Apologies

 Apologies for the Review delays. Don has done his back in and he is not being a good patient. 

Listening To This Week Playlist 27 July

As we unbelievably approach August, here is the final LTTW Playlist of July. 26 songs, everyone a winner. As usual, what you might expect with a few 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. 

The Mellons - Lady Apple Tree

Mrs Magician - Sanctuary

The Goods - Summers Almost Gone

The Heavenly Bodes - Spitting The Pips Out

Strange Pink - Sculcoates

Homework - Made

The Private Eye - Mary Couldn't Carry

The Lazy Eyes - Always In The Back Of My Mind

United States Of Existence - Less Is More

The Green Pajamas - All The Assassins

A.N.J.A. - Men Will Die Tonight

The Morning Line - Anhedonia

Finn Wolfhard - Common Side Effects

Mo Troper - The Best Seat In The House

Huxton Creepers - Opposites Attract

J. Killen - Oak Tree

Unknown Vagabond - Warm Tide (left blank)

Delta Delay - Soft Asphalt

Ryan Hamilton - Over Again

District 8 - I'm Trying Here

Greg Williams - Through My Hands

The Jimmy C - Pacific Ocean Blue

Adult Magic - Drift & Dive

Jonny Couch - Where The Sidewalk Ends

Michael Slawter With Julian Volpe - Renee's Lucky Day

Badzy - Say That You Will

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Mrs Magician - Spiritual Hangover

 

Mrs Magician's previous two albums were before IDHAS hit the internet. 2012's Strange Heaven is an all time classic and was followed by the equally interesting Bermuda was released in 2016, a few months before we began.

Jason Turnbloom is joined by Andrew Montaya and Mark Riviera of The Sess (incidentally, The Sess's 2008 album, Agendumb is a great album too), Ian Fowles of The Aquabats and John Reis and their experience really really shows.

Spiritual Hangover is no ordinary revival, it is an absolute gem. There are hints of the past, but largely this is a great Power Pop affair. A slightly noisier version of the genre that is more common with the new breed. Sprinklings of Organ enhance the feel.

There are diversions. One & Only Girl has a 90s College Rock feel, Depression Song is built on a Power Pop Riff, but sounds darker and the guitar solo is almost Goth. Pill is close to UK New Wave and The World Doesn't Need Your Jive has more than a touch of UK Glam Rock vibe.

But essentially, this is Power Pop joy. Killer Riffs, massive choruses and songs that you just want to sing along to. As well as the surprise of the return after a decade, I had no right to expect an album as superb is this. I embed my current favourite three songs, but truth be known, I'd happily embed all 11. 

You can listen to and buy the album here. The album is also available on Vinyl at all good Record Shops. It is a potential album of the year.

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The Mellons - In Color

 

The glorious second album from Salt Lake City quartet The Mellons is ready to delight your lugholes. Very 60s, a summer feeling in which the band raid the instrument cupboard to offer up stunning California Pop of the highest order.

As well as the killer arrangements, Beach Boy type harmonies sit from everywhere. Catchy as catchy can be, the arrangements are slightly Baroque at times, but everything centres around the killer hormones. Song that you can singalong to and will.

Upside Down as a tint of Prime Time The Move. Radiant Radish may be short, but with its Psych Pop, almost Toytown feel, it completely overwhelms you. Central Park City Square Flower Days mixes surf with a Circus style Music Hall arrangement to great effect.

Lady Apple Tree even steps into XTC territory, With A Girl Like You is great 70s Pop Rock and Say Goodbye is McCartney Piano Pop and oj that Mellotron! I Told Ya All Time Jangles wonderfully with overtones of Merseybeat mixed with slight Prog. Upside Down is really trippy.

There are also short interludes / Ads that add to the overall joy of a really accomplished album. This may be Retro in style, but there are so many ideas that are enforced by the splendid production. In Color is 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 Playlist 20 July

The maximum 30 songs this week. A concentration on what we are known for with plenty of Guitar Pop, but also, as always, some fine diversions. 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 History - Comfort Of Pain

