Breath easy internet, I have returned to my blogging post. Over the last week and a half I’ve been journeying up the Pacific Coast with Bear Hunter . As it turns out, when I try and write on my laptop while in the van I start to puke all over my band mates — hence, my absence from Synthesis Blog. Over the next few days I will be recounting my harrowing journey (in between fascinating posts about pop stars getting busted for drugs, children with weird growths on their bodies and general paranoid-paranormal fodder). Get ready, dear readers. Get your asses ready.

Today, Synthesis’ Band You’ve Never Heard of Band of the Day will stray a little bit into the electro side of the rock spectrum. And by “a little bit” I mean entirely. Boston electro-rock duo Matters & Dunaway meet at the mid-point where pleather-clad ravers chat Matrix post-apocalyptic fashion and The Faint still mattered. Their is the sound of a not to distant future that was realized in the last decade, with neon-lit tubes blurring by at chemically enhanced speeds. Their new EP, Feel The Future, is available now via iTunes and Amazon.

Matters and Dunaway - Feel The Future
Streetdate May 20, 2008

Matters & Dunaway were last heard in late 2004 fusing ambient electronic with intricate rock rhythms straddling a line between melancholy and euphoria. Since that time, the duo from Boston, MA have been honing their unique blend of tech-rock into a more compressed, aggressive sound. Feel the Future is saturated with bursting cymbals, darting bass lines and revving synthesizers.

The highly touted boys from Brighton are back with their sophomore release, Konk, that hit stores earlier this week, but some are questioning whether the pre-release hype matches the merit. The Kook’s debut release Inside In/Inside Out was exceedingly well received, but reviews for Konk have been mixed. Betty Clarke of The Guardian gave the record 4 out 5 stars saying, “The woolliness of their debut has been replaced with a determined pop sound that dips into hard-edged rock,” but New Music Express was less than optimistic, and rather disappointed:

“What’s clear is that they’ve lost the songwriterly knack they originally wielded with abandon and replaced it with clichés and a foggy palimpsest of what they once had. We recommend they search high and low for that spark of brightness in time for album three.” NME.com

I haven’t picked up the record yet, but if the single is any indication it looks like I’m in store for a watered down version of Inside In/Inside Out. To be honest, when I first heard “Always Where I Need To Be” I thought I was still listening to The Kooks first album. Check out thise video below and decide for yourself.

The Kooks- “Always Where I Need To Be”

Check out this Video for Hot Chip’s latest single, “One Pure Thought” due out May 5th. You can pre-order it on vinyl here.