I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2023 : 71-80

 

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.

71 It's Karma It's Cool - Thrift Store Troubadours      IDHAS Review

72 Phantom Note - Out Of The Shadows      IDHAS Review

73   Bennett Wilson Poole - I Saw A Star Behind Your Eyes, Don't Let It Die Away      IDHAS Review

74 Inner Circle Club - Do-It-Yourself Propaganda      IDHAS Review

75 Doctor Mother Father - Feelin' Fine      IDHAS Review

76 Billy Tibbals - Stay Teenage      IDHAS Review

77 Bottlecap Mountain - O! Fantastik Melancholy      IDHAS Review

78 Jonny Swift - Kalimera      IDHAS Review

79 The Housing Crisis - Astral Apartments       IDHAS Review

80 Bone Apple Tea - Bone Apple Tea      IDHAS Review

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Phantom Note - Out Of The Shadows (Name Your Price)

Portland Oregon's Phantom Note offer up an album that ticks every box of I Don't Hear A Single's checklist. Pop Rock is our starting point, we may wander as the mood takes us, but when we hear something as great as this, we are sort of reminded of home.

Songwriter Ben Sprague has a vocal that matches the material perfectly. Out Of The Shadows is catchy as catchy can be, performed and produced perfectly and a template for what great Pop Rock should sound and be like. The album is incredibly melodic. 

There is also great variety. I Should Know By Now just bursts out of the blocks in a Teenage Fanclub or Dropkick sort of way, yet it is the only song that could be really compared to both. It is a splendid opener, just the thing to get you interested, but everything around is comparably great.

Honestly I is pure Noise Rock, bordering on Psych Pop at times. Storybook edges well towards Americana, whilst Change is a riff driven West Coast Rock affair. Sorta Believed is driven by a cracking riff that just grabs you.

Lonely As Hell is all Crowded House with an ace arrangement, but Sleepwalker is driven by a top notch Bassline and an aching chorus. It is instrumentally when the band is most connected. There is a darkness in the song that Sprague's vocals hides.

My brief comparisons reveal that variety in the material. I don't hear as many albums of this type these days, they used to be ten a penny. The fact that it is Name Your Price on Bandcamp allows people to listen and then own it. Rewarding the band for their art at a price they can afford. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here. The album is also available to buy on Vinyl.

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