"brainy pop music is having its day in the sun" - BBC Music

"I was so thrilled to come across Jonquil's 'Point of Go'...

I recommend it highly." - USA TODAY

Watch Jonquil's Take Away Show performances of "It's My Part" and "Real Cold"

Oxford, UK-based quartet Jonquil has been added to the first of Snow Patrol's sold out NYC performances at Terminal 5 on Saturday, April 14th. This show will conclude the band's first ever US national tour in support of their recently released Point of Go album with Dovecote Records (The Futureheads, Hooray For Earth). After performing across the week at SXSW, the band worked its way up the East coast and will continue to wind throughout the country with Grecian duo Keep Shelly in Athens. Watch Jonquil's video for the first single "It's My Part" at NME.

Point of Go is "a feel-good pop-rock album that...brims with an excess of positive energy," saysConsequence of Sound. The LP is the follow up to the band's calypso-pop One Hundred Suns EP, released before their first US appearances last spring, starting with 3 sold-out shows in NYC, and a week of heralded performances at SXSW. Noted as an American Songwriter 'Band to Watch, 'the quartet has been praised by The FADER, NYLON, Paste, and RCRD LBL among others. Point of Gois out internationally with Blessing Force; a growing community of artists, musicians and writers in Oxford that involves the band's other projects Chad Valley, Pocket House and Solid Gold Dragons.

Jonquil in Concert

4/02 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands*
4/04 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle*
4/05 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater*
4/06 - Grinnell College Gardner Lounge - Grinnell, IA *
4/07 - Kansas City, MO - Middle of the Map Festival
4/09 - Dallas, TX - The Prophet Bar*
4/10 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's*
4/11 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk*
4/14 - New York, NY - Terminal 5^

* With Keep Shelly in Athens 
^ With Snow Patrol and Ed Sheeran

The gentlemen of Saint Motel are at it again. Currently in the midst of criss-crossing the country, culminating in multiple appearances at SXSW, the quartet and BestNewBands.com faves released a new song for your consumption today. Free and available for download, “Honest Feedback” is another example of how the L.A. perfectly blend indie-rock with pop sensibility. Have a listen and download it here, it’s free!

Bear In Heaven just premiered a brand new video for "The Reflection Of You" on VICE's Music Channel, Noisey.

The video was directed by infamous production company / art collective, PFFR, who are best known as the creators of Wonder Showzen, Xavier : Renegade Angel, and The Heart She Holler (Bear In Heaven's own Jon Philpot edited all 3 of these shows).  Look out for a cameo by Michael Mahalchick, New York based artist, actor, and good vibe generator.

"The Reflection Of You" video can be seen here on the Noisey YouTube Channel or below.

Check out "The Reflection Of You (CFCF Remix)" now on Stereogum.

In other exciting news, Bear In Heaven is gearing up for their first live performances in almost a year, heading out on the road this spring for a full US tour in support of their forthcoming record, I LOVE YOU, IT'S COOL. The band is taking their dynamic live show to audiences around the country joined by BLOUSE, Doldrums and Young Magic.

Bear In Heaven will be headed to Austin for a packed week of shows at SXSW  - confirmed appearances include the official Dead Oceans / Secretly Canadian SXSW Showcase,Hometapes' Friend Island Party, the Urban Outfitters and Tumblr parties and more to be announced shortly.

Upcoming US Tour Dates

2/29/12 - Larsen Student Union - Grantham, PA
3/03/12 - The Space - Hamden, CT
3/09/12 - Voyeur - Philadelphia, PA
3/12/12 - Club DeVille Tumbler Party - Austin, TX
3/12/12 - Speakeasy - Austin, TX
3/15/12 - The Mohawk - Austin, TX
3/16/12 - Urban Outfitters - Austin, TX
3/28/12 - Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, PA *
3/29/12 - The Bishop - Bloomington, IN *#
3/30/12 - The Basement - Columbus, OH *#
3/31/12 - MOTR Pub - Cincinnati, OH *#
4/01/12 - The Luminary Center for the Arts - St. Louis, MO *#
4/04/12 - Casbah - San Diego, CA * ^
4/05/12 - The Echo - Los Angeles, CA * ^
4/08/12 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA * ^
4/12/12 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR * ^
4/13/12 - The Crocodile - Seattle, WA * ^
4/14/12 - The Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC * ^
4/17/12 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN * ^
4/18/12 - Schubas - Chicago, IL * ^
4/20/12 - Zanzabar - Louisville, KY * ^
4/21/12 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN * ^
4/22/12 - Hi-Tone Cafe - Memphis, TN * ^
4/24/12 - The Parish - Austin, TX * ^
4/25/12 - Fitzgerald's - Houston, TX * ^
4/26/12 - The Bottletree - Birmingham, AL * ^
4/27/12 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA * ^
4/28/12 - Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC * ^
4/29/12 - Kings Barcade - Raleigh, NC * ^
5/01/12 - Black Cat Backstage - Washington, DC * ^
5/02/12 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA * ^
5/03/12 - Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA * ^
5/04/12 - La Sala Rossa - Montreal, QC* ^
5/05/12 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON * ^
5/06/12 - The Haunt - Ithaca, NY * ^
5/08/12 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY * ^
5/09/12 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY * ^

