Terraplane Sun are a Venice fivesome that are the latest act to join the ranks of the California gold rush that's taken over our hearts and minds and stereos these past few months. Terraplane dropped a promising debut album in 2010, but this year's Friends EP finds them really coming into their own. Lead single "Get Me Golden" turned its fair share of heads, but it's EP cut "Ya Never Know" that steals the show for us here, as trickling ivories tickle your senses and heady vocals stretch out across an oxycontin-fueled bassline. Like Electric Guest and Reptar sprawled across one big beach towel under a fairweather LA sun, it's a soul-powered solar flare of permasummer vibes that's the stuff of sync dreams and a strong dose of exactly what our early New York winter needs. Exclusive download below.
We couldn't possibly be more all about Athen's primary guarantors of good vibes, Reptar. Ever since they first premiered "Sebastian" on Neon Gold TV last year (back when it was still spelled "Sebastien"), we've been dying to hear the studio version in all its Ben Allen-produced splendor. Our wish finally came true today, and yeah, it's everything we hoped it would be and more. From the first notes of jangly guitars and house party beats, we couldn't feel more at home. Frontman Graham Ulicny is like a southern fried cross between Ezra Koenig and Isaac Brock, flaunting reverb-coated hooks with a punch-drunk, impassioned cadence and leading an incredible singalong bit that's likely to be the highlight of live shows for years to come. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for their debut record, Body Faucet, out on Vagrant May 1st.
Citizens are a fresh new four-piece hailing from stormy London who seem to have it all figured out already. Let's just say their masterful debut single, "True Romance", is a breath of sunshine-spiked air in an otherwise overcrowded pop landscape. With a simple backbone of a drum beat and peppy piano chords, the instrumental bounces along with a childlike naivete that sounds like All Time Quarterback growing up before your very eyes. It all seems innocent enough until frontman, Matt West's Hot Chip-y vocals sweep you off your feet and steal you away from the droll life you once had, in the best runaway imaginable. Things get real at the chorus, as that persistent "true romance" refrain serves to underscore the tragic darkness that lies beneath the whimsical xylophones, refocusing everything on the ambivalent ultimatum of West's dissonant singing. Citizens then manage to harness the raw, unbridled energy of other young prodigies like Reptar and Is Tropical, to magically conjure up a happy ending when it seems like all hope is lost. This is one incredibly infectious tune, full stop.
So there's a new thing. It's called Neon Gold TV, and it'll be coming your way next month as the latest expansion of our lil' empire with a launch party popping off September 28th at Tammany Hall, because the only thing we love more than new ventures is the launch parties that accompany them. Plus, with next month's Popshop not arriving until CMJ week in mid-October (well worth the wait though, TRUST), throwing you another amazing show to tide you over in the meantime was the least we could do.
We love music videos more than life itself, so we've started to commission a few of our own as part of a new series of Neon Gold TV sessions that we've been working on over the past few months. And what better way to celebrate than with a launch party starring Reptar, the subjects of our first ever NGTV session in their first ever NYC headline play. They'll be coming straight over from Terminal 5 after their early set opening for Foster The People to do it even bigger in the headline slot at Tammany, with support coming from our beloved Savoir Adore and DJ B-Roc of The Knocks on the ones and twos all night long. And of course it wouldn't be a Neon Gold party without an open bar deal, so get down early to take advantage of complimentary vodka from 9pm-10pm.
It's all going down Wednesday, September 28th at Tammany Hall, with $5 advance tickets now on sale HERE. Or you could hold out for $10 tickets on the door, but with a bill like this and an advance sale price like that tickets are bound to go fast. Our last launch party with Grouplove in June was a sell out and one of the most special shows we've ever put on, and this one has all the makings of another epic so run, don't walk, over to NeonGold.tv and cop your tickets before they're all gone.
ANR is truly Miami's finest. They're like a buddy cop duo whose lethal weapon is their interminable arsenal of experimental pop hooks, and we're honored to welcome them to the force on their next single out later this month. Take Exhibit A-side: "It's Around You". The radio filter intro foreshadows the immortal feeling you get when the synths surges drop nearly a minute in and the track engulfs you in a shimmering galaxy of anthemic choral shouts and pop majesty. Each humming pulse is like lightning in a bottle until drum layers and vocal layers are added and the chorus ultimately crashes into beautiful oblivion. It's strangely uplifting despite the minor chords and elegiac harmonies, perhaps thanks to the soft xylophone drops and a masterfully orchestrated brass section. As the moody trombones are counterbalanced by the kind of adulatory trumpets Mark Ronson would be proud of, ANR are guilty of squashing your conscience and unleashing your id.
