Action City - More Action City

 

Shawn Lynch and Michael Slawter return with the sound of Winston-Salem with the second Action City album. The debut was well loved around here and appeared in the IDHAS 2021 Best Of Year and deservedly so. You can read the review of that album here.

Thankfully Album Number 2 continues on from where the last left off. A cracking mix of UK 60s Beat Pop and Psych Pop with some interesting diversions awaits you. That Beat Guitar Pop is reminiscent of The Kinks before Ray Davies went Toytown and it is splendidly done.

Those diversions are great. Canadys Girl is a cracking slab of New Wave and She's A Natural is one of the better examples of Power Pop this year, mastering a genre that many can do, but few as well. The Dark Horse is a fine atmospheric ballad, a little West Coast maybe.

Sinking Fast even goes all UK Glam Rock and nails it. The most interesting thing though is the mix of the two aforementioned genres. It isn't always that this is this or that is that, often the two are combined. This is Action City's real strength.

The Once Upon A Time is great Guitar Pop, but has a wonderful Psych Jangle. You Were Adored works in a similar way, but this time the Psych Pop riff is ramped up even more and has an awesome solo. Kiss And Tell is ace UK Beat, part Kinks, part Who but still fits in a paint stripping solo.

Many approaching this sort of album would have made it all 70s Pop Rock, of which there's a glut of at presently. The route Action City gives you the best of Guitar and Psych Pop without ever seeming forced or "will this do" I also urge all to listen to The Longest Girl which reveals how heavy Pop can be if you let rip. Another excellent offering!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

Sharp Class - Tales Of A Teenage Mind

 

If you looked at the band's Bandcamp site before listening to anything, the background image would leave you in little doubt about what you are likely to hear. This is the sound of Woking 1977 and it has to be said that Oliver Orton does a really convincing Weller.

Some music fans of my generation would boringly ask why they should listen to this when they can listen to their Jam albums, But that isn't the point at all. If da kidz are discovering High Energy Mod Pop 45 years on, then all well and good. It is time for a revival.

The Nottingham trio can really play and this is lyrically excellent original material. The band are a fine Power Trio and what they do, they do really well. The likes of the title track and Show Me A Good Time are classic examples of the genre and the Guitar Solo on I Don't You reveals that there is far more to these three who could have taken the easy Cover Band route.

When they branch out, they get even better. Move is great Canvey Island fayre and Contradiction is a little early Stiff, maybe even Nick Lowe. I'd rather listen to this than some sad "will that do" 12th album from a reformed group with one original member. There is a lot to love about Tales |Of A Teenage Mind.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Chrysanthemums - Decoy For A Dognapper!

 

It has been a long wait for a new album from The Chrysanthemums and this one has been on the cards for a while. The reuniting of Alan Jenkins and Terry Burrows (Yukio Yung) was always going to be something more than interesting.

Burrows, in particular, has seemed to spent his time on what could be loosely described as experimental music, so I hoped that the material would still be akin to past wonders. It is and more. Back with Vladimir Zajkoweicz and Steven Plesiosaur, the quartet have fashioned up a mind blowing affair.

It is a concept album, of course it is, but an album based on the 5th episode of the original Scooby Doo series (hence the album title), you can imagine the stream of consciousness conversations that brought this thing to being. Probably a little like Mick Dillingham and I's weekly telephone catch ups. 

Aided by the likes of IDHAS favourites like Robyn Gibson and Lane Steinberg, at its heart the album is 60s Pop, but that heart is engulfed by Psych Pop, Prog and err crooning. Song arrangements stray everywhere and the instruments cupboard is raided regularly and randomly. 

I won't go into the history of its making as that is more than explained on the Bandcamp page, instead I'll concentrate on some of the 23 (count 'em) songs. There is plenty of the straight ahead such as the jaunty Nobody's Getting My Hair which races along in a UK Beat direction.

However, there is plenty of the unusual such as the wonderful Bonzo like cacophony of Blue Rondo A La Dog. House Of The Mastersons is a 6 minute Prog Tour De Force, but Canine Crimewave could be The Boomtown Rats doing 60s Pop. 

The Great Big World And Daphne is part Glasgow 80s and part Divine Comedy with a |Guitar solo that the word lovely doesn't do justice to, The Danger Of Bat Faeces wouldn't be out of place on an album by The Dowling Poole. Trolley Girl could easily be Jarvis Cocker., vocally and lyrically.

The Bitter Tears Of Daphne Von Blake is a wondrously big 70s Pop Rock extravaganza with added Peter Skellern like Brass. Shaggy Fear Eats The Soul is splendid Toytown Psych Pop, an absolute revelation. Every song here enters different territory and everything seems to work at will.

The closer, Don't Lose Heart Daphne even tips its toe in the waters of Modern Pop, but not for too long as a riveting Guitar Solo leads into more Pulp like lyrics. There's even a Trance ending. It has been really hard just choosing four songs to embed, so I've gone for the slightly more straight ahead.

However, I would urge you to listen to the whole album. There's something for everyone and if you don't like a certain song, you'll like the next. The next time someone asks me what type of music I like, I'll recommend this, because contained within is every type of music that explains what I Don't Hear A Single covers. Simply Magnificent!

You can listen to and buy the album here You can find a little about the history of The Chrysanthemums

here. 

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Sarchasm - Conditional Love

 

Conditional Love is a farewell third album from one of the best Power Trios around. I am convinced that Sarchasm would get much much more attention if they weren't tarnished by people's unfair and simply wrong generalisations of what Pop Punk is about. The genre is maligned, as is EMO, with a stereotyping sneer by my generation.

