Listening To This Week Update

 

I've gone with the old logo as this isn't the new LTTW Playlist that traditionally goes out on Mondays. As a one off, the new Listening To This Week will go out on Tuesday next week, totally a one off. A simple explanation is that I am not around tomorrow for the tagging that goes out after the Playlist goes out.

Rather than going early tonight, it makes more sense to delay the post until Tuesday. Tonight, I am writing Reviews in draft, to be posted tomorrow to keep you all occupied until Tuesday. There are some great albums to tell you about.

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Ben Auld - Loserdom

 

I thought that I had lost my frustration that great artists don't get the attention that they deserve and that they are pushed forward more by fans, reviewers and even themselves. I haven't because I feel that way about Ben Auld's second album.

It is an incredible album that takes up the States' slant of DIY and Lo-Fi and moves it in all directions. At its heart , it is great Power Pop, but is Fuzz laden, built on incredible riffs, the type of album that we really hear recorded by a Brit. It is also a testimony to the joy of the Guitar.

Auld is from Norwich and he is supported by Guitarist, Conor Etteridge, Drummer, Duncan Baker and Bassist, George Witty to form a twin Guitar four piece. The Guitar Riffs are Glam laden and the songs are more than a little Slacker.

The Fuzz is totally engaging offering up a delightful noise. At times, I'm reminded of Weezer and Teenage Fanclub, but there's a real 80s feedback to proceedings. The songs are short, most not much over 2 minutes and just have you think you've heard the best song, the next one beats it.

There is a real energy to the whole thing and Auld's sweet-ish vocal is at one with the instrumentals, but blends perfectly with the material. Loserdom is heads down and onwards, but those unique riffs light up the album and the rhythm section provides a great platform to take off.

A special mention should also be made for York's Safe Suburban Home label. What a year, it has been for them, with this, Labrador, Rural France and Sumos. But the focus here is on this storming wake up album. I can't wait to hear more from Auld in the future.

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

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Skooskny - The Recordings 1971-1981 Remastered

 

Skooshny are one of the great lost bands. This release is another tenuous link to Anything Should Happen days. The remaster, here, is on Roger Houdaille's Think Like A Key label. Roger is a good friend, largely due to my complete fandom towards his band, Ex Norwegian. 

Think Like A Key is a label that releases great new albums, but also digs out great lost albums from the past. His taste is impeccable and you will be reading a review of a joint hero's album soon. That reissue is of Jimmy Campbell's Half Baked Album.

This album was originally released on Bill Forsyth's Minus Zero label. Bill similarly unearthed long lost albums, whilst also releasing new albums, most notably Orgone Box, of a Psych Pop bent. Bill owned the Minus Zero Record Shop, Mick Dillingham worked there and it was a haven for touring musicians.

Mick is one of our own, still a part of IDHAS, although less frequently these days, you can read his interviews across the site. He was also a writer for Bucket Full Of Brains and my main sidekick in Anything Should Happen.

Bill had been recommended to the band by Bomp's Greg Shaw. Contained here are the band's complete recordings up until 1981. The line up of Mark Breyer, Bruce Wagner and David Winogrond aided by different Bass Players, one of which was Michael Penn who produced a 4 Track EP.

The Los Angeles band split up in 1981, but reformed on the release of this which culminated in the magnificent 1996 album, Even My Eyes (also on Minus Zero and the follow up, Money in 2000. Those albums offered up a beguiling range of Psych Pop, Pop Rock and Folk.

Sadly, Breyer died in 2023. His legacy as vocalist, guitarist and songwriter lives on. The beauty of the band's material compares with the Pop Rock greats of the 70s, my beloved Psych Pop and an ability to introduce Folk into the setting.

This new reissue has been remastered by Professor Stoned and adds four bonus tracks. I was tempted to embed my three favourite songs as is the norm, but I really wanted listeners to hear the old thing. So below is a You Tube link to the album. I have also provided details on where to buy.

You can buy the album on CD or as a download here. The CD is available at all good record shops. You can listen to the whole album here.

