Pale Lights are from Brooklyn and The Stars Seemed Brighter is released on a German label, so you'd not expect this to be vintage C86, but it is so. As the album cover suggests, the band are very Kitchen Sink.
The sound is straight out of Mid Eighties Glasgow and Philip Sutton's vocals are a sort of chipper Lloyd Cole. Having watched The Go-Betweens Documentary at the weekend, there are real similarities here, certainly in the song structures.
The strums are simple, a sunshine riff is hit and stuck with, all seems pleasantly wonderful in the Pale Lights garden. Suzanne Nienaber's accompanying vocals sweeten the songs, but you still expect to see Edwyn Collins name somewhere.
Pale Lights know the sound and feel that they want and they do it incredibly well. There are not many bands making this type of album these days and I'm not sure why not. It's all chirpy and bright and breezy. An excellent 31 minute listen that flies by. This is Jangle Pop of the highest order.
In our universe, this week would appear to be Italian Week. I'm loving the album by Bongley Dead and also this, the Kids Of Neptune debut album. Hailing from Forli in Italy, this three piece are heavy, Power Pop it is not.
Although lumped in with the Punks, again!!!, Homeland is nothing like that label. Rhythms similar to Muse that are welcome without the Guitar histrionics, the better end of Grunge and a delightful edge towards Psych about sums them up.
2:20's Guitar solo could be Peter Green and that's the beauty of the trio. You are never quite sure which direction they will take. Polish State Of Mind is pure Garage Rock and really good at it. Yet at times, there is a feel of Rush's Vapor Trails adventures.
Then there's the meandering Nothing But No One which is all mid 80's moodiness. She Will Keep Us Alive is all fuzzed up late 60's noise. The closer, Homeland is 8 minutes of Psyched Up Pearl Jam, another surprise, the second half of it is all Fuzz and acid Guitar. A great closer!
This is a wonderful debut album, nothing like you would imagine. The fact that English is their second language adds to the Kudos. Homeland is unlike a lot of the delights that we celebrate on here,
It's rhythmic and incredibly fabulously noisy, it hits grooves, but never for too long. You can listen to and buy the album here.
I'm absolutely loving the Felix Hagan And The Family album. The London Seven Piece have fashioned up a fantastic Pop Rock album. I've seemed them described as Pop Punks and Theatrical Punks. I'd go with the latter if you were comparing to them someone like The Tubes.
I know I get on my soapbox whenever Punk is mentioned, not because I'm not a fan, I am, but so much is lumped into the bracket and as soon as the general public see the word Punk they run for cover. That would be a travesty if that happened to this lot.
This is Theatrical Rock at it's best, there's so much going on, so many ideas, but all of them are kept wrapped in pop hooks and riffs. Think Foxy Shazam, The Killers before they bought a thousand stylophones, The Darkness with more than one trick. In fact the band have far more in common with Deacon Blue than The Sex Pistols.
So I think I'll settle on them being a Deaf School for da kidz. Attention Seeker only comes up for air during the final third, when the songs get slower and then you've got the great Funk Rap of Delirium Tremendous and an anthem to make Brit Poppers cry in Tough To Be A Dreamer.
The opener, Attention Seeker sets the tone of the album when it just burns from something pleasantly melodic to a wall of noise. That just leads you into a melodic noise fest for the first half hour or so. There are wonderful pop hooks, sing along choruses and unexpected noises.
My personal favourite is the splendid Woah There Kimmy, although most of the IDHAS Radio listeners would go for Gene Kelly, which is a Top 10 Single in the making. Dave Bash and I were agreeing that we couldn't see the point in people revealing Best of 2017's at the end of November. If I had I would have missed this, it's certainly up there with anything that I've heard this year.
This is an album that would sell masses if there was any justice in the world. I'm hooked, I can't wait for the follow up. You can listen to and buy the album here.
I'm a long time Bill Lloyd fan, through both his Country and Power Pop phases, he never fails to connect with my ears. I reviewed his Lloyd-ering here and now we have his first new album in five years.
It's All Happening Now is an Acoustic album, but don't be fooled into thinking that's dull, because Lloyd could never be that. Happiness is wonderfully arranged, all Bacharach like and many of the songs you can imagine jangled or poor popped up, particularly I'm In Your Airport.
