Real Vampires

Blood, Sweat and Swords Spewing forth from the suburban lawns of Seattle comes a new sound in terror, Mon Frere's "Blood, Sweat & Swords". Driven by brutal guitars, ravishing synths and pounding beats, Mon Frere creates a world of zombies, wolf boys, and throat-slitting romance on a dance punk beat wa...

Violence Is Golden The debut by London's Scanners showcases smooth Chrissie Hynde style raspy vocals and distinctive and catchy guitar work that combines to make a stunning and haunting record. Following in the footsteps of The Kills, Bloc Party, and The Rakes, Scanners are Dim Mak's newest priorit...

Living in America In the Blondie tradition, The Sounds are fronted by a standout blonde. They have a penchant for swelling dramatic choruses with dancey 80s drums & candy coated riffs. This is an enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks & multimedia computer files. Enhancements incl...

Dying to Say This to You It all starts with a cowbell, so at least you know it's not going to suck. This is important because, at times, the Sounds' 2003 debut, Living in America felt like a third-generation copy of Blondie's Eat to the Beat and a third-generation of anything usually sucks. But this foll...

Synth Dance Punk
Call me vain, call me sexist, call me a pig, call whatever you want, but I'll go out on a limb and say that bands who manage to have hot, female lead singers usually find a way to separate themselves from the rest of their peers, simply because they have that hot female lead that can turn the head of horny little 15 year olds at concerts. Trust me, it works. Mon Frere's Nouela Johnston might not be the hottest girl around, but her voice sure as hell is. It's her vocals, dancing over the dark synth dance punk background of the rest of the band that makes you want to listen to this EP over and over again unlike, say, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Nouela kills Karen O). Not too dissimilar from Karen O, Nouela has a very natural ebb and flow, but it feels much more matched to this style of music. This style consists of a healthy electronic framework-the keys are definitely a main focus on this EP-complemented by a very angular, thick, and punchy dose of guitar, well paced drums, and even a few hand claps. At under 14 minutes in length, though, you seriously don't get enough material to satiate your Mon Frere cravings (trust me, you'll get them once you put this disc in), but that's why there's the repeat button on your cd player. Use it! I dare you pick up this EP, set aside 14 minutes of your time, listen to it, and then walk away never thinking about this band again. It won't happen... one of the prime reasons being the chorus in "Up Circle" where Nouela croons "It's all double dutch". (Trust me, when it's sung it sounds way cooler than you simply reading it.) These songs are fun! The band is fun! The entire EP is fun! Wait... it's a little dark every now and again, but it's mostly fun. So there. Just go buy the damn thing, ok?