Oberhofer - I Could Go

Oberhofer - Away FRM U

Who would’ve thought that what started out as a 5th grader practicing freestyle rapping in his bedroom would end up becoming the talk of the indie rock scene in Brooklyn? Brad Oberhofer’s propensity for creating catchy bedroom pop began in the basement studio of his childhood home in Tacoma, Washington. Having spent his Bar Mitzvah money on a Roland workstation, the hip hop beats he was so accustomed to slowly began turning into short orchestral pieces. Honing these skills lead to Oberhofer’s acceptance into NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Piano Studies program.

However, while away at school, Oberhofer’s idyllic creative haven went up in flames when his childhood home in Tacoma was severely damaged in a house fire. Along with personal possessions like childhood photos, Brad also lost much of his music and recording equipment, triggering what he’s described as a “metaphysical crisis”. But instead of giving in to the weight of having lost so much, Oberhofer was driven to make the music he still had as widely available as possible.

Now 20 years old, Brad Oberhofer’s unique blend of energetic, yelp-inducing experimental rock and kazoo-littered, infectious indie pop has been noticed by music bloggers, critics, and concert-goers alike. Along the way Brad picked up a few friends to play shows with him and Spring 2010 sees the band going on tour and playing in support of Tapes ‘n Tapes, among others:

January:
14th – The Basement, Columbus, OH with Cloud Nothings
15th – Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL with Cloud Nothings, Handsome Furs, and Jaill
17th – The Drake Hotel, Toronto, ON with Cloud Nothings
18th – Casa Del Popolo, Montreal, QC with Cloud Nothings
19th – The Monkey House, Winooski, VT with Distractions
20th – Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY with The Vaccines
22nd – Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn, NY with The Vaccines
26th – Billiken Club, St. Louis, MO
27th – Gardner Lounge @ Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
28th – High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI with Tapes N’ Tapes
31st – Grog Shop, Cleveland Heights, OH with Tapes N’ Tapes and Film Strip

February:
1st – The Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI with Tapes N’ Tapes
3rd – Paradise, Boston, MA with Tapes N’ Tapes
5th – Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA with Tapes N’ Tapes
7th – Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC with Tapes N’ Tapes
8th – Jefferson Theater, Charlottesville, VA with Tapes N’ Tapes
9th – Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC with Tapes N’ Tapes
10th – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC with Tapes N’ Tapes
11th – The Earl, Atlanta, GA with Tapes N’ Tapes
12th – Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN with Tapes N’ Tapes
14th – The Bottletree, Birmingham, AL with Tapes N’ Tapes
15th – Thristy Hippo, Hattiesburg, MS with Tapes N’ Tapes
17th – Fitzgerald’s, Houston, TX with Tapes N’ Tapes
18th – Emo’s, Austin, TX with Tapes N’ Tapes
19th – The Loft, Dallas, TX with Tapes N’ Tapes
21st – Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack, Little Rock, AR with Tapes N’ Tapes
22nd – The Opolis, Norman, OK with Tapes N’ Tapes
23rd – Mojo’s, Columbia, MO with Tapes N’ Tapes
24th – The Waiting Room, Omaha, NE with Tapes N’ Tapes
25th – First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN with Tapes N’ Tapes

Additionally, Brad has self-released two 7-inch singles for o0O0o0O0o and Away Frm U, both available via Inflated Records.

Photo by Jared Raab

Diamond Rings - Something Else

Diamond Rings - You & Me

Saccharine, ostentatious, and over-the-top are all adjectives that could both accurately describe John O’Regan’s solo project and also deter many from listening to his first full length album. However, if liking Diamond Rings is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Originally part of the Toronto indie rock quartet The D’Urbervilles, O’Regan began using the name Diamond Rings in late 2008 and self-released his first single, All Yr Songs, in mid 2009. With lyrics like, “I can’t keep up with whatever is in style; I run out of breath walking the fashion mile”, one would expect Diamond Rings to be all schtick and no substance, but O’Regan’s infectious pop tunes also cover topics such as growing up, breaking societal norms, and, of course, love.

In addition to having a certain knack for writing catchy hooks, Diamond Rings’ videos cleverly reference pop culture, as well. Imagery reminiscent of early 1990s hip hop appear in the low budget production for All Yr Songs, while the more recent video for Show Me Your Stuff pays glorious homage to the boy bands in the latter part of the decade.

Rave reviews of his live shows by the likes of Brooklyn Vegan harken me to describe O’Regan as a lo-fi Lady Gaga, but until Diamond Rings ventures down past the Mason-Dixon line I’ll refrain from doing so and instead continue to listen to his new album Special Affections, available on Secret City Records October 25th, 2010.

Detachment Kit - Sitting Still Talking About Jets

BRONZE - Deep Freeze

As a teenager growing up in a rural suburb of Atlanta, I didn’t have much exposure to independent media. I knew it was out there, but I had little means to access it. One outlet I did manage to find was the now-defunct Yahoo Music CMJ radio station, where I first heard “Sitting Still Talking About Jets” by the Detachment Kit.

That song summed up perfectly the desperation and listlessness I felt during my adolescence. I listened to “Sitting Still Talking About Jets” on repeat until Yahoo would no longer let me play it. From there I explored the rest of the Detachment Kit catalog: I screamed along in all my frustration to They Raging. Quiet Army and followed along with the plot line of psychotropic-induced fairy-tales in Of This Blood…. I read about the Detachment Kit’s influences and subsequently fell in love with their forefathers Les Savy Fav. The simple truth is Detachment Kit single-handedly opened up my ears to independent music.

