David McCrindleA rumour that will undoubtedly surface over and over again over the next few months about Minneapolis young toughs Howler is this – drummer Brent Mayes is the scion of one Prince Rogers Nelson. Even if it were true, it would be irrelevant as future-funk is the furthest thing from Howler’s mandate as you can get. The fivesome face unabashedly backwards in time, staring straight at the ’50s rock and ’70s punk – in particular the garages and dive bars across America where rock’n’roll was being cultivated.

And if they do it all through the lens of the ’00s and in particular The Strokes, well that’s fair game as well. The band are absurdly young – frontman Jordan Gatesmith is all of 19 years old – and Julian Casablancas and his gang are probably as much a part of the classic rock canon to them as Elvis or The Ramones. This isn’t in any way to suggest that Howler will be taking their place amongst the aforementioned anytime soon, if ever. Though their debut album America Give Up has plenty of rough energy and enthusiasm and some immediately likeable tunes but loses some points for striving a bit too hard for some nebulous “authenticity”, particularly when Gatesmith tries to ape Casablancas’ more throat-shredding moments; they fare better when they sound more relaxed and like a bunch of kids having a good time. Still, they manage to stay on the right side of the ledger by keeping the tempos up, guitars loud, hooks sharp and running time short – under 32 minutes and they’re done.

Unsurpisingly, Howler are already critical darlings in the UK – The Guardian has a profile piece on the band. America Give Up is out next Tuesday and streaming in whole at NPR. They play The Drake Underground on April 5.

MP3: Howler – “Back Of Your Neck”
Video: Howler – “Back Of Your Neck”
Video: Howler – “Told You Once”
Stream: Howler / America Give Up

Not so long ago, Crocodiles were super-conspicuous for their absence from Toronto stages – now they’ve practically moved in as they’re back for their third show in eight months (sixth if you count all three NXNE gigs), playing Lee’s Palace on February 23. Tickets are $13.50.

MP3: Crocodiles – “Sleep Forever”

Chairlift’s new record Something will be out on January 24 and they’ll follow that up with a show at The Horseshoe on March 28 – tickets $12.

MP3: Chairlift – “Sidewalk Safari”

North Carolina’s Lost In The Trees continue to work 2010’s All Alone In An Empty House, returning to town again for another date at The Drake Underground on April 6, tickets $11.50. Update: Their new record A Church That Fits Our Needs is out March 20 and NPR is streaming the first song.

MP3: Lost In The Trees – “All Alone In An Empty House”
Stream: Lost In The Trees – “Red”

Amidst a lineup of some of the biggest – and loudest – names in indie rock of the past two decades, not many expected the delicate piano songs of Seattle’s Perfume Genius to stand out, but inexplicably, it did. Now with a second album in Put Your Back N 2 It ready for a February 21 release, Mike Hadreas will hit the road with it and stop in at the Drake Underground on April 8. Tickets for that are $13.50 in advance.

MP3: Perfume Genius – “All Waters”

Real Estate have rolled out a new Scharpling-directed video from Days. They’re at Lee’s Palace on January 20.

Video: Real Estate – “Easy”

Pitchfork has another MP3 from Of Montreal’s forthcoming Paralytic Stalks, out February 7.

MP3: Of Montreal – “Dour Percentage”

Clash talks to Eric Bachmann and Mark Price of Archers Of Loaf. The Vee Vee reissue is out February 21.

White Rabbits have announced a March 6 release date for their new record Milk Famous. You can grab the first MP3 at their website in exchange for an email address.

The Shins have released a stream of the first tune from their new record Port Of Morrow, out March 20.

Stream: The Shins – “Simple Song”

Memory Tapes have put out a new video from Player Piano.

Video: Memory Tapes – “Trance Sisters”

Village Voice interviews Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak.

Billboard chats with Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag and other stuff.

I don’t know if this video for Wilco’s “The Whole Love” is technically official, but seeing as how it was directed by Spencer Tweedy – son of Jeff – it’s at least officially acknowledged.

Video: Wilco – “The Whole Love”

PitchforkTV has a video documentary on The Flaming Lips’ masterpiece The Soft Bulletin.

Frank YangI like a break as much as the next guy – believe me – but coming up on two and a half weeks since I’d been to a live show and with the January concert calendar looking pretty sparse by any measure, I was getting pretty anxious to go and see something. Happily, it was Wavelength to the rescue. I hadn’t been to a showcase in almost two years – certainly not since they wrapped the weekly series and went to the intermittent schedule – but their first presentation of the year was just about what I was looking for, with a good blend of the familiar, unknown and intriguing.

On paper, there was a fair bit going against RLMDL (pronounced “role model”), the stage name of one Jordan Allen of London, Ontario – self-identifying as “chillwave” chief among them, the vowel-less stage name and trying to make a compelling live show out of the one-guy-with-a -table-full-of-samplers-and-effects-pedals not far behind – but to his credit, especially considering this was one of his first live shows (if I heard correctly), he did pretty well. Sure, he had an aesthetic of loops and synths that may age badly and an inherently uninteresting visual presentation, but those were secondary to the fact that he had solid melodies, confident vocals, and added a reasonable amount of physicality to the proceedings. In short, he had songs, and if you’ve got songs you’re doing alright. Not every electro-tinkerer artists deserve to leave their bedroom studios; Allen does.

