After the insanity of the (sanity) rally, 5000 halloween parties you told some people you may go to, and everything else going on in your overstretched, underemoting life, you may just be ready for a sweet little rock’n’pop show by Sunday. In which case, you’re in luck, because on Sunday, at the Black Cat, local yeah gates label is releasing their first two 7″ EVER (one for “America Hearts” and one for “Foul Swoops”, with labelmates The Cheniers rounding out the bill) and it may be just what the doctor ordered.
What can you expect? America Hearts plays darling, straightforward pop music, which never loses it’s edge along the quirky detours it takes. You will like them if you like: jonathan richman (and anyone Jonathan Richman influenced), Violent Femmes, K Records alums (I keep imagining them on tour with LAKE), Beat Happening.
and if America Hearts may seem a little too sweet for your tooth, on the other side of the court, waiting to kick your ass, Foul Swoops are brothers Sean and Devin Connell with bass aid by Steven Creswell. The level of loudness and brattiness could be unbearable, but considering that their median age is 22, they’re still sort of getting away with it. The record is completely self-recorded and it shows: the grime, the fuzz, the dirt-they’re all there, but thankfully, so are the hooks.
OK-enough talk, lets listen to some jams now:
America Hearts
Be My Jones
Eat a bag of candy and spin on a merry-go-round, make the biggest, best drawling possible, tell someone new you love them, and then stay up all night reading comic books. I don’t really want to do these things, but I want to feel the way I would if I wanted to.
Race Car Driver
My car is red and it has a pretty unnecessary spoiler. As a result, my three-year old nephew, Finn thinks that my car is a race car. Whenever I visit him, the first thing he asks is, “Did you drive the race car?” We play in the car turning on the wipers, honking the horn, adjusting the mirrors, and admiring the spoiler. I started writing the song when I thought, “What would it be like if I was a race car driver?” Finn made up the lyrics at the end, “is she driving a race car…Yes she is!” when he learned I was working on a race car song.
–Jess Matthews
Foul Swoops
Colossal Sized Picassos
I’d like to say this song is about Picasso’s embrace of muralism and his landmark “Guernica,” while also touching on his cubist period in the 1910s. But it’s really just a bunch of bullshit with a reference to a line from “It’s All About the Benjamins.”
Cross Process
I think they just like words that start with C and P and have lots of Ss in the middle. There should be more songs that are less than 90 seconds, don’t you think?
(Note: Written by David Malitz; band too stoned to respond to e-mails.)
Want more? Check out YEAH Gates records, and stop by the Black Cat this Sunday to see the pop live.
