Joe Greatorex is doing a cracking job in bringing The Holy Grail recordings from The Supernaturals to those who have searched for them for years and the new audience that the band have been successfully building.
Big 7 was the first release from the band in January 1993, Cassette only. The band toured Scotland and the cassette was sold at gigs. So pre-internet days meant that this was hard to find outside of the country and has remained so until now.
7 now becomes 8 with the addition of a bonus track from the time, Robinson. The CD release and download is a welcome addition to anyone's collection. Firstly Robinson is a great addition, very close to the Brit Pop that was to go ballistic.
The songs themselves have always been a great listen. They also underline the two comparisons that James McColl gets as a vocalist in Paul Heaton and Glenn Tilbrook. Big 7 has all the indicators that are needed to show how much bigger the band were to become.
St Paul is very Housemartins and Dylan's Day Off is very Labelled With Love. Beach Ball has the jauntiness that we have come to know and love, whilst Korpsecatcher is great Indie Pop. NATM is more of a strum along but adds a wonderful Psych Pop riff.
Her Majesty shows that the band's trademark sound and wit were already well engaged. The signs and pointers to It Doesn't Matter Anymore are all here, but so few would have heard that. Until now of course and this will be a real treat to so many.
Those who have followed us for a while know that we like Ryan Allen a lot. From his Michigan solo and sideman days up to the excellence of Extra Arms that we have here, a band that generally frequents the noisier side of Guitar Pop.
The quartet link perfectly through a locked rhythm section, a riff driven way of gripping you through dual guitars and Allen's rock out vocal. But Radar feels slightly different than what has gone before. It feels more polished, less in your face and this should bring an even wider audience that the band certainly deserve.
This is no way a criticism, quite the reverse. The songs are great as ever and there is still the ability to blast off. The guitar solo on Inflatable Boys is as wonderful and aggressive as the band have ever been. But there is also new directions that can be taken which show off the talent that is around.
Space And Time for instance is splendid anthemic Pop Rock that adds some great Pedal Steel Mad Dog Blue for instance nods towards the likes of Fountains Of Wayne and Your Highness kicks of with a big guitar intro that edges towards 80s Rock.
Sit Back Up even treads into 70s Classic Rock territory with its Thin Lizzy like Guitar sound. Then there is the Replacements like scuzz of Shut 'Em Down which also nods to past. But is the instrumental additions to the album that really work.
Brass on All Good Things Take Time and Sax on Sit Back Up confirm the slightly new direction. Radar is a really accessible album that deserves big attention. It certainly points to bigger times which Extra Arms deserve more than most. It also shows them to be a proper band.
You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.
I've been dying to tell you about this album for quite a while. The Shop Window are from Maidstone, but the five piece have made their name as Jangle Poppers rather than the usual Medway scene's dalliance with Psych Pop.
Their third album is a double and quite a herculean affair that is divided into two, Days And Dream. Days covers the Jangle Pop that you know, love and sort of expect and boy does it Jangle. However, decades are crossed magnificently.
Days covers everything from Merseybeat to the Jangle explosion of the UK 80s. From the US rocked up 90s version to the modern version dominated by the likes of Eyelids and of course pointers to Byrds. It does at times feel a bit Marr and Squire, even Ride, but is so beautifully done.
However, it is never set in its ways. It's A High adds a wonderful Twang and uses Brass well as Northern Uproar used to do. Beyond The Stars gets close to Brit Pop. Live To Love & Love Your Life is a gentle anthem that adds more tasteful Brass.
Dream is very different, magnificently so, almost experimental. Blues is a song that I've become very familiar, it chimes, but is more Pop Rock in which the vocal compliments the instrumentally so well. Loneliness sounds very Camp Fire.
A World Where We Remain is much moodier, melancholic and brooding.Happy Now continues that feel. Then there is the closer, Made In Heaven, all 7 minutes of it. More electronic, a song that grips you and builds into a massive soundscape that is almost hypnotic. A splendid listen.
So two very different halves make up Daysdream. One is the jaunty joy that Jangle should and does bring. The other has more of a darker shoegaze vibe in which the Jangle is still around, but more in the background. This is an album that is ambitious and yet so easy to like. Top Notch!
You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.
The For Closure EP has already appeared on Add To Want List, which is cool. If there was a Venn Diagram of our similarity, the middle section has become bigger and bigger over recent years and this offering is something that you would definitely expect us both to review.
