Independent Music Discoveries, Issue #24

*UPDATE*

The Royal Chains (Issue # 10) - Pop / Rock - New York, USA
Featured some months ago in regards to their free album Umbrella, the Royal Chains have a fabulous new single out: "Wolf". The sound is noticeably cleaner and more focused than that heard on their debut album (though I do love that for it's grittiness too), summery and catchy as ever!
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Francois Peglau - Pop / Rock - Loreto, Peru

Easily one of the most enjoyable music submissions I've ever gotten here (I've said that line before, haven't I? I mean it whenever I say it!), Francois Pelgau is an exceptionally talented Peruvian musician offering his album for free stream and download on Last.fm. "I'll never be Alain Delon" ("a sort of parody/homage to the French new wave") and "One minute to midnight dream (so sad)" are lovely highlights here, poppy and delicate and ethereal. Very highly recommended! Plus he's got the aim of having a music video for each of his songs - watch the video for "I'll never be Alain Delon" at AFIN Music Videos!

Middle Distance Runner - Soul / Rock / Jungle - Washington DC, United States

Another fine Engine Room Recordings artist (I did a label feature on ERR a few months back), Middle Distance Runner have just released their new albun The Sun & Earth. With a Wilco-esque aesthetic of blending in countrified-folk in unexpected ways (which you can hear in "The Fury"), the band also toss in an unexpected moodiness, and even a bit of beat-psychedelia (check out the stop-animation video for "The Unbeliever", directed by Maxwell Sorenson).

The Black Hollies - Rock / Other / Rock - New Jersey, USA

Speaking of beat-psychedelia, that is the very world Jersey City's Black Hollies live in. The selection of 45rpm singles that "get played very much during the group's "Relax and Absorb" time" give a good clue to their sound (Small Faces, Wimple Winch, and Marvelettes to name a few - I wouldn't be surprised if these guys were familiar with the Pebbles compilations, either). Softly Towards the Light is their third studio album release, recorded to reflect their live sound. Take a listen to "Gloomy Monday Morning"!