Despite having not checked out the website as much lately, the Outroversion blog is still a gold mine for great new music. Here are three more bands I discovered through the site, including one I probably would rather not have.
This band has pretentious written all over it. The first time I heard UUVVWWZ (pronounced “Double U … Double V … Double W … Z”), I thought it sounded like Belle & Sebastian or Stereolab fronted by a riot grrl. On second listen, it’s probably closer to Deerhoof, which, as far as I’m concerned, is not a good thing.
On its self-titled debut album that came out in July 2009, the band alternates between misguided and annoying. Lead singer Teal Gardner keeps getting in her own way. She and the band have the potential to make some decent music, but instead, she sings grating, bratty vocals over instruments that seem to have no clear path.
But to prove that listening to this album more than once wasn’t a total waste of time, I did sorta like the opening track.
One of many bands fronted by Gustaf Kjellvander, this Swedish outfit is unabashedly a post-punk band, through and through.
With Kjellvander channeling the vocal stylings of Ian Curtis and Peter Murphy, The Fine Arts Showcase encapsulate all the best qualities of the early goth sound — including the deep, haunting vocals and the heavy synth beats.
Formed in 2003, the band has churned out four full-length albums, most recently of which was last year’s Dolophine Smile.
Their whole catalog is pretty strong, but these are the first two songs I heard through the Outroversion blog, and they’re still my favorites, by far.
The Fine Arts Showcase – Chemical Girl
Of the three bands reviewed in this post, Freelance Whales is the only one I’ve seen mentioned by other sources. The New York City group experimented with a hodgepodge of instruments on this year’s debut album, Weathervanes, and in the end, produced a sound that conjured up Postal Service and Owl City.
What those two acts have in common is that one is a Ben Gibbard side project and the other just sounds like one. Freelance Whales falls into the latter category, creating an alternate universe in which Mr. Gibbard has taken up new instruments, such as the banjo, xylophone and tambourine.
This group is a definite must for anybody who’s still waiting on that never-gonna-happen Postal Service follow-up.
Infinite Shuffle 
Thanks very much for posting about the blog again! Always makes the effort worth it when you know it’s helping others find new music 😀
Weird thing Sunshower is what got me into jupiter one! I’ll have to check out the previous album it sounds mammoth.
And yeah, I still can’t get into radiohead either lol
Keep it up 🙂
Comment by outroversion — May 9, 2010 @ 1:29 pm
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