Vocabularies - For The Hundredth Time

 

I think many of you know how much of a sucker I am for Angular Guitar albums. Such affairs offer such clarity whilst dispensing with all those massive arrangements getting in the way. They get straight to the point built around beguiling riffs.

This is one such album. New Jersey's Ryan Young and Scott Radway are Vocabularies. Getting the comparisons out of the way, there's a mixture of early XTC, The Sugarplatic, Field Music and The Futureheads with a slightly more aggressive tone.

Young is vocalist, Guitarist and Bass Player, Radway, the drummer. Radway also mixes the album. The main difference to other such albums, is how locked in the pair are as a rhythm section. The Bass and Drums are completely locked in.

At times that linking sounds positively UK New Wave at others, it could be Tony Levin and Robert Fripp Discipline Era. There is variety too. Plank II mixes Post Punk with Funk, but also adds a Prog interlude. Method Actor mixes Psych with Indie inventiveness.

They are at their best though when the Angular takes hold, a Power Trio vibe kicks in wonderfully.The Ruling Class and Same Stone are the best examples. However special mention must be given to Conspiracies and Theories Thereof which closes the album. Built on a killer riff with an unexpected hypnotic chorus. It rounds off an album of extraordinary quality.

You can listen to and buy the album here. An absolute bargain at 5 dollars.

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My Son The Doctor - Glamours

 

Slacker Rock excellence from the Brooklyn quartet that nails the genre beautifully, yet also gets close to the current noisier breed of Power Pop. This is a cracking listen, such a fun experience, surprisingly lyrically adept, which is not a norm for this type of stuff.

A wonderfully arranged affair with songs that take surprise directions, riffs that explode, quieter songs that get noisy. There's a real wit in the writing that you spot early on. Incredibly melodic joy, but an ability to switch to a rock out.

Throughout, there's a sort of Weezer feel, but a much heavier version. A Shonda is real intelligent Indie, left field and angular, a little Talking Heads, with a killer guitar workout matched by a driving rhythm section. It is magnificent.

Drunk Kids gets more Pop Punk without losing any of the variance. Greatest On VHS is pacier, more Noo Yawk, a little Punkier, almost Garage Rock. Pink Banana is everything that you could want in an Indie song, urgent, but all over the place but completely engrossing.

The two singles are top notch. Barry Bonds initially broods before becoming an anthem and a sing along, wonderful storytelling. You've heard Lawrence Bigando on the current LTTW Playlist, a corking effort that at times gets a little Sugarplastic until the chorus.

Then there is Julie, a song that sounds so UK 80s Guitar Indie, another great song, as all 10 songs here are. An album that tells stories and yet Rocks at will. Inventive, Slacker Rock at its very very best. What an absolute joy this is.

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 16 February

   

29 songs this week and what a great example this is of what we do. Our Base Camp has always been drawn to They Might Be Giants, hence the opener. There is plenty of what you might expect genre wise, but also a continual reminder of the different roads we take.

Wonderful off grid invention from Alex Pester and Vocabularies and an incredible piece of Psych Shoegaze from a bunch of youngsters from Mexico. In a trying week with internet outages and power cuts (hence why this appears a bit late), here is a great example of why I love what I do. The power of music is incredible.

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. 

They Might Be Giants - Wu-Tang

Single Audio Channel - Save Or Regenerate?

Single Audio Channel · Save or Regenerate?

Vocabularies - Patron Saint

Hallucinophonics - Afternoon Of Acid Rain

Whelligan - Nature

The Legal Matters - It Doesn't Matter

Chris Church - Contrarian

Alex Pester - Stories

My Son The Doctor - Lawrence Bigando

Michael Robert Murphy - Corkscrew

Last Second Dropout - Apathy

Frederic Cupillard - 6 O'Clock Blues

The Dahmers - Underdog

High On Stress - Over/Thru

Colin Swietek - Drop In The Ocean

Slowdays - Tiempos y suefios

The 77s - Out Of Control

The James Clark Institute - Reluctantly In Love

The Lanes - You Don't Know Her

The Blackburns - A Reunion Show

Peter Johnston RVA - Two Hearts

Hollow Bodies - Traffic

Music City - You Remember https://welcometomusiccity.bandcamp.com/track/you-remember

Cashier - Part From Me

First Day Of Spring - The Riviera (Modern Nature)

JRNXLST - Halo

JRNXLST · Halo

Kevin J.B. O'Connor - Tomorrow And Tomorrow

Kevin J.B. O'Connor · Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Derek Smith And The Cosmic Vultures - Hollow Choir

In Loom - Tails

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Dewey - Summer On A Curb

I mentioned it last year and I'll mention it again, the French music scene is forging ahead at present. Previously known, wrongly, for Noisy Punk and chanteurs, they now seem to be taking over both the Indie and Guitar Pop scenes offering up exceptional albums and singles.

