Spilling The Beans- Turtle

Spilling The Beans is a project by a proud stay at home mum called Ali on vocals and her husband Andrew taking care of most of the instruments. This is their first attempt at a kids song. Adorableness ensues.

Neighborhood Brats- Shark Beach

On their other material, the band draws a lot of comparisons to the more classic names from their area, San Francisco. This release leans another way. It’s not exactly a new theme, but this is a much darker take on beach culture that has so heavily influenced punk bands from all over California. The sound on “Shark Beach” in particular feels like a tiny nod (unintentionally?) to L.A. legends The Dickies.

It’s not all just about the seaside, though. If you’re into any of the early 80’s Cali bands, this one’s for you. It’s not too modernized, but it’s not stale either. It’s just fun.

This is from last year’s 7”, Ocean Beach Party.

FFAAVVEESS 2012: Rocky Rivera ft. Raven Sorvino, Plain Jane & Oh Blimey- GRLZ RMX

Original post here.

When I was trying to think of the best music this year has given me, this came to mind instantly. It is easily the top song of 2012 for me.

I only made a short mention of this song’s sample before, but now that I have a chance to write about it again, I’d like to talk about it a bit more. Let me just first say that I am a massive fan of the Beastie Boys, and I have been for most of my life. Still, “Girls” was never a shining moment for them. It is a long way from a more politically correct viewpoint they are better remembered for. As funny as the original song might seem, its context isn’t as cute. Which is exactly why it’s so impressive that Rocky took this and turned it into something that empowers women rather than degrades them. Intentional or not, it certainly makes it an interesting choice.

Not only that, but in a year of breakout female rappers where the only thing anyone can talk about is who has beef with who, it has been so refreshing to have a collaboration like this. If only it could happen more often.

FFAAVVEESS 2012: Dark Times- Girl Hate

I only just posted about Dark Times recently, but in terms of music from the later part of this year, the Girl Hate EP rates the highest. It was only released a month ago and has quickly made its way on to heavy rotation for me. Not to mention, the title and subject matter is really important, and I especially see a lot of it between girls in bands. It’s awesome to see it addressed, even in a short punk song. Fingers crossed that 2013 will bring them to the UK for a tour.

FFAAVVEESS 2012: Hand Cream- Program (Silver Apples cover)

In terms of bands that I can associate with specific memories of 2012, Hand Cream will always remind me of my last trip to Canada. I hadn’t heard of them prior to that, but my friend convinced me to go see them on a night out in London, Ontario.

I remember when they started playing this and while I liked it a lot, I couldn’t figure out what it was. I just knew I had heard it before, and that I was enjoying this version a lot too. I used to listen to Silver Apples when I was younger but it had been a number of years, so I recognized the song instantly but couldn’t quite place it. I’m one of those people who gets pretty annoyed about that. It wasn’t until later in the night that I finally remembered, and I had a little victory dance.

Of course, the original material is glorious too. I just think that this cover reminds me the most of that night.

Anyway, as for the band themselves, they were an absolute pleasure to watch. They are definitely one of the best finds I’ve been privileged with in 2012. I think it’s pretty awesome that I got to see them live when I could. I still have my fingers crossed that they will eventually cross the pond for a few shows in the future.

The Waitresses- Christmas Wrapping

I couldn’t avoid it. Happy holidays.

FFAAVVEESS 2012: The Tuts- I Call You Up

I only started this place this past February. Since then, I’ve been really lucky to find some great artists through Tumblr alone. One of the first bands to pop up were The Tuts. I can clearly remember the first listen of “I Call You Up”, and I knew then that it wouldn’t be the last.

I’ve somehow only managed to see them live once, but it was one of the best concerts of the year for me. The entire line-up (Colour Me Wednesday, Feralus and Perkie) were clearly tightly knit with each other, and that sense of community gets lost sometimes. It made the entire night a lot of fun.

Some people may have heard of them through unfortunate events that the band did clearly not deserve to be involved in. I hope if that is the case, you at least gave them a proper listen and got something positive out of it.

Through all of the nonsense they’ve had to deal with, they worked hard never the less. They’ve even released their self-titled EP, which is available here.

Like I said in my original post, this is a band that is on to something big. Watch out for them next year.

FFAAVVEESS 2012: Rich White Ladies- One Percent

Rich White Ladies is a collaboration between Tokyo Diiva and Scotty Rebel. This is their first release.

From one angle, this could be taken completely seriously. Its creepy, minimal beat gives the song a pretty dark tone, and the lyrics don’t hold any punches. Still, there’s a satirical side to it that adds a bit of humour. It is very self aware, right down to the line about political correctness.

The production on this is amazing. There are so many details that make it even better, like the shouts of “EW!” on the second verse. The way it uses vocal distortion makes it even more sinister. What I like best is the way Scotty Rebel doesn’t just sing the pre-chorus, she’s screaming it in the background.

This has been one of the most memorable songs of this year, and not just because it’s topical. I really hope they do a lot more with this project.

Perseph One- Ey You

Perseph One is an experimental rapper from Kansas, now based in Houston. She formerly fronted a reggae band called DubTex and was a founding member of the Ces Cru.

She has just released a new video which you can find here, but I’m posting up this one from 2008. Musically it reminds me of the kind of hip hop Buck 65 was doing in his earlier material. There’s just something really stripped down and raw about the song and the laundry room setting is a perfect visual for it.

Honeysuck- Sleepaway Camp

Punk from Northampton, Massachusetts. I do enjoy a good pop culture reference, and I may have put up this song in particular entirely due to its title. They also called their first demo “All Your Lipsticks Are Bombs To Us”. Oh yeah, and the songs are great too. Fun, fast and reminiscent of early 80’s California punk. Aggressive, but not too cool to name their songs after cult slasher movies. This is the sort of band I need to see live.

This is from their self-titled first full length record.