Here we don't go for written reviews of three track EPs but Hazy Mourning is so good that it has to be mentioned. The Los Angeles five piece also surprise as you would think that the background of their veteran backgrounds would produce an EP that was much noisier and in your face.
This is pacy Pop Rock of the highest order, a little 90s College Rock in places, yet also reminiscent of stalwarts like Husker Du. It is incredibly melodic, riff driven with massive choruses. For Closure sound like a new band, which they sort of are, that are fresh out of the blocks, new to the scene like.
It is hard to pick a favourite of the three, which is testimony to the quality. I only wish there were more and hopefully that will remedied with a full length in the future. Rather than underground, the EP sounds much more mainstream, wonderfully so.
We hit the 30 song limit this week with a fine selection of tunes. Feels like a slightly poppier vibe this time around. There is no song preference in track order, just what we think flows. 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 all week 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. Thank you for supporting the new music from Indie artists.
Paperface - I never wanted to be famous, but...
Shove! - I Need Somebody
4DOOR59 - 20 Ways to Rock
King Black Acid - There's A Spirit Moving In Your House
The Mike Stufflake Project - Another False Start (feat. Eric Troyer)
Crawpappy - Copy Girl
Jordan Allen Dean - Redemption Run
Bad Friends With Black Cats - OKAY, BYE
Repeat - Man On The Moon
Faded Shades - What I'm On About
Broken Gold - Sound It Out
Sparky's Magic Piano - Athletic
Nick Kizirnis - Through The Motions
Separable - You'll Be Fine
blorgpulkfplorksickle - Pawn Lemmon (Don't Imagine (Surrender To The Inevitable)
Welcome to the first Here Is The News, a new addition to the IDHAS jollity. It is intended to be a weekly affair that informs followers about upcoming releases, gigs, labels and much more. As with everything on I Don't Hear A Single, it contains no influence whatsoever from anyone but us. We get lots of releases, PR, label contact, but we have always decided what we like and want to tell you about.
We are only ever limited by time. We only review what we like. People mention from time to time that we don't seem to do negative reviews. It is actually much easier to do a negative review than a positive one, but why waste that energy? From the beginning, we were only ever going to write about what we like and there is more of that than we could ever cover.
As IDHAS approaches 8, the Blogging world is very different than when we started. The influence that Blogs have has decreased at a rapid rate. It is hard to keep interest and even grow as streaming playlists seem to be the in thing.
There is no doubt that we have evolved and compare to different Blogs than when we first started. But we are still here and hope that we help artists on the way. We are never going to make mega stars, not that we would really ever want to. Adding things like this keeps interest and hopefully informs.
This is a cut down version of what this section is intended to be. A sort of test the water to gauge reaction.
King Black Acid - There's A Spirit Moving In Your House
I think you know how much we like King Black Acid. Portland Oregon must be so proud of this lot. Our review of the new album, Victory For Mad Love, has been really popular. You can read that here. There is now a video for you to enjoy of the new single, There's A Spirit Moving In Your House. You can buy and listen to the album here.
The Supernaturals
It is frightening to think that I have been listening to The Supernaturals for half my life. Initially, through their jaunty wit filled Pop Rock, but I've sort of matured with them as they have experimented and shown completely different sides to the band. Many will know of the big singles and albums, but the early cassette releases were like Rocking Horse shit.
So the archive releases from the pre It Doesn't Matter Anymore days are a godsend to both established and the new fans that the band has been gaining at a rapid rate. Both Big 7 and Sitting In The Sun join Let It Bleat as CD and Download releases. Both will be reviewed on here in the coming week.
It is less than a fortnight away from Local Drags' fourth album. We've covered them well on here and the last album, Mess Of Everything, appeared in our Best 100 Albums Of Last Year. You can read that review here. The new one sounds less noisy than what has gone before, more reflective, but is every bit as good as you might expect.
The CD and Vinyl are available from Stardumb Records. There are alternate covers depending on the format you choose. The album will also be on the Bandcamp site. A review will be on here, just after the release date. City In A Room should certainly gain many appreciative ears.
It has been too long since we covered Winston-Salem's Michael Slawter. Ashamedly, he hasn't appeared here since 2017's An Assassination Of Someone You New. There's an ethical theme to his new mini album and it is a cracker. Great Pop Rock that edges towards Power Pop.
There will be obvious connections to The dBs and Mitch Easter, but Slawter is very much his own man. You can pre-order the CD or Digital album now. It is a great listen. A review will appear on here shortly after the release date.
