In early 2008, Thao Nguyen released one of the pleasant surprises of the year with here debut album We Brave Bee Stings And All. For me, it was the album Cat Power should have made, complete with boot stomping attitude and witty lyrics. In the time since album number one, Thao and her band, The Get Down Stay Down, have toured the country a couple of times, played several festivals and now return for the follow up performance.

Thao shows off some of her intelligence and gives us insight into the album title when she says…

“The album is named Know Better Learn Faster because you can’t,” explains Thao. “By the time you realize you should, it’s too late. And I enjoy the predicament and the totally devastating, unfunny humor of that.”

While the title could be a commentary about love lost or missed opportunities, the new record is anything but a downer, mixing in the now signature stomps and handclaps with the sometimes sobering lyrics throughout. It’s this coexisting of heartbreak and celebration that drives the album as a whole too (see songs like “Body” for example.) Even down to the album cover art featuring a half blindfolded Nguyen in the midst of a huge party peeking out at a pinata that turns out to be a broken heart.

So don’t let this album fall below your radar like the first Thao album did for many, don’t let Know Better Learn Faster be here and gone before you realize how excellent it is. The album is out October 13 from Kill Rock Stars and Thao and company will be touring the country in support of it this fall.

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better, Learn Faster

A mere seven months after the release of his sophomore album Elvis Perkins In Dearland, Perkins returns this fall with a brand new EP. The EP, titled The Doomsday EP, begins with a familiar song to Perkins fans, the title track, which was also a song on the full length from earlier this year. Another version of Doomsday finishes the EP, but within the disc fans are treated to four brand new songs.

Perkins continues to churn out tunes that have a throwback feel to them on this EP, and shows his versatility as he touches on gospel folk with the song “Weeping Mary.” He also shares a song that would fit nicely alongside a rockabilly number from another Elvis with the track “Stop Drop Rock And Roll.” But the familiar sounds are far from sounding dated, and even on an EP like this, Perkins manages to charm the listener with his creativity and attention to detail.

The Doomsday EP is due out October 20th on XL Recordings, and Elvis and his band are hitting the road this fall as well. One of their stops is a WOXY Presents show on November 13th at The Parish here in Austin along with A.A. Bondy. The full listing of the fall tour is posted after the jump….

Elvis Perkins In Dearland – Slow Doomsday
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White Denim are an Austin-based trio specializing in gritty psych rock. Fits is their third full-length. It continues the thread of rambling guitar rock that we’ve seen on Workout Holiday and Exposion, but rambles in a more succinct way. James Petralli has learned how to use dozens of ideas in one song without ever forcing an unwilling epic. The tunes are to the point: and the rhythm section proves its worth by keeping up with all the manic mood changes their frontman delivers. Don’t be mistaken, however, in thinking that Steve Terebecki’s bass playing and Josh Block’s drumming exist just for support — both players lock horns with each other and the guitar (sometimes looped) throughout, picking up and discarding hundreds of moments that tease and tickle the listener. There’s some Kinks, some Beefheart, some Allman Brothers and some Zeppelin here, but there’s also something totally magical and endlessly rocking that comes from the trio when they’re together. Sample some tunes at Imeem and watch the video for “I Start to Run”.

The Dodos are a folk pop outfit from San Francisco, California. Time to Die is their third full-length record, the second on label Frenchkiss. Meric Long has come a long way since starting as a solo project called Dodobird. The duo recently turned into a trio when an electric vibraphone was added to the instrumental fold. On the new record, the Dodos continue in the same direction as previous efforts, tightening and perfecting stompy pop tunes with a newfound precision. The previous album’s long-winded and sometimes self-indulgent meanderings have been reigned in and we’re seeing a highly talented group of musicians move forward in exciting new ways. Produced by Phil Ek (The Shins, Fleet Foxes), Time to Die will see official release in September. Until then, stream it at Time To Die.net.

They’ll perform this year’s Austin City Limits festival October 4.

The Postmarks are an indie pop outfit out of Miami, Florida. The band has released a debut album that was criminally overlooked by most back in 2007 and a fun but thin covers record in 2008. Almost as if those two albums were warm up acts, it now seems like the headliner is taking the stage with their second proper album, Memoirs At The End Of The World.

Memoirs is as good throughout as their previous efforts were at their highest points, and melds the warmth of their Miami home along with a backing sound that employs a wide array of sounds and instruments. Think Trish Keenan of Broadcast fronting indie pop mainstays The Concretes. Memoirs At The End Of The World is a coming out party for The Postmarks, of course you are all on the guestlist, just be sure to attend.

The album hits store shelves August 25th from Unfiltered Records.

