Happy New Year

 

2024 comes to an end for I Don't Hear A Single. A busy old year. I'm amazed that this place continues to grow in its 9th year. The Listening To This Week Playlist remains a big surprise. It was only intended as a small thing to showcase songs from artists who didn't have an Album or EP.

There is more to come next year with a few more additional features planned. Reviews aren't quite done yet, more to come for the rest of the week. Then after Monday's LTTW, the compiling of the Best 100 Albums of 2024 begins and will be published in the usual format.

It only remains for me to wish one and all a Happy New Year. I hope 2025 brings everything that you hope for. Thank you to Eastman Guitars for the above image.

...............................

Speed Circuit - Survey The Damage

 

We are big Ryan Allen fans from his Extra Arms solo and band days and here he is again. Unusually as Drummer as part of the Power Trop that is Speed Circuit. Previously, a solo vehicle of John Nelson's, Nelson and Allen are joined by Brent Mosser on Bass to make some noise.

And what a melodic noise this is. Nearer Power Pop with a crunch than Extra Arms, although the last Extra Arms album edged that way at times. That crunchiness helps to lead the trio into Indie Rock, and beyond, particularly when the material gets more scuzzy on the likes of This'll Do.

Although the Guitar sound is a little more in your face, Lucky Breaks borders on UK Glam Rock at times, a slightly heavier version of it if you like. Emotional Support Animal is much more 90s Rock, delivered at pace with a healthy aggression.

We Gonna Know, Right? may be the best thing here. Great Fuzz and a melodic solo leading the way. Survey  The Damage has attitude, but tempers it favour of hooks, riffs and big choruses.. A fine listen for all you Indie fans.  

You can listen to and buy the album here.

.........................

Neon Bone - Eager To Please

 

Munster's Neon Bone breeze into our life with an album cover that looks a lot like my attic. Maybe. you need to recover after the magnificent chaos of Daffodil Pill. If so, this is much more like what we are known for.

It appears that Neon Bone think of themselves as Punk. I get that a little, but this feels more like great UK New Wave. Incredibly melodic. riff led, memorable choruses, ace solos, tight rhythm section, I could be describing Power Pop, but New Wave doesn't rely on massive hooks, it catches you more off guard.

Although there is a little hey hey lets go and a bit of 90s Guitar Pop for da kids, bordering on the more melodic non robotic Pop Punk. That template is the starting point, but the album gets even better when it strays. 

Pull The Other One gets a little Replacements and Don't Fall In Love With Her is pure American Graffiti Rock And Roll. Sometimes is great Pop Punk with the emphasis on Pop. Cold City Embrace even gets all synth 80s to close proceedings. All reveal great variety.

But Eager To Please knows what it is good at and the likes of But When You're Alone and I Wanna Know are great examples. A special mention has to go to the splendid Slacker Rock of Told You So, an absolutely killer potential single. What a corking listen this album is.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

......................

Daffodil Pill - Daffodil Pill

 

Although, this place tends to stay on the straight and narrow musically and is really about what we are like, you may have learned that our tastes easily leave the chosen path, particularly my own. As a big Prog and Psych fan, those interests do find a way in, perhaps not as often as I would like or am allowed.

That sort of stuff floats my boat as much as Intelligent Indie, the quirkier the better. Here are the Polish quartet, Daffodil Pill and this is magnificent. The opener could be described as Psych Surf, but sounds and genres filter in everywhere across the 10 and a half minutes.

But worry ye not, this is the only song of that length, everything else coming in at far more comfortable lengths. Daffodil Pill spread their tentacles everywhere. You may never be quite the same after a listen. There is great melody amidst the chaos with a dashing rhythm section and big bursts of Organ.

Summer Children burst in all Telstar with a warbled vocal that accompanies the almost Space Pop with a hypnotic Bassline. King Cock is very close to 60s UK Beat whilst Evil Waves is a mix of Metal and more modern Pop Rock. 

Swallow Song comes over all Modern Prog with hints of Classic Rock, yet Gilmagel is pure Psychedelic Rock Rock, yet engagingly melodic. No song ends as it starts and there is a surprising amount of catchiness amongst the experimental. This is absolutely wonderful!

