Listening To This Week Playlist 8 December

 

29 more songs this week, none of them Christmas ditties. Another whisk around our musical tastes. Something for everyone you might say. The weekly playlist is largely for submissions, not just the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours. This will help you to discover more about the artists who appear here. 

He's Dead Jim - Avenues and Alleyways

The Moats - Find Someone Who Cares

The Plastic Pals - Get To The Point

Shaw's Trailer Park - Pretty Hat Club

1910 Chainsaw Company - Baby Blue

NONTHEWISER - We'll All Be Dead

COMEDY - L.A. Perfume

Marc Valentine - You Are The Jet  

Bad Flamingo - Shame

Beauty - Daisy

No Point Intended - Over The Moon

The Arcade Lights - Remember The Days

Tennis Courts - Keep The Car Running

Joe Giddings - Stay In Nowhere

Douglas & The World - The Pink Burger Bar (Part 1)

Moon Construction Kit - Chemicals

Moon Construction Kit · Chemicals

Little King - Sweet Jessie James

Static In Verona - Big Giant

The Elbow Patches - The Day Got Away With Me

Inland Years - Same Old Town

Peter Cat - Starchamber

Space Jaguar - Go Home

Robin Taylor Zander - She Can't Turn Back Now

Draped Apes - Making It (Up)

The Casbahs - Different Way Home

Svenssen - The Making Of Art

Barry & The Visitors - And Yours Too

Barry & The Visitors · And Yours Too

Rusty Reid - Let's Just Talk

Candytuft - Sour Flower

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The 1910 Chainsaw Company - Everything's Better

 

This is an album released in October 2024, but I've only just discovered it via a recommendation and it is a corking listen, With the catch up starting on Album Reviews today, it makes sense to close with something more akin with our general reputation.

The Philadelphia Quartet offer up a 60s leaning Pop Masterpiece. All vocal harmony, Summer West Coast Bubblegum, catchy as catchy can be. There are also hints of Psych Pop with the emphasis on Pop and Merseybeat.

The latter is underlined by the jaunty Hitchin' A Ride, Brass is added to an Everly Brothers feel on Goodbye Daydream and Beach Boys style vocals and sound adorn Jennington Obelisk. The title track is wonderful gentle Psych Pop done in a Partridge Family let's do the show right here style.

Baby Blue is a stunning atmospheric closer, initially, vocal and organ only, but bursts into a spectacular 70s Pop Rock arrangement, but it doesn't end there. This four songs in one then gets all together now Marmalade like before closing at pace with a Wizzard like effect.. It is a superb song. It just has to be the opening embed.

Band Aid adds even more variety, part 60s Rock and Roll, part Eddy And The Falcons. Better Than All The Rest is a little Daydream Believer and Spider Paws is all UK 70s Glam Rock. The whole album is so well put together, it is a joyful listen. Kick of 2005's Blues and get your singing voice prepared.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl or as a download.

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Little King - Lente Viviente

 

Just as Bowie said that he'd found his Jeff Beck with Mick Ronson, I've finally found my Rush replacement with Tucson, Arizona's Little King. Little King are no newcomers, this is their 8th album in a career approaching three decades, but they are new to me.

The trio (another essential) are doppelgängers for 90s and beyond Rush, definitely instrumentally, arrangement wise and many times vocally. The song structure  are very similar as are the changes in direction. They also seem to suffer the same genre calls as non followers of the Canadians beseeched on them.

You will find them reviewed on Metal and Prog  sites, when in reality they are neither of those. They certainly Rock and the arrangements are complex, but at times there are Pop Rock sentiments. Ryan Rosoff is the leader as vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, but the trio are locked in.

David Hamilton plays Bass (and cello on the magnificent Sweet Jessie James) and Tony Bojorquez, Drums. This isn't a long album at 25 minutes for the 7 songs, so there is no excess weight, but the songs do contain such a lot within them.

The biggest I Can't Believe It's Not Rush is the opener Catch And Release, but the signs are everywhere. But these are no copycats. There is the trio's indelible stamp across the album. Who's Illegal is more slowed down, a little AOR maybe with a driving rhythm track and lyrical sentiments that most sensible listeners can agree with.

The Living Lens is a great closer, a sort of round up of everything they do, but the stand out is Sweet Jessie James, a splendid arrangement, the cello is magnificent, more restrained vocally and instrumentally. But overall, Lente Vivienne is an awesome listen.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Shaw's Trailer Park - French Litter

 

Shaw's Trailer Park is one of the finest albums of this year (reviewed here) and we now have another offering from the Brighton quartet. French Litter feels a little looser and raw than its predecessor, but it is every bit as interesting and engaging.

The feel is a heavier, the Psych quotient more noticeable and the UK Beat twists are magnificent. As you might expect, it is the Psych that interests me most and this is wonderfully presented mixing pure Psych, Psych Pop and Paisley Underground.

