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.

We do realise that buyers in the UK and Europe can buy the UK Releases cheaper. That is absolutely fine. We want to publish the full Kool Kat weekly update complete, so UK Releases may be for info only to UK Buyers.

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 Cleaners From Venus - Penny Novelettes (self-released  UK 2021)      $18

 

Martin Newell has been quite prolific these past few years, issuing a cache of CDs and download-only singles and EPs.  Now comes “Penny Novelettes”, his latest offering under the Cleaners From Venus moniker. His music is like good old-fashioned “comfort food”.  With every release you pretty much know exactly what to expect and what you’ll get – his instantly identifiable voice, his undeniable take on British life and his clever way with chord changes that have the ability to take a left turn during a song.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Loose Lips - Hung Up On Pop (Outtatunes Records 2021)      $9

Loose Lips was formed in the thick of the Power Pop/New Wave era of the late 70’s by guitarists Richie Mayer and Jeff King.  After early tentative combinations the band’s line up settled with drummer Gary Ritchie of the The Scam, an offshoot of the British band Badfinger, bassist Danny Welch, King on guitar and vocal and Mayer on guitar and lead vocals.  Loose Lips created its own scene for the next two years with a wildly enthusiastic fan base, memorable shows, frequent radio play, and a number of cable and TV performances. Their legacy is one of pure, melodic, unapologetic Power Pop gems. 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Richie Mayer - The Inn Of Temporary Happiness (Outtatunes Records 2021)      $12

It only took Loose Lips’s Richie Mayer 41 years to release a solo record – but here it is!  And quite a hook-filled one at that. Mayer retreated to the studio and recorded an album that was an affectionate nod to his past musical mentors and the freedom that came with a solo project.

Take advantage of our exclusive 2-fer offer! Get this and loose lips’ “hung up on pop” cd for only $18!  If paying my paypal, you will be refunded accordingly. If paying by credit card, your card will be charged the 2-fer price. 

 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Joel Tyler Wall - Green Wave (Kool Kat Musik 2021)      $14

New Release on the Kool Kat label. Recorded at the tail end of 2020, at his own Green Door Studios, Joel Tyler Wall (the other half of Diamond Hands) steps out on his own for the first time with “Green Wave”. The record reads like a Brit-Pop Psych Pop primer and continues to grow on you with each listen!  

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Brinsley Schwarz - Last Orders! (Mega Dodo Records UK 2021)       $14

At the dawn of the internet, Ian Gomm self‐released an album of previously unreleased and hard to find recordings by his old group Brinsley Schwarz called, appropriately enough, “Rarities”. Taking inspiration from this long out of print album, Mega Dodo Records asked Ian Gomm to dig deep into his archive to see what other gems he might have.  “Last Orders!” is the result of his search. The album contains some of the earliest recordings that the band made for radio and television, outtakes, rehearsals, home recordings and much more. For many Brinsley Schwarz remain paragons of British pub rock and public interest in the band doesn’t ever seem to wane.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

The Beat Rats - Have Mersey! (Kool Kat Musik 2013)      $13    

“Have Mersey” indeed! The follow up to their 2009 Kool Kat debut "A Cellar Full Of Rats!" arrived in 2013. Released in conjunction with Liverpool's Cavern Records, The Beat Rats returned with twelve more catchy, tongue-in-cheek-at-times, Merseybeat inspired pop nuggets. They take no prisoners and offer no apologies on their sophomore effort of 60's-inspired hook-filled gems that are guaranteed to have you dancing while you listen

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

The Beat Rats - A Cellar Full Of Rats (Kool Kat Musik 2009)      $13

.

In 1964 it was Beatlemania, in 2009 it was time for BeatRatmania! This New York City-based quartet whisks you back to the days of The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany with only a slight modern touch. Their no-frills brand of Mersey-inspired garage pop is a hook and guitar-filled delight "Scruffy, raw and teeming with danceable grooves, it’s a record guaranteed to warrant repeated listening!" - Beverly Paterson 

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

..............

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.

