The Big Pink - Dominos

Favorite lyrics: Swallow my sugar kiss and eat it alone

'Dominos' is like taking all of the fizz and carbonation from the inside of a syrupy can of soda and putting it into a song. It's catchy and something you can dance to, a foamy kind of sound that sticks to your tongue as you sing it. It's a song that leads to something, like each of the 200 seconds is a kind of never-ending suspension. It just has one of those melodies that feeds you energy, until your blood is pumping sound instead of blood and you're feeling invincible.

Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Sleep Party People - I'm Not Human At All

SLEEP PARTY PEOPLE - I'm Not Human At All
Favorite lyrics: It's my own fault; It's not my fault.
I'm not human at all; I have no heart...
At all....

Like dark magic, I'm Not Human at All romances you with its ominous, mysterious music while secretly taking your soul and all of your precious possessions. It's light and slow like a drifting fog, but it howls like the wind. It's spacious but it's stuck in one perpetual motion, like you're in a big room but you can't move. It feels like your body is being taken over by something inhuman and sinister, but you'll let it because its sinful siren call sounds so good.



SLEEP PARTY PEOPLE - Third Drawer Down
Compared with Sleep Party People's instrumental track 'Third Drawer Down,' you can get a good feel for their sound. It still makes you have those creepy back-of-the-neck feelings that somebody's watching you while you're listening to this band. It's literally chilling, like someone's standing behind you in your chair and the only reason you can't hear them breathing is because of this song. Or it could be the soundtrack to a homicide you can't look away from, like it's the calm end to the most horrific moment in someone's life.

Glitter Pox rating: 82% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Knives at Noon - Violins and Violence

Favorite lyrics: I can see you dreaming, I can see you breathing, I can see you dreaming

Violins and Violence is the perfect name for this song. It's filled with colossal space music and nonstop stimulation, like the equivalent of a crystallized sugar high. It's both beautiful and aggressive, like a bright-skinned poison dart frog or a flower with acid on its petals. If this song could be liquefied, it would be poured into our coffee every single morning.

Glitter Pox rating: 91% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

First Aid Kit - Our Own Pretty Ways

Favorite lyrics: It all comes down to this - I'm an ocean, you're the rain.

You can believe pretty much anything these girls sing, because they sing it with such conviction and connection. The melody is simple but wistful, and it manages to capture the sorrow and history that the lyrics explain. The whole song feels like an accordion, with in-and-out melody and vocals that push and pull at each other. It's a song that's seeped in the past but sung in the present.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

White Apple Tree - Passed Out

Favorite lyrics: Mood swings from the lack of any healthy sleep / I pray to connect with you in anyway

'Passed Out' has a high-noted melody combined with the deep voice of White Apple Tree's lead vocalist. It has a kind of 80s Echo and the Bunnymen feel, mixed with a music stream that's filled with electric keyboard. It's like if John Hughes had reverted back to The Breakfast Club style, but gave a more modern soundtrack. It has a very classic and electric feel to it, both soothing and caffeinated in its effect.

Glitter Pox rating: 91% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Strange Birds - Move On

Favorite lyrics*: the ticks and tocks are asking for our lying words

Strange Birds have a similar sound to Young the Giant, but a more mellow pacing. Something about Move On is slightly unsettling, like the blend of music is supposed to be menacing despite the gentleness of it. It leaves you with a strange feeling, the uniqueness of the song muddling your brain. It's organized in a way that seems completely careless, which the best music always does. There's something both simple and completely fresh about this band.

Glitter Pox rating: 86% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

*Hoping these lyrics are right, going by the trust of our ears.

Throw Me the Statue - Hi-Fi Goon

Favorite lyrics: Is this how I go / Is this where I sleep

The music of this song is so upbeat and colorful, that paired with the European, soft-whispered, indistinct sound of the vocals, it's perfect for a technicolor trail walk. It's similar to the style of OK Go, in the pairing of playground music and imaginative serenading. Really fun, easygoing song that'll make you want to go adventure through palm-tree-lined streets while you're stuck inside in the snow.

Glitter Pox rating: 67% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Bedouin Soundclash - Brutal Hearts

Favorite lyrics: Are you the brutal heart that I've been looking for?

The percussion that opens this song, followed by the hazy vocals, is like diving into a smoky room. There's subtle music in the background, like finger-snapping and windchimes, that give it this organic, classy sound. And the vocals - a back-and-forth between a voice that sounds like a glass of whiskey and a voice that sounds like honey candy. They mirror each other in style, but each add a lot of depth to the song.

Glitter Pox rating: 75% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Faded Paper Figures - One More Crash

Favorite lyrics: Postmodern and bored, exhaling with cool

One More Crash is like the mario bros. theme song layered over with great music and lyrics. It's soft, fast, and fun - young-sounding, but mature in the sense that Faded Paper Figures has some serious purpose in their musical style. It's like that scene in almost every movie ever made, where the uptight girl finally lets go, lets her hair down, and lives. And that's so easy to do while listening to this song.

Glitter Pox rating: 77% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Holiday Shores - Phones Don't Feud

Favorite lyrics: And my words, they fly through the closet door,
and they slip in bed, right next to you

This song is perfect for a somber adventure; like skating down a dark street, under tourist lights, with a bottle of soda pop in your hands. The singer slips between slow vocal waterfalls and quiet melodic shouts; it makes messy noise, but is comforting in a beachy, empty-ocean way. And there's something in the way the music moves back and forth that goes with the regret-based lyrics, like a mix of past and future.

Glitter Pox rating: 63% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Dirty Dishes - Stolen Apples

Favorite lyrics: you stole my apples, big mistake

The aggressive music in this song is like poison in a cup of nectar - dangerous and malicious, but damn good. The vocals play out like a violin, as if you were to take a bow to a voice box; haunting and drawn out. The imagery the lyrics create can put an entire story in your mind - one of a nightmare orchard filled with black apples - and the sound that accompanies that image is grungy and gritty and ungentle in a very good way.