And if that wasn't enough, we give you the Exhibit AA-side on the flip: "Blood on Blood", mixed by none other than the inimitable Ben Allen, fresh out of the studio with Reptar and Walk The Moon. A seemingly harmless piano progression lulls you into a false sense of security and maintains its composure until the chorus just loses it altogether with groaning electronic switches and a massive vocal melody, a manic force to be reckoned with. Then there's that classical piano break in the bridge that takes you completely by surprise, but it serves as a meticulously planned stopgap that even bloodhounds couldn't sniff out. As soon as it picks up where it left off, the beat is back with an eye-for-an-eye vengeance. It's all very cinematic and would make for an incredible epilogue to their brilliant "Big Problem" video (easily one of the year's best). ANR have absolutely killed it on our next release and if that makes us accomplices, then so be it. We're not ones to talk a big game (note: we are), but if you let it into your heart we promise this will be one of your favorite singles of 2011. Preorder is available now from the Neon Gold Shop, and you'll be able to experience in all its glory for yourself when it drops August 29th.
Having spent much of our youth on the mean streets of DC, we've always wanted to give back to the city that reared us, so it's with great pleasure that we launch a new concert series in the nation's capital this month. Introducing ALL THINGS GOLD, a new regular club night brought to by yours truly and our brothers in arms at All Things Go, DC's preeminent new music site and some of the best tastemakers in the game. It's all kicking off July 21st at U Street Music Hall (one of our absolute favorite venues on the east coast) with a launch party for the ages, featuring live sets from Neon Gold favorites Reptar and Penguin Prison, plus DJ sets from hometown hero Brenton Duvall and remix legends RAC headlining the night on the decks. Doors open at 9pm, Heineken will be bringing the drink specials early and often, and tickets are only $8 in advance HERE. Set times and mp3s below, WE GOT YOU DC.
Headed into SX there were already a few bands destined to be the talk of the town come week's end - Walk The Moon, Foster The People and James Blake all come to mind - but for us the real superstars of SXSW 2011 were Athens, Georgia's own Reptar. Their People Are Cool Y'all EP from late 2010 was already one of our absolute favorite releases of the past 12 months (honestly, it's kind of a masterpiece), but the live show is where they really bring the magic. This is furious pop music, like Isaac Brock fronting Passion Pit under the watchful eye of Animal Collective, and the controlled chaos of the live show is a beautiful sight to behold.
Anyone who didn't make it out west to Austin last week needn't look further than the BRILLIANTLY boisterous "Houseboat Babies" to see what all the fuss is about - it's the kind of track that immediately transports you back to that "one krrrAaaaAaaaAzy summer," even if yours hasn't happened yet. It's just that good. Coincidentally (or maybe not so), the plucky vocal samples that give the song it's backbone takes on a serious Mark Mothersbaugh vibe, not a million miles away from the theme song to Rugrats (from which the band take their amazing name). Those samples, paired with the exuberant call and response of "Can you feel it? / Yes I can feel it!" set the track up to be one of the biggest partystarters of 2011, the kind of invincible anthem that just makes you sigh "ahhh youth" and then dance until dawn. So yeah Reptar, we can feel it.
Terraplane Sun are a Venice fivesome that are the latest act to join the ranks of the California gold rush that's taken over our hearts and minds and stereos these past few months. Terraplane dropped a promising debut album in 2010, but this year's Friends EP finds them really coming into their own. Lead single "Get Me Golden" turned its fair share of heads, but it's EP cut "Ya Never Know" that steals the show for us here, as trickling ivories tickle your senses and heady vocals stretch out across an oxycontin-fueled bassline. Like Electric Guest and Reptar sprawled across one big beach towel under a fairweather LA sun, it's a soul-powered solar flare of permasummer vibes that's the stuff of sync dreams and a strong dose of exactly what our early New York winter needs. Exclusive download below.