So let's begin unusually at the end. The closer, Pretty Hat Club is 5 minutes plus of magnificent Psych, it is a fist shaking monster of a song with a groove that hooks you completely. It is a brilliant way to send you off to your everyday duties with your head still focussed on the song. 

It will feature heavily on tomorrow's Listening To This Week Playlist. Compare that to the Garage Rock of Anyone There and the mid 60s UK Beat of the groovy Jaywalker and you realise that this lot are no one trick pony.

The lead single, Phone Wars, is again very 60s, all bass and riff driven. But is the noisier stuff that grips me most. Trailer Park Blues is in your face, part groove, part Guitar extravaganza, it just hooks you in. Patience is all locked in groove, mesmerising at times, wonderful Psych pop.

I'd love to see the band live. These songs are built to be played Live in a sweaty club, removing you of all energy until your legs can't take any more. This type of music doesn't come along as much as it used to which is unfortunate for you all.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Sweet Nobody - Driving Off To Nowhere

 

The second song in on the current Listening To This Week is Sweet Nobody's Making It Right. One of the standout songs of the year. Joy Deyo's sugar sweet vocal is matched by a splendid melodic arrangement that borders on Classic ELO.

Deyo's vocal is one of the highlights throughout, comparable to Elizabeth Stokes of The Beths, but the locked in more Indie Rock arrangements show the band as a sum of their parts. The band's second album, We're Trying Our Best was recorded in the lockdown conditions of Covid, this one isn't and it shows.

The Long Beach quartet are all in the same room and the integration reveals a band locked in. The Lasting Kind shows a real maturity, a song built on a wonderful arrangement with a haunting Guitar Sound and sounding alike a slightly rocked up version of The Sundays.

Finally Free is the exact opposite, yet completely engaging, bass led Indie Pop that has a haunting atmospheric opening, but that bass sound makes the song a little funky. Driving Off To Nowhere is even more varied. A big Drum sound and an arrangement that sounds a little like 60s Studio big arrangement with a Twang that drops in beautifully.

The Lasting Kind is anthemic as a good deal of the album is.  Forget Me is a rare noisier departure with a heavier guitar sound that resonates wonderfully. Revenge is superb jaunty 80s UK Indie Pop and the opener, I Don't Know When I'll See You Again is a top notch statement of intent.

The whole album is a Tour De Force. Beautifully arranged and produced. Instrumentally almost perfect, adding variety and technical excellence and then you have Joy Deyo's incredible vocals. Melodic, but not afraid to take chances. A superb listen.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl and as a download.

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The James Rocket - Seen

 

I've been helping The James Rocket a little more than time usually allows for the simple reason that I love what they are trying to do. After hearing stuff on Listening To This Week, the album is here for your delectation. I adore the care that has gone into it.

I know of no other band that send me an album and tag all the tracks with different genres. It shows that they won't be labelled, but also the variety that the quartet offer up. I was just blown away by the variety. I'd have to say that it was Even Our Closest Friends Are Distant which opens the album which drew me to them.

It is a song that is right up my street, noisy, interesting, all over the place and completely engaging. It isn't really representative of what they do, but it sucked me in completely. For instance, Autumn is late 60s UK Psych Beat and Chip is pure Brit Pop, so you'll understand that you are in for quite a journey.

Pharaohs is Noo Yawk Sleeze, Ugly Room is almost Classic Rock and Winter Flowers is wonderful Art Rock. Sea Of Dolls is slightly Garage Rock and Penny is the sound of my youth, top notch UK New Wave attitude beautifully presented.

Ripping Off The Mitchells was the second song that I fell off, splendidly spiteful both musically and lyrically. All street attitude. A little bit like the sound of Woking with an absolute corker of a solo which is almost experimental and unexpected.

Seen is a wonderful example of how time and patience provides excellence. Great variety, but not performed to seem so. Enough attitude to be meaningful, but with a willingness to experiment and not be content the norm. An absolute cracker!

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl or as a download.

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Christmas Songs

 

Those who have been with us a while know that we don't do Christmas songs or albums. I may be seen as the biggest grouch, but we never have. I mention it now, because with the massive popularity of Listening To This Week this year, we have been inundated with Christmas IDHAS submissions and emails about potential Album Reviews.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great Christmas songs, some bitter, but most are not and are usually rhyming mistletoe with snow with a forced jolliness that becomes unbearable. We do listen to everything and if there is something that we particularly like, we will reply with a we don't do them message, but we love the song and if you have something more everyday, we'd love to hear it sort of thing.

The main reason though is that we set up I Don't Hear A Single, with particular concentration on Google Analytics, so that older reviews continually get read and listened to. You will have seen albums reviewed 6 or 7 years ago feature in our Top 10 most viewed monthly the Left Hand Side of the site. With this in mind, we don't see the point of any time spent on music that only interests people for 3 or 4 weeks a year.

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