New (ish) Stuff from Sunflower, The Courtneys, and Aye Nako

Aye Nako at last year's New Alternative Music Festival in Asbury Park's Convention Hall

All Dug Out

After a pretty lazy -- except for the excruciating driveway shoveling workout -- day yesterday, I wanted to share with you some of the cool stuff I've been hearing over the past few weeks. If today's group of songs has a theme, I'd say it's probably that all of these draw on some 90s sounds that I've always loved. Check them out and see what you think.

Sunflower, "World of Porcelain"

Cedar Grove's Sunflower released their latest single back in January. The band's 2015 self-titled EP had the organic feel of the music that was coming out of the Elephant 6 Collective back in the 90s, and "World of Porcelain" captures that vibe as well.

Employing piano, ukulele, and strings with a more traditional guitar, bass, drums set-up, the song is simultaneously folksy, poppy, and psychedelic. It twirls, round-style, as the layers build. Like much of the most interesting stuff coming out of NJ these days, "World of Porcelain" was recorded and mixed by one Max Rauch.



The Courtneys, "Minnesota"

I've been obsessively listening to Vancouver's The Courtneys for the last month or so. Earlier this week, the band released the third single from their sophomore LP -- and their debut for New Zealand's legendary Flying Nun Records. The Courtneys II is due next Friday, February 17th; and it will be the first release of a non-New Zealand band for Flying Nun.

"Minnesota" is fuzzy, grungy power-pop. The song chugs forward on Courtney Loove's guitar and Sydney Koke's bass. Drummer / lead singer Jen Twynn Payne's vocals help to place the song somewhere between gritty and dreamy. The Courtneys (like so many others) are clearly influenced by the bands who preceded them on Flying Nun -- The Clean, The Chills, Chris Knox -- and are a perfect fit for the label. This one is shaping up to be one of my favorite releases of 2017.



Aye Nako, "Particle Mace"

Earlier this week, Brooklyn queer-punk four-piece, Aye Nako, announced their forthcoming album for Don Giovanni Records, Silver Haze, by releasing the jagged and explosive "Particle Mace." The band say, "they are actively seeking a planet where those who fall in the margins can feel OK about being themselves."

That comes through in the song as singer / guitarist Jade Payne deadpans, "...with a sigh of relief that we're finally safe here. That's what I want to believe." Aye Nako are political and bring a perspective that is all-too-often overlooked by genres that profess to be inclusive and progressive. That, and they flat out burn it up on "Particle Mace."

Silver Haze is due April 7th.