* Doldrums
#Young Magic
^ Blouse

The lineup for this years Coachella Festival is out and, as you would expect, it's a great one. Headlined by The Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog. The lineup includes also includes a lot of our favorites here at BestNewBands.com including: M83, Florence + the Machine, Neon Indian, Dawes, WU LYF, tUnE yArDs, Childish Gambino, Gary Clark Jr.,  and our Best New Band of 2011 Grouplove.

The recession's over, so get your tickets now before they sell out.

Who: Metronomy
Where: Electric Owl, Vancouver, BC
When: Weds. October 12th, 9PM Doors
Cost: CAD 15.00
Age Restriction

Who: Gardens and Villa
Where: Holocene, Portland, OR
When: Weds. October 12th, 8:30PM
Cost: $10.00
Age Restriction: 21+

Who:  Frank Turner
When:  Thursday, October 13
Where:  El Rey Theater, Los Angeles
Cost:  17.00

Who: Trentemøller
Where: Webster Hall
When: Friday, October 14th @ 7pm
Cost: $20
Age Restriction: 18+

Who: Empire of the Sun, Cut Copy, The Hold Steady
Where: Treasure Island - San Francisco Bay Area
When: Saturday October 15 and Sunday October 16
Cost: $69.50 - 1 Day / $125 - 2 Day
Age Restriction: All Ages

photo credit: Laurel Kathleen

I love The Beatles. Of course, I’m echoing a sentiment that is literally regurgitated by everyone and anyone. However, rather than chew on the already chewed beauty of a timeless sound, how do you take something ageless and make it new and different but still faithful? Meet The Morning Benders; a quartet reminiscent of another out-of-this world quartet with the same wide-eyed charm, but instead of a wide-eyed innocence they approach their sound with the wide-eyes of shock-and-awe. Their sound is smooth and holds the uncanny weight of a sound-track orchestra, but the songs themselves are filled with all the jaded jagged edges that make us scoff at the naïve sentiments crooned by 60’s rock.

Songs like “Excuses” have the boys humming lyrics like,  “And I made an excuse/ And you found another way to tell the truth/ I put no one else above us/ We'll still be best friends when all turns to dust/Dum du-dum du-dum du-dum du-du-dum”. And then all of a sudden you break into a full-bodied section of triangle chimes, percussion and what sounds like a delicately played glockenspiel.

I saw The Morning Benders live at Webster Hall last night in New York City, and they were great. It’s difficult to not cast the band aside because of their mellow sound, but some of their remixes (like the mp3 accompanying this post) give just enough of a synth-alternative-hauntingly awesome sifi feel that makes The Morning Benders very, very relevant.

Standing near the front of the stage with several of my friends, fellow bnb.com-er Laurel, and countless numbers of Rumspringa fans, we anxiously awaited their set to start.  Instead of being greeted with the expected single “sway” the band assaulted the crowd with an infinite number of maracas- and my fellow movers and shakers on either side of me could not have been more elated.  I think my absolute favorite thing about Rumspringa (aside from their completely addicting tracks and tunes) is their effortless ability to make everyone in the crowd feel like an honorary band member.  It’s not about the performing, it’s about the making of music, and its ability to unite friend, foe, and complete stranger instantaneously.  So there we stood, stage-side, me with no musical talent, ready to “shake ‘em loose tonight” along with the rest of the Bootleg Theater inhabitants.

Last night the Bootleg off of Beverly Boulevard played host to Rumspringa’s record release show- and the turn out was incredible.  Apparently this new generation is craving something straight out of the past because everyone and their mother (literally, the entire band accessorized with something of the parental persuasion) showed up to see what Rumspringa 2.0 had been working on so tirelessly.

Their hard work paid off, and people were jamming out to old favorites and new hits alike.  Cecilia jumped on board the Rumspringa train early on in the transition period- making perfect sense since she had done vocals on their first release- when the band included Itaru De La Vega.  After the addition of two other members, Rumspringa 2.0 was born and the next generation brought it full force last night (especially when they played “Sway”).