We do realise that buyers in the UK and Europe can buy the UK Releases cheaper. That is absolutely fine. We want to publish the full Kool Kat weekly update complete, so UK Releases may be for info only to UK Buyers.

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.

Electric Looking Glass - Somewhere Flowers Grow (We Are Busy Bodies Records 2021)      $17

 

One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small – go ask Alice when she’s ten feet tall. Follow this LA quartet down the rabbit hole and you’ll find this technicoloured Electric Looking Glass, a charismatic Carnaby Street concoction, taking a dose of The Left Banke with a dash of The Beatles and a sprinkle of Small Faces. The baroque pop quartet bring us a 1967 springtime reverie with “Somewhere Flowers Grow”.  You might easily mistake them at first for an obscure Apple Records signing but Electric Looking Glass insist they are forward thinking tomorrow-people making music for NOW!  

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

The Rubinoos - The CBS Tapes (Yep Roc Records  2021      $15 

For most true, long time power pop fans, The Rubinoos need no introduction….  On November 3, 1976, co-founders Jon Rubin (vocals) and Tommy Dunbar (guitar) entered CBS Studios in San Francisco with drummer Donn Spindt and bassist Royse Ader to get a feel for the studio prior to the recording of their first album for the legendary Beserkley Records.  It shows the huge talent and energy of a young band near the beginning of their career, who believed they were unstoppable. This never before released recording is the perfect way to kick off the band's 50th anniversary celebration. 11  previously unreleased tracks!

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Brent Seavers - BS Stands for Brent Seavers (Kool Kat Musik 2021)      $14

Brent Seavers of The Decibels steps out with his first solo effort!  These tunes were a mix of songs Brent had written over his entire time with The Decibels, ranging from a few songs written in his early teens (“Me and My Melancholy Face” and “All The Better”) to newer songs (“Flatline” and “Play”) that were contenders for the latest Decibels’ album. Mostly out of pandemic-fueled necessity, he played and sang everything on this album.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Hanemoon - Last Thing I Heard (Jigsaw Records 2021)      $12

Once again, Hanemoon have served up a dozen perfect midtempo jangly guitar pop hits in the style of later Teenage Fanclub, Dropkick or Cosmic Rough Riders, with the utmost attention given to melody and harmony.  Hans Forster is one of the better power pop songwriters around today.  Forster has always had an intense appreciation of exactly where the beauty lies in his music. With the little bit more clarity in this release, it has never been so apparent. 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Del Amitri - Fatal Mistakes (Cooking Vinyl Records 2021)      $14

Throughout their entire career, Del Amitri have mastered the art of timeless, melodically focused Pop Rock “Fatal Mistakes” was recorded over three weeks in March in a country house in deep England, and is their first studio album since 2002’s “Can You Do Me Good”!  It's a bizarre collection of stories powered by guitars, drums and keyboards played entirely by the quintet. Granted, Justin Currie never retired, in the interim releasing four solo albums which could have been lost Del Amitri albums. His song writing chops are still sound, and his voice hasn’t lost a bit in 20 years. 

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

The Vandals - I Saw Her In A Mustang (Beatrocket Records 2021)      $16       

A whole lotta profane!  Some pretty cool Florida garage punk that could have been massive if their single wasn’t banned from so many stations.  Finally The Vandals get a retrospective. The band originated in Hollywood, Florida in 1964 and several original songs distinguished The Vandals from the plethora of local groups at the time. The risqué “I Saw Her In A Mustang” was the catalyst that created a huge South Florida following for the group. Sadly it was the incendiary title track’s racy lyrical content that likely kept the band from being much bigger.

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Various - Party For Joey : A Sweet Relief Tribute To Joey Spampinato 

(True North Records 2021)      $18 

The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. That life is hard is true, and yet we’re graced with gifts that make it easier. One of those gifts is Joey Spampinato, the singer, songwriter and bassist was co-founder of NRBQ, a rock quartet who released their first album in 1969 and whose genre-defying music inspired a generation of music fans and especially other musicians.  Many of those musicians answered the call to help raise funds for Joey when it was revealed he was battling Cancer.  These musicians included Ben Harper with Keith Richards, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Bonnie Raitt and NRBQ,  The Minus 5, and Peter Case,  All for a great cause (hence the slightly higher price)!

