Who Are Modern Mothers?

So, just who are Modern Mothers? Rising from the ashes of the Nineties; however with a decisively T. Rex vibe. That's who.

Crossing The Line - Modern Mothers

Please Welcome Back Illinois

SVB has been fans of these guys for a couple years now and we're happy to say that one of Philly's finest bands Illinois have returned with the first in a series of EPs they are releasing over the next few months. It's a multimedia play with accompanying videos that stars charismatic front man Chris "Arch" Archibald. The first "single" from the EP kicks off with a sinewy groove Snoop Dogg would be proud of, then heads in to indie-synth Steely Dan territory. It gives you something to hang on. Nice.

Here's The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe Vol 1 EP

Here's the jam:
Hang On - Illinois

Cortez! Cortez!

Cortez! Cortez! are some pretty cool new local indie rocksters who list David Bowie, T. Rex, Black Flag, My Bloody Valentine, The Pretenders, The Beatles, Stones, Radiohead, Minor Threat & Miles Davis as some of their influences on their myspace. The band are a three piece and include songwriter and singer and man of many instruments Barney McKenna, Nick Bockrath and James Sauppe. So far, they've released a limited edition EP called 8 For Infinity and are currently working on some new material. They played their first show in July (yeah, this year) and they sound refreshingly and optimistically raw, poppy and manic. And that's the way I like it. Think early Undertones lost somewhere in the haze of a cool collection of Creation Records 45's.

Newspapers - Cortez! Cortez!
(via Popwreckening)

Our Friends Jotto Have Some New Music For You

Our friends Jotto have a new EP called Good Friend Electric which you can download for free. These art damaged indierockers have nicely cornered the next Philly band least likely to sound like the next Dr Dog award by sounding like The Fall. And Jotto's frontman Aaron Fisher is dreamy.

Fall 1998 - Jotto

Glad We Weren't There - Jotto

Jotto will celebrate the release of their CD on November 15th at the Connie's Ric Rac in South Philly. Ya mo be there.

The Mural And The Mint

Philly's The Mural And The Mint are releasing their first full length album called Private Pockets on November 18th. The band includes singer and songwriter Michael Kiley along with Eliza Jones and Jack McBrearty and the album was produced and mixed by the dymanic duo of Brian McTear (Espers, Hail Social) and engineered by Amy Morrissey at Miner Street Studios.

TMATM's operating principle is to make their music available for free. They embrace an art versus money philosophy and as they did with their first EP the band is releasing their new album for free (contributions, of course, are welcomed). The band has an engaging baroque folk-pop sound highlighted by ornate musical and vocal arrangements. Check out this new song

Builders - The Mural And The Mint

The band are having a record release show on November 21 @ Johnny Brenda’s.

The Mural And The Mint myspace

Meet Perkasie

One of our favorite new local discoveries is Perkasie based out of Lancaster. Described by the Philly Weekly as "bubblegum baroque pop," and frequently compared to Bright Eyes, Perkasie are more Puff The Magic Dragon meets Lynyrd Skynyrd meets O Brother Where Are Thou than Woody Guthrie meets Left Banke meet The 1910 Fruitgum Company. Just the idea of that has the musical senses working overtime!

Fronted by guitarist Alex Walsh, the five piece also includes Dom Billett on drums, vocalist Kate Foust, Danny Sadler on bass and Ben Roth on guitar. They have one EP behind them and a full album on the way. While the band does mine some familiar musical territory like Bright Eyes, they also recall the Dead circa Workingman's and The Band. Mostly though, the band has a broad musical range and versatility; they're finding their voices and we're digging what we're hearing.

Ginger Sobs - Perkasie

Phillies Fever 2008

Now that we know it's The Phils vs Tampa Bay, we're off to the series. This tasty tune arrived on my blogsteps and given that my fellow Phillies citizens and I sure have a huge dose of Phillies Fever I had to share it with you.

Back in 1976 the Phillies recorded a record a single called "Phillies Fever." It was sung by Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, David Cash, Greg Luzinski and Garry Maddox. Capturing the disco craze of the moment, the song swung like an old school Sound Of Philly jam with conversation between the players and introductions by Dan Baker.

Pretty classic, eh? Go Phils!

Phillies Fever '76

PS - And if there's anyone out there who knows where this was recorded, who the musicians were and who wrote it, please let me know.

P.S.S. - And to push the baseball analogy a little further here's one of the classic love & baseball songs from one of the great Philly R&B bands, The Intruders.

(Love Is Like) A Baseball Game - The Intruders

Dark Horse & The Carousels

Do not attempt to adjust your 3-D glasses. Look how freaking psychedelic these kids are! Dark Horse & The Carousels are coming strong for '08 from the streets of Philadelphia to your town. Oozing with attitude and rockness, DH&TCs mix in a little early Stones with the Chocolate Watch Band, a lot of yelping, New York Dolls with The Seeds, a lot of hollerin', Nazz with Brian Jonestown Massacre and a lot of shoutin' in to their rockadelic nuggets. An album is soon to come, but enjoy these songs for now...

Bottle Of Truth - Dark Horse & The Carousels

Crazy - Dark Horse & The Carousels

Lost Philadelphia - The Interpreters

Before The Hives, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, Interpol and oh so many other revivalists who've enjoyed a moment or two in the sun was a band from Philly called The Interpreters. A few weeks ago I was rummaging through an old box of mix tapes and found their demo, a collection of high energy classic '60s Brit-pop, that at the time it made the rounds was the latest rage. The Interpreters debuted as one of the most hyped new bands in the late Nineties and included singer & bassist Herschel Gaer, guitarist Patsy Palladino and drummer Branko Jakominich. When the band started in 1996 the buzz was deafening. They became stars in Philly and soon became the focus of a major-label bidding war. An early single, "I Remember," was produced by Shel Talmy; and in 1998 they released their one and only album Back in the U.S.S.A.. The album went nowhere quickly, despite a rave review in Rolling Stone and the quick demise of the band was unfortunate. Not even the band's surreal appearance at the Republican Convention in 2000 could help. I've heard that Gaer is in NYC, making movies and still playing music, but I haven't seen him since one glorious rocking night at the Khyber Pass here in Philly many years ago. Here's a couple songs from their debut, which sounds as fresh now as it when it came out a decade ago.

Glorious - The Interpreters
Dogskin Report - The Interpreters

The Parsnip Revolt

The Parsnip Revolt are a very talented four piece that include Geremiah Giampa on vocals & guitar, Jake Williams on guitar & vocals, Doug Holton on drums & vocals and Brian Finucane on bass. Rooted in acoustics and rock, there's a lilting and comforting Travis meets Damien Rice vibe to the band's music.

And what's really cool is that one of the band's new songs, "Follow Me" was selected for Neil Young's "Living With War Today" song site. The song says guitarist Jake Williams "is about the war and the state of affairs here at home."

Check the song out here -

Follow Me - The Parsnip Revolt

The band has a promising EP that you can download for free here