigued by the occult. Psychic TV was a pop exploration of the more surreal aspects of film and music. Founded by Genesis P-Orridge, the most prominent member of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, as well as Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV tread familiar territory into the bizarre, while also leaning towards a sort of Post-Punk tone. Are You Experienced features the musings of little girl, who wanders alone in a desolate landscape. A swirl of chugging and plunking guitars and pianos pulse behind her voice, as she asks us one question: Are you experienced? Probably not nearly enough:

Eagulls - Tough Luck

Eagulls, the terribly named, Leeds punks are about to blow up the net. They played Letterman Friday afternoon and then the Burg later that night (at 1 in the morning!!). Eagulls produce Punk that lies somewhere between Iceage, and Merchandise. They rekindle an early English sound, reminiscent of the Buzzcocks, but also Echo and the Bunnymen, or The Chameleons. Their a band that fills a necessary Post-punk void in 2014. Where A lot of their contemporaries rely heavily on either wishy-washy jangling guitars, or an overly fuzzed-out sound, Eagulls fit somewhere in the middle while not getting lost in it. Check out their latest video for Tough Luck and a live performance of Possessed:

Felt - Primitive Painters

For this week's installment of Look Back In Anger, we focus our feelers on Felt. Felt flew largely under the radar through most of the 80s and 90s, but proved to be hugely influential on modern day Indie/Post-Punk/guitar bands etc. Their sound falls somewhere between Close Lobsters, The Fall, and Cocteau Twins. For one of their more recogonizable songs, Felt enlisted some powerful back-up vox from Cocteau Twins' dreamstress, Elizabeth Fraser. Primitive Painters is both sleepy and driving with a heavy lacquering of jangley guitars, plus Lawrence Hayward's David Byrne-esque talk singing overtop of Fraser's mysterious ghost wails. Check it:

Part Time - Seashells

The latest from Part Time is a psychedelic trip into the simplistic mysticism of beach front choreography. This is a slinky pop song, filled with punchy brass synths and a timeless vocal line. She walks on the seashells indeed!

Bedfellows - Like A Hostage

Brooklyn post-punk aficionados, Bedfellows, churn up a stew of some seriously sweet guitar pop. Like A Hostage blends an early 80s via Orange Juice, Gang of Four, choppy guitar sound with a more modern Interpol-esque tone. This isn't unfamiliar territory, but it reminds me of Chameleons, or some other dark leaning guitar heavy act that we all know and love! Check it (and check out their new EP World Apart on bandcamp):

Girls Names - Hypnotic Regression

This jingle jangle, post-punk, guitar warped, echo chambered, drone popper, is a true new neu wave ear tickler. Girls Names(w/ the world's worst band name), despite this track's title, have progressed from their fuzz-pop origins to a more intricate and accessible sound. Shedding the noise for dissonance and delay, GN seem to be channeling both Flock of Seagulls and Echo and the Bunnymen, without biting too much from either group. This is a rad tune, so give it a quick spin:

Close Lobsters - What Is There To Smile About?

Scottish C86'ers, Close Lobsters have remained largely unknown for what seems like eons. This summer they'll join other post-punk, twee, and jangle-pop connoisseurs like The Bats, and The Monochrome Set at New York's Popfest. Despite their often avante-garde guitar structures, the band is really a pop powerhouse; which can be noted with their first album Foxheads Stalk This Land. (Their second effort Headache Rhetoric is nothing to snub your nose at either!) Take a listen to their 88' single What Is There To Smile About? I'd say there really is nothing to smile about this time of year, except perhaps this song and its fun lovin video, featured on MTV!