 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

..............

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.

We do realise that buyers in the UK and Europe can buy the UK Releases cheaper. That is absolutely fine. We want to publish the full Kool Kat weekly update complete, so UK Releases may be for info only to UK Buyers.

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 James Clark Institute - The Colour Of Happy (Room 5 Records Canada 2021)      $13

The record was terrifically produced by Mo Berg (The Pursuit Of Happiness).  “The collaboration with Berg is a marriage made in heaven. ‘The Colour Of Happy’ is 34 minutes of joy.  The album contains such confident mature power pop and sounds very UK, wonderfully so.  At times it seems very scouse pop, when the brass kicks in I think of The Ragamuffins and it’s great to hear the odd Farfisa run or two.  The main comparison that I come away with is Roddy Frame and Aztec Camera.  There is also a lyrical excellence, not often seen in the genre.   

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Crowded House - Dreamers Are Waiting (BMG Records  2021)      $12  

Crowded House’s first album since 2010. Like Neil Finn’s sometimes esoteric solo work, these songs are more detailed, more subtle and take more time to reveal themselves.  There’s no instant gratification, but on much of this record, the songs get under your skin like an itch you just have to scratch, almost subliminally addictive.  It doesn’t just retain the intimacy that made them so cherished, but makes it their signature sound.  (TheGuardian.com) 

 

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Gary Louris - Jump For Joy (Thirty Tigers Records 2021)      $13

Gary Louris’ first solo album in over decade is a decidedly low-key affair, one that’s decidedly disengaged from the roots rock sound that he helped establish with the band the Jayhawks during the birth of what became engrained within the modern Americana sound. “Jump For Joy” finds Louris leaning more towards the music he makes with his “other” outfit, Golden Smog, a band whose membership also includes members of Soul Asylum, Wilco, \the Replacements, and Big Star.  

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Mark & The Clouds - Waves (Gar du Nord Records UK 2021)        $18

Since relocating from his native Bologna, Italy to London in the early ’90s, Marco Magnani has been a stalwart of the city’s underground scene where 60’s pop and folk meets psychedelic rock. His previous band Instant Flight worked for several years as the backing group of Arthur Brown as well as releasing a string of meticulously crafted and well-received albums themselves.  Now fronting Mark & The Clouds, Magnani continues to write produce, and release great psych-pop n roll records, with a list of bandmates and collaborators from the UK/Spanish/Italian psych music scene and centered around the three-piece nucleus of Marco on vocals and guitar plus John O’Sullivan (Instant Flight/The Snakes/Limozine) on bass, vocals and guitar, and Shin Okajima on drums (Shin and Marco formed The Smokers in 1994).  

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Sunbourne Rd.                                     Manners maketh man                 2021/Kool Kat Musik               GREAT!!              $14

NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT MUSIK LABEL – AVAILABLE JUNE 18 – ACCEPTING ORDERS NOW!!  Alex Siodmak is from Casale Monferrato in Northern Italy and with the assistance of friends, Davide Ghione, Sebastiano D'Alessandro and Riccardo Marchese, he is Sunbourne Rd.  Now available on CD and previously only available as downloads, the 19 tracks present  represent all of the 18 tracks included on Sunbourne Rd.’s three digital releases plus an exclusive bonus track “Sunflower”! Whilst the UK indie guitar scene seems to be a multitude of bands trying to sound like each other, Europe is releasing more and more interesting offerings. The beauty of this collection is that repeated listening unveils even more layers. 

