Listening To This Week 1 June

As we approach our 10th Anniversary and pass 4 million views, it is worth noting how popular the LTTW Playlist has become. Like I Don't Hear A Single itself, it was only meant to be a small thing. Initially, a way to note great songs from artists who didn't necessarily have an Album or EP planned.

It has become a real driver for what happens here, bringing new followers and listeners. We were adamant that streamers such as the likes of Spotify did little for the artists that we like. Great music fell down a big black hole. Hence, the concentration on Bandcamp, Soundcloud and YouTube.

Those sites allowed people to listen to an artist's Back Catalogue and listeners didn't have to sign in or pay to listen. Bandcamp, in particular, allows listeners to buy. Streamers provide a song and that's it, we try to get people to become fans of the artists and this place is all about the artist.

26 songs this week 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. 

Local Drags - Sticky Menu https://localdrags.bandcamp.com/track/sticky-menu

Jade Green - I Can't Wait

The Martial Arts - Seeing Double

The Regulars - Impossible

Miserable Chillers - Bikeman

Sour Ops - Problem Number Next

Herr Nilsson - Queen Melody

Dave's Manual - Electrical

Wooden Overcoat - Home

Forgotten Garden - Rain

SPRINGCLEAN - Let Go

ELIKSA - From Falmer Court

The Jonnybirds - St. Venice

Middlebees - When Will The Light Shine

Cashell - Around Town

Magic City - Airtight Alibi

Hoaxxers - Hard Luck

EG Vines - I Like 'em Brain Dead

Hexham Heads - In Time

Vemberlain - Your Memory Has Been Magnetised

Electric High - Higher Heights

Roy - Pity Party

Tiny Tiny - Friend In Philadelphia

Tradie - Swan Drive

Jonny's Day Out - Zumba

Rockvyn - Parasocial Metabolism

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4,000,000

 

Over the weekend, I Don't Hear A Single exceeded 4 Million visits, what is even more amazing is that the 4th million came up in under 4 and a half months. Over 350,000 in May, the interest in new music really does warm the heart.

I've never been self congratulatory, IDHAS has always been about the artist and remains so. I don't really talk much about myself, but this is the longest that I've ever stuck with anything and the place seems to grow and grow. My Attention Span remains.

I only really look at the numbers to see what has been hot and not to guide future Reviews. 

What has been most pleasing is how the archive here has been trawled resulting  and how the LTTW Playlist has evolved. I, personally, do not think that I have been as hectic or active this year, which is a testament to how the place keeps growing. 

Lots to come in June and then of course the 10th Anniversary celebrations that arrive mid July.

Weird Nightmare - Hoopla

 

METZ released 5 albums on Sub Pop, the last being in 2024. Alex Edkins was the vocalist and guitarist. His solo vehicle is Weird Nightmare and this is the second album, the first was recorded whilst METZ were still a thing. Edkins is still on Sub Pop.

Weird Nightmare is very different to METZ, the latter were noisy and disruptive, wonderfully so and a little Punk. Weird Nightmare are surpisingly and splendidly Guitar Pop. At times a mix of classic Power Pop and the current noisier version of the genre.

But there isn’t just that. Never In Style is pure Replacements, as is Bright City Lights and Pay No Mind is ace 60s UK Beat with a top notch noisy ending. Yet compare those two the Jangling Twanging sugar sweet Power Pop of If You Should Turn Around and you soon realise that you’ve got quite an album on your hands and in your ears.

Little Strange is even more astray from the rest. A Punk vocal matched with a gripping Riff and a driving rhythm. At times very 1978 and yet also in touch with the 90s College Rock Revival. But it is the Guitar Pop that resonates most as it might for our followers.

Might See You There is a Power Pop classic, reminiscent of The Speedways, but with a bigger arrangement. Baby Don’t leans more to the likes of Uni Boys and Forever Elsewhere picks up the pace without losing sight of the genre.

The whole album is a revelation. A great celebration of the chorus with killer riffs and tight arrangements. I’ve select three songs that show the range of the album, but I urge all to listen to the whole of Hoopla to appreciate how great the Power Pop is.

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

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The Tyde - Once (25th Anniversary Reissue)

 

In my previous life at Anything Should Happen, the concentration was on collectively finding great lost albums. The breakaway to IDHAS was because of how the new was slated by peers and now I’ve spent as long here as I did there. So the looking back doesn’t happen too often these days.

But two albums have been reissued this year that both remind me of those times and what exceptional albums that they are. The second will appear in the near future, but for now we will concentrate on the first. Los Angeles’s The Tyde and their magnificent debut album.

Released at the back end of Brit Pop, it was largely ignored at the time, how many great American bands fitted into that genre. Once slightly did, but there was much more to it did. It is an album that is essentially built on a groove encompassing multiple genres, a proper album where each song complemented the previous one.

