November 17 Stuff We Like

Eleven Pond – Bas Relief

NEW BAND OF THE WEEK! Insound staffers seek out new music constantly. Between the hundreds of music submissions we get per week and the new bands and labels we’re always reaching out to, we stumble upon some really great stuff. Each week, we will be picking one lesser-known band that we particularly love. This week, John goes all “best new reissue” on us with coldwave synthpoppers Eleven Pond.

So first of all, this isn’t really a new release, but a re-issue that came out this year (on Dark Entries Records). And the way this record came about, according to the blogosphinternet, is a great story / new music model example. Self-released in 1986 in upstate NY, in an edition of five hundred copies on vinyl; more recently a blog (A Viable Commercial) ripped the vinyl and a lot of people loved it; original band member also found the tracks online and was psyched more people were hearing the music; blogger’s friend decides to start a record label and re-masters the record (on vinyl again, natch) with beautiful (new) silkscreened art. Everybody wins (and the band even makes money)! It’s basically the same process that got Dave Bixby’s Ode to Quetzalcoatl into my eager little hands, and that’s probably been my favorite reissue of the year (besides Townes, obviously). So what does it sound like? Well, those of you newly (or old-ly) into that dark gothic coldwave sound should be pretty excited. Sweet bass lines, dramatic new romantic vocals, and GREAT synths – very dancy overall. And most importantly when it comes to re-issues, incredibly solid songwriting that certainly deserves to be heard again. Definitely for fans of New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode, poppier Cold Cave stuff, and probably more precisely a bunch of other obscure likeminded bands that I know nothing about, ha. I’ll throw in a plug for Soror Dolorosa too (more goth), which we don’t carry yet but is SO. GOOD. And hopefully more people out there will take the initiative like Dark Entries did and keep digging up those forgotten gems!

– By John Koch