So imagine the heartbreak I felt when I found out the band was touring in my area, but I was too young to go. The first time I remember the Detachment Kit playing a show was at the soon to be closed Echo Lounge. I was 15 at the time, and their age limit was a strict 18+. I begged my dad to take me the group’s next tour stop in Greensboro, North Carolina the following weekend. After a reluctant yes, he refused to drive me up North at the very last minute. Instead I got a consolation prize from a friend that was able to make it to one of their shows: A bright pink t-shirt I still wear to this day.

The next time the Detachment Kit played a show in Atlanta, I was even less lucky. By then I had turned 17 and the guys had also grown up: Now signed to Frenchkiss Records, the band began touring with label owners Les Savy Fav. Having moved up the performance ladder, the Detachment Kit were booked for the EARL that night, a 21+ venue. Once again defeated but not yet hopeless, I patiently waited for the next time the band would make it down South.

As the years went by, I heard less and less about them. The Detachment Kit ended up self-releasing an album entitled + and then disappearing into the Brooklyn soundscape. Now imagine my surprise last week when I heard that Charlie Davis and Ian Menard, the band’s token blood brothers, had formed a new group this past January called BRONZE. Surprise quickly grew to excitement as I listened to each song posted on the BRONZE MySpace page. Their sound has once again matured alongside me: Still showcasing the raw energy of the Detachment Kit, but now in a much more refined and catchy way.

The boys plan on playing some shows in the Spring and Summer of 2010 following the release of BRONZE’s yet to be titled debut EP, and with that my hope to see the band that influenced my entire taste in music lives to see another day!

For more information and future announcements from BRONZE, check out the group’s Facebook page.

Photo by MaryAnne Porter

The Very Most - You're In Love With The Sun

It’s barely made it above freezing here in Georgia this past week. According to my university, we’re currently under a “Snow Warning” due to the forecasted half inch of such precipitation this evening. Normally, this would be reason to panic and buy french toast ingredients. However, instead, I’m taking solace in the warm, summery sounds of The Very Most.

While The Very Most’s repertoire ranges everywhere from fight songs to post-apocalyptic ballads, the Boise, Idaho band’s most distinguished project thus far is a set of EPs entitled: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. You guessed it: each containing songs related to their respective season’s EP title. Though this is not the first time such a concept recording has been attempted, The Very Most have a knack for capturing the cutesy quirks of each season, and seem to be well on their way to perfecting the art form of male and female indie pop duets.

So wrap yourself up in that favorite wool blanket, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and watch those snowflakes fall outside your window with comforting the knowledge that warm weather will be back again in just a few short months. Maybe even sooner with the help of The Very Most, whose seasonal EPs are all available via Indiecater Records.

Photo by Danny North

Blue Roses - Doubtful Comforts Blue Roses - Cover Your Tracks

Sometime in between preparing materials for and building my ark during the Great Flood of Atlanta this fall, I stumbled upon the ethereal vocal stylings of Laura Groves, also known as Blue Roses. Now that Autumn is in full swing here in Georgia, Blue Roses’ self-titled debut appears to be the perfect soundtrack to such drizzly days.

It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child, but in this case it took a village to record an album. The Yorkshire native gathered family, friends, and neighbors together to provide instrumentation and backing vocals. A local millionaire was so taken by her mission, that he offered to provide Groves a concert grand piano for the recording process. After much persistence, the record was picked up by the Beggars Group and is now for sale via XL Recordings.

More on Blue Roses can be found on her website.
Purchase Groves’ debut from the Beggars Group.

tUnE-yArDs - Sunlight.mp3

Upon first listen, tUnE-yArDs may sound like just another female fronted indie band with an obnoxiously spelt name. So you can imagine my surprise when during a performance, the only person to come out on stage was a timid-looking young woman with a half-painted face.

tUnE-yArDs is a one woman band comprised of Merrill Garbus, though at times her music may sound like it took a whole village to make. I think my friend Amy put it best when she said, “I wonder how she realized that she was capable of making noises like that.” Heavily impacted by the time she spent in Africa, Merrill’s debut album BiRd-BrAiNs also echos sounds of her time as a nanny in Cape Cod. The album was recorded during the span of 2.5 years using a microphone and the freeware audio editor Audacity.

It is through a loop pedal that she is able to recreate the album, and sometimes even new material thought up on the spot, in a live setting. Calling upon the experience Merrill gained from performing as a puppeteer in Vermont, her shy demeanor fades more and more behind the facade of facepaint as each subsequent beat is looped. She then layers the song with vocals and sometimes ukulele, until they reach a feverish climax of yelps and hollers (often supplemented by audience participation). At that very moment, before the crowd no longer stands a timid girl, but a powerful and exuberant young woman. tUnE-yArDs is a genuinely talented show-stealer, no matter whom she plays alongside.

Though BiRd-BrAiNs was initially self-released as a Pay-What-You-Want album, it was first picked up by Marriage Records and is also slated to be reissued by 4AD. You can currently purchase the album in vinyl (+MP3) format HERE. All of the Marriage Records BiRd-BrAiNs LPs are hand-screened on recycled record covers. Mine is printed on a fabulous Great Songs of Christmas compilation featuring Doris Day and Robert Goulet.

If that isn’t reason enough to check out tUnE-yArDs’ promising debut, hopefully another sample track will win you over: