ithugsback.co.ukThough I only gave it a very passing mention when it came out, I was really quite fond of British quartet It Hugs Back’s 2009 debut Inside Your Guitar; after all, I described their aesthetic of narcoleptic vocals, humming organs, and understated guitar heroics as a charming blend of American Analog Set and Yo La Tengo – how could I not like its fuzzy, mid-fi charms? But I lost track of them between then and now, though not without reason: first, they found their way off of 4AD – that wouldn’t have helped them stay on my radar – and frontman Matthew Sims became touring guitarist with Wire, so that would have been keeping them otherwise busy as well.

They’ve still found the time to regroup and record a second album, however, and Laughing Party kicks off with as much of a declaration of intent as you can imagine by way of a raw and squalling 15-minute guitarfest called “The Big E” that’s built on one repeated king-size riff but with enough undulations to keep it hypnotic rather than monotonous. Though the necessary ingredients were all there on Inside Your Guitar, there was nothing to hint that the band had the vision or ambition to attempt something quite so epic; good on them. Unsurprisingly, nothing that follows it on Laughing Party has the same sort of scope – the nine-and-a-half minute “Times Square” makes an argument but jams at a more meandering pace – but the band don’t fully fall back into the sleepy ways of their debut. Sometimes the tempos slow back down, but even so enough noise and aggression – not to mention some extra sparkle and jangle – seeps into the cracks to make Party a solid step forward.

What they were doing was fine, but the added dynamics and melodicism are hard to argue against as improvements. Tunes like the crashing, hooky single “Half American” or “Happy” are excellent representations of what It Hugs Back 2012 can do that it was hard to imagine the 2009 edition pulling off. Laughing Party isn’t likely to make It Hugs Back household names or even make 4AD regret their decision to let them go, but for those who dig on what they do, it strikes just the right balance of comfortable and adventurous.

The Quietus has a quick interview with Simms, a premiere of the video for “Half American” and a stream of the new record.

MP3: It Hugs Back – “Massachusetts”
MP3: It Hugs Back – “Half American”
Video: It Hugs Back – “Half-American”
Stream: It Hugs Back / Laughing Party

For Folk’s Sake, Contactmusic, and NPR talk to Kristian Mattson, aka The Tallest Man On Earth. He’s at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 15.

Laura Marling offers CBC Music some A’s to their Q’s and also talks to The Washington Examiner and Red Eye. She plays The Phoenix on June 17.

The Guardian has a Bands In Transit video session with Mystery Jets. They’ll be at the Sound Academy on June 19 opening up for Keane.

JAM and Blurt talk with The Hives, who are showing off their new video from Lex Hives and will be at The Sound Academy on June 26.

Video: The Hives – “Go Right Ahead”

Hot Chip talks to Pitchfork about their just-released new album In Our Heads and gives Billboard a track-by-track video annotation of the record. They bring it to the Sound Academy on July 15.

Shortlist talks to Richard Hawley about his latest Standing At The Sky’s Edge, out now in the UK but due a domestic release on August 28.

The Vaccines have released the first video from their second album, No Hope For The Vaccines. It’s out September 3.

Video: The Vaccines – “No Hope”

Jens Lekman gives Pitchfork some insight on his new record I Know What Love Isn’t, out September 4.

Pet Shop Boys have released the first video from their new album Elysium, due out on September 18. Details at Clash.

Video: Pet Shop Boys – “Invisible”

Los Campesinos! wish Paul Heaton of Housemartins/Beautiful South fame a happy 50th birthday by way of a cover of “I Love You (But You’re Boring)” off Welcome To The Beautiful South – I really loved that record in high school – at Pitchfork.

MP3: Los Campesinos! – “I Love You (But You’re Boring)”

NPR has a World Cafe session and GQ an interview with Jason Pierce of Spiritualized.

Graham Coxon offers Music News some vague comments on the state of Blur.

Daytrotter has a session with Veronica Falls.

DIY gets to know Amanda Mair.