Glitter Pox rating: 55% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Stolen Apples by Dirty Dishes

Purity Ring - Belispeak

Favorite lyrics:

there's air beneath my bed

and it whispers

and it whispers when I rest

The electronic sound mixed with the unearthly vocals in Belispeak resembles a kind of Metric sound. The music itself is fast paced and has an otherworldly, fantastical feel to it, while the vocals are slower and have a more grounded quality solely in sound. The lyrics themselves are like a stream-of-conscious poem written next to a storybook picture. It gives off the same airs as a fairytale, too, excepting that the ending is as abrupt as the beginning, leaving you unsatisfied in a weirdly enjoyable way.

Glitter Pox rating: 68% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Mother Mother - Miles

Favorite lyrics: My lover, my maker, my breaker, take me by the hand. We could go walking for miles, once we reach the sand.

The girls who harmonize with the lead singer in Mother, Mother have such contradicting, interesting voices, they could rock the front of a hardcore girl band on their own - but added to the different sound of the lead vocals, it's an entirely out-there experience. Their voices, separately, don't sound like they would mix together, but they do. Really, really well. And the music is just as unique as the voices, with a subtle but quirky attitude. There's something entirely different about this band's sound, but it's not in a blatant way - it's just inherently original.

Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Say Hi - Devils

Favorite lyrics: but the devil's caught on like the teeth of a shark and I want to make it back from the dark dark dark

There are only so many songs that make you feel invincibly badass. 'Devils' is one of them. It has that villainous non-caring demeanor in the vocals, and in the music there's an exceptional amount of bass notes that make your bones vibrate. It's one of those songs that you roll down your window to, just to make yourself seem way more hardcore than you really are. With a sound a little bit like The Black Keys, they have a solid song in 'Devils' all the way until the dream-sequence-esque ending.

Glitter Pox rating: 87% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Gardens & Villa Q&A + signed CD giveaway

Thorncastles by gardensandvilla

Gardens & Villa is a band whose psychedelic sounds and brain-whirring lyrics create something ethereal. Hearing them live is a smoky, heated mix of synth and and wood flute that combines into something entirely surreal. We've seen them a few times, ever since their tour with Foster the People, and each time they took over the entire venue with enough energy to charge a nuclear plant, much less the stages they played on. So we wanted to get to know the inspiration behind their music, and Levi, the drummer, answered some of our questions. Check them out and enter to win a signed cd by all of the members of Gardens & Villa that we picked up at their last Cleveland show.

Musicians: 
Levi Hayden: Drums
Adam Rasmussen: Piano, Synth, Vocals
Shane McKillop: Bass, Vocals
Chris Lynch: Guitar, Lead Vocals
Dusty Ineman: Percussion, Synth, Vocals

Have any of you guys been in bands before, and how did you all decide to collaborate together?
We've all played in many band[s] before this current project, many of us have been playing before we even got to high school. In Santa Barbara though, Chris, Adam and myself met early on in college and began playing music shortly there after. We play[ed] in a psyche/post rock band with a couple other friends before it fizzled out and we started Gardens as a folky three piece. We had met Shane and Dusty many times before, because SB's music scene is so small. Shane moved into the house where we were living, we recorded the album shortly after that and then Dusty joined.

Can you pick one of your songs and tell us the inspiration behind it? 
Thorncastles was a song that was purely inspired by our time spent recording with Richard Swift. We thought it would be fun to write a new one while we were up there and so Adam and Shane began to work out a riff and Swift was into it right away. I added drums and Chris wrote lyrics in less than a day. The lyrical inspiration came from camping in Swift's backyard, being surrounded by blackberry bushes and particularly a young kid by the name of Riley. He was around the house just about everyday during the recording and is also the star of the video Black Hills.

You use synth mixed with nontraditional instruments, like wood flute, which makes your melodies really involved. How long does it usually take you to piece everything together and finish a song, from idea to completed track?
It can take a long time to really feel like a song is a completed track. Especially when we're on the road, writing can be difficult. But every song is different. I'd say that no song is really finished until it is recorded. Like with most songs on the album, it was always exciting to see what finishing touch Swift would add.

What's your favorite song to perform live, and what's your favorite lyric to sing?
I think we all enjoy most of the songs in our set. Orange Blossom has been a favorite at times. Chris really enjoys singing, or rather screaming, "realize I am the sculptor" on Space Time. For me, ending with Starfire is always fun if we nail it properly.

Thorn Castle is a song that brings on a lot of nostalgia. What kind of songs do you hear now that remind you of your childhood?
Salt n Peppa, Cindy Lauper and TLC. Maybe the Above the Rim single by Nate Dogg and Warren G.

Can you share a fun tour story with us?
This summer had its fairs share of memorable moments, from Montreal to Atlanta and most places in between. What stands out in my mind is when our van broke down. We were 240 miles outside of Portland with a show that night. A random guy, really the only person around sold us his van on the spot. We hitched up the trailer, made it to the show only to find that we left the trailer keys with the tow company. The next day we had to saw open the trailer, but then locked the keys in the new van. It was like 48 hrs in the twilight zone. Stressful at the time, but became just plain laughable.

If a (Glitter) Pox epidemic were to break out, apocalypse-style, what would the title of your last song be?
Kiss the Icon, Slay the Valkyrie

To enter to win a signed G&V CD, just check the form below. (It might take a minute to load.)

Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling

Fav lyrics: Tryin to remember
If you were even real

The old-fashioned film noir feeling to this song is easy to adore. The background singing gives it some vintage appeal, like a faded Polaroid picture set out in the sun too long. The bass undertones push it even further into that funky, old-edged sound - kind of a mix between the Beach Boys and new wave. Basically, it's a fast-paced session of both the antique and the modern, and both the vocals and instruments reflect that.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Darlingtons - It Hangs

Favorite lyrics: and maybe I will tell myself/maybe I will try a little harder/maybe I will try

The synth-laden beginning, quiet middle, and chorus ending of this song makes 'It Hangs' a track to really listen to. It speeds up and slows down in just the right moments, making time almost imperceptible in that it's not overt that the song is moving forward. You never get distracted by anything else while the music is playing, because the distractions are inside the music, in its changing melodies and pace. The strung-out guitar is perfect for the vocals, and it all has a Bravery feel to it - that symphony of angst and that contradictory placid vibe that they give off so well. Their music is just generally fresh and fun to listen to.

