MP3: Big Troubles – “Sad Girls”

The NJ shoegazers return with the lead single off their upcoming album Romantic Comedy titled “Sad Girls.” In it we hear Alex Craig singing about, well, sad girls. The studio production again highlights the guitars and allows the bass to pop out in the songs more. It brings us one step closer to Romantic Comedy, with “Misery” being posted last month. The only question I have so far on Romantic Comedy is where are all Ian Drennan’s songs? It’s just making me look forward to that album even more.

MP3: Big Troubles – “Sad Girls”

Pre-order “Sad Girls” b/w “Phantom” (due out 8/30) on Insound. Also pre-order Romantic Comedy (due out 9/27) from Insound as well and get a poster for a limited time.

–Daniel

MP3: Big Troubles – “Misery”

Back in January, Anna & I caught Big Troubles at Subterranean A with Julian Lynch and Wet Dream, and I caught the above video of a then-untitled new song. After months of watching the grainy basement footage with the sudden treble blast at the end, I can finally listen to a recorded version, and it kicks ass.

The Forkcast over on Pitchfork unveiled the final version of the track now known as “Misery,” and it is extremely impressive. After a string of releases with extremely low fidelity, we were shown what Big Troubles is capable of with “Phantom” via Shaking Through, and now we’re given our first taste of Romantic Comedy, which is due out on September 27 on Slumberland.

“Misery” embodies 1990s power pop with hazed out vocals and overpowering guitars. It’s immediately addicting and powerful enough to bob your head to, but also relaxed enough to just sit back and relax to it. “Misery” is setting the bar extremely high for Romantic Comedy, and September 27 can’t get here fast enough.

MP3: “Misery”

–Daniel

Daniel’s Top 25 Songs of 2011.5

Earlier this morning I posted my Top 25 Albums of 2011.5, so of course I’m going to follow it up with my Top 20 songs of 2011.5. Like the the Top 25 albums, there is really no exact science for this. I took songs that I liked, most of which happened to be from albums I really liked, and put together a list that I thought accurately reflected how I feel about these songs, and a list that someone could understand as well. So it’s probably wrong.

Video: Big Troubles “Georgia”

The new video from Big Troubles does not involve puking and goes beyond simple skydiving…to the great beyond. This foray into space is soundtracked by the lovely “Georgia” from Worry. Click the spaceman to watch over at p4ktv. To give this post an actual embedded video element, here’s a video of the band jamming the song in the flesh, from Bleary Eyed Brooklyn.

–Anna

Video: Part 2 of Julian Lynch’s “Travelers” at Subterranean A

Thanks to everyone that has patiently waited for this. Here’s part two of Julian Lynch playing an extended version of “Travelers,” jamming out with Evan Brody, Ian Drennan and Sam Franklin, last Sunday at Subterranean A in DC. For good measure, here’s part one:

Enjoy. Here’s the full review of the show plus new Big Troubles.

–Daniel

Julian Lynch, Big Troubles & Wet Dream at Subterranean A

Julian Lynch at Subterranean A. (photo by Daniel)

It’s the dawning of 2011 and that one prolific and ubiquitous New Jersey crew takes to the road to bring their jams to DC. It was exciting to see all these bands a little closer to home after my multiple jaunts up the Eastern seaboard last summer where I would invariably end up at some show with a NJ-centric lineup. No complaints there. There’s lots of goodies in this post, so definitely be sure to read all of it, even if it is a little lengthy.

Video: New Big Troubles!

Anna and I headed down to Subterranean A in Washington, D.C. on Sunday night to catch Julian Lynch, Big Troubles and Wet Dream (review coming soon) and I had my trusty camera in hand, hoping to snap some quick pics and maybe take a good video here or there. It sounded like Big Troubles was about to play “Freudian Slips,” a personal favorite of mine, to close the set, but instead they whipped out this “as of yet untitled new one.”

I’ve watched this video a bunch of times and it’s gotten to the point where I get this song stuck in my head. The riffs are so tight and concise and the feel of the song just flows perfectly. I’m looking forward to hearing a version of this track laid down in a studio somewhere. If Big Troubles keeps writing stuff like this, who knows where they’ll end up.

–Daniel

New Shows for a New Year

For all you DC area peeps, here’s a show at Subterranean A next Sunday, January 9 with some of our very favorites:

Plus, just announced today, Bmore Musically Informed presents Woods, Ducktails and Dustin Wong at Golden West!

See you there!

Anna’s Extensive 2010 Reflection

Now that 2010 has ended, I finally feel ready to throw a few lists on here of what I dug music-wise during those 365 days. None of these are in order, the number of each is completely arbitrary because I loved so much this is just what I managed to extract from a year full of musical madness. So here it all is – better late than never, right?

Listen: Daniel’s Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Albums of 2010 (UPDATED!)

Today at 4 p.m. I’m going to be counting down my Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Albums of 2010 on WMUC. It’s yet another year-end list so I admit it’s going to be something that you’ve heard before, but I think I’ve thrown in some surprises to make it worth your while. Like my Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Songs of 2010, this list will be a little different than my final Top 25 Albums of 2010 list because there are some albums that I couldn’t find a radio friendly track from. So don’t be too surprised when that list is a little different. After the show, I’m going to publish the list below and have the two-hour extravaganza available for download, so be sure to hit that up as well.

Head on over to wmucradio.com at 4 p.m. to stream the show or directly stream it here.

Check back after the show for some updates!

Enjoy.

EDIT: Download the show here!

UPDATE (6:41 p.m.): The show went well, and all around and away we go:

Daniel’s Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Albums of 2010