Monarch

Baltimore is blowing up. Exploding. Bursting at the seams. The city's getting too big, musically, to sustain itself. Well, at least from my far removed perspective. I'm sure the musicians and bands in the city itself are loving the tight-knit musical community their fostering. But for us outsiders, it's a baffling mess of wonderful output; an example for any other city to follow by.

The latest duo of interest for me is Monarch (MySpace). The two, frustrated by the sporadic nature of the Baltimore scene (I guess the number of bands that pop up is equal to the number of bands that break up or sputter out), decided to make a name for themselves and start a band. Within a year, they somehow managed to gain quite a reputation and released an LP, If Children, that gained quite a bit of acclaim.

Monarch plays a combination of uber-textured shoegaze, alternative country, indie pop, all with a twist of twee pop on top. It's great; a unique blending of genres and styles that accurately sums up what's going on the medium-sized Maryland city. Literally, every group to hail from Baltimore is excitedly curious and eager to explore and delve into any form of music they can get their hands on.

So check out a few of the tunes below and get hyped up for the official release of If Children!

Monarch - Regret
Monarch - Warning
Monarch - Obituary
Monarch - Family Glue