WOWH - Early Hours

So call me up in the early hours
Try not to hurt about it
If it's too hard, it's too hard

So here's a fun track from London indie pop outfit WOWH that reminds me of a lot of the music I loved in the 80's; bands like Blancmange, China Crisis, Ultravox and the like. It's dance-beat driven pop, but has a bit of a polish that sets it apart in my ears. I'll be following along, hope to hear some more from them soon.

RIYL: The Republic Tigers, Blancmange, Ra Ra Riot, The Little Ones, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsen

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Skela - Hella

All I've ever wanted was you
Someone whose life was the same shade of blue
All I've ever wanted was someone to drink with
But now that you're here, I can't stop fucking drinking

So pour it up high, talking real low
Pulling at the collar of your sweater
Wrapping my roots all around you
Don't be so selfish with forever
Come on baby, let me tell you what we're supposed to do

Sexy and sultry, yet detailed and devoted, this song reminds me of the popular track "Starving" by Hailee Steinfeld (w/Zedd). Unlike the Southern California actress/singer, Queens-raised Brooklyn-based Skela fashions herself a musician/poet/writer and is hoping to put an "intellectual, nostalgic spin" on modern pop music. We'll see. But any way it pans out for her, this is a repeat-worthy mellow summer jam. 

RIYL: Alessia Cara, Daya, Hailee Steinfeld, Vanic

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Passion Pit - I'm Perfect

Thank you!
(And thank you again!)
You're brutal, you're honest
You're my very best-friend
It's not like you asked me if our night had to end at one of my brother's parties
 

Oh, what can I do?
When the face is a mirror of flattering youth
And all of the work that you say that you'll do
You've barely even started
Can't you...

Just tell, tell me I'm so damn perfect
Tell me it all of the time, oh
Tell me I'm so damn perfect
Tell me it all of the time

The new Passion Pit album, Tremendous Sea of Love, dropped last week! I don't know for sure but I think the "Tremendous" is tongue-in-cheek. I know that I can't hear that word anymore without rolling my eyes (thanks Drumpf) and I bet it's the same for a sensitive artist like Michael Angelakos. This track is quite sarcastic as well, not a new thing for PP - always with the peppy synth major chords and high falsetto, telling us dark tales of personal history. This album isn't a major departure sonically, but as a project it was created and presented atypically for the industry (some songs created, recorded, and uploaded the same day), and released for free via Twitter & Reddit with a message including: “I wrote this album to tell myself and to tell you that you were always good enough.” But no, tell me I'm perfect!! 

RIYL: Phoenix, Neon Indian, MGMT, Matt and Kim, M83

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Chvrches - Tether

Where'd you go, you were there by my side
Keep believing it's my turn to hide
In a place where we don't have a prayer
There's a tether that's keeping me there
Trade our places
Take no chances
Bind me 'til my lips are silent
Stay where you are
Ever, after
Chasing things that we should run from

I'm a big fan of Chvrches. Their synth pop sensibility lead by Lauren Mayberry hits me as the perfect juxtaposition between Depeche Mode and The Cranberries (sorry if the Scots are offended by an Irish comparison, but I can't be the first). Particularly this song off their debut album, 2013's The Bones of What You Believe (doesn't that sound like a Cranberries title?), because of it's massive change in pace and feeling after about two and a half minutes. This also reminds me of the tricks Martin Gore would pull during the best years of DM - emotional instrumentals or extended mixes that were totally worth the wait.
Bonus: The latest we've heard from Chvrches is this live version (below) of "Down Side of Me" as their contribution to a fund raiser for Planned Parenthood (sweet vinyl boxset with 100% of profits being donated - I totally preordered. Living in Texas is pissing me off lately.)

RIYL: The Naked and Famous, Purity Ring, Phantogram, Prides, Grimes

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Depeche Mode - Little 15

Little fifteen
Why take the smooth with the rough
When things run smooth
It's already more than enough
She knows your mind
Is not yet in league
With the rest of the world
And its little intrigues
Do you understand
Do you know what she means
As time goes by
And when you've seen what she's seen
you will

Usually for TMIS, I try not to post the most popular of the classic alt tunes because we've all heard them thousands of times already. And with DM there are scores of not-singles or B-sides, and of course remixes that I love, making the unconventional choice still a smorgasborg. (But my other unwritten rule is to not post 8-minute-plus songs, so that cut it back down to size, ha!) Anyhow, I went with a track off of Music for the Masses, the 6th album and many critics fave, but a slow, steady, sweat song that I first heard when I was about 13... Ahhhh, Dave's voice back then! And now I have 15 & 13 year olds of my own, which is awesome and bittersweet. (And if this seems like a downer track for late July, buckle-up because I've been deep diving Joy Division lately...)

RIYL: You don't need me to do this for Depeche Mode, do you? But here's one anyway: Bastille

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