Jumping on this bandwagon a midge too late perhaps, but if there’s even one person out there who hasn’t heard about the utterly phenomenal heirs to the indie-Scot-rock throne We Were Promised Jetpacks, let us here at Cannibal Cheerleader let you know this group can only be described as utterly life-altering in their musical ways. While their name might inspire jeers and questions, focus not on the sci-fi inspired humorousness of the statement but the sense of emptiness and disappointment, the realization that childhood fantasies give way to harsh, cruel reality. Careening across the Western hemisphere, riding high on the back of their excellent debut LP These Four Walls, this Scottish foursome has a lot to be proud of when they stand beside groups like the Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit at a recent gig at the Mohawk here in Austin. A testament to the power of indie-rock and roll, find out about this group quickly.

Another ferocious find for Cannibal Cheerleader faithful today, as Toronto-based trio Die Mannequin came ripping and gnashing through out inbox, out our speakers, and down out throats like a poison-tipped sabre, except replace the poison with the malice that is singer Care Failure’s slobbering, blood-guzzling bellow. Rocketing skyward on the backs of several successful EPs, having once featured former Death From Above 1979 members as well as E. Kath of none other than Crystal Castles, Die Mannequin remains one of the few alt-rock female-fronted groups with not only a sense of depth to their songwriting but a set of balls that crushes even their most machismo-ridden male counterparts. Their new record FINO + BLEED may just catapult this band to superstardom based on its carefree rampage and squalling guitar lines, not to mention Failure’s utterly electrifying and inimitable voice. Definitely worth checking out CC faithful.

Here’s a hot find for you listless lovers out there – Mayer Hawthorne, the personality formerly known as DJ Haircut, recent signee to our favorite hip-hop label Stones Throw Records, and owner of the most soulful, sonorous voice this side of the racial divide, a nerdtastic white kid from Michigan, is here to make all your worries drift away. With a killer, blue-eyed soul sound and a taste for retro-arrangements recalling an understated Curtis Mayfield single, Hawthorne, having just released his debut album A Strange Arrangement, seems poised to smolder in the stereos of thousands of lucky indie-rockers looking to score the Starbucks girl with class. Here’s to you Mayer Hawthorne – making clothes harder to keep on since ’09.

LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST – PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY IF YOU WANT YOUR SONGS TAKEN DOWN!

You’ll all know our love of God Help the Girl and Stuart Murdoch’s former (perhaps still current?) band Belle & Sebastian, so we can’t help but find ourselves in a state of twittering excitement at the announcement of the upcoming Stills EP. Filled with the same flowery showiness and delightfully cabaret singing-style that separates God Help the Girl from it’s predecessor, the Stills EP delights with its bite-sized tenacity and carefully crafted lyricism, feeling every bit as strong of a release as another Lazy Line Painter Jane or Books EP. Fantastic stuff from a fantastic group!

Like Russia in the seventies people…

Undoubtedly still topping our lists as one of our favorite finds of the year, the Joy Formidable continue to churn out absolutely spectacular tracks, from their first singles “Austere” and “Cradle” to their followup, the inimitable “Whirring”, and sleeper hits like “The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade” the trio of Londoneers stand poised to mount an impressive assault on the unassuming masses. Recently the band released an excellent new track “Greyhounds in the Slip” featuring Paul Draper which you can find below and more importantly, a new live CD entitled First You Have to Get Mad – best name for a live album ever in our humble opinion. This an absolute must-have which you can nab from here. Pre-order quick and get it bundled with a cool shirt! Definitely worth your cash folks!