The Postmarks – Go Jetsetter

Eric D. Johnson’s Fruit Bats return with an expanded lineup (there’s five of them now) and more upbeat, bright and catchy melodies on this, their third release on Sub Pop.

Johnson has spent time performing with Vetiver and the Shins — and those influences do make appearances on Ruminant Band — but here we find the Fruit Bats moving beyond the easy grace of simple melody, exploring deep cuts from the 70s So-Cal experience as well as the alt-country soundscapes they’re known for. The expanded lineup add pedal steel, singalongs, piano love and jangling guitar duos.

Philosophically, Johnson is stretching himself thin between the straight-forward pop cheer the songs seem to crave and the more oblique sentiments that linger beneath the surface of any good songwriter’s catalog. There’s just enough depth here to make the songs more than easily digestable pop tunes but not enough to make it hard to swallow. Above all, the songs take precedence over all else, shimmering in their pop perfection alongside Johnson’s distinctive, able vocals.

Fruit Bats “The Ruminant Band” (mp3)

More songs at Sub Pop.

Bad Veins have been making Cincinnati proud since 2006, performing as a duo birthed from a dusty attic deep in the Midwest. Listening to the record reveals a broader vision, however, as strings, horns and layers of vocals sweep over the songs. There’s quite a bit of Okkervil River here (particularly on album opener “Found”) and some National dramatics as well. These are compliments, but more than anything they’re indications of a band that’s on its way to something great. Stay tuned.

Watch the video for “Gold & Warm” here.

…And the Ever Expanding Universe (Arts & Crafts) is the third full-length from the Ontario-based septet The Most Serene Republic. It’s a punchy, pop-vescent collection of tunes heavily influenced by fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene and Stars.

Layering male and female harmonies, synths, guitars, various forms of percussion and strings together to make crisp, busy tunes is the Republic’s forte, and they haven’t slowed down one bit on this record. “Vessels of a Donor Look” and “The Old Forever New Things” are both jam-packed and frenetic in the most compulsive way possible; they mix the ease of soothing pop with all the ambition of Yes in a scant three minutes or so. Ballad “All of One is the Other” divides the record in half and offers a brief respite from all the busty rhythms, featuring hazy vocals and distant bells. Most of this album, however, is complex dance music for a modern society that loves its traditional pop with a few more angles and a lot more punch.

Download “Heavens to Purgatory” from Arts & Crafts.

Vampire Weekend keyboardist/producer Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles collaborate on this gorgeous electro-pop album; referencing Tom Tom Club, Postal Service and the Specials. There’s nothing deep here: it’s two white kids working out their R&B and pop aspirations with Auto-Tune, a lot of synths and some simple lyrics about dance floors and girls that drive us insane.

That being said, what they do with these pieces is undeniably enjoyable. “Swing Tree” references “Genius of Love” without apology, and their cover of “I Want You Back” is slowed down to make it a sort of smooth jam. Other highlights include “Osaka Loop Line” and “I Want to Be Your Boyfriend”, featuring Dirty Projectors’ Angel Deradoorian.

Listen to “Orange Shirt” and “Osaka Loop Line” on the band’s MySpace.

Danish prog-pop outfit Mew have been huge overseas since 2003. Fortunately, they’re starting to get their due in the U.S. 2005’s And the Glass-Handed Kites was their first internationally recognized full-length, and they’ve taken plenty of time working on the follow up. During the time between, the group lost Johan Wohlert, who went on to form The Storm with his girlfriend (and ex-Swan Lee member) Pernille Rosendahl. Moving on as a trio, Mew have spent close to three years on new material between Denmark and Brooklyn, documenting most of that time with band-shot videos in their remote studio and its surrounding forestry. This EP is a teaser for the upcoming album, No More Stories/Are Told Today/I’m Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I’m Tired/Let’s Wash Away.

No More Stories’ opening track, “Introducing Palace Players”, is clearly the palette cleanser for the rest of the EP, which meanders a bit through some slightly more experimental and dreamy pop. This palette, however, is dyed-in-wool Mew: angular, off-kilter and supported with the strength of Jonas Bjerre’s soaring falsetto. Featuring Damon Tutunjian (Swirlies) on guitar, this track is a good introduction to the more upbeat themes the band explores both on the EP and the upcoming full-length. Dirgy “Repeaterbeater” echoes “Zookeeper’s Boy” from Glass-Handed Kites, pairing melodic synths and vocals with gritty under-pinnings. Probable leftovers “Owl” and “Start” close the EP with sparse, mostly-instrumental arrangements. All in all, it’s quite the teaser; featuring two singles and a host of treats for longtime fans as well as newcomers.