Different Than I Was Back Then

Austin, TX's Pure Ecstasy's "Dream Over" has straightforward, yet simple lyrics about wanting someone you probably shouldn't want and who probably doesn't want you, but going ahead and writing a song that makes a rather convincing case to the listener/love-interest by saying how "he doesn't love you like I can" and offering to "set you free". Meanwhile, the sweet, falsetto Oohs, sluggish tempo and hazy, reverb- and delay-drenched sound do well to provided a perfect scenery for such a down-in-the-dumps situation.

Pure Ecstasy - "Dream Over"

I Die For Beauty

I am so glad that we can now purchase this wonderful song about David's superiority to John Lennon and 24 other, new Wave Pictures songs here in the U.S.A. instead of just having to stream it from that YouTube video. Get it via Moshi Moshi.

the Wave Pictures - "If You Leave It Alone"

Big Wave Rider

According to True Panther Sounds' website, "'Big Wave Rider' is the upper/downer opus of the summer of 2009, 1976, and 2012." That couldn't be any more accurate. This laid-back, downer song by Rainbow Bridge is simultaneously lethargic and uplifting. It's nostalgic and looks to the past, but also has some post-Galaxie 500 guitar-playing making it undoubtably current. Biographical details about the band are hard to come by online, but according to Rainbow Bridge's Last.fm page, "Rainbow Bridge is a CCM band in Korea" but add that "They are not Korean."

Gimme Gimme Something To Believe In

No. It's not "My Sharona" by The Knack. It's "Jesus" by Dom. Their 7-track, Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP, which just came out digitally and will be out vinylly soon, sounds like the band Phoenix's 1970s/1980s radio-friendly, pop/rock revival if it had been made using cheap recording equipment as opposed to Phoenix's more seemingly sophisticated recording equipment. Thomas Mars' vocals have also been replaced by an androgynous vocalist singing through what sounds like an underwater, public-school intercom system (or perhaps from a "party in the basement"?) soaking wet with reverb and peppered with distortion. The singer (and auteur?) is known only as "Dom" and subtly provokes listeners lyrically by starting a song with no observable religious content called "Jesus" with lyrics like "the ecstasy is kicking in" in the opening lines. There's a lot of potential here. Let's see if it gets properly used.

Emma's House Is Empty

Nothing mixes better than drum machines, jangling guitars, cryptic lyrics, and far-away vocals like in this 1988 Sarah Records track by the Field Mice called "Emma's House."