Glitter Pox rating: 65% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Analog Rebellion - Holy Atmosphere

Link.

Favorite lyrics: lets see where your conscious lied

This song sounds somewhat like Carney, in its slow lingered out rock. It's a little like being slapped by a velveteen glove, in that it hits you with words as sharp as a barber's blade, but with music that's easier to fall into than a langoliered-floor. It's somehow equally disarming and enchanting, a duo of bitterness and melody. When words and music work this well together, it's hard not to continuously hit the play button. The lyrics in Holy Atmosphere are blatantly intense, and dangerously, the vocals could seduce anyone into believing them.

Glitter Pox rating: 81% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Memoryhouse - Lately

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Shut me off / Shut me up

'Lately' is a very dreamy song, sounding like it's sung in that state between asleep and awake, where you're neither but also both. The lyrics are very distraught, similar to the insomnia of wanting to fall asleep but not being able to, but in contrast, the melody is calming and cloudy. It feels like a walk through fog with nothing but a lantern as a guide and nowhere to go. It's slightly alarming in words, like being in a nightmare and wanting to escape, except it's in reverse, where the desperation comes from wanting out of reality. It's a Grimm's lullaby, in that it's as soothing as a cotton blanket but as obtrusive as the monster in the closet.

Glitter Pox rating: 75% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Soap&Skin - Thanatos

Link.

Favorite lyrics: a shell without a star at the end of time

The combination of low vocals, dramatic piano, and intense lyrics makes Thanatos a song to listen to in the dead of dark. The way the vocals raise while the piano's lower range is overtly played is a very breathtaking connection. It's like the dirty dregs at the bottom of a coffee cup, gritty and bitter, holding the remembrance of something devoured. Thanatos, in Greek mythology, was death in human form. There couldn't be a more perfect combination of words and music to accompany the name.

Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Antlers - Bear

Link.

Favorite lyrics: we're terrified of one another and terrified of what that means

Bear takes a really heavy issue and turns it into something musically brilliant. It's tragic and depressing, but it's also beautifully written. Each lyric shreds your insides in a slow, burning poem. Listening to sad music is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, mostly because it's so investing and because it makes you feel alive. You never forget a song that makes you want to cry. And The Antlers are so damn good at it. The emotion in Bear is spot-on : hopeless and numb. And it's artistic in a way that transcends music; it's a song sung for repentance, and it makes sure you won't ever forget it, just as the people it's sung about can't forget. The Antlers do a lot of music that's aurally quiet but lyrically deafening, and they're a band that will most definitely mess with your heart.

Glitter Pox rating: 93% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Boy & Bear - Rabbit Song

Link.

Favorite lyrics: keep my soul, my head's not coming back

These words have a voice behind them that gives them life instead of just being sung. They have a quiet meaning, and the style of Boy & Bear, especially the vocals, are similar in quality to Fleet Foxes. The background singing is used as another instrument, and it plays well along with the guitar. It's a mellow song, but it has a kind of spark to it that keeps it from being melancholy. Generally just a good piece of music.

Glitter Pox rating: 81% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

We Can't Enjoy Ourselves - Miss Maris Morris

Check out 'Miss Maris Morris' along with We Can't Enjoy Ourselves' digital album here.

Favorite lyrics: see cause we're coming now onto the chorus, so smile and smash your cigarette right between my eyes

This song has a perfect combination of chalky bitterness and Broadway-proportioned cheerfulness. You can imagine little dancers jumping off of the treble clefs of this sheet music with full-teethed smiles on their faces, the beat is that up. But then there are the lyrics, which like to singe through whatever they hit; they're callus and ballsy and completely quotable. It's like watching a sunset over the ocean - after that whole BP oil spill thing. There's a sweet syrupy bit for your ears tied with a sarcastic witty piece for your brain, which is pretty musically stimulating. It's an auditory mix-match, a game of lyrical vs. melodic tic-tac-toe, and both of them score a good amount of x's and o's.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

O Emperor - Don Quixote

Link.

Fav lyrics : now refrain, reject the brain, oh man dare I say it, oh you're insane

Singing about a literary character automatically earns hipster points, but O Emperor does it unpretentiously and intelligently - and with a damn good sound. The lyrics are easy to fall into, mirroring the insanity the character they sing about goes through. The music is very gentle but erratic, the vocals and lyrics measuring up to a high standard of glory. This song is well put together, and has the slow, drugged feel of bands like Evaline or Stateless. It's like being sick and on cough syrup and only half-awake; it slows down your brain, lulls it in a kind of seductive, angry fairytale sort of way.

Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Electra - Radio On

Link.

This band has a lot of energy and a lot of musical talent. 'Radio On' pulls you in and begs you to sing along, but the song is more than just melody. It has a kind of modern punk rock sound with a foreign vibe, but regardless of whatever genre of music it's under, the members of Electra play their instruments well. There aren't a lot of bands that put this much power into what they do, but when it happens, it speaks for itself - Cage the Elephant and Blur's Song 2, and now, Electra. It's crazy and chaotic and completely manic in the best way - it forces you to believe in nothing but music until the song ends.

Glitter Pox rating: 81% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Kathryn Calder - Arrow

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Fire away, I'm still here in phantom wings

Arrow is a very dreamlike story, almost like an Alice in Wonderland song dipped in sharp-toned lyrics and piano keys. The noise in the background is very much like a river, and there's a strong Agnes Obel sound to Kathryn Calder's voice, which makes her automatically likable. There's also a kind of historical folk fable idea behind the song, but it has a very high radio pitch. There's something unique about it that's just on the edge of original, but it's still earthly; it doesn't exceed the depths of music, but it circles around something primordial.

Glitter Pox rating: 66% contagious. It's a slow burn.

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Spoon - Paper Tiger

Link.

Favorite lyrics: We could go kick down some doors together,
stay out til morning sharp as knives

Spoon is great for funky beats and wary voices; Paper Tiger, with the inhale-and-exhales in the backdrop of keyboard, proves that. Spoon in general is one of the best indie rock bands you can find - each of their songs is a musical experience in itself, using varied sounds in each of their albums. They have a little bit of an Andrew Bird sound, in the mixture of great vocals and beautiful, differing melodies: Paper Tiger especially is a song whose variance sifts through you. The lyrics are very unconventional - at first listen, if you graze through the song, it sounds like an indirect love song, but there's a story there that isn't about love at all. It's a song anyone can interpret as they choose, one of those mysterious little pieces of music that sit in the background until someone listens to them again.

Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Copeland - I'm Safer on an Airplane

Link.

Favorite lyrics: I think I'm safer with my lungs full of smoke

'I'm Safer on an Airplane' is a slow melodic lullaby of ludicrous thought. It's a simple poetic protest with lyrics that play on our fears. The vocals are soft and inviting, but it paints a picture that's melancholy and depressing. It pretty much transports you into an airplane, flying through the clouds and looking out a rainy window. It's a thought-provoking song, but it's also a musically talented one.

Glitter Pox rating: 55% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Delta Spirit - White Table

Favorite lyric:  Maybe I'll give you my love but it won't be true

The steady ticking of the drumbeat is what leads this song, going into an almost indigenous chaos at the chorus. The rest of the music blends in with it effortlessly; it's nice to see a song that isn't reliant on the vocals, even though those vocals are fantastic. The lead singer almost sounds like Marcus Mumford, if he pursued a different genre. But what's so great about this song is that every element is balanced in a way that makes it unforgettable. Each time you listen to it, you pick up on different parts of the song; and because it has roots in a blend of genres, it can be easily adored by a pretty wide audience.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Drums - Down by the Water

Link.

Favorite lyrics: if they stop loving you, I won't stop loving you

This song is like a modern reboot of a golden oldies station, circa the Stand by Me days (which the song significantly brings to mind.) The elongated vowel howls have a sleepy stream to them, and they give off that sad longing that made songs like these so popular generations back. It brings some of that old classic sound to a new decade, and it'll be interesting to see how it's interpreted in a contemporary genre. It's different because it's so familiar, and that's a contrast that makes it easy to listen to.

Glitter Pox rating: 61% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

Link.

Favorite lyrics: There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back
I tell her that I miss our little talks

Of Monsters and Men is a blend of culturally styled music and unique voices. The accordion adds an element to Little Talks that makes it more upbeat and lightening, and the back-and-forth duo of singing plays against the attention-grabbing chorus really well. It's folk-sounding, but also has a really approachable energy that a lot of slower folk music doesn't have. Their vocals remind us of The XX's, but the music is such a differing flow of notes that it's pretty incomparable.

Glitter Pox rating: 89% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Head and The Heart - Rivers and Roads

Favorite lyrics: and I miss your face like hell

Rivers and Roads is a crescendo; it builds from quiet music to strong vocals based mostly around harmony. The lyrics and melody are pretty simple, but The Head and the Heart has enough vocal strength to be solely sung. It uses silence and quiet to its advantage, mastering the perfect balance between softness and passion. The "oooohs" have a kind of Wake Up - Arcade Fire feel to them, in that just hearing them alone makes you able to place the song. This is the kind of folk song that's meant for nights by a dark river.

Glitter Pox rating: 73% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Flight Facilities Feat. Giselle - Crave

Crave by Flight Facilities Feat. Giselle

Favorite lyrics: I walked in the room dripping in gold.

Crave is such a lyrically addicting, dripped-in-gold song. It's very soft spoken, but also very blatant - the story is a clear one, without muddled riddles inside of verses. It takes a simple, powerful feeling and puts it in a simple, powerful song. It has a very easy beat, but it still makes you want to dance (with a fog machine.) Very smooth, quirky song.

Glitter Pox rating: 88% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Funeral Party - Finale

Finale by Funeral Party

Favorite lyrics: asleep your whole life and you called it fun / so wake up kid and realize your life / we're moving closer to your demise

If every member of Airborne Toxic Event had a younger sibling and they made a band together, it would be Funeral Party. 'Finale' has that vibrant youthful feel to it that makes you want it to play as the soundtrack to your life. It's one of those songs that make you want to go outside at night, to kick pebbles and run until your cheeks turn red, just to feel alive. It's a song that makes you crave life, to crave what it promises.

Glitter Pox rating: 77% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Barnstormer Tour - Akron, OH

Driving down a windy trail surrounded by trees isn't what we're used to when we're heading to concerts; we're used to the streets of Cleveland, which always smell comfortingly like exhaust. So it was refreshing to be able to go to Daytrotter's Barnstormer tour stop in Akron, OH, stopping at scenic cemeteries along the way and being able to breathe fresh air.

After crossing the railroad tracks that lead to the Conrad Botzum Farmstead Barn, we knew it would be a good night. The barn itself was gorgeous, decorated with glowing horse lights and filled with a really good atmosphere. You could see out to the fields, so you could watch the sun go down as the bands played. It was one of those days where nature behaved for once, and the night brought a cloudy veil over everything that made you forget there was a morning coming tomorrow.

The first band to take the barn was Wildlife. Despite the lead singer rocking a leg cast, they had enough energy to fill the entire woods and surrounding fields, much less the crowd. They were very, very impressive. When they cut off the music and harmonized with just their voices, it gave you chills even though the sun was still out. They played as if they could break the entire barn down.

After them was Princeton, who we were there to see. They had a lot of crowd interaction and were really involved with their music. We've seen a lot of jaded bands who aren't into their own music any more, so it's good to see musicians who still love what they do. It felt like they were playing in your living room, it was such a relaxed, engaging set.

Doug Paisley, who went on right after Princeton, could play. He got up there with just his acoustic guitar and his voice, and he filled the barn with it. It was getting dark, and the lull of his voice made it a kind of surreal night. Fireflies started lighting up in the barn as he played, and a bat decided to join the party and swoop around in the airspace. The lights played shadows across the back of the barn, and the music was perfect.

White Rabbits followed Doug Paisley, and it went from quiet peace to full-on dance rock. They were extremely well practiced and made the barn floor roll from the crowd's stomping feet. We'd listened to their latest album before, and hearing it live amplified the precision they had recorded.

Hacienda ended the night, and it was the perfect band to wind down to. They seemed like a well-organized jam band, music you could end the night on. It was like it summarized everything you'd already heard and sent you home with good music in your ears.


Daytrotter put together a fantastic group of bands and musicians, and it was a show that we won't ever forget.

