aaamusic | On 03, Apr 2011

No gimmicks, no irritating angst or ersatz anguish, no desperate plea to appear ‘different’ – just unembellished exuberance and immense songs. Ironically, I suppose, the thing that makes The Animal Beat stand out from the crowd is the fact that they aren’t trying very hard at all to stand out from the crowd – kind of sad that something so simple as being brilliant at what you do makes you conspicuous these days. But it’s true, The Animal Beat are just incredibly good at punching out songs that stick determinedly to the merits of placing content before style.
Double a-side, 11 follows 2010’s ep, Ambient Jungle Noise, by presenting two starkly contrasting songs that perfectly showcase the band’s knack for pinning down an immediately infectious melody (“The Rain Stopped Today”) and pitching the merits of a good hook against baffling-but-catchy complexity (“Drive Home The Messenger”).
11 is released as a packaged digital download on 11 April and, in case you were curious, the title is a reference to the infamous guitar amp in Spinal Tap. Which begs the question, why did Adele call her album ‘21’ – is she showing off or what… does her amp go up to 21? What about “One” by Nilson. Clearly a nihilist and not prepared to even try to get to two which would clearly be a far less lonely number than the number one. But then again, as The Spice Girls so eloquently pointed out, “2 become 1”. Maybe “Three is the Magic Number”…
…we could probably keep going until we get to “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago, but nobody likes a show off.

Rainboot is also proud to present Accordions new album:

Accordions are a five-piece band from Austin, Texas featuring Seth Woods (The Whiskey Priest) and Ben Lance (Zookeeper).

Recorded and mixed by Andrew Hernandez (Balmorhea, Tiny Vipers, Sleep Whale), “Sacrificial Chumpsucker Diatribe” is the first single from forthcoming release,

For those of you unfamiliar with the term ‘chumpsucker’, it’s an uncomplicated but wholly appropriate euphemism for ‘idiot’ and a reference to the foolishness inherent in all us human beings. And therein is the essence of the song: we’re all mess-ups trying to make good; innately flawed but nonetheless trying to face up to our demons and struggle through the impossibilities of the world.

“Sacrificial Chumpsucker Diatribe” [radio edit] is released as a free download on 25 April and the full version follows, along with the rest of The Colors and Killa on 23 May 2011.