Listening To This Week Playlist

 

Welcome to the latest Listening To This Week Playlist. A little shorter this week at 23 songs. A little rockier in places. A few more You Tube embeds than usual as that is the way the links have appeared. We usually prefer to link on Bandcamp or Soundcloud where possible as those sites make it easier to get to the artist's other work.

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. With a week to listen, we hope you can fit them all in.

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 also help you to discover more about the artists who appear here.

The Pale White - Taste The Sun

The Popguns - Indie Rock Goddess

The Alright Maybes - Come On, Charlie

RedPrint - Stop Running

The House Of Jed - This Is Where It All Begins

Catnip - Waste My Time

S.J. Armstrong - One Of These Nights

The Infinity Chamber - The Opposite Of Everything

Newspaper Taxis - Know Better You Know

Therum - The Darklines

Marley Simon - Feet Don't Touch The Ground

Slut Magic - NY Trash

To Follow

Casino Havana - Bite The Blues

Of Love And Lust - OLAL - Spot

Root Cause - Peace Out Chuck

Philosopher Pirate - Fragile Fragments

Modern Alibi - Boy You Better

Margarita Mantis - Between the Devil And His Deep Blue Sea

OK PANDA - The Background

The Hollow Frays - What's Stoppin' Ya? (2023 remix)

roseinstereo - Aladdins Lamp

Big No No - Stain Your Soul

No Waves - Missing All

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Demob Happy - Divine Machines

Another Newcastle Trio, but now based in Brighton, Demob Happy's third album is built around an extraordinary soundscape. As a threesome that can mix Prog and Psych, there will be obviously be comparisons with Muse, but these comparisons would be more than a little unfair.

Demob Happy are far more melodic and accessible and veer into both Pop Rock and Classic Rock. There are even hints of latter day Led Zeppelin on the likes of Tear It Down and at times, there is some great melodic Space Rock in their material. 

Token Appreciation Society is a great opener and even sounds as though Russell Mall is on joint vocals. Super-Fluid is delivered with a sort of UK Glam Rock 1974 riff and then changes tack around a paint stripping solo until getting back to the groove.

You sense that the album is itching to jump into a harder melodic rock and Run Baby Run comes close, but the complex arrangements just won't allow this, particularly the choruses.  She's As Happy As A Man Can Be allows aware slowdown and isn't a million miles away from The Killers.

If I Have A Problem (I Ignore) is a cross between Psych Rock and Noise Rock and everything comes to a close with the Classic Rock of Hades, Baby which is a sort of culmination of all that's gone before with a wonderful almost heavy Brit Pop arrangement.

The real take from Divine Machines is the exceptional arrangements. These are massive, but never overblown. It is an album that actually grips you because of this. The lyrical sentiments and vocals are both top notch, but it is the sound of the thing that absolutely grabs you. Complex yet incredibly melodic, what a cracking album this is!

You can buy the album everywhere and listen to it via any of these links. You can find out more about the band here.

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The Popguns - Popism EP

The Popguns are well into their fourth decade and it is always wonderful to see them again. Released through the excellent label Matinee Recordings. This is great Pop with a capital P, splendid melodic flourishes that chirp up your day. 

The Brighton five piece offer up a happier version of say The Beths, more pop led and less deep than our New Zealand friends, less Indie Rock, more Indie Pop. The songs are built on hypnotic riffs with big choruses that soon have you singing along.

A big part of this is obviously the sweet voice of Wendy Pickles whose vocals vacate the pure pop displayed here, but also sound a little folky at times. However, this vocal is ideally suited the splendid songwriting strength of Simon Pickles and in particular the performance of the band.

Caesar is pure second half of the eighties in all its Jangle Pop joy and it is the jangle that hits home most, although the guitar solos and arrangements run it close. Red Cocoon is very 60s Girl Pop, you can imagine the song on a 60s kitchen sink film.

Dirty London is lyrically adept and displays much more urgency than what surrounds it and the riff just grabs you. But it is the closing Indie Rock Goddess that is the stand out. Pickles gets a little Shirley Manson. thankfully without all that up itself fuzz.

The song is much more Indie Rock and all tongue in cheek attitude. The chorus is one of the best things that you will hear all year, a little American, a little Elastica or Sleeper. It is a top notch end to a top notch album. Available as a download or CD or 7 Inch Vinyl EP, this is an essential addition to your collection.

You can listen to and buy any of the formats here. You can find out more about the band here.

