Archives with tag: esurance

Bad Veins - or the trio of Benjamin Davis, Sebastien Schultz and a 1973 reel-to-reel player named Irene - may come from the humble midwest, but their music is nothing short of epic in scope. The band's self-titled debut is packed with three minute dramatic opuses. The band joined us at Monolith Music Festival for an acoustic Esurance session.

2009 was a great year for the latest wave of Scottish bands, particularly for Fat Cat Records labelmates Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad, and We Were Promised Jetpacks. Laundromatinee.com had the chance to record with both Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks at the 2009 Monolith Music Festival. The interesting thing about We Were Promised Jetpacks is their sound fits very well inbetween the two aformentioned acts, drawing key strengths from both - as Pitchfork puts it - the tough with the tender. This makes sense since the band lists both Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad as influences, but it is rare when a band can pull intelligently without mimicking. WWPJP's debut album, These Four Walls, was released in June of 2009.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina startup The Love Language make music so unabashedly drenched in teenage romance that throwing the term 'emo' at them might actually stick—that's even how the band describes itself on its MySpace page, which, of course, features a backdrop of two young lovers kissing. But such a tag would be misleading; whiny sad-puppy fake-punk this is not. Let's try this instead—The Love Language play the music they're named after. Gorgeous, longing and playful songs that speak to the universal emotion that drives us all. Say it with me now—love. The sound is a mix between scrappy, lo-fi garage rock and harmonious, joyful 1960's girlpop, all smushed together in this beautifully messy package, tied with a ribbon of Stuart McLamb's simple, emotive vocals. Untie it and look inside. Promise, you'll fall in love.

As I stated when we launched Laundromatinee's first session with The Antlers, we spent some great time with the band at The Monolith Music Festival. Despite their "Rising" and "Best New Music" status from Pitchfork.com, as well as the non-stop praise for the 2009 re-release of album "Hospice," the band remains as humble, friendly, hard-working and down-to-earth as you would hope. The songs from "Hospice" were partially inspired by lead singer Peter Silberman's thoughts and feelings experienced during a visit to a loved one in a children's cancer ward, but despite the grim undertones, the album is hauntingly beautiful and uplifting. For our Monolith Esurance session, the band trades in the electric guitar and big keys for an acoustic and small Korg, but the results are every bit as powerful as their electric brethren.