When Smith Westerns broke on the scene with their debut album, eyebrows were raised by many, and justifiably so. After all, it was 2009 and the latest garage-rock revival was in full swing. Band after band was released upon the world carrying the flag of the new “lo-fi movement” sweeping the indie music scene. Along comes a band full of kids that hadn’t even finished high school yet, and were signed to Fat Possum records. You’d be forgiven for thinking these kids just might not be as good as the press was saying they were. That is, until you listened to the band’s stellar debut or saw their surprisingly polished live show. I know the moment I personally became hooked on this band was when I saw them open for Girls at Club Congress in Tucson.

Now in 2011, the band is releasing their sophomore LP, called “Dye It Blonde”. The album comes out on Tuesday, February 18th, though a stream is already available over at NPR. The band got a much more polished recording this time around, which shows the beautiful underlying melodies of their songs. Along with that stream, here’s two of my favorite tracks from the album available for download. Don’t miss their show at Rhythm Room on February 10th. They’ll be joined by their label-mates, Yuck. The London shoegaze has taken the internet by storm recently and will be touring in support of their debut album, due out February 7th. Presale tickets are available for sale now at this link.

MP3: Smith Westerns – Weekend
MP3: Smith Westerns – All Die Young
MP3: Yuck – Holding Out