Belako - Eurie (2013)

Originating from the Basque Country, Belako is a new and very young band. The band successfully mixes a classic indie sound (think Sonic Youth or The Pixies) with punk rock sensibilities and some lo-fi electronic touches. 

Eurie is their debut album, it's self produced and packed with energy, fuzzy, crunchy guitars and great songs. Opening track Sea of Confusion, Haunted House (see the video below) and Zaldi Baltza are my particular highlights but there are no fillers here. 

I can't say that this is a classic, Belako still have room to grow but it's a very impressive debut for these youngsters.

You can buy the album directly from their Bandcamp here

Rating: Good Vibrations

Your Favorite Enemies - Between Illness and Migration (2013)

Originating from Canada, Your Favorite Enemies is an uncompromising indie rock band with a challenging sound that will not leave anyone indifferent. 

Between Illness and Migration presents a great collection of songs, heavy on distortion and noise, but with enough variety. Most of their songs are built on carefully crafted feedback and noise, but there's always a strong sense of melody with occasional acoustic guitars and piano coming to the fore. 

My particular highlights must be the towering Empire of Sorrows, the more straight forward and rocking Where Did We Lose Each Other (see the video below), the quieter and beautiful Little Sister and the excellent bonus track Old Noisy Friend. 

For anyone who likes indie rock, alternative rock and noise rock with a healthy balance of melody and walls of noise, this is a challenging and ultimately hugely rewarding album. 

I can only imagine what these guys will be like live but judging from their album and some videos online, they must be absolutely incredible.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Yo La Tengo - Fade (2013)

This is a band that I have followed since the release of Painful in 1993 and, since it is one of my favourite bands, I thought I'd start the blog with it. 

Their music moves between sweet folky pop songs, experimental noise pop and indie rock. They have often been compared with Velvet Underground.

Fade is not their best album and it doesn't bring anything original to the table, but it delivers consistently great songs in a style that only Yo La Tengo can.

Rating: Good Vibrations