Laughing Week - Despite The Static

 

Los Angeles trio, Laughing Week openly acknowledge the nod to the 90s Power Pop revival, but the Power Pop here also head towards earlier times on Uncertainties and to the current noisier breed with the excellent Conspiracy.

Guitar solos even get  Classic Rock at times without ever losing sight of the Guitar Pop. There's even nod to Slacker Rock and Uncertainties certainly gets a little Weezer. But this is a smashing debut, the band express themselves really well.

The Riffs are splendid, anthemic at times, your attention is certainly caught. Outskirts has a great Power Pop Beat and underlines their genre aims. There's also some great synth, that hits New Wave levels and the vocals work with both the slower and noisier directions. Old Cassettes is a corker of a song.

There is loads of promise across the 5 songs. A great debut. Many think Power Pop is inconsequential, songs about love and fun. But in these darker times, it is harder to be upbeat and Laughing Week are definitely that, proven by this mighty fine debut.

You can listen to and buy the EP here. You can buy it on CD or as a download.

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Late Cambrian - How I Bleed EP

 

I absolutely adore Brooklyn's Late Cambrian. Indeed, I can't think oddly of a band that has appeared on the Listening To This Week Playlist more. John Wlaysewski is an inspired songwriter. They've been around for so long that I just can't fathom why they are not massive.

I suppose you might label them Pop Rock, but that is nowhere near a decent description. The songs  are epics, changing direction and genre at will. So damn inventive, yet so damn melodic. Arrangements to die for and always a riff to absolutely grip you.

Take for instance, How I Bleed, the title track. It contains Classic Rock, Funk, Brass, killer chorus and paint stripping Guitar solo. All this to a vocal that isn't a million miles away from Jeff Lynne and this is just one song.

Together starts all Led Zeppelin, before becoming Pop Rock gold, so wonderfully melodic with haunting organ. The harmony of the chorus is beautifully sung. A little Prog in places and another jaw dropping instrumental arrangement.

Into The Lilac Tree is more straight ahead, a ballad if you like, more restrained instrumentally, working more on the joint vocal harmonies. 28 Years Later has a faster pace, more Indie, a little Power Pop and rounds off proceedings.

I don't think that you will hear a better EP this or any year. I can't wait for the next album. Late Cambrian have the knack of being totally accessible, yet innovative. It really is time to tell all your friends about this lot.

You can listen to and buy the EP here. Two Radio Edits are added to the four songs. A Physical release is essential.

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The Green Hearts - The Green Hearts

 

Welcome to The Green Hearts' debut studio album. I say studio, because their first album was a Live one and that tells you a lot about the energy that these five provide. That setting is where they thrive and with a twin guitar attack, before you listen you know that this is gonna be a crunchy sounding affair. 

They inhabit a world of UK Beat, UK New Wave and Power Pop. With the two UK mentions there, the band do have a real Brit sound as so many American bands in the past have, although you also think of the likes of The Plimsolls and The Beat US wise.

The Rhythm section are mighty, providing a killer backbeat that allows the Guitars to flourish. There is a real 60s Beat feel akin to bands like The Len Price 3. The material does really fall into the three mentioned categories. Power Pop fans will love it.

The New Wave stuff is done to perfection with the big riffs, killer choruses and the driving drums and bass. At times, they sound instrumentally like a bigger sounding version of The Jam. The Beat is very 60s, adding organ the odd time and providing real sing along choruses. There is also a R&B feel that adds to the all round joy.

There are plenty around who mine this sound, but few do it as well. Indeed, there are many less that grab that 77 - 79 UK Club feel. King Liquor Liberty even sounds rolls Rock And Roll into play, whilst still sounding more than a little Generation X.

We added A Fine Mustache to the latest Listening To This Week Playlist and that is Power Pop gold and adds a Thin Lizzy like twin Guitar solo.Vocally strong, never shouty or bombastic which suits the song perfectly. The whole thing is beautifully arranged, performed and produced. What a crackerjack of an album!

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 2 March

    

28 songs this week on another top notch playlist. This one again shows our diversity as well as not losing sight of what we are known for. Look out for Holly P, the daughter of Andy Partridge. She has a lyrical dexterity akin to her father's. Oh and look! There's Todd Rundgren with The Call. Incidentally, we do think the LTTW image could do with a refresh, but we are hopeless at that sort of thing. Any volunteers?

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 those who appear here. 

