The Ropes

The Ropes, "Kill Her Off"

The Ropes, "Dead and Well"

Since we are going to start looking back at the beginning days of house music later today, I had to put up a post about what's going down in the present moment. There's nothing I love more than discovering a new band putting out great music, and that pretty much sums up The Ropes. The band is a quartet out of New York City, bringing that female vocal heat that I love, love, love.

I've been trying to think of good comparisons for them, wondering who their music sounds like. I haven't come up with anything great, although I can say that the band has created something different than all of the other female-lead bands of the moment. Their sound kinda reminds me of the Breeders or Patti Smith, to be honest. The sound is not quite punk, much more a rock, guitar-driven sound. It doesn't have the edges or angularity of the post-punk, it's just got that wonderful heaviness that the Breeders had with dark, aggressive lyrics. It's got a classic sound, but best of all, as evidenced in the tracks above, they can write good songs. "Kill Her Off" is the real heat, the lead single off of the EP of the same name. "Dead and Well" is an unreleased jawn that is not on the album, a Pound for Pound exclusive, if you will.

You can visit the band's website for more information, or request their friendship on myspace and listen to additional songs there. All my New Yorkers should show some love at their upcoming shows at Sine-e (tomorrow night) or Lit (June 28th). I'm hoping to make it to the Lit one, as I feel like this band is gonna be killer live and I can drink Sparks without shame or guilt. Buy the Kill Her Off EP, as it's a sign of much bigger things to come.

-I didn't really get into the whole 6-6-06 moment, didn't really know what to do with it. WFMU's Beware of the Blog had no such problem, dropping some devilish posts for our enjoyment. After that, take look at the good stuff, this post about Japanese electronic music and this one on a great Cambodian musical discovery. It's post like this that validate this whole blog thing .

-Ladies love Bob Uecker. Is it the awful baseball career? The brilliant portrayal of George Owens on Mr. Belvedere? We may never know.

-We're gonna take our first look back to the early days of house music, dropping some gems from a compilation put together by the legendary Marshall Jefferson, Move Your Body: The Evolution of Chicago House. Check back tomorrow if you want to move said body.