It does sound very U.S., particularly West Coast Rock, especially the laidback feel. However there are hints of San Franciscan Psych, the likes of Primal Scream and a restrained Black Crowes. There is even a hint of The New Radicals at times vocally.

It is a beautifully performed and arranged affair. A backing track that holds everything together, allowing the riffs to reach out and grip you, whilst at the same time leaving you hypnotised. I suppose that this is essentially a Rock album that provides something for everyone.

There are great moments of Pop, surprise Steel Guitar and a wonderful organ tone throughout. I’ve deliberately not mentioned any songs, but I have embedded my three favourite songs which change regularly. Once sounds as great as it did 25 years ago.

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

Weird Bloom - Wrong Time Wrong Place

 

It is great to have Weird Bloom back. I loved Stargate, which appeared in the Best Albums Of 2025 and the Italian five piece are back for more. They call it Junk Shop Glam, I’d call it UK Glam Rock 1973 - 1974 and there can lie a problem because I am of an age that can remember that period.

So my review will delight in how the band has got that period nailed down and make them sound like a retro band. However, most people will be much younger and not know the past bar the odd single. To them, these songs will sound as new and they are original songs.

So for the new, this is great joyful good time Guitar led Pop Rock. The oldsters can marvel at how close the band are to a beloved singles led time. Simply put, this is a great feel good album that puts its own spin on a glorious age and what bookmarks there are.

Look At Me is Bolan-esque, Lend Me Your Bones is not a million miles away from the Bay City Rollers. Wrong Time Wrong Place revives memories of Mud and Tiger Feet. Love’s A Glimpse is a little Suzi Quattro and The Devil On The Hill sounds like one of the rockier Sweet B Sides.

So having mentioned the references, it should be noted that the album is total fun, great Guitar Pop, beautifully performed and arranged. You will soon be tapping your feet, ckapping your hands and singing along to the choruses. Great Stuff!

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 25 May

A brief story about this week's LTTW Playlist. I was going to give this weeks a rest for only the second time. Simply due to how much I Don't Hear A Single has on this week. Meetings everywhere about its future advancement. 

However, I decided to have a quick listen to what was in on Saturday morning and was still listening at midnight. The result is the maximum 30 songs this week. A playlist that grows and grows as it goes. There are surprises, but this is probably the most Guitar Pop, the playlist has ever been.

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. 

Wynona Bleach - Be Positive

The Chovies - Lili Taylor

Next Week's Washing - All You Fear Is All You Feel

Weird Bloom - Wrong Time Wrong Place

The Speedways - I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You

Billy Reeves - Encyclopedi-ite

The Allwells - Walk All Over You

Shapes Like People - My Paradise

Tom Emlyn - Miss Understood

Radio Days - Flying High

Barry Walsh - Star Ride

Cult Canyon - Real Sublime

Bullseye - Tell Tale Signs

Tamburella - Slovenia

The Silver Bars - The Man Who Follows The Man

The Glorious Rabbits - Shine

Young Couple - As The Leaves Unfold

Michael Slawter With Julian Volpe - Give It All Up

Dead Star Boys - Killed By Dreams

Whoop - Tightrope

Sundrast - Tennis Coach

Certain Things - Sullen Freak

Certain Things · Sullen Freak

Jim Allen - Panic Button

Ben Auld - Hell Bent

Yacovelli - Doppelganger

District 8 - Don't You Believe In Miracles

The Creepy Jingles - All Because Of You

White Fence - Unread Books

Mean Sea - Pick Me Up

Crocodiles - Time Is Wasting Me

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Dead Star Boys - RATS

 

Medway, as we've tried to say over the the past year or so, isn't all about Psych Pop and 60s UK Beat. There's a great New Wave Guitar led scene and Dead Star Boys are certainly part of it. The trio's second album is wonderful New Wave.

The band is certainly in your face and a reminder of how great that late 70s / early 80s New Wave scene was. A mixture of the aftermath of Punk, Mod Pop, Canvey Island energy and for all the noise, a way with coming up with killer choruses.

Viv Tucker's vocal is somewhere between Pete Shelley and John Lydon and that backed by a killer rhythm section and an ability to resonate via big chunky riffs. The arrangements aren't ten a penny and allow you to believe that the trio offer a high energy live set.

The pure Punk energy of the splendid Killed By Dreams grips you and adds a surprise Organ accompaniment. So great a song, that it deserved to be the opener. But the equally excellent Plastic Age obviously prevents this. An inspired Buggles cover.

There is such a raucous feel to the whole album. A rawness that drags you in. A hope that the energy of 1979 could be with us again. I was around for that and it fuelled by musical tastes. The noise hides the melody at times, but this is a great set of songs.

You can listen to and buy the album here. The CD is available here.

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