Fur Fighter

I realize that if I went off on a huge spree of posting about every album that I fall in love with that you would see thirty posts in one day. Unfortunately, however awesome it would be to share my opinion as such, I do have a social life. Yet Pins & Panzers by Brooklyn trio Plushgun has caught more than just my normal attention. The band's name comes from Dan Ingala's idea for the project as being "something soft, something killer".

Being a fan of indie-rock as well as electronic music, the style of this album could be comparable to Los Campesinos! gone electronic with a little more of a slow feel to it. The catchy lyrics are complemented perfectly by sometimes quick, sometimes slow simple synth patterns and rock solid drumming by Matt Bogdanow.

Plushgun’s songs are nostalgic, poppy, dance-able, and surprisingly deep. Whether they are about chasing dying romances (“Just Impolite”), high-school anxiety (“How We Roll”) or angst-riddled anthem’s for a lost generation (“Dancing in a Minefield,”) Plushgun tackles these themes with unabashed catchyness in an electrolicious soundscape.

So if you're a fan of indietronic acts like Hellogoodbye, The Postal Service etc. then you should definitely be on the lookout for this new allstar album in stores, as it was released February 17, 2009 on Tommy Boy Records.

Immolate Yourself

January 20, 2009 marks the release of Telefon Tel Aviv's (Charles Cooper and Joshua Eustis) newest LP titled Immolate Yourself. The album works to reconnect the more modern and minimal, glitch style that the duo is known for with a throwback of ephemeral vocals from their earlier work. The vocal stems and synth sets used to distort them are used in a manner similar to the stellar M83 album Saturdays = Youth from 2007.

Though still tying into classic Telefon Tel Aviv roots, Immolate Yourself is a definite shift of paradigm, almost like their own Human After All, wherein Daft Punk strayed from their comfort zone in an attempt for something fresh. However, Immolate is more reinforced as an album with strong continuity and persistent audio assaults of beautiful synth change-overs, a high saturation of ambient rhythm supporting the foreground, and powerful vocal breakdowns. This is especially notable in the opening track "The Birds", which builds up with muffled keys to a powerful pinch pattern, and again in "You Are the Worst Thing in the World."

A move to a new record label may also have contributed to a change in style. Now a member of BPitch Control, the team notes that:

"Gone are all of the high-definition micro-edit minutiae in favor of a new approach to texture for us - long form."

Tracklist

01 The Birds
02 Your Mouth
03 M
04 Helen of Troy
05 Mostly Translucent
06 Stay Away from Being Maybe
07 I Made a Tree on the Wold
08 Your Every Idol
09 You Are the Worst Thing in the World
10 Immolate Yourself