Desoto Reds - Aftermath

Hurry - The Dumbest Person You've Ever Seen

The Allwells - Who I Am

Purple Cassette - Waiting On Nothing

Plastic Bubble - Recontextualize

Professor And The Madman - Tolerant World

Oddysseys - Cerbie

Sona Bliss - You Don't

Subterranean Street Society - Indispensable Love

Mythical Motors - The Queen Of Fleeting Moments

Remo Drive - Live In Pain

He's Dead Jim - Flame On

Maureens - Great Smile

The Melmacs - These Days

Golden Richards - I Want To Be Like Jeff Goldblum

The Friends - I Know You're Dead (But The Drapes Are Pretty)

Cult Figures - Walking Disaster

Historically Close Friends - Man Of YourDreams

Brennan Gilmore - Wolf And Sheep

Fast Boyfriends - Minefield

Band Of Jays - IDK

Band of Jays · IDK

Holy Coves - Travelling

The Roland High Life - The Edge Of Memory

Basin Lot - Came Here On My Own

Basin Lot · Came Here On My Own

David Woodard - Carrying Everything

Nicamus - Duck Tales

oh michael - If I Was Cool And British

Tom Barrett - Get By

Bannas - Fuzzy Days

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Maureens - Don't Give Up

 

Whenever I hear this lot, my mind is transported to the second half of the 80's when the Indie joy broke out to rid us of Bombastic Rock and bands who thought more about dressing up than the music. This was the greatest time for Indie Guitar Pop and the Scots scene.

Maureens aren't from Scotland, but they should be. The quartet are from Utrecht and in their second decade and never fail to provide a sort of Summer feel to proceedings and with the weather here in the UK bring as it is, this is as good as anything around.

Hendrik-Jan de Wolff is a fine songwriter with an ability to adapt to whatever takes his muse. Essentially Indie Guitar Pop, the band can be whatever you want. From Indie Pop to Jangle Pop, Jaunty to heartfelt depth, slightly Psych Pop to Folk.

Motorway also shows that Indie Rock is not out of the question and is possibly the best song of the 13 and contrast that to Great Smile which gets nearer to Brit Pop. Yet the stripped down gentle Psych of Wish You Well works just as well.

Talking In My Sleep is classic 70s Pop Rock and Crying For The Moon just aches beautifully. There is such variety on display here. Don't Give Up is so well put together that it demands your attention just as everything the band offer up does.

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

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Wills Van Doorn - Enduro

 

Wills Van Doorn offers up a beautifully arranged Pop Rock album, wonderfully melodic, but that is half the story. His vocal lights up the darkest of nights and to its credit, Enduro puts his voice to the forefront. Anyone who had a vocal like Van Doorn's would want that.

It is extraordinary as a lead and in backing vocals. The fact that the arrangements are so well out together is a bonus, because you would listen to anything that he chose to sing. The album just washes your cares away, it is so smooth.

Johnny Payne's production brings out that golden voice, as you might expect, but the harder part is making the easy listening varied and Payne succeeds beautifully. Surprise Guitar solos and some splendid Wurlitzer enhance all around.

The big arrangements work really well, but when Van Doorn steps into Power Pop, he does that equally well. Both Sometimes / Rarely and Ever Wonder Why are genre classics, the latter lit up our Listening To This Week Playlist.

That Guitar Pop breaks up the gentleness elsewhere and allows you to appreciate the arrangements and performance even more. I'm reminded a lot of West Coast Summer sounds, but the whole album is an essential listen underlining why computer programs cannot match the real thing.

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

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I Don't Hear A Single Is 10

 

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Desoto Reds - Resistor

 

Oakland quartet Desoto Reds have released a fascinating album. It takes an old fashioned listen that seems to happen less and less in these days of playlist preference. The Album format still rules. I listened to this and on first listen you note a couple of songs that make you want to listen to the album again.

Repeated listens reveal more and more excellence until you realise you have one hell of an album in your hands. On first listen, I had the band as one of those excellent instrumentally intelligent bands that would have appeared on the IRS label.

But digging further shows that this is just a small part of what they do, the diversity and variety here is exceptional. No two songs are the same. Cookieness is followed by Psych Pop. Guitar Pop is followed by Indie Rock. The roads taken are incredibly different. Resistor is an amazing listen.

Aftermath was the song that drew me in, a joyous listen that has Psych Pop overtones, but is built on a killer chorus and wonderful 60s organ runs. By the end, I was engrossed in songs that were completely different especially the inventive Watch Me Now (I've Got The Algorithm).

Yeah, so is very mid period R.E.M., yet Spider could be The Mommyheads. There are bizarre subjects such as Free People which lists Free items wrapped around a killer riff and an angular affair that is a paean to Costa Rica.

