Listen Up! No. 75: Shimmering Stars - I'm Gonna Try

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Simple '60s doo-wop melodies, full-band harmonies and understated production values? Ten seconds in and you might think you've heard it all before - and recently - but Vancouver quartet Shimmering Stars offer something more substantial than many of bands contributing to this year's surf-pop zeitgeist. They're singing about love, not lust, and not through a haze of weed smoke; instead a sense of level-headed yearning and wry self-deprecation provide ballast for their relationship laments.  

One look at the video for new vinyl-only single 'I'm Gonna Try', which comes out via Almost Musique on 20 December, confirms that these are the real deal hopeless romantics.


Shimmering Stars - I'm Gonna Try from Salazar on Vimeo.

Listen Up! No.19: The Like - Fair Game

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Chameleon-like girly quartet The Like take on their most pleasing guise yet - 60s doo-wop meets garage-rock angles and a vocal which recalls the slightly sneering sing-song of Elastica's Justine Frischmann (at least in the verses). If I'm not mistaken, this one has Mark Ronson at the helm of the production desk, which gives it that indelible top-10 sparkle. The haters might scoff, but better this than he give the Kaiser Chiefs any more air time, right?

The vid also comes courtesy of Gia Coppola, which makes it cool, or something. Skip to 2 mins for the song.