Kjell B PerssonIt’s not unfair to say that Labrador Records has something of a “house sound”, and not just for the Swedish accents. With acts like The Radio Dept., Acid House Kings, and Sambassadeur on their roster, they’re a reliable source for warm, fuzzy, indie pop-ish sounds and so when they announce a new signing, it’s usually worth paying some attention – even when on paper the artist doesn’t seem have much in common with the rest of their roster. Or in the case of Amanda Mair, especially when. Not many labels would sign a 15-year old singer-pianist on the strength of her raw talent – there weren’t even any demos – but Labrador did just that in 2010. And having given her a couple years to hone her craft before sending her into the studio with Philip Ekström of The Mary Onettes and the result – her self-titled debut, released in Sweden in February and in North America this week – has proven worth the wait.

It’s hard not to want to use Mair’s youth as a qualifier for offering praise, but the fact is that Amanda Mair would be an accomplished collection of polished pop and piano balladry from an artist of any age. Mair does just fine on the latter with a direct, unadorned presentation – her voice is innately suited to tugging at the heartstrings – but Ekström deserves credit for making the former so sonically dense and interesting without overwhelming her. The choice of a lightly but distinctly ’80s production style is an interesting one, considering those years were a distant memory before Mair was born, but it really does work – for those old enough to remember the era, the sounds are familiar but Mair’s presence is so fresh that it never feels deliberately retro or nostalgic.

Her lyrics may come across a bit vague – one would hope she doesn’t yet have the sort of life experience that would allow her to pen truly pointed, emotional songs – but that gives them a sort of universality that serves her well and the delivery is well-balanced between earnest open-heartedness and knowing wisdom. I suspect every review of this record closes with some sentiment along the lines of how good she already is and how much better she’ll surely get as she gains more experience, but it really is true. And while Mair’s upside is astonishing, don’t assume that Amanda Mair is all about potential – she’s already arrived.

There’s a stream of the album available at MTV, but it’s geoblocked to the US. Americans, have at it. Everyone else, just trust me.

MP3: Amanda Mair – “House”
MP3: Amanda Mair – “Sense”
MP3: Amanda Mair – “Doubt”
Video: Amanda Mair – “House”
Video: Amanda Mair – “Sense”
Stream: Amanda Mair / Amanda Mair (US only)

Anna Ternheim released her new album The Night Visitor this week, and it’s available to stream in whole at Spinner.

MP3: Anna Ternheim – “Walking Aimlessly”
MP3: Anna Ternheim – “The Longer The Waiting (The Sweeter The Kiss)”
Stream: Anna Ternheim / The Night Visitor

NPR is streaming The Tallest Man On Earth’s new album There’s No Leaving Now ahead of its release next Tuesday. Kristian Matsson hits the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 15.

MP3: The Tallest Man On Earth – “1904”
Stream: The Tallest Man On Earth / There’s No Leaving Now

Interview, The Music, and The Herald Sun talk to The Hives, in town at The Sound Academy on June 26.

Rolling Stone talks to Sigur Rós’ Georg Holm about their new album Valtari, from which they’ve released another video from their “Mystery Film Experiment” series. They play Echo Beach on August 1

Video: Sigur Rós – “Varúð”

Denmark’s Efterklang premiered songs from their forthcoming album Piramida in performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the end of May, and a video of one of them has been released to get people excited for the new set of songs, due out this Fall.

Video: Efterklang – “The Ghost” (live)

The Guardian wonders what’s up with the women who helped define the synthy sound of 2009: La Roux is supposed to have a second album out this year but there’s been nary a peep out of Elly Jackson in ages; Ladyhawke traded a lot of the keys for guitars on her just-released second album Anxiety – there’s interviews with Pip Browne at The New Zealand Herald and The Music; and Little Boots just debuted a new video taken from her second album which, while it clearly exists, has yet to have any specifics revealed.

