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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Andrew Weiss and Friends - ...To Change A Light Bulb

 

I'm a big fan of New York's Andrew Weiss. He has a reputation as a sort of Laurel Canyon troubadour and a fine storyteller. But there has always been much more and as he has become really prolific recently without ever foregoing the quality.

He has always had a way with Pop Rock that transcends his West Coast Rock reputation and it bursts out in spades here. There's also the surprise of liberally spread more modern synths that have more in common  with 80s New Wave.

Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of his 70s sounding joy present, for instance the splendid Mr Roy Gee Biv with its Don Henley like vocal and storytelling strength of Milk Carton Missing Kid, a top notch duet with Sara Barsky that mixes American, West Coast and Folk.

You Against The World gets all Classic Rock and Weiss still has his strength with a building Anthem, this time it is Shirley, This Can't Be It. The songwriting strength stands out on Today, Tomorrow, The End Of Next Week, The Latest is Easy Listening Joy.

The Pop Rock really stands out, especially on the magnificent This Parking Lot Has No Vacancy, which may be the best song that Weiss has ever written. Epic in scope, beautifully arranged. There has never been a Weiss album that disappoints, but this may be his best ever.

You can listen to and buy the album here. 

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Big Nothing - Big Nothing

 

I adored Big Nothing's debut album, Chris, still do. It featured heavily in our Best Albums Of 2019. So I have no idea how I missed the follow up, 2022's Dog Hours. Maybe it is a label thing. We have never had that great a connection with Lame-O, I've no idea why.

With listening to so much stuff, the label connection can be vital. There are great labels such as Dandy Boy and Meritorio who keep you informed regularly. They know that you are not going to like everything that they release, but when you connect, you really do.

So we reach the band's third album and it is a cracker. It feels a little more mainstream than Chris and is wonderfully big chorus led. The Replacements connection seems even less so, in its place big Pop Rock songs that Jangle and you can't stop yourself singing along.

Now seemingly down to a trio, the album does seem to have a bigger Rock sound, the arrangements are just as big and Matt Quinn's pipes remain in fine working order. The band still flirt with the likes of Americana and Indie, but is the Jangle that stands out most.

There is also a secret vocal weapon. Bass Player takes the lead on two songs . Crusin' is a little more 90s Rock, but her sugar sweet vocal takes it into much more. Stumble is more restrained, but built on a killer riff and stands up with the likes of Fortitude Valley and adds a splendid Twang.

The band's third album feels a bit more commercial, a little more Pop Rock, but it lights up that genre. Beautifully performed and arranged, this is a release that hits home, simply because it is so damn catchy. Your feet won't stop tapping.

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 Update

 

For only the second time since its inception, there will be no Listening To This Week Playlist for the coming week. Nothing to worry about! A combination of a heavy real life work schedule and the Heatwave over here in the UK this week has led to this.

Bailey The Lurcher has needed extra attention due to the heat and any spare time available was not favourable for sitting round a computer, compiling. The same has applied to Reviews. Finally, submissions were unusually lower, maybe due to the weather and the World Cup.

The Playlist will be back on Monday 6 July with a bumper edition. Some Reviews are planned for tomorrow as the catch up begins. Onwards and errr Upwards!

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Listening To This Week Playlist 22 June

A day later than usual, here is this week's LTTW Playlist. 23 songs that sum up pretty well what we are about. Maybe a bit of Prog would have been a complete description. I've just re-listened to it all and it sounds really ace.

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. 

The Blusterfields - Mr Secretary

Elephants And Stars - Of Halfway Houses And Ambulances

Thee Windows - Linen

The Hanging Stars - Show Me The Way

Bramwell - Standing On Stones

Onesie - In Your Dream You're Every Character

Radio Weekend - Circles

Charming Arson - The Wednesday Of My Discontent

The Allwells - Any Day Now

We Are Dust - The Third Door

Astrologer - Drug Of Choice

St. Davis - More Or Less

King Black Acid - Dialling 911

Scott Gagner - Sugar Rush

Tom Minor - Bureau Of Change

Tom Minor · Bureau of Change

Adult Magic - Drift Dive

Mo Troper - Let's Get Back To Music

Your Friend, Death - Oh Come On!

Your Friend, Death · Oh Come On!

DTDR - The Dirty Robot

Shredded Sun - Skyscraper

Radio Days - I Won't Give Up

Oddfellows - Draw The Line

Grant Morriss - World's Collide

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Onesie - Way Thousand Bump To The Sky

I joined the Onesie party in 2019 as they released their second album, Umpteenth. That album hit our Best Of Year. 2023 brought Liminal Hiss which hit the Top 10 of that year. Here's the Brooklyn Trio's fourth and it is a stormer.

You might call them Power Pop, because they can be, however they often aren't. When they are it is usually a noisier version of the genre, but they are also Slacker Pop, without the my life is shite bit. Then again they aren't much of these things.

Incredibly Inventive, with quirks a la Andy Partridge, at times they remind me of Ash, the wit is the same, but there is far more depth to Onesie. They are noisy, but in a good way that never loses sight of the melody. Chorus led joy.

The riffs are what make them most, unusual at times, often coming out of nowhere, but completely hitting the sweet sport. There is also a lyrical adeptness to aid these great arrangements. Tryptophantastic is so XTC, even like Blur doing XTC. 

Yet, Maybe Life's Just A Monitor Gig is a great Guitar Pop song with a Rush like riff. So Darkside is very close to a Toytown song. Superlative could be The Sugarplastic and the 100mph of Doing A Band sounds a little Sugar.

The closer, In Dream You're Every Character, is an astonishing song. Very like another band that I hold on a pedestal, The Mommyheads, almost a doppelgänger. Adding Sax, it shows a completely different side to the trio.

Onesie sort of catch people by surprise. On the face of it they appear to be a slightly noisy Indie band. But listen to this and you will realise the work that goes into an album and how spot on they get it. Not like any one else, totally themselves. Way Thousand Bump To The Sky is a masterpiece.

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

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