Listening To This Week Playlist

Another cracking 25 song playlist to see you into June. As well as the traditional version, we have put the playlist on Spotify and you will see the link below. Remember this is early days on Spotify, so the following there is nowhere near our one here. Only 22 of the 25 songs are available on Spotify.

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. 

The Spotify Version     (The Real Flowerpots, The Four Chords and The Friends are not on Spotify)

Link To Spotify

Fortitude Valley - Sunshine State

The Real Flower Pots - Birdie (Not On Spotify)

PDA - Tantrums

Jeremy & The Harlequins - Up 'n' Down

Barry J Walsh - Suddenly June

Janus 4-14 - Modern Girl

Ruiz! - Always Dreaming

Wonderfun - Picking Up Serena

Yawn Mower - Rascal

Waldo Witt - This (Koyasan 2023)

King Husky - Change Of Heart

Slumber - 1993 (Shake It)

Commander Pilot - Baby C'mon

The High Water Marks - Your Stint In Art School

The Friends - Paralyzed (Not On Spotify)

Moonstand - Training Wheels

The Waupoos Barn Incident - Horror Show: Elon And The Dictator

The Probies - 'Til The End Of Time

SANSOM - Call Me

SANSOM · Call Me

Those Looks - Passing Through

Octopus Knife Fight - Already Broken

Zoë Kilgren - Girls In Skirts

Zoë Kilgren · Girls In Skirts

The Four Chords - Make A Difference (Not On Spotify)

Dread Spectre Council - Hooves & Cloves

Dread Spectre Council · Hooves and Cloves

The Spiral Electric - In Too Deep (Single Version)

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Janus 4-14 - Blue To Infinity. (Bandcamp Name Your Price)

 

As I trailed in the review of Ghosts From Your Past (here) at the start of the month, a new EP was on its way and here it is. We love this lot, one of our main discoveries of the year. Blue To Infinity has the band's feet firmly planted in Indie Rock, yet bar the closer, these six songs sound much more jaunty.

The Title Track sounds like it belongs in the Britpop glory days, all anthem and pace. Modern Girl gets even more upbeat, having a lot in common with the great 80s UK Guitar Pop. It fairly breezes along with a rapid catch all pace.

Tell Her About The World is a much slower smoother affair. A little funky at times, the harmonies are exceptional and the laidback feel breaks things up beautifully with a great guitar solo. It's All Over Now sounds more American.

Americana in fact. Acoustic based, almost a shuffle, almost a campfire song, again underling the variety in the band. I Never Wanna See You Again, as the single, was beloved of LTTW followers, the song is 100mph and doesn't let up.

The closer, Sad & Broken is a real change of mood, sort of Blue Collar, almost Classic Rock. Melancholic but instrumentally beautifully played despite the sadness. I predict a bright future for Janus 4-14, but a lot of that could depend on you.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Dennis Davison - Sirens And Hellbenders

 

I obviously move around many selected genres and enjoy them all, but the love of my life is Psych Pop. No other genre brings the past into the future like it. Essentially Guitar Pop, but with many twists and turns. It may sound very second half of the 60s to some, but that is a failure to appreciate the full scope of arrangements and sheer melody.

Possibly, my favourite band in the genre was The Jigsaw Seen. I don't get to listen to the old these days due to the amount that I deal with in the new, but I still listen to that beloved band. They had largely gone by the time I started IDHAS, but I still managed to sneak in their magnificent compilation, For The Discriminating Completist.

Mainstays of the quartet were founders Dennis Davison and Jonathan Lea. Whereas Lea went on to play with his heroes of the past, Davison, the vocalist, kept the new Psych Pop candle burning with excellent effect. 

His 2020 debut album, The Book Of Strongman,Creaturefeature was in our Best Albums Of The Year, the follow up EP, Creaturefeature, was in our Best EPs of 2023. The gaps plugged by killer singles. Now we have his second album and it is wonderful.

There are interesting diversions, the splendid Invisiblia may be the most pop that Davison ever gets, sounding more late 80s / early 90s, all riff and joyous melody. 536 AD skirts Prog and Winterland's Gone gets all big studio UK Beat ballad.

But it is the Psych Pop that grabs you most. Sensual Summer, Is It The Medicine? and the killer single, Putting Up With People, being great examples, all very different. Sirens And Hellbenders is a corking listen and will be there in the end of year celebrations.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The High Water Marks - Consult The Oracle

 

This is a celebration of a great band and a great label. The High Water Marks have been around for two decades, but it is through the 2020s that they have become almost prolific. This coincided with the move from a two piece to a quartet,

Any band with Hilarie Sydney is going to be interesting with the Elephant 6 and Apples In Stereo credentials and that duo with Per Ole Bratset provided wonderful if sporadic results. Both are splendid vocalist and whether separate, duetting or joint, they have a way of bewitching you.

