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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Deep Wimp - Longtime Beginner

 

Back to our roots with the great Power Pop that is Longtime Beginner. The Brooklyn quartet can be Classic Power Pop, but also have the ability to step into other directions. This is largely helped by all four being vocalists.

Indeed for all the Power Pop, one of the best songs is the closer Thumbs Up which is looser and more West Coast Rock, Classic Rock even. Wheelhouse has that feel too, although a little slower and more brooding than Thumbs Up.

It is the Poppier moments that resonate most though. Particularly the magnificent opener First-Time Caller, built on a wonderful Power Pop riff and a vocal that is almost Feargal Sharkey. Pipe Dream is a little more laidback, but just as effective.

Giant even gets a little Psych Pop riff wise and shows even more variety, a little Garage feel at times and Bright Balloon gets more classic Power Pop and the four are really good at that too. Loads to like on this really enjoyable listen.

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

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The Blusterfields - Thoughts & Prayers

 

The Blusterfields have been a watchword for variety since their 2022 debut and with an album a year since, we now reach their fifth and this is probably the album they've always threatened to make. The North Carolina five piece are at the top of their game. 

At their most Poppy perhaps, they still offer up a heady collection of Pop Rock, Power Pop and Psych Pop and retain their social conscience. When the single, Mr Secretary appeared on a recent Listening To This Week Playlist, many of you remarked on how XTC it sounded.

They've also had that in them and here there are four or five songs that fit that category, all would fit on latter-day XTC albums, most notably the magnificent Juniper Tree. But these lot are no XTC copy band, there is far more than that to enjoy.

There is the splendid Psych Pop depth of Goldenrod, the New Wave opener Any More, which is a little vintage Vegas With Randolph and the cross between Garage Rock and Glam Rock that is I've Never Been To Detroit.

Elsewhere, there is the joyful Guitar Pop of Title Town and the moodier broodier of Inches Away and the UK New Wave groove, of Here Come The Idiots. The latter most describes what the band are lyrically about, anti-fascism that is dressed up in a great arrangement.

Thoughts & Prayers is beautifully arranged and performed. Largely Guitar Pop and of the highest quality. The band have a way with a lyric and an instrumental change of direction. Album Of The Year potential without a doubt.

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

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Listening To This Week Playlist 6 July

The LTTW Playlist returns after a rare week off with 29 songs and kicks off July for us (at last I hear you say). 29 splendid examples of why new music is so vibrant at the moment. The habit of having something really interesting to close, continues. The focus for us over the rest of the week is a catch up on Reviews.

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. 

Swive - Headlights

Deep Wimp - First Time Caller

Andrew Weiss And Friends - This Parking Lot Has No Vacancy

Elephonic - The Party

The Acrobats - Ophelia

Sparkle Blood - The Fridays Of Our Lives

Change Life - From Zero To One

The Chutes - Scraping The Last Bits Of Light

The 286 - Midnight Symphony

Something Sneaky - Stevie's Here

Ghost Of Vim - Best Of Times

Ghost of Vim · Best Of Times

Droids Osaka - Bits & Pieces

Marble Jets - Feelin' Alive

The Regulars - Gotta Wait

Ancient Waves - Devil's In Me

Hoaster - Around The Sun (Live At 13 Sound Studios)

Telematch - We Are Here

Cold Shoulders - Eye For An Eye

Alley The Band - Fantasize Romanticize

Space Jaguar - Please Come Around

Dreamy - At Close Range

ELIKSA - Only A Matter Of Time

Oski XD Doski - Sweet Sister Green Jeans

Brother Dynamite - Better

Jensyn - Trust

With Brevity - Street Lights

Wild Oceans - I Don't Need You

Suneaters - Bedhead

Bleu Reine - Cavalier Seul

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Welcome To July

 

Welcome To July!

You may have noticed that we've been a bit quieter through the last couple of weeks. There is a reason for that. We are used to seeing 200,000 views per month and can handle that, but June went crazy. There were 700,000 views in the month. It is brilliant that there is so much interest in new music, but that amount of views leads to a massive amount to deal with behind the scenes. Through answering messages and emails and the increased submissions.

It has coincided with my real life work being extremely busy. It is Sports related and the World Cup has brought challenges there. So I've tried to calm things down a little. Hence missing a Listening To This Week Playlist this week and the Reviews being a little lighter. I have a week's leave next week which means the catch up will be thorough.