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

................

Listening To This Week Playlist

The last LTTW of the year. The playlist growth has amazed us as it was only ever intended to be a secondary thing to the Album Reviews. Quieter again this week due to Christmas and New Year, but here are 21 more songs for your aural pleasure.

I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have plenty of time to listen. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

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 the artists who appear here. 

The Krayolas - A-Frame (Downtown Mix)

Love Fiend - CKIL

The Armoires - Ouroborus Blues (Crow Whisperer)

Magic User - Machine

WES SP8 - Am I Sleeping Or Living This Dream

The Heats - You Know

VESSELS - Fade Away

DESU TAEM - Wood Chipper Freddy

Droze & The Drift - The Stage

Nik Nova - Breach The Wall

Daniel Whitehead - Angry Demeanour

The Greek Theatre - A Man Outside My Door

One Step Away - Two Seven Seven

Daffodil Pill - Evil Waves

Portray - Slumber

Hotel Art - British Summer Time

Triiumph - Simsalabim

Too Close For Comfort - Treading Water

The Leb Trip - Crazy

Heavy Moss - Distant Boy

Kings Of Fall - Drottningen Av Allt

..................................................

Magic User - Shadow On The Door

I've had this for a while, patiently awaiting release and it is a corker of an album. I suppose if you had to call a genre, you'd say 90s Indie Rock, but that would probably be a label too far. There's so much here and it is a little more Indie Rock than we normally cover, but that's our fault, not Magic User's. 

It reminds me of so much. The Australian Indie scene of the 80s that made Post Punk more accessible and melodic and the Psych Pop accessible. There is also a reminder of the best of Fuzz from America and the UK. There's even a hint of IRS at times. 

It is an album that offers up a slightly heavier Jangle and even gets a little Dinosaur Jr. The band aren't afraid of feedback solos, but the more you hear the album, you realise that Shadow On The Door is a real riffathon. Not every riff led album has to be Power Pop chirpy, this works just as well.

In fact the sound here is a lazier laidback affair, almost a Jam, but the riffs make the album absolutely hypnotic. It can verge on a Garage Rock sound, particularly on the heavier songs, which is really what the band are about, hence my referral to 90s Rock.

There are also lighter moments. The riff on Like The Moon gets close to Rush's Spirit Of Radio and Machine is probably the nearest that the quartet will get to a Pop Song. The Distance masters Classic Rock, but still allows the band to break into something heavier and add a killer solo. Another cracker from Dandy Boy Records. 

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

 ..................

Love Fiend -Handle With Care

 

There are many ways to approach Power Pop. No honest there are, despite what long aficionados may tell you. Los Angeles five piece, Love Fiend, prove this in spades with their 80s take on the genre. Being 80s sounding, you might be expecting synths and you get them. 

There is an extra dimension with these five as one member, Kurtis Ray, is a Sax player who adds variety to what you might expect. There is a real US New Wave feel to proceedings at times and I can't help thinking  of The Cars as Love Fiend get really close at times.

Having said that, the album opens with classic UK Glam Rock stomper, Just Like Eddie and Jimmy (Is An Agent) gets heavily into the same territory. Got Bad gets much rockier and the Sax plays a big part in that, yet instrumentally, Neu Testament is far more 80s bar the great guitar solo. I am reminded a lot of what Bates Motel brought to Sparks in that first half of the decade.

Tied Up is splendid UK New Wave, yet One Forever is again more is fine 80s Synth Pop despite the Glam handclap that parties up the song. Vacant Love is a great closer, slowing things down, with again a slight Cars feel, this time rhythmically and the beat continues.

Special mention has to go to two songs that show off the variation that Love Fiend provide. Secret Cabals is synth driven and really catchy. I have no idea what CKIL meant, but the song soon tells me. It is a cracking of rocked up Glam that sums up what a great listen Handle With Care.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

..................

The Armoires - Octoberland

 

I've obviously had Octoberland, the fourth full length album from The Armoires for quite some time. I deliberately waited until now to Review it for a number of reasons. The major one was to allow other Reviews to get their views across before I inflicted mine on everyone.

