![saskatchewan live [mp3] Saskatchewan // Fronting](http://tympanogram.com/files/saskatchewan_live.jpg "[mp3] Saskatchewan // Fronting")
Once again, I have I Guess I’m Floating to thank for posting new Saskatchewan, though this time the Florida outfit notified me of things themselves on Facebook. The band has repeatedly hit a nerve with their delightfully quirky and oftentimes weird dream pop over the past year. “Cabin Fever,” from last September’s Skinny Dipping digital 7″ is still in heavy rotation, mostly because it’s damn near flawless and my ears can’t get enough. Before that was “Dreamboat” and the magnificent “Beast Coast” warming my tympanic membranes. Most recently, their cover of The Weeknd’s “The Morning,” with its interesting vocal cadences, captured my imagination much more than the original. Simply put, it’s been a pleasure watching the band develop from their early stages. Having been at this game for a good while, with bands like this, it continues to be rewarding playing a very small part, documenting their progress.
[mp3] Saskatchewan // Fronting
With a debut full length in sight, a new song from the pending release has been shared. Entitled “Fronting,” the track features a similar steady pace, albeit in a more twinkly new wave style. This is a band that makes measured, languid tracks that seep in and leave a lasting mark, begging for endless repeated returns. “Fronting” is no different.
![Siamese Twins Demo cover [mp3] Siamese Twins // We Fall Apart](http://tympanogram.com/files/Siamese-Twins-Demo-cover.png "Siamese Twins Demo cover")
Siamese Twins make a kind of swirling indie pop that would have sounded at home during the heyday of shoegazing, as much as it sounds at home in the modern, nu-gaze landscape. The band hails from Massachusetts, and despite their appearance on Pitchfork last week, I can find relatively little out about them. Their Facebook and Tumblr pages are sparse at best, though I can see that there are three members of the band, and they also played their first live show at the beginning of February at Boston’s Lady Fest.
Despite the lack of information, we know a good song when we hear it, and this song, “We Fall Apart,” is one of them. It’s apparently from a six-song, cassette-only demo by the band that was released last year. It crunches to life before the muted, distant vocals kick in. I’m reminded of Seapony’s 2011 debut album when I listen to Siamese Twins. If you want to hear more, there are a couple additional tracks available on the band’s sparsely populated Tumblr page.
Connect with Siamese Twins // Facebook | Tumblr
Siamese Twins // We Fall Apart [mp3]
![[mp3] U.S. Royalty // Sleepy Eyes](http://tympanogram.com/files/us-royalty-sleepy-eyes-cover.jpeg "us royalty sleepy eyes cover")
One of my favorite surprises of early 2011 was the release from Washington, DC band U.S. Royalty, Mirrors. The album is filled with catchy, earnest rock that sounded like it would be more comfortable on a classic rock radio station than it does on an indie music blog. Regardless, I listened to that album on repeat for the month of January last year.
The band is back with a new single called “Sleepy Eyes” and, if you liked Mirrors in the slightest, you won’t be disappointed with the direction the band takes here. There’s something expansive about the band’s music, like it should be listened to exclusively while driving with the sun setting. “Sleepy Eyes” is as breathless as it is familiar; U.S. Royalty have a peculiar way of tapping into a sort of basic rock ‘n’ roll; by basic I don’t mean to imply it’s simple, but more that it’s grounding, a sort of rock True North that’s able to guide the listener back home.
No word if this single precedes a new full-length, or if this will be released in any format other than a free digital download. It really doesn’t matter: I’m just glad to have some new stuff from the band to grace my ears.
Connect with U.S. Royalty // Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp | web
U.S. Royalty // Sleepy Eyes [mp3]
![Digits So Cold [mp3] Digits // So Cold](http://tympanogram.com/files/Digits-So-Cold.jpg "Digits-So-Cold")
Struggling for things to write about lately, I started running through some of my favorite blogs in search of songs and bands I may have missed. And on Knox Road I found Digits, a Toronto based producer of electro-tinged pop music. Lee had Digits’ newest song posted, a slow-burner called “So Cold,” that grabbed me almost instantly.
The song itself seems as if all the parts to it were muted and then put together as one. There’s nothing that is overpowering here. Each part of the song – from Digits’ vocals, to the strings, to the piano, to the bass line – sounds as if it was recorded with the instrument at the opposite end of a long hall, and the result is a slightly distant, totally engrossing experience. It’s from the producer’s upcoming mixtape, titled Death and Desire, which will be out on April 2.
Digits’ first album, Hold It Close, is available for free if you sign up for his mailing list over at his website, so if you’re into this, go back and get yourself educated on his previous work before his new release comes out.
Connect with Digits // Facebook | Twitter | web
Digits // So Cold [mp3] from the forthcoming Death and Desire
![Beach House 2012 [mp3] Beach House // Myth](http://tympanogram.com/files/Beach-House-2012.jpg "Beach House 1 (2012)")
At this point everyone realizes there’s a new Beach House song out, right? We’re not breaking any new ground by posting it now, after it’s been out for nearly two weeks. But the strange thing about the track for me is how languid my reaction to it has been. Not because it’s bad, mind you, but because it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from Beach House. “Myth” is good – great, even – but it’s still Beach House. It’s dreamy, leisurely pop that builds and swells at all the right moments, and Victoria Legrand’s vocals are as transcendent as ever.
I suppose that’s a price that has to be paid for being that good: doing exactly what has brought you to the current point somehow no longer seems like it’s good enough. And that’s hardly their fault, and wholly my own.
The album that “Myth” is culled from, the band’s fourth, titled Bloom, will be released on Sub Pop on May 15th. Pre-orders of the album aren’t available just yet, but it seems, based on the Sub Pop website, that Bloom will be released as a double vinyl record. Knowing Sub Pop, that should be just as meticulous as the Beach House’s intricate indie pop.
Connect with Beach House // Facebook | web
Beach House // Myth [mp3] from the forthcoming Bloom
