I Don't Hear A Single Best 100 Albums Of 2025 : 51- 60

The IDHAS Best Albums Of 2025 reaches the halfway point.

 

51 Glowbox - Bland Ambition      IDHAS Review

52 Fib - Heavy Lifting      IDHAS Review

53 Cream Soda - Serving You      IDHAS Review

54 Dropkick - Primary Colours      IDHAS Review

55 The Convenience - Like Cartoon Vampires      IDHAS Review

56 Soft Hearted Scientists - The Phantom Of Canton     IDHAS Review

57 Melin Melyn - Mill On The Hill    IDHAS Review

58   Iain Hornal - Return To The Magic Kingdom    IDHAS Review

59 This Will Destroy Your Ears - Funland     IDHAS Review

60 The Easys - Feeling 101     IDHAS Review

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Dropkick - Primary Colours

 

The greatest compliment that you can pay Dropkick is that new artists are as likely to be compared to them as Teenage Fanclub. They are certainly more prolific and after initially being slightly under the TFC shadow and being compared to them, they have more than earned the right to stand alone and at times above.

Some may unfairly say that you know what you are gonna get as though that is a sin. When you are as good at what they do why should they not do what they are great at? As if to prove those critics and smug soles wrong, Primary Colours may be the trio's most diverse album yet.

Long term fans can be reassured that there is more than enough of what they like and crave. The joyous jangling of the opener, Left Behind, shows that the West Coast has not been forgotten. But elsewhere there are big surprising treats.

Never more so on Highs And Lows on which Alan Shields takes lead vocals delivering a sort of Dave Edmunds style rocker with its Punky opening and its Indie Rock out. Snowflakes is fuzzed up heaven and Vanishing Act may be West Coast Rock, but it could be Crazy Horse backing Andrew Taylor. 

Their ability to Jangle has not been lost, but at times it takes on a more commercial slant, particularly on the anthemic Dreams May Expire and Waiting For The Rain more than reveals that they have not forgotten to write memorable choruses.

Plus if you like your vocal harmonies, just head straight to the title track. There's something really special about a band amazingly into their third decade still offering up splendid songs. Yes they have not forgotten what they are about, but they also reveal there is much more them than just that. Wonderful!

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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Here Is The News

 

Nada Surf - Moon Mirror

A new Nada Surf is something to celebrate and of course we will do just that.  Moon Mirror is released on 13 September and is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download. The Vinyl and CD releases have a bonus 11 Track Demo Disc included. You can Pre-order the album here.

A new single, In Front Of Me Now, has been released from the album and you can listen to that below and buy it for just 1 dollar here.

Bottlecap Mountain - Electric Love Spree

Austin Texas's Bottlecap Mountain return with their 7th album on 4 June and the band are long term favourites of ours. We have reviewed the last 3 albums and this will be the fourth. They mix what's essentially Indie Pop Rock into all sorts of directions. A great example is the new single below.

You can pre-order the album here and buy the single, Freedom! 24 here.

Quivers - Oyster Cuts

Melbourne's Quivers's last album, Golden Doubt, was No 21 in our Best 100 Albums Of 2021. You can read the review here. The new album is released on 9 August on Merge Records. The band offer up beautifully written, arranged and performed Indie Pop, but are not afraid to spread into other areas.

The real strength is the vocals, all four sing and this leads to jaw dropping vocal harmonies on songs that are not your everyday affairs. You can pre-order the album on Vinyl, CD or as a download here. There are some great variations. It is worth noting that some prices are in US dollars, others in Australian dollars.

The first track from the album, Apparition, can be bought for 1$ here. You can also listen to it below.

Dropkick - Dot The I Expanded Version

Scotland's finest have being zipping up their boots and going back to their roots. Following on from the Expanded Version of Patchwork, 2008's Dot The I gets similar treatment with a release on 21 June. 14 Bonus Tracks (count 'em) are added in what is the first physical release of the album for 16 years. 2008 was the most prolific time for the band's recordings.

Dropkick are one of those bands that get many comparisons in reviews of others, maybe second only to Teenage Fanclub maybe in that department. Their blend of great Pop Rock that leans towards both America and the more recent Scottish scene. Often compared to Crowded House and long term favourites here.

You can order the CD and the download here. My favourite track from the album is below.

Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men - Bottle It

I was only thinking of Nick Piunti when reviewing the new Extra Arms album, which has been really popular on here. I do feel that Ryan Allen's lot have got nearer to what Piunti is noted for lately. Lo and behold, Ryan adds backing vocals to the new Nick Piunti single.

It really is great to have Piunti back, you forget how much you miss his melodic Pop Rock built on big choruses and tasty riffs and this is a fantastic reminder of how damn catchy his songs are. You can buy the song here and listen to it below.

Charming Arson - Saving Chelsea

One of the unexpected delights of Listening To This Week has been adding a younger audience to what we cover and in turn discovering new artists. Maybe the best example id Boston's Charming Arson, a band who perhaps a little rockier than normal.

They have a new single out and it is a cracker. Saving Chelsea can be bought for 1$ here. Trust me, this lot are going places. You can listen to the single below.

Pantomime Horses - Forever Polyester

I've been fortunate to have the album for a while and have been dying to tell you all about it. That will come as a review when the album is released on the 31 May. I have bored people rigid telling people face to face and on the phone etc, remember kids you can still do this, rather then pretend you've got loads of mates because of Facebook.

People who have heard the singles thus far, compare the Portsmouth Trio to Elbow, which I don't really see. There isn't the big arrangements and the album is far more lyrically adept. It reminds me at times of the intelligent Indie of the 80s and even our beloved Derrero and you know how much we adore the Welsh wonders.

The album will appear here. But, you can listen to the singles off it thus far there. I've just Lily Molita from those singles but any of the three suffice. The trio says that the album is just about tying up loose ends. Here's hoping that there is more to come than this gem.

Finally, a reminder that Here Is The News will now become a fortnightly thing, but it will contain up to a dozen articles. I simply just can't fit in a weekly edition with everything else that goes on around IDHAS.

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2023 : 61-70

 

For the last few years We have compiled annual Best Of 's because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists. A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended. 

Narrowing things down to this 100 has been really difficult. The countdown is posted in reverse batches of 10. For each album, a song is embedded from the album and a link is provided to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album.

61 The Lunar Laugh - In The Black      IDHAS Review

62 Cult Figures - Between Us And Heaven      IDHAS Review

63 Vanity Tapes - Hiatus      IDHAS Review

64 Sandra's Wedding - The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service      IDHAS Review

65 Star Collector - Attack, Sustain, Decay... Repeat     IDHAS Review

66 The Smivets - How We Fade   IDHAS Review

67 Stephen Lawrenson - Chants Of A Lifetime      IDHAS Review

68 Dropkick - The Wireless Revolution     IDHAS Review

69 Missilkid - Missilkid      IDHAS Review

70 Alex Lahey - The Answer Is Always Yes      IDHAS Review

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Dropkick - The Wireless Revolution

 

You know exactly what to expect from a Dropkick album and that's the beauty of what they do. You are never ever disappointed, every offering is spot on, beautifully sung and produced with a vocal ex with an added excellence and lots and lots of Jangle.

They are possibly as good at being Teenage Fanclub as TFC are and more recently, maybe even better. They stretch out here more and it adds to the enjoyment. There are reminders of their roots here with diversions into 80s Indie Guitar Pop. The Wireless Revolution also seems that bit more Power Pop than usual.

Yes there is plenty of Jangle Pop, but this is always supported by the sheer awe of the vocals. Here, the Jingle Jangle is embellished. For instance, Wouldn't Know Why has a Merseybeat feel to it and the drumming is Power Pop to a tee. There is also a completely surprise Guitar wig out.

Ahead Of My Time even has a big Psych Pop feel with the addition of an awesome Duane Eddy / Roy Orbison Twang, For such an upbeat band, Clouds catches you off guard with its atmospheric moodiness, a melodic cracker of a song that edges on Americana.

No Difference throws a real curveball, reaching far into Dave Edmunds's sphere of excellence, you can just imagine Rockpile playing the song. The Other Side has a similar feel, even a little bit Everly Brothers. Both are great additions to the Dropkick canon.

Long time fans will not be disappointed as Dropkick still demonstrate that they know what they are about. The best examples being Don't Give Yourself Away and Unwind. A famous singer songwriter once told me that it is relatively easy writing an album of misery songs, but just try writing an album of happy songs. Dropkick always achieve the latter and here might be by the biggest margin. The Wireless Revolution is an absolute joy!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness - The Third Wave Of

 

The collaboration between Dropkick's Andrew Taylor and Gonzalo Marcos of El Palacio De Linares reaches a third album. You know that anything with Andrew Taylor in it is gonna be good and to be fair there is a lot with Andrew Taylor in it. 

