The Make Three - You, Me & The Make Three

 

The Anderson Council's latest album has been the most popular review on IDHAS this year. The Brixton Riot remain one of our favourite bands. You can read our reviews of both here and here. So how about a Power Pop Trio featuring the leaders of both bands with Chris Ryan, the ex drummer of The Anderson Council?

Glad that I've got your attention! Peter Horvath, Jerry Lardieri and Ryan provide exactly what you want and expect bringing the best of both bands with a rocked up brand of a genre that appears to be slowly making a well intentioned revival.

Part of the decline came not because of the bands, but due to the fans arguing about what and wasn't Power Pop and dissing anything that was new from non established bands. A younger generation have led the revival, but it is now particularly pleasurable to see veterans if you like join the revival.

It will also allow writers and reviewers to return hopefully. They can now mention Power Pop again, not having to try and name it something else. The Make Three adopt the Trio format that generally provides the best of the genre.

The band only come up for air on a couple of occasions, this is mostly up and at 'em stuff. Parts Unknown is one of those slower moments and is one of the best things here. It is brooding, slightly jangly in a TFC way and underlines that these 10 songs offer great variety.

Having said that, the standout song is Emily Strange and demonstrates perfectly what the best of both bands brings. The album is released on 21 July, so not long now. You can pre-order now and I will add and I heartily suggest you do. You'll love it! Highly Recommended.

You can pre-order the album here. I will embed two more songs on release.

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

Dennis Davison - Creaturefeature EP

 

I wasn't always about the new and there are bands who have stuck with from their inception. The Jigsaw Seen were certainly one and they are sadly missed. Dennis Davison was the Lead Singer and so you know that anything released by him is going to be quality and this EP certainly is. 

You expect to have wonderful Psych Pop and you get it, but there was always much more to the band, ditto Davison's solo world. Creatures Of Love is the poppier end of Psych Pop and includes a more mainstream guitar solo than you would normally expect.

Where that song is very piano led, The Greatest Moment In History is Guitar led and is splendid melodic Pop Rock. The Guise Of Comedy contains more of the tricks that you expect from Davison. At its heart is a Fairground theme instrumentally.

But there are massive hints of Toytown and almost a spooky horror vibe. The Monuments is nearer to 60s UK Beat with a Psych Pop feel chipping away and even a little bit Folk. Reconstruction is wonderfully dark, almost hymn like in places with sounds coming from all directions. It is as though the instrument cupboard has been raided.

Davison's voice is as sharp and melodic as ever and these five songs underline what a talent he remains. You don't forget what he is known for, but he also demonstrates his pop sensibilities. Songs are not tossed out, there is thought and imaf=gination in abundance. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

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

Fall Awake - There Is No Perfect Place to Be

 

West Chester PA quartet Fall Awake release their second album and hits all the right spots. It falls into the Rockier end of Pop Rock, although this is pretty close to both Classic Rock and Indie Rock. Songs are riff driven and those riffs are really melodic and hook you.

The solos are a tad heavier without ever hitting hard rock, although Magic Number is somewhere between the Harder Indie Rock of the 90s and the NWOBHM. However, Simple Situations is incredibly close to Power Pop, rocked up Power Pop of course.

Step Outside slows things downs, yet still has a vibe of one of the better songs on the Use Your Illusion lines, the solos are certainly Slash like. So Long, So Late even edges into Stadium Rock. The Hours is great Classic Rock, think classic Bad Company slower songs.

I know we spend most of our time in melodic Guitar Pop. But you could do far worse than give There Is No Perfect Place To Be a good ole listen. It'll remind you of how toe tappingly good Rock can be when it isn't trying to loosen your fillings.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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

Lost Ships - Atoms Collide Forever

 

I've really enjoyed the three previous EPs from Lost Shops. They revealed that there was more to the band than just Jangle Pop. The last EP, Nostalgia, hinted at Brit Pop and for their debut album, that thread continues big time. 

Labelling something Brit Pop can be a poisoned chalice, everything that is guitar based Pop Rock is lumped in and too many want to be bad Oasis. I mean supposedly good Oasis is extremely dull, so think what the bad is like. 

However, Atoms Collide Forever is great Brit Pop, allowing you to remember the great from the mid 90s when Guitar bands were back in fashion and bands wrote choruses. At times, Lost Ships sound a little like Embrace without the anthems, a good place to be.

I'm In Love With Your Girlfriend, has more than a hint of IDHAS faves, The Supernaturals and has a killer understated riff. Derek From Domino's is somewhere between The Housemartins and The Bluetones, wonderfully so,

Saving Grace is a jaunty all together now joy, Ray Davies storytelling in Indie Pop mode. Tom Calls Joan is great Glasgow Dream Pop and the Jangling hasn't been forgotten on Take A Walk and We're A Song That Never Sleeps is very TFC.

