FOXTRAX - Underwater

I can’t tell the time
When I’m working on my grind sometimes
And my worries are waving with the wind
And I don’t mind if I feel blue
If I’m staring at the moon
And the stars are staring at me with a grin

I first heard this song last week when it was featured on Alt Nation's Advanced Placement program, and made a note to re-listen. Then I saw that Underwater was also featured on iTunes in the #1 spot for New Artists. Come to find out this is the debut single from the first EP by a basically brand new (formed in 2015) band. Somehow these just-graduated-from-college-and-moved-to-L.A. dudes are already attracting huge buzz: FOXTRAX even got written up in a UK blog saying, "They are guilty of producing an extremely fun live performance... tighter than a hipster's jeans." So. Guess I'll be looking for them to pop up in Austin sometime soon.

Upcoming Shows

The Naked and Famous - Higher

But we can seperate
To form these hearts in stone
Rewrite this pain we own
Caught here in the wake
Nothing but genuine
Built on a skeleton
Of fractured parts
That only raise our voices
Higher, higher

The first new music from T/N/A/F in years! Co-bandleaders Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith ended their 8-yr relationship during the interim, making this (forthcoming) album and tour a bit of a Fleetwood Mac situation, or perhaps No Doubt is a closer comparison. Either way, this track sounds more like their first album than their last and that's a good thing to my ears.
I last saw T/N/A/F on tour with Imagine Dragons 3 years ago. They were able to fill the stadium with their passionate synth sound then, so I'm excited to see how their outdoor set goes at ACL this fall, and how many new songs we'll get to hear in advance of the full album release.

Upcoming Shows

Bastille - Laura Palmer (RAC remix)

Summer evening breezes blue
Drawing voices deep from you
Lead by a beating heart
What's the air and what's the night
What terrifying final sights
Put out your beating heart

Happy Bastille Day, France and happy birthday to Dan Smith, lead singer/songwriter for Bastille!! The band has a new single out you may have heard by now, Good Grief, but I chose this track for TMIS because the lyrics really drew me in, 3+ years ago when almost no one in the U.S. had heard of Bastille, and then I found out it was about Twin Peaks, and then they came out with this chilled out remix by a fairly small time producer/musician, RAC, whom I was already a fan of. So, hope this suits your mid-week, mid-summer, non-U.S.-holiday mood this evening as well as it does mine.

Upcoming Shows

Hot Hot Heat - Kid Who Stays In The Picture

I remember when you used to laugh
Like in the day we used to hide
Like a deer in the headlights
I saw you give up the late nights
We were the sweet and the bitter
The kid who stays in the picture
Could have been you
It should have been you

Found a very nice surprise on my Discover Weekly playlist yesterday; a new cut from one of my old time favs, Vancouver, BC funsters Hot Hot Heat. I'm not sure what they've been up to since their last album, Future Breeds, but they've been quiet, so I'd assumed they'd disbanded. I'm so happy to hear they've not, and while they're saying this (they self-titled Hot Hot Heat) is their last album, I'm crazy happy to hear anything new from them. Bonus points for being really fun! Next step: tour? Let's hope so!

Upcoming Shows

888 - Critical Mistakes

Let me rewind to the times where we never felt ill
We fill our minds with those dreams and we never miss a beat
Just pass the time staying up, feeling restless at night
Come wake me up before I die and I never get to live

I was pretty shocked to learn that 888, with it's synth-pop, slightly emo debut EP Decades, was formerly the band Drop Dead, Gorgeous - hardcore metal, including one serial killer-themed album. But hey, they formed DDG when they were still in high school and to me it's pretty rad that they did that thing until it no longer suited them and then totally switched gears, still together. Regardless, I really like this song, and the video takes on the the theme of not just moving on but fixing things and forgiving things. There is a lot that is shitty in the world that can make us angry, make us judgmental, create false us-them dichotomies, and while there definitely needs to be accountability and measured systemic changes, on an individual level humility and compassion are major keys to moving forward.

Upcoming Shows