Philly band Royal Shoals returned this week with a brand new four-track EP called Surrounderer + 3, recorded with Jeff Ziegler at Uniform Recording.  The EP follows up the surf rock / new wave outfit’s 2011 debut Dirty Water with a collection of brightly polished, tightly produced tracks that show growth and confidence.  Stream and download “Surrounderer” below.  Royal Shoals play Kung Fu Necktie on February 28th; tickets and information can be found here.

With help from local musician Ryan Wilson of Pill Friends, Slovakian music blog Start Track released a free compilation this week featuring tracks from a number of Philadelphia bands involved in the basement / DIY / house show scene.  It’s a glimpse into the depths of the Philly music community with a diverse batch of contributors including electro-disco outfit Night Panther, thrashy punk band Mumblr, darkly captivating singer-songwriter Abi Reimold and an acoustic take from alt-folk / rock squadron Roof Doctor.  Stream “Rug” by Abi Reimold below and download the full Philly compilation on Start Track’s Bandcamp here.

South Jersey outfit The Naked Sun kindly came to the WXPN studios recently to record a Key Studio Session.  Drawing mostly from an upcoming EP, the Beta Hi-Fi competitors brought the energy with broadly arranged but tightly performed roots rock boogie tunes.  And with the jazzy inclusion of saxophone and trumpet players, the session’s five dynamic tracks are energizing enough to remedy any sort of mid-winter blues this weekend’s weather has slumped us into.  The Naked Sun play the Field House on April 12th with The Lawsuits.  Stream and download “Holdin’ Back the Heart” below and head over here for the full session.

• Holdin' Back the Heartby The Naked Sun from The Key Studio SessionsDownload

Each weekday this month World Cafe is offering a free download of a Cafe track from a limited-time-only compilation.  By February 22nd, there will be twenty songs up for grabs – but here’s the catch: the download links will disappear on March 1st.  This week’s free offerings included recordings by neo-soul / R&B singer Allen Stone, roots rocker John Fullbright and the track streaming below, “Fortune Teller” from alt-country band Calexico.  The duo and a full band recorded the song when they stopped by Philly for a sold-out Free at Noon at Union Transfer last fall; listen to their full World Cafe session with David Dye here and download the free collection here.

this mixtape has been collected by a great homie Ryan Wilson from Pill Friends pillfriends.bandcamp.com

all bands are active in a beautiful music scene formed in Philadelphia and its neighborhood and they will be pleased with your support

there many other incredible bands from this scene which are not covered in this compilation, but you should definitely listen to them

You can listen to the compilation and get to know some of your neighbors – from an across-the-globe perspective – in the player below. To grab a free download, head to Start Track’s Bandcamp.

“Hell’s a place where I feel fine
 as long as your not mine” — Pill Friends “Bummertime”

Punk…death…and friendship. The lo-fi/indie trio Pill Friends’ recent  2012 release, It’s Kyle’s Birthday Everyday, is a chaotic yet heartfelt reunion with emotions usually reserved for an intervention. With just three members (as well as a bass player who is supposedly “missing”), Pill Friends creates a full orchestra from only a guitar, drums and cello. The beauty in this album comes from all the unoccupied space between the notes that is filled in a unique and personal way be each listener. The group has an affinity for using their limitations to their advantage, allowing the vocals on each track to crawl from beneath the noise – on it’s hands and knees – like being one shot shy of an overdose. Pill Friends, sonically, have settled somewhere in the realm of folk music, infused with a heavy dose of morphine, and then played through headphone speakers while mowing the lawn. It’s Kyle’s Birthday Everyday is sparse, its eclectic and extremely discomforting– and that’s what makes it satisfying to listening to. You can download It’s Kyle’s Birthday Everyday, Pill Friend’s first official EP, on Bandcamp. Last week the band released an even newer track called “Please Murder Me For My Sins” – download it below.