New Generationals - "You Got Me"

Everybody Taste's favorite New Orleans band Generationals released a free four-song EP today dubbed Medium Rarities. While the EP's title hints at a bit of summer barbecue flavor, the standout track "You Got Me" is really a work of headphone art. The pulsating keyboard chords and light synth lead purr and bask in perfectly concocted, ear-pleasing tones. In fact, they sound so good, the band didn't even need to write a verse. Instead "You Got Me" consists of a chorus and a few talky samples—and it works. Nobody's reinventing the wheel here, but the Generationals do mix one hell of a fine cocktail. Download the full EP right here in exchange for an email address.

Generationals - "You Got Me" (from Medium Rarities)

Au Ras Au Ras - "Jon"

Generationals drummer Tess Brunet recently posted an unmastered cut from her forthcoming solo debut as Au Ras Au Ras. I've been keeping a close eye on the project since helping Kickstart it back in October, and then perhaps even more so after learning Everybody Taste favorite Seth Kauffman of Floating Action would be producing playing on the record. "Jon," set on a train with a lovelorn drifting narrator, is a promising taste of things to come with a raw bass and soft organ riding on top of steady uptempo drums and Brunet's honeyed intimate vocals. More details and a release date to come. For now, follow Brunet on Twitter or Facebook for updates.

Review: Generationals :: Actor-Caster

Actor-Caster is a collection of pop confections of the highest sugary order: honey-dripped melodies, choruses that crave to be sung out open windows, and foot-tapping rhythms all colored with a timeless and genre-spanning palette of tones and influences. From their 2009 debut Con Law to 2010's Trust EP and now Actor-Caster, New Orleans' Generationals have maintained an astonishingly consistent and high level of creativity. 26 songs into their young careers and the songwriting core of Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner have yet to make one false move. Instead, the duo have demonstrated a near insatiable appetite for explosive and dynamic pop music.

Video: Generationals - "Ten-Twenty-Ten"

Ther are few things over at Everybody Taste that we love more than New Orleans' Generationals. Here's the opening track, "Ten-Twenty-Ten," off the band's forthcoming LP Actor-Caster. The album is due out March 29th on the consistently great Park The Van. Now do yourself a favor and bounce along to this fine pop gem.

Generationals - "Greenleaf" (from Actor-Caster)

"Ten-Twenty-Ten" by Generationals by forcefieldpr

Review:: Floating Action: Desert Etiquette

Let’s talk sports analogies. If Seth Kauffman were a basketball player, he'd be the underappreciated sixth man that comes off the bench in the fourth quarter to sink the winning basket. He may not be a recognized star just yet, but his skills more than speak for themselves: stick Kauffman with any instrument—sitar, drums, guitar—in almost any genre—soul, reggae, rock, folk—and he'll create something classic, albeit in his own distinctly laid back and loose manner. Playing nearly every instrument under the moniker Floating Action, Kauffman has already recorded one track-for-track classic album and his newest release, Desert Etiquette, shouldn’t be labeled any different.

Generationals - "Greenleaf"

After delivering the goods with their hotly received Trust EP, New Orleans' Generationals are now gearing up for another release—their second full-length, Actor-Caster. The album, due out on March 29th, was recorded over the summer in the dank humidity of Washington, DC with Con Law producer Daniel Black. It's clear from our first taste of the album, the persistent jangling piano pop of "Greenleaf," that not even DC's stifling heat could contain this group's tremendous pop chops. Dig into the new track, courtesy of Spin, along with an excellent cover by the great Floating Action.

Generationals - "Greenleaf" (from Actor-Caster)
Floating Action - "Victim of Trap" (Generationals cover)

The Generationals - Trust EP

Independent rock bands from the South don't get the kind of national attention and press burgeoning bands from Brooklyn and Los Angeles do. But the music, most often, is just as good. Bands like North Carolina's Floating Action and Love Language and Louisiana's Generationals are creating intelligent and sophisticated contemporary pop music that bends genres and expectations just as it simply and blissfully pleases. The Generationals, after breaking out last year with their debut Con Law and its deliriously catchy single "When They Fight, They Fight," should now be poised to catch on fire. Their new Trust EP returns with the same fiercely catchy vocal melodies, hooks and adoration for Phil Spector's "wall of sound" that made Con Law so addictive—and then it takes that formula a step further. Giant pulsing synthesizers, dynamic and fascinating drumming that circles the recording space, and perfectly executed bass lines that pop and dance with a subtle and timely funk are added here to create a detailed and personally curated sound wholly unique and devastatingly catchy. The Trust EP will be one of the more fun experiences you'll have listening to a record this year.

The Generationals - "Trust" (from Trust EP)

Stream: The Generationals - "Carrying The Torch" (from Trust EP)

Help Kickstart Tess Brunet's Au Ras Au Ras

It's not often fans get the opportunity to directly support and fund an artist's music. But New Orleans musician Tess Brunet—the drummer for Everybody Taste favorites Generationals—is short on cash and needs help Kickstarting her debut record as Au Ras Au Ras. If you need convincing, check out a demo from Brunet along with her homemade promotional video for the project. Donate just one dollar and you'll receive a digital download of the recording when it's finished. Not a bad deal. Head to Kickstarter to check out the rest of the contribution scale's prizes.

Stream: Tess Brunet - "Untitled" (demo)


Generationals - "Trust" (from Trust EP)

Generationals - "Trust"

The Generationals—the New Orleans Phil Spector-loving band responsible for the fabulous 2009 record Con Law—have returned with an even richer sound for their second release, the Trust EP. Recorded in Washington, DC, title-track "Trust" is the best ear candy I've heard all year: an infectious amalgamation of hypnotic bass riffs, swelling guitar chords and sharp rhythmic solos that join and add texture to the band's already hook-laden jangly pop sound. It's appalling Con Law didn't launch these southern gentlemen into stardom, but with this EP and the equally insatiable "Either Way" featured on the soundtrack for the Hollywood rom-com Going The Distance, it seems a wider audience for these gems is all but inevitable. Trust is out November 9th on the always excellent Park The Van.

Generationals - "Trust" (from Trust EP)

Generationals - "Our Time 2 Shine" (live acoustic)

The Morning Benders' Big Echo has garnered a great deal of attention lately for their taste for Phil Spector's classic "wall of sound." Last year, New Orleans group the Generationals had the same idea when they released Con Law—a great but somehow under appreciated record. I named Con Law's irresistible single "When They Fight, They Fight" one of the best songs of 2009, but right now it's another Con Law tune I can't shake—"Our Time 2 Shine." I woke up with the melody in my head early Friday morning, whistled it all day, and now a day later, it's still banging around my head. If you like the bare acoustic version above—featuring a charming melodica riff—then I highly recommend the album version. You can stream all of Con Law for free at the band's web site. Then please proceed to buy it.

Generationals - "Our Time 2 Shine" (live acoustic)

Generationals - "When They Fight, They Fight"

Blowing brass, hand clapping, a down beat piano, and a rhythmic racket of banging bottles and tambourines lend New Orleans band the Generationals a Phil Spector-worthy wall of sound for "When They Fight, They Fight"—a lighthearted and endearing romp through doo wop and 1960s soul. Comprised of former Eames Era guitarists Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner, the Generationals are a lo-fi pop group with a large and variegated appetite tuned towards a rich past.

Generationals - "When They Fight, They Fight" (from Con Law)