New Sounds #14 12/11/15

SHIRT/PANTS - KNOCKOFF
We recently featured two tracks from this Washington DC late teens' EP (see here), now we give you another from 'Save Your Lungs For Cigarettes' prior to its release on November 27. Plenty of energy and scuzzy vocal effects as Dashab Chouhary sings "I'm freaking out, it's nothing". Catch them live the same night at the Rock and Roll Hotel in DC with Slurred Words and the Tomato Dodgers. Star rating: ****/5





MIDNITE TIGER - WALKING SHADOW
Latest in electro soul from the Oakland, California outfit, following their self-titled debut album release of last autumn. Layers of funk pop mixed with spacey guitar, reverb and synth sounds create something that is ultra-smooth and laid-back. Star rating: ****/5





DUA LIPA - BE THE ONE
The London artist picked up an online buzz with her recent ‘New Love’, now with new single ‘Be The One’, an insanely catchy dance-pop track, she looks set to head into the 'Big In 2016' lists. Catch her in Paris at Les Bains on November 25, and a headline show set for February 2 2016 at London's Oslo. Star rating: ****.5/5





SATCHMODE - FURTHER AWAY
LA dream-pop duo, Gabe Donnay
and Adam Boukis, return with this latest track in their synthpop soundscape collection of infectious, upbeat disco grooves in advance of their debut full-length album, to be released in 2016. Star rating: ***.5/5





BETHLEHEM STEEL - 87s
From their just released five-track EP 'Docking', the Brooklyn trio's lead cut of fuzzy guitars coupled with dark, industrial instrumentation and helmed by Becca Ryskalczyk's vocals, declaring, “I wanna carve your name into everybody’s heads when I’m brooding/ And not afraid to use my hands.” Star rating: ***/5