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Hoaxxers - Hard Luck EP (Bandcamp Name Your Price)

 

Austin Texas's Hoaxxers certainly remind me of Green Day. A Power Trio that offer up pace and melody. I get sent a lot of Pop Punk and am a bit of an outlier, because followers don't note this place as one that is a haven for the genre.

This is the sort of Pop Punk that I adore. Not a bit of the robotic vocal and standard riffs. The songs at times edge towards a noisier Power Pop. They don't come up for air and you don't want them to. They deserve a wider audience.

Built on killer riffs, big choruses and short blasts. Hard Luck is an engaging EP, 6 songs in 13 minutes, say what you wanna say and get off. Make Your Bed is addictive, driving shake yer fist stuff with a rare extended solo.

The title track is the most Power Pop, a great energetic anthem and a groove that is hypnotic. These three are great at what they do, real up and at 'em stuff. Totally engaging in a way that asks that you realise that Pop Punk encompasses more than one style.

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

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Flight Of Mavis - Mavis On Mavis

Mavis Sings Mavis is a great album. 1989 was a time that you relied on friends and constant digging to find out what was going on in the States. I was about 6 years into doing that having turned away from the UK scene during all the New Romantic nonsense which was more about dressing up. C86 and the Glasgow scene dragged me back to UK listening, but America was still were it was at. IRS label etc.

I had friends in Philadelphia who lived the album and one sent me a copy. It was a great listen, but in those days spreading the word was a thankless task at times. A 2003 Reissue brought it to the fore more, helped by the internet, but it was still a major surprise to see them back, 37 years on.

The original trio are joined by multi instrumentalist, John Cunningham and they offer up both new songs and archive material. The band were always unfairly labelled as R.E.M. wannabes, there was far more to them than that. They were a mix of Power Pop, Guitar Pop and Indie.

Mavis On Mavis feels that maturity has softened their approach, but these are still stellar songs. The magnificent Down In The Basement is the biggest reminder of what's gone before. It is accompanied by different styles. The Jangle is predominant, but in different ways.

The album sort of is a mix of slight Americana and Guitar Pop. Crowded House spring to mind at times, particularly on Holding Me Back. But the surprises are joyful. Gotta Get New Car is all Bo Didley groove with mouth organ and everything. A great diversion.

Garage Sale Junk gets really close to something on Stiff Records and Tonight's The Night is a splendid Pop Song, a little Costello. But, the real pull for me is the closer, It All Comes Round, that lights up my senses. A reminder of what they were and still are, a change of tempo enhances the song even more. What a delightful surprise this is. Great then and great now!

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 15 June

25 songs this week. As usual, a mix of what you might expect genre wise, but there are surprises.

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. 

Modern Marriage - Blue, Red And Yellow…Maybe

Labrador - Too Much Wanting

The Loft - Campervan

Deadbeat Dead - Butchertown

Parent Teacher - Magazines Say

Slippers - Castaways

Mya Angelique - Teenage Popstar

Ben Auld - Talking Dog

The Roland Highlife - Old Atlantic

Linn Cervell - Lonelier

The Wrong Man - Starship

Abandoned Buildings - Intravenous

The Constellations - Stay Strange

Flight Of Mavis - Down In The Basement

Katie Pojidaeva - Inherited Scars

KATIA.POJIDAEVA · Inherited scars

George Adequate - Where Will We Dance

The Valery Trails - Waiting 2026

Legacy Of Lovers - When Will The Eyes Ignite

Gin Wigmore - Rodeo

The Essence Of The Universe - Bring All Your Lovers

The Cosmic Cowboys - But You Lied

Today We Are - Home

Smear - Close To You

smear · Close To You

Mesh Kimono - Supermoon

Landroid - Hank The Dragon

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Parent Teacher - Tricks For Meds

 

I adore Richard Spitzer's Parent Teacher. He offers up deliciously lo-fi songs, but they are extraordinarily inventive. They are songs within songs, unusual in construction, an ability to take all sorts of left field directions, but underpinned by melody and catchy.