Video: Little Boots – “Headphones”

NPR is streaming Hot Chip’s latest In Our Heads, due out next Tuesday. The Music talks to singer Alexis Taylor and they play The Sound Academy on July 15.

Stream: Hot Chip / In Our Heads

Pitchfork checks in with The xx, who’ve announced their second album Coexist will be released on September 11. They’ll preview the new material when they play a sold-out show at The Phoenix on July 28.

There’s a complete Clock Opera show from Amsterdam in May available to watch at 3voor12.

The Line Of Best Fit says hello to Mystery Jets, themselves saying hello when they open up for Keane at The Sound Academy on June 19.

Most pleased to hear that Richard Hawley’s latest Standing At The Sky’s Edge will be getting a North American physical release on August 28 – it’ll be available digitally next week – because I was getting close to biting the bullet and paying the $40+ for the import vinyl. Yay procrastination! And yay for a sample track from the album to download. Now let’s just get some touring happening over here…

MP3: Richard Hawley – “Leave Your Body Behind You”

Neil Halstead’s new solo record Palindrome Hunches – originally targeted for an August release – will now be out come September 11, but to make up for the delay a first MP3 has been made available for listening.

MP3: Neil Halstead – “Full Moon Rising”

Jarvis Cocker talks to The Guardian about his work raising awareness for Arctic environmental concerns.

MusicOmh chats with Supergrass frontman gone solo Gaz Coombes.

Muse have announced a September 17 release date for their new record The 2nd Law. The accompanying trailer does not inspire confidence, as it would appear to be a bombastic concept album about peak oil.

Trailer: Muse / The 2nd Law

The AV Club takes the occasion of the recent reissues to examine the career and importance of My Bloody Valentine.

Interview and NME both mark the 40th anniversary of David Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust; the former with an interview originally published in March 1973 and the latter with an interactive look at the album cover.

Anton CoeneRemember, not so long ago, when big-ass bands with memberships numbering in the double-digits were all the fuss? Me neither. Seems two is all you need to make a racket and an impression, as yesterday’s post can attest and today’s can reinforce. What sets Brighton two-piece Blood Red Shoes apart from most of the other outfits who can tour in a Cooper Mini are the fact that though they’re plenty good at the loud, they’re much less reliant on the white noise bombast to get their message across.

Their 2010 release Fire Like This drew on plenty of ’90s-era grunge and alt.rock influences, but their strong melodic sensibilities and the mixture of drummer Steven Ansell and guitarist Laura-May Carter’s vocals had an innate sweetness, even when snarling, that couldn’t help but temper their aggression. That’s a relative statement, mind you, as anyone at their show at The Horseshoe in October 2010 could attest; there was plenty of aggression there to spare.

And there’ll be more to come. Their third album In Time To Voices was released in the UK back in March, but will get a North American release come July 24 and the band will follow that up with a North American tour that brings them back to Toronto for a show at The Drake Underground on September 26, tickets $12.50 in advance. Female First and Spoonfed have interviews with the band.

MP3: Blood Red Shoes – “Light It Up”
Video: Blood Red Shoes – “Lost Kids”
Video: Blood Red Shoes – “Cold”
Stream: Blood Red Shoes / In Time To Voices

Keeping on the blood theme – Blood Orange have released another new video from Coastal Grooves.

Video: Blood Orange – “I’m Sorry We Lied”

Coup de Main has an interview with Ryan Jarman of The Cribs, who’ve just released an interactive new video from In The Belly Of The Brazen Beast.

Video: The Cribs – “Glitters Like Gold”

2:54 have a new video from their just-released self-titled debut, and for good measure Filter has a live in-studio performance video of the same tune. Clash and Stereogum have interviews with the band, who’re at Lee’s Palace on June 16 for NXNE.

Video: 2:54 – “Creeping”

Boy, that Florence & The Machine sure do like making videos, don’t they? Here’s another from Ceremonials and head to DigitalSpy has a behind-the-scenes video of the David LaChapelle production. They’re at The Molson Amphitheatre on August 2.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “Spectrum”

Summer Camp are streaming the title track from their forthcoming new EP Always, due out July 10.

