My Unconnected Recent Faves - Shout out Louds, Hold Steady, Jason and the Scorchers, JP Hoe, Scott Hinkson, The Shins, Ryan Dahle...and more

Illustration by Gustaf

Shout Out Louds continue to send sublime pop from Sweden. The Cure meets Billy Joel maybe? I haven't found a lot to get excited about lately, but I wouldn't mind if this band became as a popular as ABBA.

Shout Out Louds - Show Me Something New from Merge Records on Vimeo.

The Shins would like to give you their cover of Squeeze's Goodbye Girl, and it's good good good. Go here.



The Shins aren't doing much lately, but mainman James Mercer is doing all right with Broken Bells.



The Hold Steady do The Sweet Part of the City, which seems like a southern rock ballad to me...and I like it.



Winnipeg's Scott Hinkson has decided to hand over the digital keys for his entire album The Torrent Sessions, at least for a short period of time. Go here to grab it before it's gone.



Scott Hinkson-A Miracle Complete by scruffy the yak

Ryan Dahle's video for Agoraphobe. I think this guy is amazing, please give him a listen.


Find more videos like this on R Y A N D A H L E


Nada Surf, you gotta love 'em, here's their cover of Electrocution followed by the original.



Bill Fox - Electrocution



The original, record label-approved video for Jason & the Scorchers's White Lies is a prime example of why the 80s are called cheesy, go here if you want to see it. This Chinatown-White Lies mash-up is more interesting, but it's really the song I adore. Recently the genius at Music Ruined My Life posted some cool live Scorchers you can grab, and the band's brilliance is lighting up my days once more.

Jason & the Scorchers - White Lies



One of my favourite tunes by Peg City's JP Hoe. Featuring the nimble Rob Pachol (with last post's Telepathic Butterflies and Sanfordand songs, that makes 3 plugs for Satch in a week - does he have to be so ubiquitous? When's the solo record arriving?). Hoe is working on his new album, which I gather will come out with a live album he recently recorded.



I missed the Hank III show the other night, sold out before I snagged a ticket. But I do think he's one of the most intriguing characters out there, pure country one sec, balls-out metal the next, or raging punk. Can anyone else do that? Anyone want to?



I think my next post will be my 100th. Any ideas about how I might commemorate/celebrate/desecrate that Scruffy the Yak birthday? Please leave a comment below.

Covers 3: Nada Surf on the hi-fi

Nada Surf is one of those bands that became great when I wasn't paying attention. The 1996 album High/Low contained a single, Popular, that pigeon-holed the group for me. With clever, ironic lyrics, chunky guitars and a catchy feel that sat somewhere between tunes like Weezer's Buddy Holly and Nerf Herder's Van Halen, Popular didn't make me a lifelong fan. But in the last few years, I've been catching up on the albums I missed, and every one is full of compelling melodies, strong harmonies, and subtle beauty. I think it's hard to make records this pretty without sounding wimpy, but Nada Surf seem to be carving out their own niche of power pop glory.

Nada Surf are selling their new cover song album, if i had a hi-fi(album art pictured above), at their shows at the moment. The record won't be out for sale anywhere else until June 8th. I love that cover art, don't you? Made for a pretty gatefold sleeve, looks like, but I don't know if it will be released in that form (gatefold, I mean - it is coming out on vinyl).

Track listing:

Electrocution (Bill Fox)

Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode)

Love Goes On (The Go-Betweens)

Janine (Arthur Russell)

You Were So Warm (Dwight Twilley)

Love and Anger (Kate Bush)

The Agony of Laffitte (Spoon)

Bye Bye Beaute (Coralie Clement)

Question (Moody Blues)

Bright Side (Soft Pack)

Evolution (Mercromina)

I Remembered What I Was Going to Say (The Silly Pillows)


Nada Surf - Electrocution by Royalty Central

This OMD cover's not on if i had a hi-fi, but it's pretty good.

If you leave- nada surf by 0agal0

The songs below are Nada Surf originals, but Scruffy loves them, maybe you will too.

01-Nada Surf-See These Bones by felixrey

Nada Surf - Weightless by ByronMittens

Nada surf's web site will let you hear a demo of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, too.