LA / LBC / OC
Long Beach’s Magic Lantern have finally gone and released a new sonic document after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Eagerly anticipated by those who have been biding their time waiting for the band to get on with their uber limited cassette only and CD-R releases (their Self-Titled CD-R was limited to 30), “High Beams”, the band’s latest opus [...]
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L.A.’s Jubilee who feature Aaron North (NIN, ex-Icarus Line), Michael Shuman (QOTSA, Wires On Fire), Evan Weiss (Wires On Fire) and a rotating cast of kick ass drummers, recently released their first single, “Rebel Hiss” both on CD and limited edition 7″ as well digitally. If you are looking for the physical format of the single, try Amoeba in Hollywood, though I’m not sure if they have the 7″, that might be a European tour exclusive.
Jubilee also have decided to experiment with a digital subscription platform to release new music over the course of the year. Being that I signed up to get notified as soon as the new tunes were online and available for download (Travis wouldn’t play ball and send me an advance), I am one of the first to be able to download the album and/or subscribe to a year-long membership which grants you access to Jubliee’s entire yearly output of music (including songs unavailable to those who haven’t signed up) as well as first access to photos and videos.
I opted to just grab the four songs from “Rebel Hiss” for now and then beg and plead for a 7″ later. The interface and entire process of setting up an account and purchasing from the Jubilee digital store is one of the best and easiest I have encountered. The interface was created by the folks at Top Spin Media, a media technology company with offices in San Francisco and Santa Monica, who are giving artists an opportunity to set up personalized user friendly digital storefronts. I definitely could see larger artists like Trent Reznor and Radiohead getting onboard with platforms like this in the not too distant future.
So how are the tunes?
Travis from Buddyhead described them as “something like The Replacements, The Stone Roses, Neil Young, Blur, Jane’s Addiction, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Verve, all sliced ‘n diced together quite nicely”, and I would second that description and add that if you have been reading Buddyhead over the years you can probably guess these guys influences and take it from there.
The first track and single, “Rebel Hiss” is the most immediately catchy of the bunch and would be primed for radio stardom if radio still played anything new or good. “Fuzz Are Down” is big loud and awash in reverb and “Fool And The Pill” is a stoney acoustic come down that leads nicely into “L.A.” which sounds exactly as Travis described above.
Try the Top Spin platform out, it’s definitely worth a look and only a measly 3 bucks. Oh and all MP3s are offered at 320 kbps. Sorry, you FLAC dorks are out of luck.