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Various Artists - Big Stir Singles: The Tenth Wave (Big Stir Records 2021)      $12

“Big Stir Singles: The Tenth Wave” is (for now) the final instalment in the current series of CDs collecting their celebrated weekly digital singles, the A- and B-sides of which were issued in October and November of 2020.  While it's the sterling example of the best music on the global pop rock scene that listeners expect, it's also an essential document of the turbulent times of its making. This is top flight musicianship in the service of radio-ready tunes, but it also tells us a great deal about the world as it is today, as seen by the represented songwriters and performers.   As with the other nine volumes in the series, “The Tenth Wave” stands as a testament to the fact that “the single” has lost neither its relevance nor its magic ability to thrill with musical craft and unparalleled immediacy. 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Ram On: The 50th Anniversary Tribute To Paul & Linda McCartney’s Ram  (Spirit Of Unicorn Music  UK 2021)      $20

Paul and Linda McCartney’s “Ram” album from 1971 is covered in its entirety by a collective of musicians lead by Denny Seiwell, the original drummer on the record (and Wings member from 1971-1973) and producer/multi-instrumentalist Fernando Perdomo.  The album features all 12 tracks from the album, plus a few bonus numbers at the end.  The idea for “Ram On”, was born in 2020 from a discussion between Fernando Perdomo and Denny Seiwell. The pair are joined by original guitarist David Spinozza and Marvin Stamm (who played flugelhorn on “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”).  

Davey Johnstone (Elton John Band) and Will Lee (The Fab Faux) also play on the record which features contributions from over 100 musicians!  Each song has a guest vocalist including Brian Wilson’s daughter Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips), Dan Rothchild (Heart, Sheryl Crow) Pat Sansone (Wilco), Joey Santiago (Pixies), Eric Dover (Jellyfish, The Lickerish Quartet) and Durga McBroom (Pink Floyd, Blue Pearl).  

 

Kool Kat Link

Awaiting Link

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.

We do realise that buyers in the UK and Europe can buy the UK Releases cheaper. That is absolutely fine. We want to publish the full Kool Kat weekly update complete, so UK Releases may be for info only to UK Buyers.

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.

Deadlights - Deadlights (Self Released 2021)      $10

Deadlights is the latest musical endeavour from Well Wishers frontman Jeff Shelton. Following the release of “Shelf Life” The Well Wishers 11th full-length, Jeff made a concerted effort to take a break from his tried-and-true formula of punchy melodic power pop and venture into the darker and more lush sonic realms of Dream Pop, Britpop and Noise Rock. With the assistance and encouragement a Bay Area cohort Bill Taylor (Songs For Snakes) the song writing and recording began in earnest in late 2020. Jeff also sought the assistance of Nashville artist Lindsay Murray (Gretchen’s Wheel) who lent a beautiful lead vocal to “All We Love” and former Trip Wire bandmate Mark Nicholson for some bouncy bass work on the track “Come Down Slowly”.  

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Rooftop Screamers - Next Level (Self Released 2021)      $12

Rooftop Screamers is the name of the studio project for Portland based drummer and songwriter Mike Collins.  It's an outlet to showcase his original songs and collaborate with some of his favourite local, as well as world renowned singers, musicians and producers. Tim Smith, Ken Stringfellow, Keith Slettedahl, David Paton, Dan Reed amongst others join in the fun.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Diesel Park West - Hang Johnson (Self Released 2021)      $15

In Kool Kat's ongoing effort to present previously unreleased Diesel Park West recordings to the masses, please welcome “Hang Johnson”, originally recorded in 1997.  Songs like “Singing Life” and “Travel The Earth” capture the spirit while “You’ll See” is an outright Diesels’ definitive classic worthy of anything on “Shakespeare Alabama” if not above.  

Kool Kat Link

Download Link

Caper Clowns - Abdicate The Throne + bonus disc (Gateway Records 2021)       $19

“Abdicate The Throne” finds Caper Clowns exploring different areas of music not present on their first two releases, displaying a giant leap in both maturity, delivery and song writing!  The album not only hits the heights of previous offerings, but it reveals a lot of hidden depths. Known for their live performances, the lockdown could have really slowed the band up, but that time has been used to play around with that they do.  This is a very different Caper Clowns album. True, there are still the Crowded House-like elements that enhanced their popularity. Having five vocalists in the band was never fully utilized until now and the varied song writing of all has taken the band to another level. 

