Coast Arcade - Coast Arcade

 

Can we finally dispel the notion that all music from New Zealand is pastoral gentle sounding stuff that should ideally be on Sarah Records. Earlier in the week, we had the melodic Guitar Pop of Silk Cut, now we have the slightly noisier, anthemic Indie Rock from Coast Arcade.

Bella Bavin has a great set of pipes, but the quartet are the sum of their parts. Songs are wonderfully arranged, performed and produced. Many energetic, there is a reminder of Brit Pop from the likes of Sleeper and Elastica.

There is also a hint of Garbage, particularly on Afterthought, but that is without the show off fuzz and attitude of that particular band. They can also mix styles, heavier guitar with a Pop Rock vocal that joins together nicely.

The riffs resonate and the choruses are big leading to an ability to sing along whilst tapping your feet and at times shaking your fist. Hallway is an absolute gem of a song, you keep waiting for the I'll Meet You In The Hallway line.

The Intro on the opener, Kids, is a wonderful introduction to what you are going to hear, Bavin's vocal is spot on, restrained and affecting. Coast Arcade don't come up for air too often, but when they do on Week, they are just as interesting. Acetone may be the winner here, but the whole album is a joy.

It is also refreshing to hear a band rocking again. There is so much moodiness and breathy songs to bore you, it is nice to hear something more straight ahead. Great solos, great melody and a lead vocalist who completely engages. What's not to like?

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Telephone Numbers - Scarecrow II

 

I jest with Darrin at Subjangle about Dream Pop. We follow similar traits in our rush to help the Indie Scene, but our choices differ at times. I like my Jangle rockier and he likes his Guitar Pop a little gentler, but when we meet in the middle, it is exceptional. This is a prime example.

Although they share members with more notable bands in the San Franciscan scene, these four together are surely the best od the lot. Of course they American, but musically they share so much with both the C86 scene and Glasgow.

Scarecrow II is soothing, almost pastoral, Jangle Pop at its very very best. Slightly haunting at times, incredibly melodic, yet wonderfully soothing. These 10 songs whisk you away into a trouble free state. They sort of wash right over you and the world is a better place.

Whereas many of the scene now and then, jangled you until you could jangle no more, this quartet add much more to the arrangements. Adding some stunning violin accompaniment from K. Dulan Edrich on the majority of the songs.

They also have the element surprise. Pulling Punchlines picks up the pace considerably, with Jangle that is more than a little Psych Pop and supporting Trumpet from Anna Hilburg. Tony Molina rounds things off by adding 12 String. It is a crackerjack of a song, beautifully arranged. 

This Job Is Killing Me  is stripped down, more moody with another superb arrangement. The stand out may be Telephone Numbers Theme which gets even more Psych Pop and Morgan Stanley's vocal suits it perfectly as do her backing vocals throughout. The second half of the album is slower and deeper than the first and this shows two sides of the band, but to be fair there are more than two sides here.

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

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Cherry Fez - SUPEREXCITED!

 

Pennsylvania's Todd Shuster has been with us since the Anything Should Happen days and Todd is Cherry Fez. Latterly, he's been touring with our other long termers, Caper Clowns. A sort of marriage made in heaven.

Superexcited was released in July and I feel really guilty about taking so long to write about it. I was fortunate to hear the title track in its very early days and the collaboration with the legend that is Brad Jones really excited me.

That song still sounds wonderful now and is the ideal opener, but the album is even more special. There is a mix here of Jangle and Acoustic. The Electric is what you might expect, but the more ethereal songs suit Shuster's wonderful vocal really well. That voice could sing the Phone Book and make it interesting.

This is never more so than on Deep Shades Of Fate which is a haunting, melancholic affair that melts you and almost makes you cry. It also has a splendid string arrangement. Awake With A Lullaby follows a similar vibe, but this time a little more Americana.

However fans of Cherry Fez will be looking out for the plugged in songs and there is much of interest her. Happy Hour is top notch Power Pop that Jangles like a good un'. You've Got A Lot Of Nerve sounds very IRS 80s Indie. 

The King Of Everything races along, not a million miles away from UK Beat with a great Psych Pop solo. You Got A Lot Of Nerve shows what a great songwriter Shuster is. The whole thing is an absolute joy and shows a uniqueness at times. Beautifully arranged and produced. Sn absolute cracker!

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

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Witkin - Things I Might Have Said

 

I've loved the two singles leading up to this debut album. Both Hard To Be Happy and Last Years Ashes have featured on Listening To This Week and I've been bursting waiting for the release of Things I Might Have Said. 

Witkin is Los Angeles's Veronica Witkin and whereas artists of a similar age want to come over all sassy and allow themselves to be over produced with a myriad of vocal treatments, this is nothing of the sort. This is essentially great Power Pop, but with ventures into other genres that add great variety.

Hard To Be Happy for instance has a real Psych Pop feel at times, particularly on the Guitar solo. A Way Back To Myself is wonderful Classic Rock, bordering on AOR and These Days comes across as very Hazel O'Connor. There is even space for an instrumental, Chromatic Aberrations, which allows Witkin to show her Guitar playing skill in a mesmerising way.

Drowning In The Gene Pool even goes a little bit UK Glam Rock, very Suzi Quatro. But is the Power Pop that rings out most, aided by dad Bruce Witkin on Bass and production duties. That Power Pop mixes Classic with the new noisier Indie breed of the genre.