I have loved the band's output, but felt frustrated for them. With the Big Stir label taking off, I've always felt that they have had to rush previous albums. Then with all that goes on in the Big Stir Community, has meant that Rex and Christina have put promotion of their band on the back burner due to helping others.

There is also equal frustration of the band being labelled Pop Rock in the past, just as Big Stir is regularly noted as a Power Pop label. The irony is that this may be the most Pop Rock that the band have ever been and with having the album for some time, I see the reasons why the album is so splendid.

I'm fortunate to have heard the album from Demos onwards and the end results are magnificent. I'll also try to explain why in my opinion, it is so good. One of the main things is that the band have given themselves the time to make the album they wanted to make, removing themselves from Big Stir business busyness to spend time on the recording.

Michael Simmons production has also made a big difference. The sound is far more fleshed out. I don't know whose idea it was to concentrate on the harmonies and joint rather than separate male or female, but it is a masterstroke. The harmonies and matching of the vocals takes the album to a whole new level.

The addition of John Borack on Drums shows its full benefit here, not just rhythmically, but in the understanding of what is intended musically. But, at times, the real star is Larysa Bulbenko, her string arrangements add so much to the songs, allowing The Armoires to sound very different to paler imitations, not that there are many.

Having praised the joint vocals, the shared vocals on You Oughta Be Cut In Half are wonderful, it may be the best song here. A song lyrically adept, but scathing, yet wrapped up in such a jaunty presentation. There is a real chalk and cheese effect between lyrics and instrumental is marked. A cracking listen.

There's a lot of variety on show too. The 80s Synth on This Ones For The Swedes, The Americana Pop of Sudden Thud. How Ouroboros Blues (Crow Whisperer) mixes West Coast, Country fiddle to a Power Pop Drumbeat.

How good are the arrangement and harmonies on Ridley & Me After The Apocalypse, an instrumental tour de force and the entrance of the opener as a statement of intent that is We Absolutely Mean It. and its slight Psych Pop feel. Then there is the sheer catchiness of the chorus on Green Hellfire At The 7-11that slightly betrays its message.

Octoberland sounds like the album that The Armoires always wanted to make. As though all that went before was leading to this. Big Stir have also found the time to promote it, hence the reaction everywhere to a magnificent album, both music ally and lyrically.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download. Thankfully, it is not on Cassette.

................................

Horse Chops - Bureaucratic Tone EP (Bandcamp Name Your Price)

 

When we added Mr Headphones to the Listening To This Week Playlist, it was the most talked about song that week. I understand why, it was so liked. It has a real Indie Guitar Pop feel, a little Lloyd Cole in places and a gentle fuzz throughout.

That may be the centrepiece of this EP, but the Corner Brook Trio match it in slightly different directions. The Guitar Riff on Man Of Leisure feels slightly more 60s and a little Garage Psych that never overdoes the Garage part.

The title track is more restrained where Adam Beardsworth's vocal and slight drawl, works beautifully on the more restrained instrumental. Ten Speed is much noisier with its slight Mod bassline and aggressive sound. The riff is another cracker. A little Psych Pop and plenty of Fuzz and a real R and B solo.

This is the sort of thing that you used to hear regularly, but now everyone seems to want to be more extreme, noisier or lighter. It as though they want to be something else. Horse Chops nail the vibe beautifully, they don't forget the catchier pop side and that makes this EP.

You can listen to and buy the EP here. It is at Name Your Price, so what have you got to lose?

................

The Leb Trip - Rising High EP

 

Jordi Bel's project, The Leb Trip is very different to his day job as Vocalist, Guitarist and Songwriter in Barcelona Psych Rockers, Stay. This is wonderful gentle Pastoral Folk Pop that provides an amazing chilled out vibe.

Joint Produced by Daniel Wylie, you will have some idea what to expect. The songs are understated, incredibly melodic and maybe more fitting to compare to the late 60s. Largely Acoustic and Piano led, it is a cracking soothing listen.

