The original three signees of the label––Louis and the Vuittons, Some Terror and Celsius––are all putting the final touches on their respective releases. Here's an overview of the artists and their work.
Louis and the Vuittons.
As the name implies, fashion and fun are important to LATV. The band, which consists of los angeles natives Oliver Waler and brother and sister Benjamin and Krsten Hayes, started out playing small clubs and quickly made a name for themselves by wearing astonishingly high-fashion clothing to all of their various gigs and by playing fun, crowd-pleasing, dancable rock and electronic music. In addition to la hipsters, LATV also attracted some attention from the luxe leather goods manufacturer, Louis Vuitton, from whom the band obviously borrows a likeness. This attention––and narrowly avoided lawsuit––served only as a means to get LATV even more publicity. Excuse Me? Records took note and soon signed them.
The Vuittons use keyboards, synths, drums, guitars and samples to craft lo-fi, up-tempo indie dance music that pokes fun at––while simultaniously embracing––high-fashion and the extravagant Los Angeles culture. Think the Blow meets Architecture In Helsinki plus a little Hot Chip. Kirsten does most of the singing, but is oft-accompanied by her two male counterparts for some nice harmonization on tracks like the very upbeat opener "Finding a Replica!" and "Hollywood." LATV are also familiar with the art of the instrumental; creating several wonderfully textural lyric-less tracks like "Mexican Food" and "Does." Belts, out this month, is the first full-length from Louis and the Vuittons. Here is the track list:
1. Finding a Replica!
2. Only Pants, No Belts
3. Good Style Vs. Their Style
4. Mexican Food
5. Beleive Me, There Is a Difference
6. Hollywood
7. Crowded (Interlude)
8. There Are More Than a Few Threads on White Sneakers
9. Classic
10. Does
Some Terror.
Santa Monica four-piece Some Terror are not afraid. After releasing their single, "Relax the Terror," on Myspace the band was launched into the dauntingly cut-throat world of indie rock blog music one-up-manship. We've seen this many, many times before. A band gets so top heavy from all of the hype (hype around nothing really. What? One song.) and then cannot deliver anything more. Not the case with Some Terror. After "Relax the Terror" came out as a physical 7", the band went straight back to work; hammering out a terrific album. Fabricate comes out next month, and advance copies will be available at the Excuse Me? launch party.
The four goofy, easy-going friends that make up some terror betray their mysterious band name. Bassist José Grafé, drummer Jason Reitberg, guitarist Thomas Guide and frontman/keyboardist Will Deni all graduated from Loyola Marymount University and knew from the first moment they started jamming together sophomore year that music would have to be in their future. Some Terror's sound is influenced by many unexpected acts––Interpol, Bloc Party, Sonic Youth, and, oddly, the Beach Boys. All of these influences blend into something very special. The darkness of of the instrumentation mixed with Deni's soaring, ethereal vocals is best evidenced on tracks like "Posters," "The Queen, The Queen" and, of course, the minimal and attention-grabbing "Relax the Terror." The album is precise and atmospheric at the same time. Here is Fabricate's track listing:
1. Posters
2. Suspected
3. Route Planner
4. The Sun Never Sets
5. Umpire
6. The Queen, The Queen
7. Fabricate
8. On Campus
9. Diamonds
10. Made in Turkey
11. Relax the Terror
Celsius.
By far the most mellow band signed to Excuse Me? Records at this moment, Celsius, two friends––John Herrick and Toby West––originally from Phoenix, AZ., now living in San Francisco, produce delicate, electronic pieces of music that sound like Explosions in the Sky if the members of Air joined in. Celsius puts a lot of emphasis on production, making their record, I Don't Believe What You Just Said; I Want Proof, sound incredible. It's the perfect soundtrack for a summer nights, long drives or the end portions of low-key cocktail parties when everyone has left except for the one girl you actually want to talk to. Since production is so important to Celsius, they rarely perform live, but when they do it is something that should not be missed. Herrick and west command the stage, moving around from machine to machine and from keyboard to keyboard.
Their songs are long and very, very pretty. The aptly-named opener "Catalyst" is a 7-minute shimmering piano- and bass-driven trip that cascades perfectly into the shortest and fastest song on the disc, "Too Prepared." Also, lyrics are kept to a bare minimum, and the only time you hear any actual words (there is some "oooohing" and "eeeeehing" on a few other tracks, though) is near the end of the percussion- and synth-based "Doubled" with West's repeated whispers of "We were doubled/How could this happen?How could I have not foreseen this much trouble?" Celsius's album flows wonderfully and each song can sit on its own or mesh into the tracks around it like one giant composition. I Don't Believe What You Just Said; I Want Proof:
1. Catalyst
2. Too Prepared
3. Proof
4. One-Day Rental
5. Ice
6. Doubled
7. Eighteen
There are the most recent releases off of Excuse Me? Records. There will be more soon.
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