T Shirt Month - The Supernaturals

 

Here I am, looking my age, at the start of T Shirt Month on I Don't Hear A Single, a celebration of the upcoming 9th Anniversary of IDHAS next weekend. You will see a different T Shirt each day until the end of the month. We begin with one of my favourite bands who are now in their fourth decade. Unlike many bands from those beginnings, they are still around and releasing albums as good as, if not better than, their perceived heyday and that heyday was Britpop.

Britpop was the last scene that I was immersed in, Since then, it has been here there and everywhere and it wasn't the headliners that really moved me. Oasis and a great first album and a half and then became the sound of Coke. Blur were interesting, but you felt that Daman Albarn wanted desperately to be Andy Partridge. Ditto Brett Anderson with his Bowie fascination with Bernard Butler as his Mick Ronson. I had a lot of time for Pulp, but it was away from the noise that the better stuff resided. Guitar Pop bands that concentrated on the Pop that were the most interesting and still are. The Supernaturals were the best of these, run close by the likes of Dodgy and other bands such as Straw and Octopus that we celebrated on Anything Should Happen.

Since reforming in 2015, the band have released four superb albums that don't rest on their past, but are every bit as good as those glorious Brit Pop days. Their current album, Show Tunes is as good as they've ever been and they are currently working on their next opus. Reviews are aplenty on here of all stages of their catalogue. Not only did the band remain relevant in the now, but they also caressed their past. Releasing the tapes of their pre major label days that were as easy to get hold of as record horse droppings. As well as bringing them to CD and download. The big albums were also released with loads of bonus tracks and you realised that these songs were as good as anything that you had previously heard. 

Although many outsiders will know them as a singles band due largely to Smile, the quality throughout their career is unrivalled. Never afraid to take chances, but never forgetting about how strong the chorus is meant to be. I was also delighted to see the addition of Joe Greatorex to the band, an artist I had followed throughout his career. His band, Colin's Godson, remain one of my obsessions, the most underrated band ever who made their releases unique with the artwork and extras.

The band's discography remains fully available on Bandcamp. If you haven't been there, you are in for a treat. It Doesn't Matter Anymore and Show Tunes have also been released on Vinyl recently. Embedding wise, I have gone for my favourite song by them showing them live on Scottish TV and my favourite on the latest album.There is no better band to start off T Shirt Month. Look out for tomorrow's guest and I will try to look younger. 

You can listen to and buy the albums here. You can also buy T Shirts there. The two Vinyl releases can be bought here.

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Finn Wolfhard - Happy Birthday

 

This may be the first time that I've covered an artist with over 21 Million Instagram followers. The Canadian is of most noted for his acting in Stranger Things, the two It movies and the two most recent Ghostbuster films.

However, the 22 year old has a less famous musical career. Initially through Calpurnia, onto The Aubreys and now with his debut solo album. Whereas you might expect his day job means a vanity album made of up of mediocre Pop and cover songs, this is nothing of the sort. 

Finn Wolfhard · Choose the latter

The majority of Happy Birthday is close to great Guitar Pop and the rest is excellent noisy Indie Rock. It is also not front loaded as the contrast of material is segued wonderfully well and the closer may be the best song on show, a song that wouldn't be out of place on one of the current hip West Coast Pop Rock labels.

That song is Wait and it is an engaging strumming stomp. But the standout may be the Power Pop joy of Choose The Latter which is all Jangle and riff. Objection! runs that close with its mix of 90s slowed down melodic scuzz and Scouse Pop nearness. A song that sounds akin to the splendid Guitar Pop that breaks out all too infrequently.

Finn Wolfhard · Eat

But when the fuzz and noise comes to the party, it is just as effective. Crown is such a think, all 90s In Your Face, hypnotic and gripping. Happy Birthday is an album promoted as a stand alone thing, not a mention of Wolfhard's mega TV and Film career. It deserves to be listened to as such, because this is a really really good Guitar album.

Finn Wolfhard · Crown

You can listen to the album here. It is available to buy everywhere and on all streaming sites.

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Listening To This Week Playlist 7 July

 

Welcome to the latest Listening To This Week Playlist. 25 songs with two of our favourite bands to close proceedings, giving you the devastating wit of HMHB and a 12 minute Psych masterpiece from Custard Flux. As well as the traditional version, we have put the playlist on Spotify and you will see the link below. Remember this is early days on Spotify, so the following there is nowhere near our one here. 

The weekly playlist is largely for submissions, not just the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  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. This will help you to discover more about the artists who appear here. 

The Spotify Version.    (It's All Songs is not on Spotify. The other 24 are.)