Through Dropkick, this, solo and his work with The Harmonizers, his warming vocal is always a pleasure to hear and in this and The Harmonizers work, there are differenet directions. The latter was a little more Americana and Country, The Boys With Perpetual Nervousness head towards Big Star at times. 

It is a more polished Big Star, but there is something magical when the material gently rocks out. Look Back is a great example of this, it is still melodic and harmonic but a greater pace and there's also a nice little keyboard addition.

Old Pictures Of Ourselves is very Del Amitri, wonderfully so, whilst In The Right is particularly Posies, again beautifully done.  Isolation is a lovely lovely song with a fine Country Twang and benefits greatly from the addition of Mary Lou Lord and a wonderful Psych Pop like jangle.

Old Ways is beautifully stripped down and aches splendidly whilst Out Of Time jangles along soothingly with an extended instrumental Outro. The album default is unsurprisingly somewhere between Dropkick and latter day Teenage Fanclub and there is something really reassuring about this.

There have been a lot of TFC references around in the past decade, thankfully these have slowed considerably as they were becoming as cliched as XTC mentions. However if one person deserves comparison, it is Taylor. The man is never involved in anything that is less than great and this album is certainly that.

You can listen to and buy the album here and here.

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2021 : 61-70

It's been difficult to get these choices down to 100. I'm also not a believer in saying one album is better than another. Most of the time you are comparing Apples To Oranges. I'm not a List person, I just think what's the point?

However, for the last few years I have compiled annual Best Of 's  because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists. There is no meaning or judgement on an album that is Number 1, Number 100 or not on the list. Anything that I review on here, mention on Social Media, or play on the Radio Show is as highly recommended.

There are few rules. All albums have to have been reviewed on IDHAS. Reissues and Live Albums are not included. Previously unreleased albums are included, but Best Of's are not. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album. 

No 61 : It's Karma, It's Cool - Homesick For Our Future Destinations     IDHAS Review

No 62 : The Embryos - National Absurdatory        IDHAS Review





No 63 : The Brandy Alexanders - The Brandy Alexanders        IDHAS Review

    

No 64 : Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers - Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers             IDHAS Review

No 65 : Ghosts Of Jupiter - Keepers Of The Newborn Green       IDHAS Review

No 66 : Dave Cope And The Sass - Pied Piper      IDHAS Review





No 67 : Vegetarians & Carnivores - A Day Of Rainbows     IDHAS Review

No 68 :  Stephen Flint - Onanmatopoeia    IDHAS Review





No 69 : Hurry - Fake Ideas     IDHAS Review

   


No 70 : Gordon's Crowbar - Songs About Stuff     IDHAS Review

                              

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Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers - Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers

 



Three or four of us writers joke about how there are periods when every band are compared to another so much that it becomes cliched and ends up with completely inappropriate comparisons. We've seen it with XTC, Jellyfish, Nada Surf and currently, Guided By Voices.

But none of these compare to the number that used to get compared to Teenage Fanclub. Now that that has died down, it seems ok to mention TFC again and the band that has always been closest (and maybe have even surpassed them) are Dropkick. 

I've mentioned before how consistently great the band are, but I'm also in admiration of Andrew Taylor's adventures away from the band. His soothing gentle vocal lights up all of his projects and this is no exception.

I've spent 2021 praising artists who avoided the lockdown offering up something lo fi that suitably tells you how sad the year has made them. The Harmonizers have done just that and the trio of fellow Dropkick mate, Ian Grier, Iain Sloan and brother Alastair Taylor should be applauded for this.

The sound is exemplary and in many parts, the album sounds like a Dropkick album. But there is a difference and that is Sloan's wonderful Pedal Steel. This emphasises the difference and the variation. It marks out the Country Rock and Americana. It even makes some of the Guitar Pop in to something different.

The simplistic way to describe the album in general terms is it being like a cross between early Eagles and latter day TFC. The best example of the Country Guitar Pop that I mentioned is the magnificent, Life Is Good. Many of the songs are equal to it, but none would make a better opener.

