Heartbreaking Bravery

@heartbreaking_bravery | heartbreakingbraveryllc@gmail.com | @hbreakbravery

Tag: Princess

Staring Down the Sun (Mixtape)

IMG_2362

After a whirlwind catch-up session saw around 80 new posts go up in the past month, this site’s falling back into old habits. Namely, the preservation of implementing some sort of mixtape for every at every 50-post interval. With summer officially kicking off next week, it felt appropriate to create a mix in anticipation of the increasingly warm weather. Somehow,  Heartbreaking Bravery’s now also 900 posts into its existence and some sort of commentary felt fitting as well. To that end, the 25 songs selected below are mostly tracks that have been featured — in some way or another — on this site throughout the course of those 900 posts (including Audacity’s “Hole in the Sky”, which was the the focal point of Heartbreaking Bravery’s first post).

A lot of the songs in Staring Down the Sun are songs that have carried me through previous summers, propelling me forward or comforting me with warmth  and familiarity. It’s those two traits, warmth and familiarity, that are underlined most emphatically on this mix as they’re two of the season’s most consistently definitive draws. As such, Staring Down the Sun is a mix that’s heavily populated by friends, old and new, to sustain the kind of camaraderie that’s so often reinvigorated by sense of contentment and desire for exploration that frequently accompanies the season.

Open the windows, call up some friends, start a band, stoke the embers of the fire in the backyard, enjoy the scenery, travel to a new city, go swimming, or do whatever it takes to enjoy the shifting weather. Whatever the option, there’s now a soundtrack to accompany those moments available for the taking. Grab it and go.

Staring Down the Sun‘s tracklist can be found below the embed. Underneath the tracklist are hyperlinks to the preceding 100 posts. Enjoy.

1. Used Kids – Midwest Midsummer
2. PUP – DVP
3. Audacity – Hole in the Sky
4. Patsy’s Rats – Rock N’ Roll Friend
5. Goodnight Loving – Dead Fish On the Banks
6. PURPLE 7 – Wise Up
7. The Marked Men – Fix My Brain
8. Screaming Females – Wishing Well
9. Good Grief – Cold Compress
10. Jay Som – I Think You’re Alright
11. Icarus Himself – Digging Holes
12. Bent Shapes – New Starts In Old Dominion
13. Jawbreaker Reunion – Friends Theme Song
14. Midnight Reruns – King of Pop
15. Dogs On Acid – Make It Easy
16. Sleeping in the Aviary – Love Song
17. Swearin’ – Hundreds and Thousands
18. Sweet John Bloom – Aging In Place
19. Meat Wave – Cosmic Zoo
20. Mo Troper – Princess
21. Mike Krol – Left Out (Attn: SoCal Garage Rockers)
22. Royal Headache – High
23. Weaves – One More
24. Tenement – Near You
25. Swim Team – Teenage Brain

