New The New Monarchs - "Across Your Hands" and "Surprises"

Download: The New Monarch - "Across Your Hands"
Download: The New Monarchs - "Surprises"

The New Monarchs are a Twin Cities-based electronic duo who recorded their first album, Blueprints, this past summer in the box office of their former high school's theater department. Like their contemporaries, NOBOT, The New Monarchs blend together glitchy dance beats, vocoder vocals, and harmonized, counterpointing guitar parts. We'll hold off on our opinion of their record until closer to the release date, but in the meantime, let's premiere two songs from the record: "Across Your Hands", which is a pretty straightforward dance anthem, and "Surprises", which is a little more in the vein of a reflective, Postal Service-style synth-pop song (at least until the second verse, when those rawk gee-tars kick in). Listen to both tracks at the top of the post.

The band is going on a short tour before the release party for Blueprints, which will take place on November 15th at the Kitty Cat Klub. Here are those dates:

11/7 - Duluth, MN - Beaner's Central
11/9 - Chicago, IL - Ronny's Bar
11/10 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
11/11 - Lincoln, NE - Box Awesome
11/12 - Omaha, NE - PS Collective
11/13 - Vermillion, SD - Raziel's
11/15 - Minneapolis, MN - Kitty Cat Klub (CD Release Show!) w/Ghost in the Water, Laarks, & I, Colossus

The New Monarchs MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)
jon@minneapolisfuckingrocks.com