The album comes with a Kool Kat Exclusive, the 11 track Live At Ferritslev Fritidshus Denmark 2000.

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Various - Higher Than A Mountain : The Songs Of Andy Gibb (Curry Cuts Records 2021)      $12

Never could we ever predict that the name Andy Gibb would appear anywhere on the Kool Kat site!  In light of what music critics have told us we should collectively feel about this stuff over the years, Curry Cuts’ approach feels almost rebellious. Their curated covers are the sonic equivalent of simultaneously giving the finger to all the haters. The cream of Pop Rock offer up their take on a surprisingly great selection of covers.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Cloud Eleven - Pandora’s Box (Kool Kat Musik  2021)      $12.50 

NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT MUSIK LABEL “Pandora’s Box” isn’t so much a “new” album than a collection of 16 previously unfinished song fragments that had been buried on old cassette tapes, plus some outtakes from other albums and a few covers. During the lockdown of 2020, Rick Gallego would discover a stray chorus here, a verse there, and commence to completing the songs, then record them.  Gallego underlines his mastery of Psych Pop.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

The Bablers - Psychadilly Circus (Big Stir Records 2021)      $12

The Bablers have been hailed as “the Finnish Supergroup of Pop” for a good reason.  Each individual band member – songwriter/vocalist Arto Tamminen (bass, drums, guitars, keyboards, cello, percussions, vocals), Janne Haavisto (drums, vocals), Pekka Gröhn (bass, keyboards, vocals), and Hannu Pikkarainen (guitar, vocals) – holds at least one Finnish Grammy for their musical work outside the band.  Their musical chemistry has a long, rich history, though. “Psychadilly Circus” more than delivers on the promise of decades past. It all adds up to a heady brew, and an encyclopedic tour of the whole of rock and pop history, crafted by a band who knows it, chapter and verse.

 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Zombies Of The Stratosphere - On The Wing (Self Released 2021)      $11

New York City-based power pop and psychedelia band Zombies Of The Stratosphere’s ongoing mission is to create songs built to last by nerdily obsessive craftsmen with big record collections. You know: the good stuff.  The band write extremely catchy, jangle-guitar pop with hooks that recall a myriad of classic 60’s groups. This is headphone music for ear-candy addicts.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

The Electric Stars - Velvet Elvis : The Only Lover Left Alive (Stoned Gospel Records UK 2021)     $19

The Electric Stars latest release has exploded off the back of their incredible debut “The band are quite hard to categorize – no bad thing – as the range of influences here are wide.  Just when you think you’re settling in to a fairly traditional pop rock song along come some baggy drum beats to give everything a different twist. Throughout the album veers from classic rock to indie pop and back again, with a dash of glam simmering below the surface. It's a real melting pot of ideas loaded with anthemic songs and enthusiastic pop hooks. 

Take advantage of Kool Kat's exclusive 2-fer offer! Get this and their debut "Sonic Candy Soul" cd for only $35! 

 Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

Mod Fun - Wardour Dreams (Detour Records UK 2021)      $18

"Wardour Dreams" is a compilation of both of Mod Fun's 80's vinyl releases, remastered and for the first time, available as full albums on CD.  This collection of songs represents the bulk of studio recordings by "New Jersey's original 80's Retro-mod band," who were among the most popular of the handful of east-cost acts in the early 80's retro-rock movement based in the "NYC Cave-Stomp" scene.

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

........................ 

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..

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.

Justin Benyon - In Motion (Self Released   2020)      $15

Justin Benyon is a musician and singer/songwriter based in Aberdare, Wales.  He’s played an active role in the Welsh music scene for the last 30 years, including as a member of The The Broken Vinyl Club.  Several years ago, he built his own home studio and began learning how to use new technology so that he could record the backlog of songs he’d been writing over the years.  In 2020 he decided to record “In Motion”, his first solo album, and got busy recording songs in his home studio, singing and playing most all the instruments himself.  