The Dead Trees - World Gone Global

Favorite lyrics: How did the world become your ashtray? / Didn't think I had no feelings, well I do, somewhere.

World Gone Global has an underlying beach pop tone. Like a male-fronted-version of When We Swam by Thao + the Get Down Stay Down, it uses a light, wavy sound and monotonous but lyrical vocals that sound brilliantly like a good-voiced conversation. The lyrics in this one aren't nearly as happy as the beat, but it's refreshingly unique because of that. Sad songs are usually filled with slow chords and non-choreographed voices, but this one is matched with something that dances with the grief that the lyrics might bring. It makes you unsure of what emotion you should feel, so it kind of ends up being a bottle of something sand-filled and slightly citrus-y in your stomach.

Glitter Pox rating: 61% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Emma Louise - Jungle

Favorite lyrics: my head is a jungle

Florence meets The Cranberries after a week without sleep, and this is what's produced. The kind of gorgeous-voiced symphony of chaos that can both lull your eyelids to close and make you want to dance within seconds of each verse. The music in Jungle is very silent and simple until the chorus and the swift pattern of the words plays over a drumbeat that's pure organized mayhem; at the start, Emma Louise's voice carries the song alone, with only simple beats in the background, until the maniac of the song hits full stride and it turns your mind into a metaphorical jungle. It's like the slowly silent and simple music of the verses is how the singer is perceived and the blur of the chorus is what her mind is actually thinking. It makes for a song that's very easy to relate to but rarely voiced.

Glitter Pox rating: 85% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Contest - Tickets for CA musiclovers

If you live near Irvine, CA, you've probably heard of the Playground Festival. This year, bands like The Bravery, Shiny Toy Guns, and Panic! at the Disco are playing. There are a ton of different bands and artists, of all genres, to check out. If you like music and you live in CA, it's a place you want to be.

If you want to win a pair of two-day tickets to attend the event this Labor Day weekend, just fill out the form below. The contest will end on Friday, and tickets can be picked up at Will Call. You can find out a full list of bands playing, as well as more info, at http://playgroundfestival.com/

Oh Mercy - Stay, Please Stay

Link.

Favorite lyrics: What can I do with a love that gathers dust in a busy room?

Oh Mercy has a really clear-cut sound with the kind of simplicity that's just about the music; Stay, Please Stay isn't overtly trying to grab your attention in a million different ways, but it still manages to grab it. There's some sonar-sounding guitar playing, an underwater call that could very easily drown you, and a xylophone melody that's beyond addicting. The vocals are equally entrancing and the whole song gives off an upbeat but moody vibe, like the singer's singing directly to a dying relationship and the band is playing over the good parts like it can bring them back to life.

Glitter Pox rating: 81% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Forest Fire - Future Shadows

Fav lyrics: try and give this day a reason

There's a trance-like touch to this melody; as soon as you hear it, it's identified as one of those summer songs that remind you of humidity and gnats and lemonade. But the lyrics repel a kind of smokier edge over the usual windows-down type of music. It's a very endearing song, one to play at the ending of a season to keep some sort of nostalgia.

Glitter Pox rating: 58% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Forest Fire - Future Shadows by Fat Cat Records

Gotye - Heart's a Mess

Fav lyrics: Let me occupy your mind
As you do mine

There's a smooth, smooth voice over the scratchy Indian-esque music in Heart's a Mess, and it sits well in your stomach. It's like the best, sugariest kind of cotton candy at the most twisted carnival of your life. The twitchy music slices throw the vocals and mimics a kind of bouncy, spacey walk through the sound. It almost has a video game background, the kind of meandering box-hitting, bowser-stomping sway you'd expect to hear in pixelated entertainment. It has a whole lot going on, but it's like the lights and flow of New York City - a welcoming kind of busy.

Glitter Pox rating: 89% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Hearts A Mess by Gotye

Simone White - Blueprint

favorite lyrics: the city feeds and feeds and feeds

There's something really gentle and clean about Simone White's voice; it's like a dryer sheet fresh from the laundry, soft but with a little bit of worn grit. There's a regretful and jaded sound that comes from the contradiction of delicate music and weighty words, and it sounds bitterly smooth. Very quiet, but very easy to listen to.

Glitter Pox rating: 68% contagious


Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Simone White: Blueprint

Middle Class Rut - Busy Bein' Born

We're big fans of Middle Class Rut here - we featured their song New Low back in April - we obviously loved it, because music we love is the only kind we feature here. Middle Class Rut, especially, has a fantastic rock sound and is easy to listen to twenty million times over.

We wanted to post about their new vid for Busy Bein' Born, which is an amazing song and also a really intense, well-filmed music video. Take a listen! It'll be a well-spent 5 minutes.

Pretty and Nice - Piranha

Favorite lyrics: Oh what a beast you are, Piranha!
Oh what a mighty jaw! [...] Feed feed feed you little lazy things

Pretty&Nice's sound reminds us of a mix of Mindless Self Indulgence and The Fratellis. The music in between lyrics is so vicious, you can pretty much picture a school of piranhas swimming in it. It definitely has bite, and mashed up with the high-noted lyrics - words sung with so much ease they're almost tossed aside - it's a very talent-filled song. These people can sing and make music like it's something they just were born doing. Definitely a great find, and we're looking forward to seeing what these guys do with their career.

Glitter Pox rating: 76% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Pretty & Nice - Piranha

Link time. If you want more, check this track out, too, because it's just as catchy. Also, their website is here. Bam.

Milo Greene - Autumn Tree

Link.

Favorite lyrics: a yard so full of leaves
hum the song that comforts me

This isn't so much a song as it is an immersion into music and voices that intertwine in a very labyrinthine way. You can get completely lost inside Autumn Tree's overlapping sounds. There's a kind of fluidity to it, and even with as many voices and melodies as it throws in, it's only overwhelming in the very best way. The kind of overwhelming that takes over your mind and lets you fall into the harmony without any kind of hesitation.

*These guys are touring with The Civil Wars and you definitely want to see them. We'll be at the Columbus stop. Check if they're coming by you here.

Glitter Pox rating: 85% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Civil Wars - Poison and Wine

Favorite lyrics: I don't have a choice but I'd still choose you.

