Close Lobsters - New York City In Space (video)

The overwhelmingly underrated and criminally underheard Close Lobsters, are back with a brand new single! New York City In Space trembles with familiarity, as the Lobsters reintroduce us to their warm hypnotic guitar layerings. It's a sleepy, dream-like single that unwinds behind Andrew Burnett's echoing Scotish drawl. It could easily be a restored lost cut from Headache Rhetoric, their last LP. Even if you never got into the whole C86 thing, or ever even heard What Is There To Smile About, you may find something pleasing in this tune. For fans of Galaxie 500, Felt, or any recent Captured Tracks singees:

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:

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!