The arrangements are particularly clever, but contain killer choruses. He flirts between Indie, Guitar Pop and Psych Pop, but is never too clever to lose the plot. At times, I think of Mythical Motors or even Guided By Voices, but the songs take on more complicated directions, nothing is ever as it seems.

Threat Of A Gun is the nearest that he will get to a straight ahead Pop song, underlined by a driving bassline and a closing Psych solo.Oblivion is more Indie Rock with pace, but also seemingly mixes 80s UK Indie with a little 90s Rock creeping in.

Zombie is another song that demonstrates get melody attached to a great chorus. Magazines Say opens proceedings and sort of explains how inventive Spitzer's songs can be. Multi direction, slightly Psych, but more 90s Indie. An incredibly hypnotic listen.

People bemoan the lack of labels, but that has opened the way to home recording. Some of the results of this are dire, but it has opened up a world that allows people to put out material as beguiling as this. A chance to discover something that you might have never heard and Tricks For Meds is definitely worth hearing.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Labrador - The Rosy Red World.

 

Philadelphia quartet, Labrador, had their roots in Alt Country from the 2018 debut. Initially, essentially a solo vehicle for Pat King's songs, since 2023's Hold Through The Strangers, they became a band and the development was rapid.

Now more adjacent to Indie Rock, King's vocals are outstanding and adapt to whatever chosen genre. The Alt Country is still around, particularly on the stripped back Americana of Waiting To Be Useful. Wagers is wonderfully moving storytelling too. Heartfelt to the extreme.

But the Rock dominates throughout The Rosy Red World. The Power Pop interludes resonate just as much. Too Much Wanting and You're Home Is An Eyesore particularly hit the spot, all Riff and Rhythm. There is lyrical excellence throughout, very socially responsible. A slight anger at the world.

The closer, No Man Is An Island is a great closer, epic, anthemic, jangling, a little like The Successful Failures. Slow Down, King is another winner, a jaunty strummer, a little Doolin' Dalton, very West Coast. We Drew Straws is much more in your face, performed at a rapid pace.

The Title Track is a splendid opener, a particularly effective vocal, but also underling the strength of the band, totally locked I'm. Labrador show that they have not forgotten their roots, but they have adapted into  a cracking rocking quartet. The Rosy Red World is a mighty fine listen.

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

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Modern Marriage - Grim Up North

 

Closer to home for today's closing review with a wonderful album released on the splendid Skeleton Records, home of the fine Record Shop and label. Follow them on Facebook to enter the home of twisted wit to which I concur.

Thinking of the Wirral, there are gonna be obvious comparisons to Half Man Half Biscuit and the humour and lyrical dexterity are here, but the arrangements and directions are miles bigger. This is Indie, but takes many unexpected turns.

These songs are stories about characters, filled with observation and biting wit and attitude. Who else would write a song called Gerry And His Pacemaker, wonderfully written and a groove led anthem. Grim Up North is very C86, a little Housemartins, sardonic, yet also houses a killer chorus and Trumpets and everything.

Lobster Pot is more Punky and a reference that most scousers would know. Instrumentally, it is awesome, messy, noisy, yet addictive. Modern Marriage even enters the realm of a Pop song. Dear John gets all Rickenbacker Jingle, maybe the most straight ahead here and it works beautifully.

IKEA Flatpack is glorious Brit Pop with a wonderful string arrangement. Blue,Red And Yellow...Maybe is awesome, great Pop Rock, a song you don't want to end. Speke Now (or Forever Hold Your Peace) starts all Psych Pop and hurtles into great UK New Wave.

Ben Savage is a gifted songwriter with an ability to come up with engaging Pop songs, whilst also having a knack for observation and a sharp tongue. Modern Marriage are also a locked in trio as well as being proof of the inventiveness on The Wirral. Grim Up North is essential.

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

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Slippers - Slippers 08

I still ache from this place being called a boys club around the middle of our 10 years. My argument was that it wasn't, but the female vocal led material at that stage was either wistful and breathy or shouty, neither of which suited what we cover and still don't.