I could make the case for any song, but for the reason of brevity only, I'll pick out the deviations from the norm. I'll Never Win is all Gerry Rafferty. Everything's Really The Same follows that trend with its melancholic Stealers Wheel feel. The vocal is even a ringer for the Egan - Rafferty Voice blend.

Roundabout is very Doolin' Dalton in style, It's About Time is a stripped down joy and For This To Pass is an absolute Tour de Force, a perfect example of how Pop can be more complicated than it appears and yet still be incredibly melodic.

For all of this variety, it is strangely the two most Dropkick like songs that appeal most. When I Don't Understand and Older are those and the latter mixes Jangle Pop with Pedal Steel. The vocal harmonies should also get a mention. The whole album is welcoming top notch fayre. 

You can listen to and pre-order the album here.

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Dropkick - The Best Of Dropkick

 

I have an apology to make and I do so profusely. I've taken Dropkick for granted. I've been listening to them for most of their two decade career through 14 albums. Every album delights, yet in my Pop Rock bubble, I just assume that everyone knows them.

So it has taken this Best Of to give me a good shaking and make me realise that I Don't Hear A Single's audience has expanded. I should also remember that you shouldn't stop mentioning a band just because every album is great. Here is a great chance for newcomers to fill their boots and long time fans to enjoy the Vinyl release.

The band get compared to Teenage Fanclub a lot, but doesn't every Scottish band that plugs in a Guitar. There are obvious comparisons, but truth be known Teenage Fanclub have got much nearer to Dropkick over the period. There is a lot here in common with the West Coast Jangling of The Byrds, no bad thing when it is done so well, too often it isn't.

When the pace picks up on songs, there is a similarity to Tom Petty. When they slow down, it is more Neil Finn and acoustically, Dropkick become far more Americana. However default is 12 strings Jangle Pop Heaven and that is when the band are at the best.

Those slower songs offer up some splendid pop, best represented by the likes of I Wish I Knew and Come Home. Don't Dream Of California is akin to The Explorers Club harmony wise and Nowhere Girl is a top notch Country offering. 

I am also delighted to find Obvious is included. My favourite Dropkick song and I'm delighted that the album is getting a 15th Anniversary Edition in May. 30 songs is a lot of Dropkick for first time buyers, but with an instant collection, you will want to delve further into the Dropkick Back Catalogue. You won't be disappointed. 

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available as a Sugarbush Vinyl 2LP Edition which also includes a 2 CD set including 20 extra tracks. The CD Version has 27 tracks due to format constraints. You can also buy the Vinyl directly from Sugarbush here.

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Kool Kat Musik Weekly New Release Update

Welcome to the Kool Kat Weekly New Release Update. Kool Kat are distributed in the UK and Europe by I Don't Hear A Single as part of our aim to keep CDs available and affordable. The Kool Kat Links with each album take you to further details on each release.

THE KOOL KAT 10% OFF SALE is now on and runs until Sunday, February 28!   Over the years the sale has been held traditionally in January, but due to delayed delivery issues within the US Postal system, Kool Kat decided to hold off until the system was running a little smoother.  If paying by credit card, the discount will be applied to your order at checkout.  If paying by PayPal, you will be refunded the difference upon receipt of the order.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SALE APPLIES TO NEW CDs, AND USED CDs.  ALL MULTI-PURCHASE DISCOUNTS (2-FERS, ETC) AND ALL NEW RELEASES ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2021 ARE NOT ELIGIBLE.  YOU MAY WANT TO ACT QUICKLY – WHEN KOOL KAT RUN THESE TYPES OF SALES, A LOT OF TITLES SELL OUT AND ARE NOT RE-STOCKED.  IF THEY ARE OUT OF A SPECIFIC TITLE OR TITLES, THE DISCOUNT WILL STILL BE APPLIED TO ANY THAT CAN STILL OBTAINED IF YOU WISH TO HAVE THEM KEPT ON BACKORDER.

Please place all UK and European orders by following the details here. Links to Kool Kat's Entire Stock can be found here. Without further ado, here are seven new additions to Kool Kat Musik this Week.

