The Len Price 3 - Ip Dip Do

 

You sort of know what an album from The Len Price 3 is going to be like and they do what they do wonderfully well. A trio whose live reputation really is as deserved as people say. They are a big part of The Medway Scene, but not as fixated on the second half of the 60s as many of that gang are.

They are at their best when they reside in a world somewhere between Canvey Island R&B and The UK New Wave 70s. But they are equally adept at both Psych Pop and Power Pop. The songs on Ip Dip Do are chorus led and seem a bit more Psych Pop on occasions than on previous albums.

Billy The Quid is a cracking slice of early Jam and Ready To Cry is very Buzzcocks with an incendiary Guitar break. Songs like Charlie and Raven At My Window are template songs for the band, choruses that demand a response and played at a breakneck speed. 

I Can't Hear A Thing is top notch Power Pop, Bad Vibe Machine is pure Wilko era Dr. Feelgood and Strange Times is fine Mod Pop. The opener, Chav Squad, is a great example of the power that the trio are so good at emitting. 

The Psych Pop that The Len Price 3 journey into is always under appreciated. Mr Spong's Miraculous Leap is very Sgt. Pepper, She Came From Out Of The Sun is splendid 1967 UK Beat Psych Pop and Spoil The Gloom would be lauded highly if performed by more noted exponents of the genre. The close of the latter is as Psych as you could ever want.

There are some wonderful witty observations in the lyrics and these are songs that offer big choruses that insist that you sing along to. This band are taken for granted too often. Buy the album and you MUST see them live. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Ball Park Music - Weirder & Weirder

 

Brisbane's Ball Park Music have a much bigger following than the bands that generally get covered on here, but Weirder & Weirder is such a fantastic album that I want those that haven't yet discovered them to be converted. 

2020's self titled album was an outstanding listen and approaching the listening to this, I did wonder if that album would be the masterpiece that could never be bettered. However, the five piece's seventh album just sets the bar even higher. 

Ball Park Music are very much the sum of their parts, they have every base covered and the performances confirm that here. The twists and turns are continually unexpected, but never at the expense of the song. There are so many ideas that flow in and out, you just find it difficult to appreciate just how good they are.

Sam Cromack's songwriting has an incredible depth, sometimes a song will seem more like a stream of consciousness. The title track being a great example with comparisons to a casserole and being a "Bun Baby". Having said that, the variety in each song seems built primarily on being a simple song that the band then get hold of and just take it into unexpected places. 

Cromack's vocal is also adept. It can be incredibly gentle, particularly on the acoustic parts, almost Bolan-esque in its fragility and yet he can also belt out a song such as Manny. It can be a little Brit Pop, even Thom Yorke when he isn't in shouty mode. Yet I'm also reminded of Jeff Lynne across ELO's first four albums before mellow became the norm. 

Another take, I got from the album is that is a proper album. Songs just seem to segue and flow across the piece. The 12 songs should really be listened to in one sitting as each compliments what went before and what comes after.

Some of the arrangements just make you want to step back and applaud. The Baroque arrangement on Beautiful Blueberries is simply beautiful on what should really be a singer and acoustic guitar song. Yet Right Now has a Glam Rock verse and a Screamadelica sing in a field chorus.

Pleb Rock is great Intelligent Indie Pop with a killer chorus and Stars In My Eyes is in Robyn Hitchcock territory. Sunscream is poptastic, a song that just builds and builds with a "Hey Now" feel part way through.

Weirder & Weirder was recorded in six months with the band in the same room and it shows. This has let all the ideas merge into fully formed songs that contain so much in all. Beautifully sung, played and produced, this is a band that knows what they are doing and wants to show everyone this.

As I introduce Ball Park Music to people, the main comment is that they don't sound Australian. I see the point a little as Oz was known over here for "Barnesy" Rock and Power Pop. Those days are long gone, there isn't an Australian cliched sound now. Ball Park Music have offered up a real potential Album Of The Year. Highly Recommended!