Some of you may know that it is I Don't Hear A Single's 10th Anniversary on 19 July. It is the longest that I've stayed with anything music wise and I'm proud of what we have achieved. It was planned to have a week of Live Sessions, some are already in, but the surge has left us lots to do on that score and it makes sense to plan that for later in the year in September. We will mark the anniversary with a simple Thanks post.

We are not going anywhere, it's just that the volume has caught us off guard and we need to get back on track. Where we are now to where we began in July 2016 is amazing and a testament to the new and underappreciated artists that we cover. I don't expect another month like July, it seems like an outlier, and it has been so pleasing to see older Reviews come to the fore again.

This is just an explanation of where we are currently at and a thank you for all the support that we get.

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Sparkle Blood - Zip Zap.

 

An album from a fine Trio, it can only come from Canada I hear you say, well it does, Sparkle Blood are from Alberta. They master a sort of say what you've gotta say and get off in a delightful Indie way. The result is a great listen.

Tyler Stewart's songs offer up great, slightly angular, Guitar Pop. Built on great riffs and earworm choruses, a little DIY, slightly scrappy, but incredibly effective. At times, they sound like your favourite UK New Wave Power Pop.

Canada seems to get that UK Power Pop down to a tee, far better than any Brit outfit. The vocal interplay between Stewart and Bailey Kate works wonderfully well, particularly on Around We Go. When the pace picks up, the trio are equally effective, as on In Real Life with its killer chorus. 

There's also real wit on the splendid Who The Fuck Is Patrick Swan with its punkier vibe. My Favourite Pee Hole mirrors that late 70s New Wave let's do the song right here feel and The Fridays Of Our Life is a little Husker Du with a Merseybeat chorus.

Restless is Power Pop joy. The whole production feels a little Guided By Voices, but the songs have more in common with Power Pop, particularly the strength of the choruses and the multi backing vocals om Mad About It work like a charm. A cracking up and at 'em listen.

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

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Change Life - Change Life.

Known more for Woolen Men and their excellent Singles Club releases, Portland Oregon's Lawton Browning gathers a collective for his Change Life project. There can be no better liaison than its appearance on the excellent Meritorio Records label. 

There is the joy of Intelligent Indie with a social conscience. The album feels a little 80s, but I'm only thinking of bands and artists who took chances in that decade. At times, a little Japan in touch and certainly a Talking Heads in feel.

That Talking Heads in feel is most notable on the opener, Smile, but the whole album is built on hypnotic gripping arrangements that aren't afraid of changing direction. For instance, there is a real Funk to Beyond Control that is addictive.

Eden Express is built on a Gabrels like Guitar Orchestra, yet vocally has more in common with Ska and those Guitars even get a little Psych. From Zero To One gets close to something off English Settlement and At Last I'm Free could be King Crimson and yet is choral.

The album is experimental, yet never up itself. The arrangements are deep, drawing you in. It is an incredible listen, deep and reflective, a sum of its parts, but centring on Browning's wonderful songwriting. An incredibly inventive debut.

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

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Andrew Weiss and Friends - ...To Change A Light Bulb

 

I'm a big fan of New York's Andrew Weiss. He has a reputation as a sort of Laurel Canyon troubadour and a fine storyteller. But there has always been much more and as he has become really prolific recently without ever foregoing the quality.

He has always had a way with Pop Rock that transcends his West Coast Rock reputation and it bursts out in spades here. There's also the surprise of liberally spread more modern synths that have more in common  with 80s New Wave.

Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of his 70s sounding joy present, for instance the splendid Mr Roy Gee Biv with its Don Henley like vocal and storytelling strength of Milk Carton Missing Kid, a top notch duet with Sara Barsky that mixes American, West Coast and Folk.

You Against The World gets all Classic Rock and Weiss still has his strength with a building Anthem, this time it is Shirley, This Can't Be It. The songwriting strength stands out on Today, Tomorrow, The End Of Next Week, The Latest is Easy Listening Joy.

The Pop Rock really stands out, especially on the magnificent This Parking Lot Has No Vacancy, which may be the best song that Weiss has ever written. Epic in scope, beautifully arranged. There has never been a Weiss album that disappoints, but this may be his best ever.

You can listen to and buy the album here. 

