Clock Radio - Turfin' Out The Maniacs

Clock Radio are a quartet from Wiltshire, the same county as our beloved Andy Partridge and there are similarities here. The same unexpected lyrical subjects, the quirkiness, the surprise arrangements and the instrumental variety.

However, Clock Radio give the impression of a crack Indie Guitar Pop band with a great record collection fronted by Neil Hannon. Vocally, you can imagine reviewers coming up with Divine Comedy, But that may confuse you.

Because separating the vocal, there are hints of the Bonzos and big wedges of Psych Pop. The four are incredibly inventive, No Death is wonderfully arranged and based around a killer Psych Guitar Riff. But there are many steps in other directions.

Although not sounding anything like them, you can hear Morrissey and Nick Cave. Turfin' Out The Maniacs is at its heart Intelligent Indie with an ability to provide unexpected arrangements and yet purposely at ease with Guitar Pop.

Brought to us via a submission for Listening To This Week, exactly what that was meant to do in providing albums to review. I am just amazed that this is a debut album, the band sound more like sonic troubadours.

As with the Buddie Review, we haven't described individual songs, simply wanting you to head over and listen to the whole album. Although this has some stand out singles that could be chosen, it is an album and albums should be listened to from start to end. They are not playlists. I've picked my three faves, but yours will probably be very different.

You can listen to and buy the album here. You really should! 

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Buddie - Glass

 

Keeping Canada well on the musical map, Buddie return. 2023's Agitator was No 3 in the IDHAS Best Albums of the year and we have been anticipating the quartet's return since last year's excellent Impatient single which is on here.

Buddie boss the type of Indie Guitar Pop that we adore. Slightly left field, slightly slacker, slightly DIY Riff wise, but with great memorable choruses and great melody. Add lyrical adeptness to their accomplishments. But they are not like too many Guitar Pops.

These songs are about concerns with the state of the nation, economically and atmospherically, not the usual twaddle about lost love. They go down routes that others don't musically, but are so damn catchy and memorable listens. Beautifully arranged vignettes. You can read our review of Agitator here. 

Unlike other Indie Peers, they aren't sugar sweet, nor will they try to club you to death. The songs just grow and grow on you until the choruses are earworms. Daniel Forrest's gentle vocal is in contrast to the instrumental arrangements.

The band can even slow things down beautifully as proven by Blackout. There isn't a major shift from Agitator, but why would you want that, it is such an ace album. I've picked my 3 faves, Antartica, 2005 is a great place for newbies to start, but all songs are worthy of embedding. Glass is Top Notch!

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

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Dave Cope And The Sass - Walmartyr

 

Dave Cope is prolific. I get to hear a lot of songs that don't see a release, but recently these songs have made albums. Every album that he releases takes a different path completely. Folk, Psych, Classic Rock, Indie Rock, 80s New Wave are just some of the avenues that he has walked down.

An incredibly gifted multi instrumentalist, most of the albums are him and Fred Berman on Drums, but the majority of this album is him alone, bar the bookends in which Cope is part of a trio and both angles work perfectly.

As probably given away by the album title and cover, Walmartyr is a concept album, largely a stab at 90s Rock, not the lyrically woe is me part, but certainly instrumentally. It also shows that the genre could be melodic if you managed to get through the fuzz and the noise.

The two trio songs are splendid. The title track is a story telling affair with an absolute killer chorus. Don't Let My Dreams Come True is anthemic, a song that I've heard at different stages and it has that 90s sound, a little Nirvana on the chorus with a storming Guitar solo. They absolutely nailed the song here.

Psychotic Romeo is heavier and works just as well. Devil City Woman goes all Golden Earring with a side order of UK Glam. Hell Or Hollywood is more Pop Rock, more Cope archetype, his base camp if you like. Killing Game edges towards Hard Rock and again masters it.

The sheer volume of Cope songs is amazing. Generally with such artists, quality can be an issue, but there's not a bit of that here. The changes in genre, album by album, also successfully take you along. For instance, I never thought I would be listening to a Folk album in past years. The songs are so lyrically adept too.

You can listen to and buy the album here for the bargain price of 5 dollars.

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Gift Horse - Overtime...

 

There is some great stuff coming out of Australia and Brisbane Trio Gift Horse are another fine example. Overtime... is effectively Power Pop, the new breed of the genre, more akin with Classic, but being Australian allows the band to take big footsteps into other genres.

Oz has always had an Indie Rock bent, yet people continue to associate the country with Jimmy Barnes Rawk. There are hints of The Church and my beloved Psych Pop, but there is also much to compare it to 80s IRS and its like.

The song that most encompasses all of what the trio do is Perfect Storm, a song that is totally engaging, including a great touch of Jangle. Whereas the likes of Fathers, The Running Wild and Talking To You demonstrate what a great Power Pop they can be. It is the diversions that float my boat most.

Blacklist has a great Jangle, but sounds more Classic Rock, even rocked up Americana.  Overtime is more fuzzed up and OK is lengthier, more Rock. The closer, Already Gone has a West Coast feel, great Jangle Pop with some wonderful Guitar work. It is slower and moodier and that works allowing a great Guitar breakout.

There is a Psych Pop feel to the whole album, splendidly so, but the most notable is the masterful If You Want It. A song that the band absolutely nail, a nod to the great Australian Indie bands of the 80s, but allowing that Psych Guitar sound to thrive. Overtime... is a wonderful listen.

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 10 November

 

27 songs this week  All are corkers and reveal the scope of our tastes. As well as the traditional version, we have put the playlist on Spotify and you will see the link below.  26 of the 27 songs are available on Spotify. 