The Civil Wars have been getting a lot of recognition lately, and deservedly so. The thing that makes their music so likable, I think, is that it manages to break your heart and comfort you at the same time. They have a sound and chemistry that works flawlessly, a duo whose voices perfectly compliment each other. In Poison and Wine, especially, it's easy to see how well Joy Williams and John Paul White's voices blend, but both musicians have equally gorgeous voices on their own. Together, they combine into a story only they can tell. Just the chorus of this song makes me crave more; the eight little words in it ("I don't love you, but I always will") are sung with so much depth and harmonization, it's hard not to adore. This song sends off an instant connection between its story and the listener, a kind of deeply rooted emotional investment inside its notes. The lyrics are fantastic, but the passion in these musicians' execution is what makes them such incredible, stand-out artists.

Glitter Pox rating: 99% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Matt Costa - Mobile Chateau

Favorite lyrics: and with the trees we will sway

Matt Costa's voice is perfect for a hazy summer morning, right when the sun wakes up. Between Mobile Chateau and one of his more upbeat songs, Behind the Moon, you've got an artist who really knows how to make music. You can check out a lot more of his songs on his website, which streams his albums alongside lyrics (which every band in the world should do.) You should spend a day on there, because you'll walk away a little happier about life. It's like discovering Sufjan Stevens for the first time. Everyone needs that one softer-singing artist to listen to before your day fully starts, in that slow sleep-blurred period where your brain craves something to both wake it up and wrap it in blankets. Matt Costa is that artist.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Mobile Chateau by Matt Costa

Tired Pony - Dead American Writers

Link.

Favorite lyrics: I've been waiting for the spark myself

There's a great balance of indifferent rock gravel and shaky, demanding intensity in the vocals of Dead American Writers. Tired Pony is a band that alters their sound in every song; they're not distinct in a way that, if you heard them, you'd instantly recognize them. But every one of their songs is filled to the edge with something, some kind of art form that not all musicians can pull off. They each tell a different story, and listening to their songs back-to-back pulls you in a lot of different ways. Would also highly recommend listening to their song The Deepest Ocean There Is so you can hear the difference in their sound.

Glitter Pox rating: 75% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Eleisha Eagle - Neither Here Nor There

Favorite lyrics: For so long I was a leaf that clung to a branch of a dying tree

Eleisha Eagle has her own distinct accent and sound, but fans of The Dresden Dolls will probably be in vocalized heaven. It's like Amanda Palmer and Regina Spektor had a lovechild and it turned out to be Eleisha Eagle. The way she pitches her voice, blended with her eased piano playing and casual finger snapping, are completely ear-catching. Good storytellers can't always sing, but Eleisha Eagle has a sound that tells her lyrical story with an endearing quirkiness.

Glitter Pox rating: 85% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Link to song: https://soundcloud.com/philipellis/goodbye

Saint Motel - To My Enemies

Favorite lyrics: Blood and sweat and tears,
We learned each other's fears and,
God, I'll miss the way you cry.

Do you remember that incessant need to ask "are we there yet?" on road trips, before the feel of the road is so constant it doesn't matter anymore? This song reminds me of that tiny repeating compulsion in the back of your head. But instead of the fuel being boredom, it's reminiscent because it's that feeling of discord, the relative newness of something that's not normal. The fuel is music, and it doesn't make you complacent because it's not what you hear on the radio all the time. If music like this keeps coming out, the kind of fun, eager, charged, emotion-driven sound that makes your earbuds love you, then the feel of music will never be constant enough to bore you.

Glitter Pox rating: 82% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Saint Motel - To My Enemies

The Colourist - Oh Goodbye

Favorite lyrics: you were an addiction

This song is like bubblegum - the kind that's already lost its flavor but still reminds you of what it tasted like. It's about those little relationships and friendships that you have to let go, but it's more reminiscent than bitter. It's always great when music can take a sticky situation and turn it into something fun, and The Colourist aced it with Oh Goodbye. They have an OK Go / Vampire Weekend sound, with a lighter beat that's perfect for summer.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Oh Goodbye by The Colourist

Maximo Park - Our Velocity

Favorite lyrics: There is a poison in the air,
a mix of chemicals and fear // Love is a lie, which means I've been lied to.

You know that minute after a run, when your heart beats so fast it feels like it's going to rip out of your body? That's what this entire song is like - up until the very last note, which drops you off a cliff. There isn't a second of slowdown, where you can let your mind wander from the music. As fast as it is, it even dares to double over itself, spinning your brain into some kind of music-kindled chaos. It's a mix of punk and reggae, a modern Sex Pistols sound. It makes you pay attention until it gets bored and leaves you.

Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Mudbison Interview

We featured 'Color T.V.' by Mudbison back in April, and luckily we were able to get in contact with the lead and now sole member, Spencer Russell, who's a fantastic musician. You can listen to Mudbison's album, A, here:

A by mudbison

To win a digital copy of this album, gifted from us through iTunes, as well as a digital album of your choice, just fill out the form below this interview. Contest will run through next Saturday, 7/23! *Contest has ended, and winner has been notified.

Check out our interview with Spencer Russell and let us know what you think!

Starting off, what's your favorite...
movie: The Royal Tenenbaums
book: Ender's Game
quote: "Men have become the tools of their tools." -Henry David Thoreau
concert you've been to: Octopus Project.

Listening to A is a mash of different music styles and melodies, whereas a lot of bands can fall into the rut of very similar, stylistic songs. How do you keep each of your songs separate and unique?
I follow the soul of the song. If it comes to me and has a certain feeling to it, I usually follow that feeling. Some people, though, love to write for genres. They're easy to sell, and people know what to expect. If I were to write for a genre, I couldn't call my music art... but I applaud the people who can maintain that perfect balance.

The Mailman Song seems to be about being able to see into other people's lives. If you could be any musician's 'mailman', and could get a glimpse into their music and lives, who would it be and why?
I would love to have a glimpse into Elliott Smith's life. He continues to blow my mind as I mature and experience the things he sings about. He's a modern day Mozart for me. His music is timeless.