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Big Nothing - Big Nothing

 

I adored Big Nothing's debut album, Chris, still do. It featured heavily in our Best Albums Of 2019. So I have no idea how I missed the follow up, 2022's Dog Hours. Maybe it is a label thing. We have never had that great a connection with Lame-O, I've no idea why.

With listening to so much stuff, the label connection can be vital. There are great labels such as Dandy Boy and Meritorio who keep you informed regularly. They know that you are not going to like everything that they release, but when you connect, you really do.

So we reach the band's third album and it is a cracker. It feels a little more mainstream than Chris and is wonderfully big chorus led. The Replacements connection seems even less so, in its place big Pop Rock songs that Jangle and you can't stop yourself singing along.

Now seemingly down to a trio, the album does seem to have a bigger Rock sound, the arrangements are just as big and Matt Quinn's pipes remain in fine working order. The band still flirt with the likes of Americana and Indie, but is the Jangle that stands out most.

There is also a secret vocal weapon. Bass Player takes the lead on two songs . Crusin' is a little more 90s Rock, but her sugar sweet vocal takes it into much more. Stumble is more restrained, but built on a killer riff and stands up with the likes of Fortitude Valley and adds a splendid Twang.

The band's third album feels a bit more commercial, a little more Pop Rock, but it lights up that genre. Beautifully performed and arranged, this is a release that hits home, simply because it is so damn catchy. Your feet won't stop tapping.

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 Update

 

For only the second time since its inception, there will be no Listening To This Week Playlist for the coming week. Nothing to worry about! A combination of a heavy real life work schedule and the Heatwave over here in the UK this week has led to this.

Bailey The Lurcher has needed extra attention due to the heat and any spare time available was not favourable for sitting round a computer, compiling. The same has applied to Reviews. Finally, submissions were unusually lower, maybe due to the weather and the World Cup.

The Playlist will be back on Monday 6 July with a bumper edition. Some Reviews are planned for tomorrow as the catch up begins. Onwards and errr Upwards!

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Listening To This Week Playlist 22 June

A day later than usual, here is this week's LTTW Playlist. 23 songs that sum up pretty well what we are about. Maybe a bit of Prog would have been a complete description. I've just re-listened to it all and it sounds really ace.

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 - Mr Secretary

Elephants And Stars - Of Halfway Houses And Ambulances

Thee Windows - Linen

The Hanging Stars - Show Me The Way

Bramwell - Standing On Stones

Onesie - In Your Dream You're Every Character

Radio Weekend - Circles

Charming Arson - The Wednesday Of My Discontent

The Allwells - Any Day Now

We Are Dust - The Third Door

Astrologer - Drug Of Choice

St. Davis - More Or Less

King Black Acid - Dialling 911

Scott Gagner - Sugar Rush

Tom Minor - Bureau Of Change

Tom Minor · Bureau of Change

Adult Magic - Drift Dive

Mo Troper - Let's Get Back To Music

Your Friend, Death - Oh Come On!

Your Friend, Death · Oh Come On!

DTDR - The Dirty Robot

Shredded Sun - Skyscraper

Radio Days - I Won't Give Up

Oddfellows - Draw The Line

Grant Morriss - World's Collide

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Onesie - Way Thousand Bump To The Sky

I joined the Onesie party in 2019 as they released their second album, Umpteenth. That album hit our Best Of Year. 2023 brought Liminal Hiss which hit the Top 10 of that year. Here's the Brooklyn Trio's fourth and it is a stormer.

You might call them Power Pop, because they can be, however they often aren't. When they are it is usually a noisier version of the genre, but they are also Slacker Pop, without the my life is shite bit. Then again they aren't much of these things.

Incredibly Inventive, with quirks a la Andy Partridge, at times they remind me of Ash, the wit is the same, but there is far more depth to Onesie. They are noisy, but in a good way that never loses sight of the melody. Chorus led joy.

The riffs are what make them most, unusual at times, often coming out of nowhere, but completely hitting the sweet sport. There is also a lyrical adeptness to aid these great arrangements. Tryptophantastic is so XTC, even like Blur doing XTC. 

Yet, Maybe Life's Just A Monitor Gig is a great Guitar Pop song with a Rush like riff. So Darkside is very close to a Toytown song. Superlative could be The Sugarplastic and the 100mph of Doing A Band sounds a little Sugar.