The Call - The Walls Came Down (With Todd Rundgren)

Nick Piunti - Handshake Deal

The Invisible Man - Bees For Sale

Cape Crush - Calm & Delivered

FatStalker - Tameside Tourist Board

Ceylon Sailor - The Tiny Wave

Mopar Stars - Only Bar In Town

The Stacys - 3 Cheers

Secret Molecules - Stereo Music On The Radio

hooper - My Favourite Mug

Holly P - Side Quest

Laughing Week - Conspiracy

The Dead Century - Hey Chicago

TO FOLLOW

DIN NYC - Press

DIN · PRESS

Two Dark Birds - To End It All

Pony - Superglue

Bad Tide - Crush

The Bishop's Daredevil Stunt Club - Heavy Conclusions

Palm Ghosts - Something's Off

Palm Ghosts · Something's Off

Count The Clock - So Dumb

The Green Hearts - A Fine Mustache

Dreamwave - Over You

Fort Not - Ragdoll

The Dream Machine - Angel Heart

The Broken Vinyls - Meatlocker

Manhattan Boy - Hero To A Victim

Asian Cowboy - Varmint

bdpop · Varmint

Warm Coat - Expert

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Nick Piunti - Solo...ish

It is sort of a back to the beginning for both us and Nick Piunti. As we approach our 10th Anniversary, his Trust Your Instincts album was our first album of the year in 2016. He wasn't new to me then as both 13 In My Head and Beyond The Static had been covered in our Anything Should Happen Days.

Piunti wise, it is also a return to those earlier days. After the crunchier time with The Complicated Men, the new album is more restrained and both Andy Reed and Donny Brown are back in tow. This had led to a feel that is a little more mellow and at times, a softer tone vocally.

But the album isn't solely about the laidback. There is still classic Piunti in abundance. If you wanted a song to define his career, it would be Handshake Deal which contains all the elements that make the man great. The sheer melodic, the killer vocal and a riff to die for.

One Dimensional is similar, but with more Riffs where Piunti is joined by fellow Complicated Men Guitarist, Joe Daksiewicz, for Guitar Heaven, Be in no doubt that Solo...ish still rocks, but the gentler songs resonate equally.

Better Songs is a big Pop number, even sounding a little 60s in feel.Bruises And The Bandages is a fine ballad with Reed's keyboards adding great effect. Peripheral gets close to Americana. The gentle Jangle on  Tragic Tragedy is hypnotic as is the twanging solo.

Nick Piunti has never made an album that is anything below top notch and he isn't gonna start now. All his trademark melody is everywhere, that wonderful vocal shines. Here, he has managed to incorporate bigger arrangements and add keyboards that don't overshadow what he is best at. Another superb album!

You can listen to and buy the album here. The album is available on Vinyl and CD on the Jem Records label here and everywhere. It is also available as a download.

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31 Reviews In 31 Days In March

 

It is fair to say that February was our quietest month in a long while, even it is always a month that we take it easier in. A general tiredness kicks in and there is always a lot to catch up on with all the work that goes into the Best Albums posts. This February has been even more so. The past week has been spent to listening.

That was always the reason for the 31 Reviews In 31 Days in March. A chance to tell you about all the great new albums that are out. Both March and October are the traditional I Don't Hear A Single 31 in 31 Days months. 

There may be days without a review, but overall at least 31 Reviews will be posted over the whole of March. There will also be the five Listening To This Weeks. The success of the Playlist has been a real surprise and we tend to leave Mondays just for that which means there will be more posts on the days before or after.

The 31 in 31 kicks off Big Style tomorrow. Thank you for your continued support. as ever. This place is artist led and getting them the attention that they deserve is all we hope for.  However, we are never short of delight at how this place continues to grow as it approaches its 10th Anniversary in July. We do have something special planned for that.

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Silver Heir - Hindenburg Variations

It gets rarer and rarer that I get surprised by a band or an album. This is one such band and album. A debut album from a New Jersey quartet that is wonderful Pop Rock that reminds me so much of prime time 10CC in the arrangements and the Eric Stewart like vocal.

Unusually, I let the band tell you about themselves as I was so taken with the wit that they offered up in their write up. Mainly melodic and mellow, it is when they break out that they excel even more. But first a song before their story.

"Many years ago, there was a band. They were a lot like your band, or your friend's band. There were four of them, they made music together in the mountains and they had a great time.

But they were kids and like many kids, they could not finish the assignment.The songs were never good enough (for them), the recordings were never good enough (for them), and frankly, they were not good live (for anyone). They heard the music in their heads, but when it came out the other end it was mangled, tortured, and self-conscious. It was a band only mothers and girlfriends could love."

"The years passed and the idealistic youngsters turned into "professionals." They married and were fruitful. They learned to finish assignments. But they did not hear the music anymore.

Then a great plague came over the land, and I don't mean to make light of it: it was a great plague, wasn't it? And one of the professionals thought: what am I doing here? And he heard the music again. And he brought the music to the other professionals, and they heard the music too. And they became as kids again, but kids with adult superpowers, like not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and holding each other accountable."

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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