Gospel Gossip

Fans of Gospel Gossip: the new album is on its way, and you can now view the tracklisting and stream the single “Except You” in advance on Bandcamp. On March 19, the trio will return with a new full-length that promises to bring a lot of people back to life —I know many who have felt the Gospel Gossip void. A release show is on the books as well, and we’ll update this post when the band sends out an official press release later this week.

We’ve already heard “Atlantic Blue” from their 7” last November, and now “Except You” expands on those ideas, picking up the pace a bit and employing some Real Estate-esque vibes in the mix. It sounds like I should be listening to this on a cloudy day at the beach in the Northeast. The fact that this kind of vivid imagery comes into my head while listening to a song is rare enough, so props are in order for the band. It doesn’t sound cold however—rather, it’s their most inviting  tune yet and the most cohesive the band has ever felt.

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Enemy Planes

Enemy Planes have started to play shows regularly around town, especially since the start of the New Year. They used to be called Pictures Of Then, and they had a substantial fanbase under that name since the mid-2000s. Their first live performance happened at SXSW last year, and since that time, the four-piece has been out in Kentucky working with Duane Lundy (Jim James, These United States) to produce their debut Beta Lowdown.

Enemy Planes sounds pretty different than their previous incarnation, and the only thing available for listening is an album sampler on their website. If this teaser is any indication, Enemy Planes’ debut might be the first album in the Twin Cities during 2013 to be a surprise hit.

Their influence is clear: the production resembles Radiohead with a little bit of a darker twist. Sure, throwing Radiohead comparisons around is always risky, but I wouldn’t knock ‘em for it. With the sampler, the fourth cut is particularly impressive and soars through a brilliant guitar riff. The fifth clip showcases the vocals of this project, at once melodic and hoarse. I’m also curious to see if this will be the actual sequencing of their debut, as the song clips all flow together with logical pacing.

More information to come. Until then, you can see them at the Kitty Cat Klub with Meme on Saturday night.

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Dan Ashwood

All right. This is kind of a cheat on my part: Dan Ashwood lives in Brooklyn. The 24-year old was born and raised in St. Paul though, and I’m writing about his new album today because The Local Show will be doing an “expats” episode in the very near future, focusing on musicians who left here to pursue their careers in other cities. You can bet that he’ll make the playlist.

If Dan Ashwood was truly local, his new album Blind Carbon Copy would likely make my top 10 at the end of the year. While he doesn’t sound as unleashed as John Maus, Ashwood is characterized by much of the same warped vocals and initially off-putting instrumentation. “Visibility Cloaks” is the choice cut on the album because of its infectious beat and the way he descends a vocal scale during the chorus. You can listen to the release on his Bandcamp.