++

HB800: Watch This: The Best of 2016’s First Quarter, Vol. VI
HB801: Watch This: The Best of 2016’s First Quarter, Vol. VII
HB802: Tenement – Bruised Music Vol. 2 (Album Review)
HB803: Watch This: Vol. 120
HB804: Casey Jordan Weissbuch – Dream (Stream)
HB805: Parquet Courts – Human Performance (Stream)
HB806: Minor Victories – Folk Arp (Music Video)
HB807: Lady Bones – Weight (Stream)
HB808: Ratboys – Not Again (Stream)
HB809: Summer Cannibals – Full Of It (Music Video)
HB810: Faye – Chow Chow (Stream)
HB811: Yucky Duster – Gofer (Stream)
HB812: Catbus – Fracas (Music Video)
HB813: Hudson Bell – Box of Bones (Stream)
HB814: Dark Thoughts (Album Review)
HB815: Eskimeaux – Year of the Rabbit (EP Review)
HB816: The Side Eyes – I Don’t Want To Go To School (Stream)
HB817: Mercury Girls – Ariana (Stream)
HB818: Mitski – Your Best American Girl (Music Video)
HB819: Mo Troper – Star Wars (Stream)
HB820: What A Difference A Month Makes (Full Streams)
HB821: What A Difference A Month Makes (Music Videos)
HB822: What A Difference A Month Makes (Streams)
HB823: Patio – Luxury (EP Review)
HB824: Greys – Outer Heaven (Album Review)
HB825: Alexis Taylor – I’m Ready (Stream)
HB826: Lady Bones – Ice Cream (Stream)
HB827: Deerhoof – Plastic Thrills (Stream)
HB828: Ratboys – Not Again (Music Video)
HB829: Told Slant – Tsunami (Music Video)
HB830: Ought – Beautiful Blue Sky (Music Video)
HB831: EERA – Drive With Fear (Music Video)
HB832: Patsy’s Rats – Rock N’ Roll Friend (Music Video)
HB833: WRAY – Pined (Music Video)
HB834: Mutual Benefit – Lost Dreamers (Music Video)
HB835: Faye – Ancient Bones (Stream)
HB836: Big Thief – Humans (Stream)
HB837: Twist – Soaked (Stream)
HB838: Jackal Onasis – The New Ron (Stream)
HB839: Casket Girls – Tears of A Clown (Stream)
HB840: Diarrhea Planet – Bob Dylan’s Grandma (Stream)
HB841: Cadet Kelly – Throttle You (Stream)
HB842: Beverly – The Blue Swell (Album Review)
HB843: Nano Kino – Surfing on the Void (EP Review)
HB844: Devon Welsh – Down the Mountain (Album Review)
HB845: Frankie Teardrop – Hell Yep (Album Review)
HB846: Major Leagues – Dream States (EP Review)
HB847: Dogheart – Real Mood (EP Review)
HB848: Lady Bones – Terse (EP Review)
HB849: Mulligrub – Soft Grudge (Album Review)
HB850: Plush – Please (EP Review)
HB851: Mo Troper – Beloved (Album Review)
HB852: Color TV – Anybody’s Girl (Music Video)
HB853: Faye – Faye (EP Review)
HB854: Lonely Ghost – Funereal (Album Review)
HB855: Happyness – SB’s Truck (Stream)
HB856: Mercury Girls – All That Heaven Allows (Stream)
HB857: Big Thief – Paul (Stream)
HB858: Charly Bliss – Ruby (Music Video, Live Video)
HB859: M. T. Foyer – All I Wanna Do Is Love You + Let’s Make Something Happen (Stream)
HB860: Petite League – Zookeeper (Stream)
HB861: Woahnows – Mess (Music Video)
HB862: NE-HI – Buried on the Moon (Stream)
HB863: Hollowtapes – Tall (EP Premiere)
HB864: Oceanator – Sunrise (Song Premiere)
HB865: Mitski – Happy (Music Video)
HB866: Birth (Defects) – Hanshin
HB867: Mock Orange – Put the Kid on the Sleepy Horse (Album Review)
HB868: Told Slant – High Dirge (Stream)
HB869: Young Jesus – Void As Lob (Single Review, Live Video)
HB870: Watch This: A Long List of Honorable Mentions from A Brief Stretch of Time
HB871: Watch This: A Full Session of Full Sessions
HB872: Naked Hour – Always on the Weekend (Stream)
HB873: Gorgeous Bully – Just Like Before (Stream)
HB874: Jay Som – I Think You’re Alright (Stream)
HB875: Quilt – Padova (Music Video)
HB876: Watch This: Another Full Session
HB877: Splitting at the Break: The Live Videos of 2016’s First Half
HB878: Watch This: Resuscitations, Pt. I
HB879: Watch This: Resuscitations, Pt. II
HB880: Trophy Dad/Barbara Hans (Split Single Review)
HB881: Hater – Radius (Stream)
HB882: Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. I
HB883: Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. II
HB884: Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. III
HB885: Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. IV
HB886: Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. V
HB887: Tenement – Feral Cat Tribe (Music Video)
HB888: PUP – Live at the 7th St. Entry – 6/3/16 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)
HB889: Watch This: Vol. 126
HB890: Watch This: Vol. 127
HB891: Rod – Cemetery (Stream)
HB892: Trust Fund – Together (Stream)
HB893: Even Hand – Sighted (Album Review)
HB894: Future Biff – I Crashed Your Car (EP Review)
HB895: Jacky Boy – Bad (Song Premiere)
HB896: Lithuania – Kill The Thing You Love (Stream)
HB897: Watch This: Vol. 128
HB898: Weaves – Weaves (Album Review)
HB899: Dentist – Joel (Stream) [Contains hyperlinks to post 700-799]

Sheer Mag – Button Up (Stream)

sm

Continuing on in the quest to get the site caught up on all the things that caught my attention in 2015 affords some unique opportunities. One of them is the chance to celebrate a few of the truly great items that surfaced over the course of this year’s first three months. By the end of tonight, all of those will be featured in some form- be it a list inclusion, a mix, or some words. In this post, there won’t be a lot of material from the past two weeks (with the notable exception of a jaunty tune from The Splits and an absolute stunner of a track from one-time site contributor Johanna Warren) but it should still serve as a healthy reminder of 2015’s formidable early strengths. One of those songs, Sheer Mag’s “Button Up” will be receiving the greatest amount of focus. Below that, as has been custom, are 75 outstanding songs from this year’s first quarter. Now, back to this post’s main draw.

