Ceremony: Someday
Killer Pimp

Soundpool: But It's So
Killer Pimp

Ceremony—one-time members of Virginia-based Skywave Paul Baker and John Fedowitz on vocals, guitars, basses, and lo-fi drum machines—spread two blistering tracks across two seven-inch sides on this teaser to its upcoming full-length, Rocket Fire, scheduled to appear on Killer Pimp in early 2010. Though the group name may reference New Order, Ceremony's sound might more be likened to an ultra-poppy and hyperamped spawn of The Jesus and the Mary Chain and Ride. Though your speakers may be crying for mercy when all is said and done, the tunes themselves have strong pop hearts beating at their centers. “Someday” blazes with a swarm of beehive guitars, charging drum machine beats, and monotone vocals, and anyone who doesn't play the three-minute anthem loud should be arrested. The exclusive B-side “Cracked Sun” roars as royally, with even perhaps with more thunder as Ceremony buries the song's vocals and drumming under an inferno of guitar kerang. A brief but exhilarating ride.

Though different in kind from Ceremony, Soundpool's own seven-inch impresses in its own way with the NYC quintet grounding its vocals-synths-guitars front line with a muscular rhythm base on two over-too-soon and hard-driving dreampop tunes. Opener “But It's So” stokes a pumping, “Fashion”-styled groove as it carves a path through New Wave and disco-funk territories, with Kim Field's ethereal vocals riding a euphoric wave of synthesizer wooziness and strangulated guitar rumble. On the flip side, “Makes No Sense” opens with a silky and stately synth flourish that quickly gives way to a churning electro-funk groove with Field's singing almost lost within the psychotropic swirl. Both tracks offer a snapshot of what to expect from the group's third full-length album, Mirrors In Your Eyes, also targeted for an early 2010 release on Killer Pimp. Let's hope each album packs its two- and three-minute molotov cocktails into a half-hour running time, just like The Ramones' debut did so many moons ago.

March 2010