Listening To This Week Playlist

This week we have another 28 songs to activate your eardrums. An eclectic mix of the poptastic and much more.  This selection offers the usual great songs and is an essential listen. A sort of soundtrack for your 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. Thank you for supporting the new music from Indie artists.

Emperor Penguin - I Wouldn't Put It Like That (Feat. Lisa Mychols)

Taking Meds - The Other End

Familiar Faces - Ashamed

Statues - Draconian Laws

The Second Summer - Something

Cackle - Want It, Eat It, Taste It

Bull - Red Hooves

Sorry Monks - Close But No Cigar

Hot Mud - Lost In The Wild

GROTTONAUT - Hogs And Heifers

The Eargoggle - It's Easy

Little Hand Feet - Hugh Hunt

Fool Of Stars - Sol 127

Purple Negative - Megabee

Wolftrap 62 - Degradation

How We Leave This Place - Wherever I Go

KOALA - Ceramic

Slow Drag - Upside Down

 

SMACKBEAT - Andora

The Delta Shake - I'll Be Your Man (Alternative Version)

KamaShow - Mr Cloudy

 

You Fool! - Stay The Same 

Sea Dramas - Night Passengers

Common Tongue - Isolation

 

IN Kelly - Sleepwalker 

TillaTone - Lost

 

Joyer - Star

The Stifftones - These Times

TO FOLLOW

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Mothboxer - Timelines

 

There may be a time that I run out of things to say about Dave Ody's Mothboxer. In the review of Breathe, the last album, I jokingly referred to Mothboxer being one of our Teacher's Pet. But it is down to the quality and progression. Every album builds on the last and any appearances here are more than worthy.

We started the Best 100 Albums, two years in with 2018 and every Mothboxer album released since then has appeared in the 100. There isn't a loyalty card, every offering since then has been consistently Top Notch and even bands that I continue to love forever can't match that.

Ody has always had an ability to write and perform such melodic catchy songs whilst crossing genres at will. Essentially Pop Rock, Mothboxer tread Power Pop, Psych Pop, even a little Prog and Alt Rock, but everything is so damn toe tapping.

Timelines feels like his poppiest so far, if anything more than a little 80s Pop Rock. Having said that, probably the best song is all 60s Mellotron riddled. That being the Beatles 68 Psych Pop of All Over The World.

No Warning, No Sign is the trademark 70s Pop Rock that Mothboxer specialise in. However what starts off as a sort of Gerry Rafferty backed by Liverpool Express breaks out into a cross between Neo Prog and Space Rock, total melody across all parts..

Sound Of Nothing even goes full on Melodic Modern Prog with its hypnotic riff. This Song is almost happy clappy, a stripped down let's do the show right here sort of thing. Space in-between is almost Lounge Pop. 

Mothboxer are best when it gets Epic and I don't think Ody has ever been more epic than on the approaching 7 minutes closer The Wrong Sky. It even adds a big Sci Fi Soundscape ending. Ody is a wonderful guitarist and part way through, I thought "ooh there's not a lot of Guitar here" and it is like I was overheard as the album from then on is Guitar Heaven.

There is a loose concept theme to Timelines and it's funny that I was thinking of ELO's Time as I listened. It doesn't have that level Pop or the treated vocal nonsense, but it has a slightly similar 80s style big production. Absolutely Splendid! Mothboxer may finally get the recognition that is deserved.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Taking Meds - Dial M for Meds

New York quartet Taking Meds open Dial M For Meds with a Not Lame-esque Fountains Of Wayne like corker in Memory Lane. There is more of that here, particularly on Life Support, but there are other directions to explore too.

The Punkier roots may have been smoothed out, but what rings out here are the riffs that are absolutely awesome and counter balanced by a strong lyrical content and a Rhythm section to die for. Chorus dominated matched by solos of quality. 

My description above would place them into prime Power Pop and there is a similarity at times to the more aggressive Power Pop that has built momentum over the past year or so. But these four also sound very 90s College Rock.

They can be a happier Pearl Jam or tread into the territory of The Replacements. But they can also Rock out, take for instance the noisy Wading Out and when they do raise the volume, it is just as effective as the poppier songs. The Other End even gets more than a little Green Day.

