The Garden Of Earthly Delights 2024 Volume 4

 

Librarians With Hickeys - How To Make Friends By Telephone 

Probably the best Guitar Pop band on the splendid Big Stir label and they mine the full depth of the genre. From Jangle Pop to Surf, Pop Rock to UK Beat, West Coast Pop to 80s New Wave, they master it all melodically and vocal harmony.

Possibly at their best when they Jangle and that takes on different avenues. However, I've chosen Psych Pop for the example below, simply because I usually do. The variety on show however means no two songs are the same. Whoever mentioned difficult third albums are proven wrong by the joy on display here.

You can listen to and buy the album here. 

The Greek Theatre - A Deeper Scar

It is wonderful to have The Greek Theatre back. It has been a while since When Seasons Change and the Swedes never disappoint. They generally master a sort of gentle West Coast Psych that can edge into even gentler Prog akin to bands like Beaulieu Porch.

They aren't afraid of opening the box though and here they venture into Classic Rock and Pop Rock without ever forgetting what they are good at. Chilled and masterfully arranged. Don't be fooled by the laidback mood as you soon realise how much work goes into their work.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

Gnome - Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome

Now for something louder. Antwerp's Gnome Rock your socks off. Riff heavy and a little nearer to Classic Rock than we normally cover, but a much noisier version. These riffs reverberate around your brain, whilst the band take different paths to reveal and variety that just grips you in an extraordinary way.

Expect Hard Rock, Prog and Stoner and don't expect to come up for air throughout the journey. However, the results are surprisingly melodic and those riffs are just a heavier version of what we listen to. This will rattle the dentures.

https://gnome.bandcamp.com/album/vestiges-of-verumex-visidrome

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

Charming Arson - Another Kind Of Vision

This is called an EP, but with six tracks coming in at over 23 minutes, it is nearly as long as some Power Pop albums. The Boston quartet continue to show that variety and I suppose variance is the key thing that we love here. 

Another Kind Of Vision is not afraid to Rock, taking in 90s College Rock, IRS Indie, Pop Rock, Modern Prog and Intelligent Indie Rock. There's even Funk and a little Jazz. Loads is packed into this excellent affair that showcases how ace this lot are.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Listening To This Week Playlist

I Don't Hear A Single wise. we've got the final "The Garden Of Earthly Delights" feature to come and a few reviews of 2025 releases to follow. Then the 100 Best Albums of 2024 gets collated. The long list is done which will be whittled down to 100 and then ordered to post 10 a time from 100 - 1.

However, as always, Monday is about The Listening To This Week Playlist and here is this weeks, posted slightly later in the day to give last week's delayed playlist a bit longer. 30 superb songs that show both the variance and brilliance of the Indie scene.

I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have plenty of time to listen. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

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. 

The Stewart Dolly - Riddle Me This

Clean Lines - Want More

West Coast Music Club - 1989

PHK - The Luvvies Brigade

Shining Glass - Two Birds

The Open Flames - Eat Alone

Steve Moss - No Fear

Baby Said - 123

DESU TAEM - Crazy Bitch Addict

Famous Groupies - One Need Leads

Feeding Fingers - Model Lives And Fallen Leaves

Season's Call - Know For Sure

jonnythefirth - Damages

Philophobia Music · Jonnythefirth - Damages (feat. Rosie Doonan)

mikuljoanz - Down By The Record Machine

Bunko - God Is The Machine

Baccuda - mabeline

BACCUDA · mabeline

Lear Haven - SOULBREAKER

Lear Haven · SOULBREAKER

Enfixed - Drowning (feat. Aneiyah)

Venus In Spirals - Green Pastures

Venus In Spirals · Green Pastures

OAKS - I Wanna Know

OAKS · i wanna know

Exploding Flowers - Crowded Streets

Duncan And The Dragonslayers - Explosive

The Junior Varsity - Anxiety

St. Vith - North Of Your Border

Happy Dust Gang - People Make Mistakes

Happy Dust Gang · People Make Mistakes

Pensive Circle - Drunk In My Room And By Myself Again

Ultra Lights - It's Your Funeral

meltcitizen - Cremation Girls

The Hollow Frays - Games

The Hollow Frays · Games

Lucas Player - More Than You

lucas player · More Than You

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The Garden Of Earthly Delights 2024 Volume 3

 

The John Sally Ride - Melomaniacs

New York's John Dunbar always brings splendid pop sensibilities across his solo and side projects. The John Sally Ride may be the best of the side projects. Lyrically adept, delivered with great wit and the typical tunesmithery that Dunbar brings to his work.