Canadian Guitar Pop has had an exceptional couple of years and Motorists are another example. Their second album is on Madrid's excellent Bobo Integral label. Touched By The Stuff revels in its 90s Power Pop vibe with heaps of Jangle Pop.
The band are not afraid to spread further afield though and this is an album that underlines the slow but sure return of Classic Power Pop. It knows its influences, but also adds its own take bringing the genre to a new generation.The album is available on Vinyl and digitally and will be reviewed here shortly after release.
Something a little rockier from the excellent Subjangle label. But worry ye not, there is plenty of Jangle here, it is just louder with a faster pace. Berlin duo, Joe Armstrong and Guido Kreutzmuller. Working with a base od Pop Rock, Brit Pop even, this is a glorious melodic affair.
All In The Mind crosses genres at will. There is what you might expect with the likes of Under The Sun and the Byrds Jangling. But there is also the wonderful Psychedelic Folk of Surveillance Town. The Dropkick Twang of Recognize is different to the Classic 70s Pop Rock of An Hour Or A Day.
Twenty Sixteen edges towards Country Rock, yet The Boy In The Mirror is prime time Brit Pop. Thinkin' Drinkin's could be early Diesel Park West, whilst A Smile For Everyone is piano led and much more atmospheric and melancholic.
There are two songs though that reveal the sheer breadth of what the band are capable of. They Keep Walking On By mixes Psych Pop and UK Beat with a beatnik style vocal and a killer chorus. It is such a mix of styles that works so well.
The opener, Don't Hold Back though is what reveals The Strange Encounters' intent. It is a melodic joy, laid back, part Del Amitri, part Hoodoo Gurus with a driving killer riff and splendid dashes of Organ with a twanging jangling solo.
Sometimes, when you mention Pop Rock, people think of bland boring fairy as it is such an all encompassing genre. This album proves how wrong people can be. It is bursting with harmony, melody and underlines the sheer joy that you can provide.
You can listen to and buy the album here. There are also links there to buy the album on Vinyl or CD.
Really inventive Indie from London quartet, Bad Wives with a cross genre selection of four songs. Everything from Post Punk to Angular Pop, Fuzz to Melodic Pop, at times in the same song. Throughout the experimental riffs, there is never a neglect of the catchiness.
The vocal helps this and allows the instrumentals to go off on a tangent. The riffs on Lost And Found are dual and come from two completely different angles, yet blend together wonderfully to provide a crackerjack of a song that even hints at Psych Pop.
Don't Get Excited is Shoegaze, but Indie Pop is bursting to get out. Sympathy is Slacker Fuzz, yet the riff is almost Prog with a Pop song chorus. Greg's Song edges close to the US Indie 80s, again the riff is everything, wonderfully dominant and much darker than the other three songs.
I can't enthuse about the arrangements enough. To me, this is what Indie should be about. Indie is a description that describes too much now. It should be a vibe, a feel, not a genre that allows everything that isn't easily genre categorised. This is the real thing.
When you are about to listen to an album, half of which has been co-written by Andy Partridge, your ears are gonna perk up and boy did they! You can spot the Partridge influence, but the songs that Conte has wrote himself more than stand up.
Indeed if you didn't know that Partridge was involved in the first side only, you'd think he was involved in the second half, which is to Steve Conte's credit. Surprisingly, the first take became a concentration on the excellent Conte vocal, which is very close to an Elvis Costello Armed Forces affair, another good thing.
Conte comes from a background of being an ace sideman, most notably with New York Dolls, but more recently with Michael Monroe. Away from his noted Anime adventures, it is really noticeable at how the solo spotlight solo suits him.
His Guitar excellence is always gonna stand out and it does, particularly on All Tied Up. But there are also other outstanding moments. Decomposing A Song For You adds Brass and is particularly well put together and Girl With No Town is Motown jaunty. Both are Conte's own songs and you could easily believe Partridge was involved.
I Dream Alone is a splendid sprawling joy, all six minutes of it. It has a magnificent Guitar outro and the false ending works. admirably. Conte's songs do sound a little more American at times, but that suits the general feel and variation of the album.
Of Partridge's five songs, all are ace but two stand out. We Like It is all 1974 UK Glam, wonderfully so. One Last Bell has an arrangement that includes Dukes and Orange And Lemons Psychedelic trumpets that jump in completely unexpected. Although Fourth of July runs both songs close and you can spot Partridge's expertise with a lyric line. An Essential Listen all the way through.
