The Rationales "The Distance In Between"

(www.therationales.com) I hope my ration is huge, because this lush, slightly strange, totally charming pop is delicious!

Tony on Fire "The Distant End"

(www.tonyonfire.com) We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn!

Arrica Rose & the...'s

(Poprock) Should be called I-lik-a Rose, because anyone singing slinky, tumbelweeds tumbling, ghostworld cabaret music in a breathy voice (and, pardon my creepiness, awesome cutoffs) is someone I like-a! Note: The Buggles track is a cover, but "Sail Away" is an original, so sorry bicurious Dennis DeYoung fans obsessives, you don't get to hear Arrica sexily sing the word "lad."

Fungi Girls "Some Easy Magic"

(Hozac) Their name is a puzzle...they're not girls, they're fun guys...get it! At least I assume they're fun: the concept of hulking teenagers somehow getting their Bieber-era brains in position to craft ghostly, jangly, eerily-good, low-key garage rock magic seems to indicate good personalities (I'm also taking the online photo of the drummer ina Gumby suit into account). As far as the "ghostly" goes, whenever I hear production where eerie lo-fi-esque roomy awesoemness saturates everything i always check my speakers before I start a-praising just to make sure the record actually sounds this good/bad, and this one really sounds like that! Unless I died and am listening with ghost ears.

Crisis of Conformity "Fist Fight" b/w "Kick it Down and Kick it Around"

(Drag City) So the question isn't whether the 7" of former Trenchmouther Fred Armisen's fake 80s hardcore band Crisis of Conformity's (the songs were originally performed as a skit on Saturday Night Live) is funny or authentic sounding. The question is is the 7" of former Trenchmouther Fred Armisen's fake 80s hardcore band Crisis of Conformity's funnier or more authentic sounding than the 7" of former Trenchmouther Damon Locks' 1995 fake 80s hardcore band Countdown to Chaos. While both sort of miss some 80s h/c alchemy (better executed on NOFX's 1996 fake 80s h/c 7" "Fuck the Kids" or Regress' 1997 fake 80s h/c 7" "Price of Power"),  since CTC (and NOFX and Regress) was less then a decade removed from the 80s I guess they should lose some points, because it was easier to remember how to do it back then. And while it's not ha ha funny for COC to call out Ed Meese, it's theoretically funny, and anyone riffing on Suicidal Tendencies "All I wanted was a fucking Pepsi" rap gets comedy points, so COC is technically funnier than CTC. As far as authenticity, Locks' visual sense did not allow him to have a shitty xerox collage cover for his own band (though he did help COC with their shitty xerox collage, go figure?), plus his lead track is Cramps-y not h/c (though side 2's "Punky See Punky Do" makes up for it), so COC also beats CTC on that count. Still it's hard to brand anything as an authentic 80s hardcore 7" when there's only two songs!  But this is all moot, because ultimately, my all time fave fake 80s h/c act will always be Fear, because they were fake 80s hardcore during the 80s, and the kids couldn't figure out the joke!

Azita "Disturbing the Air"

(Drag City) Moving music so sombre it turned me into a Sombie. Instead of craving brains I feast on sad hearts. Despite the melancholy tones, Azita's music doesn't seem depressive or even really down, there's something so uplifting in its beauty that it sorta kinda actually seems sorta kinda positive. But somebody better explain that to her piano quick, because I'm afraid he might kill himself after after having all those mournful notes played on him.

Village of Spaces "Alchemy and Trust"

(Corleone) Taking madrigal-core music out of the Renaissance Faire and onto the Indie Rock Grammy stage, this is mandolin-cious!

White Mystery "Blood & Venom"

(www.whitemysteryband.com) When Alex White first hit the scene it was her youth that made her stand out: a tiny teenager playing gutsy guitar and leading (and composing for) brilliant trash rock bands like a burly veteran. And it wasn't just her actual youth that was awesome, it was her youthful attitude. Though she commanded stages she also conducted herself with refreshing positivity and innocence: a gee whiz kid in a pottymouth man's game! But as fans of Jordy, Gary Coleman, or that perennially changing white little kid blues guitarist with news stories about him sitting in old black men know, being the youngest something has an expiration date. When she and her brother Francis started White Mystery it was awesome to see a brother sister duo with huge red hair flyin' doing their thing, but it was also hard to hear, see, or read anything about them that didn't mention they were a brother sister duo with huge red hair flyin'. Now you can't blame anyone for being young, having good personalities, being related, or having amazing hair. In fact you can't blame the relentlessly self-promoting band for pointing all these points out themselves. But as amazing as WM was, their singles and debut LP coulda been better. But with the self-released Blood & Venom the pair has finally crafted material worthy of the worthy hype they worthily receive. These songs match their charms. Someone has to sing about snacks and birthdays and parties and balls, and though the tunes on the record have improved since these recordings (I've seen the band perform fifty times in the last month, it seems, and have never tired of them), barring their debut LP's transcendent tribute to taking a walk, this is the best stuff they've ever done. 
 

Tom Goss "Turn It Around"

(www.tomgossmusic.com) Should be named Gom Toss because whatever it means to toss your gom, this music made me want to it.

The Millingtons "Play Like a Girl"

(www.junemillington.com) Jean and June Millington were officially awesome not just because they were in the all lady rock band Fanny or because they were ridiculous beautiful (see the back cover of 1978's "Ladies on the Stage,"or better yet, the b&w portraits on the sleeve of 72's "Fanny Hill"), or because June was a queen of the Womyn's Music movement. The main reason for their magic was that their single "Charity Ball" was glam rock n roll boiled down to the simplest, catchiest, most chugging-along perfection. So it's magic to hear on their new album that in addition to still wailing as guitarists (especially the boogie solos on "Let Love Linger") they also have made the Fanny formula even simpler and more direct. The title track is so straightforward it's almost a cheer or a jingle, sounding like pure, potent, uncut rock n roll at it's finest. They get awesomer with age!