The closer, In Dream You're Every Character, is an astonishing song. Very like another band that I hold on a pedestal, The Mommyheads, almost a doppelgänger. Adding Sax, it shows a completely different side to the trio.

Onesie sort of catch people by surprise. On the face of it they appear to be a slightly noisy Indie band. But listen to this and you will realise the work that goes into an album and how spot on they get it. Not like any one else, totally themselves. Way Thousand Bump To The Sky is a masterpiece.

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

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The Get Alongs - Second To None

 

We do travel around the genres, but always know when we are at our home base and The Get Alongs are there to welcome us home. The quartet are from Toronto, where else? and Second To None is wonderfully right up our street.

Great Pop Rock that mixes everything that you think of from tied to the genre put together in one handy 10 track offering. There's the looseness of 70s Rock, Power Pop and even Psych Pop. Songs are built on a rhythm led groove.

Sunday Afternoon is all let's do the show right here, but catches you with killer Psych Pop Riffs and an extraordinary solo. Secret Shopper is built on a Rock and Roll instrumental, Sound is great 70s Pop Rock, but hints at both Primal Scream and Brit Pop.

One And Everything sounds a little Madchester, but is also great noisy Psych. Merry Way is top notch jangling 60s UK Beat. On And On enters Garage Rock with another killer riff, the heaviest that they get here and they do it so well.

Then there is the monster closer, all 6 and a half minutes of it. 232 is off the scale. It broods and broods and you know that you are waiting for the explosion to come. When it does, it just grips you completely. You know that the song is gonna close live sets for years and years.

We are fortunate that the last couple of years have been a great time for Guitar Pop. But Second To None is much much more than that, it moved, it shakes, the riffs just grab you and the songs are performed so well. This is The Get Alongs second album of many more.

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

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The Hanging Stars - Just A Day

Welcome to the sixth album from The Hanging Stars. More recently, I've reviewed the last two albums. Hollow Heart here and On A Golden Shore here. A decade or so, these type of albums were predominant, less so now, as if the best have surprised and the potential return of The Vapour Trails.

The Hanging Stars are a quartet that are up there with the best of them, they know what they are great at and take it a step further with each album. Initially, more noted for Americana, they are now more based with the likes of Dropkick and the more recent mellower, Teenage Fanclub.

They are never gonna blow the bloody doors off, that isn't what they are about or want to do. Although, they are some band when the pace picks up, most noted here on the wonderful Show Me The Way. There is always gonna be something a bit special from an album produced by Gerry Love in Edwyn Collins's studio.

The songs are beautifully played, built on riffs and keyboards. When the keyboards kick in, there is an instrumental feel of The Band, when they Jangle, you think of The Byrds, so there is still a very West Coast feel.

What marks them out most from their peers are the four part harmonies, demonstrated perfectly on Time Is Nothing with its I Can't Let Maggie Go vibe. Sister Of The Sun underlines those harmonies splendidly, great California Pop Rock. The Hanging Stars are masters of what they do and long may it continue.

 You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Thee Windows - Out And Down

 I have previously noted that there seems a surplus of bands wanting to call themselves Thee at present in a flagon of your finest ale stout yeoman of the bar way. Just a general observation! I forgive Baltimore's Thee Windows as they build an ever interesting developing career.

Out And Down is the quartet's second album bisected by an EP and the growth is really obvious. Previously known as Indie Pop, I question that as the genre should maybe reserved for chart bothering wannabes commerciality. Guitar Pop seems a more apt starting base.

But even that genre doesn't do justice to the band's scope. The songs are beautifully arranged and performed with complex arrangements that are far from obvious and instrumentation that is as at home with the Organ as the Guitar and the band raid genres at will with ease.

You can hear so many different directions across these 11 songs. There is Pastoral Pop, Shoegaze, Psych Pop, 80s Indie and Brit Pop. The rhythm section nail every song down, allowing the songs to drift in any direction that you wish.

The stand out is the magnificent Linen. In other hands, this would be a straight ahead affair, but these four turn it into an extravaganza instrumental. This may be Indie, but it fully explores areas that show that that can be just a catch all description.

Owl Song is splendid Psych Pop, So Long is Brit Pop and Losin' It is jaunty rhythm led Guitar Pop. The whole album is cohesive, a rarity in that it gets better and better as it proceeds, no front loading here! Out And Down is highly Recommended to all.

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 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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