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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Listening To This Week Playlist 23 February

   

The maximum 30 songs this week. As ever, a mixture of what we are known for and some engaging surprises. We do go for depth, so I do urge all to listen to everything if you can. Listening back, it does feel a bit Power Pop heavy in the middle, but that allows you to listen before and after to the other delights.

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. 

Weird Nightmare - Might See You There

Silver Heir - Big Storm

Prism Shores - Didn't Mean To Change My Mind

Pet Needs - Duckling

Mike Browning With Elena Rogers - Over And Under And All Around

Daily Worker - Anything Can Explode

Slip-Ons - Overtime

Shy Pit - Fuck

Sadlands - Bad Idea

The Blue Herons - Willow

Gunmoll - Gave My Love Away

Ex Norwegian - Don't Go Miles On Me

LOGRO - I Miss That Lousy Bus

Ryan Hamilton - The Come To Jesus Moment

Daniel Feinberg - Carry My Man

The Suncharms - Midnight Train

Richard Turgeon - Girl Like You

Holy Coves- Falling Down

Holy Coves · Falling Down

Sorry Darling - Sorry Darling

The Foot & Leg Clinic - Where Did All The Fruit GO?

Mod Lang - In Advance

Mansfield - Much To Handle

Mansfield · Too Much to Handle

SubPersona - Find Me A River Act II

Your Academy - Kind Of Love

The Smug Brothers - Interior Magnets

My Unicorn Dream - Room In The Oven

Wills Van Doorn - Ever Wonder Why

Special Friend - Clipping

SKEP WAX · 02_Clipping

The Needmores - Side X Side

Pom Femme - Sunny Side Up

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

Captain Wilberforce - Another World. Another Life. Another Time

 

In a fair musical world Simon Bristoll's Captain Wilberforce would be massive. He seems to be destined to be another of those artists / bands that frustrate us when more don't seem to get them. Originally that was blamed on gatekeepers or labels who only wanted the fashionable.

The internet and ultimately Social Media were supposed to usher in an age were music could be picked up easily by all. Instead it provided a world where people believe music is free and therefore unless you are mega, it is now a second job,

Both didn't usher in a new world, they encouraged attention deficit, listeners like something and then a few listens onwards move onto the next without telling anyone else about what they've found. The only way forward may be for us to shout loudly as a group, ditto other great music places.

Captain Wilberforce has been with me forever. Now into the third decade, I've covered them on here and Anything Should Happen throughout. Bristoll's seemingly forever known as the English Neil Finn and that is apparent the slower songs here. When the pace picks up, the comparison becomes Squeeze, but there is far more here than just that.

Bristoll has a lyrical adeptness akin to Chris Difford, but a bit more worldly and the arrangements are out of this world. The Jangle Pop is present regularly, but usually mixed with something else such as Psych Pop on The Installation.

The arrangement on the UK New Wave of Christine, You're A Drag also has big hints of the 60s Beat.  Sonny even adds a great Brass arrangement and the closer, Lighter Shade Of Blue is Americana. Yet Four Words  And The Enter Key is rockier, with a killer riff and driving rhythm and a solo that catches you off guard.

It is Holding On that probably defines a base camp Bristoll song, great Pop Rock. The whole album is a testament to how great the Leeds scene is at the moment. These songs are largely stories, beautifully presented. I'll allow myself a cliche. This is the best album that Captain Wilberforce has ever made and with the best being so strong, that is some compliment. This album is magnificent. Go tell your friends.

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

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

Where Have You Been?

 

This is a fair question. I haven't published as many reviews this month, but looking back, this happens most Februarys. The Best Of Year takes a lot of work and relistening. Whilst compiling it means nothing else is done or listened to during that fortnight. A big backlog is created and I always feel a bit tired. I do have to admit that it is great to see 2026 stuff knocking the Best Of Posts down the most viewed things.

The Listening To This Week Playlist continues and that takes up a fair bit of time, real life work is busy this month and the weather doesn't help motivation. You just want to get home and do nothing. So I felt that last week was a time that I wanted to just take a break from it all and so I did.

Normal Service is now resumed and two Album Reviews will follow this post, both extraordinarily good, and the new Listening To This Week will go up this evening. There will be Reviews during the rest of February. But remember that there is an onslaught in March with the regular 31 Reviews In 31 Days. 