Having voiced up the gentle element, Bel cannot resist breaking into a cracking Psych solo on Crazy. a contrast to the Piano Pop of Time Is The Enemy. Rising High is a little more Jaunty, whilst sticking to the general vibe, there is also a hint of the Indie Pop of the 80s.

I'm reminded at times of Per Gessle's Acoustic Folk outings, both artists are vocally engaging and manage to fashion a way into memorable choruses. Rising High is an EP to sit back and enjoy, just letting this splendid offering wash over you.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

...............

Swan Chorus - Achilles And The Difference Engine

 

I'm not going to bang on about how much I love Prog, I think a lot of you get the message. But it seems a little harder to understand these days. All sorts of variations are lumped into the genre, artists that are more Symphonic Rock, Pop Rock, Shoegaze, Electro and even Pastoral Folk.

I'm a little late to the party with this, but this is Prog as I want to hear it. It does sound a lot like Collins era  Genesis, well before he discovered Motown. At times, it even gets a little Big Big Train with more keyboards, a band that I adored before key players went through the revolving door and the sad loss of David Longdon.

Colin McKay and David Knowles were members of a Liverpool band called Achilles. I saw them in St. Helens as a teenager and we weren't used to seeing or hearing bands of such quality in the town, usually having to travel into the city.

The great news is that McKay and Knowles reformed a few years ago, joined by John Wilkinson (lead singer of Genesis cover band Mama, they became Swan Chorus. Here they are helped out by Peter Dover on additional drums and David Jones on additional Bass.

The twist for me is that the duo revisit the songs, that they composed in Achilles. The songs are beautifully performed and arranged, lyrically adept and a reminder of what a great band Achilles were. The times just didn't suit Prog as much and the Synth Pop and New Romantic waves were obviously miles away from this.

They can drift into Pop Rock on occasion on the likes of the pacey English Electric, Welcome Home mixes New Wave and 80s keyboard Rock and After Dark is a great Pop song, recently appearing on Listening To This Week.

But it is the Prog that hits you most, McKay is a wonderful Guitarist, ditto Knowles on Keyboards. Their technical excellence is never too showy, very melodic. Prog wise, The Great Adventure and The Waffle House Index ooze class. Being There is the most straight ahead and may just snatch the best song award. Prog for the masses and the unconverted! Wonderful!

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

....................

Tom Minor - Eleven Easy Pieces On Anger & Disappointment

 

I like to think that I know what I like, but what I like even more is discovering something that completely surprises me. Something that is intelligent, adeptly written and generally it is an album that comes from all directions where each song just engages you with its sheer inventiveness.

Tom Minor's album ticks all of those boxes. It is a myriad of styles that comes at you from many angles. You are not sure what will follow next song wise, even within a song and you find it hard to label, yet everything is so melodic and hypnotic.

For example, It's The Wind Stupid sounds like a Toytown song, but has a Mod Bassline and a killer chorus, a little Andy Partridge maybe in feel maybe? Goddamn And Evil has a Psych riff, yet could easily be Garage Rock. You starting to catch the drift?

Is Everything OK? sounds more 70s, but could also be Steve Marriott or Martin Newell or even Jarvis Cocker. It's Easy To Play Hearts mixes Steve Harley with UK Beat. The two songs with The Creatures Of Habit are real standouts, a fully fleshed sound, but still allowing Minor's quirkiness to flow, slightly Streetwise.

Light Heart Heavy Hand is a lyrically adept piano ballad, song in an American drawl. The Dog walkers is far more straight ahead and even sounds a little Joe Strummer vocally. Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years is all R and B and Mouth Organ, perhaps a slowed down Dr Feelgood, but also vocally a little Music Hall.

Daydreams Come True At Night is even a lullaby closer. Interstellar Standstill is wonderful. Moody and Magnificent, with a more laidback vocal. It reminds me of Ian Hunter vocally. The rap is also surprise, you think it won't fit and shouldn't be there. But like Rush's Double Agent, it works beautifully.

