Cold Country - Missing the Muse

Chicago-based Cold Country just released a new full-band EP.
Check it out below.

Sam Moss - "Neighbors"

Sam Moss's latest EP is absolutely gorgeous. On the first track, haunting banjo notes appear in the air and hang for a moment, waiting for Moss's plaintive voice to join them. The silences in the songs means as much as the sounds. There's a deep melancholy running throughout the EP, giving it a strength and, at the same time, a fragility that begs to be heard.
Listen below, and buy on Bandcamp.

Shake it for Grandma - Delirium Tremendous

How does one even begin to try to use words to attempt to vaguely explain Shake it for Grandma?  It's impossible.  Here is a picture instead:

Ashley Wylde and Ian Reynold

The Chicago synth sunshine duo just released their new EP, Delirium Tremendous, and its four tracks are wildly danceable (which is my favorite thing) and completely insane (which is my other favorite thing).
Shake it for Grandma is the musical project of Ian Reynold and Ashley Wylde.  They majored in classical guitar and percussion, respectively, and it comes across in the EP.  No shoddy musicianship here. They know what they're doing, which is why it's really refreshing that they took their musical training in this creative direction.

Make sure you read the lyrics included with each track. They're an insane mix of witty wordplay and irreverent insanity.  At points the lyrics get too crude for my tastes, and sometimes I can't help but wonder if they are trying a bit too hard to cause a stir (all the sacrilegious banter, etc.).

NEVERTHELESS,
I love them.

I think that Shake it for Grandma is best enjoyed live, so keep your ears open for their next show.  This group knows what it means to perform, not just get up onstage and play songs and mumble into a microphone.  Shiny jumpsuits and feather boas are just two things that you can look forward to.

Download their EP here.

Eisley - "Deep Space" EP

I've been in love with Texas indie-rockers Eisley since 2005, when I first heard their album Room Noises. I was fifteen at the time, and their aching vocal harmonies and whimsical lyrics hit me right in the teenage love spot.
They've just come out with a new EP, "Deep Space," and I had to sink my teeth into it for old time's sake.
What always keeps me coming back to Eisley is the vocals. The sweet interplay of the sisters' voices drifting across the instrumentation gets me every time.  I sing along to Eisley - I listen to them in the car on a sort of grey day when I'm feeling tired - I sit in a rocking chair and close my eyes and listen to everything that happens in every song and feel it tug at my heart.

I don't think anything that Eisley does will ever hit me the way that Room Noises did, but that's my own nostalgia getting in the way of appreciating what they're doing now.  "Deep Space" is a solid EP by a band who knows what they're doing.

You can stream the EP for free now at Paste Magazine.