I’d seen Persian Rugs back in October and while I’d been pleased to see the former Airfields/Diableros back in action, they didn’t seem to have fully cohered and while their jangly indie-pop was certainly friendly enough, it mostly just made me remember how much I liked their former outfits. Happily, the months since seem to have done the unit a world of good as they had a much better foot to put forward this time out. The formula remains the same – classic pop with hooks made of jangly guitars and vintage-y organs – but rotating through their three lead vocalists emphasized their individual and collective strengths and just coming across much more assuredly than that Parts & Labour show made for a much better performance. There’s still room to improve but it would seem the hardest part – the coming together and sounding like a cohesive band rather than echoes of their past projects – seems to be behind them.

How new a band is The Hollow Earth? So much so that a short feature in this week’s issue of a local alt-weekly is now the top online reference about them. But while they’ve got no Facebook/Soundcloud/Bandcamp presence, the folks in the band have been operating in local bands for many years (Pony Da Look, Beethoven Frieze, Blood Ceremony) now and the sound they’ve come together to create is hardly new, either. As one might discern from their name, they work an unabashedly ’70s-influenced mine of inspiration which you could reasonably describe as any or all of stoner, prog, psych, or metal with a bit of goth or folk thrown in for good measure. It wasn’t quite heavy enough for headbanging but plenty of nodding and being entertained by Gaven Dianda’s extended guitar solos and Amy Bowles’ interpretive dance moves.

Relatively new Toronto collective Del Bel came to my attention late last year when The Toronto Star included “Beltone” from their debut album Oneiric in their year-end mix of some of the best in Canadian music for 2011. High praise, and a few listens to Oneiric confirmed that it was deserved; it’s moody and atmospheric, yet very raw and real in its way largely thanks to singer Lisa Conway, whose vocals can come across as ethereal or bruised depending on where one stands in the combination caberet/carnival/antique shop run by David Lynch that seems to define their musical world. Live, they were a nine-piece which in this town typically means some sort of racket, but instead all the horns, strings, keys, and percussion that filled the stage were unified in their mission to set the scene, sonically speaking. That said, they sounded more ramshackle live than on record – deliberately, I should point out, in a Tom Waits sort of way – but still compelling in their balance of discomfort and beauty.

NOW has the interview with The Hollow Earth mentioned above, while BlogTO has an interview with Del Bel and Southern Souls has a beautifully-staged and shot session in a Hamilton church.

Photos: Del Bel, The Hollow Earth, Persian Rugs, RLMDL @ The Garrison – January 7, 2012
MP3: Persian Rugs – “Always All”
MP3: RLMDL – “Just My Luck”
Stream: Del Bel – “Beltone”
Stream: Del Bel / Oneiric
Stream: RLMDL / Just My Luck

Weakerthans frontman John K Samson could spend January 24, the day his solo debut solo album Provincial comes out, anywhere – his beloved Winnipeg comes to mind – but instead he’ll be hanging out at Soundscapes around 7PM playing some songs for anyone who might care to listen. That should be you. Yes, it’s free. He also plays The Great Hall on March 22, but that’s not free.

Stream: John K. Samson – “Letter In Icelandic From The Ninette San”
Stream: John K Samson – “When I Write My Master’s Thesis”

Trust may currently be best known as the extra-cirricular project of Austra drummer Maya Postepski, but with the February 28 release of their debut album TRST they should be able to stand on their own merits as another impressive Toronto-based electro-dance act. They’ll play a record release show at Wrongbar on March 3.

Video: Trust – “Bulbform”
Video: Trust – “Candy Walls”

Also out on February 28 is The End Of That, the new record from Montreal’s Plants & Animals. A first MP3 from the record is available now to download.

MP3: Plants & Animals – “Lightshow”

Great Lake Swimmers have revealed details about their next album via Exclaim. Their fifth album New Wild Everywhere will be out April 3 and a cross-Canada Spring tour will follow, including a June 2 date at The Music Hall in Toronto.

Stream: Great Lake Swimmers – “Easy Come Easy Go”

Snowblink have premiered a new video from Long Live.

Video: Snowblink – “The Tired Bees”

Ten Man RecordsToday is David Bowie’s 65th birthday; traditionally, this would be the age where he could officially retire from the workaday world and spend his golden years tending to his garden and doing the daily crossword. Of course, one of the perks of being rock music’s most influential artists is that you can take early retirement and that’s what Mr. Jones has done since approximately 2005, making only sporadic guest appearances on others’ records and certainly not doing anything of his own – his final release of new material is almost a decade old, 2003’s Heathen Reality. And if this does turn out to be all he plans to do for the rest of his career, well he’s earned it.

