Gluttony Is The New

Sex & Cigarettes

by Jmzs Smith
album Sex & Cigarettes EP

Jmzs Smith Sex & Cigarettes

A smoke filled haze wafts into a small, windowless room, filling the air with a thickness that has you gasping for breath the moment the first words are spoken. But there’s an easiness to Jmzs Smith’s weathered, crackling drawls, like slowly running your fingers along a tattered and worn page of history. Heavy cello thumps act as a bassline that whirls around keyboard notes all covered in a blurred gauziness that makes you wonder if this can be real life.

In the vein of Bill Callahan and Dirty Beaches, and with a moody soulfulness, the New York resident captivates listeners with his brooding, relaxed sound. Be sure to grab Jmzs Smith’s two track EP Sex & Cigarettes on digital or cassette via Super Boring Music, and be on the lookout for a limited edition box set that includes a cd with a reel-to-reel tape dropping later this month.

 (I wrote this for The Line Of Best Fit last week)

Duck House Run

One of my absolute favorite discoveries of 2012. Duck House is the side project of this pop band called The Cads. It’s always funny when the side project ends up being so much more interesting than the main project. When I wrote about them a while back I described them as, ‘Sexy, funk-splashed harmonies do a lil’ dance for a rhythm section cloaked in a synth-haze afterglow.’

Side projects are the new black (2012).

What Never Should End

Dalton What Never Should End

New track from one of the few indie rock acts I really fell in love with this year. And I don’t mean that weren’t tons of great new acts, I just probably haven’t listened to them. Too busy listening to Dalton. Personally this track is way too reverbed. Once you hear Dalton’s first single, ‘Breaker’ you’ll realize the strained, raspy vocals of Nate Hararr are too pure to not make the focal point of his songs. Regardless, he’s on my list to watch in 2013 as I’m really looking forward to see what else he has planned for the new year.

Go download Dalton’s new 2 track EP from his Bandcamp.

Sun

Au.Ra Sun

I wrote this for The Line of Best Fit today. Digging these guys so hard.

Our latest infatuation,  Au.Ra effortlessly strike a balance between dreamy and atmospheric guitar rattles, and just the right amount of reverb on their first single, ‘Sun.’ Australian and English duo, construct what feels like worldly guitar pop, with a lackadaisical exuberance that lifts you up and carries you away into it’s brightness. Twinkling bits of life come fluttering in to the crevices of my hardened and blackened heart, and yet fade back out just as quickly. Fleeting bliss.

Mouths

Blasé Mouths

“Blasé is a super secret super new solo act from Boston, Ma.  I’ve played in bands  my whole life and sometimes I write songs that I instinctively feel selfish about. I’m not sure if it’s in fear of change or what but usually I would tuck them away in a folder on my desktop, but I also feel music should be shared. I want these songs to rely on emotions rather than who I am or what bands I’ve been in or how many likes on Facebook. I want people to be spontaneous, rely on instinct. ”

Nowadays

YUS Nowadays

00’s Dashboard Confessional nostalgia with far less heartbreak. 

Get it for a dolla from YUS’s bandcamp.