Five years on, look at us now. Without ever changing direction, the ladies are offering up the best of what's around. With three albums in our Top 10 of the Best Albums of 2025 and currently compiling Monday's Listening To This Week which is female dominated. Proof, that we are not sexist, the music is everything, nothing else.

Phew, glad to get that off my chest. On to Slippers and Madeline Bubaka Black's second album is stunning Pop. It may not sound original, reminding you of many different things from the past, but it is so beautifully put together. Stunning Indie Pop.

The vocal is sugar sweet, she could sing the phone book and make it alluring. But the arrangements all take their share of the weight. Every song is different to the last. Beautifully produced and arranged in a way that makes the very best of that top notch vocal.

Castaways is all 60's Studio Pop, whilst Wasted Tonight, a co write with Mo Troper, is perfect 80s Jangling UK Indie Pop. Til You Know is pure Saint Etienne and Fool In Your Room is superb Jangle Pop with crossover Guitars.

Sunday Morning could be Tamar Berk as does Wants For Everything and you know how much we adore Tamar Berk. Slippers 08 demonstrates the joy of melody and even, more the beauty of Pop. Let your cares wash away as you sing along. Wonderful!

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

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The Regulars - Lights Get Low (Bandcamp Name Your Price)

 

All the way from Boxborough, Massachusetts, The Regulars offer up something a little more Rocky than we normally don't always go for. But the album is a really joyful listen. Indie Rock at heart, with an emphasis on the Rock.

The Riffs are killer, really gripping and the joint combined vocal of Jeff Clarke and Julia Fernandez - Turk works really really well. Clarke's songwriting is the strength, but his Guitar playing is extraordinarily great. The songs are tight and don't veer off into other directions and this straight aheadness is really appealing.

They can get looser and do so on the excellent slightly meandering Gotta Wait. The heavier Evening Phase has a slight feel of The Successful Failures and that similarity is around more than once. There is an earthy grit to what the band do and that is special, because not many are attempting such.

Petrified closes the album and is the one time that The Regulars come up for air and they still can't resist a regular breed crunch. They are nothing like Deacon Blue, but the dual vocal does have Ross - Mcintosh in feel, much more in your face though.

There is also a slight less Pop similarity to latter day Ash in parts. The standout song is Impossible which kicks in with an explosive Riff. It's the most Pop Rock that the band gets and is real belter of a song. At 21 minutes, the album is more of a mini one, but it is one that says what it wants to say and then gets off. A truly great listen!

The album is available at Name Your Price, so you have little to lose. You can listen and buy here.

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Deadbeat Beat - From Here To Ohio

 

I think many of you know how engaged that I am with intelligent Guitar Pop, especially when it adds a little Gravitas. Detroit's Deadbeat Beat have come up with exactly that, the 7 years gap has been way too long. This is an incredible listen.

I have a theory that the most compelling albums are when my great friend, Darrin Lee and I move from our own spheres to meet in the middle. From Here To Ohio is sure to hit us similarly. It retains its originality without ever losing the melody.

At times the album appears to be a cross between 60s US Summer Pop and the best of 80s Indie Pop. But there is also plenty of gentle Psych Pop that nears Toytown without ever getting there. Yet, the quartet can fashion up something as sprawling and magnificent as Straight Friends.

Although, this is essentially Guitar Pop, Pete Steffy's keyboards add something extra instrumentally, taking the songs into even more Poppy directions which are unusual for music of the genre. The songs are outstanding from the jaunty Jangle of Butchertown to the wonderful Psych Pop of Dying On That Hill.

I adore Toytown and Mellow fits into that village perfectly. Atmospheric is joyful New Wave Power Pop and the opener, Peach Sprite, is ace West Coast Jangle. At times, the spirit of The Sugarplastic hovers around and that makes From Here To Ohio an essential listen.

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

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Listening To This Week 8 June

Usually, the playlist is being compiled right up to the deadline. The most pleasing ones always seem to be sorted well ahead of time and this is one such one. 29 songs that were ready gradually and easily. It left a virtually free weekend and preparation for a glut of reviews that will be coming towards the weekend.

