Crack Rule

is a weekly feature promoting free album downloads. Every edition invites you to explore various genres and artists from around the world. This week takes you on a varied acoustic ride with audio challenges for both sides of your brain.

Note that name your price albums
can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy!
We welcome you to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres we haven’t covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina [tina at makeuseof dot com].

Genre: alternative, indie, pop, rock

From the album page: “Cruiser, a solo project by Philadelphia native Andy States, was brought to life in the walk-in closet of a crowded inner city loft. States’ demos eventually landed in the hands of Jeremy Park, producer of Youth Lagoon’s The Year of Hibernation, who offered to produce Cruiser’s EP after hearing the songs. With its infectious melodies and beachy guitars, the Cruiser EP captures the carefree essence of the summer months. Whether enjoyed in good company or completely alone, quite simply, Cruiser is meant to make you feel good.
”
The selftitled EP Cruiser
is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Genre: alternative, pop, punk, rock

From their Facebook page: “Upon forming and consolidating their line up in 2010, A Story Left Untold have been endlessly playing shows and constantly building their fan base. Honing their live sets from sharing the stage with national acts such as Stereo Skyline, Rocky Loves Emily, Kicking Daisies, Set It Off, Freshman 15, and also winning a spot on the Ernie Ball’s Battle of The Bands 15 for the 2011 Warped Tour at Nassau Coliseum; The band has created such an intense and energetic live performance, most viewers are blown away. Fueled by a passion to share their sound with the world, A Story Left Untold is ready to charm listeners everywhere.
”
Forgetting Something Unforgettable
is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Genre: pop, urban, dubstep

From their Facebook page: “A new era in urban music has brought major change to the industry as well as the arrival of the UKs first mixed dubstep group, MK1.
Fusing traditional dubstep with mainstream production and a headturning front girl, it’s what the industry had been waiting for. Staying loyal to the roots of dubstep whilst still appealing to mass audiences with their high energy stage show, MK1 are currently flying high with radio and music channel play.
”
EYES WIDE OPEN two:twelve EP
is a free download from Bandcamp.
Genre: alternative, power, pop, rock

The Verdict is a band from Liverpool, UK. They recently won the prestigious Rock the House award hosted by the House of Commons. For this award, Members of Parliament nominate bands from their constituencies. The prize earned the band precious studio time, among other things.

Collection of Demos 2009?-?2011
is a free download from Bandcamp.
Genre: rock, psychedelic, stoner, rock

From their Facebook page: “Big tunes from little rock – Teaspoonriverneck born to the granite of Guernsey, the bastard sons of Hawkwind, the Melvins and QOTSA?, their prolific recorded out-put demands much closer inspection: the bruising soundtrack to a wide-eyed and wandering heart, via the habits of night or burning up in the midday sun with a steely precision – hooks, dynamics, volume, indeed black glam heavy rifferama – ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, the mighty TEASPOONRIVERNECK.
”
IV
is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Genre: alternative, indie, acoustic, punk, rock, folk, pop

Eddplant is a singer-songwriter based in London, UK. He is currently working on his second studio album.

Confidence Tricks
is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Genre: melodic, hardcore, punk

From their Facebook page: “We write songs. We play songs. We record songs. We give hi-fives and hugs. Punk Rock is our business and business is good. Come to a show and see what we’re about!
”
An Hour Made for Arson
is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Genre: indie, punk, math rock, noise rock

Greys are a loud rock band from Toronto.

Easy Listening
is a free download from Bandcamp.
Genre: indie, rock, post punk

From their Wikipedia page: “Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. The name is based on a misunderstanding of “young knaves”, which was found by the band when rummaging through a book.
”
Very Very Songs Go
is a free download from SoundCloud.
Genre: electronic, fusion, lo-fi, soul, rap, hip hop, instrumentals

From DIG: “The first thing a hip-hop fan would notice, however, is the fine-tuned mastery of audible creative devices to get his message across. [Alessi] Ngemi [aka Shoelace] uses everything – time signatures, vocal staccato, samples ranging from All Dogs Go To Heaven to The Carpenters – to create the channel through which an audience is most likely to understand what he’s about to say.

The thing that will make Shoelace famous one day is the fusion of these two perspectives: he has altered the production process to fit his songs, instead of the other way around. And like Poe used every word and all five senses to create his famous moods, every piece of equipment Ngemi used to create Future Money became an instrument, tuned to the theme of the song he was working on. The result is a record that nails it, 17 times.
”
Old Shoes
is a free download from Bandcamp.
Genre: ambient, classical, electronica

Accelra is a London-based composer of narrative based forms of music.

EP8 Resistance
is a free download from Bandcamp.
New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here.