Outfit - Preservers Of The Past

 

Daniel Romano is back and his Outfit are named as stand alone. A proper band now who have brought along Strings and Brass and everything without losing any of the thing that made them amongst the new breed of Power Pop.

Canada still leads the world of Guitar Pop presently and here Outfit prove that. They still have that melodic joy and riffs that resonate, but they add even more. The One/The Many even heads down the Bob Dylan road.

The title track gets all jaunty with its Revue like Brass and the wonderful harmonies. The latter are a real feature of the album. Autopoiet revels in its 60s Psych Pop vibe and just listen to those harmonies on the West Coast Rock of Play With The Wild.

The majestic Classic Rock of Secret Of The Eye is as relevant as the urgency of Unsseable Root with its overtones of The Who. Phantasy is a great example of the variety on display. A song that sounds like Garage Rock instrumentally, yet has a Glam Rock chorus.

Any of the 14 songs could be embedded here, I have to pick 3. Preservers Of The Past is the sum of its parts. An album with grace and great songwriting, stellar arrangements and harmonies with excellence. It is as at ease with the up and at 'em, but the reflective songs are truly amazing. A quartet to die for!

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

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Rob Bonfiglio - The Over Under

 

It has been 8 long years since Rob Bonfiglio's last solo album and it's great to have him back. 2018's Trouble Again, an album that featured heavily in our Best 100 Albums Of that year. He has a storied career behind him and that experience really comes to the fore here.

A key part of one of my all time favourite Power Pop bands of all time, Wanderlust, you can also read Mick's extensive interview with the band here. He is also Guitarist and Musical Director for Wilson Phillips as well as an in demand Session Guitarist.

Many have him down as a Not Lame-esque Power Pop which has never really been the case. The Over Under feels more Pop Rock with departures into other areas, although Runnin' From Me certainly fits that description.

The title track is more 80s, particularly with the US New Wave synth, but it is also a little funky. Yet Fade Away is very Americana with some great Pedal Steel from Xandy Chelmis. Wandering Eyes is very very Matthew Sweet like.

The album reminds me a lot of Andrew Gold without the piano a fair bit, which is a complement. There is also an absolute gem within. Monsters is absolutely stellar, a little Butch Walker when he was relevant. All in All a wonderful melodic listen.

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

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Robertson - Robertson

 

Keith Klingensmith's Futureman label has revealed many gems to these aging ears. One of the most pleasing was The Vapour Trails, an Aberdeen five piece that jingled and jangled with a brand of West Coast Rock that was totally engaging.

Kevin Robertson and his son Scott were key parts of that band and as Kevin went solo, Scott was still around. That solo career showed a different side of the man, the jangle was still there, but enhanced by treading into other genres.

His last solo album, last year's Yellow Painted Moon was magnificent, an Electric Guitar-athon that encompassed Power Pop, Indie Rock and Psych Pop and deservedly finished high up in our Best 100 Albums Of 2025. You can read my review here.

Robertson is the combination of both father and son. The same line up as Yellow Painted Moon with Nick Bertling on Drums as well as producing. As you might expect from someone who has never stood still. the direction differs slightly.

These 12 songs are more insular, folk at times, not the hey nonny no variety, more melodic. It has a laidback feel that seems extremely content in the surroundings. The vocals and harmonies are much more to the front and the Guitars at times more Acoustic

There's still nods to what has gone before. The West Coast Jangle Pop of Don't Know What It Means for instance. Illusion To Me is splendid Psych Pop that melts my heart and Noon At Night is top notch Americana.

There are also big surprises. Get In The Parlour, Jean adds haunting cello from Marco Pescosolido, a song so good that it gets a second part later in the album. Ahren Buchheister plays pedal steel on Sticking Around as well as the aforementioned Noon At Night. The string arrangement from Kateryna Mytrofanova & Alexey Zavgorodny on Is It Wrong? is jaw dropping.

But Today is real Cambridge Folk with a wonderful Brass Arrangement, that is a little Spaghetti Western. To You is yeah man UK Beat. The highlight for me is Illusion To Me, largely because of my love of the genre, but it doesn't put a note wrong. Kevin Robertson is never offers up the same album twice and here is another great album.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Foot & Leg Clinic - Sit Down For Rock And Roll

 

Formerly The Wife Guys Of Reddit and forced to change their name by a cease and desist, welcome to Glasgow's The Foot & Leg Clinic. What a debut album this is. If you want to know what Indie means, it is potentially this. 

The album offers up whatever you need. Angular, yet Indie Pop. Want some Garage Rock? How about a little Psych. Female or Male Vocal? Indie Pop, no problem! Noisy or Gentle. It really is a bonkers album, yet totally sane. At its heart, it is Pop, but very unordinary Pop.

Intelligence and Innovation oozes out it, but if you want something straight ahead, OK. There is a fascination with Worms and what is wrong with that. The female vocals are a little Indie Pop, the male more Rocky, but the parts together are equally amazing.