Eleven Pieces On Anger & Disappointment is incredibly inventive. I'd love to know what goes through Minor's mind. It isn't an instantly accessible album and needs repeated listens to realise its excellence. But once hooked you will have it by you forever. Lyrically adept and a myriad of styles, this is wonderful.

You can listen to the album and buy it here.

...............

The Sugar Hold - QUICKIE EP

 

I have one regret about the new EP from The Sugar Hold and that is that it isn't a full length follow up to last year's SWEET. Everyone knows how much I love this type of Pop Rock with its emphasis on Pop. The New York five piece's emphasis is very much on All You Need Is Fun.

But I do get a bit angsty when I talk to peers about them when they say what a great singles band they are. Every song they offer up fits as a single, so how the hell can they not be known as a longer form band. Every song is a winner and there is a surprisingly large amount of depth and changes of direction in their songs.

On first listen, they appear to be great melodic Pop, but repeated listens reveal how much goes into each song. It is easy to fall in love with Mikey Baish's vocal, it is so easy on the ear, but it is instrumentally and arrangement wise where these songs excel.

Beautifully performed, here are four nuggets that are essential listening. I haven't heard a better Pop Song than Olga this year. A real Let's Party thing that just changes direction at will with wit and pace. The other three songs come close, but this is the one for me.

Well Qualified has big hints of UK Glam Rock and continues the fun, it is also gets slightly Power Pop with Handclaps and the Power Pop drum beat. That drum beat is pretty regular across the EP, but this isn't a Power Pop album. This is the most straight ahead of the four songs.

You've heard Ooh La La on the Listening To This Week Playlist and this is the rockiest thing on show and adds a killer Guitar solo that is part Surf and Part Rock and Roll. I'm Free closes the EP and the Guitar Riff is wonderful.

I'm Free reminds me a little of Vanilla on the verse, but the multi vocal chorus is extra-ordinarily good. A killer chorus on a release that has them everywhere. It takes hard work to be this good and I haven't even mentioned how lyrically adept the songs are. Absolutely Splendid!

All four songs are embedded here, so you now head off and buy the EP here.

...............

Tom Adamson - Incredibly Tense And Unstable

Another discovery via the Listening To This Weel playlist. This is Sydney's Tom Adamson's third album and it is great Power Pop. He plays everything himself, although you wouldn't know it, the production is that good.

Power Pop isn't really meant to be deep lyrically, it is meant to be about fun and catchiness, riffs and big choruses and Incredibly Tense And Unstable is exactly that. At times, it does sound very 80s, particularly with some of the synth runs and the beat.

There are some also some frankly awesome Guitar solos. These light up many of the songs and when the power rockets up, these take other the show. The pace of the title track and Pretty On Purpose are fine examples of this and Action Comics is a blast across 7 minutes that go by way too fast.

I would never say that 80s Pop Rock is my thing, but Love Im Morse Code is done so well that you an't help but admire it. Surgeon General even heads towards a bigger Rock, but remains incredibly melodic and Problems is all 80s synth led, but could also be a show song.

The real tour de force though is Going To The Dance (Without You). It has a real UK Glam Rock feel, both vocally and riff wise and features another corking Guitar solo. A really enjoyable romp that you just can't help liking, I love what Tom Adamson has come up with.

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

..................

Listening To This Week Playlist

A shorter 21 song selection this week as preparing for Christmas slows down submissions.  The quality is as high as ever though.

I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have plenty of time to listen. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

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 the artists who appear here. 

Sharon Is Karen - Tear It Out

Cold Shoulders - Done Again

Stinky Toys - Depending Pretender

Lighten Up, Francis - Crutch

Lighten Up, Francis · Crutch

Drew Danburry - Love

Sallies - Uglys

Sallies · 01 Uglys.wav

Daniel Whitehead - Night Shift

Hauntu - Sadist Sun

False Corners (feat. Mom Friend) - From A Shadow

Mia Cefelo - Girl Who HATES Me

The Jumble - Devil Skies

The Jumble · Devon Skies

Tristan Armstrong - The Lonely Avenue

Back To The Six - No One Like You

Deep Cricket Night - When You Disappear

Live Oak Sunburst - Burn The Forest Down

Slow Buildings - Sweet n Sour Luv

Slow Buildings · Sweet n Sour Luv

Tape House - Jane I'm Drunk

Jaewon - Treasures

Barbacoa - Carolynn

Tom Adamson - I Won't Hold Your Hand

Trickshooter Social Club - Mile Wide

..................................................