See The Clowns is epic and closes the album, maybe even be the best thing here. Very 90s, but very effective, it hardly comes up for air. I may have confused you with all the references, but this truly is right up you followers street.  Particularly those who like their Riff Rock, a little meatier. It is a crackerjack of an album.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Amateur Ornithologist - Hide

Seasoned watchers / listeners know the way to my musical heart. Great Psych Pop is one way and there will be some of that later, but even more so Quirky Intelligent Inventive Indie and this more than falls into the latter category. Wonderfully so and it is from the UK which is an even bigger bonus.

It can get so frustrating over here. The music scene has got so regional. It is tumbleweed at times and when it does liven up, it is usually something ordinary that gets copied for the next 18 months. So how refreshing to hear an album as special and splendid it is as this. 

The six piece collaborate on the arrangements and they are the real strength here. a little left field adopting Indie, Rock, Prog, Folk and even a little Jazz. At times, the album sounds like Field Music backed by a top notch band. It is also held together by the strength of Daniel Clifford's vocal which gently leads everything.

They can do straight ahead and also complicated from the beautifully performed Indie Pop of the title track to the epic 5 minutes plus of When They Fall which is almost anthem and more than a little like a bigger arranged Orgone Box affair. Incredible harmonies enhance that song even further.

Those harmonies also adorn The Word Is Love, a song built around a Talking Heads like Bassline and a vocal that strangely nears Boy Band Pop. Venetian Blinds is splendidly melancholic led by Sax, yet It Looks Like Magic bursts out the blocks, picking up the pace and even finding time for a Beach Boys like interlude.

I like it best when it goes right to the edge. The opener, A Hidden Path is awesome built on a Baroque Pop arrangement that is almost classical. Then there is the absolute delight that is Time To Talk that encompasses everything that the band does.

At times you think it is The Lilac Time or a Colin Moulding XTC song, but it also contains a Robert Tripp like Guitar line and enters Prog with its killer bassline and Sax. The beauty of the album is that it makes the complex sound so simple. The Anatomy Lesson, for instance, comes across as pure 80s Pop then you realise how much is actually in the song. 

The Sax here is tastefully added, benefitting the song. I have to admit that I have never been that keen on the instrument as it can dominate everything. but here it seems so at home. The last time that I thought that was on the Bandicoot album and that was an Album Of The Year for us and who is to say that this won't be the same? An Essential album to listen to whole and in one word, Magnificent.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Emperor Penguin - Gentlemen Thieves

 

In my review of the band's previous album, 2022's Sunday Carvery, I noted that Emperor Penguin had the happy knack of encompassing the history of Pop Rock whilst still sounding wonderfully original. I could have added that every album seems better than the last, no mean feat because few can do that and with such a high standard. 

That album, as with their previous albums, made our Best 100 Albums Of The Year and I have no doubt that this one will grace the 2024 one, although I will admit that after just finishing the 2023 Best Of marathon, I'm thankful that this is long in the distance. 

Sunday Carvery had a big hint of the 70s, if anything Gentleman Thieves feels more 60s UK Beat, but varnished with much more harmony. There are also adventures into Psych Pop, an area which the band particularly excel in. 

Having multi vocalists also adds to the variety and that variety also throws up some great surprises. I Wouldn't Put It Like That is an absolute gem of a song, jam packed with melody, riffs and great great vocals and it is a joint vocal. With a feel of New Wave Elvis Costello feel to the vocals, the second vocal is a tour de force from Lisa Mychols.

Mychols is noted for her Power Pop vocals and rightly so, but here a voice takes on a slightly different tone, more Pop Rock, Rock even, a little earthier maybe and it is an incredibly joyful addition that suits the song perfectly. The song is a tour de force. The album in no way hangs on this song, but it acts a great base to place everything around.

Sonnez les Matines is another song that arrives out of the blue, slightly Reggae, slightly Eastern and again chock full of ideas, Charlotte Guy adds awesome Backing Vocals. The song is done in a similar style to The Sun Said In 1/2. Compare that to Pipistrelle which is all New Wave Madness like and Driving Blind which is all 70s Classic Rock, a real wig out.

Ladybird is great late 60s fairy with a vocal that is a little Glam Rock, even shouty Roy Wood and even adds Wizard like Brass, The Persuaders has a real R and B mid 60s Bassline with a Bruce Foxton-ish Bass and works just as well as everything on the album does. 