You can buy The Concrete Jangle everywhere and really should. Suitably, it is on Little Steven's Wicked Cool label. You can listen to the full album here.
The latest offering from Dane Brunt all the way from Geelong and this time it involves classic Power Pop as he gathers together members of Vintage Crop, Luke & The Typicals and The Sues, Rather than Australian, this feels more like the UK New Wave of 1978.
There is even a Cassette release to fully blend in with the period. Collecting To Collect brings back memories of those times for me and even more recent times when I was in the thick of the genre. The album is both nostalgic, but also an eye opener for newbies who don't know what it entails.
Big choruses, massive riffs and sing along choruses linked with the obligatory Guitar solo prevail. When they step away from the obvious, Teen Line are just as great. The Critic heads into more 80s Indie territory without ever losing the sheer catchability.
There is even a Glam Rock Guitar fest part way through The Outfit which is essentially a Mod Pop song and Out Of Office flirts with Canvey Island. Face Value gets even closer to the flares and butterfly collars of Glam Rock.
Pick A Lane gets a little more Punk and Hold Music even gets a little close to the American 80s version of the genre. The riffs are wondrous with a particular reference to Sophistication. All killer no filler here. What a splendid album!
As essentially an Album Review place. Listening To This Week was our attempt to do something for the single song has been incredibly popular and I can't believe that it is now in its second year. So whilst that thrives, it is time to move on to an idea that we've wanted to do for a while.
That is a weekly news section. This was brought more into focus by the amount of forward releases that we have in May. We only review on release generally to be able to embed songs with the review. But we were also keen to get you excited and let you know dates etc.
So Here Is The News will be a weekly post telling you about upcoming releases. There will probably be 10 - 12 items in each post. There is no PR involved and no Artist, PR Agency or label can request to be included. We decide what goes in. So obviously, albums will be in kilter with what I Don't Hear A Single is known for.
Our aim is always to help artists. We haven't decided on what weekday it will appear on. Distance from LTTW is needed, so provisionally it will be Thursdays, although we are aware that that day is close to the traditional Friday Release day. So that may be a factor.
An absolute cracker this week as we bring 27 new songs for your aural attention. There is no song preference in track order, just what we think flows. 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 all week 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. Thank you for supporting the new music from Indie artists.
Jumbo Chords - You Don't Belong
King Black Acid - Turning Off My Television
Jim Malloy - Sinners & Saints
Dream Pony - Tonight
The Hold Fast - Let's Burn It Down (And Start Again)
The Rainbow Lodge was in the Top2 0 albums in last year's Best 100 and King Black Acid became my new favourite band. I love 'em. So to have a follow up within a year makes me very happy indeed. Again this feels very Brit Pop, but that doesn't do it justice at all and if it was just that it would wipe the floor with anything ever from that genre.
Brit Pop is only the base camp as the territory is much wider and Victory For Mad Love revels in all that space. King Black Acid can go in any direction and master it. This is Album Of The Year material and that opinion is not based on one listen.
I've been fortunate to have the album for a couple of months and had the benefit of repeated listens and adored it more on every listen. The album never loses its melody and sheer catchiness as it twists and turns in every song.
I Roasted My Heft for instance starts all Classic Rock, adds a little 80s smooth and then goes into Psych Rock aided by a jawdropping chorus. Turning On My Televison mixes 80s Rock with Australian Psych and delights. Now I What To Remember starts with a Beat Box and then becomes an intriguing 80s Jaunty Pop joy.
Come On People starts all Classic Rock then becomes a 90s Anthem. I Don't Want To Ever Hurt You Again is an unexpected modern love song. The Invisible Wars closes the album with a top notch gentle Pastoral Psych affair which is still as catchy as catchy can be.
The stand out song is You're Going Down / Wasting In The Zone, a song that sounds very 90s with a joint vocal and the You're Going Down is venemous, yet sang so sweetly. Fans of the outer edges of Brit Pop will adore this. I'm thinking of bands like Octopus and Straw. But the album should more than appeal to all Pop Rock fans.
You can listen to and buy the album here. There is also a RSD Vinyl Release, limited to 500, that you may still be able to get at all good record stores.
I loved Pulse Park's debut Phonac Music, so much so that it was one of the albums in our Best 100 Albums Of 2022. So it is ace to listen to the Dortmund Trio's follow up and this again demonstrates the band's versatility.