The Ballad Of Custard O'Toole jangles towards Toytown and Toaster Song could be Dodgy in happy clappy mode. If you want to call out influences, well they are all the better bands of the genre. The big note here is the biting lyrical wit displayed. It really shines through on a stormer of an album. Another Subjangle Triumph!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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

The Reverberations - Half Remembered Dreams

 

Portland Oregon's The Reverberations have released their third album on Sweden's splendid Beluga Records label and it is joyous. This Psych Pop of the very highest order. Very 60s as it should be, incredibly melodic pop with unexpected twists and turns.

People who know me know that for all the guitar led melodic joy that dominates here and the heavier Psych and Prog that is my home life, I am at my most happy when I am listening to Psych Pop. It is a genre that absolutely captivates me, does now and always did.

So when I receive an album as wonderful as this, I am absolutely rapt and have been for months. So much so, that I've neglected to tell you about it earlier than this. Half Remembered Dreams is so well put together, offering the nods to the past, but also being incredibly inventive in the now.

That invention never lets up, wrapping changes of directions in the whole cupboard of delights that the genre offers, The Reverberations can be as loose as you want (Wishing I Knew) which rocks, but also capture an atmospheric vibe (Daydreaming).

Color Coded Candy Cones is a wonderful organ driven joy, whilst Kaleidoscope is essential Baroque Pop. Visions is proper hippy trippy Psych, yet Cosmic Gaze is all yeah man UK Beat. Nothing even adds a Jangle Pop adventure.

Someday Soon is West Coast laidback Psych and there is even room for some ace Toytown with the magnificent Dr Please which has a wonderful breakout from the Beat to an unexpectedly gorgeous example of why I adore the subgenre so much. An album to be listened to from start to finish and then again.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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

Lane Steinberg - Headspace

 

New York's Lane Steinberg writes and performs great Pop Rock. It is the sort of Pop Rock beloved of I Don't Hear A Single followers, the sort of thing that IDHAS grew its reputation on in the early days. This is incredibly melodic stuff without ever going over the top or being too clever.

Instrumentally, these songs are astounding, creating a beautiful, at times pastoral, palette of harmonic pop, the arrangements are tip top. Steinberg's matches this soundscape, gentle, even soothing, over the musical accompaniment.

Although Headspace is is no way front loaded, the first three songs drag you in for the full journey. Headspace is fine McCartney late 60s Pop, Under Summer Skies is pure Andy Partridge and The Mountain is great Ben Folds Piano Pop.

So you know what sort of a ride that you are in for and the quality never lessens. Super Flumina Babylonius is Toytown of the highest order, Samardine is lounge driven joy, with a killer bass line. Whilst The Human Zoo goes in to full 70s Singer Songwriter schmaltz.

Finally Next To You even treads gently into Prog and I Don't know What To Do In Paris Anyore is, as you might expect, instrumentally very French. Alligator Chilli can only be described as Country Psych, which is a genre that has surprised me much in the last few months. 

Steinberg even closes with the splendid Power Pop of Antidote with a big hint of Orgone Box. For all these delights, it is Lovesick Jones that stands out most. A storytelling song that is less embellished than the rest of the album, but stands out especially because of this. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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

Listening To This Week Playlist

 

Here is the new Listening To This Week playlist, slightly earlier this week than its usual Monday morning slot. This will allow us to get a couple of Reviews up tomorrow evening. A monster 26 songs, something for everyone. Play them all at once or dig in and out  

This weekly fayre is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours.

Kama Tala - Leave The Lights On

Mazlyn - Ghost Of God

pressuremaps - Fake Glasses

Sandra's Wedding - French Girls

The Pretty Flowers - Hit Nothing

Jyra - Good Company

Odds - Walk Among The Stars

Skyraider - Let’s Go

Makeup - 21st Century Blues

The Mease - Waiting For The Sun

The Flashpot Moments - Someday (But Not Today)

Mike & The Nerve = The Last Day of Summer

hendren - Cannot Heal

Pepper Kit - Growing Pains

We Are Not Robots - The Darkest Nights Still Glow

Charlie Vaughan - In June

DAIISTAR - Star Starter

Elle Belle - Gone Are The Days

Mom Rock - My Way

SKATERS - Girls Like You

Themis - Night Thoughts

Towne & Stevens - Come Along

Paper Gliders - Magazine Scene

Eyesore & The Jinx - No More Nails

Black Hat - Nite Tripper

Hermetic Delight - Inci

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