Sound Off!: Mr. Gnome

So we here at Aural States get dozens upon dozens of new artists dropped into our inbox every day. We try to spare you the worst of it and only post those things each of us deem particularly interesting, or potentially appealing.

In this vein, I present to you music from mr. Gnome, a band that manage to claw its way from the PR-tagged dregs of Gmail and enchant me, almost instantly. The airy, quirky vocals of front-woman Nicole Barille anchored in these haunting, dystopic fantasy soundscapes instantly channeled an image of a vocal student of Bjork and Joanna Newsom fronting a band obsessed with the more expansive aspects of prog metal, punk and generally just rock at large. But arrestingly enough, mr. Gnome are actually another in the long line of indie duos that pack a big wallop, forgoing the bass and just delivering guitar+drum musical goodies.

They are heading on a limited engagement US tour, consisting mostly of mid-west or west coast dates (click the full post link to find out if it hits your neck of the woods).

But fear not regional AS readers, you can score their debut LP, Deliver This Creature, when it drops tomorrow. Here’s three tracks off the album to dip your toes into before taking the plunge. We’ll be sure to let you know when mr. Gnome comes through the 495/695 area.

mr. Gnome - Pirates

mr. Gnome - Rabbit

mr. Gnome - Night of the Crickets

mr. Gnome

05/10 Nashville, TN @ Springwater

05/12 Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Olde Bar

05/13 Athens, GA @ Tasty World

05/14 Birmingham, AL @ The Nick

05/15 New Orleans, LA @ The Circle Bar

05/16 Houston, TX @ Rudyard’s British Pub

05/17 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada

05/18 Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar

05/20 Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s

05/21 Kansas City, MO @ The Record Bar

05/22 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room

05/23 Madison, WI @ The Annex

05/24 St. Louis, MO @ The Bluebird

05/26 Denver, CO @ 3 Kings

05/27 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge

05/28 Boise, ID @ Neurolux

05/29 Portland, OR @ Towne Lounge

05/30 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern

05/31 Tacoma, WA @ Le Voyeur

06/02 Arcata, CA @ Jambalaya

06/03 Oakland, CA @ The Stork Club

06/04 San Diego, CA @ Beauty Bar

06/05 San Francisco, CA @ Amnesia

06/06 Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory

06/07 Tucson, AZ @ Plush

06/09 Albuquerque, NM @ Atomic Cantina

06/10 Oklahoma City, OK @ OKC Infoshop

06/11 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck

06/12 Minneapolis, MN @ Hexagon Bar

06/13 Urbana, IL @ Canopy Club

06/14 Chicago, IL @ Ronny’s

06/20 Cleveland, OH @ Jigsaw

08/08 Cincinnati, OH @ TBD