Thursday Bears: New Vampire Weekend Video - Cousins

Vampire Weekend debuted the video for "Cousins" earlier today, from the group's upcoming second studio album Contra. The two and a half-minute song is short, quick, punchy, and filled with the fistful of quirks that the Ivy League alums made famous on their 2008 self-title debut.

Sure, "Cousins" doesn't offer the same heart-warming indie pop that "A-Punk" or even the new "Horchata" brought, but it hardly takes away from the merits of the soft surf-like sounds that still remain enchanting.

The new album will certainly be met by the same backlash comments that polluted the band's first album, with people (they already started at Stereogum) saying that the new music is "terrible." A bit of an overstatement, but who's to say that the anti-Vampire Weekend groupies overstate their claims, when that's all they do in the first place.

Contra is scheduled for release January 12 (11th in the UK) via XL Recordings.

Vampire Weekend - Cousins



Vampire Weekend - Horchata - MP3

Wednesday Bears: Neko Case on Fallon

A couple weeks after Neko Case's Middle Cyclone claimed the top slot of the Amazon editors' version of 2009's top 100 albums, the Virginia-born case hit the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon stage to perform the album's single, "Red Tide."

The part-time New Pornographers member and solo artist is currently on the final leg of her current U.S. tour, hitting the American Southwest before she departs for Australia.

Neko Case - Red Tide (Live on Fallon)

Tuesday Bears: New Beach House

Baltimore dream-pop creators Beach House are gearing up for their Sub Pop Records debut and third studio album with Teen Dream, scheduled for release January 26 of next year.

Last year's album Devotion (via Carpark Records) was an immense progress for the duo, but word is that Teen Dream takes the serene, synth sounds of the band to a whole other level. The album's first single, "Norway," still has the well-known punches that Beach House regularly uses (poppy synths, dreamy progressions with subtle percussion's), but the chorus enchants beyond the group's previous work. A must listen.

Beach House - Norway - MP3

Monday Bears: Real Estate

Apologies for the long, unregulated break(s) that I went on last Thursday and Friday. As I usually do with my short-winded apologies, I'd like to just sever all memories from that time period and continue as I normally would, without any regard to my lazy lack of offerings.

Real Estate, a New Jersey band slowly making a name for themselves amongst the swirling new crop of acts like Best Coast and and Smith Westerns that have no directly discernible genre to plug them in to.

The video for their single "Black Lake" is not so much an actual music video, assuming the band has not yet reached that portion of their career. The group performed in front of the Tunnelvision crowd (presented by Chocolate Bobka), sponsored by Underwater Peoples and Twosyllable Records.

Real Estate - Black Lake



Real Estate - Green River - MP3