Stream: Summer Camp – “Always”

The Vaccines have announced a September 3 release date for their second album No Hope For The Vaccines and are streaming the first single and kind-of title track from it right now.

Stream: The Vaccines – “No Hope”

Also in the, “much-anticipated British sophomore efforts due out this Fall” category are Mumford & Sons, whose as-yet untitled second album will be out come September 24. Some details to be had at Paste.

DIY, Inthemix, and The Guardian interview Hot Chip, whose In Our Heads is out June 12 and who play The Sound Academy on July 15.

Clash and The Village Voice get to Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin’.

Daytrotter has a session up with The Wave Pictures.

The Big Takeover talks to Stevie Jackson about his new solo record (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson, out in North America on July 3.

Undersong interviews James Graham of The Twilight Sad.

The Fly has a feature piece on Richard Hawley.

Pitchfork has a +1 video session and The Georgia Straight with Spiritualized.

Artrocker talks to Tim Burgess of The Charlatans.

Nik VestbergThere’s many things I loved about Allo Darlin’ 2010 self-titled debut. The jangly guitars, strummy ukulele, and ebullient melodies that put the London-based foresome at the forefront of current bands unashamed to call themselves indie pop – absolutely – but what I found set them apart and made them really special was the way they used those traits to deliver songs that evoked the wistfulness and insecurity of growing up and out and apart. Far too often pure pop music feels strictly a youth movement but here was a band whose songs spoke to me in my mid- (okay now late-) thirties while still making me want to bop up and down like I did in my twenties.

It’s not hard to understand, then, why I’m so enamored with their just-released follow-up Europe. It continues the journey started with that first record but informed with the extra wisdom, regret, and experience that life brings as you live it. As I did in that previous review, I need to stress that Europe is not some po-faced, navel-gazing collection of songs – songs like “Capricornia”, “Northern Lights”, and “Still Young” are like manna from heaven for those with a sonic sweet tooth, all shimmer and shine and Elizabeth Morris’ sweetly smoky Aussie accent.

But you’ll likely not find anyone who’s listened to the album who wouldn’t point to “Tallulah” as the album’s centrepiece, despite it being the most skeletal and downcast song on the record. It stars just Morris and her ukulele – it’s worth noting there’s much less uke on this record than on the debut, with Morris strapping on a conventional 6-string as need be – and ruminates beautifully on distances of the geographical, temporal, and emotional varieties. The reminiscences may be Morris’, but despite their specificity they’re rendered in a way that makes you feel like they’re your own. These aren’t necessarily the notes you expect a band as outwardly cheerful as Allo Darlin’ to hit, but that’s what makes them so special.

On a scorecard that assigns points to pop criteria such as immediacy, buoyancy, what have you, it’s entirely possible that Europe might place a bit below the debut. There’s nothing as sweet and charming as “Polaroid Song” or “My Heart Is A Drummer” or, if go back to their early singles, as fun and cutesy as “Henry Rollins Don’t Dance” – but I don’t think you’d find anyone who’d try to argue that Europe isn’t still the superior record because it’s the one that confirms that Allo Darlin’ are a band that are so much more than you probably thought.

DIY talks to the band about the making of the album and they play a World Cafe session for NPR.

Video: Allo Darlin’ – “Capricornia”
Video: Allo Darlin’ – “Tallulah”
Stream: Allo Darlin’ / Europe

Belle & Sebastian guitarist Stevie Jackson released his solo debut (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson in the UK last Fall, but is preparing to put it out Stateside come July 3. To pave the way, he’s farmed out some audio and video tastes to American publications Paste and Blurt who’ve got a video and MP3 to share. Okay the video came out a while ago but the MP3 is new, and sits nicely alongside another one that came out when the album did initially.

