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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