I've been dying to tell you about this for a while and now I can. The two singles have featured on Listening To This Week to great acclaim from listeners. Now you can hear them in all their full length glory on this splendid debut album.

Although you hear great melodic Guitar Pop and a little shoe gaze at certain times, Summer On A Curb sounds very Brit Pop, great Brit Pop, not the nonsense that gets associated with its heyday. The scene was always more notable for what was around the edges than all the monoliths that got all the coverage. 

Oasis are now noted as the be all and end all of Brit Pop despite having just one and a half decent albums. The better sounds were by artists with just two or three albums. Role Model is probably the best example of Brit Pop, but there are other examples.

However, Dewey are not scared to tread different paths.Jinx is a mix of gentle Psych and Madchester. Face Out is more Psych Pop and the title track has a real Shoegaze feel, but with more words and a clearer vocal than that genre is noted for. It also has an hypnotic riff.

Tough Crowd sounds more than a little C86 and Better Safe Than Sorry is completely engaging, probably my favourite song on the album. This is a melodic Guitar of the highest order. Having said that there are synth intrusions that come and go quickly and make the songs sound futuristic. One of the best debut albums that I've heard in a long while. Totally Ace!

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

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The Bret Tobias Set - The Bret Tobias Set EP

 

Philadelphia's Bret Tobias is always more than interesting. This 5 songs show off his variety despite being on the more laidback side. Happiness Writes White is almost Gentle Psych Pop, wonderfully melodic and houses a corking closing solo from the mighty Marty Willson Piper.

The stand out for me is the Power Pop of It Begins With A Lean, a song that Jangles superbly, yet also houses another killer Guitar break. Tuff Sleddin' gets noisier and ups the pace, a little more Indie Rock, yet also feeling a little California and adding a Telstar keyboard run courtesy of Krista Umile.

Sepviva Shuffle is jaunty Americana, yet has hints of 70s Pop Rock. Undo Undo Undo is storytelling of the highest order. Indeed, Tobias throughout underlines his lyrical adeptness and on this song in particular with its splendid way with words and ace arrangement.

You sometimes miss his songwriting strength and lyrical quality as it is housed in great choruses and top notch arrangements. I have often wondered why he doesn't get more attention as he pushes all the right buttons for any listener of quality Pop Rock.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

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The 77's - 7

 

Wow, I never thought I'd hear a new album of original songs by The 77's. The last such beast was 2002's Direct and although there is an amazing back catalogue to listen to, back to 1983, hearing these songs are like finding a modern day Holy Grail.

The trio of Michael Roe, Bruce Spencer and Mark Harmon are in ridiculously great form all the wy from the almost Glam Rock of the opener, Out Of The Clouds, to the closer, Sonata, an instrumental that is hypnotic with a wonderful Twang.

The album is also released in intriguing Physical formats. The Bandcamp download adds a bonus track in Uncle Gene, which is a reminder of prime time Little Feat, the instrumental versions of the songs and a 52 minute commentary on the album by the band. Such attention to detail is really rare in these days of Spotify.

It is great to have them back. The album lands somewhere between Classic Rock and Pop Rock, but there is plenty of variation. From the Dave Edmunds Boogie feel of Weedzlers in which 6 minutes plus fly by to the restrained beauty of Shiloa. Wonderfully performed and produced, 7 is an absolute winner.

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

Submissions

 

The internet in the area is back up and now we can finally get Reviews up on here. They will begin this evening and we are also in the midst of preparing tomorrow's Listening To This Week Playlist. You can imagine that the downtime over the past few days has left a lot to catch up on.

I just wanted to mention a couple of things about Submissions. Submitters may not know that we don't do Spotify. When we get emails with only a Spotify link, we send a pleasant email to ask if the song can be submitted in an alternate way. 

That is all fine. However, we are noting the same people continue to send details of songs that only have a Spotify link. With it being busy here, we don't want to continue sending ignored replies. These emails are obviously just sending out to all in the hope of coverage. If they do this they should add multiple links. We have no option from now on, but to just block the sender if this happens continuously.

Secondly, we get a lot of messages asking if it is ok to submit a song on social media and we like this and encourage it. However, after saying yes, we get a follow up asking for a link to IDHAS. Such follow ups are ignored. We are a site that supports artists and have a following of artists and listeners that support each other. If someone can't be bothered to look up IDHAS themselves, they sort of prove that they are not as like minded as the community.

We are not being angsty in any way. Time is limited and we spend it on people who share the same goals.

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