MP3: Stevie Jackson – “Where Do All The Good Girls Go”
MP3: Stevie Jackson – “Man Of God”
Video: Stevie Jackson – “In The Morning”

The Line Of Best Fit chats with Gerard Love of Lightships.

Time Out Hong Kong have an interview with Elizabeth Sankey of Summer Camp.

Trailer Trash Tracys have released a new video from their debut Ester.

Video: Trailer Trash Tracys – “Los Angered”

DIY talks to the Collete half of the Thurlow sisters of 2:54, who’ve made a track from their self-titled debut available to download ahead of its May 29 release. They’re at Lee’s Palace on June 15 during NXNE.

MP3: 2:54 – “The March”

Drowned In Sound talks to the Ryan third of the Jarman brothers of The Cribs.

NPR has a video session with Laura Marling, who’s at The Phoenix on June 17.

NME has not one but two short features on Charlotte Hatherley about her Sylver Tongue electro persona.

The Calgary Herald and Pitchfork have features on Arctic Monkeys.

The Sun talks to Richard Hawley, who gets analog in the new video from his latest Standing At The Sky’s Edge.

Video: Richard Hawley – “You Haunt Me”

Billy Bragg talks to The West Australian about the Mermaid Avenue sessions, which are again topical thanks to the recent release of The Complete Sessions.

The Dallas Observer talks to Jason Pierce of Spiritualized’s, whose show in Washington DC last week is streaming at NPR.

The Quietus talks to Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine about this, that, and the other thing.

NME points to a Facebook post from Suede wherein Brett Anderson gives a status update of the band’s new material – they’ve chucked it all, recruited Dog Man Star producer Ed Buller to take charge and are starting over.

Frank YangPeople will probably never stop referencing 1997’s Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space as the iconic Spiritualized album, and justifiably so. It was Jason Pierce’s grand breakup album with a soap opera-calibre backstory, it was the band’s marker in the Britpop era (though stylistically they never really fit), it raised the band’s profile immensely – I once heard “Cool Waves” coming over the PA at a Mongolian Grill restaurant – and was a gorgeous melange of psychedelia, gospel, jazz, and rock besides. It’s the sort of record that a band would be lucky to make once in their careers. And yet with each listen to their latest Sweet Heart Sweet Light, I feel the argument that this could well be the definitive Spiritualized record.

The talking points on Sweet Heart are that this is Pierce’s “pop” record, and indeed it’s as immediate and melodic as anything he’s ever done, but it hardly dilutes the Spiritualized formula for the sake of mass appeal. If anything, it’s as clear a picture of everything that Pierce has done since leaving Spaceman 3 in one hour’s running time – it rocks, it swoons, it jams, it drones, and it does it all with focus and purpose. While it certainly echoes everything that’s gone before, it’s also an exciting signpost to what’s yet to come – of all of his musical peers that came out of ’90s Britain, Pierce may yet be the most creatively vital among them, and that’s with certainly having had the most near-death experiences. All of which is to say that if the first Spiritualized show in Toronto in almost four years and the first plugged-in, headlining show since 2003 wasn’t enough reason to get excited about their appearance at The Phoenix last Saturday night, then the fact that hearing material their new record was to be highly anticipated rather than simply endured should have sealed the deal.

Support on the tour might have seemed an odd choice in Nashville-based, South Carolina-bred Nikki Lane though there were some stylistic threads between her dusty country sound and Spiritualized’s cosmic rock if you dug down to their shared gospel roots, but the fact was that she had been invited by the band to support so questions of appropriateness were really rather moot. And armed just with an acoustic guitar and a sweet, breathy twang of a voice and despite implying that she didn’t usually play band-less, she did just fine – having been gifted with a rowdy yet friendly crowd, she was able to get comfortable and sass back and needed. Having forgetten her set list, she ad libbed a set drawn from her debut album Walk Of Shame, the off-the-cuff-ness of it adding to her charm. Spiritualized followers might not make up her normal demographic, but it was pretty safe to say that she was winning over fans on every stop of the tour.

