I have for you here some really cool and really new music. With the exception of the Weekend album, which was released in 2010. I am a big fan of Slumberland Records since I have found The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart anyway.
This album was just released from my current favorite record
company, Slumberland Records. They, Slumberland Records, have been around since
the late 80’s. they have put out some great albums in the time that they have
been around. They are also responsible for putting out all of the albums and
singles from one of my favorite bands, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. This Veronica Falls album and a few others that I will
talk about here also are from the most recient crop of shoe gaze and noise pop
that they have released. Surprisingly, Wikipedia has no page for Veronica Falls as of this posting. The album was
released in October, 2011. The album is very mellow for a shoe gaze sort of
sound. I think that they are more like The Smiths than any of these low vocal
groups that seem to be popping up are though. My first taste of the group was
with the first 7” released on Slumberland called Bad Feeling. The song has that
sound that comes from the end of the classic beach blanket bingo feeling but it
is mixed with a dark sound from the 80’s. That 80’s sound that I am thinking of
is either like The Smiths or early Cure sound. It seems strange to me that this
sound works so well. The b-side to that track is more like the beach boys early
songs to me. The two tracks work well together too. I could listen to them over
and over and have. This is the only song that has been released as a single
from the album so far. I am hoping for a few others to pop up. I know that the
group has released a few singles/EPs on CD in the UK before this self titled album
was released. Most of those songs have ended up on this self titled album
though. I am hoping that they do put out more than this one single and that
those tracks that were on the CDs released in the UK only are put on as b-sides for
future singles. I will add that I think that I think the first two tracks, Found
Love In A Graveyard and Right Side Of My Brain, and the song Stephen, track 6,
would be great singles for this album. I think that they did right in choosing
Bad Feeling as the first single though. I picked up my copy in the limited blue
colored vinyl directly from Slumberland Records.
They are a low-fi, noise pop group formed in 2009. This
album was released in 2010 on Slumberland Records. It was put out on vinyl as a
double LP cut at 45 RPMs. I thought that this was an interesting point. This
album is on the edge of difficult to listen to because there is so much noise.
I like noise pop but I need to be in the right mood to listen to it. There was
one single that I am aware of that was released off this album. That song is
called End Times. The song has a super catchy bass line that rings clear
through all of the noise that happens in the background. There is something
special about this song that is for sure. It is the only song that I think I
could listen to from the album more than once. Don’t misunderstand me, It is a
great album with all the effects that are used but the noise is over the top
and if you do not like the overuse of effects or the noise that it creates then
this is probably not the band for you. I am looking forward to their up coming
EP called Red. I have preordered the limited version of this EP on vinyl. It is
supposed to be a clear vinyl with gold splatter. The sleeve is also special in
that it will be hand painted red. 
This album was released in May 2011. I had only recently
heard the song Record Store on the Slumberland web page for the album. I fell
in love with the song and had to have the album. They are again a shoe-gaze
band with a little bit of noise pop thrown in for goo measure. There is not as
much noise as Weekend making them more listenable in comparison. They make use
of an acoustic guitar in the music. I think that this fragile sound in the
middle of all of that electric noise helps to make this a more listenable
group. I also think that having the vocals in front of the music also helps
this group out. There was a couple of 7” singles that were released. One was
from the album the other is a non album track. The 7” from the album is called
Tally. It is a three track 7” record on white vinyl. I hope to get these two 7”
records soon. The song Tally uses strings and keyboards along with the electric
noise that is their standard sound. There is also some clean fender sounds
thrown in at the quiet spots of the song. It is a sweet fuzzy sound with a
little bit of the classic jangle pop sound. I personally think that the song All
Those Years should be released as a single. There is a pattern that is used in
the verse that is super catchy. It would sell like hotcakes if it were played
on radio or other types of the format since radio has broadened its spectrum,
HD Radio, Internet Radio and Satellite radio too. It was released on a pink and
white swirl vinyl. I was lucky enough to get a copy of this limited colored
vinyl six months or so after the release of the album. I live getting the
limited/colored editions of records. I don’t really care if there is a
potential for lesser sound quality. It is the collectability of it all,
besides, black is boring. 
The last of the 12” remixes have been released and here they
are. This two track release is one of the best to have been released. The first
track, remixed by Modeselector, is so easy to listen to with a great beat to go
with it. It is my number three favorite of all 19 tracks that have been
released from this collection. It is not super loud or noisy. It is a classic
build and fall track. The vocals are used in a minimalistic way as well as used
in a rhythmic way. It is very cool and unique to this set of songs. The second
track was remixed by Object. I have never heard of this remix artist before but
I like the track a lot. The only problem is that it takes about a minute to get
into the track. It does have a great beat and a few break downs in the song
that seem to work well. Usually there is only one break down in a song. Each time
the song comes back from a break there is something added that makes the song
that much better. It is really a great couple of songs.
The last remix 12” in this series is a three track. The
first track is unique to the whole of the series. It is a “rework” done by
Jamie XX of the band XX. To many fans this track was a big let down because it
doesn’t have that big backing beat that is well known for an electronic or remixed
track. The song flows very nicely because the rhythm backing the song is very
subdued. The track is also very short and kind of stops when you would expect
more from it. The next track was remixed by Anstam. This track also does not
have the big beat behind it but it is more noticeable than the first tracks
drum work. The last track was remixed by SBTRKT. I would say that this is my
fourth favorite track in this series. It is very simple with a great bass drum
beat. It also has a simplistic bass line and a consistent backing sound that
works well with the song. It all just works so well. Remember, If you are
interested in these songs they will all be released on CD next Tuesday as a
double CD for regular CD price.
That is all I have for now...
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