Hey! Look! A New Post! and it's about Superchunk

Things have been slow here at SSOTD because of work related stress, but today is the day - like a phoenix rising from ashes (and no, not this Phoenix) Sullivan's Song of the Day is now back, with a bit of a template change and a new commitment to rock every day. Well worth watiting for, no?

If you've been around you know the love here for Superchunk, 90's indie stalwarts who rock like a house on fire all the time. They have a new album coming out, Majesty Shredding, on September 14th on Merge. Make sure to pick it up.

So this pop gem is "Digging for Something". Enjoy.

a little taste of some early 2000's Superchunk:



and some old school joy, which is what made me love them in the first place:

ps: still playing with new links and figuring out the embedded MP3 player, it's changed since I last posted...be patient!

SOTD 2/24: Like the good Midwestern boys they are...The Please and Thank You's

Doing all the good Midwestern rock things that you, and I, love. Some punk, some old school rawk. some swear words. (I know, it's like I'm still 14 and it's cool to swear, but i LOVE profanity, so sue me..) These boys got it all going on, and I, for one, am excited to see what they do next - cause they're making music like it's s'posed to be made - by bringing some rock to the party..

(thanks to Can You See The Sunset for the find)

In Like Sin by The Please and Thank You's

and a bonus:

Fucking Honestly by The Please and Thank You's

and a little blast of the old school hardcore punk raucousness...

SOTD 2/22: Sounds like so many others I've loved who've come before them...How Do We Jump This High?

Gaslight Anthem, Hold Steady, even the mighty 'Mats....they all have that certain...something. Know what I mean? vocals that are poignant while being yelled. raw guitars. drummers that may be play perfectly, but what they do is exactly right at the time it needs to be...How Do We Jump This High? may be awkwardly named, but their sound is exactly what I need while I sit in here relaxing with my drink in a dark room, kids in bed, blizzard blowing outside.

See You In The Funny Papers by How Do We Jump This High?

Plus, let's face it, they just LOOK like the kind of band I'd love to see live...

How Do We Jump This High? - See Ya In The Funny Papers from If You Make It on Vimeo.

SOTD 2/20: Don't you love it when old friends return?

Broken Social Scene has released a new song, and while, let's face it, the million BSS side projects has meant that they've really never gone anywhere, this is, I think, the first new official BSS song since, oh...2005, I think? More of all you'd love about them - atmospherics, propulsive percussion, delicate harmonies...check it out:

World Sick by Broken Social Scene

and here's a taste of old BSS in case you forgot....how do you not love bands in paper bags and gas masks, I ask ya??

SOTD 2/17: more Ted Leo love

The Brutalist Bricks, coming out on Matador in less than a month. A show in Chicago on March 13th at the Bottom Lounge. Nah...I'm not TOO pumped up.

The Mighty Sparrow by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Little taste of Ted rockin' the Kelly Clarkson..



and one of my faves: Me and MIa from Shake the Sheets

SOTD 2/9 (b): Mountain Goats

i got nothin' else to say - I saw John Darnielle a few years ago when he opened for Superchunk and it was amazing how genuine, painful, and honest his songs are. Check it out.




(though he does look like your favorite English teacher, rocking out in the departmental office during lunch. it's awesome!)

SOTD 2/9: what classic rock would sound like if it were being made today by bands like The Stance, who rock, in the classic sense

Ya know, there's always bands like this - could be brilliant, but no one's heard of them, they have sharp pop hooks, just the right skronky guitar, a kinda buzzcocks-y early 80's punk garage thing going on, and in the age of the internet, you finally have a chance of stumbling across some of them, unlike the old days when a band like this would play a friend's party for beer and a chance to talk to chicks, then go back to the day job the next morning.

I love the internet for just that reason. The Stance (thanks to Quick Before It Melts) could be, one day, the Canadian Buzzcocks, but until then, I'm just gonna look for their new one "I Left Love Behind a Long Time Ago" and rock out. Classic style.

Jenny Jitters by The Stance

Link to "Strung Up" to get another taste...

and check 'em out live....love it like I do..

The Stance - Live at Stereophonic 6! from CultureHub on Vimeo.

SOTD 2/7: Romance is Boring...Los Campesinos!

or so says Los Campesinos! and yes, they have an exclamation mark at the end of their name, I normally detest the exclamation point and all it's phony enthusiasm. But Los Campesinos! LOVES it, witness their first single You! Me! Dancing! as another example of exclamation point overuse...but the band is prolific, releasing their third album in three years, and this is a bit more...mature, I think, than their previous records...I do so like them...

Romance is Boring by Los Campesinos!

and here's the genuinely odd and disturbing 'murdering your spouse' video:


compare that to You! Me! Dancing!

SOTD 2/4: and I thought The Secret Machines were gone forever

but I was totally wrong. and I'm not gonna lie, this isn't the greatest song they've ever done, but when you think, you know, they're done for, and they're not, you're happy to get what you get. The Secret Machines have a decidedly space rock vibe, with a drummer who, when you see them live, is an absolute dynamo...

so check out "Like I Can" in the newly reconfigured TSM lineup...

