West Palm Beach’s Totem Pole make haunting 60′s influenced pop music.  Totem Pole is the music of Kevin Williams, and he is backed up by Sam Lang with additional vocals from Tess Bass.  Totem Pole played their first show about two years ago, and just last month the band released their first EP titled Caves and Tunnels, Mountains and Stairs, and once again I have Jheri at Get Off the Coast to thanks for posting it!

Caves and Tunnels, Mountains and Stairs is a 6 song EP that oozes psychedelic folk, conventional pop, 60′s nostalgia, and delicately layered vocal melodies.  Initially the stand out tracks for me were”Pointless/Love Gallery” and “The Rain Chasers.”  “Pointless/Love Gallery” is a delicately layered pop number that shows off Williams’ ability to craft perfect pop which is bridged by the lovely vocals of Tess Bass into an eerie  instrumental using found sounds and loops as underlying noise.  “The Rain Chasers” starts off with long tones, the subtle ring of tambourine zils, and then the cadence of Williams crystal clear vocals kicks in  as well as the occasional understated wail of the guitar.  Just as the song title suggests this track would be even more magical than it already is during a thunderstorm…the tape hiss and found sounds of rain and bird caws at the end of the track bring that even closer to home.

[mp3] Totem Pole- “Pointless/Love Gallery”

[mp3] Totem Pole- “The Rain Chasers”

With each listen of the EP all of the songs seem to mesh closer together, and flow more perfectly than the time before.  It’s  something that I’ve literally listened to at least once a day for the past month.  Check out the other hits like “Stained Glasses On” and “Voyeuristic Tradition” here:

[full album download] Totem Pole’s Caves and Tunnels, Mountains and Stairs

On that note I happy to announce that Totem Pole is working on a brand new EP for  Fight the Future Cassettes! This EP will be taking shape over the next couple months and we are looking forward to bringing it to you late this fall.  As the release takes shape there will be more information posted here, and on the Fight the Future blog.  It’s exciting times here at the Great Pumpkin and Fight the Future, and we couldn’t be happier to be sharing it with you!  More to come soon for sure!

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• more on Fight the Future Cassettes here!

I’m finally hearing Surfer Blood now, and it’s about a month too late.  I wish I had listened when PopJew was tweeting that everyone must go see them at a late night final New York City show at Bruar Falls…but I was lazy, and ended up staying home.  This was only made worse seeing Bill’s post about the show a day or so later saying “It’s not very often you go into a show blind and leave wowed but that what my reaction to seeing West Palm Beach, Florida’s Surfer Blood last night at Bruar Falls.”  I can’t speak for their live show, but I was able to track down several tracks off their cd-r, and have been totally digging on it.

The cd-r that Surfer Blood was selling at these shows is some version of Astro Coast (final or demos…not sure), their to be released full length.  It was going to be released by Bakery Outlet Records (also from Florida), but the band got picked up Kanine Records (who has released things by Grizzly Bear and Chairlift).  Surfer Blood will be playing the Kanine Records CMJ showcase (as well as many others shows during CMJ…see below), and I can only assume that Astro Coast will officially see the light of day with the Kanine logo on the back of it.

Like Bill mentioned in his post I was also surprised to hear a band that was more pop than fuzzy garage rock…and the fuzziness, while present, was just faint…if not just implied by the reverb and echo.  Surfer Blood are drawing comparisons to Weezer, but on my first listen their track “Swim (to reach the end)” I didn’t get that at all.  It almost has an arena rock or big 90′s alternative vibe, with the pop just being an undertone.

[mp3] Surfer Blood- “Swim (to reach the end)”

It actually took me many listens of this track (it was on a mix I made) before actually started seeking out more, but I’m really glad that I did. It is made clear that pop, and that little bit of scuzzy surfy beachiness that you would expect from their name, are at the center of their song writing accompanied perfectly with the slightly echoed vocals.  This is displayed wonderfully on “Catholic Pagan.”

[mp3] Surfer Blood- “Catholic Pagan”

After hearing this track and “Harmonix”  I’m really looking forward to getting a physical copy of this release, and seeing them live.  Surfer Blood seem to have been on my headphones all week.

Surfer Blood- “Sea Charisma” (via SoundbitesNYC)

Go see Surfer Blood live…they will be in NYC from 10/20-10/26:

• 09.26.09- Miami, Florida – Death to the Sun @ American Legion(65th and Biscayne) w/ Electric Bunnies, This Heart Electric
• 10.03.09- Gainesville, Florida @ Wayward Council (Trash Bash)
• 10.07.09- Lake Worth, Florid @ Propoganda
• 10.17.09- Atlanta, Georgia @ 529 w/ Japandroids, Real Estate
• 10.20.09- New York, New York @ Santos Party House
  • PANACHE BOOKING CMJ SHOWCASE w/ Jon Spencer’s Heavy Trash, Lovvers, Harlem, & more
• 10.21.09- New York, New York @ Cake Shop
  • CMJ Music Marathon / Kanine Records Showcase
• 10.22.09- New York, New York @ Pianos
  • Brooklyn Vegan Showcase
• 10.23.09- Brooklyn, New York @ Market Hotel
  • Quiet Color Showcase
• 10.23.09- New York, New York @ Cake Shop
  • SESAC Showcase
• 10.24.09- Brooklyn, New York @ Brooklyn Bowl
  • After The Jump Party Daytime Show
• 10.24.09- Brooklyn, New York @ ??? (Don Pedros maybe?)
  • My Open Bar showcase
• 10.26.09- Brooklyn, New York @ Death By Audio
• 10.30.09- Gainesville, Florida @ Gainesville Fest
• 11.27.09- Orlando, Florida @ Will’s Pub w/ Blind Man’s Colour, Viernes

Thanks to Pat from PopTarts for help on Surfer Blood’s CMJ schedule.