Sabbatical Wilderness – Night Life in the Lemon Town of Büshka (REVIEW)
(RIYL: experimental, narrative-driven music, J-RPGs)

Sad Girls Club – Sad Girls Clubbing
(RIYL: bedroom artists, 90s/00s pop, crying in discos)

Sailor Jupiter – S/T
(RIYL: punk, noise, Riot Grrrls)

Schapero – Girls EP
(RIYL: catchy pop, Toro y Moi, LCD Soundsystem)

Sea Ghost – SG
(RIYL: punk, powerpop, The Unicorns)

Single Colour Fields – Jaundiced Views
(RIYL: dream pop, freak folk, splits)

Sister Something – Duds EP / The Tongue Davids EP
(RIYL: indie rock, post-pop, Mac DeMarco)

Sleeping In – EP
(RIYL: shoegaze, Speedy Ortiz, Sonic Youth)

Slows Down – S/T (REVIEW)
(RIYL: dream pop, drone, post rock)

SNCKPCK – LAVA PAL
(RIYL: Electronic, chill, positivity)

Spirit of the Beehive – You Are Arrived (But You’ve Been Cheated) (REVIEW)
(RIYL: indie rock, lo-fi, dream rock for disaffected youth)

Sports Day Records – RELAY (REVIEW)
(RIYL: indie pop, bedroom pop, compilations)

Stolen Jars – Kept
(RIYL: math pop, folk, Dirty Projectors, Freelance Whales)

Strange Friends – Summer Recordings (REVIEW)
(RIYL: fuzz pop, lo-fi, Gorgeous Bully)

Stray Amour – S/T
(RIYL: indie pop, shoegaze)

Sun Hotel – Coast / Fight Off You Demos
(RIYL: folk, “swamp pop”, Lord Huron)

Sunshine Faces – Peaked / Letting You Know
(RIYL: dream pop, lo-fi, bedroom pop)

Ursidae – Tape 4
(RIYL: drone, field recordings, sonic collage)

The Wailin’ Smithers – S/T (REVIEW)
(RIYL: indie rock, laidback summer fun)

The Wandering Lake – From James’ Garden
(RIYL: psych folk, experimental, meditative vibes)

The Washboard Abs – WHATEVERLAND (REVIEW) / The Beaming Pts. 1 & 2 (REVIEW)
(RIYL: bedroom pop, folk, Mount Eerie)

Wished Bone – Pseudio Recordings
(RIYL: dreamy lo-fi, Elliott Smith, Sharon van Etten)

Yesses – S/T
(RIYL: lo-fi, pop, The Beatles)

We’ve shared a new section of the list every day this week, so be sure to check back for the complete collection. If you find something you like, or think we missed something life-changing, then why not let us know on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or good old email.

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The band are rather mysterious, with very few details available online beyond the music (which is cool with us). First two tracks are reminiscent of LVL UP, teaming a rumbly lo-fi rock aesthetic with deadpan, apathetic vocals to create something both fun and dark. Opener ‘Other People’ sets the tone of the record right away, with the repeated refrain declaring “Hell is other people who care about you”, while ‘Old Tuscon’ is an introspective tale of old emotions no longer felt, memories no longer cared about, framed in a sneery sort of way as if the narrator is making fun of his past self.

“Laying on a skateboard in the yard,
I was crying because she left me,
bless my little heart”

As the name might suggest, ‘Roar of Nothingness’ ups the sinister vibe. A noise rock song in the mould of Krill, the track has a distorted air, as if viewed through funhouse mirrors. This breaks down with thirty seconds left, leading on into ‘Gods of Summer’, which builds slowly with the ominous restraint of early Wintersleep. ‘Nona Fell’ has slinky summer vibes, like the heavy summer air before an electrical storm, and ‘Darker Later’ is (surprisingly) lighter though still bummed out, sounding like The Stone Roses weird cousin who practises in his mom’s garage.