You can buy the album everywhere and here. It is on all the streaming sites and You Tube here. You can find out more about Ball Park Music here.

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Young Guv - Guv III & IV

 

The last few years has seen the emergence of two of the finest Power Pop artists. Michael Collins's The Summer Holiday and Ben Cook's Young Guv. Both have been fairly prolific, yet the quality has never dropped and they have a masterful way with a chorus.

Young Guv are currently in the UK, so do catch them if you can, dates are on the bandcamp site linked below. There are also exhaustive notes on the making of the albums on Bandcamp too, so I'm gonna concentrate on the music.

Written in the wilderness of New Mexico and recorded in Los Angeles, Guv IV has just been released and Guv III came out in March. The two have been combined as a double coloured vinyl release and are available together as a download at a bargain price. A Bonus Track is also included.

Guv III has some of the strongest Guitar Pop that you are likely to hear. Couldn't Leave You If I Tried is wonderful Jangle Pop and She Don't Cry For Anyone is a splendid 1966 jangle. Scam Likely is fantastic Psych Pop with the emphasis on Pop. Lo Lo Lonely may be the best Teenage Fanclub song that they didn't write.

Then there is It's Only Dancin' and Only Wanna See U Tonight which enter 1970s Disco Pop. Guv IV is a different beast altogether. There is a real 80s feel to the album and the Guitar is much less prominent with keyboards more to the fore and some wonderful Slide Guitar.

Wind In My Blood is so close to David Gates and Bread, Helium is all Miami Vice and Maybe I Should Luv Someone Else instrumentally is very Hank Williams. Cry To Sleep is Soft Rock Bossa Nova and Overcome goes all Screamadelica.

Yet Sign From God is all Psychedelia. Too Far Gone is top notch Psych Pop, very Orgone Box like. Guv IV doesn't jangle, but it reveals another side to Cook that is just as interesting. You can buy the double package or each album separately. Both are essential listens.

You can listen to and buy the albums on the Young Guv Bandcamp site here. The Young Guv Website can be found here.

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Oceanator - Nothing's Ever Fine

Elise Okusami's Oceanator release a second album and it is a crackerjack Pop Rock affair. Although you would be forgiven at times for mistaking it for something much different. Okusami can certainly play guitar and at times this ability takes the album in harder directions without ever losing sight of the melody. 

At times, Nothing's Ever Fine sounds incredibly close to Power Pop with a pace and hook remarkably close to the genre, particularly on The Last Summer and Beach Days (Alive Again). Yet elsewhere a song like Summer Rain has Celtic overtones.

Stuck is very 90s moody Alt Rock, even a little grungey and certainly much heavier than songs that surround it. Solar Flares inhabits a territory somewhere between The Breeders and Porcupine Tree. Post Meridian is a short sub two minute instrumental half way through the album and that sounds a little Rush in Moving Pictures mode.

Bad Brain Daze is a splendid dose of Indie Guitar Pop, yet the closer, Evening is a hypnotic melancholic beast with a stunning Guitar break out two thirds through. Nightmare Machine is close to Modern Prog, yet there is a chorus that is catchy as catchy can be.

The real joy though is the Pop Rock. The Last Summer is all jangle at a frantic pace and Beach Days is out and out 80s Guitar Pop of the highest order with a Power Pop solo to applaud. There is a lot packed in here and not all may appeal, but you will be surprised at how cohesive the album is. A great listen!

 You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Cheap Star - Wish I Could See

 

I should have covered this much earlier as the album was released in February. Hopefully my delay will give Wish I Could See another boost. Cheap Star is effectively Geneva's Remi Vaissiere, but the guest list across all the albums is always Top Notch.

Here the core trio is Vaissiere, Jon Auer and Brian Young and so you largely to expect Fountains Of Posies. Indeed Cheap Star have been compared to The Posies from their beginnings and the band have been involved often. The vocals are even similar at times to Auer, but the material is a little lighter.

