Welcome To The Promised Land...

What have we here then? More young upstarts from the camp American garage band revival? Great! See Natural Child; Allah Las; Denney & The Jetts and so on. If The Byrds weren't so Cali-cool and bummed about the dusty streets of Nashville they might have turned out a bit like Promised Land Sound. They got country in dem bones and up in those harmonies too. Sounding like The Old Crow Medicine Show minus the washboard on 'The Big Easy', and on the country rocker 'Yes You Can' they don't disguise their Eagles obsession one bit. It's damn fine and satisfies El Rancho's country love no end. This is the debut EP and there's an album on the way (hey!)...

MacMonday

As if I need a reason for sharing some Mac Demarco with you. I mean the man has been a staple of everything El Rancho since Rock n Roll night club appeared on Bandcamp back in October 2011! Mac was the major instigator in my relocating to New York and my Captured Tracks internship. Seen as the man himself finally made it to Glasgow at the weekend as part of Stag & Dagger and we love him, here's one of his latest videos...

We don't keep secrets...

I stumbled over this new band and debut album simply because it comes from the home of Secretly Canadian. I have a real label crush over these guys who have released the albums of Jason Molina, Richard Swift, Yeasayer and War On Drugs to name a few. So here is a new signing and a record produced by Richard Swift who recently put a little extra sheen on Foxygen's debut long player. So the band are Cayucass: Pronounced "ky-yook-us" and it's called Bigfoot and it sounds like summers coming. It's a short album so it's like a summer coming to Glasgow! Around 31 minutes of mostly familiar indie American territory in the vein of Vampire Weekend or Local Natives. I've listened to Bigfoot a good few times while working my days away in a vegan cafe and it really has some nice moments. It's consistent, though overall the style takes no departures from the 'Hey', 'Ho' tropical guitar rhythms which today's indie pop never seems to tire of. On 'High School Lover' however, the first single from the album and my favorite Cayucas make summer reminiscing an art. Enjoy, sun or no sun...

Wild like Halfrican do...

Check out the brand new trippin' out it's furry mind video for Halfrican's "Hot! Hot! Hot!". Off the debut EP of the same title, out this Saturday on El Rancho!!!!!!!

A B C, easily as Foxygen make it!

Here's a new song called Cosmic Vibrations by Foxgen, recorded in a playground opposite the Mercury Lounge in New York's Lower East Side. I was lucky enough to hear this live last month at their awesome show at The Lexington in London. It sounds like they're still rummaging and filtering ideas from the classic section of the music stratosphere and pulling it off as their own. Can you hear the echos of George Harrison's "Long, Long, Long"?...

Don't drop the Gravy!!!

I'm so psyched about this new Gavys Drop album 'Gumball'...Another Burger release and another absolute belter...

Listen to more tracks from 'Gumball' here...

Cowboys Watch Out!

Here's another little gem I recently discovered. Bad Indian's from Ann Arbor, Michigan borrow from the garage psych handbook for dummies, roll it up, smoke it, and blow it right back in your face and there is nothing you can do but get high on the hazy heady mix. How do they make it sound so easy to have fun and keep the songs anything but boring or unexpected. It's all in here; 60's psych, organ drone, jangling melancholy, fuzzed up rock n roll, desert blues, twanging surf and summer pop perfection on 'She Is Gone'. Great 4 track production too.

Outta Sight...

This new Outer Minds album seems to be channeling all my garage, psych, lo-fi fascinations into one. Thanks!

London Calling

Ok I'm only minutes from setting foot in London, tonight it's Foxygen and tomorrow Unknown Mortal Orchestra not a bad start. Veronica Falls in store at Rough Trade on Wednesday and well who knows what else. Fun times!

Life rules...

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Been playing these guys for a year and a bit now, they like to rock & roll...

Coming Soon on El Rancho Records...

fuzzy punks Halfrican will release their debut EP on tape via El Rancho very soon, stay tuned!

Don't miss the Big Star.

Glasgow's Film Festival will premier the Big Star documentary 'Nothing Can Hurt Me' as part of it's Music & Film Strand this year. Chosen by Monorail Film Club. Get your tickets before it sells out!

PICANTE MIX...

Short & Sweet! by El Rancho on Mixcloud

Welcome to the new blog, it looks pretty crap but it's contents wont be. So here's the first of many treats, a PICANTE mix to get you moving. Enjoy!