New York City Queens (Houston, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/newyorkcityqueens
"Throughout Burn Out, the Queens mash together pretty much every type of pop imaginable, from surf-pop riffage to jangly, Elliott Smith-esque folk to ’70s-retro power pop (which brings to mind The Push Kings, for me) to shimmery dreampop to head-nodding, upbeat New Wave, and heat it up ’til it all melts and intermingles and mixes, coming out a candy-colored, thoroughly great pop-rock amalgam that’s just about impossible for a pop-song fanatic like myself to resist. Some bands take years to hit their stride — these five kids apparently only needed 10 months or so. My hat’s off to y’all."
- Jeremy Hart, Space City Rock
It’s a rare thing for a band to have so much polish, even a year into the music. To break out of the gate with a strong audio-visual attack is unheard of.
-Joey Guerra, Houston Chronicle/29.95
The Clouds are Ghosts (Austin, TX)
http://www.cloudsareghosts.com/
In 2008, The Clouds are Ghosts was formed. More of a concept than a proper band, the two original members Jason Morris and Joseph Salazar slowly began to record their ideas. With Joseph leaving to focus on his own music, Steven Paul was added, and shortly after, Jason Flitcraft and Erin Fillingame joined what would be The Clouds are Ghosts until the release of their self titled first album. Recording engineer Kevin Butler filled the role as percussionist throughout the remainder of 2009 until 2011 when his project Black Books released their debut EP. Earl Bowers took over subsequent percussive duties shortly thereafter. At the same time, Michael Parker joined as the bassist, but switched roles to guitar in 2013. Jon Klekman, the most recent addition, accepted the vacancy as bassist, completing the project.
Caddywhompus (New Orleans, LA)
http://www.caddywhompusband.com/
A wall of guitar amps weaved together by Sean Hart’s polyrhythmic drum patterns provide the perfect nesting ground for Chris Rehm’s voice. This duo have been playing together since middle school, and have been crafting abstract pop-tunes under the binomen of Caddywhompus since 2008. On November 11th 2014, they will release the best representation to date of their sonation and calls —a warped collection of highly evolved tunes aptly titled, “Feathering a Nest” on New Orleans’ based Community Records. This record has imbedded the chaotic energy of their live set to vinyl as if it was cut on a lathe by their own fingernails. Their live show has been taken on the road for a handful of international performances and hundreds of U.S. tour dates.
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