True Stars - True Stars

 

After a single and an EP, Bellingham Washington Trio True Stars release their debut album. On hearing the opener and its ooh la la la's you think this is gonna be high class traditional Power Pop, but as the album progresses, you realise that this is gonna be much meatier.

The rhythm section stick to the Power Pop, hand claps and all at times, but Jody Waymire's Guitar adds a much heavier sound and direction taking the band into a more Uni Boys, even The Replacements direction  and they do the down and dirty just as well.

This a real rocking affair that turns TrueStars into a real Power Trio. Riot For Me for instance is real Garage Guitar Pop. Sick Thing is very much in the territory of The Speedways, but adds a blistering rocked up Glam like solo.

Move My Direction even blasts into UK New Wave and even adds a great Twang section. Panic Attack even flirts with 60s Garage Psych. Keep Rolling is very Mats and Why even steps into my beloved Psych Pop.The Twang even returns on the closer, The Hill, which is very Beat Generation.

You can add True Stars to the new breed of heavier guitar led Power Pop. This is an outstanding album from a band that knows exactly what it wants to achieve and does it perfectly. As I say every year, too many do their end of the year lists too early. It may be a week till Christmas, but I have heard some cracking albums this month and there's not a jingle bell in site.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Dude - Autobiograffitti

As my great friend at PopRock Record mentioned in his review, there is more than a likeness to Pugwash at times on Dude's second album. It is very much in the Pop Rock territory that followers are used to. It has a sort of Jeff Lynne feel to it on more than one occasion.

All this is unusual as Tony Muggs is noted as one of Detroit's The Muggs who dispense a very different prescription of Blues Rock. That hard and heavy style has now passed its sixth album. Dude is Tony Muggs with an extensive cast of musicians.

Devil's In My Whiskey (Once Again) is most like Pugwash, although it has a loose 70s Classic Rock vibe too. There is however great variety across the album. Never more so on the magnificent You Are S Wonder, a corking mix of 60s UK Beat and 70s Pop Rock.

That is matched by Red Coat For Sale, a wondrous example of melodic Psych Pop. Own The Day is a fine ballad and Ahh Geez Louise is so Dave Edmunds, you can just imagine Billy Bremner on Lead Guitar.  Swallow The Sun edges towards Modern Prog and Blue Canary gets even nearer and adds a touch of Psych.

Mary Mary (Quite Controversial) lies somewhere between The White Album and The Faces. Tomorrow Is  Promised to No One is all Flower Power 1967. From the opener, Big Star with its big Jeff Lynne-ish sound to the close, you are treated to great melodic Pop Rock of the highest quality. Wall To Wall Pleasure!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Khybers - Fullalove Alley

 

Medway five piece The Khybers release their debut album. However this is not a debut that lacks experience and it shows as Fullalove Abbey is fully formed. The sound maybe 60's but the lyrical themes are very now. 

That Medway sound is well covered, the cross between Beat Generation and Psych Pop, but there is added value from the band. There is a slight rowdy vibe, a bit Pubs letting out thing and the songs also enter the likes of Brit Pop at times. 

There is of plenty of wit lyrically and not a village theme, more Town. Although ongs like Thunderbolt Pier and Regeneration for the Medway template, there is much more. The former is all state of the nation lyrically and the latter is very Pearl and Dean. 

Brompton Soldiers starts all Paper Lace before going more Garage with a stellar Bassline, yet Drummer Boy fits the early 60s Impresario. Wedding Party is prime Beat Club Harmonica with a more than effective Twang and a pinkish 1977 vocal. 

Girl Beneath The Holly Tree is pure Garage Rock on the verse and Psych Pop on the chorus. But the closing title track shows a completely different side to the band with an acoustic let's do the song right here. I'm full of admiration in the way that The Khybers have taken an established scene into new directions.

You can listen to and buy the album here. The album is also available on a Vinyl at a very reasonable price.

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Andy Bopp - Tower City Vol. 1

 

It is well noted that I am an Andy Bopp fan and he has never been afraid to push the envelope. His fans follow him through these adventures, out of both loyalty and how interesting his work is. Primarily he is noted for Power Pop, but that genre became so confused that he stepped out of it.

However, for someone noted to be so Electric, this album is a major change. He doesn't plug in once and the music is not only acoustic, but arranged wonderfully in a manner more fitting to Americana, Country and Folk. All are areas that I don't venture into much.

It is not because I'm not an admirer of the genres, I once was, but Americana in particular became awash with songs that all sounded the same, not helped by popular artists who all followed a similar mediocre path. However this is wonderful and not really at all because it is Andy Bopp.

The space provided by the instrumentation allows the songwriting to shine and Bopp is an underrated songwriter. This is a singer songwriter album and a fine one. Beautifully played, arranged and lyrically adept. The songs seem to come from the heart.

That is probably because the album is about his Father in the 1935 American Depression and the songs are largely done in a style that is nearer that year than this. The fiddle accompaniment on the jaunty railroad vibe of House Call is just perfect.