Like I Can by The Secret Machines

and a little blast from the past with one of my fave Secret Machines songs of all time: Lightning Blue Eyes

1/28 SOTD Pt. II...

I was avoiding work earlier this evening when the '90s called and said, "You need to post some Fugazi, and you need to do it right now." That's all I got to say about that, buckle up buttercup it's going to be a bumpy ride...

SOTD 1/28: Girls ARE the devil.....just ask No Through Road

Thanks to Indie Rock Cafe for today's find: good messy rawk music proclaiming the Luciferic tendencies of the female species. And just in time, too, cause I'd been getting a little soft and folk-y around here. No Through Road's new album, Winner, was recently released - go pick it up, cause who doesn't love the sloppy skronky rawk?

Girls Are The Devil by No Through Road

and for your viewing pleasure...

SOTD 1/26: some days? voices just knock me out. Lissie will knock you out, too...

Growing up, I always dreamed of being a rock star. Didn't you? Didn't everyone? But growing up in a working class town on the Mississsippi, I faced the facts: no one I knew ever ever ever made it in music. Ever. and you could argue that today's music from Lissie isn't the kind that "makes it" either, but here's what I know - this girl's voice is simply amazing. There's just no other word to describe it. I remember once, years ago, driving alone late at night and hearing Cowboy Junkies cover of 'Sweet Jane', and this is kinda like that. Only ten times better. And the kicker? Lissie grew up in a town about 30 miles downriver from my hometown, totally shattering the myth that people from where I'm from don't get to 'make it'...whatever that means.

Now, go sit in a dark corner and let this just wash over you...

by Lissie

Lissie's debut EP "Why You Runnin'" is out now on Fat Possum. Go buy it.

OH, and here's her latest Daytrotter session. Turns out? Daytrotter's ALSO from Rock Island, her hometown. Serendipity, no?

THERE USED TO BE MUSIC LINKS ON THIS PAGE, BUT THE DMCA MADE ME TAKE THEM DOWN. TOO BAD. SHE'S TALENTED. NOW YOU WON'T GET TO HEAR IT.

SOTD 1/25: Woodpigeon - indie pop for an indie world

What's not to like? smart writing. check. excellently produced. check. good singer, great band. check. it's all here. thanks to Quick Before It Melts for the find, as always, quality music from up north.

Empty-Hall Sing-Along by Woodpigeon

and a little video bonus:

I Live A Lot Of Places by Woodpigeon

SOTD 1/20: The Holloways rock. and roll. really well.

I'm not even going to lie, I don't know much about The Holloways, other than this: Dancefloor is a damn good song. I know it's from an album released in 2006 (So This Is Great Britain?) and that they had a release last year that got some mixed reviews. But you know what? The blog is called Song of the Day for a reason, man. It's not album of the year, or download of the week, it's one song, one day. and you know what? this song rules today, so check it out...

Dancefloor by The Holloways

here it is as a video treat where mad max babes wrestle like it's a 15 year old boy's daydream...

SOTD 1/14: This time it's for real - new Matt Pond PA

remember a while back when I posted some Matt Pond PA and totally screwed the pooch and it was old music and I thought it was new and I lost a hundred hipster points with the cool crowd? Well....those days are gone, cap'n, cause sure 'nuff, here's some new Matt Pond PA, Starting is the new 7" single release from The Dark Leaves, which will be coming out shortly. Check it out...

Starting by Matt Pond PA

SOTD 1/13: The Bubblegum Complex

In a long morning of attempting to work, and mostly failing, but succeeding mightily at aimlessly surfing music sites, I came across a video from Those Darlins, whom we took a look at a while back, and noticed on the Vimeo site a band called The Bubblegum Complex with a video produced by Tugboat Productions. I know, convoluted, right? So anyway, I click on the video and it's this nugget of brilliance:

I'll Take the South

The Bubblegum Complex "I'll Take The South" from Tugboat Productions on Vimeo.

Which leads me to looking for more music from this band I know absolutely nothing about, except that they alternate quiet kinda quirky parts with full on rave up RAWK, which, it's well documented, I love with all my heart. So...try these bad boys on for size:

Hey What by The Bubblegum Complex

Jazzercise by The Bubblegum Complex

SOTD 1/12: Back from Hiatus with Phantogram

It's been a while since we've updated around here, and what a way to get back on the daily posting train...for fans of bands like Portishead, with that ethereal vocal style and dub-like trip hop sound, we bring you...Phantogram, a duo with Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, use loops, samples and, in Mouthful of Diamonds, a startlingly pure sounding Stratocaster, to make this gray snowy day turn good...I love it as a change of pace for my constant need for bands to bring the RAWK...they're perfect for putting on the new ear buds and just chilling out and getting some work done...

When I'm Small by Phantogram

Some video treats:

Mouthful of Diamonds




Running From The Cops