Where Did All The Fruit Go? even ventures into Power Pop with a slight touch of UK Glam Rock. The Mariposal Antedote is folky Psych Pop. Simon Kitchen's Drystone Miracle is instrumentally amazing and driven by a really funky bassline.

Songs are built on killer riffs that grip you completely. There's even a hypnotic one on the delicate...Halycon which morphs into and incredible Guitar wig out. The angular The Early Bird is splendid Indie and maybe the best thing here.

Worms 2 is utterly bizarre, yet completely engaging, both lyrically and instrumentally. Indeed, the whole album is. Sit Down For Rock A Roll risks being one of those albums raves about and nobody buys. This is an outlier in the annals of Scots Pop, don't let it be that.

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

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The Gold Needles - Mood Elevator

 

Over to Hull for I Don't Hear A Single regulars, The Gold Needles. I'm sort of proud of our association with them since 2018's debut album, Pearls. I've reviewed all three previous albums which have appeared in our Best 100 Albums Of The Year.

They are a band that support others, something that doesn't always happen here in the UK. They fit perfectly on the Big Stir label, a sort of natural home and I also feel a little guilty about taking 3 months to review this fourth album.

To be honest, the December release date was a strange one. We leave the Reviews and the resulting Best Of Year, but I just couldn't get around to a proper listen with all the tying things up and preparing for the End Of Year thing. We intend to approach 2026 differently with an earlier publication date as the way we have approached things in the past means it is mid February before we get into the following year.

So I felt that getting to March may be the best time to present this review as the Best Of 2026 is out of the way and out of sight. I can now concentrate on the words for this melodic gem. As ever beautifully produced centring more around Pop Rock.

There's a lot to note, but I'll concentrate on a few main takes. Firstly, Simon Dowson's pipes are as in great form, gentle for most of the time, but wonderfully affecting. Secondly, his guitar work is stunning, through riffs and solos, this is a Guitar album of the highest order.

Finally, Mood Elevator is a Pop Rock album, but this time the genre leans more towards Power Pop. The Psych Pop has been largely smoothed out. I'm a bit sad about that, but a more focussed direction certainly helps a great deal.

There are outliers which work well, for instance the funk and 80s synth led title track. Crescent Moon gets a little Classic Rock, but jangles wonderfully. Pale Blue Silver Eyes sounds more 70s, the vocal is very Justin Hayward.

Turns To Gold even has UK Glam Rock overtones. But it is the Power Pop that resonates most. I Don't Know About That, Eleven Eleven and Keep On Telling Me Why are absolute winners as the whole album does. Pop Rock never sounded so good.

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

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Motorists - Never Sing Alone

 

Motorists have become one of my favourite Guitar Pop bands. As I mentioned in my review of their second 2024 album, Touched By The Stuff, the development of the Toronto quartet was plain to hear, with its bigger production. You can read my review here.

That album featured heavily in our Best Albums Of 2024 and album No 3 continues those strides forward, adding even more variety and strings to their bow without ever losing sight of their Power Pop excellence. There is a smoother mellower vibe at times here and it complements those strengths wonderfully.

Diogenes gets all UK C86 Pop and Anomaniacs goes Jangle Pop, whilst Man In The Circular Window ventures into pastoral gentle 60s Psych Pop. These three songs are in the middle of the album, showing that this is no front loaded affair.

Next Blue Kings isn't a million miles away from Squeeze or Crowded House with its hypnotic riff and killer bassline and Scattered White Horses is great classic Power Pop. The Damage even enters UK Glam Rock, very Chinn and Chapman.

Cristobal opens and is pacier, more Indie Rock and an R.E.M. reminder instrumentally. PCSD takes that vibe even further, it could easily be a song on the IRS label, more street vocally. The closer, Reprise< could be Dropkick or modern day Teenage Fanclub. Motorists are a band that keeps on giving.

You can listen to and buy the album here. The Vinyl can be bought here.

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Lone Assembly - Knots & Chains

 

We don't usually go for something so Synth 80s heavy, so many do it and it always seems to sound the same. But Swiss quartet Lone Assembly show how great this genre can be in the right hands. Knots & Chains never sticks in one area alone.

There is the straight ahead, but also departures into Post Punk, Goth, Darkwave and Pop allow the band to stretch themselves. At times you are reminded of Japan, but also Sisters Of Mercy and A-ha. There is even an Ultravox vibe at times, a darker one maybe.

The arrangements are hypnotic, beautifully arranged and in keyboard player, Raphael Bressler, they have an extraordinary vocalist. His vocal resonates splendidly, it is totally engrossing. On Call Of The Swift, it even gets close to Bryan Ferry.

The songs are soundscapes that allow that vocal to thrive and boy, does it thrive. When the instrumentals are more laidback, it allows that vocal to come front and centre, such as on You're Pulling At The Same Strings and A Dark Score. The latter is epic.

Although the Synths denote the genres, the other three band members shouldn't be ignored. The rhythm section is awesome and when Glenn Le Meur's Guitar takes hold, you note that there is far more to this foursome. They are a sum of their parts, but that vocal is to die for.

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

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