What's your songwriting process like? What's one song you wish you had written?
I usually come up with a tune first. The lyric comes from a mixture of the feeling of the tune, and whatever I'm experiencing at that time in my life. I usually take quite a while to finish my lyrics. I wish I wrote "Color Bars" by Elliott Smith.

Can you pick one of your songs and tell us the inspiration/story behind it?
Time Machine is about regret. A guy I knew was secretly in love with his friend for 8 years and never told her. He moved to Florida when I was living there, and I can remember him worrying daily about her getting married without ever knowing he loved her. It was such a heartbreaking lesson to learn for him, but I thought it was a lesson for everybody in the world. Do the things you want to while you have the chance... life is worth the scary parts.

If a (Glitter) Pox epidemic were to break out, apocalypse-style, what would the title of your last song be?
Well from the sound of it, a glitter pox epidemic doesn't sound too deadly, but if my family and friends around me were coughing up glitter balls and dying of glitter asphyxiation, my last song would probably be called, "May The Last Man Burn My Body And My Album For The New World"

Thanks to Spencer Russell for being our first musician to interview here on The Glitter Pox!

The Limousines - Flaskaboozendancingshoes

Favorite lyrics: Otherwise a perfect night, if we're not dead before it ends.

This whole song is about living in the moment, and it sends out a kind of immortal high. The lyrics fuse a bitter reality with a sonic lightness, a soberness sided with recklessness, and it's perfected into a beat that makes you want to dance. It has a Shiny Toy Guns or Owl City feel, an electric voice paired with music you can float on. The frontman, Eric Victorino, used to be in a rock band and moved on to a more energetic pop sound with The Limousines other half, Giovanni Giusti. But it's not just electro-pop - it's not something you've heard a million times before. It has a kind of candid sound that you could listen to on a wooden record player. They seem to keep a smooth pop-rock studied voice, but with a lot of added caffeine and keyboard. Listening to them is like being on the edge of what music should be in the upcoming generation.

Glitter Pox rating: 82% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Flaskaboozendancingshoes by TheLimousines

Lindi Ortega - Little Lie

Link.

Like The Pierces mixed with Brandi Carlile, Lindi Ortega manages to make a country-ish song for people who don't like country music. Little Lie has a sassy southern vibe to it, like you're at a Prohibition bootlegging party - one filled with vixens and flappers and flasks. It's a fun, fast-beat song, perfect for when you're feeling old-fashioned and cheeky.

Glitter Pox rating: 65% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told

Link.

Favorite lyrics: you, you're just my next mistake

There's something very spellbinding about listening to a voice that's as exposed as the lead singer of Two Gallants. It's almost like injecting raw regret into a voice and letting it resonant over soft music. But it's not a soft song. It has a restless frantic need to say what it's saying, and it makes the music absolutely genuine.

Reminds us of: Wolf Parade
Listen to: with your back against a streetlight
Glitter Pox rating: 59% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Sebastien Grainger - Who Do We Care For?

Link.

Fav lyrics: Well, if those aren't fighting words then I don't know who I hit.

Who Do We Care For? has some grit and guts mixed inside its guitar riffs and jagged vocals. It's fun to listen to because it has that perfect rock feel down - that edge and acidity that makes it so consumable. It has a slowed-down repetitive chorus that makes a rhythmic lull, but it's broken apart by hard-cut passion and bite in its verses.

Reminds us of: Cold War Kids and The Black Keys
Listen to: at fight club
Glitter Pox rating: 63% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Walk the Moon - Anna Sun

Favorite lyric: Live my life without coming up for air.

There's a magnetism toward the force and liveliness behind Anna Sun. This song has incredible hyper-charisma behind every lyric and drumbeat, and it feeds you energy through its chorus - which itself is like a gourmet meal full of spirit and moxie. It's the kind of song you want to listen to before you get on a train or do something spontaneous, because it fills you with a thirst for life.

Reminds us of: grouplove
Listen to: while sitting on your roof
Glitter Pox rating: 88% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Awolnation - Burn It Down

Link.

Favorite lyrics: If you're sick, baby girl, I would love to be your doctor.

There's no way to stay sane while listening to this song. It's the kind of music that lets you fall into hysteria with grace, though. It's fast-paced, heart-pumping, foot-stomping, hair-whipping music with a kind of heated urgency behind it. It pulls you into its desperation and makes you just as desperate. Awolnation in general has that unrivaled passion that makes bands (like Cage the Elephant, in example) become something huge. And these guys will definitely be huge - just in the past few months that we've been listening to them, more and more listeners are recommending their songs and hitting repeat. There's just a kind of hectic, manic flow inside the impossibly electric guitar and too-fast-to-comprehend drumming that the vocalist can almost match in beat, and it's made Awolnation excessively addictive.

Listen to: driving way past the speed limit with your windows down and your speakers up up up.
Reminds us of: 30 Seconds to Mars
Glitter Pox rating: 93% contagious

The Veils - The Letter

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Go wash your heart in the river till the water runs clear.

There's a lot of vague mystery in this song, but the way it's played and sung, that mystique makes absolute sense. There's a film of gritty vocal emotion in it, too, and the song decodes itself through that. It speaks its own kind of language, a kind of calm but rushed impassioned purging. It mixes a classic rock, David-Bowie-era sound with something more modernized, which makes The Veils seem kind of ageless.

Reminds us of: Brandon Flowers' solo music
Listen to: while sketching
Glitter Pox rating: 78% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

My Terrible Friend - When I Decide

Favorite lyrics: And my heart's got a tricky valve that beats for nobody but you.

This songs starts as a smooth easy-listener - the vocals are classy, the acoustics fun, and there's even a harmonica that you can nod your head to. It makes you languorously kick your feet up and listen, until you actually do listen - and once you hear the lyrics, your feet fall very ungracefully and you're instantly in love (unless you're opposed to things like murder.) The lead vocalist, Lauren O'Connell, has a kind of quirky twang to her voice that's entirely endearing. And the other half of My Terrible Friend isn't shy to quirky, either - Nataly Dawn is a singer and musician who's well-known for being half of the duo of Pomplamoose. Together, they make a musically-charged team that's original enough to stand out even on their cover songs.

Reminds us of: The Dixie Chicks' Goodbye Earl
Listen to: while buying gloves
Glitter Pox rating: 80% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Maccabees - Toothpaste Kisses

Link.