My love of Psych Pop is enhanced by the wonderful Siberia, but the band can also slow things down with the mellower Maybe. All in all, this is an album of admirable death and variety. I've picked my three current favourite songs, but I urge you to listen and then listen again to the whole thing.

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

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Mythical Motors - Tremolo On The Punchline.

Compared relentlessly to Guided By Voices, Mythical Motors are back. That is obviously quite a compliment, but can also have a downside. It makes potential listeners miss the sheer melody and joy that Matt Addison provides.

Deliciously lo-fi, but much more Guitar Pop than most labelled such. The killer choruses shouldn't be ignored having more in common with Power Pop. Who else could write and perform a song as catchy as The Queen Of Fleeting Moments?

There have been masses of column inches about Mythical Motors here. The albums constantly bother our Best Albums Of The Year culminating in our 2023 Album Of The Year for the magnificent The Sunrise Registry and the Listening To This Week Playlists adorn Addison's songs.

This isn't favouritism, there has never been anything but great on the albums he releases and this one is the first on Vinyl. Credit isn't high enough for his vocal, the mellowness lights up the songs rising high above the reputation of most lo-fi recordings. Addison can also Jangle with the best of them.

You sense that with a big studio budget that Mythical Motors would dominate the scene, but the opportunity to mess and constantly add to songs might take away the effect of the songs, the recording moment and you also sense that Addison is happiest as he is.

Critically lauded and rightly so, the DIY approach is perfect for Addison. I could go into detail about each song, but I'd rather you listen, Tremolo On The Punchline is just as great as the last album and will be just as great as the next which will be along soon. Absolutely Recommended!

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 Playlist 13 July

Earlier than usual. One of the best LTTW Playlists ever, even though I say it myself. 28 songs this week. An opener that brings back those XTC memories. The return of Sharp Pins and Haircut 100 and as ever a more than interesting closer. Big sprinklings of Pastoral Pop everywhere.

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 Blusterfields - Juniper Tree

Sharp Pins - Saturday Sun

Trash Kickers - Fly Or Die

Twin Bloom - Summer's Gone

Bagful Of Beez - Odd Couple

TIFFY - Drive Thru Déjà Vu

Haircut 100 - Come Back To Me

Haircut 100 · Come Back To Me

Harker - Dislocation

Little King - Opus Perficit

Scott Gagner - Queen Of California

Atmos Bloom - It's Enough

Ian The Idiot - Dream Patterns

The Supernaturals - Dog House

Steve Robinson And Ed Woltil - I Won't Let Go

Vox Femme - Flowers For Algernon

Into Twelve - Burgeon Blue

Into Twelve · So much noise

The Fox - Lovely Day

Aaron Skiles - Maybe It's Alright

Fair Green - Lay Down

Craig Alan Frank - Bogged Down (In America)

The Young Sinclairs - Evergreen Ln

The Valery Trails - Fragment Happening

The Spitting Pips - Green Eyes

The Spitting Pips · Green Eyes

Amateur Hockey Club - Ted

Beauty Mountain Rd - I Am Fine

Kai Voltage - Broken

Mr Speed - Sweet Sweet Rot

Deer Tick - Exit Door

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Raiding The Archive

 

I hoped that the couple of weeks that were taken to slow things down a bit wouldn't affect things too much. Putting the brake on has worked well and the catch up has already begun, Reviews wise. I was also concerned that the recent Google changes might affect people seeing the archive here. I hadn't seen a massive change in the Most Popular Posts in the last 30 days, which again concerned me a little.

However, looking at the views over the past week, I've been delighted to see older Reviews being really popular over the past week. It is great when someone discovers a post and tells their mates or posts on groups about it. Because these don't generate as much interest as current posts, I thought I'd let you know what they are.

Bryan's Magic Tears - Vacuum Sealed    here

The Skullers - Freight Trains And Party Games   here

William Lyall - Solo Casting   here

Sergeant Buzz - Fox Pop   here

Lone Wolf - Dark Thoughts   here

Sparks - Lil' Beethoven 2022 Remaster   here

The Chesterfields - New Modern Homes   here

Plus 2 of Mick's old Interviews :

Mick Dillingham Interviews : Brad Jones   here

Mick Dillingham Interviews :Ben Eshbach About The Sugarplastic And Much More   here

Image By Rhododendrites - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85646229

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The Lemon Clocks - Live At The Cellar 2nd August 2025

 

I rarely review Live Albums for a few reasons. Mainly that there is enough to get on with without turning to Live stuff and because Live Albums can tend to be something that you listen to once and then forget about. Coincidentally, this is the third time that I have and the venue has been The Cellar in Cardigan, also noted for The Dream Of Dr Sardonicus Festivals.

