Stream/Download: Tawny Peaks - Tawny Peaks (2012)

The Montclair-based twinkly emo group Tawny Peaks has been accruing some impressive hype recently for a good reason. For one thing, they’re a remarkably young band. At least one of their members is still in high school, and their talented producer/guitarist Sam Skinner graduated just a few months ago. But more importantly, Tawny Peaks is also one of the most refreshing and interesting new groups to try their hand at this style in some time, regardless of their age.

With their brand new full length album Tawny Peaks, the five piece group have delivered a somewhat anomalous emo revival record — namely, one that resorts to neither the musical nor lyrical cliches that have become associated with the movement in the past five years. The band accomplishes this by taking a less hard-edged approach than many of their peers, exploring math rock territory openly throughout the record and maintaining an impressive production value throughout. On the spectrum from screamo to American Football, this band definitely sides with Mike Kinsella, employing noodly guitar lines that mostly retain a sense of purpose and vocals that rarely strain further than a pallid whine. The harmonizing vocals of Charlie Perris and Molly Grund stand out often on this record, particularly on tracks like “Collect Calling” and the gentle acoustic number “March Sadness,” which evokes the lush folk soundscapes of The Act Of Estimating As Worthless.

The clear highlight on this release is the closing track “Bring Back The Mountain,” a stirring, heavily emotive 8-minute anthem that distills the band’s mathy ramblings in its first half and builds up to a breathtaking climax in its second. Others, such as the opener “With Steps,” offer a more immediate pop catharsis than the powerful closer. With 8 tracks clocking in at a total of 36 minutes, Tawny Peaks is a relatively ambitious release by punk standards, especially coming on the heels of the Harris Harris EP last year. Although emo bands have a notoriously brief shelf-life, here’s hoping that there’s more to be heard from this particular group.

________________________

Stream Tawny Peaks above, and download it from the band’s bandcamp page. They seem to have run out of free downloads, but they’ve included a mediafire link as well if you want it for free.

Everyone Everywhere - “$1,000,000,000”

Earlier today, the Philadelphia emo band and Into It. Over It. split pals Everyone Everywhere announced a new full length album called Everyone Everywhere, out August 7th on the band’s own record label. Along with the announcement, they debuted a tracklist, cover art, and a new single from the forthcoming LP. That single is called “$1,000,000,000” (yes, that’s one billion dollars) and it’s named after the approximate amount of money that they’re bound to make from record sales once the new album comes out.

Seriously though, this is some really nice, gently twinkling indie/emo. It’s as easy to lose yourself in the guitars and vocal melodies as it must be to get lost in the woods on that beautiful album cover. If this isn’t the sweet sound of summer, I don’t know what is. 

_______________________

Stream “$1,000,000,000” above. Follow Everyone Everywhere on tumblr, and find more information about the new album on their bandcamp page.  

Stream/Download: Milkshakes - Wisdom Teeth/Milkshakes Split (2012)

Last week, the Connecticut indie/emo band Milkshakes debuted their half of an upcoming split Alabama’s Wisdom Teeth for free download on bandcamp. This three-song split marks the first official release from the Glastonbury-based group after a promising, if unremarkable, single-song demo release last year.

I have to say, I’m impressed. With only three songs, the Wisdom Teeth/Milkshakes split is by no means an earth-shattering release, but it’s a remarkably solid and well recorded collection of tracks for such a relatively young band. In particular, the updated version of “Kalabar’s Revenge,” the track that they released as a demo last year, stands out as a basement-ready punk anthem just waiting to be heard. On each of the three tracks, the guitars cut through the mix with just enough grit and slop, and the drums pack a tangible punch. At just over two minutes each, all three tracks follow the same formula, but they go by quickly enough that it doesn’t get tiresome. My favorite is easily the last track “Joeys Fitness,” on which the group slows things down just enough at the beginning to provide a buildup for the eventual release that comes with the chorus.

The lyrics on these songs are typical emo fare, but vocalist Tim Diltz sells them with just the right mix of aggression and melodic sensibility. Diltz has the rare ability to sing and shout in equal measure, and he exercises both talents at length on these three tracks. His vocals, and the surprisingly tuneful melodies that he crafts with them, are definitely the highlight of this release for me, and they make me look forward to shouting along with him at summer shows. 

___________________________

Stream Milkshakes’ half of the Wisdom Teeth/Milkshakes Split above, and download it for free from their bandcamp page.