Kool Kat Link

Soundcloud Link

Dennis Dalcin - The Incomplete Completeness (Kool Kat Musik  2021)      $14   

New Release on the Kool Kat Musik label.

“The Incomplete Completeness” is a 17 song cache of previously unreleased tracks spanning most of Dennis’s career featuring music like the Bydsy/Pink Floyd-like psych of The Lears and The Petal Pushers. The Julian Cope/Teardrop Explodes/early Krautrock-like Perfect Strangers and The Shades are included as are solo recordings. Also here is a pre-Lears nameless studio amalgam that included Dennis, Terry Carolan and Richard Barone. All serve as a terrific and interesting introduction to this very talented musician/bandleader! 

Kool Kat Link

Soundcloud Link

Jay Gonzalez - Back To The Hive (Middle Brow Records 2021)      $12

A sunny, breezy time capsule of power pop and AM gold. Jay Gonzalez, keyboardist/guitarist in the Drive-By Truckers releases “Back To The Hive” builds upon the legacy of 60’s British Invasion artists and 70’s singer-songwriters without ever sounding derivative.  “Though his style is more heavily influenced by artists from the UK, there are echoes of Southern and West Coast Rock here and there.

 

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

 

Groovy Uncle - Searching For The Grown-Ups (Trouserphonic Records UK 2021)      $17

Groovy Uncle has long been an outlet for Glenn Prangnell’s love affair with sounds of the 60’s with an uncanny knack to reproduce perfectly the sounds of that golden era and make them sound fresh and contemporary.  2020’s lockdown posed something of a problem for Glenn. With his usual method of gathering a familiar posse of players out of the question, he learned how to record at home alone and digitally adding a handful of remotely-recorded brass and guitar tracks.  There is a home grown feel to it, but it is still very much that Groovy Uncle sound.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Brad Marino - Looking For Trouble (Rum Bar Records 2021)      $13

Brad Marino returns with “Looking For Trouble”, his second Full Length release, jam-packed with power poppin' rock and roll. Imagine Rockpile meets The Ramones, Mick and Keef get into a tussle with The Flamin’ Groovies, The Knack get all tangled up in blue. It doesn't lose that Garage Rock feel, but ventures into unexpected areas that show Marino is no one trick pony.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Reigning Sound - A Little More Time With Reigning Sound (Merge Records 2021)      $15

It's been more than 15 years since Greg Cartwright uprooted to Asheville NC, but this new Memphis-made record shows the songwriter in top form and wholly inspired by his birthplace. For this new record, Cartwright reunited with Reigning Sound's original "Memphis lineup" of Jeremy Scott (bass), Greg Roberson (drums), and Alex Greene (keyboards), all of whom played on the band's earliest recordings. The new songs explore fresh lyrical and musical territories, but at times also tastefully echo back to earlier efforts.

Kool Kat Link

Bandcamp Link

Various Artists - Yesterday's Tomorrow : Celebrating the Winston-Salem Sound (Omnivore Records)      $15

The impetus for this extraordinary concert was that Chris Stamey had a book fresh off the press, a song-based memoir called “A Spy In The House Of Loud”.  A portion of the book referenced his time in New York, but the first part remembered, song by key song, was the late 60’s and early 70’s creative rock music scene in Winston-Salem, NC. This was sometimes called the Combo Corner scene, after the title of a short-lived column in Guitar Player magazine.

Original members of bands such as Arrogance, Little Diesel, Sneakers, Sacred Irony, and Rittenhouse Square, including Mitch Easter, Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby, Stamey and Don Dixon - convened on May 12 2018, at the Ramkat Club. Those Fuzzbox years were recalled and this remarkable live concert recording shines brightly with the camaraderie and precise enthusiasm for those days of yore. 

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

................................

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..

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.

Caddy - Detours and Dead Ends Vol. 1 (Kool Kat Musik 2021) $14

NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT MUSIK LABEL

Caddy is the brainchild of Norway’s Tomas Dahl.  His latest offering (and third release on the Kool Kat label), “Detours and Dead Ends Vol. 1”, is a collection of late 70’s and early 80’s power pop and new wave covers. He truly uncovered some great gems, and then covered them to perfection – injecting a fresh, new perspective that results in him truly owning the songs!  