Part of the reason is Steve Kelly's wonderful commitment to the venue which as well as a Music Venue, is a Record Shop and a cafe. The other is that all three bands underline my love of melodic Psych and Prog in its melodic form. Glorious genres when bands approach them with the emphasis on songs rather than how well they can play their instrument.

The previous two performances were by Spygenius and Custard Flux. Now we have Jeremy Morris's Lemon Clocks. A fine Psych Pop band. Morris is just as noted for The Jeremy Band which concentrates more on his gentle vocal and is Rickenbacker led Power Pop.

The Lemon Clocks Psych resonates with me most, although a lot of my writing concentrates more on Guitar Pop. This is an outstanding set. I've chosen my two favourites, both lengthy, which start and end the show, but the whole thing is an essential listen.

Rainbow Bridge has always been one of my favourites since its release on 2012's Now Is The Time, The Lemon Clocks debut album. It also has a reprise on the closing Spirit In The Sky. I know the song can get people tiresome from the original, through Doctor And The Medics and onto Gareth Gates. But this is different, a 17 minute Psych laden Guitar extravaganza.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Trash Kickers - Way Out, Somehow

 

I do get cynical with comparisons, particularly repeated ones. The two that I see most are XTC and The Replacements. Most are nothing like them or maybe for just one song. However, I've been fortunate this week. Having written about a band that are so latter day XTC, I now have the Trash Kickers who revitalise the spirit of The Mats.

Chicago quartet Trash Kickers have fashioned up an awesome debut album. It is wonderfully loose, but never leaves the melody. A little noisy but built on killer singalong choruses. Songs are not just built on riffs, they are built on competing memorable riffs.

I've seen then called Power Pop, but they are only so if bands like Cheap Trick are. In that they have the prerequisites of the genre, but are much more Rock orientated. They can also change direction. Angel for instant is nearer Classic Rock, The Black Crowes spring to mind and the shared vocal with Elizabeth Moen works beautifully.

No Danger is the nearest they get to Power Pop, but Nothing Left has a wonderful Jangle to it. Wild Stab is pure Americana, reminds me a lot of Deer Tick. They also know how to close an album, Graduation Girl perfectly sums up what the band are about, really really Mats.

The Album Release show has built a big reputation about how good a Live band they are. You can imagine how well the album went down. They are at their best when the riffs are ringing out. Fly Or Die, Come Undone and What A Waste are great examples of this, the riffs drill into your head.

The band are a sum of their parts, locking in wonderfully and front man Tyler Franklin leads proceedings with a vocal that urges you to Rock, but also handles and underlines the melodic choruses. It is becoming a great year for debut albums. This is one of the best.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Orchidelia - Sundial EP

 

It is always surprising that as we've grown considerably the UK hasn't necessarily followed us. We are far bigger in the States, Canada, Europe and Australia, Maybe its due to the high quota of Power Pop, Guitar Pop and Pop Rock that we cover and the lack of strength they have in the UK. We are still very Anglophile despite all that's going on here and revel uncovering Brit acts.

The new Orchidelia EP is a great listen. The five piece from Sheffield are known for Power Pop. but there is more to that here. Miles Ridge's Piano edges them towards Pop Rock or even Brit Pop. They certainly have that wit and lyrical depth that Brit bands are noted for.

Songs are often delivered at pace, a little Housemartins perhaps, but the melody and singalong joy they bring cannot be ignored. The opener, Cradle To The Grave, underlines this and sounds slightly New Wave,  with Marcus Swift's vocal slightly similar to Spygenius's Peter Watts.

The Closer, Serious Word With The Ceiling shows off the Brit Pop comparison, anthemic and even a little Squeeze. It is a cracking listen. Talking of Spygenius, Quarter To Three is right in their territory, a little Psych Pop, a little 60s UK Beat and touches of 70s Glam Rock.

