Tom Woll Photography

Chalk & Numbers is the Brooklyn, NY duo Andrew Pierce & Sable Yong.  They have an EP of 60's style retro pop with a tiny post-modern twist thrown in.  The songs have instantly catchy hooks and perfectly spot on vocals.  The singing is very smooth and a pleasure to listen to on each track. My two favorites on the 1st listen were “He Knew” and “I Hope You Do”.  They are upbeat and have the 60's pop vibe that seems timeless.  Sort of like classic surfer music fused with Deee-Lite.  "Let's Go Away" is one that has grown on me as time goes on.  Not as upbeat but with a more soulful sound without wandering from the pop roots this is another stand out track. Chalk & Numbers seem to be playing the NY scene fairly regularly.  I imagine an evening spent listening to them would be time well spent.  Check them out below and feel free to grab the EP.   You can also visit them on Facebook . <p>&amp...

Clap Your Hands Twice is a punk band out of Germany that has released an acoustic EP in June of 2010.  I discovered this a few months ago and I have to say this was a very good find. The music on this release definitely has a punk rock feel it and mixes elements of blues, country and folk here and there.  The songs are catchy, heartfelt and have an edge to them.  There are a couple that are almost blues-rock and others that are straight rockers and they flow very well together. The songs are well crafted and musically interesting. The band plays them with urgency and this keeps things sounding like they could fall off the edge at any moment but are still kept in a ring of control. I believe this is due to the band being a punk outfit, they can keep an edge and a bit of chaos in the mix. I don't really know much about this band and could not find much info on the interwebs but I really dig this EP.  You can find Clap Your Hands Twice on Facebook .  Listen below...

Dallas, TX duo Expressure have a self recorded & released album titled album We'll Think Of Something.  Expressure is comprised of Emily and Ian Kaskan but they are in the process of putting together a full band to back the album. The music can be best described as pop-rock-blues-jazz.  Sometimes I hear this as a blues band with pop & rock sensibility with a handful of jazz thrown in. Other times I hear this as a jazz-pop album with a hint of rock and a bit of blues tossed into the mix.   To me this is one of those albums that will sound different depending on your mood, and that is a rare and very good thing.  The songs are sung by Emily Kaskan with the vocals, guitar, bass, drums & piano all sharing an upfront area in the mix.  This does not make for a cluttered sound but rather a more pleasant and full sounding mix.  The sound is big, and full without being overbearing.  It works very well for the musical and vocal style throughout all o...

I have been listening to a young singer from California's bay area named Tara Priya for a while now and I'm digging her old school style.  She sounds a bit like a late 50's or early 60's jazz/soul hybrid with a good measure of blues and pop sensibility thrown in to keep things more interesting.  She has released an EP that is soulful, beautiful and almost haunting in a good way. Tara's music seems to draw on such renowned artist as Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Etta James, Sam Cooke & early Billy Joel. All of this while holding an identity of her own.  The songs have a clean structure yet the melody is diverse and filled with emotion.  Play this in a ballroom and I think the dance floor would fill up in a hurry.  I would love to spend an evening in a small club listening her belt out tune after tune. A quick visit to her website and I learned she is the great-niece of the renowned Persian poet, Sohrab Sepehri .  It seem artistic ability runs in her family....

From Milford, MA comes the band Born Without Bones.  This indie rock band has a little of a punk feel at times that mixes well with the pop/rock/alt sound they wave with well deserved pride. When I first heard a couple tracks I thought this was good catchy rock with enough of a pop feel to keep me entertained.  This proved true, and the more I listen the more of the rock/alt/punk vibe I seem to get from this four piece band.  This is the kind of band that seems to reach out to rock fans of generations.  I dig the hell out of them and the track "Out of Step" from their disk "Say Hello" has become a favorite song of my son, his friends and myself. The disk seems echos influences of Green Day, Jimmy Eat World & the Ink Spots among others.  Paying homage to those who came before them but yet blazing a new take on what has already been done. The band members are Scott Ayotte on guitar & vocals, Ian Van Opijnen playing guitar, James Creighton on bass & Pat...

Recently I was browsing for music and came across the name of a band from North Carolina; Sugar Glyder. The name was enough to make me see if I could find a musical sample. Sure enough I found their YouTube channel and upon watching their video for Poor Baby Zebra I was hooked.  I did a quick web search and found their myspace page and their biography. Here is what it says: “A bearded lady and a whimsical boy who was never actually born began a musical journey. Along the way they met a gothic, Asian chick and a not-so-angry quarter-phillipino guy who wanted nothing more than to hit things with sticks. The members of this new covenant all agreed that they liked glitter, tiny animals, and climbing mountains. And so, they began making magical noises together." Sugar Glyder has released three albums.  2008's "We Cracked The Sky", 2009's Poor Baby Zebra" & "Lovers At Lightspeed" that was just released in February of this year.  It seems these fol...

I was using a little program called iTunes the other day and ran across a band from Washington, DC called U.S. Royalty.  They just released their debut album "Mirrors" on January 25th.  I listened to the short samples iTunes allows and wanted to hear more.  Off to YouTube and sure enough their song "Hollywood Hollows" was there.  One listen to the full song and I had to buy the album. This is the best new band I have heard in a long time, so I have had them in heavy rotation in iTunes for the past few days.  the song Hollywood Hollows sounds retro-modern; my first impression was this is what it would have sounded like if the Beatles & the Doors would have gotten together in the studio.  Not to say the album sounds dated in any way.  They have a retro vibe but still sound fresh, new & exciting.  A couple other tracks that stood out on 1st listen were  Fool To Love (Like I Do) & The Desert Won't Save You.  Dessert i...

Recently I read a piece questioning if album art is dead. You can find it here.   I have to say that I believe that the artwork will not only survive but it will find a new golden age in the next 5 years.  The reason I say this is the same reason some are saying it is dying.  Digital downloads.  Yep iTunes, Amazon & all the others will come to the rescue in my humble opinion. I know that the artwork on your ipod is small at best but a couple years ago I caught a look to the future.  Trent Reznor's band, Nine Inch Nails gave away their album "The Slip".  When you would download this in MP3 format you also had a pdf of the album sleeve.  I think this is where album art & liner notes will go.  I see the day where you download a full album from iTunes or some other online source you will also receive what would be the physical album sleeve, art, liner notes etc.  I also see bands and labels (however they exist in the future) storing th...