Sharon Is Karen - Heart Of The World

 

Power Pop fan alert! Louie Golden's Sharon Is Karen arrive from Denton Texas to remind you how life affirming the genre can be. Heart of The World doesn't stay in one place, but it knows what it is good at and rams that home melodically.

There is variety and that is just as interesting. Say Goodbye is well fuzzed up and may just have saved the best to the last. A real Indie bitter sweet lyrical joy. Tear It Out rocks out of the blocks and sounds a little 80s Rock at times, excellently so with ace accompaniment from Ellie Reyff.

Ancient Dread is slightly slower and rhythmically even sounds a little funky instrumentally. The vocal clarity works really well as a counter balance and provides even more evidence that the album is far more than one trick pony.

But it is the Power Pop here that will probably grab the longer time followers here most. The blast in that is Carpet Burns (Sketches Of Pain) sets the scene. I Hate It Here takes you back to memories of how past Power Pop ruled.

Fork In A Toaster has a real urgency with a killer chorus and completes the opening three song memory jogger allowing the rest of the album to take different steps. A corking debut and it is so good to hear how melodic Guitar Pop can make you feel.

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

.......................

Drew Danburry - Bird Songs

 

Firstly, I owe an apology to Drew and his band Icarus Phoenix. They are a great band and although I have covered them, I should have wrote about them far more. If you follow the Bandcamp link below, you can discover their excellent wares.

But this is solo Danburry and very different to the band. It is an incredible piece of work. The pop sensibilities are clearly present, but the sound is more stripped down and at times, it feels a little Folk or Americana, wonderfully so.

But there is a jauntiness in other moments with great jaunty Pop choruses. The Brass arrangements are particularly effective, they make a big difference to songs, enhancing songs without kidnapping them. They fill the spaces beautifully.

Stripped down, it works, particularly on the hypnotic Ashes. It can also be melancholic. The opener, Bird, is such, but still gripping and it has a feel of the 99 Red Balloons verse. The instrumental arrangement is absolutely superb.

Shadow is very jaunty and reveals those pop sensibilities. The chorus on Love shows the Pop off even more. 20 years in the making and released as a children's story as well as a cassette with audio narration. Bird Songs is an exhaustive project and musically, the EP proves what a tour de force it is.

You can listen to and buy the EP here. 

.......................

Cold Shoulders - The Sun Goes Down Alone

 

Norwegian Trio, Cold Shoulders, breeze in with a really accomplished debut album that you feel the Power Pop aficionados will be keen to claim as the genre is still looking to refresh itself in the 2020s. But there is much more here than just that.

I'd single out the magnificent Done Again as an example of how the trio can take different roads. It is a cracking example of how 90s Indie could breakout into something melodic and engaging The riff is absolutely wonderful and grabs you from the off.

At times, they sound like a more rocked up version of Caper Clowns melodically and that's no bad thing. They can also Jangle beautifully. A little restrained in a West Coast way on Don't Wanna Tell which adds Mouth Organ and in more urgent mode on the splendid No More Honey.

Personally, I prefer them pacey, but they can slow it down really well. There's Another Day borders on the Ballad aided by an engaging riff and a slightly 80s discreet Keyboard sound. I Will Break is ace restrained Power Pop.

That pace that I mentioned is well served on the closer, Neon Lights, which is up and at 'em, yet catchy and foot tapping. For a debut album, Cold Shoulders show great maturity and you can give them no greater compliment. The Sun Goes Down Alone is a corker of an album.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

....................

hamburger – Beat Back the Ghouls

 

hamburger's follow up to 2020's Teenage Terrified is long overdue. Described as an EP, but with six songs, it may be more of a mini album. The six piece from Bristol, build on that debut, but advance the arrangements with quirky and at times unexpected directions.