This is the penultimate Spotify version. The notes in the post below this one explain why. We also note another upcoming increase in Spotify subscription prices. None of this increase will go to the type of artists that we cover. We feel that we cannot support a place that allows great music to fall down a big black hole. We are continuing for the next two weeks because we have submissions in that may expect to be on Spotify. 

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 Penultimate Spotify Version   (The Suncharms - Endless Departures is not on Spotify)

Link To Spotify

The Boojums - Wings Of Fire

Clock Radio - Blood On Chrome

Winterpills - Lean In The Wind

The Yancys - Where Do You Sleep

Strange Passage - Daylight Savings

The Suncharms - Endless Departures (Not On Spotify)

Space Kitchen - It's My Passion

Guv - Let Your Hands Go

Clamsterdam - Radiator

The Response - Where Do You Run To?

The Blackburns - Chances On Love

Blake - Asking For A Friend

Coast Red - Afters

Coast Red · Afters

Joy Buzzer - If You Can Forgive Me

Joy Buzzer · If You Can Forgive Me

The Cindys - Dry TV

Holdover Holiday - Allie Lie

Elise Truow - The Perfect Girl

Gregory McLaughlin - Businessman

Positive Chaos - Bowl Me Over

Positivechaos · Bowl Me Over

SCHMOOZE - Too Late To Plead Insanity

Nepal Death - Ashen Pilgrim (Hippie Trail Edition)

Atom Lux - Bad Snake Good Snake

S.Karma - No Home Without It

Lorne Mower - Biding Time

Maw Sit Sit - Walking Journey

Mt. Air - Ghost Away

Anthony Ruptak - Phantasmagoria

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Thoughts On Spotify And The Playlist.

 

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the lack of Reviews this week, It is simply down to Bonfire Night being this week in the UK. Fireworks have been going off all week and we have a five year old Lurcher who is petrified of the noise. It has meant that our evenings have been dedicated to making him feel safe and he rightly needs constant attention. So typing up Reviews has been a no no. Tonight has been the worse night so far and it is 3 days since Bonfire Night passed.

There are loads of Reviews to come. On Friday alone, there were eight great releases and these and others will all be posted next week. I may go early with Monday's Listening To This Week tomorrow night, it the noise continues and hope that will be an end to all the unnecessary bangs.

The main reason for this post is about Spotify and Listening To This Week. We've trialled it as a secondary playlist for most of this year. I am Anti Spotify, great music goes down a big hole and the artists earn nothing from it. It was simply introduced because of a demand from artists despite our negative thoughts and we are about artists and the music.So, it has been decided to end the Spotify version. 

However, its use by us and our thoughts on its general uselessness have made the decision for it to go. There is no doubt that there is a certain popularity with the Spotify version. But that does not make up for our thoughts on how it treats musicians for their art. I don't use Spotify for any other reason than porting LTTW to that format. I don't listen to music via it and don't like the ways that members have to join to listen to the music on it, hence the reason for not embedding Spotify on IDHAS.

So the decision to end the Spotify Playlist has been made. It will end as soon as possible. It will be given a couple of weeks because there are submissions in that the artists will expect to be on Spotify. However, all future submissions will not be put on Spotify and this will be made clear to artists. This is particularly relevant for artists that who only send us Spotify links.

In future, ant PR, label or artist will be gently reminded that we don't do Spotify if only a Spotify link is sent. We will not listen to any Spotify link. If submitters continually send Spotify links after we have mentioned this a couple of times, submissions will be deleted without reply.

It is felt that the main success of I Don't Hear A Single is from our reputation and by word of mouth of followers and peers. This is what opens doors. We will never make artists massive, but we do get their music to other listeners which aids their growth. IDHAS is about New Music and Spotify isn't interested in the slightest about that.

I hope you understand our reasoning.

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Baker Island - Love Eggtually

 

I think many of you know how much I like Intelligent Indie, I scour for it. It isn't the type of Indie that you see pushed up front in the never-ending list of playlisters who bang on about how cool they are, the artists being secondary and lobbed in amidst the mediocre and the ordinary, usually of Bucks.

This type of invention usually comes from these shores and the Newcastle five piece are from Newcastle. Listen to the whole thing and you will be transported into a land of surprises. It is heady mix of constant surprises.

At its heart, this is Indie Pop, Alt Pop even. But it is so much more. You are reminded of the obvious peers like XTC and The Sugarplastic, but also the slightly geeky 80s New Wave and the adventurous Psych Pop of the 60s. There is even a hint of Russell Mael vocally at times.

Guitar and key riffs cross over, songs change direction at will. There are six songs here, but hundreds of ideas. Take the title track, which opened the current Listening To This Week. It is all 60s Toytown in feel with that splendid Psych riff and the wonderful vocal harmonies. 

There is obvious so much thought that goes into the songs. This is a group that know their influences, but make them almost unique in their output. The Angular Riff and cheap Casio soundalike of the keyboard is endeared by great vocal harmony on Let Them Eat Cake And Have It.

Dogged By Ill Luck is much darker, extraordinary good Psych Pop to a vintage Kids TV Theme sort of thing. Fortune-Teller Friend is beautifully twee with a driving Bassline, very very Sugarplastic, basic but with so much within.

Champion's Visit is the big one. 7 minutes that fly by, at times the band's most accessible song, more than a Little Brit Pop, but again lyrically adept, unlike most from that genre. There is also a mind-blowing vocal harmony segment that is just amazing, Active minds provide active songs and these five are therefore hyperactive. What an absolute corker of an album!

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

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