Town Called Gone has a splendid Glam Rock instrumental track and a chorus to absolutely die for. Ladybird is wonderfully chaotic and Three More Years has a sort of Prog Riff accompanying wonderful Psych. Mychols returns on You Are My Atmosphere and sounds incredibly Kirsty MacColl and another inspired chorus and a jaw dropping Guitar solo.   

Let us talk about those choruses because many write them, but few offer the quality shown here. The album is built on the power and quality of these, they are wall to wall. You enjoy the verses and then the chorus just takes you up further.

The album is built around a theme of Gentleman Rogues, a theme well explained in the accompanying booklet. But this is no concept album, it is 12 individual songs with a loose thread. All those songs stand up on their own

Wonderfully, performed, arranged and produced, Gentlemen Thieves reveals mastery of the Art Of Songwriting and Variety. Emperor Penguin do get better and better, but I'm intrigued to know if they can follow this album. It is awe inspiring.

You can listen to and buy the album here. The CD is also available on the Kool Kat label here. You can find out more about the band here.

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On The Runway - Tell Yourself It's Pretty

 

On The Runway's debut EP was a fine listen featuring some Jangle Pop, so I looked forward to the full length and I am not disappointed in any way. But the variety on display here goes far beyond the EP. You might expect that from Crash Into June main man Dave Norris, but this album is top notch. 

The Jangle is still around, especially on Consolation Prize which at times sounds more than a little Nick Piunti, but different avenues are taken elsewhere. House Is Not A Home is somewhere between 80s AOR and West Coast Country Pop.

Teenage Fanclub comparisons are generally lazy and misguided, but the standout This Charade could be them, it is definitely cut from the same stone. Yet Norris even enters 70s Pop Rock ballad territory with the easy listening and moodiness of The Way It Shouldn't Be. It has a particularly wonderful arrangement.

House Is Not Home has a similar pace, but is played in more of an IRS away. The pace is picked up on Stuck On You, again I'm reminded of Nick Piunti and melodic 80s Pop Rock. Set For Life is another cracker, incredibly melodic with some fantastic Guitar work and a killer chorus.

Lifeline bursts out of the blocks, picking up the pace around a killer riff and is probably the song that pushes This Charade closest. Bring Yourself rocks out the album, built around an absolutely killer riff and bringing an impressively melodic adventure to a close and still leaves you wanting more. The songs strays into Classic Rock splendidly.

A special mention must go out to Will Kimbrough whose guitar playing graces the album. Big Riffs, great solos that suit the songs but are never obvious, a great sidekick across the album. Someone who adds to the excellence of the songwriting.

This is great Pop Rock that pushes all the right buttons. I'm never sure about that genre label because it covers far too wide an area and includes a lot of maudlin stuff. Maybe we should call this Rock Pop, underlining the emphasis on the harmony and melody. Great arrangements. Great playing. Great Album!

You can listen to and buy the album here. Physical fans will be delighted to know that a CD Release can be pre-ordered from Kool Kat here.

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Listening To This Week Playlist

After all the excitement of the Best Of 2023, it is really pleasing to get back to normality. Even more of a delight to present these splendid 24 songs in what may be the best LTTW ever. This selection offers the usual great songs and is an essential listen.

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. Thank you for supporting the new music from Indie artists.

Silent Forum - Yes Man

Escape Artists - Beatles For Sale

Midnight Empire - The Second Coming

Subterranean Street Society - Stop Trying

Bears In Trees - Things That Look Like Mistakes

Bears in Trees · Things That Look Like Mistakes

Giant Killers - Around The Blocks 

FM Rodeo - Headache Song

The Shop Window - I Run

Jenny Pilots - Final Reel

Now or Ever - Choice Architecture

Robert Poss - Secrets, Chapter And Verse

Phreakers - Poison Centre

The Life Of Flobo - Miles Too Deep

Mythical Motors - Court Of The Beekeper

Royal Fools - Bats in the Attic  

The Hubbards - Hiding & Reading

Garvie - Boring

massie99 - Anika

Modern Hearts - Seconds Away

The Marra - Masterpiece

Still Corners - The Dream

Amateur Hockey Club - Love Each Other A Little

Eden Ariel - The Wheel

Neato - New Band Scene

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