The Rob Promo Shuffle

In case you didn’t notice, we missed the Rob Gordon Shuffle on Sunday for the first time in as long as I can remember. I feel pretty guilty about it – almost as guilty as I feel for not posting all the quality tracks bands have been e-mailing me this week. So in the spirit of hitting two blogs with one stone, here are some new bands presented in the time-honored Rob Gordon format.

Postal Blue – “The World Doesn’t Need You”: mp3
It’s hard to believe this song isn’t from a late ’80s Sarah Records compilation, much less that it was recorded by a Brazillian band. Albeit a Brazillian band that apes all the best parts of electric jangle-pop. It’s all very nice, if predictable for the genre, but what carries the song is the ceaseless, busy drumming. Go ahead, pull some shapes.

(Buy the Road To Happiness EP from Humblebee Records)

The Society Islands – “Disjoint Allocation”: mp3
Continuing the foreign band, indie-pop thing, The Society Islands hail from Germany and play acoustic-based folk-rock. This song has a shimmery chorus and one of my favorite indie rock hallmarks, panned, noodling electric guitars. “That’s not supposed to be amusing, Donna,” Boris Rogowski sings, but he could’ve fooled me.

(Hear four more songs on MySpace)

ARCTIC – “Some One Turning”: mp3 (right-click, save-as)
You wouldn’t be too far off if you compared the moody guitar rock of Arctic to Bends-era Radiohead or subsequent imitators like Coldplay and Travis, but then you’d be discounting Mark Martin’s guitar layering and unwavering melodies. The vocal similarity to Thom Yorke, on the other hand, is fair game. ARCTIC must be a regular reader – the band’s latest EP is available on its site in MP3 form free of charge, though you can buy it — or make a donation.

(Here more at the band’s site)

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The Rob Gordon Shuffle is a weekly Sunday (usually) rundown of fascinating songs without particular regard to genre or timeliness. It is absolutely not a top 5.