Shoe-gaze duo the band in Heaven is a blissfully distorted pop concoction. What sets them apart is the unique contrast they create—they manage to be severe yet sweet at the same time. Listening to their demo, you are sucked into a homespun dream sequence though not in such a way that it blurs together as many bands of the dream-pop genre tend to.

Each song, though equally confusing and aimless, manages to stand on its own as a sort of individual trance. The hauntingly vivid kind you remember and want to write down. Suppressed amongst dizzying repetition and reverb, the vocals have a sort of calming effect, like they’re letting you in on a secret. In this way they manage to command attention. You want to know what they have to say next, even if what they actually are saying doesn’t make sense.

They strike a nice balance between lo-fi fuzz and guitar distortion. Though at times their presence is vaguely reminiscent of the Velvet Underground traveling in time to cover ‘80s pop essentials such as the Cranberries, they’ve really managed to create something distinctive. Each song has something special to offer. Even their covers (of the Cranberries and Q Lazzarus) present something successfully reinvented. The band in Heaven could very well be influential in the movement to revive the shoe-gaze genre.

Check out their bandcamp

Denmark’s Jannis Noya Makrigiannis is the brainchild behind Choir of Young Believers–an experimental blend of orchestral reverb and indie-pop. His album, This Is For the Whites in Your Eyes, is a cathedral of sound, with choral echoes bouncing off high ceilings. Yet he manages to create this sound without seeming preachy or grandiloquent. There’s something humbly supernatural about it. Other-worldly, though appealing in a Fleet-Foxes-on-vicodin kind of way. The entire album is like a holy confession and generally blurs together. It does however shine when it strays from its norm in songs like “Action/Reaction” and “She walks.” Essentially, the songs worth knowing are linked below. Peace be with you.

Choir of Young Believers

Action/Reaction
Claustrophobia

There’s something refreshing about Philadelphia five-piece Free Energy, like a cool sip of Classic Coca-Cola on a hot summer day. Their take on rock ‘n’ roll is something of a youthful mural in which they’re simply taking their favorite colors from different genres and decades and smearing them together to create something light-hearted and energetic. Their debut “Stuck On Nothing” is the sort of sunny album you want as a backdrop to a road trip or a Fourth of July get-together. Sometimes funky but always fun, it’s the kind of optimistic music you’ll want to jam to all summer. Enjoy.

Appeals to fans of: Hockey, My Morning Jacket, Albert Hammond, Jr.

Free Energy/Free Candy

Dark Trance
Dream City
Something In Common
I’m Going Down

I have a theory that this whole new subfield of music is fueled by indecision; artists can’t quite decide what genre they fit into so they just sprawl all the way across the board of genres. A prominent face of this hypothetic “genre” if you will is Philadelphia native Evan Voytas. Voytas, to put it simply, loves music and has pursued obsessions with genres ranging from acid jazz,‘70s funk to newage soul. This overwhelming range of influence leads to a sound that is generally difficult to pinpoint; it’s like he’s created a new sound entirely. What we’re left with a funky vigor that you might want to get used to…this could very well be the wave of the future.

-Witler

Evan Voytas (Samples from various EPs, Listed With Track Names)

1.Tomorrow Night We’ll Go Anywhere-Tomorrow Night We’ll Go Anywhere
2. The New Dynamic Sound of Evan Voytas-Getting Higher
3. The New Dynamic Sound of Evan Voytas-Give It Back
4. Introducing Evan Voytas-Bad Attitude
5.Tomorrow Night We’ll Go Anywhere-We’ll Go Far
6.I Run With You Spirit Animal-I Run With You, Spirit Animal

I recently caught wind of a little English comedy called “Submarine” about a kid desperately trying to lose his virginity. It wasn’t the plot or anything cinematic for that matter that caught my attention, but rather that Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys had a prominent role in the soundtrack.

Turner’s development as a musician has been very interesting to me for some reason. When he first hit the scene, he was scruffy kid from Sheffield who sang infectious songs about getting kicked out of clubs and moody girlfriends; amongst pummeling drums and heavy guitar riffs, the sound and affect they delivered was chockfull of youthful observation, but seldom more.

Favourite Worst Nightmare offered a degree of maturity with its slower, moodier songs like “Do Me A Favour” and “Only Ones Who Know” that put on display Turner’s ability to write not only pop jams but captivatingly depressing ballads as well. These proved to be the strength of the album, a strong suit for Turner. There was something desolately beautiful that made us think, “hey, maybe there’s more to these guys.”

Turner eventually teamed up briefly with Miles Kane of The Rascals for a Beatles-esque side-project called The Last Shadow Puppets. While they definitely put out a good track or two, most songs blurred together and sounded for the most part like it belonged in the end credits of a Bond film.

When Arctics released Humbug in 2009, fans were disappointed for the most part. Definitely an acquired taste, the album channeled something much more foreboding, yearning to be darkly philosophical. For the most part, it missed its mark because it wasn’t overtly relatable. In its defense (I actually rather enjoyed the album), it did prove that Arctics were growing up; a band can only sing about being young for so long.

Back to Submarine. This EP is proof of the songwriting talent Turner possess. It’s beautiful in all aspects; melodically understated yet solid and lyrically flawless. Turner can write. And he’s good.

Arctics are scheduled to drop their fourth album Suck It and See this summer. It will be interesting to see how the band redeems itself after a largely ill-received third album. Yet I have faith.

-Witler

Alex Turner

1. Arctic Moneys-The Bakery
2. Arctic Monkeys-Too Much To Ask
3. Arctic Monkeys-Only Ones Who Know
4. Arctic Monkeys-Cornerstone
5. The Last Shadow Puppets-My Mistakes Were Made For You
6. Alex Turner-Stuck On the Puzzle
7. Alex Turner-Piledriver Walz
8. Arctic Monkeys-Brick By Brick

Fresh on the scene from the UK, British Rock four piece The Vaccines are hardly reinventing the wheel. Basically, they’re taking the sounds from your long-time favorite bands and putting them in a blender to create a delicious smoothie of pop rock jams. They released their first EP last month, and in just three short tracks they’ve managed to hook listeners with an intensity that channels Arctic Monkeys with an old school rock twist and an energy reminiscent of Cut Copy. The songs may be a tad short, but if anything they’ve hooked us with just a small taste of what’s to come.

-Witler

Tracklist

1. Post Break-Up Sex
2. Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
3. Blow It Up

Free Candy

4. If You Wanna

Frontman of Mason Proper, Jonathan Visger has been producing music on his own in a side project called Absofacto, releasing singles and EPs since late 2008. Recently, he released his first 7″ vinyl with 10k Cities. His sound as a whole is difficult to sum up—it’s different with every bite. It’s experimental, it’s edgy, it’s rebellious and it’s worth your time. Check it out.

Appeals to fans of: Yeasayer, Coconut Records, Ra Ra Riot, The xx

-Witler

Samples

1. Kiko (103 Words)
2. 80844264@81 (Love Song)
3. No Power
4. Safari
5. Pigeon Toes
6. Synthesocietal