KISSES
blowkisses.info ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter.com

This is a band that will suffer from that "can you google this" problem that plagues many bands with common words. I'm sure no one's worried about becoming too popular, then the lawsuits comes out and pretty soon they'll be making commercials for Hersey's Kisses. We'll see.

Speaking of seeing, from the look of things, this is a duo between Jesse and Zinzi. Their first single is called "Bermuda", and based on just this song, I can tell you that they're not "disco" as their MP3 display. They're more like sensitive indiepop, with an obession of England's non-threatening music and books.

Anyway, if you like indie music, it's definitely worth checking out. Or better yet, check them out live (although some of the shows seems to be DJ sets).

03/08/10 Mandrake/ Kisses DJ Set LA, CA
03/15/10 Mandrake/ Kisses DJ (Zinzi), LA, CA
03/18/10 SXSW Austin, Texas
03/19/10 XSW Austin, Texas
04/27/10 Single Release @Origami Vinyl, LA, CA
05/16/10 TBA DJ SET London
05/21/10 TBA DJ SET Madrid, Madrid
05/22/10 The Hobby Horse, London

PRIMAL STATIC
primalstatic.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ twitter.com

Described as "East meets West", this duo of HouFei Yang and Greg Thuman, offers their first single, "Waking Shadows", from their album, The Curtain of Many Faces.

Their name, Primal Static, might be deceiving, since there's really nothing that primal or statically about them. This is, of course, based on their one song, which is available as a free download, I can tell you that it's loud and guitary. Thuman certainly sounds and plays like a real pro, while Yang probably handles all the background stuff that's unappreciated.

Still, as loud and southern rock as that one song sound, I will bet you that they are probably fantastic live. Unfortunately, at this time, there's no live dates.

For a limited time, you can grab both of their albums digitally for $10, more details at primalstatic.com. If you just want one song, you can do it individually via amazon.

CODEINE VELVET CLUB
codeinevelvetclub.com ♥ myspace.com

Codeine Velvet Club are from Scotland, between Lou Hickey and Jon Lawler. While the name "Lawler" might mean nothing to you, he's actually Jon Fratelli, you know, of the Fratellis?

Anyway, I was sent this Stone Roses cover song by Codeine Velvet Club. At first, as a Stone Roses fan, I absolutely dismissed it at first, but eventually got around to listening to it. It's basically a pop song, with a different take to the song at the end (a clash of brass instruments) and that they made it into a duet. Not fond of this song as a duet, I'll have to admit.

They did get one thing right: that amazing bassline in "I Am The Resurrection" and the lyrics (they really clear up a few mumblings from Ian Brown, who is notorious for singing songs that people will mishear.) Unfortunately, they also capture the imperfection of the original song, particularly the middle part that just seems to drag on without lyrics.

They're currently on tour:

03/17/10 Scottish Arts  @ Parish Austin, TX
03/18/10 KCMP @Day Stage Cafe Austin, TX
03/19/10 Musebox @ Rusty Spurs Austin, TX
03/20/10 Filter Party @ Cedar Street Austin, TX
03/20/10 Ride For Life @ Mellow Johnny’s Austin, TX
03/21/10 Showbox Sodo* Seattle, Washington
03/22/10 Roseland Theatre* Portland, Oregon
03/24/10 Fox Theatre* Oakland, California
03/26/10 Hollywood Palladium* Los Angeles, California
05/07/10 Queen Margret Union Glasgow, Scotland
07/17/10 Lovebox Festival 2010 London

* supporting Metric

CLUB 8
club-8.org ♥ myspace.com

I know, I've joked before about S Club 8, aka S Club Juniors, a spinoff of the teen group S Club 7, as confusing as heck when it comes to the more serious, respectable, band called Club 8. So again, I'll stress, this is the Swedish duo of Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård.

The band's seventh album, called The People's Record, will be out somewhen in May. If you're signed up on the Labrador's mailing list, you should've gotten a link to download the new single called "Western Hospitality", highly influenced by "afrofunk" and "krautrock", out on April 7^th. According to articles and interviews, apparently the band was influenced by Brazilian music, hence a more "world"-type music found on their new upcoming record.

While the hand drums and rhythms, definitely brings to mind africana, Karolina's sugary sweet vocals doesn't really go with the beats. It's different, if you were expecting the same Club 8, and this may be a good or bad thing for you.

We do have a review copy, so I'll be putting it on my review pile, come next month. In the meantime, download "Western Hospitality" via Club 8's myspace.

We love Club 8 around here, so be sure to read our previous articles.