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. 

Local Drags - Feeling Down Is On The Way Out

Onesie - Tryptophantastic

Log Flume - Get The Picture

Gentle Brontosaurus - Tumbleweed

The Race - The Best Is Yet To Come

Velour on Tap -Hourglass Lake Ahead

Bramwell - Standing On Stones

Aaron Skiles - Ain't No Marks

GALORE - Life Comes Quick

Kilo Bravo - World On Fire

The Greenberry Woods - Lame Love Letter

Bunchy's Big Score - I Don't Wanna Dance

MARKETPLACE - Jennifer Said

Marketplace · Jennifer Said

Vinyl Floor - Tell The World It Happened

Keaton Schiller - Spill

Conor Miley - Peepshow

The Mosfets - Keith Is A Blues Artist

The Mooches - Skinhead

Holy Coves - Hole

Palm Ghosts - Sear Zoning

Willie Dowling - Carry On Refusing

No Museums - Time Trials

Cocktail Slippers - This Town

Twin Bloom - Magazine Dreams

The Ragamuffins - Wobble Wobble

Soft No - Done

Clay Pigeons - The Flow

The Youth Play - Sunday

Deer Fang - Howl

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Wooden Overcoat - Hello Sunbeam EP

The Portland Oregon quartet offer up a dynamic debut EP. Not taking the obvious route, Hello Sunbeam offers up a mix of Dream Pop, Psych Pop and Shoegaze, generally in the same song and this works wonderfully well.

As well as a vocal smoothness, the soundtrack is soothing, almost soundscape and certainly Pop, but with tremendous riffs dominating proceedings. The best example is Finally Arrived which is wonderfully hypnotic and engaging.

Heaven Right Now is still instrumentally effective, but adds a twang and stupendous organ mixing something like 60s Psych with C86. I Knew We Would adds a folk feel to a strumming vibe, again sounding Psych Pop, yet this time more led by a Dream Pop vocal.

Home is the moodiest song of all four, skirting Surf and Spaghetti Western like feel, but also totally catchy. The band are instrumental led, offering up themes that connect completely and are a delight when the Joe Meek like Organ comes in. They are also not afraid to Twang.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.
 

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Local Drags - Cool If We Split?

 

What once appeared to be a solo shoot off from the excellent Starter Jackets is now the real main thing. Lannie Durbin is back on the excellent Stardumb Records label with his classic Power Pop that adds a slightly modern touch.

You got the warning with Sticky Menu on the latest Listening To This Week Playlist and here is the full palette. People note The Speedways as heading the revival of the genre, but Local Drags have carried the load just as much.

Everything that you need in a Power Pop album is here. Great melodic vocals, thrilling Riffs and big Choruses. It takes talent to nail the format and Durbin has it in spades. Cool If We Split? is more American than many which underlines what the country brought to the genre.

The Riffs are everything here, never more so than on the superb Bitter Fruit, a song than you will be singing in the shower for weeks to come. High Beams is a little more UK 1979 with its brain drilling Riff which underlines what a way the man has with catchiness.

Can't Get Through is wonderfully anthemic and Little Grief harks more to the 60s Guitar Pop. The best may be saved till the last. Feeling Down Is On The Way Out is slower and has more in common with the 90s Slacker Pop.

The link to Starter Jackets is still here with Luke McNeill records, mixes and masters Cool If We Split? If you wanted to know what Power Pop means to the fans, this album shows how it can revive the spirits, no matter how bad things are personally and worldwide, there is an ability to listen and forget all the outside noise.

You can listen to and buy the album here, You can buy the Vinyl and CD from Stardumb here.

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Log Flume - Go Where The Money Goes

 

We've normally had a run of summer Power Pop by now, so I'm delighted to at last have something to get a hold of. Log Flume's 2024 debut caught me completely be surprise, it was really popular on here and reached the Top 20 of 2024's Best Albums. You can read my review here.

So what caught me by surprise, is the low key release of this follow up. I expected red carpets and fireworks, yet it has appeared without a whisper and it really takes what they do onto greater things. There are the sort of things that made Splash Hit so appealing, but there are big strides contained within.