It's Alright is jaunty, again sounding a little Tilbrook, but with an instrumental that isn't a million miles away from Madness.  Forget Me Not has an ace Harrison like Guitar Intro, slower than what else is around, sounding a little more American. All 5 songs here are winners, a corking listen.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

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Eroica - Apollo Complex

 

After opening up July largely with a whole lot of Guitar Pop, it is worth underling that I don't just live in that world. Away from IDHAS, I listen to a lot of Psych and Prog and when I hear something that I think will be appreciated here, it arrives.

This is one such example. It is an incredible piece of work and has extraordinary depth. It can do the complex, surprise chord changes and instrumental brilliance. Yet it can also be accessible and melodic, it is a masterful release.

L.A. quartet Eroica's debut album is one hell of a listen. It will naturally be compared to Radiohead and Muse, but that would be both in their prime. The band have the complexity of the former and the accessibility of the latter.

The arrangements are immense, at ease with the meandering and the direct. Apollo Complex don't allow the wankiness that this type of stuff is labelled with, to enter. Cry Again gets close to Pop Rock and The Ginny Carr Tape is hypnotic and closer to Classic Rock.

I Remind You Of Your Mother is an incredible month, varied and packing so much into just over 4 minutes. As you might expect, there are longer songs and they emphasise the complex side of the quartet. The Muse comparison is most apt on the title track and instrumentally a soundscape.

Bat Wings is immaculate engaging Prog and Ghost Variations is epic in scope. The whole album is a truly splendid listen. I admire the scope and arrangements that seem too expert to be a part of a debut. An unbelievable piece of work.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Droids Osaka - Closer To The Credit Roll

 

There is a question that I ask again. Why are the Canadians so good at Power Pop? Here's another band to be introduced to you. A Trio from Hamilton that master Classic Pop, but aren't afraid to step down noisier streets, particularly as the album progresses.

You wouldn't be wrong to think the band were an 80s Japanese Synth band when looking at their name. Indeed, the opening 39 Second song, Theme From Droids, is all 80s New Wave, but that ends there by launching into the excellent turn of the 70s, US Power Pop of Bits & Pieces that you can hear on the current Listening To This Week Playlist.

Moving Too Fast follows on and is more early Weezer and you realise that you are listening to a great Power Pop album. It has all the pre-requisites, killer riffs, a big sing along chorus and a breakout Guitar solo. The album is a fine summer  toe tapper.

Feeling Again sounds like the genre's current revival, but also has a tint of UK Glam Rock, particularly with the hand claps. Rocked up a little without losing sight of the melody. Get Up Get Up may be the best song here, certainly the best chorus. At times, it sounds like a Pop Punk band that has aged and got poppier.

The final two songs take on a different direction. Dirty Lines is much more in your face akin to the great stuff that is coming out of the Medway scene presently. You Want It, We Got In is pacy and more Punk and a frenetic listen that works just as well as what has gone before. Closer To The Credit Roll is a corking upbeat listen. Well done you three!

You can listen to and buy the album here. It certainly deserves a Physical Release.

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Swive - Stereophonic Stylings Volume 2

 

I adored Swive's 2023 debut album, so much so that it featured in our Best Albums Of The Year. The mix of male / female vocals from Indio Romero and Sidney Merritt worked beautifully. You can read the Review here and now we have Volume 2.

The two singles for the second volume promised much and also underlined the variety that the San Diego band provide. Fading Out is all Buckingham Fleetwood Mac-ish with a great guitar sound and Del Rio is more jaunty Tex / Mex with a wonderful chug.

Swive are not afraid to take chances and change direction, Indeed, one of the best songs here is a rock out, almost Psych, instrumental in Orange Crush. That ability to surprise is key to what they do. Merritt's vocal on the riff led Sky High is exceptional on what is the nearest the band will ever get to an anthem.

Lucky is great Pop Rock and Headlights is great West Coast Rock. Merritt's vocal on the former and Romero's on the latter show the benefit of the shared vocals. Chameleon mixes 90s Alt Rock with Sandy Denny-ish Classic Rock.

Mirrors is even more different with a sort of Red Hot Chilli Peppers opener and the brooding feel, a meandering joy. No Guarantees is built on a killer riff that just grips you and an incredibly strong chorus. Self Sabotage is wonderful jaunty Pop Rock.

The whole album is incredibly strong. Built on a splendid Guitar sound with an ability to go wherever they want to direction wise. I thought it would be difficult to better Volume 1. This has! Different to most around, it is a great listen.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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