When we first heard about Jemina Pearl’s solo debut our fevered sniveling over the traumatic breakup of Be Your Own Pet was quelled – at least for a moment. Would the ferocious frontwoman bring the goods without her shredding sidekicks – would the songs maintain their high-flying heroics with the loss of the loose ends? By all means, by all standards, indubitably faithful friends. But this isn’t the Jemina Pearl we’re all familiar with – instead of the stabbing, shrieking siren of olde, this horrifying hellion has herself transformed into a songwriting starlet, with pop hooks, loud-quiet-loud choruses, and Shangri-La’s inspired harmonies replacing all the punk pulverization. While this might be a big change, and one might understand how it could turn off the purists (fuck ‘em), the song remains the same – cocaine, easy girls, heartbreak, cheeseburgers, confusion, tears, youth in general – these are the subjects of Pearl’s tunes, no less childishly awesome than anything BYOP did before, only instead of being dumped in the same pile as a wonderful mish-mash of guitar rock, here comes a perfected pop-punk squall, wiry guitars mixing with Pearl’s ever-engaging voice. Here’s an album that’s not only sure to grow on its listeners but undoubtedly announces an artist with a long road ahead of her full of excellent albums. Definitely check it out.

Thanks Cannibal Cheerleader faithful for another year – here’s to much more blood, guts, and rock ‘n roll in the future. Now onto the madness…

As a staunch defender of actors’ ventures into the world of indie-rock Cannibal Cheerleader has proven to be an unapologetic apologist. We stand by our love of Scarlett Johansson’s Anywhere I Lay My Head and all of her subsequent work with other artists as well. So when we began to read stories on Ryan Gosling’s foray into the music realm, complete with articles more obsessed with his obvious fame than with the quality of his tunes, we were admittedly curious. The group, Dead Man’s Bones seemed undeniably unique and special, a mix of gloomy goth-rock, doo-wop, and children’s choir all floating on the inimitable Gosling’s voice, which contained none of the trappings of common actor-turned-musician voices, that of overwrought, pop-infused excitement, but instead featured a Brian Ferry croon, warbly and vulnerable, with a touch of showtune formality and aged wisdom. Overall an amazing amalgamation of horrifying imagery and childlike wonder, a frightening foray into the at-times kitschy, always catchy, and decidedly dark realm of Dead Man’s Bones – the perfect Halloween update band and one of our favorite releases of the year.

With each subsequent, sonorous release the ravenous Raveonettes continue to reinvent themselves – whether they be shoegaze saviors such as on Lust, Lust, Lust or rock revivalists like on Pretty in Black, it’s never the same thing twice and In & Out of Control remains as no exception. In creating a haunting and lo-fi pop album reminiscient of driving fast down dark roads, scarf waving behind you as a brooding blonde smokes in the passenger seat, Sune Wagner and Sharin Foo might have crafted their finest release yet. With songs that feel so effortless yet contain the dark and devious themes with which the Raveonettes have long since been so fascinated, the record’s only flaw is ever coming to an end. With standout tracks like “Gone Forever” and “Break Up Girls!”, one can be assured that the Raveonettes are in no position to slow their monstrous roll anytime soon. Another strong contender for one of the top albums of the year.

Lissy Trullie, for all her understated attitude and low-range growl, nonetheless seems to write tunes with a boundless enthusiasm for all that electrifies us at Cannibal Cheerleader. For instance, her recently re-released and supremely excellent debut EP Self-Taught Learner, whose updated cover you can check out below contains a few new songs to justify slapping down the ten-spot yet again. Let us swear to you faithful readers, pay twenty, pay extra, give the cash to the indie-rock nerd-chic kiddo behind the counter because they’ll want to grab this record just for these extra tunes as well. Shredding the same fabric woven by the Strokes in 2001, Lissy Trullie and company, simply put, cut a fantastic garage-rock tune. Incredible additions to any disaffected youth’s record collection. 

In other LT news it remains absolutely essential that you follow along with the band on their YouTube page – check out the sweet motorcycle action on their newest video below. Love. This. Band.

Crawling and shambling out of South Austin with a renegade rebel yell the likes of which would wake the undead, Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures, featuring Austin’s own Jesse Dayton, have taken the world of horror-rock by storm as of late with their brand of zombified blues-rock and hellbilly honky-tonk. Originally conceived as a fictional group made to perform during the Phantom Jam scene of Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2, Capt. Clegg has taken on a life of it’s own with it’s excellent self-titled debut, featuring hip-shaking, down-home tracks like “Transylvania Terror Train” and “Macon County Morgue”. Already tapped to open for Zombie on his upcoming tour, this group will undoubtedly be a buzz band soon.