Motorists have become one of my favourite Guitar Pop bands. As I mentioned in my review of their second 2024 album, Touched By The Stuff, the development of the Toronto quartet was plain to hear, with its bigger production. You can read my review here.
That album featured heavily in our Best Albums Of 2024 and album No 3 continues those strides forward, adding even more variety and strings to their bow without ever losing sight of their Power Pop excellence. There is a smoother mellower vibe at times here and it complements those strengths wonderfully.
Diogenes gets all UK C86 Pop and Anomaniacs goes Jangle Pop, whilst Man In The Circular Window ventures into pastoral gentle 60s Psych Pop. These three songs are in the middle of the album, showing that this is no front loaded affair.
Next Blue Kings isn't a million miles away from Squeeze or Crowded House with its hypnotic riff and killer bassline and Scattered White Horses is great classic Power Pop. The Damage even enters UK Glam Rock, very Chinn and Chapman.
Cristobal opens and is pacier, more Indie Rock and an R.E.M. reminder instrumentally. PCSD takes that vibe even further, it could easily be a song on the IRS label, more street vocally. The closer, Reprise< could be Dropkick or modern day Teenage Fanclub. Motorists are a band that keeps on giving.
You can listen to and buy the album here. The Vinyl can be bought here.
For the last eight 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. A reminder that only new albums are included among these 100.
Narrowing things down to this 100 has been really difficult. The 100 albums are 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.
Into our Top 30 on The IDHAS Best Albums Of 2024 with Numbers 21 - 30.
It is wonderful to finally see Motorists get the attention they deserve. Their second album was released on Friday and although Surrounded was a great album, this feels so much bigger, both in production and scope, it is absolutely killer stuff.
It is also notable that most of the great Guitar Pop albums of recent years seem to come from Canada. I don't know if there is something in the water over there, but band after band just keeps excelling and Touched By The Stuff may be the best of them yet.
If you want something that fits with the new breed of noisier Power Pop, it is here at times, but even more interesting are the diversions. Embers, for instance, is moody and magnificent, restrained yet contains an addictive Jangle Pop riff and a jaw dropping solo, it is superbly arranged.
Call Control mixes a Goth like Bunnymen riff with UK New Wave, yet Barking At The Gates dallies with UK Beat with Psych Pop Jangle. Whilst Decider and Forced Perspective land in the modern Power Pop era, Back To The Queue is pure UK New Wave turn of the 70s, catchy Post Punk if you like.
Sweet William is top notch Glasgow 80s Indie and the mesmerising closer is surprisingly Electro, almost as though it were played by a different band. But it will always be the experimental and left field song that interests me most. That is the magnificent L.O.W., one of the most worthy things that you will hear this year or any year.
L.O.W. is all mesmerising riff and absolutely gobsmacking. This is an album that will be talked about in years to come. There is an admirable way in which songs are arranged and the angles that they come in at. The creativity is splendid. What a great album! What a great Trio!
Welcome to the first Here Is The News, a new addition to the IDHAS jollity. It is intended to be a weekly affair that informs followers about upcoming releases, gigs, labels and much more. As with everything on I Don't Hear A Single, it contains no influence whatsoever from anyone but us. We get lots of releases, PR, label contact, but we have always decided what we like and want to tell you about.
We are only ever limited by time. We only review what we like. People mention from time to time that we don't seem to do negative reviews. It is actually much easier to do a negative review than a positive one, but why waste that energy? From the beginning, we were only ever going to write about what we like and there is more of that than we could ever cover.
As IDHAS approaches 8, the Blogging world is very different than when we started. The influence that Blogs have has decreased at a rapid rate. It is hard to keep interest and even grow as streaming playlists seem to be the in thing.
There is no doubt that we have evolved and compare to different Blogs than when we first started. But we are still here and hope that we help artists on the way. We are never going to make mega stars, not that we would really ever want to. Adding things like this keeps interest and hopefully informs.
This is a cut down version of what this section is intended to be. A sort of test the water to gauge reaction.
King Black Acid - There's A Spirit Moving In Your House
I think you know how much we like King Black Acid. Portland Oregon must be so proud of this lot. Our review of the new album, Victory For Mad Love, has been really popular. You can read that here. There is now a video for you to enjoy of the new single, There's A Spirit Moving In Your House. You can buy and listen to the album here.
The Supernaturals
It is frightening to think that I have been listening to The Supernaturals for half my life. Initially, through their jaunty wit filled Pop Rock, but I've sort of matured with them as they have experimented and shown completely different sides to the band. Many will know of the big singles and albums, but the early cassette releases were like Rocking Horse shit.
So the archive releases from the pre It Doesn't Matter Anymore days are a godsend to both established and the new fans that the band has been gaining at a rapid rate. Both Big 7 and Sitting In The Sun join Let It Bleat as CD and Download releases. Both will be reviewed on here in the coming week.
It is less than a fortnight away from Local Drags' fourth album. We've covered them well on here and the last album, Mess Of Everything, appeared in our Best 100 Albums Of Last Year. You can read that review here. The new one sounds less noisy than what has gone before, more reflective, but is every bit as good as you might expect.
The CD and Vinyl are available from Stardumb Records. There are alternate covers depending on the format you choose. The album will also be on the Bandcamp site. A review will be on here, just after the release date. City In A Room should certainly gain many appreciative ears.
It has been too long since we covered Winston-Salem's Michael Slawter. Ashamedly, he hasn't appeared here since 2017's An Assassination Of Someone You New. There's an ethical theme to his new mini album and it is a cracker. Great Pop Rock that edges towards Power Pop.
There will be obvious connections to The dBs and Mitch Easter, but Slawter is very much his own man. You can pre-order the CD or Digital album now. It is a great listen. A review will appear on here shortly after the release date.
Canadian Guitar Pop has had an exceptional couple of years and Motorists are another example. Their second album is on Madrid's excellent Bobo Integral label. Touched By The Stuff revels in its 90s Power Pop vibe with heaps of Jangle Pop.
The band are not afraid to spread further afield though and this is an album that underlines the slow but sure return of Classic Power Pop. It knows its influences, but also adds its own take bringing the genre to a new generation.The album is available on Vinyl and digitally and will be reviewed here shortly after release.
