James Sullivan - Vital Signs

 

I loved More Kicks, you can read the review of 2022's Punch Drunk here, and so now that James Sullivan has gone solo, it is interesting to see which direction he takes. Not only the direction, but More Kicks were such a great Power Trio, it is also interesting to hear the sound and vibe,

Sullivan was the leader of that particular trio, so you expect the songs to be great and they are. There are a couple of songs that you can imagine More Kicks doing, but this album is much more Indie and stripped back. This allows Sullivan to venture much further than the trio format.

There is a real Indie 80s vibe, the inventiveness and Gravitas Pop of say a Robin Hitchcock. The major surprise is that such a previously electric anthemic artist excels most on the Acoustic songs. La Rochelle is magnificent Baroque Pop that edges towards Psych Pop.

All I Wanna Do (Is Nothing With You) is a wonderfully gentle Acoustic, almost Americana song. There are also numerous surprises. Guilty As Charged is a cracking story telling song with a talking vocal and a fantastic Noise Rock accompaniment.

Back To The Start goes all Folky Dylan. Dronify is great 60s Psych. But there are also moments that you might expect bearing in mind Sullivan's past. Day Late Dollar Start is the sort of up and at 'em Guitar Pop that jangles and fuzzes melodically.

My Best Friend is another that nods to what was his major songwriting strength. The album is a little sparse instrumentally, but that suits the material. Vital Signs is an outstanding listen, different to most that is currently around. A real Indie songwriter album with a side order of unexpected arrangements.

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

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2022 : 71-80

This year, the standard has been the highest since IDHAS began six and a half years ago. Narrowing things down to this 100 as been really difficult. 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. 

A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended. 

No 71 : Blunt Bangs - Proper Smoker     IDHAS Review

No 72 : M Ross Perkins - E Pluribus M Ross        IDHAS Review





No73 : Bedroom Eyes - Sisyphus Rock        IDHAS Review





No 74 : Mad Rollers - Get Mad           IDHAS Review

No 75 : More Kicks - Punch Drunk       IDHAS Review

                

No 76 : Melon Soda - Melon Soda     IDHAS Review





No 77 : Superchunk - Wild Loneliness    IDHAS Review

No 78 :  The Fernweh - Torschlusspanik!     IDHAS Review





No 79 : Static In Verona - Maybe Mayhem      IDHAS Review

 


No 80 : The Flashpot Moments - Very Far     IDHAS Review

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More Kicks - Punch Drunk

 

More Kicks' debut album was great. A great example of UK New Wave Power Pop, with a side order of the Mod Pop from the late 70s. The London Trio take on a much wider remit for the follow up and it works in an outstanding way.

Animal may be the Single of the year and it loses none of its grip no matter how often you play it and what accompanies it here may be even better. There is even more power and more cohesion from the three. They just seem to want to show you the full scope of what they can do and then leave you wanting more. 

In Love is throbbing Garage Rock and yet Come Home is like a rocked up update of Merseybeat. Phoney Middle Aged Art is stripped down and short, a slower affair that you sense wants to speed up and by The Replacements.

Terminal Love is very Squeeze like, wonderfully so. Rest Of Our Lives is especially DIY, Bass Driven and urgent with a Pete Shelley like delivery. Seven Ways is a cross between Punk and Canvey Island R & B. Goodnight Goodnight is like something from a 70s Pop Rock album, Moody Blues even sentiment wise.

My personal favourite is the marvellous Colour Me Stupified which comes across as a lost Brit Pop Classic. It just underlines how all encompassing these 12 songs are. You can imagine how well they translate live.

The biggest pleasure is that it is British. The UK scene at the moment is all a bit tumbleweed and very regional. There seems like a real music fan apathy that otherwhelms everything. More Kicks demonstrate that there is hope and they've gone through the door and left it ajar. Who dares to follow them?

You can listen to and buy the album here..

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More Kicks - I'm On The Brink EP

I haven't been covering as many EPs over recent times. The only reason is that there are so many great albums around and much less time. That'll change next month with the start of a Monthly EP feature as this has been a bit of an IDHAS weakness. Singles get covered by the Audio Spectacular Volumes and albums via here, so we need to sort in between.

I certainly hadn't planned to cover EP's during the June Review A Day thing, but I really wanted to tell you about More Kicks for a number of reasons. Firstly, I love these three songs and I've already played I'm On The Brink on one of the I Don't Hear A Single Volumes.

I've been a big critic of the UK Power Pop and Pop Rock scene, it's treated like the runt of the litter over here. Shindig thankfully cover a bit of genre, but it still appears very US-centric at a time that Europe is bursting out with talent. Indeed, More Kicks are heading to Spain as most decent bands who do Pop with a Guitar appear to be doing.






Apart from IPO in Liverpool which goes on too long and hoovers Power Pop up to leave the other 11 months empty, there's not much. The Music Industry is so London based, yet IPO doesn't do Liverpool, thank goodness for the Spygenius gang.

IDHAS were on The Speedways album early and it's really pleasing to see the band grow and that a second album is planned. I digress though, so back to More Kicks. The Trio are London based, but are a multi national affair, representing England, Poland and Brazil. Coincidentally, the band's drummer, Kris Hood is also the live Drummer of The Speedways.

I'm On The Brink is a fine EP, proper Power Pop. The title track has everything you'd want from a PP song, hooks aplenty. He's Gonna Let Down is a real mix of 70's New Wave Pop and the UK in 1964. Can't Fake What You Got is a sort of Mod Psych Pop.






Three very different songs promise lots for the future and hopefully the Brighton Support slot with Autogramm will bring a raft of new fans. This EP is such a refreshing listen and a special mention must go to the wonderful German label, Wanda Records.

The label has a reputation for Punk when there is far more to them than that, Wanda provide some real finds for those willing to look. The other joy of More Kicks is that they do the whole New Wave Power Pop thing. Badges, T Shirts, 7 Inch Singles can be bought at their Bandcamp site here.






You can listen to and buy the I'm On The Brink EP here. You bloody well should!