Themed around Music, good and bad, the album contains all the hooks you would expect as well as killer commentary about how us fans do think, not that we would admit it. He has turned self depreciation into an art and that shouldn't hide his great talent.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

The Eggmen Whoooooo! - Fuzzy Eggs, Please

We can guess where the band name comes from and so as you might expect the feel here is wonderfully 60s. Across UK Beat, Psych, Pop and even Garage Rock, the vibe is splendid. Really accomplished for a debut album, the Neath six piece reveal their influences as well as fashioning up a cracking album.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

The Stewart Dolly - II

The New Jersey Trio offer up a great 90s feeling Power Pop album that is quite straight ahead, but also gets splendidly scuzzy at times. All the riffs and hooks are here with an ability to get you up and at 'em, yet not forgetting what makes a great melodic Power Pop affair. They hold their charge when things slow down.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

Dislexia - Snowball

In 1996, Coke Belda, Pepe Murgados and Roque Esteban recorded some demos and played around the Valencia area. 28 years on, the band met at a party and decided to revisit the demos and record full versions. Dislexia is the result.

Here are six excellent songs covering Pop, Pop Rock and even Britpop. but it is the Psych Pop that is particularly bewitching. We know that Belda has a way with a melody, but these songs sound like a proper trio, each member holds up to their end.

You can listen to and buy the album here. The CD is also available on the Kool Kat label here.

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Listening To This Week Playlist

Welcome to a cracking start of the year with the first LTTW of 2025. Apologies for the delay. Back to its usual length, here is an advance warning of the delight that 2025 promises musically. To give this one a fair crack of the whip, next week's will appear on Monday evening and then we revert to the normal time the following week.

I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have plenty of time to listen. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

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. 

Just a reminder that we have never had a Spotify account, so we only post a Spotify link if no other is available. We feel Spotify does nothing for the type of artists that we cover. 

Charlie & Margot - In A Glass

Charlie & Margot · In a Glass

Dale Webster - The Break Of Dawn

The Voltz - Saturday

Edward Price - Pasadena

Geoff Palmer - Exit Wounds

The School Book Depository - File Under Fiction

The School Book Depository · File under Fiction

Newland Park Drive - The Final Sight (Forget It All)

Chris Moore - Wasteland

My Loving Tiger - It's Hard To Remember A Happy Future

Gringo's Paradise - Social Constructions

7MOR - 17

M4TR - Hooks (Live)

Neon Bone - But When You're Alone

LoConti - Barrel Roll

Alligator Ladies - Eeee Wow!

Beltigs - Miles Apart

Beltigs · Miles Apart

Joe Nacco - Bad Luck

Kinzua - Hopewell Lake

Howling Hawk - Napoleon Road

Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy - Cast Me Down

Creature Canyon - Even On My Worst Days

Jack O' The Clock - Another Sunny Day / Star Of Monster

Svenssen - She's Into Bad Boys

Hippy - Tupilaq

Deep Cricket Night - Sudden Summer

Under Supervision - Beautiful Disaster

Alex Pester - No Reason Why

Nate Olson - Home

Dan Krochmal - Don't Keep The Pain

Ogrom Circus - I Felt So Happy

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The Garden Of Earthly Delights 2024 Volume 2

 

Today's offering features four 2024 Archive releases. We are often asked to feature more Reissues. We've been reluctant to do this to avoid deflecting from our main intention of covering new albums. However 2025 will bring more of these in special separate sections, but not enough to confuse our audience.

Yachts - Missing In Action - The Lost Tapes 1980 - 81 

Yachts are beloved, not just here, but in parts of the US and deservedly so. Described at times as Punk, but more often Power Pop. They are neither really. New Wave describes them best, the UK 78 - 80 version, not the 80s geeky synth overload variation. Here are the recordings that were to form their third album that never came to light. 

The band split and this led to the likes of The Christians and It's Immaterial. Lovingly remastered recordings under the watchful eyes of band members Henry Priestman and Martin Watson. The Vinyl LP also contains the identical CD Version providing an essential example of the second Merseybeat.

