Tuesday, March 08, 2011

sounds under radio 03/04/11

Texas is known for producing a lot of really excellent music, but I've never heard a Texan alternative rock band who brings the best of UK melodic rock bands, like Muse, Radiohead, with a dash of the decidedly non UK Nine Inch Nails.

So it was keen surprise that I listened to the forthcoming sophomore album, Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind (WMCHMMCM), from Austin's very own Sounds Under Radio. First and foremost, this is a straight up, stadium sized, anthem driven rock record. Very strong, and happily received, Muse influences on the record. I am a huge fan of Absolution & Black Holes and Revelations and this album conjures up fond memories of those records, while still maintaining it's own clear identity. Second, the production on WMCHMMCM is bar none and seriously impressive. Last, the record is just SOLID all the way through. The whole record got dropped onto my iPhone (a rare occurrence in and of itself) and has been on repeated listens every since.

And though I hadn't heard of the band til about a week ago, they've been making names for themselves since 2007 with a series of songs featured in in Spider Man 3, The Wolfman, and CW's "The Vampire Diaries." The record is dropping on May 3rd and I highly recommend it.

So, when I heard that the band was going to play an ACOUSTIC gig at a coffee ship in Dallas, I was seriously curious on how they would translate the stadium sound into an acoustic offering. The answer was quite well, actually - with the band, reimagined as a duo on the acoustic guitar and keyboard (which isn't cheating, no matter what my buddy claimed), gently rocking the crowd with tracks from both their original record, Cinematica, and the forthcoming WMCHMMCM.

So check out the studio version AND the live acoustic lullaby version of what I'm guessing will be the lead single from the forthcoming album. Ill be checking these guys out again in a couple of months, so there will definitely be more Sounds Under Radio popping up around here. Also, check them out if you are going to SXSW...

Studio MP3:
Sing

Live MP3:
Sing (Acoustic Lullaby Version)