The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness - Songs From Another Life (Kool Kat Musik) 2021  $14   

NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT MUSIK LABEL – AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 19 – ACCEPTING ORDERS NOW!  The band's second album opens up the range of influences, more American, more exuberant and present a powerful sound with arrangements that make us dream of better days.  Never hurried, never wavering, without the quirky inflections that much musical modernity insists upon in their frontmen, Andrew Taylor’s is possibly the most perfect voice in jangle Power Pop at present.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Beachwood Sparks - Beachwood Deluxe (Curation Records) 2021      $15

                                                   

A companion piece to the 20th Anniversary reissue of Beachwood Sparks’s eponymous debut album, “Beachwood Deluxe” is a rare sonic glimpse at where the band was in 1999.  Electric 12/6 string jangling guitars, sonic exploration and soft country psychedelia. The tracks are some of the only proper studio recordings to feature original guitarist/singer, the late Josh Schwartz.

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

The Lickerish Quartet - Threesome  Vol.2 (Stranger Danger Records) 2021      $12

Three Quarters of Jellyfish offer up stellar performances and once again, they blaze a trail that reminds you of the previous days, but is certainly not a retread of the old sounds.  Great Pop Rock that trades on hooks and melody.

    

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Vanilla - Limerence (Charlatan Record Cartel) 2020      $12

The fourth album from Vanilla, turns a years worth of digital-only monthly releases from 2020 into one full-length album.  The melodic indie-pop band from the US Pacific Northwest features Jayson Jarmon (formerly of Liar's Club), Sean Gaffney, and Mark Simmons. Beautifully written, chorus driven gems.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

The Beachers - 1963-1966 (Gothenburg Sound Sweden) 2020      $18

Relative to the size of the country, Sweden had a ridiculously large number of 60’ s beat groups: The Beachers, The Beathovens, The Beatmen, The Shakers, The Shakemakers and The Shamrocks to name a few.  With only eight million Swedes it feels like half of them must have owned a guitar back then.   Along comes the extremely cool 23 track CD anthology by The Beachers, a great beat/R&B group from Gothenburg. Once billed as “Sweden's ugliest group”, their complete 1963-66 recordings are here.

   

Kool Kat Link 

Adam Marsland - Go West 2CD (Karma Frog Records)      $10

NEW LOW PRICE!!  2009 2CD offering from the former Cockeyed Ghost frontman that was hailed at the time as his best ever effort!  It’s an undertaking that operates logically in two ways: it's a highly engaging Pop Rock conception or dig a little deeper and it is an engrossing journey from hope to despair and back to hope. 

Kool Kat Link

Soundcloud Link

Adam Marsland - Daylight Kissing Night – Adam Marsland’s Greatest Hits (Karma Frog Records) 2008      $8

NEW LOW PRICE!!  A handsomely packaged, 2008 collection of 20 pop songs now offered at an artist-breaking budget price, that heralded Adam Marsland's return to full-time music making. Not so much a retrospective as a reintroduction, all the previously released songs are remastered along seven newly recorded tracks that are exclusive to the collection.

 Kool Kat Link  

Bandcamp Link

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Andrew Taylor - From The Outside Looking In

One of the great mysteries of my musical sphere is why Dropkick don't get more attention. Their brand of Jayhawks go Power Pop is always an excellent listen, yet album after album seems to go unappreciated by the great unwashed.

The Scots seem to have a larger following in the likes of Spain than what you would think is the more fertile ground of the UK and America. They are very much in the Teenage Fanclub and Daniel Wylie field, but despite every album being highly listenable, name checks are few. Last year's Balance The Light was a cracking offering.






There is a new Dropkick album nearing completion, but in the meantime Andrew Taylor steps out into the solo spotlight gathering songs that haven't made Dropkick albums over the past 15 years. He plays everything and it's a cracking listen.

From The Outside jingles and jangles to great effect, in fact it reminds me a lot of Grand Prix era Teenage Fanclub. I think followers get used to my criticism of front loaded albums. This is an album that gets better and better as it progresses, rocking a bit more track by track, but gently of course. The last three songs are probably the strongest on the album.






I Saw You has a great TFC jangle, In Their Shoes sounds like something off Tomorrow The Green Grass. Someone moves along at a swift pace, stressing the melody of these songs. Stories is wonderfully brooding and features some lovely mandolin, an instrument not used enough on songs.

It's those last three songs that make the album though. It's at it's best when the songs are faster. Couldn't You Call? is a bit Matthew Sweet, Standing Still is a real Windows Up, Long Drive joy and Can't Clear My Head ends in almost Eagles mode. I've decided that Andrew Taylor can join my North Of The Border Supergroup with Daniel Wylie and Norman Blake.






You can listen to and buy the album here.