The Chester County PA quartet still master the Power Pop. The Jangle Pop of Got This Feeling is just the ticker, as is Misery which is top notch Guitar Pop. But other songs take other directions. Far From You has a much noisier riff led that takes it into UK 80s Indie with aplomb.

Up By 9 O'Clock is pure Housemartins and the title track could be Mighty Wah with a haunting Guitar track. Misery is C86 Glasgow joy and Anything raises the spirit of 70s UK New Wave, a real let's do the show right here.

Every Single Day slows things down into a Slacker vibe, Weezer-ish and is the one song that denotes the American influence, because throughout the album sounds more Brit. It is a stunning listen with its Psych Pop Guitar feel.

The whole thing is a celebration of the beauty of Pop and the Guitar. Never more so than on the closer, Follow You which is wonderful Power Pop. If you liked the debut album, you will adore this. The four of them should be shouting from the rooftops about the sheer joy of this melodic Pop.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Sour Ops - Bikers Make Better Lovers

 

It is an extraordinarily fine time for Guitar Pop and Indie Rock presently as favourites return with new albums, it's just finding the time to tell you all about them that holds back joy. Nashville Trio, Sour Ops are first up to enhance your lugholes.

The band mix Indie Rock with Power Pop and Guitar Pop. A little rockier than those around them, songwriter Price Harrison's vocal helps make them so. His voice allows them to straddle genres meaning they are at ease in whatever direction they choose.

The riffs are heavier than you might expect, at times bordering on the rockier side of Indie Rock, yet also in touch with something more Classic. Power Pop with an edge and even an ability to mirror UK Glam Rock or sound like someone such as The Successful Failures, particularly on All That Matters Now with some ace Pedal Steel courtesy of Paul Niehaus.

The Power Of Right Now is Glam Rock played with a Power Pop beat. Opting Out opens up the album with a New Wave Synth Intro before moving at pace into something a little 80s Indie aided by an absolutely killer solo.

She's So Strange is melodic Indie Rock and adds a blistering Fuzz solo and No Winner Tonight borders Garage Rock and Punk. Fake Appeal is Noo Yawk sleaze. Sour Ops don't come up for air through all 10 songs, not that you'd ever want them to. Great Stuff!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Listening To This Week 1 June

As we approach our 10th Anniversary and pass 4 million views, it is worth noting how popular the LTTW Playlist has become. Like I Don't Hear A Single itself, it was only meant to be a small thing. Initially, a way to note great songs from artists who didn't necessarily have an Album or EP planned.

It has become a real driver for what happens here, bringing new followers and listeners. We were adamant that streamers such as the likes of Spotify did little for the artists that we like. Great music fell down a big black hole. Hence, the concentration on Bandcamp, Soundcloud and YouTube.

Those sites allowed people to listen to an artist's Back Catalogue and listeners didn't have to sign in or pay to listen. Bandcamp, in particular, allows listeners to buy. Streamers provide a song and that's it, we try to get people to become fans of the artists and this place is all about the artist.

26 songs this week 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. 

Local Drags - Sticky Menu

Jade Green - I Can't Wait

The Martial Arts - Seeing Double

The Regulars - Impossible

Miserable Chillers - Bikeman

Sour Ops - Problem Number Next

Herr Nilsson - Queen Melody

Dave's Manual - Electrical

Wooden Overcoat - Home

Forgotten Garden - Rain

SPRINGCLEAN - Let Go

ELIKSA - From Falmer Court

The Jonnybirds - St. Venice

Middlebees - When Will The Light Shine

Cashell - Around Town

Magic City - Airtight Alibi

Hoaxxers - Hard Luck

EG Vines - I Like 'em Brain Dead

Hexham Heads - In Time

Vemberlain - Your Memory Has Been Magnetised

Electric High - Higher Heights

Roy - Pity Party

Tiny Tiny - Friend In Philadelphia

Tradie - Swan Drive

Jonny's Day Out - Zumba

Rockvyn - Parasocial Metabolism

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