YOLO Mentions bring attention to special
songs featured in that week’s YOLO List. Get the latest list here!

I know this is from a couple lists ago, but I’ve been dying to lay down my two cents on this mysteriously-eccentric supergroup’s eighth studio album. With a majority of their former albums hitting platinum album sales throughout the planet, and some even 3x platinum, Radiohead had some Shaquille O’neal sized shoes to fill with King of Limbs. Getting platinum album sales entails getting over a million sales in that country, a feat most artists can only dream of achieving. Although, none of that has ever kept Radiohead from consistently producing equally amazing and unique albums.

First off, the announcement of this album came out of butt-fuck nowhere, but couldn’t have been released at a more significant time. Arcade Fire had just won album of the year, and it was almost eerily coordinated that Radiohead would shower themselves with the indie spotlight. The album enters a new realm of sound that none of their former albums had dared to travel. They take a dream like approach and fill it with a bunch of electronic samples, while Thom Yorke’s voice catches us off guard a minute into the album on “Bloom.” An acid jazzy intro that seems perfect for a rainy car ride through the city. The album gets a more structured feel with “Morning Mr. Magpie” and “Lotus Flower,” both of which could have been singles in my opinion. The album weaves every track together much like a sine graph (uh oh math reference) and ends peacefully on “Separator.”

King of Limbs is a beautiful compilation of talent that captures Radiohead’s evolution of sound in a way that none of their previous albums ever could. The first run-through is intriguing, but the kind of intriguing that questions your initial opinion. It’s bound to grow on you with every listen. A sound you won’t hear anywhere else that only Radiohead could manage to pull off.

-Skinny Genes

King of Limbs

1. Bloom
2. Morning Mr Magpie
3. Little By Little
4. Feral
5. Lotus Flower
6. Codex
7. Give Up The Ghost
8. Separator

Were there a melody for every beautifully solitary moment in your life that you wished you could slip into a jar and come back to someday, it is Sean Carey (S. Carey) of Bon Iver side project album “All We Grow”. Tucked inside nine delicately woven tracks are the snap shots from life that mostly go by unnoticed and without meditation. It’s a rain-streaked window, a footprint in the forest and a splinter of blue sky through the trees. The album is earthy and raw; it’s music stripped to its most basic elements—ghostlike vocals accompanied by piano. Though many comparisons will be (and have been) made between this and Bon Iver’s “For Emma Forever Ago,” “All We Grow” manages to develop wings of its own. While this isn’t music for every day, it is the perfect accompaniment for solitude or just a melancholy afternoon.

Appeals to fans of: Bon Iver, Iron and Wine, Fleet Foxes

-Witler

Tracklist

1. Move
2. We Fell
3. In The Dirt
4. Rothko Fields
5. Mothers
6. Action
7. In The Stream
8. All We Grow
9. Broken

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

Perhaps the first thing to come out of New Zealand since The Lord of the Rings films, The Naked and Famous are likely to be the next big thing not only in their native country, but in the UK and US as well. Their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You has yet to release in the US, though when it does you won’t want to miss it. The album delivers a sound fresh to the music scene—a marriage of lo-fi synth and poppy rock; it may sound like an awkward mix but they’re able to pull it off with a kickass vocal duo, Alisa Xaylaith and Thom Powers. And their teamwork is powerful. The Naked and Famous brings to the scene a sound full of freedom and energy like a youthful summer’s day, but not the kind of day you simply lounge in. This is life and life is awesome. Keep on the look out for this album. In the meantime, indulge in some free samples.

-Witler

Tracklist

1. All of This
2. Punching in a Dream
3. Frayed
4. The Source
5. The Sun
6. Eyes
7. Young Blood
8. No Way
9. Spank
10. Jilted Lover
11. A Wolf in Geek’s Clothing
12. The Ends
13. Girls Like You

Free Candy

Bells

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

Nearly everyone in the English speaking world can recall being told at some point or another to “never judge a book by its cover” or that “it’s what’s on the inside that counts,” and while there certainly are exceptions to these mantras, London-based quartet-but-sometimes-quintet Yuck certainly is not. Beneath the surrealist and somewhat grotesque album art of the band’s self-titled debut is an absolute gem of an album.

Based in London, Hiroshima and New Jersey, the album itself is as eclectic as the band members. “Yuck” ranges from 1990’s-esque indie pop jams, with buoyant and breezy tracks like “Sunday” and “Georgia,” to lo-fi ethereal acoustics like “Stutter” and “Suicide Policeman.”

The emotion behind the songs vary as well, with the youthful declaration of freewill in “Sunday” saying “I’ve got a choice now, I’ve got a voice now” to the distorted repetition of “Should I fit in?” in lo-fi crush “Rubber.” While the album offers a broad range of sound and style, it is consistent in its retro appeal, meanwhile avoiding sounding like just-another-indie-throwback band.

Despite their age (backup vocalist Ilana is still in high school and frontman Daniel is 20), they’ve clearly developed their own unique sound. And their pure talent is evident—“Yuck” was recorded on a Dictaphone in guitarist Max Bloom’s home. With so much promise, Yuck is likely to generate a lot of hype over the next few months, and deservedly so. It will be exciting to see what the future holds for them.

-Witler

Tracklist

1. Get Away
2. The Wall
3. Shook Down
4. Holing Out
5. Suicide Policeman
6. Georgia
7. Suck
8. Stutter
9. Operation
10. Sunday
11. Rose Gives A Lily
12. Rubber

12FV

Although I’m sorry to have had to push the YOLO list to today, I’m pretty glad I did. Last night marked a milestone for indie music. If you haven’t heard already, Arcade Fire took the award for Album of the Year at the 53rd Annual Grammy’s beating Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Lady Antebellum! It took awhile for the magnitude of this to hit me, but the top40s music world just took sharp turn towards open mindedness. I only wish they chose more approachable songs to play to that crowd (i.e. The Suburbs). I’m excited to see where music goes in the coming years and even moreso to see Arcade Fire perform a headlining set at Coachella! If you want to see my post on them with my favorite songs, go here. Anyhow, I’m looking forward to the YOLO mentions this week, because I stumbled on some quality tunes. Here’s to 30 weeks! #proudofmyself #nottwitter

-Skinny Genes

YOLO30

Click here to grab them all.

Arcade Fire – Keep The Car Running (Indie Rock)
Breakbot – Please Don’t (French House)
The Strokes – Under Cover of Darkness (Rock)
Empire of the Sun – We Are the People (TGIK Remix) (Electronic/Indie)
The Killers – Smile Like You Mean it [TGIK’s broken heart mix] (Electronic Indie)
Dada Life – White Noise Red Meat (No Body’s Moombahton Remix) (Electronic/Moombatohn)
Tame Impala – Solitude Is Bliss (Psychedelic Rock)