Paul Molloy - The Madmen Of Apocalypso

 

It is hard to believe that the splendid debut album from Paul Molloy, The Fifth Dandelion was four years ago. You can read our review here. Since then, The Coral has taken up a lot of Molloy's time, so it is delightful to finally have a follow up.

The Madmen Of Apocalypso is different to that debut, just as melodic, but not as Psych Pop and more. There is much more Pop here, influenced by a myriad of styles. For instance, Apocalypso is a calypso, all Brass and swing, wonderfully if a little surprisingly.

Luxury Bunker is more vaudeville, Music Hall like, but also contains Spaghetti Western Brass. So that's the two singles dealt with, what about the other nine songs. Well, Hey Nancy is part McCartney Piano Pop, part Ukelele thirties all together now fayre.

In similar fashion, Doomsday Bottle Of Wine is pure Ragtime and Apocalypse Rag is something that you might expect on a Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band album. Little Green Man is pre Beatles 60s Pop, a little Larry Parnes prodigy with a Joe Meek keyboard run.

There is still Psych Pop on show. Dolly The Sheep is splendidly so, whilst Absent Friends is all together now strumming 70s Pop Rock. Silicon Valley is singer songwriter American and Artificial Intelligence returns to the Jeeves And Wooster territory.

The album is described as a musical satire and I get that, but there is a real pop sensibility here that crosses across a century. It leaves you realising how much great music there was before Rock and Roll. Wonderfully performed and arranged, The Madmen Of Apocalypso is something that you couldn't imagine being in anyone else's hands. Magnificent!

You can buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl and CD. You can listen to all 11 songs here. It is also available on the links here.

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Bees & Sawdust - Teething

 

I wouldn't have Teething down as an easy listen, but it is an incredible listen. Built around mesmerising memorable riffs, it draws influences from everywhere, Post Punk, Psych, Prog and more. It is wonderfully noisy. A little Radiohead feel at times.  

The fact that these were secondary school friends and are now at University makes this even more intriguing as you'd expect this to be by some gnarled journeymen who have joined together after various adventures in various bands.

The five piece from Galway offer up a type of Noise Rock that approaches Hard Rock and certainly Alt Rock, but those riffs are awesome and angular. It isn't for the faint hearted, but continued listening gets you hooked.

The Guitar sound is awesome and the album is much closer to Psych than you might imagine, particularly the vibe. It does get a bit shouty at times which suits the soundtrack, but is definitely something that few are doing at present. Open ears will be certainly rewarded.

You can listen to and buy the album here

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Owen Marchildon - Dangling Towards Heavy Sunlight

 

Ontario's Owen Marchildon has a long career of different projects under different names, but this is his first album under his own name. Dangling Towards Heavy Sunlight is essentially a Jangle Pop album, but it is not only that.

The Jangle Pop also steps into varied areas.Heavy Dreams is a cross between 60s West Coast Jangle and Merseybeat. Celebrity Singles vocally gets all Tom Petty and Weather Gurl, the stand out single candidate, is cracking jangling Power Pop.

There is also an ability to tell a story, particularly on Desperately Cruel, wonderfully so, with more than a hint pf Elvis Costello in the vocal. The Dumbness Of Love is another storytelling affair, but much darker, even hinting at Americana. 

There's even real melancholia with the dark moody Slaughter and Ginger Norwegian is similarly pensive, a little 80s Post Rock, even a little Classic Rock and adds a crackerjack of a solo. These songs reveal to the man than the joy of jangle.

The real delight here is the closer. Silver Screen sort of brings everything together in a jaunty Pop Rock affair. It is a song that sort of brings everything together in one song. Marchildon has offered up an album that will please Janglers, but underneath there is a real singer songwriter craft. Excellent!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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31 Reviews In 31 Days In October

 

October is traditionally an I Don't Hear A Single 31 in 31 month. There may be days without a review, but overall at least 31 Reviews will be posted over the whole month. To be honest we are expecting there may be more than that with a couple of special features planned.

September wasn't as productive as usual here, so there is a fair bit to catch up on wit us having a large Review backlog. Onwards and errrrrrrrr Upwards.

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