Veteran Tampa Bay Area indie-scene singer-songwriters Susie Ulrey(Pohgoh, The Maccabees (U.S.)) and Michael Waksman (The Washdown, Zillionaire) have turned a longtime casual collaboration into a gorgeous collection of compelling, thoughtful and artfully composed tunes that balance wistful maturity with a certain earnest and eternally young expression. Not quite pop, not quite anything else, these songs feature an amazingly comfortable balance between the two singers’ influences, sounds and styles.

Rec Center – No.2

Rec Center – Soft Pursuit

I found myself turning back to Violens’ latest album over and over again ever since I got it earlier this week.  Slumberland Records has done it again with this 80′s shoegaze inspired band.

Violens – True sampler by Slumberland Records

California Wives recently signed with Vagrant Records.  The four piece from Chicago has a sound that mixes nostalgic 80′s reverb-charged vocals and dark new-wave synth lines that would make for a perfect back-drop to any John Hughes storyline. CaliforniaWives are currently in the midst of wrapping up their debut full-length album (release date and title still to-be-announced).

California Wives – Marianne by Vagrant Records

Dubbed, “Chew It Up, Spit It Out, Rock And Roll,” Cheers Elephant is a raw, rootsy, psychedelic pop rock quartet from Philadelphia, PA.  Digging deep into three-part harmonies and arranging songs that’ll make your dad’s toe tap, your mom’s hip shake, and your sister’s heart throb.  A style reminiscent of The Kinks combined with a sensibility of the modern age, the group’s signature sound bleeds with British flare, American gusto, and all under the umbrella of catchy pop rock.  With a friendship dating back to kindergarten and including two cousins, Cheers Elephant possesses chemistry akin to a well-oiled machine running at break-neck speed.

Cheers Elephant – Leaves

Cheers Elephant – Falling Out

Cheers Elephant – Doin’ It Right

Laura Welsh has released a new video for her song Call To Arms.  Be sure to check out the video.  It’s really good.  Then when you’re done, you can head download the song from the Soundcloud link below.

Call to Arms by laurawelsh

I could never say that I’m a fan of dubstep, but it’s impossible for me to ignore truly talented artists no matter what genre they’re in.  Alvin Risk is one of those guys.  I listen to his style of dubstep and it makes me re-evaluate my opinion of the genre.  But what gets me really excited about him is that he’s also delving into moombahton, which I think should be one of the next big dance genres.  Alvin Risk is still relatively new to the scene, with very few official releases out so far.  However, he is getting bigger and bigger with everything he puts out.  I heard at the end of last year that he’s expecting to get really big this year, and I agree.  After listening to his latest ep, Infinity, I can see the dubstep embracing him and help him explode on the scene.

PSYCHOTIC – Alvin Risk by AlvinRisk

Oh My! – Dirty Dancer (Alvin Risk Remix) by AlvinRisk

Fun. Ft Janelle Monae – We Are Young (Alvin Risk Remix) by AlvinRisk

The Warships is a five piece band hailing from LA.  Their Americana rock sound reminds me a lot of Band of Horses.  When you listen to their songs you can tell that even with their debut album they quickly got the attention of some talented help, like Local Natives producer Raymond Richards and engineer Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Beck, Air).

I’m not sure on the details of the album.  I looked on eMusic and iTunes but it wasn’t on either of them.  I guess the album isn’t out yet.  Hopefully it will be soon because I want to get my hands on it.

Sleeper Hold by Warships

Reminder by Warships

Flash Flood by Warships

The Knocks reworked Midnight City.  This time they took Mandy Lee’s vocals of the song and mixed it with Eric Prydz’s killer remix.  This is a really good version of the song.  I think it definitely competes with the original version from M83.

Midnight City Edit (Eric Prydz vs. Mandy Lee vs. The Knocks) by The Knocks

Bertram’s sophomore effort sees the Portland songwriter and his backing band, the Golden Bicycles, stepping away from the predominant acoustic/folk instrumentation of their debut record, Days That Passed, and plugging in their gear for a more rocking affair. Tracks like “Out of the Darkness” and “Mistake” show Bertram moving into moodier, more energetic material than the shiny, happy tunes that carried his debut.

Johnny Bertram & The Golden Bicycles – Miracle

Nearly three years in the making, King Of Prussia’s album, Transmissions from the Grand Strand, was titled after a outlandish thought that consumed songwriter and singer Brandon Hanick while entrenched in the recording process at Sea Note Recording in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (the principal city of the Southern Atlantic coastal region known as “The Grand Strand”). The idea was that while the gang was locked away in the windowless studio, the shit was hitting the proverbial fan and the outside world was melting. Transmissions from the Grand Strand would serve as the band’s message and medium to the universe that was ceasing to exist outside of the world they had created in the studio. It was a mere passing idea, or a thought… and a paranoid one at that.

King Of Prussia – Oh Me

King Of Prussia – Your Graduating Hours