Swive - Stereophonic Stylings Volume 2

 

I adored Swive's 2023 debut album, so much so that it featured in our Best Albums Of The Year. The mix of male / female vocals from Indio Romero and Sidney Merritt worked beautifully. You can read the Review here and now we have Volume 2.

The two singles for the second volume promised much and also underlined the variety that the San Diego band provide. Fading Out is all Buckingham Fleetwood Mac-ish with a great guitar sound and Del Rio is more jaunty Tex / Mex with a wonderful chug.

Swive are not afraid to take chances and change direction, Indeed, one of the best songs here is a rock out, almost Psych, instrumental in Orange Crush. That ability to surprise is key to what they do. Merritt's vocal on the riff led Sky High is exceptional on what is the nearest the band will ever get to an anthem.

Lucky is great Pop Rock and Headlights is great West Coast Rock. Merritt's vocal on the former and Romero's on the latter show the benefit of the shared vocals. Chameleon mixes 90s Alt Rock with Sandy Denny-ish Classic Rock.

Mirrors is even more different with a sort of Red Hot Chilli Peppers opener and the brooding feel, a meandering joy. No Guarantees is built on a killer riff that just grips you and an incredibly strong chorus. Self Sabotage is wonderful jaunty Pop Rock.

The whole album is incredibly strong. Built on a splendid Guitar sound with an ability to go wherever they want to direction wise. I thought it would be difficult to better Volume 1. This has! Different to most around, it is a great listen.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Deep Wimp - Longtime Beginner

 

Back to our roots with the great Power Pop that is Longtime Beginner. The Brooklyn quartet can be Classic Power Pop, but also have the ability to step into other directions. This is largely helped by all four being vocalists.

Indeed for all the Power Pop, one of the best songs is the closer Thumbs Up which is looser and more West Coast Rock, Classic Rock even. Wheelhouse has that feel too, although a little slower and more brooding than Thumbs Up.

It is the Poppier moments that resonate most though. Particularly the magnificent opener First-Time Caller, built on a wonderful Power Pop riff and a vocal that is almost Feargal Sharkey. Pipe Dream is a little more laidback, but just as effective.

Giant even gets a little Psych Pop riff wise and shows even more variety, a little Garage feel at times and Bright Balloon gets more classic Power Pop and the four are really good at that too. Loads to like on this really enjoyable listen.

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

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The Blusterfields - Thoughts & Prayers

 

The Blusterfields have been a watchword for variety since their 2022 debut and with an album a year since, we now reach their fifth and this is probably the album they've always threatened to make. The North Carolina five piece are at the top of their game. 

At their most Poppy perhaps, they still offer up a heady collection of Pop Rock, Power Pop and Psych Pop and retain their social conscience. When the single, Mr Secretary appeared on a recent Listening To This Week Playlist, many of you remarked on how XTC it sounded.

They've also had that in them and here there are four or five songs that fit that category, all would fit on latter-day XTC albums, most notably the magnificent Juniper Tree. But these lot are no XTC copy band, there is far more than that to enjoy.

There is the splendid Psych Pop depth of Goldenrod, the New Wave opener Any More, which is a little vintage Vegas With Randolph and the cross between Garage Rock and Glam Rock that is I've Never Been To Detroit.

Elsewhere, there is the joyful Guitar Pop of Title Town and the moodier broodier of Inches Away and the UK New Wave groove, of Here Come The Idiots. The latter most describes what the band are lyrically about, anti-fascism that is dressed up in a great arrangement.

Thoughts & Prayers is beautifully arranged and performed. Largely Guitar Pop and of the highest quality. The band have a way with a lyric and an instrumental change of direction. Album Of The Year potential without a doubt.

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 6 July

The LTTW Playlist returns after a rare week off with 29 songs and kicks off July for us (at last I hear you say). 29 splendid examples of why new music is so vibrant at the moment. The habit of having something really interesting to close, continues. The focus for us over the rest of the week is a catch up on Reviews.

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 those who appear here. 