I may appear contradictory, but this sounds a bit Poppier at times, but at others, it feels heavier and louder than what has gone before. What seems to have largely taken an Exit Stage Left is the Shoegaze element and this really works making the songs even more accessible.
Instrumentally, Pulse Park seem to have moved to an even greater level and become a real Power Trio. Songs are built around a wonderfully locked Rhythm Section that enhances the driving riffs. But the key take here is melody.
They also raid the genres well. Verbatim is nearer Psych Rock and a little Goth. Yet Binary could be Brit Pop. Wide Array is great Pop Rock, whilst Briars mixes 90s Rock with Indie Rock. Marginal Gains instrumentally even gets close to Neil Young.
Union Jones is a reminder of the Shoegaze of the debut, but Dylan is more in tune with modern Indie Rock. Dark Empath even gets close to Mew. Then there is the splendid Pop Rock closer that is Inertia And Mass that may just be the song that grabs most listeners here. It isn't that far away from 90's Power Pop.
The variety is the real strength here. Too many of the bands that follow similar paths is make 3 minute songs into 5 minute songs with unnecessary repeats and extended outros. Songs are just the right length here making this an album that will appeal to those who like melody and those who like Rock. Excellent!
You can listen to and buy the album here. You can learn more about the band on their website here.
I covered The Violet Twilight's superb Above The Clouds albumhere. Just six months later we graced with a follow up EP. New South Wales's Tim Butcher has fashioned up another splendid soundscape that is simply enchanting.
The vocal as ever is gentle and fits in beautifully with the arrangements. That vocal is reminiscent of the likes of Orgone Box, but rather than Rick Corcoran's addictive choruses, these songs are built more around the instrumental performances.
The Pastoral Psych is still present, but this EP treads more into Modern Prog. Never straying from the melody, these five tunes rely much more on the vibe and the whole piece. Cicada is more about the complete piece and the arrangements wash over you in a very soothing way.
There are none of the usual crashing chords and riffs that you might expect from IDHAS, but the EP is so well produced, themed and performed that you cannot help but be impressed. At times, there is a chilled out feel that allows you to sit back and enjoy the depth of the music.
RF was/is a fantastic album. I did worry, well I didn't really, if RF could be followed, it was so good. Well fear ye not, our Wiltshire friends Tom Brown and Rob Fawkes have lost none of their chops, in fact Exactomondo feels like their balls have grown, it certainly sounds noisier and meatier.
Released on Meritorio Records, one of our favourite labels, the vibe is very 90s Indie Rock orientated, but tells you little about what is on show. At times it feels very UK, Scottish probably and yet it also edges towards US Slacker Rock. Instrumentally, it is quite a racket, wonderfully so.
The two openers are very prime time Teenage Fanclub. I know that's a lazy comparison, but they are. But elsewhere, this could be Dinosaur Jr. In between, there is Fuzz, Jangle, Power Pop and even a little Country Guitar. The odd time, the album heads into the Garage territory of say Guided By Voices.
There is a real edge on occasion, but songs never lose the sight of the melody and catchiness. Prize Goose, which closes the album, is probably the most gentle thing here, but the pair still manage to finish on a maelstrom Guitar outro.
Sunsplit jangles with a great intro. Blabbermouth strums along and contains that weeping Country Guitar and yet Guideropes is all Slacker and 90s College wrong with a great addition of Twang. Stay Away From The Widow, Sidney is great Garage Power Pop.
The latter's song title demonstrates the sly wit across the album, sort of Half Man Half Biscuit like. Indeed, there is a real lyrical adeptness across the whole piece that adds to the enjoyment through repeated listens. Exactomondo will chime with followers here and hopefully add a whole new set of fans to the retinue. This album certainly deserves that.
You can listen and buy the album here. Please also visit Meritorio when you get chance here. It is a beacon of light in a darkening world.
It seems to be a month of returning heroes and May is gonna continue the trend with albums at the ready awaiting their release dates. So we are catching up nicely due to the amount of albums that will be covered next month.
Matt Addison is certainly prolific, very much like his biggest comparison, Guided By Voices. Hot on the heels of revelling in being I Don't Hear A Single's Best Album Of 2023 with The Sunshine Registry, (Review here), we have another.
That album was reviewed towards the end of last December and within hours, Upside Down World appeared, so I have had a lot of time to get familiar with it and it again revels in its lo-fi glory. It will delight those who know and may his most accessible yet in welcoming new believers.
People have said to me what I think a big studio budget would bring to Mythical Motors, most thinking that the resulting album would be massive.But I'm not so sure if I'd want that. There is a home made charm that makes the material intimate and special and would you want to take that homeliness away?