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

Daily Worker - Prefab Maverick.

Harold Whit Williams is some talent, a well known poet, ex guitarist of Cotton Mather and then we have the delight that is Daily Worker. Whereas, musically, Robert Harrison took one direction, this fellow went into a world of inventiveness left field. A world where he could take any direction he pleased and he does.

He can be incredibly off the scale, but also at ease with the mainstream. Psych Pop is never far away. Daily Worker's last album in 2025, Field Holler, was really well received here and appeared in our Best Albums Of 2025. You can read our review here.

As well as the constant originality on show, people forget what an incredible guitarist he is. Riffs that can be Power Pop or Fripp-esque. There is always room for a great Guitar Pop song and here, The New Insincerity is one such example and adds a great Jangle.

Elsewhere, Western Wear even has hints of 60s Pop and the title track is even jaunty, it fairly bops along with a shuffle and even has a vocal that sounds early Bolan. All of this is a complete opposite of the lyrical content.

Pop Knock Offs is a real punt at song retreads and Daily Worker are the best example of not doing this. There is a sense here, lyrically, of someone aging looking at the younger generation with a big sigh, not with anger, but weariness. You won't hear this kind of quality elsewhere.

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

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

Vocabularies - For The Hundredth Time

 

I think many of you know how much of a sucker I am for Angular Guitar albums. Such affairs offer such clarity whilst dispensing with all those massive arrangements getting in the way. They get straight to the point built around beguiling riffs.

This is one such album. New Jersey's Ryan Young and Scott Radway are Vocabularies. Getting the comparisons out of the way, there's a mixture of early XTC, The Sugarplatic, Field Music and The Futureheads with a slightly more aggressive tone.

Young is vocalist, Guitarist and Bass Player, Radway, the drummer. Radway also mixes the album. The main difference to other such albums, is how locked in the pair are as a rhythm section. The Bass and Drums are completely locked in.

At times that linking sounds positively UK New Wave at others, it could be Tony Levin and Robert Fripp Discipline Era. There is variety too. Plank II mixes Post Punk with Funk, but also adds a Prog interlude. Method Actor mixes Psych with Indie inventiveness.

They are at their best though when the Angular takes hold, a Power Trio vibe kicks in wonderfully.The Ruling Class and Same Stone are the best examples. However special mention must be given to Conspiracies and Theories Thereof which closes the album. Built on a killer riff with an unexpected hypnotic chorus. It rounds off an album of extraordinary quality.

You can listen to and buy the album here. An absolute bargain at 5 dollars.

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

My Son The Doctor - Glamours

 

Slacker Rock excellence from the Brooklyn quartet that nails the genre beautifully, yet also gets close to the current noisier breed of Power Pop. This is a cracking listen, such a fun experience, surprisingly lyrically adept, which is not a norm for this type of stuff.

A wonderfully arranged affair with songs that take surprise directions, riffs that explode, quieter songs that get noisy. There's a real wit in the writing that you spot early on. Incredibly melodic joy, but an ability to switch to a rock out.

Throughout, there's a sort of Weezer feel, but a much heavier version. A Shonda is real intelligent Indie, left field and angular, a little Talking Heads, with a killer guitar workout matched by a driving rhythm section. It is magnificent.

Drunk Kids gets more Pop Punk without losing any of the variance. Greatest On VHS is pacier, more Noo Yawk, a little Punkier, almost Garage Rock. Pink Banana is everything that you could want in an Indie song, urgent, but all over the place but completely engrossing.

The two singles are top notch. Barry Bonds initially broods before becoming an anthem and a sing along, wonderful storytelling. You've heard Lawrence Bigando on the current LTTW Playlist, a corking effort that at times gets a little Sugarplastic until the chorus.

Then there is Julie, a song that sounds so UK 80s Guitar Indie, another great song, as all 10 songs here are. An album that tells stories and yet Rocks at will. Inventive, Slacker Rock at its very very best. What an absolute joy this is.

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

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

Listening To This Week Playlist 16 February

   

29 songs this week and what a great example this is of what we do. Our Base Camp has always been drawn to They Might Be Giants, hence the opener. There is plenty of what you might expect genre wise, but also a continual reminder of the different roads we take.