The full I Don't Hear A Single Review is linked below.

Kool Kat Link

IDHAS Review

Apple Music Link

Dropkick - The Best Of Dropkick (Sound Asleep Records 2021) $19

Having released around 16 official albums, Dropkick, the premier sunshine power pop band from Scotland’s east coast were somewhat spoiled for choice when it came to compiling a best of album. So spoiled for choice in fact that they’ve only gone and spoiled their fans with this brilliant 27 song set!  “Over the years there have been several line ups of the band (although it’s intriguing to note that essentially there have only been eight members including some who left and then rejoined) and it is a tribute to Andrew Taylor, the primary songwriter, that there’s a signature Dropkick sound portrayed throughout.  

The full I Don't Hear A Single Review is linked below.

IDHAS Review

Bandcamp Link

Scott Howells - Scott Howells (Self Released UK 2018)      $15

Scott Howells was the frontman and founder member of The Broken Vinyl Club who signed to Acid Jazz in 2011 and released two singles and one album and who had songs featured in the Universal film "Svengali" and indie film “Booked Out”. This, his self-titled 2018 solo debut, features a unique, intoxicating blend of indie/psych/mod/garage pop!  His new songs presented here have certainly kept the 60's garage mod edge displayed in TBVC, but are now peppered with a more modern psychedelic approach that includes hints of The La's, Oasis and Kula Shaker thrown in for good measure. 

 Kool Kat Link

Amazon Music Link

 

The Palace Guard - All Night Long : An Anthology 1965-1966 (Omnivore Records 2021)       $15

RELEASED MAY 28 – ACCEPTING ORDERS NOW!!  

The Palace Guards was Emitt Rhodes' first band! “All Night Long….” includes the band's entire recorded repertoire and the packaging contains photos and liner notes from "The Guard's" Rick Moser.  Along with photos from his personal collection, as well as ephemera from the day, this is the complete Palace Guard story.  Instead of paying collectors' prices for the original singles, enjoy them in pristine condition with “All Night Long: An Anthology”! 

Kool Kat Link

You Tube Link

Somerdale - Friday Night In America (Kool Kat Musik 2016)      $12

Before New Jersey’s Somerdale were known as Somerdale, Kool Kat discovered them in the early 00’s gigging under the name The Shags!  Though the band would eventually record for labels like Zip Records, FDR and JEM Records, “Friday Night In America” was their 2006 Kool Kat label/full-length debut as Somerdale!  The band have been described as "old school power pop done with new school spirit and verve”.  For this record, they’d toughened up their sound along with the band name change while maintaining their sweet vocal harmonies!  

Somerdale's 2016 album, Shake It Maggie, was the I Don't Hear A Single Album Of The Year.

Kool Kat Link

Amazon Music Link

The Steepwater Band - Live & Humble (Diamond Day Records 2013)     $12

In 2013, The Steepwater Band, Chicago’s premium dealers of down ‘n dirty, boozy, rock ‘n roll, delivered a slamming live disc! The record was recorded on April 20, 2013 at the Ace Bar in Chicago, and was the first to feature TSB's latest four-piece line-up (which now includes second guitarist Eric Saylors), and contains over 75 minutes of blistering rock n roll! 

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

The Tomorrows - Jupiter Optimus Maximus + bonus disc (Kool Kat Musik 2009)      $15

Released in 2009 on the Kool Kat label!  The Tomorrows rose from the ashes of the most excellent Roswells, propagating in the verdant paradise that is Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Jupiter Optimus Maximus, is their recorded debut!  "The Tomorrows carry on the psychedelic pop tradition, but streamline things a bit so that the songs are tighter and even more melodic. 

The album comes with an exclusive Bonus Disc featuring a cover of "And Your Bird Can Sing" and three live tracks recorded in 2008.

Kool Kat Link

Apple Music Link

................................