“All Your Love Is Gone” by Boxed In – A Song Review

     We didn’t appreciate the offerings of LCD Soundsystem until late in the game. It was only after good friends (Bob and Nancy) invited us to join them in attending an Arcade Fire concert. LCD Soundsystem opened for Arcade Fire and opened that music-acceptance portion of our minds to their sounds. All too soon afterward, LCD Soundsystem was no more.

     Maybe being Johnny-come-latelies (Johnnys-come-lately???) to the party brings a greater appreciation for songs that remind us of LCD Soundsystem. 
     And that finally brings us to the first release of Boxed In (it's the first if you exclude remixes, as we do). The song “All Your Love Is Gone” uses a repetitive pattern of only a few piano keys to very effectively establish and maintain a cadence. Yes, other instruments play a critical role in keeping the listener’s attention and providing a motivation to return to song. But the repetitive pattern is the salient feature of the song. This is the same description we would use for LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends.” Both songs are embedded below.

     "All Your Love Is Gone" by Boxed In

     "All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem - this is the background music to the below video.

     Boxed In is Oli Bayston, who hales from London. According to the Facebook page of Boxed In, joining Bayston in the song “All Your Love Is Gone” were Liam Hutton (drums) and Mark Nicholls (bass). Unfortunately, there is no website for Boxed In, so it is difficult to obtain much information.

     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boxedinuk

“Girl” by The Little Kicks - A Song Review

    First, some background description and a data point:

     1. If a blog site had animal-like features, it would be accurate to state that a reference to a band being a “great live show” perks the ears of Indie Obsessive.

     2. Even if we like song “A” better than song “B,” listening to a good performance of “B” is far better than listening to a digital or vinyl recording of “A.”

     3. Even if we prefer the genre of song “X” over the genre of song “Y,” it is our preference to see song “Y” in concert over listening to a digital or vinyl recording of song “X.”

     4. It is not uncommon for us to see a band with the attitude of “If they ‘nail’ [insert song tiltle here], everything else is a bonus.”

     5. It is 5,022 miles from San Francisco to Aberdeen, Scotland.

     Despite the distance between our base city (San Francisco) and the base city of The Little Kicks (Aberdeen), we received word that an opportunity to see this quartet should not be allowed to escape. The word is spread by the various sites of the band, but is not strictly from those sites.

      The members of The Little Kicks are Steven Milne, Andrew Corse, Lewis Porter and Scott Kelman. The song that fits within the above point “4” is “Girl.” That is, if we are fortunate enough to see The Little Kicks in concert, and they “nail” the performance of the song “Girl,” anything else is a bonus beyond the price of the concert ticket.

     "Girl" by The Little Kicks

     The official video of "Girl" by The Little Kicks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Little-Kicks

Website: http://www.thelittlekicks.co.uk/

Poliça Is Making a Generous Offer

     In an interesting move, Poliça is offering its two 2013 singles as a free download (technically, it’s at the cost of an email address). The offer is via Bandcamp and does not indicate whether there is a time limit on the offer. Our best guess is that the opportunity has a short fuse.

     Poliça experienced a good amount of traction in 2012. The band received a number of positive reviews for its performances at SXSW in March. Poliça then hit the festival tour. Unfortunately, the tour did not include one of the five members. Ryan Olson declined the tour, so that live performances were without a guitar (if you buy into the nomenclature in which a bass is not a guitar). It was odd to see a singer, two drummers and a bass player, whose names are Channy Leaneagh, Ben Ivascu, Drew Christopherson, and Chris Bierden.

     Despite the unusual arrangement of instruments, it worked. Reasons for the attractiveness of the live performances included the original sound of the band as a consequence of the style and processing of the Channy Leaneagh’s vocals and the distinctive all-body-but-still-low-energy dance style of Leaneagh.

     Because the Soundcloud versions of the songs are more easily managed than the NoiseTrade versions, we are embedding the Soundcloud streams before we embed the Noisetrade offer (also, if the offer expires, this post will still include the opportunity to stream the songs). 

     “Chain My Name” by Poliça

     “Lay Your Cards Out” by Poliça

Embedded below is the NoiseTrade offer by Poliça. Click on the arrow to view and sample the songs.

Website : http://www.thisispolica.com/us/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisispolica

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

October 31, 2013	Turner Hall	Milwaukee, WI
November 1, 2013	Mod Club	Toronto, Canada
November 4, 2013	Paradise Rock Club	Boston, MA
November 5, 2013	Union Transfer	Philadelphia, PA
November 6, 2013	9:30 Club	Washington, DC
November 8, 2013	Webster Hall	New York, NY
November 11, 2013	Mercy Lounge	Nashville, TN
November 12, 2013	Terminal West	Atlanta, GA
November 14, 2013	Fitzgerald's (Upstairs)	Houston, TX
November 15, 2013	Emo's	Austin, TX
November 16, 2013	Trees	Dallas, TX
November 18, 2013	Crescent Ballroom	Phoenix, AZ
November 20, 2013	The Fonda Theatre	Los Angeles, CA
November 21, 2013	The Fillmore	San Francisco, CA
November 22, 2013	Wonder Ballroom	Portland, OR
November 23, 2013	Showbox at the Market	Seattle, WA
November 26, 2013	Bluebird Theater	Denver, CO
November 27, 2013	Waiting Room	Omaha, NE
November 29, 2013	Mill City Nights	Minneapolis, MN
November 30, 2013	Mill City Nights	Minneapolis, MN
December 5, 2013	Metro	Chicago, IL
December 6, 2013	Magic Stick Lounge	Detroit, MI
December 7, 2013	Barrymore Theatre	Madison, WI
January 22, 2013	Debaser	Stockholm, Sweden
January 23, 2013	Bla	Oslo, Norway
January 24, 2013	Vega	Copenhagen, Denmark
January 25, 2013	Uebel & Gefährlich	Hamburg, Germany
January 27, 2013	Heimathafen	Berlin, Germany
January 28, 2013	Kulturkirche	Cologne, Germany
January 29, 2013	AB	Brussels, Belgium
January 30, 2013	Gaité Lyrique	Paris, France
February 1, 2013	LES DOCKS	Lausanne, Switzerland
February 2, 2013	One Of A Million Fest	Baden, Switzerland
February 4, 2013	Melkweg	Amsterdam, Netherlands
February 6, 2013	O2 Academy	Bristol, United Kingdom
February 7, 2013	Arches	Glasgow, United Kingdom
February 8, 2013	The Ritz	Manchester, United Kingdom
February 10, 2013	All Saint's Church	Brighton, United Kingdom
February 12, 2013	The Troxy	London, United Kingdom