The addition of Logan Miller and Oystein Megard has allowed the band to become a formidable unit. Megard may be the drummer, but he is also a multi instrumentalist and his raiding of the instrument cupboard just adds to joy.

The band also a myriad of styles from Indie Pop to Glasgow Guitar Pop, 80s Indie to Psych Pop and all perfectly arranged and performed. The fact that there are two great vocalists just enhances the quality of the songs rather than being the be all and end all.

There is a mellow feel to the songs vocally, Sydney in particular has the voice of an angel, but the arrangements can lead to anything whether it be pace, drive or wistful. There is at times, some wonderful Jangle Pop and everything sounds so chipper.

This is a band at the top of their game, few can match what they come up. This is also an album to listen to from start to finish, hence me unusually not describing any of the songs. A special mention for Álvaro Lissón too. His Meritorio Records Label never ever fails to delight.

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

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The Four Chords - First Idea / Best Idea. (Bandcamp Name Your Price)

 

It is kinda nice to be back in Power Pop land and this offering is great. There is some mystery surrounding the album. Seems to be Royce Williams from Winnipeg although the social media impression given is one of bring a trio.

We've had similar instances in the past and bit by bit uncovered the details, but for now, let's just enjoy a great album. The base sound is one that sounds very UK New Wave Power Pop and it is beautifully done. There are also ventures into the likes of Glam Rock and the likes of Cheap Trick and the 90s Not Lame days.

There are also burst out Melodic Pop Rock solos, but the songs are built on great riffs. Let It Rock has a real Glam Drum stomp, but also sounds so Zander and Nielsen, yet Free Again sounds more Mod Pop. The Vocal on Lies We Tell is almost Costello, but it is accompanied by a Jangling riff and a great solo.

Another Second Lease On Life even gets into the territory of The Knack.Trojan Horse even gets on the Pop side of Psych Pop. There's even room for a closing Acoustic led slowdown, sort of Enuff Znuff or Mr Big for Everything's Online with a well moody Guitar solo that delights.

This is a really feel good album. Beautifully arranged and performed and a reminder of how damn chirpy Power Pop can be. First Idea / Best Idea is a real joy to listen to. With this and the back catalogue all at Name Your Price, what have you got to lose?

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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King Hüsky - King Hüsky

 

Every now and again, an album arrives here that catches me completely by surprise. This is great Indie Guitar Pop and largely feels like Glasgow from the Mid 80s to the Mid 90s. It is so damn catchy, all gentle riffs and big choruses.

The surprise is that this is the debut solo album from Oslo's Vidar Landa, guitarist in Scandinavia's biggest Heavy Metal Band, Kvelertak. There was no inkling that he had this in him, because this is an album that fits what we cover perfectly.

There are slight inklings when a song breaks out, particularly the splendid Noise Pop of Burn In Hell. Yet the majority of the album is melodically mellow. Hurry Kane, for example, could be Al Stewart and Waiting For A Chance could be Acoustic Canterbury Folk.

There is a similarity to what Per Gessle does now, but that is in his native Swedish language, Landa sings in perfect English. Label Night is so damn catchy and loveable that you want to wrap it up and cuddle it to sleep. 

Change Of Heart is very modern day Teenage Fanclub, wonderfully so. It also reinforces the return of whistling as a part of songs. Wish I Had A Dog is built around a cracking lo-fi riff with another killer chorus.

There is a real gentleness to proceedings that is so effective. The songs never drift or meander and you sense that Landa's day job could allow him to blast out, but he doesn't want that and this allows the album to grow and grow on you with its sheer charm.

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

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Soot Sprite - Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon

 

Every now and then, the tumbleweed in the UK Music scene is disturbed by a great album and this is one example. Devon isn't noted as a hotbed of Indie goodness, surrounded at times by Prog from nearby counties, but this shatters those illusions.

There is no doubt that Elise Cook will be the focal point and why not. Her voice could lend itself to any genre, at times folky, even suiting Prog, but it is Indie that benefits most. However, this is a quartet that is the sum of its parts, providing really hypnotic arrangements.

The sound is a little shoegaze at times, but not boring and meandering like too much of that genre. These are proper songs. All Of My Friends Are Depressed remains one of the songs of the year, but this album is not that and 10 other songs.

There is real Post Punk riffed up noisy joy to Surprise Guilty Party and Great Expectations enters the 90s and wipes the floor with it. The title track is more restrained, moodier, but bursts out joyously. A little like Garbage instrumentally without the too cool for school nonsense,

There's even an epic closer that strips everything down and allows Cook's vocal to show its hypnotic strength. There is a delicateness that matches the intense that is both admirable and great listening. Just listen to the gentleness on Doomed.

In a musical world dominated by likes and streams, the album format has never been more threatened by playlists and supposed influencers. Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon is a perfect example of the strength of the long form. Wonderful!

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

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