It’s hard to believe, but excepting their afternoon set at Virgin Festival 2008 and the “Acoustic Mainlines” tour in Fall 2007, the last time Toronto hosted a full and proper Spiritualized show was at the Opera House back in late 2003. That’s a long time, people. And yet thanks to their distinctive semi-circle stage setup with Jason Pierce positioned at far house right, it all felt immediately familiar – doubly so since the core of the lineup had remained intact since their V Fest appearance circa Songs In A+E (the two backing singers were new faces).

Their epic set – and that’s not an adjective I use lightly – pulled from all points in their discography but were still very specific about which records were represented. Sweet Heart was naturally prominently featured, but 2003’s Amazing Grace was also given a lot of attention – surprising because it wasn’t a record that was particularly well-received but perhaps not so surprising since its no-frills aesthetic matches Sweet Heart fairly well. And being forced to reevaluate the material, I must admit that it sounded great in this context – the guitar duel between Pierce and Doggen on “She Kissed Me”, in particular, was jaw-dropping.

While Sweet Heart is not short on the extra-long compositions – opener “Hey Jane” and second-last main set selection “So Long You Pretty Thing” did as much to affirm the new material as as good as the old – you couldn’t not feel a certain rush when the ascending riff to “Electric Mainline” from Pure Phase and a crackle of electricity up the spine when it the ensuing jam coalesced into the title track of Ladies & Gentleemen. It was curious to see Lazer Guided Melodies, Let It Come Down, and Songs In A+E get overlooked completely, but there really was no arguing with the resultant show.

Pierce didn’t say a word to the audience – or even the rest of his band – through the entire show until the final notes of “Come Together” faded out to close the main set, and then it was just a couple of quiet, “thank you’s” before leaving the stage. Following a serenely cacophonous “Cop Shoot Cop” for the encore, he said “thank you” twice more and was gone. Some might have wished that he’d interacted with the audience more, but he and his band had just given everything for two hours – what more was there to say?

NOW also has a review of the show and The National Post, The Music, and Toronto Star talked to Jason Pierce.

Photos: Spiritualized, Nikki Lane @ The Phoenix – May 5, 2012
MP3: Nikki Lane – “Gone, Gone, Gone”
MP3: Nikki Lane – “Sleep For You”
Video: Spiritualized – “Hey Jane”
Video: Spiritualized – “Soul On Fire”
Video: Spiritualized – “Cheapster”
Video: Spiritualized – “You Lie You Cheat”
Video: Spiritualized – “She Kissed Me (It Felt Like A Hit)”
Video: Spiritualized – “Do It All Over Again”
Video: Spiritualized – “Out Of Sight”
Video: Spiritualized – “Stop Your Crying”
Video: Spiritualized – “Come Together”
Video: Spiritualized – “Electricity”
Video: Spiritualized – “Let It Flow”
Video: Spiritualized – “Run”
Video: Spiritualized – “Any Way That You Want Me”
Video: Nikki Lane – “Lies”
Video: Nikki Lane – “Gone, Gone, Gone”
Video: Nikki Lane – “Sleep For You”

Richard Hawley talks to The Sheffield Telegraph about getting angry and politicized on his new record, Standing At The Sky’s Edge.

The Line Of Best Fit is streaming the whole of In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull, the new album from The Cribs. It’s out this week.

MP3: The Cribs – “Chi-Town”
Stream: The Cribs / In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull

The Guardian checks in with former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes about going solo. His debut Here Come The Bombs is out May 21.

Paste catches up with 2:54. Their self-titled debut is out May 28 and they play Lee’s Palace for NXNE on June 15.

The Guardian talks to Faris Badwan of The Horrors.

The Fly has a chat with Clock Opera frontman Guy Connelly.

Damon Albarn sounds of to the BBC about his solo projects and the London Olympics.

Spin checks in on The Joy Formidable, who are in the studio working on their second album.

The Line Of Best Fit marks the release of the My Bloody Valentine reissues with an intensive look at the band’s history.