Monday Music Roundup

What better way to spend a holiday Monday than at the ballpark? That’s a trick question; there is no better way.

We had a mini family reunion this afternoon at the Giants vs. Rockies game in Denver, as my sister was in town from California for the long weekend. We brought our own small contingency of Giants fans to represent with cheers and SF love while they painfully lost (7 to 4 final – it was 7-1 for a while there). But not for lack of fan support out in the bleachers, I tell ya.

And (!) I got stung by a yellow jacket that I figure must have been Rockies-trained to go after the orange and black. I guess that’s what I get for wearing a Giants tank top. Seven hours later, it still feels like a hot needle in the skin of my forearm. Little yellow striped bastard.

Playboy Decoy (demo)
Probably Vampires
Oh vampires are so hot right now.
I thought I had read about Chicago’s Probably Vampires in Rolling Stone, but I think that was actually Vampire Weekend, an NYC band also with an EP coming out. These guys don’t sound anything like vampires, unless vampires got all poppy ’60s harmonies (like The Redwalls with a vengeance) when I wasn’t looking. There’s nothing about this band hearkens the pasty gothness of nocturnal bloodlust — this will make you tap your toes and feel sunny. They’ve opened for folks like Voxtrot, Harvey Danger, and Phantom Planet, and this track is a home demo version of a song on their forthcoming EP, Sons of Guns, due out in October. Be their MySpace friends — they’re not as scary as they sound.

Tick Tick Boom
The Hives
I love this new Hives song because it’s unrelenting and urgent, making me feel like I am the protagonist in a high-action movie like Mission Impossible, racing against the clock. It will undoubtedly be optioned for a film soon, what with the ticking time bomb chorus and tightly-caged riffs, so listen to it now. In fact, I made a whole mix around this vibe over the weekend. This is the first single off their upcoming October album The Black and White, which is conveniently also the two (non?) colors that they allow in their strict matching band dress code. This Swedish garage rock five-piece is on tour now with Maroon 5 (and did you see them on the cover of Rolling Stone and is Adam Levine’s head molded of rubber?).

Love In A Trashcan
The Raveonettes
This track is worth listening to simply for the feeling I get that it’s what Hole would sound like if they joined a ’60s surfing community. The guitar tones on this are amazing, echoey and warm and so close you wanna dive in. Another Nordic delight, The Raveonettes are a duo from wonderful Copenhagen with an edgy retro-Spector 1950s sound. This is track 3 on their 2005 album Pretty In Black (Columbia/The Orchard) and I’m glad to be finally hearing it now.

My Party (Kenna & Chad Hugo remix)
Kings of Leon
Stereogum had this up last week [story here], and I gotta confess that Kings of Leon are one of the last bands that I expected to get the remix treatment from Ethiopian musician Kenna and sometimes-Neptune Chad Hugo, but this song has a strong backbeat to begin with and actually works pretty well. We’re still not sure what Caleb is singing about (she saw his party?) but this remix is suitable for busting out at your next shindig, and will help me get ready to see KOL in two weeks at the Monolith Festival out at Red Rocks. I am ridiculously excited, you don’t even know.

Naturally
Middle Distance Runner
So at least my tastes are consistent. I was finishing up the post for today, including my favorite tune off the new Middle Distance Runner EP, when I realized that this is a new version of the same song I posted from them last November. Originally included on their full length Plane in Flames album, this re-recorded version is cleaner and tighter for the new EP, and I still love the handclappy pop sound. MDR is from Washington D.C., and their hometown paper (the Post) said, “MDR’s sound clearly draws on mid-’90s British rock — think pre-OK Computer Radiohead, Blur, Oasis — and exudes a confidence and professionalism that many young bands lack.” The more I listen to this, the more I like it — especially the layered breakdown at the end with cascading chorus harmonies. Addictive.