Wonderful off grid invention from Alex Pester and Vocabularies and an incredible piece of Psych Shoegaze from a bunch of youngsters from Mexico. In a trying week with internet outages and power cuts (hence why this appears a bit late), here is a great example of why I love what I do. The power of music is incredible.

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 the artists who appear here. 

They Might Be Giants - Wu-Tang

Single Audio Channel - Save Or Regenerate?

Single Audio Channel · Save or Regenerate?

Vocabularies - Patron Saint

Hallucinophonics - Afternoon Of Acid Rain

Whelligan - Nature

The Legal Matters - It Doesn't Matter

Chris Church - Contrarian

Alex Pester - Stories

My Son The Doctor - Lawrence Bigando

Michael Robert Murphy - Corkscrew

Last Second Dropout - Apathy

Frederic Cupillard - 6 O'Clock Blues

The Dahmers - Underdog

High On Stress - Over/Thru

Colin Swietek - Drop In The Ocean

Slowdays - Tiempos y suefios

The 77s - Out Of Control

The James Clark Institute - Reluctantly In Love

The Lanes - You Don't Know Her

The Blackburns - A Reunion Show

Peter Johnston RVA - Two Hearts

Hollow Bodies - Traffic

Music City - You Remember https://welcometomusiccity.bandcamp.com/track/you-remember

Cashier - Part From Me

First Day Of Spring - The Riviera (Modern Nature)

JRNXLST - Halo

JRNXLST · Halo

Kevin J.B. O'Connor - Tomorrow And Tomorrow

Kevin J.B. O'Connor · Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Derek Smith And The Cosmic Vultures - Hollow Choir

In Loom - Tails

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

Dewey - Summer On A Curb

I mentioned it last year and I'll mention it again, the French music scene is forging ahead at present. Previously known, wrongly, for Noisy Punk and chanteurs, they now seem to be taking over both the Indie and Guitar Pop scenes offering up exceptional albums and singles.

I've been dying to tell you about this for a while and now I can. The two singles have featured on Listening To This Week to great acclaim from listeners. Now you can hear them in all their full length glory on this splendid debut album.

Although you hear great melodic Guitar Pop and a little shoe gaze at certain times, Summer On A Curb sounds very Brit Pop, great Brit Pop, not the nonsense that gets associated with its heyday. The scene was always more notable for what was around the edges than all the monoliths that got all the coverage. 

Oasis are now noted as the be all and end all of Brit Pop despite having just one and a half decent albums. The better sounds were by artists with just two or three albums. Role Model is probably the best example of Brit Pop, but there are other examples.

However, Dewey are not scared to tread different paths.Jinx is a mix of gentle Psych and Madchester. Face Out is more Psych Pop and the title track has a real Shoegaze feel, but with more words and a clearer vocal than that genre is noted for. It also has an hypnotic riff.

Tough Crowd sounds more than a little C86 and Better Safe Than Sorry is completely engaging, probably my favourite song on the album. This is a melodic Guitar of the highest order. Having said that there are synth intrusions that come and go quickly and make the songs sound futuristic. One of the best debut albums that I've heard in a long while. Totally Ace!

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

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

The Bret Tobias Set - The Bret Tobias Set EP

 

Philadelphia's Bret Tobias is always more than interesting. This 5 songs show off his variety despite being on the more laidback side. Happiness Writes White is almost Gentle Psych Pop, wonderfully melodic and houses a corking closing solo from the mighty Marty Willson Piper.

The stand out for me is the Power Pop of It Begins With A Lean, a song that Jangles superbly, yet also houses another killer Guitar break. Tuff Sleddin' gets noisier and ups the pace, a little more Indie Rock, yet also feeling a little California and adding a Telstar keyboard run courtesy of Krista Umile.

Sepviva Shuffle is jaunty Americana, yet has hints of 70s Pop Rock. Undo Undo Undo is storytelling of the highest order. Indeed, Tobias throughout underlines his lyrical adeptness and on this song in particular with its splendid way with words and ace arrangement.

You sometimes miss his songwriting strength and lyrical quality as it is housed in great choruses and top notch arrangements. I have often wondered why he doesn't get more attention as he pushes all the right buttons for any listener of quality Pop Rock.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

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