Link To Spotify

Pedestrian Traffic - Sister Mysterious

Crying Shame Records · Sister Mysterious // Pedestrian Traffic

Alex Kasznel And The Board Of Directors - Lock & Key

Takeover - The Uncle

Takeover · The Uncle

Pup - Concrete

Tom Minor - The Loneliest Person On Earth

Tom Minor · The Loneliest Person on Earth

Strange Pink - Boys Club

The Confusions - You Fuck It Up Again

The Shipbuilders - Daydreaming

Shake Some Action! - Spend Your Days In The Sunshine

Cream Crown - Very Strange!

Trolley - A Carnival Of Grey And White

Sona Bliss - You Will Be Mine

Kirk Adams And Ed Woltil - It's All Songs (Not On Spotify)

The Radio Field - It's Alright

Tommy Magik And The Wonderfulls - Absolute Legend

Austin Rain - American Classic

Mo Bedick - Hourglass

Messmaker - Faster Than The Night

The Conspiracy - Icarus

Barking Poets - Change Our Ways

Royal Fools - Madaket

Royal Fools · Madaket

Loose Lips - Don't Mess Me 'Round

Maya's Radio Orchestra - Garden Variety

Half Man Half Biscuit - Record Store Day

Custard Flux - The Floating Chamber

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Custard Flux - Enter Xenon

 

Custard Flux are beloved here. The albums regularly bother the higher echelons of our End Of Year Album lists and each album adds something different to the Curvey Back Catalogue. We know how the followers here are also enchanted as Reviews are regularly most popular when posted. 

Enter Xenon is no different as Curvey's shifting of the dial continues. There are songs that you might expect, built on wondrous Riffs, surprising choruses that grip you and an early Gabriel-esque vocal. But Custard Flux are about evolving.

A band that initially started out using heritage instruments gradually morphed into an outstanding is it Prog? is it Psych Pop? electric affair. Now even wider steps are taken. The use of Monophonic and Duophonic synths changes the mood considerably.

There is far more of a soundscape feel when you move away from Opportunity Knocks. The keyboard element is incorporated into the norm on Winter and Tomorrowland, enhancing strengths. This is nevermore so on the magnificent Superposition.

There are also two instrumentals that underline how ace Curvey is at moving on with an uncanny knack of taking you along for the ride. Just when you have made your mind up that Custard Flux have done it yet again, stepped slightly away, you get the superb 12 minute closer.

The Floating Chamber is gobsmacking Psych that underlines the power of the Guitar in mesmerising fashion. It is jawdroppingly great and a perfect end to another Curvey masterclass. Thank goodness we have him or we would all be listening to the same thing time after time after time.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD or as a download.

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Iain Hornal - Return To The Magic Kingdom

 

We are big fans of Iain Hornal. He seems to be on a four year cycle of album releases as his third arrives after 2017's The Game Begins With The Lights Out and 2021's Fly Away Home. Both of those albums featured high up in our Best Albums Of The Year. You can read our reviews here and here.

This is Pop Rock of the highest quality. At times there are comparisons to Hornal's sideman jobs in Jeff Lynne's ELO and 10CC, but it should be remembered that these are bands that celebrate their past, new material is a long time ago. Here you have the now, new songs that delight.

The centrepiece is The Magic Kingdom, the jauntiest of jaunty affairs, that even sideswipes the ELO vocoder and offers up a real wonderland listen. But throughout, the melody smashes through, massive choruses, beautifully sung.

There are surprise interventions and slight changes of direction, but these never detract from the song. There are also footprints into other genres. Just My Personality gets close to Psych Pop at times and Over And Out mixes Jangle Pop with Prime Time 70s Pop Rock.

There are nods to what has gone before. Already There is prime time Andrew Gold and the single, Positive People still sounds as wonderfully Glam as ever. But that song and many of the others makes you realise that this is not just about the singalong.

There is a lyrical adeptness throughout, unusual in Pop Rock when easier rhymes are lazily used. Return To The Magic Kingdom. however, is a tribute to the power of the Chorus and the album is chock with them. When you have finished singing along, you can head off and buy this bundle of joy.

You can listen to the album here. You can buy the CD and Download here. The CD is available at all good Record Shops.

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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.

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Welcome To July

 

Thank you all for an incredible June. Our focus was on Reviews which meant one of our busiest month's ever. Those Reviews and the continued growth of the Listening To This Week Playlist resulted in over 130,000 hits in June, our biggest ever month.

July continues our Review catch up, simply due to how much is to be written and wanting to keep August more free for the new additions to I Don't Hear A Single. We also enter our 10th year on 19 July and will celebrate this throughout the month with our daily T Shirt Posts which begin in a few days.

Thankk you for all your support, but thanks go more to the artists who provide the new music for here. It is those that we all should continue to support.

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