In the summer of 2003, The Jealous Sound released their debut album Kill Them With Kindness. It contained the gems “Hope For Us“, “Anxious Arms“, and “The Fold Out” – songs that I haven’t tired of to this day. The album had its roots in emo, but had more in common with the band’s 90s predecessors than with the crop of upstarts like Fall Out Boy.

Nine years later, the band has released its second full-length, A Gentle Reminder. The continuity is flawless; a little more refined, an updated sound – the band grew up with the rest of us. The core of the JS’s sound is still there – vocalist Blair Shehan’s deliberate delivery, the guitar work that guitar work that inevitably makes one think of something sad and far away, and a sense of urgency quietly nagging in the back of your brain.

A Gentle Reminder drops 01.31.12.
Get tour dates and more at The Jealous Sound’s website.
Stream the album below until its release on Tuesday.

VISIT SITE TO DOWNLOAD
Diamond Rugs (members of Deer Tick, Black Lips, Los Lobos, Dead Confederate, Six Finger Satellite) – Gimme A Beer
O’Brother – Lo
Poor Moon (members of Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls, The Christmas Cards) – People In Her Mind
Plants and Animals – Lightshow
Standard Fare – Suitcase
Mirémonos - Jägermeister
Brassland 2012 Sampler

Evans the Death – I’m So Unclean

Cate Le Bon – Fold the Cloth

JD McPherson – North Side Gal

San Cisco – Awkward
 

Sometimes you see things you can’t unsee, and sometimes you hear things you can’t unhear. That seems to pretty aptly sum up Madison, Wisconsin’s ‘premier fog machine-oriented band’ Cribshitter.

While I’ve long heard of the colorfully-named band, I hadn’t given them a listen until this week. Bandleader Diaper Daniels (the wispy-mustachioed alter ego of Icarus Himself’s Karl Christenson) and pals make weirdly catchy tunes with unseemly lyrical content, brewing that perfect blend of ‘will never leave your head’.  Take, for example, the video below for single “Boom Goes the Vaginamite”:

Jarring as the title may be, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the video (a mildly strung-out nod to indie film’s self-aware quirk) and have been humming the chorus for days.

On the band’s latest release, Methlehem, my favorite tracks are the instrumentals – they showcase the underlying talent that makes the joke so funny. To judge for yourself, you can stream the album here, or check out Cribshitter at their free CD release show on Friday the 27th at the Dragonfly Lounge.

Doomtree – Bangarang

Active Child – Hanging On

Band of Skulls – Bruises

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Thought Ballune