Additional guests such as Brendan Benson, Gary Louris, Roger Joseph Manning and Mitch Easter add quality. However, don't be fooled that this is a Power Pop stardust wig out. These songs stand up on their own, great melodic Pop Rock jumps out and the hooks are aplenty.

In Your Head sounds very Auer dominated and is certainly the nearest song to The Posies, but Wish I Could See has had a lot of attention from reviewers and it has a fine jaunt plus Benson's harmony vocals add a lot.  Under The Synapse even borders on 12 Bar Rolling Stones and diverts to a Psych Pop groove that is delightful.

Slow Down is absolutely wonderful with a melodic Alex Chilton like vocal and countrified by Jon Auer's Banjo. It is also worth the admission alone for Mitch Easter's jaw-dropping Guitar solo that closes the song.

What's It Like is a moody melancholic closer, splendidly so. But for all these excellent diversions, my favourite song is the opener Lifetime. It is an unusual opening song, very restrained, but it contains a wonderful synth baroque arrangement from Auer and harmony vocals from Gary Louris that fir the song beautifully. 

People will obviously miss The Posies and until we get a Jon Auer solo album, Cheap Star are probably the nearest that we will get to that. That's great, because Wish I Could See is a superb listen, restrained at times, but beautifully played  and it is nice to have something so melodic without your ears ringing. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Pulse Park - Phonac Music

 

A trio of reasons led to me to this trio. I'm an admirer of Brighton's Shoredive Records label who are a great supporter of new music, particularly Shoegaze. Nathalie kindly sent me this album. Then a late night social media message from the band was cheeky enough to get me more interested.

Finally, I have a lot to review at present, but most of it was melodic Pop Rock or albums that have a while to release date. Pulse Park are an obvious diversion from both and I love the album. This is a debut that sounds so assured and the band know what they do best. 

Phonac Music seems caught between late 80s UK Indie College Rock, the likes of Dinosaur Junior and 90s Shoegaze and it works a trio. The material doesn't naturally relate to a Power Trio, but when the band let go they become one.

Generally though they hit a much gentler vibe. They hit a riff and stick to it in a way Teenage Fanclub do, but Pulse Park haven't got The Byrds and Big Star fixation. There's a lot of the Glasgow Indie Rock of the past.

Shoegaze isn't necessarily noted for choruses, but there are plenty here, particularly on the magnificent Apollonian Heart which has a chorus to die for as well and even rocks out. It is a killer song and sets the seal on a fine album.

Elsewhere Antibody kicks in with a Post Punk punch and Strange Matter is like a rocked up Dropkick with a riff that is dying to break out into a solo, but never quite manages it. Sine Wave even heads into the UK New Wave Beat of the late 70s.

Beautifully produced and expertly played, seldom is a debut album so accomplished. This type of album was really prevalent four or five years ago. The fact that it isn't now makes Phonac Music sound like a refreshing change and I certainly appreciate listening to something different from the norm. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Horse Jumper Of Love - Natural Part

 

I've been listening to Natural Part a lot over the past few days and I love it. However I sense that it will not appeal to plenty of regular IDHAS followers. This isn't me being too kool for skool or condescending, it just doesn't really fit the template here.

But it is wonderful and I'd love others to give it a go. It isn't easily accessible and may take repeated listening, but I think you will be surprised at how the album hooks you, it is hypnotic. It is Indie in the true sense, not because it isn't on a major label.

Horse Jumper Of Love are a Boston Trio who specialise in Slowcore and the album is definitely downbeat and a bit bleak. Possibly in a way which Radiohead were after they dumped the choruses, but there is also hints of King Crimson's early 80s and it is a little bit Codeine at times. 

It even reminds me of The Bordellos with a budget at times. But it really has got me good style. It is an album to be listened to all the way through. It won't make you happier, but it certainly made me think how interesting it is. 

I've deliberately not embedded any songs in the hope that you will head off to the Bandcamp site here where you can listen to and maybe buy the album.

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