Sheer Mag have been picking up a great amount of notoriety in important circles since the release of their 7″ from last year, which was strong enough to land on the site’s Best 7″ Records of 2014 list. “Button Up”, the band’s first new material since that EP, is a refinement of everything that’s made Sheer Mag so exciting from the beginning. “Button Up” retains the band’s appealing lo-fi punch but their pop sensibilities are sharper than ever, rendering “Button Up” an unlikely heavyweight. Impossibly crunchy guitars, powerful vocals, and a sense of joy permeate throughout this track and provide Sheer Mag with a valid claim as one of the most exciting upcoming bands on the market. If the rest of their upcoming 7″ can hit similar peaks, it’s not unlikely that they’ll be appearing on quite a few December lists (ours included).

Listen to “Button Up” below and keep an eye on this site for more coverage surrounding the band’s upcoming release. Beneath the embed are 75 outstanding songs from 2015’s opening stretch.

The Cribs – I See Your Pictures Every Day
Football, etc. – Open
Princess – Black Window
Novella – Land Gone
Eric Chenaux – Skullsplitter
Pinkshinyultrablast – Land’s End
Vagaband – Gabrielle
HOLY – Demon’s Hand
Tall Tales and the Silver Lining – This Time Around
Divers – Breathless
Michael Stec – Party Dress
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Philadelphia Story
Cyberbully Mom Club – Anabelle (Love Soft)
Passenger Peru – Break My Neck
The Splits – I Know
Alice – Nightmare
Lightning Bolt – The Metal East
Guantanamo Baywatch – Too Late
Maribou State – Rituals
Dastardly – The Hollow
Aero Flynn – Twist
The Minus 5 – The History You Hate
Braids – Miniskirt
Faith Healer – Universe
Karen Meat & the Computer – If I Were Yours
Chris Weisman – Backpack People
Jeff Rosenstock – You, In Weird Cities
The Dodos – Retriever
Busses – Wizard of the Eye
Obnox – Cynthia Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Twerps – I Don’t Mind
Sonny & the Sunsets – Happy Carrot Health Food Store
The Muscadettes – Pearl and Oyster
Waxahatchee – Air
Matthew E. White – Rock N’ Roll Is Cold
Nic Hessler – Hearts, Repeating
Grooms – Comb The Feelings Through Your Hair
Pops Staples – Somebody Was Watching
Moon King – Roswell
Caught On Tape – Full Bleed
Oscar – Daffodil Days
EULA – Noose
Inventions – Springworlds
Dirty Dishes – Guilty
Johanna Warren – True Colors
Happyness – Don’t Know Why (Norah Jones)
JEFF The Brotherhood – Coat Check Girl
Johnny Marr – Struck
Leapling – N.E.R.V.E.
The Juliana Hatfield Three – Ordinary Guy
Tyler Ditter – Echo Off the World
Fruit Bomb – Normcore Girlfriend
Dorthia Cottrell – Kneeler
In Tall Buildings – Unmistakable
Kind of Like Spitting – Stress Cadet
Fort Lean – I Don’t Mind
Native Lights – Black Wall Street
Wire – Joust & Jostle
Marika Hackman – Monday Afternoon
Football, etc. – Sunday
Sammy Kay – Highs and Lows
Wolf Solent – Hold On
Solvey – Solvey
All Boy/All Girl – Glitters
Threading – Ember
Lucern Raze – Someone Like You
Pelican Movement – Light Like Before
Carmen Villain – Quietly
Ghastly Menace – Real Life
Irontom – In the Day and the Dark
Sun Hotel – After Peggy Tells Her Parents They Never Had Any Trouble In Their Relationship
Wand – Self Hypnosis in 3 Days
Quarterbacks – Night Changes (One Direction cover)
Lost Boy ? – Love You Only
Broken Water – High-Lo