You can buy the album here.

Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club - The Definitive Anthology 1977-1981 (3CD)

Talking of New Wave. the band's only released album, English Garden is one of the essential albums of the genre. Containing the early versions of Video Killed The Radio Star and Clean Clean that were written by Woolley and the pre Buggles Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, that album is expanded. 

CBS refused to release the second album bizarrely and that is here with loads of extra stuff and 2 In Concert Recordings, one from the UK and one from the US. An essential 3 Disc set from a band that included Thomas Dolby and a reminder of how joyous that New Wave scene was.

You can buy the set here.

The Futureheads - Decent Days & Nights - The Singles

Without the intention of name dropping, I remember a conversation with Andy Partridge about similar bands to XTC and he singled out The Futureheads and Field Music as examples. Sunderland's finest certainly have that angular, swift changing of direction that XTC had, but also have the benefit of four part vocal harmonies.

19 singles are gathered together for then first time including that wonderful cover of Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love. Here is a band every bit as good as the likes of Franz Ferdinand with a fine Indie Guitar led collection that is available as a 2 LP or CD version.

You can buy the CD here. The Vinyl Edition is available here.

Tremeloes - Master (Remastered And Extended)

Known for UK Beat and Pop, The Tremeloes dropped the "The" for this 1970 release and showed a completely different side to the band. The poptastic gentle harmonies are placed on the back burner in favour of a crunchier Rock sound. But there are also some wonderful Psych Pop adventures contained within.

The harmonies are still here, but far more West Coast orientated. Here is the definitive version on Roger Houdaille's excellent Think Like A Key label. Remastered by Prof. Stoned and adding 12 Bonus Tracks.

You can buy the album here and everywhere.

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The Garden Of Earthly Delights 2024 Volume 1

 

A chance to celebrate more 2024 albums, before we move on to 2025. We just ran out of time to write full reviews for these excellent offerings, but just want you to know how much we liked them.

Silver Sun - Mild Peril

My love of Silver Sun from Day 1 knows no bounds. One of the finest Power Pop bands that the UK has produced. The sad loss of James Broad is felt by me as a fan and personally as we chatted occasionally mainly about our pet Lurchers. He handled his illness with great dignity. James's wife, Lu, dropped this album late in the year. It is the album that James was working on before he passed away.

You can listen to the album here. It is also available on the likes of Spotify. A wonderful testament to a wonderful man.

The Tangerines - Make It Happen

Swedish Power Pop veterans, The Tangerines are now approaching their third decade together. Make It Happen reveals they haven't lost their Power Pop chops, but there are also departures into Pop Rock. Jangle Pop, AOR and even Psych Pop. A great listen!

You can listen to the album here. You can buy the album and find out more about the band here.

Bubblegum Lemonade - Lawrence Of Suburbia

Laz McCluskey, he of Strawberry Whiplash, returns to his solo project, Bubblegum Lemonade. The Jangle Indie Pop is prevalent as you might expect with some lovely 12 String vibes. But there is also variety present and quite a few surprises. Overall, there is a Sarah Records feel, but also a Television Personalities feel. Another triumph for Mattinee Recordings. All the way from Santa Barbara via Glasgow.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

EggS - Crafted Achievement

Great angular Indie Rock from a mysterious Parisian 7 piece. The sound doesn't give the impression of a 7 fold band, it is quite sparse, but contains some wonderfully surprising riffs and arrangements. An album that is delicate, yet wonderfully listenable. Intelligent Indie at its finest and available on the excellent Hartlepool label, Prefect Records. Which is also home to Mt. Misery who have been IDHAS's 2024 wild card.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Happy New Year

 

2024 comes to an end for I Don't Hear A Single. A busy old year. I'm amazed that this place continues to grow in its 9th year. The Listening To This Week Playlist remains a big surprise. It was only intended as a small thing to showcase songs from artists who didn't have an Album or EP.

There is more to come next year with a few more additional features planned. Reviews aren't quite done yet, more to come for the rest of the week. Then after Monday's LTTW, the compiling of the Best 100 Albums of 2024 begins and will be published in the usual format.

It only remains for me to wish one and all a Happy New Year. I hope 2025 brings everything that you hope for. Thank you to Eastman Guitars for the above image.

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