There's Acoustic Jangle aplenty on Let Me In Your Life Again, which is very Tom Petty. Ruby Falls could be Johnny Cash, Me Against Me is Lounge Jazz. Up In The Air plugs in and offers up a wonderful strum along.
As ever, the lyrical excellence is ever present in all, particularly the Americana and Folk Pop and Where Nobody Cares At All is an absolute gem, a chirpy diatribe. With 20 songs here, there is fantastic value for money. Bill Lloyd smashes it again, why am I not surprised?
You can buy the album for download everywhere and on CD here.
Howdy Doody and welcome to the latest Garden Of Earthly Delights feature. Four bands that you should love and will spend the rest of the day wondering why you hadn't heard them earlier.
The Galileo 7 - Tear Your Minds Wide Open!
Medway would appear to be centre of all things Psych Pop at the moment. The storming amount of great mid to late 60's Pop that blasts out of Kent lately is vastly encouraging. Tear Your Minds Wide Open! is splendid Organ driven Psych Pop.
Many can do this, few can do it well, The Galileo 7 have mastered the genre. They even sound like the live version Of The Move on The Habit Machine and Baggy Madchester on Nobody Knows Anything.
However, it's the Syd Barrett esque Psych that makes most of the dents and this is beautifully done with all four band members driving the sound forward. Particular mention should be made to Allan Crockford for some great guitar riffing and sterling vocals.
The Green Ray - Half Sentences
Fans of the magnificent Help Yourself will know that Ken Whaley and Richard Treece formed The Green Ray in the Nineties. I love Help Yourself and their connections with Brinsley Schwarz and Man in the 70's.
The Green Ray carried on that tradition and there is a sadness in these recordings. Ken Whaley died in 2012, a year before the sessions started and Richard Treece passed away in 2015, so his final recordings are here. Ken's brother, Simon switched to Guitar to finish Half Sentences.
The result is the band's fourth album and it is a fine affair. Coming in as a sort of laid back Man or a less trippy Jefferson Airplane, at times pre AOR Journey, it's a cracking chilled listen. It centres around the 10 minute opener, Planes Crashing Into Birds, it's the other 7 songs that set the direction. Some wonderful low key Guitar rounds everything up.
This is another release on the fantastic Sugarbush Label, setting the standard again in Vinyl releases. You can buy the album from Sugarbush here or listen to and buy the album as a download here.
The Red Plastic Buddha - Songs for Mara
Songs For Mara isn't a new album, it was released in 2014, but it is the magnificent The Red Plastic Buddha's current album and this Chicago quartet show that the Psych excellence isn't limited to these shores. The band give a modern slant on Psych Rock, very much in the vicinity of The Luck Of Eden Hall.
So it's no surprise that Curvey guests as does Phil Angotti, so you are catching a drift of the quality here. The depth quota is high and although Psych Lovers will thrive on this, there's plenty for everyone else.
Cosmonaut is like Space Power Pop, A House Is Not A Motel could be Madchester, Stuck on Zero is Trippy to extreme. But it's the Psychedelic wonder that grabs you. She's An Alien is a fine opener, but it's the trippy splendour of Little White Pills that gets hold of me most. This is an ace album, a bit darker than the previous, All Out Revolution, but all the better for it.
The Warp/The Weft - Mapping An Absence Poughkeepsie's The Warp/The Weft are not like any of the New York Bands that I normally cover. I suppose you'd call it Acid Folk, as though we need another label, so imagine that Fairport Convention had joined a coven and you get the drift.
This is wonderfully dark Electric Folk. The album even closes with a spot of Dylan Thomas. Some of the song structures compare to the likes of Renaissance, there's a lovely mix of the Electric and Acoustic.
Mapping An Absence isn't a laidback listen, but these eight songs are both gripping and intensely rewarding. It's almost like the 80's Indie Brigade have got hold of Folk and given it such a shaking that it thinks it's Psych. This is a really really good album. Well worth taking a chance on.
Tomorrow Night's Radio Show has been dispatched to KOR as we celebrate 2017.
19 of my favourite songs of 2017 are gathered for your delight. Volume 2 covers the balance next week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and head off to discover more about the artists.
Broadcast on KOR Radio at 8pm UK Time on Fridays, repeated at the same time on Saturdays. Due to increased popularity, a Monday Night Repeat has been added at 8pm.
Also, a reminder that the show is archived the following week on Mixcloud. You can listen to the first twenty five shows here.