Favorite lyrics: put the stars in our eyes

The vocalist for The Maccabees has a deep, resoundingly mellow voice that you wouldn't think you'd hear in a song called Toothpaste Kisses. The song itself has a really innocent, vibrant feel to it; paired with the bold flavor of the lead singer's voice and the upbeat scale of the guitar, it ends with a sort of lighthearted charm. It's happymaking.

Reminds us of: Jack Johnson
Listen to: while brushing your teeth
Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Gardens and Villa - Orange Blossom

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Think of me like a swarm of bees,
buzzing around your leaves.
To pollinate means ecstasy.

Gardens & Villa is a mix of hipster beats, wood flutes, and high energy. We saw these guys live last night, opening for Foster the People, and they had that kind of onstage power that translates straight to your ears. There's some type of backbeat Native American folk-culture thing going on in their music, and it matches the high-noted vocals and synth synergy well. We ended the night by buying their CD, and they signed it "ultra vibes," which is exactly what they give off.

Reminds us of: an electrified Civil Twilight
Listen to: all summer
Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Tigers That Talked - Black Heart, Blue Eyes

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Like a cat with an insect, you are.

This song is a comforting one, because somehow it sounds familiar the first time you even listen to it. But that's not to say anything against it's originality, because the lyrics and vocal range in Black Heart, Blue Eyes is something different altogether. The style seems to change several times throughout the song, but it has a string holding it all together in a way that makes the transition smooth. It progresses from a salty, bitter start, to an upbeat dance mix to a slow, flow-filled instrumental background and then back around again.

Reminds us of: Colour Revolt
Listen to: while pulling a thread off your tshirt
Glitter Pox rating: 71% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Could you feel my footsteps? And would you shatter, would you shatter?

'Your Rocky Spine' is a fantastic story and song, told through banjo and analogies. It's a reverse personification - turning a body into mountains and lakes - and the lyrics stringed together to express that is poetry. Folk music in general has grown in popularity for its ability to connect, with Mumford & Sons being the most obvious example, followed up by bands like Fleet Foxes and Sea Wolf, who add modernized sound to their tracks. There's something about the genre of folk music that's able to express emotion in a way separate from others, and The Great Lake Swimmers add growth to the brand.

Reminds us of: Blind Pilot
Listen to: while tracing a map
Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Coral Sea - Lake and Ocean

Link.

Fav Lyrics: Didn't I treat you right, you're breaking me down
Didn't I treat you right, I'm breaking you down
All and all you're just a lake inside my ocean

Though mellow, The Coral Sea's "Lake and Ocean" has a malevolent emotional punch to it. It's like going to the beach and sizing up the waves only to realize you can't compare strengths with mother nature cause she'll knock you on your ass when you least expect it. The lyrics express the idea that love is never ending and even during the worst break up, they'll always just be a lake inside your ocean. The music flows like a wave, too, in the way it tides and recedes; it's a modernized version of a lot of classic golden songs in the easylistening way it plays out. This song, though seemingly somber, is encouraging you to stand back up when that one wave knocks you down. Then face the rest of the ocean.

Reminds us of: Radiohead vocally and musically, The Pixies 'Where Is My Mind'
Listen to: at the ocean
Glitter Pox rating: 68% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes

Link.

Favorite lyrics: 'Cause you're just damage control for a walking corpse like me - like you.

Rilo Kiley is the flint spark that starts a bonfire - she's not synonymous with girl lead singers like Colbie Calliet, who is a great vocalist but lyrically predictable; instead, she quietly starts a kind of musical flame. Rilo Kiley puts an edge to her songs and voice, and adds a badass angle to her work, which is added to the syrupy, generally great vocal genre of female musicians like Florence and the Machine. Her great voice is what you hear on the radio a lot, but her adaptation of her own music - the extra breaths, the sarcasm, and the tangible feel of a certain kind of feeling - makes her stick out.

Reminds us of: Laura Veirs
Listen to: while shopping for makeup and testing lipstick (unless you're a guy, in which case, better luck Thursday.)
Glitter Pox rating: 78% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Miniature Tigers - Cannibal Queen

Link.

Fav lyrics: Comin' for your heart like a cannibal
Oh, she lets me right in and I fed 'til I'm full

There's a lot of humor in this song, but it has a rooted seriousness that's lightened up with upbeat notes and sarcasm. This one's all about words words words, but the way it flows musically makes those words hold even more impact, while keeping a fun vibe.

Reminds us of: Fun.
Listen to: while building sandcastles.
Glitter Pox rating: 87% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Love Me Chase Me - Carney

Link.

Fav lyrics : Madness can't contain me. If you love me, chase me.

This song is partially about letting go, but the way it's sung is so seductive that it's contradicting, working into a kind of pleading. The raspy, slow quality to Carney's singing only makes you fall into the off-kilter music even harder. There's a lot of back-and-forth dejection and liveliness in this song, a kind of side-by-side wanting and scorn that is absolutely perfect together.

Reminds us of: a molasses-voiced Kings of Leon
Listen to: while walking in slow motion and destroying things
Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Little Comets - One Night in October

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Oh, this dashboard's so hard
Can't cushion the beats of my heart

UK music has gotten more popular in America, but Little Comets has their own rhythm that separates them from the same stylistic sound. One Night in October is definitely dancing music, but there's some marrow in the bones of this song that gives it more flavor. It has anger, spice, and good guitar, which is a perfect combination backdrop for a voice that has more energy than a Red Bull struck by lightning.

Reminds us of: The Wombats and Hot Hot Heat
Listen to: one night in October, falling asleep in your car
Glitter Pox rating: 65% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Lonely Forest - We Sing in Time

Link.

Fav lyrics: Let us pretend we’ve got it together.
Let us ignore the coming sun.

The center of this song is time - the fact that, in time, everything will die, but also there's a simultaneous hope that time will recover everything for us. In time, things will get better. But it's also ironically saying that we use time as an excuse. It's full of things that are wrong about the world, but for some reason the songs with the most wrong in them can be the ones that make you feel the most human.

Reminds us of: Death Cab for Cutie
Listen to: at a bonfire
Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox