New Countdown: Bicenquinquagenary As Hell.

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

This is the 275th regularly scheduled countdown I've put together. That is kind of staggering, isn't it? Thanks for sticking with me :) If this is your 1st episode or your 275th that you've "tuned in" for, I want to thank you so much for taking the time!

Oh, and Merry Christmas! Hope that, if you're celebrating, you're having a lovely time with family, friends, and people who are somewhere in between.


Countdown #275

***Featuring***
Cage the Elephant
Cold War Kids
Coldplay
Coleman Hell
Death Cab For Cutie
Elle King
Happy Fangs
Kendrick Lamar
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Silversun Pickups
twenty one pilots
X Ambassadors

Video: Happy Fangs "Raw Nights"

So much energy in this band. I love the transition this video makes and how the music reflects it. This is such a good album, you guys, you should really pick it up.

New Countdown: Not TECHNICALLY February yet....

Vance Joy

I have most of my voice this week! There is LOTS of movement on the chart this week! We have FOUR bonus songs this week! It's a good week. You're going to like this one.




Countdown #232

***Featuring***
Arctic Monkeys
Big Data [featuring Joywave]
Blink-182
Cage the Elephant
Doomtree
Foo Fighters
Happy Fangs
Hozier
Imagine Dragons
Milky Chance
Modest Mouse
Vance Joy
Walk the Moon

Happy Fangs - Capricorn

You know those albums that you put on, knowing that you're going to be listening to the whole thing? That's the kind of record Capricorn is. It kicks off with "Raw Nights", a song that gets the listener dancing from the start, and then, just as Michael Cobra's buzzsaw guitar reaches a fever pitch in the middle of the song, everything drops out and lead singer Rebecca Bortman purrs, "Excuse me, sir. Do you have a minute to talk about rock 'n' roll?" and then the song kicks back into gear. It's a thrilling moment that shows no signs of getting old with repeated listens. I asked Rebecca if there was any story behind that section which seems almost like a manifesto for the rest of the album. Here's what she said.

The first time that Mr. Cobra and I played CMJ  when we were just a duo, we wanted to make the most of traveling all the way to the East Coast from San Francisco, so we tried to book gigs on our off-days of the festival in surrounding cities. One of the shows we ended up getting was on ye 'ol Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge on a Tuesday. There was a Red Sox play-off game and a Pearl Jam concert and Janelle Monae concert. Aka: we picked the WORST night of the year to play Boston. Mr. Cobra and I walked down Mass Ave with the sinking feeling that we might be playing for the bar staff and no one else, so I started walking up to people and asking them, "Excuse me, sir. Do you have a minute..." Every single person would look away, try to avoid eye contact "...to talk about rock & roll?" That got every single person's attention. And we talked to a dozen on our walk. We got to tell every single one of them about Happy Fangs.

And listening to the album, you feel the almost evangelical zeal that this band has for their craft. Look no further than the last minute of the blistering "Hiya Kaw Kaw," a song that led off the band's self-titled EP back in 2013 and which finds itself leaner and meaner with the addition of drummer Jess Gowrie (who is celebrating her one year anniversary as part of the band this month!).

The band is, as I'm writing this, filming a video for "Raw Nights" so I'm going to include the video that they submitted for NPR's Tiny Desk Contest for their song "Ton of Bricks." It's bathed in black and whites and shows that the band can destroy on a slower jam, too.

Capricorn comes out on 1/27. You can get it on iTunes and Bandcamp and Amazon. And remember: Pre-ordering helps the band just as much as waiting for the release date. More, probably.

Happy Fangs EP

I guess the first thing I want to say about the eponymous debut EP of Happy Fangs is that it is EXACTLY what I was hoping it would be.

I've talked about them a little bit over the last year and finally, on October 1st, they will be releasing Happy Fangs which will show the world exactly what comes from a collaboration between Rebecca  from My First Earthquake and Michael Cobra from King Loses Crown.

Happy Fangs is loud and dancey and just wonderful. I had an inkling that it might be from "The Truth" and "Lion Inside You" which the band had already released (Watch the video for the latter song below. And crank it.)

I know I started this by saying that they met my expectations, but that's not exactly true. This EP goes way beyond my expectations. I was actually a little worried that the pop element that I enjoyed so much in MFE was going to be drowned out by guitars. Instead the guitars serve as a spaceship to blast the effect into hyperspace.

The last 45 seconds of "Perk Up" illustrate my point better than any words could.

Remember in The Princess Bride when Westley is dueling with Inigo Montoya and they both admit that they're stronger swordsmen than they let on at the outset of the duel?

No? Well, let me refresh your memory.

Ok, so that's what happens at the end of "Perk Up". The band is playing a perfectly wonderful song and then, BOOM they both switch hands and you realize that they've been toying with you this whole time. And you don't care. Because you're too busy dancing your ass off.

So, yeah. You're going to love this EP and you're going to be thanking me before the thing is even over.

Happy Fangs comes out on October 1st.
It looks like their website is going to be the place to get it
Amazon MP3 also has a page up for when it comes out

OH! If you're going to the CMJ festival up in New York (Is it just in Brooklyn?), Happy Fangs will be playing Sat, Oct 19 at Trash Bar in Williamsburg. They didn't know what time they would be playing when I talked to them, but that will probably be sorted as the date approaches. Go. See. Them.

Happy Fangs "Lion Inside You" Video

Cool new video by Happy Fangs (with Rebecca from My First Earthquake on vox) from their forthcoming debut eponymous EP. It's called "Lion Inside You"


CMJ premiered the video here, and if you go to that page, you can click on a link to their Soundcloud page and get the MP3 of the song for free.

I am so excited to hear this EP based on this song. It's so energetic and loud and fast and kinda silly. 

The Happy Fangs EP comes out on October 1.

Happy Fangs

It's always really cool when members of a band you really liked start new projects.

I was super bummed when My First Earthquake announced that they were going to be taking a break (indefinite hiatus, hanging up their hats, etc. (basically not making music for a while as MFE) and so it was very cool to get an email announcing that Rebecca (sometimes I call her Rob-ecca, because she can do a killer (as in good, not deadly....well, maybe both) from MFE had started a new band with a guy named Mike Cobra from the band King Loses Crown. 

The band sent this teaser video:

Happy Fangs will be playing on October 1st (that's THIS Monday) at the Rickshaw Stop with Blood Red Shoes and Starskate. You can buy tickets here

When I asked them on Twitter (@happyfangs) about any tracks that they might have to release, they told me that they're mixing their first demo on Friday. So maybe they'll send me a track or two to post soon!

I've said it before, but it is always REALLY exciting to get news of a band like this. I'm very excited to hear more from them!