We adore Intelligent Indie and it has to be said that the UK is not brimming with such, so we should celebrate great slightly left field Guitar Pop. Beat Back The Ghouls is at its best when the riffs are fuzzed and almost Slacker. Tferehey are avenues we know well and adore.

The female and male vocal mix works beautifully, something fragile combined with something more 90s Indie. This allows different sections to thrive, one sings, one harmonises and allows both call and response and alternate vocal soirees.

The fuzz of Uglie and the slightly growlier Buffalo is stirring, songs that appear to want to blast out, but never quite make it. Those are contrasted by the gentler and hypnotic effect of Toothless and Frankenstein. The latter features a wonderful brooding arrangement, that is so delicate that you feel it may snap.

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

..............

Tommy Keene - Performance - Rockin' The IOTA

 

It has been 7 years since the sad loss of Tommy Keene. Plenty lay claim to the King Of Power Pop, but to me, Tommy was it. A fan since his 80s debut and when I started Blogging, it was largely in the Power Pop world and over two decades on, I still think of the support and encouragement that he gave me.

Many talk glowingly about an artist when they die, sometimes inaccurately, you will never hear a bad word about Tommy during his career and since. He was the nicest man in Power Pop and it is the Power Pop that people talk about, although there was far more to him than that.

Our conversations were about everything but Power Pop. Our love of Prog, particularly King Crimson. How much we both adored Be Bop Deluxe. But mainly about our dogs. It has been delightful to see his back catalogue appear on Bandcamp keeping his memory alive and also seeing albums such as this appear.

Unusually for Power Pop artists, Tommy enhanced his reputation via his live performances. He had all the chops, big riffs and choruses and that unmistaken vocal, but he oozed melody and harmony. Killer songs across a great career and also capable of some splendid cover songs.

Here we find him in 2002 in Arlington VA with a magnificent performance from the soundboard. Newbies can hear how good the man was at what he did. Power Pop can be maligned as a one trick pony, not in the hands of an expert.

His anthology was called Tommy Keene You Hear Me, both a great description and a command. No one did more to show life affirming Power Pop could be. He's really missed, both an artist and a person. You can discover the delights of his career on Bandcamp and there is more to come.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

.....................

Listening To This Week Playlist

With not doing Christmas songs, the run up and aftermath of Christmas is expected to be quieter here. Not a bit of it! 32 songs this week and one of the best playlists that we have ever published. Sorting the track order was incredibly difficult.

I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have plenty of time to listen. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

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 the artists who appear here. 

Stinky Toys - The Kite

The Rills - Mistake

Pink Chameleons - Sunshine Honey

Frown Pow'r - Sign Inside

The Transits - Come Melt My Heart

The Swan Chorus - After Dark

Hamburger - Buffalo

Combos For Dogs - Ra! Ra! Resentment!

Flush - Unfinished Films (feat DD Slick)

T-4-FR(ee) - S[Hi]Vvy's Song

Atlas Rivers - The Vanishing

Sprance - Every Little Thing

Wyatt Funderburk - Transit Of Venus

The Mike Stufflake Project - The Fall Song (She's The One) [feat. Eric Troyer]

The Mike Stufflake Project · The Fall Song (She's The One) [feat. Eric Troyer]

Big Nobody - End

Minnesota Sex Junkies - Left! Right!

HØME - Electric Love

HØME · Electric Love

Sour Station - In My Mind

The Sugar Hold - Ooh La La

Gong - All Clocks Reset

Thirsty Curses - Foot In The Door

Band Of Four - Hello

Frei - Sail

Frei · Sail

Mup The Edens - Feeling Unknown

My Dinosaur Life - Empty Canvas

The Crooked East - Where It's Warm (2024 Version)

The Crooked East · Where it's Warm

Dan Millson - Saint Peter

Frankie Sunswept & The Sliver Moons - Tears Of A Crocodile

Sundial - Talaterang

Sundial · Talaterang

Jaewon - The Bower Bird

GiGi Abbott - Elizabeth Meets The New Kid At School

The Classicals - I Was A Fish

..................................................