Though all members hail from Charlottetown, PEI, and they’re signed to Vancouver’s Mint Records, Kiwi Jr. are very much a part of Toronto’s independent music scene. Full of 80s college rock and 90s indie rock feel-goodness, the band’s debut album Football Money will no doubt fool throwback slackers into adopting this band as their own.
The DIY-to-the-core duo Twen have debuted with an album. Awestruck is a time capsule two years in the making and recorded in different locations along the way. Though unabashedly indie rock, Twen’s songs genre-bend from shoe-gaze-sized walls of sound to Beatle-esque call-and-response harmonies, while frontperson Jane Fitzsimmons’ voice weaves through guitarist Ian Jones’ guitar lines with Cocteau Twin’s inspired flair, giving breath of ethereal mysticism across the album. Tonight in concert at Heliogàbal.
Peach Pit is a surfy indie pop band who apply a playful twist to serious songwriting. Their clean, complex guitar riffs and insatiable rhythmic grooves offset dark themes about the conflicted interpersonal anguish in the teenage mind. They round out this dichotomy with nostalgic textures, color-coordinated stage outfits and a strong affinity for normalcy.
Peach Pit have released their new single “Shampoo Bottles” along with the Lester Lyons-Hookham directed official video for the track. roduced by John Congleton and written by Peach Pit, “Shampoo Bottles” will be featured on the band’s forthcoming sophomore album due out this spring and follows the release of “Feelin’ Low,” which will also be on the LP.
Born in Paris but raised in Marseille, which he still considers his hometown, Mathieu Hocine has been writing songs since he was a kid. When he decided to publically unveil his project in the early 2000’s, he chose the nickname Kid Francescoli, as a tribute to Enzo Francescoli, one of the stars of his beloved Olympique de Marseille football club. In the past decades, his city has had a strong influence on the development of rap music in France, but things are changing and Kid Francescoli is the perfect example. His music has a lot more to do with pop, electro, the French Touch movement, dream-pop and film soundtracks (especially Ennio Morricone’s works).
In 2009, when he was staying in New York for a while, he met an American singer, Julia Minkin. They fell in love and started playing music together as a duo, which led to the creation of Kid Francescoli’s third album, called With Julia (2014). Even though they have broken up, Julia remains his muse and their relationship has evolved into a creative friendship.
In 2017, Kid Francescoli released Play Me Again, a new album documenting the end of a love story and exploring interesting territories (hip-hop beats, reggae, R&B, lyrics in French…). Love affairs don’t always end badly. Two years after the success of Play Me Again he releases Lovers, his brand new album.
Over the space of three years, two singles and countless gigs, including tour supports with Teenage Fanclub and Real Estate, Spinning Coin have determinedly made their music heard: beautifully rough-hewn guitar pop that takes in frustration and escapism, but also gracefulness and splendour.
Spinning Coin have dropped a new song, Titled ‘Ghosting’, it follows up on previous single ‘Feel You More Than World Right Now’ in previewing their new album ‘Hyacinth’.
Best Coast is an American surf pop rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The band consists of songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Bethany Cosentino and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno.
Best Coast have announced the details for their much-anticipated fourth album. Titled ‘Always Tomorrow’, it arrives alongside a brand new single, ‘Everything Has Changed’. It’s the second to debut from the record, following up on last year’s ‘For The First Time’.
Sunny days. Ocean breezes. Sandy shores. Leafy palm trees. Cool jazzy sounds spiked with pop, hip-hop, reggae, soul, calypso, even some street-corner swing, all in the service of positive vibes, spiritual uplift and “don’t worry, be happy” fun. Look beyond those alluring, seductive Surfaces, though, and that’s where the three-dimensional musical depth of the band’s principals, Colin Padalecki and Forrest Frank, truly shines through. With Frank on vocals and production, and Padalecki working on writing and arrangements, the pair have increasingly meshed their individual talents into one impressive whole. They’ve just released their second album.
