[by Kenyata Sullivan]

Here are four things I’m truly enthusiastic about, and perhaps they might not all have been created this year, but they were all new to me in ‘06. So, in no particular order:

1. FOUR VOLTS – “Triple Your Work Force”. There are tons of bands trying to inherit a forward-thinking mantle while building off the Pixies, the Buzzcocks, Gang Of Four, etc, but I think this is the only one I’ve heard that feels like a completely genuine pseudo-surf-explosivo-apocalypse. Fucking love it. Start with “Heartworm” (truly one of the great singles of the past few years, the cd sounds so much better than the MySpace, buy it), and work your way in.

Four Volts “Heartworm (ooh ooh Song)”
Four Volts “Heartworm (ooh ooh Song)”
Four Volts – Official Site
Four Volts – MySpace Site

2. JOSÈ GONZÀLEZ – “Stay In The Shade”. Hipsters, don’t be dissuaded by this guy being so damn visible. This guy is for real. Think Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, and if you’re fucking superhip, Arthur Russell’s late night 8-track recordings from when he came home from the bars half-drunk and barely half-alive. This is beautiful, private, patient, passionate music. Embrace it, it deserves it.

Josè González “Sensing Owls (AOL Music UK)”
Josè González – Official Site
Josè González – MySpace Site

also: Josè González Live on AOL Music UK

3. HERO PATTERN – “Don’t Even Miss Me”. One of the great modern rock songs of the last decade from one of the great New Jersey rock bands of the last decade. Hero Pattern are to New Jersey what The Suburbs were to Minneapolis twenty years ago, and I really hope that one day they get the shot they deserve.

Hero Pattern “Don’t Even Miss Me”
Hero Pattern – Official Site
Hero Pattern – MySpace Site

4. KEITH JOHN ADAMS – “Pip”. Holy shit! Real songwriting, genuinely interesting instrumentation, fantastic arrangements, all of which make for a disc I can listen to over and over again, and still repeatedly smile like a grinning idiot. Very British, very enunciated, hell, even very Teardrop Explodes at times! A pulsating heartfelt recommendation from me, indeed.

Keith John Adams “Never Look Back”
Keith John Adams – Official Site
Keith John Adams – MySpace Site

Kenyata plays guitar and is the lead singer for the Wilmington, North Carolina based band The Majestic Twelve

The Majestic Twelve – Official Site
The Majestic Twelve – MySpace Site

also: Forget Indie vs. Major: An Interview with The Majestic Twelve’s Kenyata Sullivan
also: The Majestic Twelve “Schizophrenology”