There is an IRS vibe present on Upside Down World, a mid 80s UK Jangle and even a Psych tinge across the album. It is certainly less Power Pop, more Indie charm as Addison's gentle vocal compliments the inventive riffs and diversions.
I watched Teenage Superstars for the umpteenth time last night and a lot of what Mythical Motors do reminded me of that Glasgow 80s vibe. The album also revels in the say what you want and get off attitude There is no room for extended solos or repeat ad infinitum choruses.
I've deliberately not mentioned the songs here, but have chosen my three favourites. The hope is that you will head off and listen to the complete album. It will only take you 27 minutes or so and your life will be much richer. I'm still not convinced that the world needs cassettes again, but I am not the arbiter of taste.
You can listen to and buy the album here. It is also available on Cassette, so buy yourself a pencil.
I loved Your Academy's debut album when I reviewed the 2021 Release. You can read that here. So I was really looking forward to the follow up from the Memphis 5 piece and I am not disappointed in the slightest.
#2 Record continues where the self titled album left off and nails the five piece's reputation. I suppose you would label this Pop Rock, but there are ventures into other directions. The base is very Posies at times, but this time, it is the mellower moments that also stand out.
Our Stars gets very close to Country Rock, yet also edges towards West Coast 70s vibes. Just A Little Time is part Classic Rock, but a big reminder of those great American 70s Pop Rock bands. Wasting Time is a jaunty all together now affair.
B 612 even ventures into a mix of Psych Pop and gentle melodic Prog whilst remaining in kilter with what is around, adding some corking understated guitar and Brass. But there is also plenty of Pace, particularly on the stand out Marilu.
The riff that opens Miss Amphetamine is a bit Pretty Vacant, but soon turns into The Posies territory. My Near Catastrophe puts big feet in modern day Teenage Fanclub land with a big solo. Overall, the album feels a little more restrained than the debut, a little gentler maybe.
However vocally and arrangement wise, the album is bang on. Songs are beautifully produced and performed with the melody washing over you and leaving you feel more content after every listen. #2 Record is a reminder that you don't have to blow the bloody doors off to engage an audience.
You can listen to and buy the album here. The CD is available on the Kool Kat label here.
A Dave Cope And The Sass album is always something to look forward to and it is wonderful to see more people celebrating what they do. Cope first came into my orbit at the start of 2010s, but it was 2014's Davey Cope And The English Breakfast that really made a siren sound loudly in my ears.
I Don't Hear A Single only began in the middle of 2016 and so it was well on the way to being established when the self titled Dave Cope And The Sass album was released and what a debut it is. Since then no Genre has been safe. From Folk to Psych and everything in-between.
The base is somewhere between Classic Rock and 70s Pop Rock, but that doesn't tell half the story, Cope has been well covered here and the albums have constantly bothered the IDHAS Best Albums Of The Year has I have no doubt that this one will.
I was also delighted to preview One Hell Of A Ride and this is one of the highlights here, but in no way the only one. There is a splendid manner in the way songs change directions.Take for instance Crooked Picture which takes in comparisons to Pugwash, Marmalade and 60s UK Beat in under 3 minutes.
I Wish I Had A Garden edges towards Prog and yet Precious Heart is all Jangle and yet could be played at an Austin Powers party. Next To Nothing is top notch Power Pop, but All Alright is an ace Anthem, the sort that Cope comes up with at will.
Where Have I Been All My Life is a real Singer Songwriter Troubadour sort of thing and The Soldier is all eastern sounding tableau, a really special arrangement. Just A Dream I Had Of Lizzie is gentle and Acoustic, almost Folk, but also has an exceptional Baroque arrangement.
The album is dedicated to Cope's brother, Ian, and West Of The Setting Sun is a marvellous tribute. Suitably melancholic, but heartbreaking wrenching with an almost Country feel at times, but maybe more of a Desert Ballad. It is incredibly atmospheric.
But if you really want to know what Cope is about in one song, then the title track is the one to begin with. Harmonic Pop Rock of the highest order, but also gets both a little 60s and 80s with a Jangle bursting to get out.
I know, people say it all the time for every album release, but this really is Dave Cope And The Sass at their very best. 12 songs without a duffer. Come on world! Cope has been here all the time, where've you been? An album to be listened to from start to finish and then put on again.
You can listen to and buy the album here. The CD is available at Kool Kat here.