Here is this week's playlist :
01 The Sunset Spirit - To Have It All
02 Nick Heyward - Perfect Sunday Sun
03 The Succesful Failures - All Wrapped Up
04 Pink Beam - Wrote Me A Letter
05 Pugwash - What Are You Like
06 Sparks - Missionary Position
07 One Way Ticket - All Change
08 Groovy Uncle - Our Gary's No Fool
09 Cait Brennan - Bad At Apologies
10 Ian McNabb - How She Moves
11 Chris Church - Something Completely
12 The Rationales - Ready To Go
13 The Singles - Sweet Tooth
14 The Stanleys - Amy
15 V Sparks - Death Of A Star
16 The Wild Young Hearts - My Oldest Friend
17 Mimi Betinis - Sound The Alarm
18 Lannie Flowers - Kiss A Memory
19 Captain Wilberforce - The Johnny Depp Memorial Cafe
In last week's Xmas affair, I compared Brian Bordello to Martin Newell, I could give him no greater compliment. I've fawned and waxed lyrical about Newell on this very Blog here and here. So here is a third wave of fanboy stuff.
The Cleaners From Venus tapes are what introduced me to all things Newell and I've relished every minute since. So a collection of Martin's Demos And Outtakes is something to feast on. 17 songs from 1975 to this year are present and these recordings enhance his reputation more.
I've often wondered how Newell would have fared with a label giving him some cash and backing his adventures. He'd certainly with the likes Of Robyn Hitchcock and not only as an Indie Andy Partridge. The Cleaners From Venus have always been Lords Of Lo-Fi. These songs sound wonderful, even as 4 Track recordings or in some case mono tape to tape. He makes a 4 Track sound like a much more modern recording device.
The earlier songs reveal a different side to the Greatest Living Englishman (TM). Ain't No Silicon Chip and My Rocking Days blend perfectly with the New Wave Pop of the time. There's also some wonderful solo at the Piano stuff, most notably the splendid Moonraking, which is like a chirped up Peter Skellern.
English Girl On A Horse is so Hitchcock and the Psych Pop Morrissey pastiche of The Luxury Of Misery is hilarious. She's Got Talent is another laidback joyous song, all sing-a-longa-Newell. A great slice of Sixties Pop.
It's the trademark Psych Pop that grabs you most though. This is what garners the most XTC comparisons, very Oranges And Lemons. Scarecrow Hair And Saucer-Eyed is all Orgone Box and this year's Red Guitars And Silver Tambourines shows that no talent has been lost over the years. It's simply wonderful Psych Pop.
A collection of Martin Newell demos is far superior to most's Best Ofs. The man really should have greater acclaim. I think I'll start to build a plinth in anticipation now. You can listen to and buy the album here.
The debut album from David James Situation is slap bang in Classic Rock Territory. It's a cracking album in a genre that I avoid these days because it's littered with lazy derivative boring Blues Rock or Bon Jovi wannabes.
Aquarium Comedown isn't any of those things. It feels very much like a 70's album, but there are hints of everything, Psych, Prog, Rock and a good bit of Jangle. In The End is like an Americana Blue Mink, yet Green Eyed Lady is all late 60's Kitchen Sink drama.
End Of The World could be The Strawbs or The Moody Blues. End Of The World could be Noel Gallagher, Things Remain is Pure Prog and Throw Me A Line so Rockpile. God (Must Have Tricked Me) is a real Pop Rock out with an almost Monkees feel.
There are some real hooks in the choruses and tons of variation, but the thing that stands out is the James's stunning Guitar playing. whether that's Acoustic, Jangle or full on Rock, there's a real adept touch here.
It is fair to say that despite all the changes in direction, Aquarium Comedown is at it's best when it Rocks. Great examples of this are Footsteps and the outstanding, Lay Off. We've been laughing at how bad the current Noel Gallagher album is, this is how a Rock album should be approached.
At well over an hour and 16 songs, the album is a little long, you can't grumble at the quality and the urge to get all this great stuff out there. But the album's low key start doesn't really do the rest of the content justice. Maybe, just maybe, the first two songs could have been left off to let Green Eyed Lady open the album in poptastic style. This is a minor quibble.
David Bash and I both agreed that early December Album Of The Year charts are too early. This has arrived later in the year, but has every chance of making my Top 10. It'll certainly be up for best Newcomer too.