Robert Smith has threatened to retire The Cure several times in the past, but no one really believes him anymore. But still, they’re now over three years removed from their last release of new material – 2008’s 4:13 Dream – and have of late been concentrating on revisiting their sizeable legacy, performing their first few albums live in their entirety and reuniting with former members Roger O’Donnell and Laurence Tolhurst. A month ago they released the live double-disc set Bestival Live 2011, which captured their headlining performance of the English festival last Summer and later this year, they will be inducted into last year they were nominated for entry into the Rock’N’Roll Hall Of Fame.

This studio cover by The Cure of David Bowie’s “Young Americans” is no spring chicken itself and a touch ironic considering that neither coverer or coveree is either young or America; it dates back to a 1995 compilation for London radio station XFM.

MP3: The Cure – “Young Americans”
Video: David Bowie – “Young Americans” (live on The Dick Cavett Show 1974)

MySpaceWho: Anamanaguchi
What: New York-based, NES-powered chiptune champions probably best known for providing the 8-bit score to Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and for knowing most Game Genie codes off by heart.
Why: Their debut album Dawn Metropolis came out back in 2009, but doesn’t seem to be available to buy anywhere. They’re going to tour anyways.
When: Saturday, January 21, 2012
Where: Wrongbar in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Extreme Animals and Moon King open up.
How: Tickets for the show are $10 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Anamanaguchi” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, January 16.
What else: The Nintendo aesthetic makes fun videos easy; a couple are linked below, more are available over at www.dawnmetropolis.com.

MP3: Anamanaguchi – “So Bored”
Video: Anamanaguchi – “Blackout City”
Video: Anamanaguchi – “Jetpack Blues Sunset Hues”

Frank YangJoel Plaskett is a guy who’s established that he’s not averse to applying a little bit of high concept to his brand of friendly, meat-and-potatoes rock – recall that his last release of new material, 2009’s Three, was both triple-disced and triple-themed – so one shouldn’t be too surprised that his next record also has to come with a bit of an explanation.

As aux.tv reports, Plaskett and his band The Emergency will endeavour to record and release a new song every week – and endeavour they’re likening to the pace of artists in the ’50s and ’60s – and calling it “Rock’n’Roll in Record Time”; probably a bit of an overstatement but a noble mission statement nonetheless. Each week’s track will be premiered on CBC Radio 2 on the Tuesday starting on January 10 and straight through to March 13, with the ten tracks then being collected as Scrappy Happiness and released as an album proper on March 27.

Shortly thereafter, they’ll set out on a cross-Canada tour that stops in Toronto for two nights at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 18 and 19, though the itinerary listed at Exclaim certainly leaves plenty of room for more dates, including his native Maritime stomping grounds.

Since each song reveal is going to be an event unto itself, there’s obviously no preview tracks – so instead lend your ears to a couple samples from his last couple releases, the attic-clearing EMERGENCYs, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations comp and the aforementioned triple-threat Three.

MP3: Joel Plaskett – “When I Go”
MP3: Joel Plaskett – “Deny Deny Deny”

Exclaim is streaming Rae Spoon’s new record I Can’t Keep All Of Our Secrets ahead of its official release next Tuesday, January 10; Spoon plays the Gladstone Hotel on January 27.

Stream: Rae Spoon / I Can’t Keep All Of Our Secrets

Salon talks to Kathleen Edwards about her new record Voyageur, out January 17. She plays The Phoenix on February 11.

Though I declared last Fall that labels should be tripping over each other for an opportunity to release And We Thank You, the debut album from The Elwins, the band have opted to not wait for a knight in shining armour and will put it out independently on February 21. NOW has a conversation with the band about the decision to DIY it. They just played The Silver Dollar last night but will also be at 918 Bathurst on January 21 if you’ve not yet caught them live.

MP3: The Elwins – “Stuck In The Middle”

Exclaim is streaming another new song from John K. Samson’s forthcoming solo debut Provincial. It’s out January 24 and he plays The Great Hall on March 22 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

Stream: John K. Samson – “Letter In Icelandic From The Ninette San”

Montreal noise merchants No Joy have made a date at the Great Hall for February 18; with their debut Ghost Blonde coming up on being a year and a half old, perhaps this is an opportunity to preview some new material?

MP3: No Joy – “Hawaii”

PS I Love You, just seen a couple weeks ago opening up for Fucked Up, have made a date of their own at The Garrison on February 19.

MP3: PS I Love You – “2012”

Pitchfork reports that Montreal electro-pop artist Grimes, who entered 2012 with a good bit of buzz already, will be taking it up a notch what with having signed to legendary label 4AD for the February 21 release of her new album Visions. Expect her March 19 show at The Horseshoe to be jammed. And have jams.

MP3: Grimes – “Genesis”

Paste invites The Wooden Sky into their kitchen to play a few songs; the band have just released the first MP3 from their forthcoming album Every Child A Daughter, Every Moon A Sun, due out February 28. They play The Opera House on April 20.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Child Of The Valley”