Despite the rather generic sounding band name, the music from this LA based foursome is anything but. It is a winning blend of effervescent, sun-dappled indie-pop with a hint of darkness that places it somewhere between Local Natives and The National. Their new single is Wander backed with Record Forever, and both are well worth wrapping your ears around. . Continue reading MM Shorts 503: Northern American
Having given you the excellent Sinking Feeling at the very tail end of 2013, here is another track from Gorgeous Bully’s EP of misery, loneliness and self-loathing, Nobody Hates You As Much As You Hate Yourself, out via the Art Is Hard label. Now we have the garagey Couldn’t Keep It To Myself for your guaranteed listening pleasure. . Continue reading More From Gorgeous Bully
Spirit Kid’s Slow It Down is a frantic, fizzing, power-pop delight, and the lead single from his forthcoming long-player Is Happening. The song’s celebratory rush is akin to releasing a 70s AM pop radio staple that has been force fed amphetamines and placed in solitary confinement for 30 years… Is Happening will see a release in February. Continue reading Introducing >>> Spirit Kid
We posted an excellent track from Running Red Lights back in November and the Toronto folkies have now released a two-track sampler on Bandcamp from their forthcoming long-player, There’s A Bluebird In My Heart. It can be grabbed for a name-your-price deal here. . . Continue reading MM Shorts 500: Running Red Lights
We’re catching up with a backlog of excellent videos to accompany excellent songs. Today watch Radical Face, Drowners, Mona & Maria’s pretty and epic pastoral ode to 60s/70s psych, Reverend Horton Heat’s octane-fueled pyschobilly with a little help from burlesque star Michelle L’Amour, and finally Twin Rivers story of a praying mantis living in the perils of a modern world. The praying mantis in the film is called … Continue reading Videos of the Day: Radical Face || Drowners || Mona & Maria || Reverend Horton Heat || Twin Rivers
As you might expect, December is a quiet month for new releases, especially non-festive ones, but we’ve still managed to come up with a mix of 16 top-notch downloads for you from our monthly postings. As always, we have a couple of new tracks too, and you can also check out our new monthly mix page here, that has every single monthly mix we’ve posted available … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Month: December 2013
Despite the name, Englishman are a Kentucky based indie-folk three-piece who have recently released an excellent seven track EP titled Unsafe & Sound. It is the follow-up to their self-titled debut of 2010, and is distinguished from the masses by lyrics that are smart, observational and sincere – all backed by lush, warm melodies that effortlessly deliver a heartfelt poignancy that so many strive for, … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends…Englishman
We were pleased to be asked to participate once again in the UK Blog Sound of 2014 – a poll of 59 UK music blogs to highlight some of the best emerging artists, and to provide some alternative thought and debate to the BBC’s Sound of list. We were even more pleased to discover once the votes were counted that one of the three choices we … Continue reading UK Blog Sound of 2014 Results
Dead Heart Bloom recently released their second EP, We Made It, which melds dream pop with ambient folk and indie rock to more than good effect. Buy from their Bandcamp page here. . Continue reading MM Shorts 496: Dead Heart Bloom
Our first videos of 2014 come from Jared & The Mill’s foot-stomping Americana, blues rockers The Dough Rollers, fuzzy folkers Soulmates Never Die (download the EP on a pay-what-you-want deal here) and some gorgeous Scottish dream folk from Quickbeam. . . . . Continue reading Videos of the Day: Jared & The Mill || The Dough Rollers || Soulmates Never Die || Quickbeam
The Mad Mackerel 