Swive - Headlights

Deep Wimp - First Time Caller

Andrew Weiss And Friends - This Parking Lot Has No Vacancy

Elephonic - The Party

The Acrobats - Ophelia

Sparkle Blood - The Fridays Of Our Lives

Change Life - From Zero To One

The Chutes - Scraping The Last Bits Of Light

The 286 - Midnight Symphony

Something Sneaky - Stevie's Here

Ghost Of Vim - Best Of Times

Ghost of Vim · Best Of Times

Droids Osaka - Bits & Pieces

Marble Jets - Feelin' Alive

The Regulars - Gotta Wait

Ancient Waves - Devil's In Me

Hoaster - Around The Sun (Live At 13 Sound Studios)

Telematch - We Are Here

Cold Shoulders - Eye For An Eye

Alley The Band - Fantasize Romanticize

Space Jaguar - Please Come Around

Dreamy - At Close Range

ELIKSA - Only A Matter Of Time

Oski XD Doski - Sweet Sister Green Jeans

Brother Dynamite - Better

Jensyn - Trust

With Brevity - Street Lights

Wild Oceans - I Don't Need You

Suneaters - Bedhead

Bleu Reine - Cavalier Seul

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Welcome To July

 

Welcome To July!

You may have noticed that we've been a bit quieter through the last couple of weeks. There is a reason for that. We are used to seeing 200,000 views per month and can handle that, but June went crazy. There were 700,000 views in the month. It is brilliant that there is so much interest in new music, but that amount of views leads to a massive amount to deal with behind the scenes. Through answering messages and emails and the increased submissions.

It has coincided with my real life work being extremely busy. It is Sports related and the World Cup has brought challenges there. So I've tried to calm things down a little. Hence missing a Listening To This Week Playlist this week and the Reviews being a little lighter. I have a week's leave next week which means the catch up will be thorough.

Some of you may know that it is I Don't Hear A Single's 10th Anniversary on 19 July. It is the longest that I've stayed with anything music wise and I'm proud of what we have achieved. It was planned to have a week of Live Sessions, some are already in, but the surge has left us lots to do on that score and it makes sense to plan that for later in the year in September. We will mark the anniversary with a simple Thanks post.

We are not going anywhere, it's just that the volume has caught us off guard and we need to get back on track. Where we are now to where we began in July 2016 is amazing and a testament to the new and underappreciated artists that we cover. I don't expect another month like July, it seems like an outlier, and it has been so pleasing to see older Reviews come to the fore again.

This is just an explanation of where we are currently at and a thank you for all the support that we get.

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Sparkle Blood - Zip Zap.

 

An album from a fine Trio, it can only come from Canada I hear you say, well it does, Sparkle Blood are from Alberta. They master a sort of say what you've gotta say and get off in a delightful Indie way. The result is a great listen.

Tyler Stewart's songs offer up great, slightly angular, Guitar Pop. Built on great riffs and earworm choruses, a little DIY, slightly scrappy, but incredibly effective. At times, they sound like your favourite UK New Wave Power Pop.

Canada seems to get that UK Power Pop down to a tee, far better than any Brit outfit. The vocal interplay between Stewart and Bailey Kate works wonderfully well, particularly on Around We Go. When the pace picks up, the trio are equally effective, as on In Real Life with its killer chorus. 

There's also real wit on the splendid Who The Fuck Is Patrick Swan with its punkier vibe. My Favourite Pee Hole mirrors that late 70s New Wave let's do the song right here feel and The Fridays Of Our Life is a little Husker Du with a Merseybeat chorus.

Restless is Power Pop joy. The whole production feels a little Guided By Voices, but the songs have more in common with Power Pop, particularly the strength of the choruses and the multi backing vocals om Mad About It work like a charm. A cracking up and at 'em listen.

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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Change Life - Change Life.

Known more for Woolen Men and their excellent Singles Club releases, Portland Oregon's Lawton Browning gathers a collective for his Change Life project. There can be no better liaison than its appearance on the excellent Meritorio Records label. 

There is the joy of Intelligent Indie with a social conscience. The album feels a little 80s, but I'm only thinking of bands and artists who took chances in that decade. At times, a little Japan in touch and certainly a Talking Heads in feel.

That Talking Heads in feel is most notable on the opener, Smile, but the whole album is built on hypnotic gripping arrangements that aren't afraid of changing direction. For instance, there is a real Funk to Beyond Control that is addictive.

Eden Express is built on a Gabrels like Guitar Orchestra, yet vocally has more in common with Ska and those Guitars even get a little Psych. From Zero To One gets close to something off English Settlement and At Last I'm Free could be King Crimson and yet is choral.

The album is experimental, yet never up itself. The arrangements are deep, drawing you in. It is an incredible listen, deep and reflective, a sum of its parts, but centring on Browning's wonderful songwriting. An incredibly inventive debut.

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

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