Sarchasm are a band that would be lauded as Power Pop sensations if it were not for Mateo Campos-Seligman's vocal had more sweetness. In truth, his vocal is not a million miles away from They Might Be Giants who lately throw out any old rubbish to wide applause.

There are Power Pop indications everywhere here, so lets see if other Reviewers in that field cover it. To me, this is album of the year material and if this is the Bay Area Trio's farewell after two end of year shows, then what a way to go out!

The album is another in the recent examples of lyrical anger and regret being dressed up in feel good instrumentation, this time the format is anthems. The main difference material wise is that this ending takes far more chances than what has gone before. 

I have to single out Serves U Rite as one example of this. In 3 minutes it contains a campfire almost gospel like chorus, a new wave wig out and country yee haw before a ramped up close. Blood Brothers is pure venom in what is close to a Prog vibe instrumentally. You can sense that this is no ordinary listen.

Lorem Ipsum is driving UK Post Punk, Good News is great New Wave Punk and Therapist is a real reminder of how TMBG used to be great. 1227 is a great Indie Rock anthem and Crazy is a potential Power Pop anthem. 

Glass Apartment is a monster of a song, it hooks you in hypnotically. The urgency of Marvin Gardens grips you  and adds a killer chorus. The title track is a fine closing vent at what the Bay Area has become landmark wise in a song that is so 90s TV Sitcom theme.

Then there is the epic Hold Some Space, a splendid opener, with its false endings and mood changes, a real farewell song across 5 minutes. I'm currently compiling the latest IDHAS 10 Song Mix for early next week and I could honestly choose any of these 12 songs, the problem is more choosing one.

Musically, the trio are locked in unison. almost telekinetically. Not a beat is missed. The quality of the songs, the ability to change directions and the pure joy of Conditional Love is a wonder to listen to. Lyrically adept, this is Guitar Pop at its very very best.

You can listen to and buy the album here. All formats are at bargain prices.

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Wired Ways - Wired Ways

 

This album is a revelation. Initially a studio project by Richard Schaeffer and Dennis Rux with a core of three additional musicians, the album expanded into a collaboration across Berlin and Hamburg with 40 plus contributors.

The duo describe the album as Beatlesque Prog Rock, but this is far more than that. Very much set in the late 60s and first half of the 70s, Wired Ways covers much of that time including Pop Rock and Psych, often in the same song.

Bookended by two magnificent, yet very different, examples of Psych Pop, the material in between covers much more. But these two songs match anything that current Psych Pop offers with the Toytown of Ticket Tally Man and the much deeper Planet 9. 

Hanoi Tramway is as the title suggests mandarin themed, but the chorus goes all Pop Rock. Lazy Daisy goes even more Pop with overtures of the Alan Parsons Project, even a little 10CC and what a chorus! Perpetuum Mobile even has I Feel Free vibe and just wait until you hear Another Sad Man.

When The Doors Are Closed is the type of Modern Prog that Big Big Train excel at and just as good. yet Mosquitoes is much more Medieval Folk. Peacock On The Highway goes full on 70s Prog, wonderfully so. The joy of the album is that despite all these diversions, the chorus is never lost sight of.

If someone like Billy Sherwood had been involved with an album like this, it would be lauded (and over produced). It is a wonderful example of how Prog can be tuneful and nearer Pop than people imagine. I also have to admit to going a little giddy when I saw instruments like Timpani, Tubular Bells, Glockenspiel and Celesta mentioned. Magnificent!

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is also available on CD and Vinyl which are both more than reasonably priced.

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Buddie - Transplant EP

 

IDHAS regulars will love this. Buddie are based in Vancouver after Band leader Dan Forrest's move from Philadelphia and the quartet have quickly become an active part of the Vancouver Indie Scene. This EP is a precursor for their second album which will be released in early 2023.

Very much centred around Forrest as guitarist and vocalist, the songs are very 90s Indie Guitar Pop at heart, wonderfully melodic, but with tentacles that stretch into other areas. There is also further proof that you can do Fuzz without it dominating the song at the expense of melody and catchiness.

Personally I can't wait for the album and this EP gives just a sampler of the delights in store. Sunday Morning has a real San Francisco 67 vibe on the verse before bursting out into ace Jangle and Fuzz. Take What's Left is a little slower, even a little Jayhawks at times.

Northern Skies begins like a Rush mid 80s song, the type that non fans heard and realised that the band weren't Prog any more, much nearer to Pop, particularly on the choruses, than you imagined. Indecision is splendidly atmospheric and moody, gentle, although seeming desperate to break out fully. .

Finally, there is demo of Take What's Left which reveals how the song grew. But what it also does is allow you to notice the lyrical depth and excellence. This made me go back to the lyrics of the other songs and that songwriting quality shouts out across the EP.

Subjects include the move to a different country and the effects of the lockdowns without ever preaching or whining. A classic example of serious messages cocooned in jaunty arrangements. The future looks bright for Buddie and that is so reassuring in these days of Covers and Auto Tune.

You can listen to and buy the EP here. You can find out more about Buddie here.

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Back In The Hot Seat

 

It's good to be back after picking up one of those Winter Stomach bugs that took on a life of its own and went on far longer than anticipated. There is so much to catch up on review wise. so I may seem a little lazy, just posting up one EP Review tonight. There is just so much writing and listening to do.

There are some new features to add to I Don't Hear A Single that I considered whilst being ill, but I will mention those as next week progresses. Nothing major and all additions. The priority at the moment are the Reviews, as the Best Of Year posts will be well into January as it is without further delays.

More Reviews tomorrow. I promise.

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