FUCK YEAH

The Ms, "Going Over It" - I swear to god, if I keep tripping over really promising-sounding indie bands from America as opposed to Sweet Nurturing Earth-Mother London, one of these days I'm going to have to moderately tone down the amount of shit I talk about American indie. Of course, any band that makes a record half as good as Future Women, the sophomore release from the Ms (as in "more than one of the letter M"), can come from wherever the hell they wanna; I've chosen "Going Over It" primarily because that's the song where I finally gave up the ghost and concluded that I really like this album an awful lot, but there's at least five or six other songs just as immediate and arresting even while offering up wildly different pleasures. I do think that "Going Over It" should give you a really clear idea of how nuanced and well-thought-out Future Women's arrangements can be at times; it's the kind of song that most Jesus & Mary Chain songs sound like in my head before I actually end up hearing them, what with all the crazy bells and crunching, gleefully melodramatic guitars and everything. But really, it's the wide net Future Women casts that's making it so compelling at the moment - it's appealing directly to the portion of my brain that loved being thrown around from one style to another by the Arcade Fire, although I do hasten to add that those looking for a shimmy-fest will probably come away from Future Women somewhat disappointed. Their loss; this album's a fucking monster, regardless of whatever you or I may have to say about it. (Click here to preorder Future Women from the label, Polyvinyl records; also click here to grab "Trucker Speed" from Fluxblog while you still can)

Andrew Vincent & the Pirates, "Bahamas" - If I had to make a list of my favorite songs to come from mp3 blogs ("had to", he said), Andrew Vincent & the Pirates' "Bahamas" would unquestionably make any cut I'd be requiring myself to make. I picked it off the seemingly now-defunct (and, if that's true, much-missed) Teaching The Indie Kids To Dance back in the day, and ever since it's pretty much been my go-to point of reference whenever I come across one of Belle & Sebastian's more "rock"-esque numbers and the like; it's certainly not lacking for charmingly stupid indie wit, and it's certainly not lacking for a ferociously catchy little melody - I remember Keith comparing them to Jonathan Richman, but I've never had a Modern Lovers song stick in my head like "Bahamas", and I don't care what that says about me. It's also, thankfully, one of those singles that offers the listener a crystal-clear picture of what the album sounds like; I still don't like anything on I Love The Modern Way half as much as "Bahamas", but it's a top-to-bottom solid-plus power-pop record with a kinda-shockingly phenomenal shelf life - seriously, I play that album more often than I play my Matthew Sweet records, which is about as high a compliment as I can come up with at the moment. (Click here to order I Love The Modern Way from the label, Kelp Records [scroll down])