News

Listen Up!: The Singles Roundup - June 1, 2007

This week's cadre of singles takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. Kicking things off in full-on party mode, we start by shakin' what we got to neon-colored hip-hop and scuzzy electro-rock. Then our songs slip into a more sensual vibe with sultry indie-pop and lovelorn balladry. Finally our closing tracks delve into spiritual questioning and sparse and eerie piano stylings. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll fall in love with 'em all.

Eve – "Tambourine" [video]
The sole diva of the Ruff Ryders crew proves why she's the only femme in the pack. Eve lounges through the song delivering bullet-fast rhymes on top of a constant shaking of a tambourine to a reggaeton beat. Tambourine is the new cowbell, and Eve is giving it due props.

A Band of Bees – "Who Cares What the Question Is?" [video]
UK madcaps—known best for taking a Zappa-like spin on '60s pop—take us on a cartoonish (visually and sonically) tour bus ride through the desert, the city and the sea. The song has a jaunty carnival appeal with tinkling saloon piano and slack-key, blues slide guitar punctuating every bump on the road. The cowboy twangin' vocals and the dancing cacti really won us over.

Timbaland feat. The Hives – "Throw It On Me" [video]
Forget Sin City—we're taking a trip to Timb City. Lead mobster Timbaland and deputy thugs The Hives welcome us to their world with a signature Pelle Almquist howl and a bass-heavy hook straight from the gutter. Ink rain drops falls onto the hip-hop mixing master while his lovely ladies "wiggle that ass" and he spits lines like "You must be a gold-digger/ But I ain't Kanye," ringing with unapologetic glory. That's some city.

Scissors for Lefty – "Next to Argyle"
Lead singer Bryan Garza is throwing down the sexy-singer gauntlet right on Jarvis Cocker's vintage boots. His breathy, male-kitten coos could melt the biggest of Pulp fans. This San Francisco band, featuring two pairs of brothers, delivers punchy guitar hooks and a Frisco twist on Brit-pop greats. Garza's cocky lyrics make him all that more unattainable and the song (okay... him, too) all that more attractive.

Detroit Cobras – "(I Wanna Know) What's Going On"
Detroit's down and dirty femme rockers make retro-styled R&B hits that will transport you to a dive bar in the Motor City circa 1962. Head Cobra, Rachel Nagy, croons with vocal chords that have been fermenting in a vat of cheap whisky for years, adding to the authenticity of their garage-rock brand of R&B and her stories of heartbreak.

Montag – "Best Boy Electric"
This one-man electro band effortlessly blends innocent, cheery pop with an orchestra of out-there, laptop generated bleeps that would sound more at home in a sweaty warehouse at a rave. But somehow it works. This song is the Polyphonic Spree on ecstasy, and the trip is so good they can't stop touching all of us and telling us how beautiful we are. Oh, go on...

Editors – "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors"
This brand new track from the gloom-rockers forthcoming sophomore album kicks in immediately with a lead-foot thump on the kick drum and singer/guitarist Tom Smith's ghost of Ian Curtis vocals. The depressive lyrics are juxtaposed with a rousing chorus backed by a bevy of warm strings and high-pitched synth riffs supported by a chorus of voices that evokes uplifting hope more than hellfire and brimstone.

Foundry Field Recordings – "Transistor Kids"
This track by the Missouri-based band is a two-in-one. The track begins with a slow piano plunking into a lengthy adagio intro, but suddenly the meat of the song arrives— the tune breaks out into acoustic-electric ballad-lite that sounds like it's being sung by Wayne Coyne's 16-year-old self. The adolescent voice sings of searching for "electric harmonies," and as the song progresses layers of compressed, elongated guitar buzzes and melodic feedback squeals are added, and with that, the electric harmonies have been found.

—Danielle Allaire
06.01.07

Click here to read last week's Listen Up!