Sandra's Wedding - Arturus Rex

 

Another returning favourite and more great Pop Rock as Goole's Sandra's Wedding return on Darrin Lee's excellent Subjangle label. The previous two albums have both appeared on our End Of Year Best Albums list. 2021's Pleausure Grounds is reviewed here and 2023's The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service is reviewed here.

The sixth album is great Pop Rock again, but there is a marked change in direction. The choruses are still there as is Joe Hodgson's vocal similarity to Paul Heaton, but this time round that vocal link is less prominent.

The arrangements are much bigger, much more fleshed out. Aided by Brass, Strings and a more Acoustic led feel. The choruses are as massive as ever, but the bolder wider arrangements allow the full effect of the song to burst through. 

As lyrically adept as ever, these songs tell stories of suburban and by the water everyday life, but the wit also shines through. There is an Orbison-esque vibe at times as these mellow, yet soul hitting vignettes hit home.

Beautiful can be an overused word, describing things that are a little better than the ordinary, but this is a beautiful listen. Instrumentally, the album washes over you, livened up by the sheer jauntiness and singalong choruses.

Sandra's Wedding are not a trio in the first flush of youth, but there is a real grown up feel to the whole album. Arturus Rex is stand out proof of how songs can lighten the mood, make the world feel brighter and there is no better compliment that I can make. Wonderful!

You can listen to the album here. The album can also be ordered as a CD or Download for its 2 August release.

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

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

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

Sandra's Wedding - The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service

I love Sandra's Wedding. I've never been sure if the band name does them any favours, but it is about the music and the music is fantastic. The Goole trio's last album, Pleasure Grounds more than deservedly appeared in I Don't Hear A Single's Best Of 2021 End Of Year.  You can read that Review here.

I have a lot in common with the band, coming from a Northern Town that has been devastated since the Thatcher years, built on Rugby League and Brass Bands. Working Glass workers that wouldn't take shit, but now have little work around. We are on opposite coasts, but the song remains the same.

This is great Pop Rock and Joe Hodgson's vocal remains somewhere between Paul Heaton and Glenn Tilbrook, although on this album, the Heaton comparison seems even more pronounced. The songwriting certainly follows that Housemartins beautiful songs about misery direction.

There is a self effacing brilliance that surrounds the band in all that they do. An ironic sense of humour that tells tales of the humdrum life that is the norm, but sung in a chipper sugar sweet manner. You are surrounded by melody and big choruses in crackerjack songs that set your feet tapping.

If anything, The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service is even more laid back than Pleasure Grounds. The songs are just as well performed and arranged, but there are plenty of different roads taken. This Be The Verse is very mid 80s Jangly Dream Pop. Laughing My Head Off stays in that period, but edges more towards Synth Pop.

The Berlin Wall And Other Stories reveals a whole different side to the band. It is meandering and melancholic, epic in scope, moody and magnificent, It is brilliant as it is, but you can also imagine different versions that it would suit. Rocked up or even orchestral Elbow style. It is a thing of great beauty. 

There is still plenty of the altogether now song choruses that Sandra's Wedding are noted for, French Girls and Rum Life being the best examples. From The Book To Stage is outstanding with an apt Brass arrangement that rounds the song off splendidly.

But overall, the feel is more pensive, deeper, perhaps a little more grown up and it works. The mix of the jaunty and the heartfelt works beautifully, this is a masterclass of how fabulous Pop can be. It is easy to write woe is me songs, much harder to offer upbeat sounding feel good material. This may be the best Pop Rock album that you will hear this year.

You can listen to and buy the album here, where you can also buy vinyl editions/ The CD is available on the mighty Subjangle label here.

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

I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2021 : 51-60

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 51 : The Stan Laurels - There Is No Light Without The Dark     IDHAS Review

No 52 : Underwater Sunshine - Suckertree        IDHAS Review





No 53 : Marc Ribler - The Whole World Awaits You    IDHAS Review





No 54 : Drew Beskin - Problematic for the People          IDHAS Review

No 55 : The Verve Pipe - Threads       IDHAS Review

   

No 56 : Star Collector - Game Day      IDHAS Review





No 57 : Hushdrops - The Static     IDHAS Review

No 58 :  Galore - Roller    IDHAS Review

              

No 59 : Sandra's Wedding - Pleasure Grounds    IDHAS Review

   

No 60 : Bordello & Clark - Atlantic Crossing         IDHAS Review

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

Sandra's Wedding - Pleasure Grounds

 

On listening to the first couple of songs here, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Sandra's Wedding are a great sounding 80's Guitar Pop band. Pleasant and relaxing to listen to, but so many others are too. I should've practiced what I preach, because here you have a great example of the album format.

People say the LP is dead and people prefer playlists, but there's no substitute for an album. You listen to 8 or 10 songs by the same artist that you've never heard before and discover your own little secret, your mood enhancer. The format has never had a better time. 

Gone are the days of bands thinking they had to fill a CD. You ended up with eight great songs and a load of filler or eight three minutes songs that became five minutes for no apparent reason. I digress though, because if ever a band were defined by an album, it is Sandra's Wedding. 

Those initial thoughts of mine were swept away by the whole piece. Yes you have Sunshine Pop and jingle jangle, but you also have Psych Pop, Pop Rock, IRS College Rock and vocal dexterity. The vocals are heavenly, they remind me of someone but I cannot think who, but it is definitely not Morrissey.

These songs are chipper and Dream Pop like, although I suspect lazy reviews will compare the band to The Smiths. I've not looked out for what others say, but I suspect  that The Housemartins will also be a comparison.  I can see that to a point and Sandra's Wedding come from the same coast.

There is similarity in the sound and more than a little in the vocal, but Paul Heaton's songs were all about the lyrics, Pleasure Grounds is far more about the sound, which has far more depth. Having said that Devil On My Stuntpegs is definitely in The Housemartins territory with its bossanova background and wonderful Brass. 

The stand out song here is probably Lovin' Life, a gem of a Pop Song with a slightly Psych guitar riff and the title becomes an hypnotic chant. Pleasure Grounds is ultra smooth with another great blast of Brass and a great mediterranean acoustic guitar strum. 

Love Everyone is almost Country in its feel, but is still top notch Pop. Council Pop is a magnificent venture into Psych Pop, unexpected and all the more welcome for it. For you Americans, we used to call Water, Council Pop. When I Stall is Jangle Dream Pop of the highest order.

Pleasure Grounds is an album that will have you still believing that it's summer. The Goole Trio have fashioned up an absolute winner. There is a lot of thought that has been put into the sound and that demonstrates the band's versatility and strengths even more. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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