Release Me: Dark Knights Of Camelot, Grizzly Bear, Young Widows

We could really go for some Manowar right about now. You know, for laughs.

The big release everyone’s talking about today is Dead Weather’s Horehound. But since Warner Bros. has its fingers all over it - that beast distributes Jack White’s Third Man Records - we’re keeping our distance.

Instead, we’ll shine our flashlight first on a li’l release that’ll likely go under the radar: Dark Knights of Camelot’s Hurrication EP, dropping on teeny-tiny Mississippi label Olympic Records (great name, right?). We’ve heard two of the tracks, “Purple Undertones” and “Duple,” and they’re both about as ensconcing as pop-rock can get. Slow, carefully mapped passages stretch through both but are interrupted by urgent blasts of guitar - and all the while, the Julian Casablancas-like vocals are as fixed as a lighthouse. Even the noodlings are satisfying. Try “Undertones” on for size:

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In the meantime, on Venus, Care Bears on Fire are delivering a big ol’ dose of riot grrrl-ish pop via Get Over It! (S-Curve). Feast your ears on one of the songs, “Superteen”:

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Indispensable lyric: “Yeah, my car is mega-hot/ If you don’t like it, then you’re not.”

C’mon, how can you not love these lasses?

What’s that, you say? It’s more free downloads you’re after? Well then, here’s another:

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That would be “Black Tears” from Miss Derringer, an L.A. clan that is so obsessed with the ’60s that they based their new album around a mob war that took place in Boston almost 50 years ago. If you’ve been waiting for a sunnier revival of Phil Spector’s sound than the Raveonettes’ dreary version, look no further. Miss Derringer get extra credit for having snagged Blondie drummer Clem Burke to sit behind the kit for Winter Hill, which is coming courtesy Nickel & Dime/Triple X.

B-lining it from girl-group pop to hellishly loud, pulverizing heavy rock, Young Widows are putting the finishing touches on their Temporary Residence Limited 7-inch series with one last split. After hooking up with Pelican, Melt-Banana and Bonnie “Prince” Billy for the previous installments, the Widows have wedded themselves to My Disco. Like the other 7-inches, this one features two exclusive songs and is limited to 2,000 pressings. You might want to wear your earplugs for this one.

And finally, we’re trying to figger out which Insound exclusive is cooler: their LP+MP3 of Grizzly Bear’s Horn of Plenty or deluxe vinyl reissue of Richard Hell and the Voidoids‘ Destiny Street Repaired. From a collector’s standpoint, it’d have to be Destiny, but today we’ve been letting Grizzly’s 2004 debut wash over us once more, and it feels like we’re being born again.

Releases that have caught our eye and/or ear this week:

Arsonists Get All the Girls - Portals (Century Media)
   Read all about it right here.
Care Bears on Fire - Get Over It! (S-Curve)
Clutch - Strange Cousins From the West (Weathermaker)
   Read all about it right here.
Constants - The Foundation, The Machine, The Ascension (The Mylene Sheath)
Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols ARE Sound (Beat the World)
Dark Knights of Camelot - Hurrication EP (Olympic)
Miss Derringer - Winter Hill (Nickel + Dime/Triple X)
Now, Now Every Children - Cars (Afternoon)
The Polyamorous Affair - Bolshevik Disco (Manimal Vinyl)
Suffocation - Blood Oath (Nuclear Blast)
Summer Cats - Songs for Tuesdays (Slumberland)
Warrior Soul - Destroy the War Machine (Acetate)
We Were Gentlemen - Loving Hell (Century Media)
Young Widows - 7-inch series (Temporary Residence Limited)
VA - Up End Atom: A Tribute to Atom and His Package (Hartless Hind Record/MVD Audio)