In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think of these three under the radar musical groups…

Lissie

MySpace / iLike

I know what you’re thinking, didn’t we already write a Blips on someone named Lissie? While technically true – that was Lissie Trullie – this Lissie (full name Lissie Maurus) sounds nothing like the downtown New York rock we’ve previously written about. With her unassuming girl-next-door looks Lissie puts out an enchanting and powerful blend of Gospel-infused, dusty Americana that’s influenced by equal parts the blues of her native state of Illinois and the sun-baked folk sounds of her current home California.

READ ON for more on Lissie, Morningsides and Local Natives…

Her wise beyond her years sound can be heard all throughout her recently released Fat Possum debut EP Why You Runnin’ – which was produced by Band Of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds. Lissie recently wrapped up holding down the opening slot for Ray LaMontagne on his solo tour, and has a handful of dates already scheduled for next year.

- Jeffrey Greenblatt

Morningsides

MySpace / Website

The four members of Morningsides from Chicago and Winfield grew up listening to as much Hank Williams Sr. and Bob Dylan as they did James Brown and Guns N’ Roses. The result is a warm, honest approach that at once sounds like something completely new and strangely familiar. The music is clean and raucous country-twinged rock that would be equally at home in a dive bar as it would be in a classic theater. Their recordings sound dangerously close to vinyl, and that same touch and attention to detail comes out during live performances.

Songwriting responsibilities are shared between two of the founding members, Tom Perona and R.M. Racky. Both are multi-instrumentalists, and both contribute heavily to the band’s recorded efforts. Perona’s funk and pop sensibilities comes out in his bass playing and songwriting while Racky’s psychedelic take on swooning pedal steel and guitar makes their music easy to recognize, but hard to categorize. James Scott, the latest addition to the lineup, plays a rock solid rhythm guitar and also pulls triple duty as a record producer and engineer, helping to craft what has become the band’s signature sound. Tim Rimbos’ mathematical, lively drumming pulls the various furies together. The Morningsides are a living example of schizophrenic rock, rooted in laughter at their own pain in a way few others can pull off outside of the Midwest.

- Benji Feldheim

Local Natives

MySpace / Website

Pay attention folks as you’re going to be seeing the name Local Natives getting tossed around a lot in the coming months as they are primed to be one the “break out” bands of 2010 – so remember where you heard about them first. The LA-based act draws you in with its combination of hypnotic propulsive drumming and acid drenched post-punk harmonies that is reminiscent of both The Dodos and White Rabbits and is getting a lot of play on my iPod at the moment.

The Local Natives will see their debut album Gorilla Manor get a stateside release via Frenchkiss in early February of next year – which includes a fantastic take on the Talking Heads song Warning Sign (they also do a killer cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s Cecelia). The band currently has a lengthy European tour lined up that kicks off in mid-January that will keep them busy into March.

- Jeffrey Greenblatt

HT Staff

Hidden Track was started in October of 2006 and features a team of dedicated contributors from across the country. This article was written by one of the newest members of our team or was a collaboration by more than one contributor. Want to contribute to Hidden Track? Send us a pitch to scott at glidemagazine dot com.

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