Daybehavior – Change
Apparently, this is the summer of infectious female-led synthpop jams. You know what? I’m quite ok with this. Meanwhile, the video is all sorts of Retro invoking the look of Deee-Lite and Austin Powers at the same time.
Scott Zumberg had music in his blood from an early age, a member of the Kiss Army at age 7, obsessed with Def Leppard's Pyromania and Old School Rap. He discovered the Big 4: Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure and The Smiths, paving the way to discovering other up and coming artists and sharing them with the world.
He was a college radio DJ at Michigan State University, later hosting various club nights in the Detroit area, co-hosting the Aural Bliss show on Auralgasms and Sound and Vision on Strangeways Radio. He still posts mixes of various themes and genres as Stereo Honey on Mixcloud.
Scott is an avid vinyl enthusiast and loves to read music bios, many of which you can find reviews of here on Strangeways.
Class Actress – More Than You
I flat out LOVE this new track from Class Actress! Elizabeth Harper has done a rather impressive job of re-inventing herself; from her earlier folkier acoustic based solo days when she was billed as a ‘Female Morrissey’, to her rebirth as a synthpop star with Class Actress tracks like Journal Of Ardency, Weekend and Keep…
Cold Showers – Plantlife
Plantlife, the new single from Cold Showers is a very pleasant surprise to stumble upon. The LA Post-Punk band wowed us with their debut LP “Love and Regret”, but they’ve been pretty quiet of late. On the surprise new single, a driving synth beat is added to the mix of pounding drums and shimmering Post Punk…
The Radio Dept – Occupied
From the moment you hear the syncopated beats you are thinking some kind of 80’s dance jam ala Blue Monday or Bizarre Love Triangle is on the way. Not exactly, as the song settles in to a more chilled groove with slightly disaffected vocals – but that is kind of the charm of The Radio Dept. As the song continues, the bouncy synths invoke Royksopp and Technique-era New Order.
Sarah Cracknell – Nothing Left To Talk About (featuring Nicky Wire)
Saint Etienne frontwoman Sarah Cracknell is stepping out for a solo break with her new LP, Red Kite. This gorgeous slice of Indie Pop seems radio-ready, with charming boy-girl trade off vocals between Sarah and Manic Street Preachers’ Nicky Wire.
IAMX – Happiness (plus tour dates and lyrics)
Happiness is…a new IAMX single! Nobody quite lays down the sinister synth beats like former Sneaker Pimps frontman Chris Corner. Happiness is…the fact that the b-side of the single is a remix of the title track by fellow dark synth purveyor Gary Numan.
You Are Number Six – Lensflares
Wow…there is just a ton going on here…within the opening seconds you’ve got a Post-Punk bassline, then wait…some jangle that could signal some lighter Indiepop ala Bleachers is on the way, followed by ‘Twinkles’ found in many Raveonettes tracks and then finally some Synth reminescent of Eurythmics? What the hell direction are we going? Mind you we are only 20 seconds in. Finally we get some deep baritone vocals and all of these disparate sounds start to come together rather nicely.
Everything By Electricity – High
Let’s just get right to it…High is an anthemic Electropop jam. Everything By Electricity rarely misses and High is no exception. The track teases with 10 seconds of pulsating synths before the bass beats kick in. At this point I am primed and ready, and Emi’s dreamy vocals bring it on home. Folks, we’ve got an early summer jam right here in the vein of Chromatics and Chvrches and I don’t drop those names lately.
Johan Baeckström – Come With Me
It took me all of three notes to say ‘SWEET, a new OMD track’! But wait, then it kicked into gear and I heard a more modern Synth sound and I found myself saying please don’t be one of those tracks where the music is amazing and then the vocals come in and ruin it. Well, that’s not happening here! What a pleasant surprise coming across this lovely little synthpop nugget.
City Calm Down – Rabbit Run
Another in a line of great new tracks from future John Hughes’ soundtracks…City Calm Down’s Rabbit Run could have easily highlighted the angst of Watts, pining for her buddy Keith while he romanced the snobby Amanda Jones. This is a jangly Post-Punk track that bridges the gap between the sound of 80’s throwbacks like Furniture, Flesh For Lulu and The Psychedelic Furs with modern purveyors like Mode Moderne, DIIV and Beach Fossils.