1) Amanda Woodward – Meurt la Soif (7″)

Amanda Woodward is a screamo band from Caen, France that writes fast, pissed off songs with lyrics that focus on France’s political and social ills. Imagine a band that sounds a bit slower than ampere at times, with longer songs, and equal musicianship. Then add French vocals and you’ve got Amanda Woodward on this release.

Download HERE. (link via The Difference Between Life and Music)

Buy vinyl HERE.

2) We Versus the Shark – Ruin Everything!

We Versus the Shark just released a new full length called Dirty Versions which I’m not going to discuss in this post because I haven’t had a chance to listen to the entire album. But what I will talk about is how much I love their debut 2005 EP Ruin Everything!. Ruin Everything! is an album full of dance-math-noise-post-punk tunes along the lines of bands like Q and not U and The Mae Shi.

Here’s a pretty concise review from Amazon.

We versus the shark has already built a well-deserved reputation for attacking the stylistic boundaries that have fenced in less brave indie artists. Objectively though, having genre-hopping influences and a creativity-first ideology is not necessarily a unique notion amongst the independent rock community at large. What makes we versus the shark unique is their commitment to reigning this diverse palette of influences into a completely coherent, immediately identifiable vision that hits as well on the dance floor as it does under critical intense listening. “ruin everything!” which is their debut full length was recorded to analog tape in 2004. We versus the shark provide the listener with heavy rock riffs, disco’ed out rhythms, odd time, abrasive synths, harsh screams and airy counterpoint which all leave their indelible footprint by track three. Textured arrangements, complete with percussive breaks, handclaps, foot stomps, and three very distinctive vocalists make listening a near contact sport as the explosive energies of the group pound the listener to near exhaustion before darting forward in refreshing, unanticipated directions.

Download HERE.

Buy CD HERE.

Interesting NPR interview HERE.