One minute Witkin can vocally be Tamar Berk and the next Elena Rogers. The Power Pop changes too. I Hate My Brain is very 80s AOR-ish, 1973 is a great paean to the year before I still think I live in. Last Years Ashes is very close to the new Guitar led breed that is dominating both our peers' attention these days.

However songs such as You're So Cinematic and Don't Call It A Cult show off a different side of the artist, slower, more cinematic and poptastic. This is cracking debut album from a lady you will hear much more about in future years. Mature and melodic and not afraid to break out, the whole thing is wonderful.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Cassette or as a download and maybe crying out for a CD or Vinyl release.

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Listening To This Week Playlist 13 October

 

A cracker this week. The maximum 30 songs! Our most recent discovery opens, then some of our beloved Guitar Pop and we venture all over the place after that. As well as the traditional version, we have put the playlist on Spotify and you will see the link below.  29 of the 30 songs are available on Spotify. The Silk Cut song is released on the platform on 15 October.

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. 

The Spotify Version     (The Silk Cut song will be added on release - 15 October)

Link To Spotify

Mint Condish - Rat Utopia

Ryan Allen - Think Fast

Benny J Ward - Scratch That Itch

The dt's - Sun Shines Down

Log Flume - Get The Picture

Silk Cut - Death Of Us (Not On Spotify until Wed 15 October. Will add then)

This Will Destroy Your Ears - Stop That Wacky Show

Samayoa - Hasta El Fin Del Mundo

Radio Altamont - Marilea

Rulers - Likeness

RightHandWave - Rebound Girl

Next Week's Washing - Carry On

Morrow Voice - Coded Emotions

Paul Nazole - Without You

Trash Man - Cool Until It's Not

Rudy Nuno - Sirens

1991 - slipp meg inn igjen

Bonus Room - Blessed Be

The Journey Back - Excuses

Lipstick - Giving It Up

Sloan Brothers - In A Movie

Brites - O.D.In H.D.

George - It's Gonna Burst

Vallory Falls - Gave Me The Key

Black Suit Youth - Rattled

Joe Caruso - 7 Hours A Day

Nicamus - Boogie Man

Jessica Breanne - Hungry

Lorne Mower - Holiday Ways

Alice Austin - Back To The Beginning

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Kirk Adams And Ed Woltil - Eat The Sunshine, Drink The Sunshine.

 

I first discovered Ed Woltil due to his album with our long time fave Steve Robinson and the album, Shadow Play was incredibly popular. You can read the review here. The album was in our Top 30 albums of 2022.

This time Woltil joins up with fellow Tampa Bay Resident, Kirk Adams. These are two musicians who plough similar furrows, so as you might expect, the results are outstanding. Dave Gregory joins up once again on four of the songs.

Again the feel is 70s UK New Wave at times, Guitar Pop at its finest with the bonus of some wonderful Guitar arrangements courtesy of the XTC six stringer. Gregory appears on 4 of the 12 songs and the emphasis across the album concentrates more on Pop Rock than Shadow Pop.

There are big exceptions though. Almost Home adds Baroque Pop and pastoral Psych Pop to the mix. It's All Songs starts a little Ob La Di Ob La Da at the beginning, but becomes very close to Paul Simon vocally across its jauntiness.

King Of The Rotten Things is wonderfully put together, biting lyrically with wonderful Vocal Harmonies. A Rumor Of The Promised Land adds a splendid Twang to proceedings and Soft Landing is beautifully smooth Piano Pop, very easy listening.

Fans of 70's Pop Rock will love the album as the vocal work, harmonies and arrangements are spot on. Eat The Sunshine, Drink The Sunshine takes less chances than Woltil's work with Steve Robinson, concentrating on feel and touch to provide a great laidback affair.

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

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Silk Cut - Corridors Of Light

 

Silk Cut's second album was self titled and in our Top 10 albums of last year. You can read the review here. My thoughts at the time and approaching this follow up, were how do they follow that? I'm pleased to note that there is no difficult third album for the New Zealand quartet. Corridors Of Light is jaw droppingly brilliant.

For all our wanderings across the genres, there is a base camp. Frequenting that place is primarily great Guitar Pop and this album ticks every box. Songs built on melody, riffs and singalong choruses crash out into the open without one hiccup. This is indeed Pop!

There is a Brit feel to the sound. A song like Death Of Us underlines this, but mixes 60s Beat with 70s Pop Rock and 90s Brit Pop. The whole album is a little like that, but the emphasis is on killer riffs and hooks without ever losing focus. The instrumental arrangements are amazing.

Supernovae is acoustic and sounds a little folky, but allows the band to show vocal harmony strength, it even gets a little Psych Pop in feel with a wonderful Guitar run. Heavy Lifting continues that gentle Psych feel whilst still sounding a little Brit Pop.

Corridors rocks a little more and the chorus is more restrained. .The moody atmospheric closer, Godlike I is hypnotic, different to the jaunty album surroundings. It is massive in scope and instrumental build. Truly gobsmacking. What an incredible song!

The emphasis across the album though is joyful. Never more so than on the trailing single, Good Morning, which still sounds as ace. Why is it that songs about the Radio always sound so good?  This whole album is a relegation, varied and incredibly pop tactic.

It is a grim world presently and that may be why albums like resonate so well. The chance to forget about what is going on around us and replace it with joy and light. Corridors Of Light is a mood changer, a notable reminder of the power of song. What an antidote this lot are.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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