STOP SLEEPING: The Jordan Years, Ghost Beach, Troy Ave, Devil's Blood, Ladyhawke, Housse de Racket and Tashaki Miyaki

This week has been a busy fucking week. It is the first time in about a month that Joel hasn't been talking about his balls, which is helpful, because now the rest of us can fucking get something done. 

We at SYFFAL might write like carefree neerdowells with a 4th grade education, but we are very serious about the music we write about. We absolutely love it. For we are the olds that you see at shows sitting by the bar alone looking bleary eyed and just slightly out of place. We are not creepy or junkies we are just grown ups with families, jobs, in laws that take up the lion's share of our time. 

It leaves us exhausted.

Still we venture outward and onward because for us, something clicked when we were little kids, in a way that other things like sports or jogging click for other people. Music is our source, our safe haven that provides us the sanity and shelter that we need to keep on keeping on and makes the special moments all that more special. Killer Mike said it best in his amazing new album R.A.P. Music - The closest thing I have ever come to feeling or seeing god is listening to (rap) music, (rap) music is my religion. I think the same could be said for all of us, we find god, order and meaning on a deeply spiritual level in music and that is why we come here and get all holy ghost on these bands and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Without further adeiu - Stop Sleeping:

Joel says STOP SLEEPING on The Jordan Years

I got a sneak peak at the latest album from The Jordan Years and I'm fucking smitten. shit sounds like exactly how summer used to feel before I earned adult responsibility, except everyone's wearing collared shirts and giving those handshake hugs with the back slap, and using coasters and other adult shit. It's a feeling of freedom, a freeling if you will, and it's got my pants rolled up to my knees and my shoes and socks off and I'm snapping my fingers all the time and wearing awesome hats. The Jordan Years are fucking dooooope.

Tom says STOP SLEEPING on Ghost Beach

I have some poppy shit for you this week. When I say 'poppy' I mean that this song exists some where in between Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA' and The Naked and Famous' 'Punching In A Dream.' Ghost Beach is a duo out of New York that has a couple of singles floating around on the interwebs. And although you might not find me jamming out to Miley in a pink Corvette....you will find me jamming out to their latest track 'Miracle' in a neon shirt and Ray Bans. It is available as a free download on their website. Add it to your summer mix tape.

Tim says STOP SLEEPING on Troy Ave

If you grew up listening to early/mid 90s cock rap than you have no excuse to not fall in love with this fucker. Troy Ave is a Brooklyn rapper who has updated the sensibilities of the era, threw in a dash of 50 Cent's smooth delivery and infectious hooks, and makes the kind of music that makes you want to roll up one pant leg and bop down the block looking tough as shit while you walk your designer dog named Melvin.

Dick says STOP SLEEPING on Devil's Blood

The Devil's Blood are one of the more prominent bands doing the whole 70s psychedelic cult-rock revival thang. Imagine accidentally smoking a PCP-laced doob before dusting off your dad's Blue Oyster Cult LPs and jamming the Fuck out in an unfinished basement. The entire experience is familiar, yet just creepy enough to be horrifying in a certain light. Rumor has it that top-tier, government-funded, number-crunching teams are running advanced computations in an attempt to figure out just how many guitarists this band has. Video evidence indicates there are at least four guitars, but it indeed sounds like an unholy army of stringed instruments.

Bonus selling point: did I mention the band members also play their live show while covered in blood?

Ted says STOP SLEEPING on Ladyhawke

Ladyhawke is New Zealand musician Phillipa Brown, 30+ years old with a preference for wearing men's clothing. I heard thealternateside.org's Russ Boris play her "Black, White and Blue" last Wednesday night on my way back from an excellent Avett Brother's Show at NYC's Terminal 5. In contrast to the Avett's, Ladyhawke is hypnotic electro pop. In this video, she is supposed to be a fashion photographer directing a shoot but then she has a hallucination and winds up inside the television. She also looks like a combination of Terri Garr and Sarah Chalke. I must check out this record.  

Brandon says STOP SLEEPING on Tashaki Miyaki

With a Facebook page nary 3 months old, no Wikipedia page, or bio on Bandcamp, this band is nothing but a mystery to me. But I've watched the gnargnar video for the song "Best Friend" or listened to it more times that I should probably admit. I might admit that I'm seriously in love with this song! Like I'm thinking of passing it a note at recess to see if it like likes me likes me back. I'll be waiting behind the bungalows with a lump in my throat and a bulge in my crotch.  

Del says STOP SLEEPING on Housse de Racket

I'm a bit of a hypocrite (shocker) because I slept hard on these two frenchie frenchs for way too long. Not until Kistune started pumping out remix after remix of "Oliver" did I take
notice..and boy did I. I forced them into a handful of Track Marks (4 to be specific) in an effort to make up for my past indiscretions. Please won't you force them into your ipods and your ears now? Don't make the mistake I made waiting for so long. Go rock out to Forty Love and all the tasty remixes that come bundled with it.