Stacking Up #1

Forget about the turkey coming up next week — I have already have my leftovers, and they’re shiny and plastic. Over the next few weeks, I’ll try to catch up with my stacks of promos. Only the best of the best will make their way on here, of course.

Dear Nora – “(I Can’t Believe) I Left California”: mp3
Dear Nora likes to jam. A lot. This song is fittingly titled, a three-and-a-half minute desert-rock burner that drags itself forward like a snake under the Coachella sun. Other songs (like the pretty “Emily”: mp3 – right-click, etc.) have singers and indie-pop sensibilities, but I like this best.

(Buy There Is No Home, the band’s break-up album, from Magik Marker Records)

Goldenboy – “Second Day of the Year”: mp3
Goldenboy plays swanky, California jangle-pop with echoes of Beulah and the vocals of Stephen Merritt. A little simpler than Peter Bjorn & John and a little more masculine than, say, Math and Physics Club, this song wouldn’t be out of place on your car stereo next summer.

(Buy Underneath the Radio from Eenie Meenie Records)

La Rocca – “Sketches (20 Something Life)”: mp3
This is what happens when Bruce Springsteen fronts Belle & Sebastian.

(Buy Sing Song Sung EP from Dangerbird Records)

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Stacking Up features bite-size reviews of songs with plenty of chewy nougat that have magically arrived in the mail.