The Yee Haw feel of Willow Cry is a real altogether now hillbilly affair with added Pedal Steel. Home is melancholic, part Country, part Dylan Folk. Brookside Mining Company is similarly moody and works just as well,

There are two songs that sound more modern, if the 70s Singer Songwriter feel is modern. Lost Napoleon is another beautifully written story song and A Child Of Innocence, haunting yet incredibly melodic. This set of songs makes me wonder how some of Bopp's Back catalogue would sound in this style and vice versa, how these songs would sound rocked up.

As well as the instrumentation, the main take is how easily Bopp's voice suits these songs. His vocal performance is an absolute tour de force, befitting the songs, but adding another dimension to his work. He is such a fine Guitarist that you forget how easy to listen to his, his singing is. Tower City Vol. 1 caught me completely by surprise and I am full of admiration.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Listening To This Week Playlist

25 songs this week. There is no song preference in track order, just what we think flows.  I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have all week to listen.

This weekly playlist 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. This will help you to discover more about the artists who appear here.

Wurld Series - Lord Of Shelves

Vinyl Floor - Funhouse Mirror

Gale Forces - Highlights Of Existence

Mike Dunne - Rubies In Her Eyes

The James Clark Institute - Waiting On The Waitress

Jerry Peerson - Bisq

Four Forty Four - Out Of Time

Antinode - Finale

Jamie Turner - A Girl Just Like You

Slipped off Silk - Alone In My Head

Mountains Of Empathy - This Is Not Abandonment

Logan McAllister - Snake Oil Sunshine

Monoscopes - The Electric Muse (I Wanna Know Why)

Springworks - We Are Not Amused

Lost Vessels - I Don't Owe You

The Planes - Between the Frames

High Chair - Earth Shaker

Pleasing Forms - Captured In Blue

Big Search - Loose Ends

Scoopski - Little Ball Of Energy

Sean Massaro - Surface

Die, July - Sully

Pretty Easy Nice In Summer - Baller

Victims Of The New Math - We Go Round

Douglas Diamond - Never Too Late

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Wurld Series - The Giant's Lawn

 

Wurld Series reach their third album and whereas the precious two were more Indie Rock with New Zealand charm, although there were slight hints of Prog on What's Growing, The Giant's Lawn sets its base as absolutely wonderful Psych Pop. 

The Christchurch quartet don't rest there though as then album is genre crossing of the highest order. There is also Pop Rock, Folk, Prog, Canterbury , Brit Pop and much more. Acoustic and Electric mix in an inventive exhilarating listen.

With 17 songs, there is a lot to listen to, but the album never gets boring or outstays its welcome, largely due to the quality of the material. Unexpected noises appear from nowhere, suddenly there is Sax, something heavily Prog gives way to more straight ahead Melodic Pop.

That welcome Pop Rock is really accessible, yet the band are just as keen to take you into chaos with some splendid arrangements and performance. You are led to believe that it is one thing and it leads to another. The Giant's Lawn grips you fully and although the individual songs are ace in their own right, it is the whole thing that you adore.

I've listened to it start to finish three more times today. Many albums should be listened to from start to finish, indeed the album format is really neglected these days replaced by non essential playlists. In a way, it makes potential listeners concentrate more on individual songs rather than a body of work.

The full joy of this third album is attained by putting it on and leaving it, listening from beginning to end. It becomes almost one, despite all the offerings and you are intrigued by what is going to come next. I knew that this would be good, I didn't expect it to be this good. It is a masterpiece and essential listening for those with open ears.

You can listen to and buy it here. The album deserves your time. The Giant's Lawn is also available on Vinyl and although I have a weariness with some of the albums that appear on that format, this one is ideally suited.

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The Sugar - Somewhere To Go

 

Thanks to the detective work of one of our keen followers I can now follow up with more details on the band. You can find out more about The Sugar here. The original review from October is posted below.

I've been wanting to tell you more about this album for months and it underlines one of my biggest frustrations. With dealing with new bands, I don't expect to find information about them easily across the internet. But all too often, I can't find anything.

With not relying on submissions, finding out more can take much needed time away from actually writing about them and to be honest, I give up on some. I've tried all I can to get more info on The Sugar, evening trying to get in touch with the studio where the album was recorded.

Now I have to pass it over to you to find out more and will post links to where can you listen to the album. I have persevered because the album is right up our street, It is at the rockier end of Pop Rock, but wonderfully melodic.

At times it will remind you of great Pop Rock bands such as Cheap Trick, at others it gets more into the territory of Rush instrumentally, even a little vocally without ever getting near the Peart lyrical quality. Yet the album could easily appear on a 70s Classic Rock major label or a Not Lame or Big Stir.

It is beautifully performed and produced, melodic to the extreme and as catchy as catchy can be, but it does Rock. I'd love to find out more about the album and cover it deeper, so it may we have musical detectives around with greater skill or more time.

Like all recent reviews, I haven't embedded tracks, hoping that followers will go off and listen to the whole album themselves and discover their own favourites. Somewhere To Go definitely needs more attention if only we knew how to do that. Links to the streaming sites I've found are below.

Apple Music

You Tube Music

Amazon Music

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