Weekend Round-up #23/5 - Arcade Fire, Toro y Moi, Menomena, The Drums

The first taster of Chaz Bundick aka Toro y Moi's new sound drops July 20 (US) and July 19 (UK) via Carpark records, in the form of the Leave Everywhere 7". He's taken an organic and courageous turn and chosen to alter his classically overdubbed lo-fi electro sound for something categorically similar, however this time using entirely standard instruments. Lo-fi electro turns lo-fi guitar pop, with results sure to create a divide in the minds of most fans. New single is out July 20th, his second album drops sometime later this year. He's out on tour this year with Caribou, Phoenix and YACHT as well as having booked festival dates across the US and Europe this Summer. As far as I'm concerned, he's a Bestival definite.

Toro y Moi - Leave Everywhere (MP3) (due July 20) (Causers of This - Amazon)

The idea of Menomena's return is one that fills me with excitement on paper, however on listening to the actual new material (so far limited to one capitalised preview track - FIVE LITTLE ROOMS), i can't say i'm quite so enthralled. The new track, in my view, attempts to play Menomena's Portland quirkiness and lyrical unpredictability to its advantage, with controversial results. The music is not quite so interesting as they've shown in the past (Friend and Foe was stunning), and I can't help but feel the disjointed lyrics are somewhat 'forced'. See for yourself below, but don't expect to be blown away. It appears the new album is shaping up to be better visually than it is musically.

Menomena - FIVE LITTLE ROOMS (MP3) (Friend and Foe - Amazon)

California surf-pop duo The Drums are all set to act as face for the surf-revival movement in the UK this Summer - having already footed the bill of the UK NME Tour in March and built hype off the back of their Summertime EP. The full-length follow-up to that breakthrough record is going to be self-titled and will drop June 15, 2010. There's a few tracks floating around the blogs and 'Forever and Ever Amen' (not to be confused with the Randy Travis song of the same name) is one of them - providing us with Beach Boys-esque surfer-dance of the highest quality, with an added hint of melancholy and come-down for good measure.

The Drums - Forever and Ever Amen (MP3) (from The Drums, due June 15, 2010 - Amazon)

The Arcade Fire also revealed two new previews of two new tracks from their new album via a nice little widget from their website. You can sample the previews by clicking the play button, but if you feel like applying some manual labour to hear the new songs, you can spin the record yourself. Suburbs is a lovely little She & Him piano pop song, contrasted by the manic punk overtones of Month of May. Go on, give it a spin below.