“And in the schoolyard
like they always do,
that motherfucker told me
I’d never be as cool,
as you”

‘Brother Shame’ feels almost triumphant, or at least carefree, like the result of R.E.M. and The Smiths ganging together to form a noise/shoegaze outfit, and closer ‘Ass Kickin’ Rock’n’Roll’ follows suit. These tracks are not happy per se, rather free from worries because the narrator has stopped giving a shit. “I stopped remembering my dreams some time ago,” he sings, and you have no reason to doubt it. Check out the video below, complete with answering machine opening:

You can get Wooden Brain on cassette tape via Ranch Records, or as a pay-what-you-want download via Bandcamp. 

The post Sun Organ – Wooden Brain appeared first on Various Small Flames.

‘SFK’ opens proceedings with blaring, droning horns before a clatter of drums gives way to a rumbling and rebellious lo-fi racket, the lyrics vague but with a dose of offhand apathy, “they want my body / I’ve suffered major damage to my brain / I’ll never think the same / necromancing in private rooms / I think I botched my future too soon”. The second half forgoes conventional vocals for samples, ending in one about rich kids from private schools and the chemicals they bring into town. Next up is ‘WORLD ACCESS’, a syrup-thick, plodding rock song with yelps and bursts of sheer noise and vocal samples which plead “wait wait wait” and “no no no”. The song possesses the fuck-it ethos of punk rock, before decelerating abruptly with 40 secs left, giving way to acoustic guitars.

The title track is slower still, slinking along in a narcotic haze, lyrics setting a tone of Easton Ellis-style self-destructive nihilism, “way back when since grade school, I’ve been down, kicked around, scratching eyes from prick third graders, sniffing glue in strangers’ cars, passing out on vomit soaked vintage couches”. ‘NATURAL DEVOTION’ has big crunchy LVL UP style guitars and chugs along behind spoken vocals which sound like sound bites from the best teen movies never made.

“Bobby took me down to the shore yesterday. he pointed at the ocean and said “can’t you fucking see?” and I said “sure, what’s in it for me?” Natural devotion. When we held hands for too long if worry people might stare. But bobby passed away last week. I bet he never cared. now I live all alone. I disguise my voice on the phone.”

‘JOAN’ opens with a really weird witchy voice, like some garbled curse. The song itself is almost shoegazey lo-fi dream pop, with male/female vocal harmonies and lyrics strung-out and wondering. The track ends with ambient sounds of kids running around, a sound which somehow seems to marry perfectly with the cover art. Closer ‘WHO DO YOU BELONG TO?’ is all jangling, wailing guitars and punky vocals

“I’m alone in this house like I’m alone with these sentences. Every step I take is one more closer to the void. I’m afraid. I’m annoyed. I’m convulsing with the boys and I’m through. Fear is in the dark, in the cracks in the walls, in my veins via syringes, in my eyes, in my balls. I’m unsure. All those photos showing smiling faces turn. Twist and bend to new proportions. Speed up. Slow down. I can see your face in a dream”

That last line encapsulates something that was on my mind mind after a few listens of this record. Namely, this is what dream pop would sound like if it were based on the actual dreams of disaffected youth and not fluffy floaty Hollywood ones. It’s dense and messy and overwhelming, built up of layers and layers of glimpses and snatches, of voices real and imagined, of thoughts and worries and rebellions, concurrently furiously aggressive and yawningly empty, with lulls of slinky eerie quiet and spasmodic blasts of power-tool noise.

YOU ARE ARRIVED (but you’ve been cheated) is out in September. You can preorder it now in a variety of prettily coloured records via Ice Age Records (cream or light blue vinyl) or Ranch Records (cream or light green vinyl). Alternatively you can download it on a name-you-price basis via the The Spirit of The Beehive Bandcamp page.

The post The Spirit of the Beehive – YOU ARE ARRIVED (but you’ve been cheated) appeared first on Various Small Flames.