The Squawkatiel's Dozen #3

Here is the first Squawkatiel's Dozen of March! I meant to get this one up earlier but I've been way too busy lately. Once again, I bring you 6 songs you can download for free, and 6 more that aren't available to download for free but are still worth a listen.

Downloads:

1. First up is PT Walkley's catchy song "Leeches", the second single to be released from his new album Shoulders. This song has very funny, clever lyrics and reminds me a little of They Might Be Giants or Jonathan Coulton, but at the same time offers plenty of melodic hooks.



2. La Sera (Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls) is releasing her third album, Hour of the Dawn, through Hardly Art Records on May 13th. Here is the first single, "Losing to the Dark".



3. Ghost Modern is a new band from Boston, and they remind me a lot of the band Stellastarr* (who had an excellent debut album). Here is "Miles Away", my favorite of the three songs on their Soundcloud page.



4. British band Johnny Foreigner are back with a new album You Can Do Better, which comes out next week. Here is their first single from it, "Le Sigh". Recommended if you like Los Campesinos!



5. Ten Sleep are a Canadian band who have released a couple of singles so far. Here is their song "Lion Cub", a catchy melodic indie rock song, with a sound somewhere between Local Natives, Minus the Bear and Two Door Cinema Club.



6. Keeping with the lion theme, here is the song "King Leo" by the British band Hi-Tide. You will need to give your email address if you want to download this song, which you can find here.



Streams:

1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have returned with their third album Days of Abandon, which will be released on. Their 2009 self-titled debut was my favorite album of that year, and their sophomore release Belong was very good as well, so expect to hear a lot from the new album on my show this spring. Here is the first single, "Simple and Sure":



2. Four Phonica are a Ukrainian band who have just released their debut self-titled EP, and from it is their latest single "Sabotage". This song sounds a lot different than anything out there right now: industrial rock similar to bands popular in the late 90's (they remind me of the band Garbage in particular) but bring this style of music into the 2014 with some modern production. The lyrics in the chorus are a little strange, but offer some vivid imagery.



3. Klaxons are back with their first album since 2010's Surfing the Void. The new album, Love Frequency will be released on June 2. From it, here is the song "Children of the Sun" which was produced by Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers.




4. Wends are a Finnish band I featured as one of Flight of the Squawkatiel's Soundcloud Artist of the Week a few months ago. They have released a brand new single called "Love or Let Go".



5. Dream pop band A Sunny Day in Glasgow (who are actually from Philadelphia) will be back with a new album sometime this year. Here is their song "In Love With Useless (The Timeless Geometry In The Tradition of Passing". This song has a lot going on but there is a beautiful song underneath all the crazy sounds.



6. Finally, on a completely different note from the last song, Manchester Orchestra are back with their first album since 2011. COPE will be released on April 1. From it here is the new song "Every Stone".



I promise the next Squawkatiel's Dozen will up much quicker than this one. Also, if you missed the last two installments of the Squawkatiel's Dozen, you can find #1 here and #2 here.