My buddy Seth introduced me to Cold Cave a few weeks ago and I haven’t been able to stop listening to their albums, particularly their latest, called Cherish the Light Years.  I’ve been very impressed with their sound. It sounds like a mixture of Bauhaus, Tesla Boy, Crystal Castles, and New Order.

Cold Cave stems from the creative veins of Wesley Eisold and are based out of New York City. Eisold is also the former vocalist of hardcore bands Give Up the Ghost/American Nightmare, Some Girls, and XO Skeletons. He is also responsible for the band’s musical direction.

I had a tough time deciding which song to feature on here from Cherish the Light Years. It was a near tie between “Icons of Summer” and “Underworld USA”, but I chose to go with “Icons of Summer” as it was the song that grew on me the most over time.  ”Icons of Summer” is the 6th track on Cherish the Light Years.

Finally, please convince my friend Seth to write for the site. He’s a wealth of indie music knowledge.

It’s been awhile since I posted a Handpicked feature on here, so I decided it was time to start with something fresh and unexpected.

Today’s selection is the song “Spanish Burn” by Early Winters from their self-titled EP.  For all of you Puscifer fans out there, if the vocals sound familiar, they probably are. Vocals for Early Winters are done by none other than Carina Round, who provided vocals on Puscifer’s latest album, Conditions of My Parole.

Big thanks to Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle, aSHES dIVIDE) for posting the music video for the song on Facebook, which premiered today.

Straight No Chaser Christmas

Happy Holidays! If you are like me, you get annoyed with Christmas showing up before Halloween. But, after Thanksgiving, I welcome a chill in the air, the lights and the old familiar songs of the season. This one just so happens to be my new favorite.

Straight No Chaser is an all male a cappella group that formed in 1998 at Indiana University. Normally, you think glee club in the fifties, but Straight No Chaser blends humor, covers and raw talent together for a very impressive and full sound. Merry Christma-quanz-acha to all!

P.S. There is a throwback to a former handpicked post, too!