OK. Let’s get this out of the way: seabear don’t sound anything like that photo looks. They’re twee, and proud of it.

MP3: seabear – Singing Arc
When I first heard Belle and Sebastian’s album The Life Pursuit, I felt confused and betrayed. I didn’t want them to write songs like that. They needed to keep penning tunes about awkward schoolgirls and boys, not anything as progressively great (as I would soon realize) as that. Now, had it sounded like “Singing Arc,” I would have been thrilled. Seabear sounds like a mixture of the Lucksmiths and early Belle and Sebastian, yet are as distinct as you can be with just an acoustic guitar, a melodica and some doubled vocals. Oh, and handclaps. Can it really be twee without the outro handclaps?

seabear on Myspace

I don’t think I ever linked to the Optical Atlas interview with Lexington favs, the Ideal Free Distribution. Seriously, if you haven’t checked them out yet, hop to it!

MP3: Ideal Free Distribution – Mr Wilson

UPDATE: WOXY’s blog, the Futurist, started today! Big congrats to those guys for all they’ve been able to accomplish. Plus, it’s run by Joe from Each Note Secure!