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The Pale White - A New Breed

 

We could get back into the debate of whether 6 songs is an EP or a mini album and mention that many Power Pop albums are not much longer than the 22 minutes revealed here. But let's not and instead celebrate the excellence of The Pale White.

The Newcastle Trio have been getting more and more attention and deservedly so. They have the happy knack of being in touch with the new breed of Guitar bands that have emerged over the past couple of years, but having far more substance.

The I Love You, Yes I Do, You Know its True is not for them. Instead you have great riff driven albums that are excellently arranged and produced. This allows them to appeal much wider audiences than their peers. They can do everything from 60s Beat to Indie Rock, Pop Rock to Big Rock, Brit Pop to something approaching Psych. They have it all.

These six tracks show plenty of their range. Dogs reminds me of the better fringe of Brit Pop, similar to the likes of Octopus and Straw who demonstrated great melodic arrangements that fitted the current trends, but also gave great nods to what has gone before. It is a cracking song, but all six here are.

How Far Can You Push A Man flirts with Prog and 70s Pop Rock, whilst List Of Enemies is great 90s College Noise Rock delivered with plenty of Fuzz at an urgent pace with just a hint of Muse. Time Bomb has more of an 80s vibe at times mixing say INXS with a great anthem chorus.

There has been a lot of attention given to the opener, Validate Me, fairly it has to be said. It has everything you need in an Indie Pop Rock song. A killer chorus just takes it up another level and a killer riff, but the real joy is the closer, Taste The Sun.

The song reveals everything that was great about Brit Pop with big 60s hints in the arrangement. That period was never really about Oasis, it was songs like the quality of this. It is an epic affair that rounds off a belter of an album. The Pale White leave you wanting more as all great bands do and I suspect that the future is large for these three.

You can buy the album everywhere and it is available to listen to on all the streaming sites including YouTube Music here. You can find out more about the band here.   

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The Luck Of Eden Hall - An Introduction To The Luck Of Eden Hall

 

There are a number of things to celebrate with this release. Firstly, it would be the magnificence of Mr Curvey. We have delighted in the growth and recognition of his current adventures with Custard Flux, but it was The Luck Of Eden Hall that led us there for a period of over 25 years.

Secondly, we can acknowledge the wonderful Fruits De Mer label and its ability to release albums that are consistently more than interesting. This year saw the introduction of the An Introduction To series starting with Us And Them, followed by this and Bevis Frond are soon to follow.

Finally, it is a personal thing for me. For all the types and genres of music that I listen to, my first love is Psych Pop and many think that the genre is just one thing, I am here to assure you that it isn't. There are elements that lean heavily to Pop such as Toytown and the likes of Orgone Box.

There are others in the middle, Cotton Mather being a great example and there are those that lean more towards Psych and The Luck Of Eden Hall are probably the best exponents of this groove. The band had an ability to veer off into spellbinding territory instrumentally, but keep things in an even keel with melodic vocals.

This collection covers appearances on the FdeM label. It is predominantly covers, but these covers have a unique stamp on them. There are songs that you will obviously be aware of such as Something In The Air, SF Sorrow Is Born and Stop Stop Stop.

But there are also great selections that you may not of amongst songs from the likes of The Count Five and The Association. There is even a Beatles cover which of course is not what you would expect ant everyday band to choose.

The centrepiece is a cover of Yes's Starship Trooper. It all starts pretty faithful until the closing Steve Howe riff and then just explodes into Psych, Rock and Prog racking up just under 19 minutes of sheer wonder that you simply do not want to end.

This is a fine place to start with The Luck Of Eden Hall, but you really should investigate their album discography to get the full flavour of what an outstanding band they were. Fortunately we still have Custard Flux, but would we be there without the excellence of this Chicago outfit?

As with all Fruits De Mer albums this is a physical release, only available on CD. FdeM have unexpectedly sold out but copies are still available from The Luck Of Eden Hall site here.

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IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 60

After an absence akin to nipping for a paper and never returning, Lord Lucan-esque, The IDHAS 10 Song Mix returns. It is ready to liven a quiet week on here. due to the Internet going on strike. The ISP had to bring a cherry picker and everything to get us up again. The Mix will now be fortnightly and from Volume 61 will include a write up on each of the 10 songs chosen on I Don't Hear A Single.

10 Songs in 34 minutes and with its unreasonably long absence, it had to return with a cracker and this is exactly that. As well as revealing that new music continues to thrive, it demonstrates how buoyant the Indie scene is. The songs are not placed in the order of preference, just in a way that makes the mix flow. There are many album reviews to get through from tomorrow.

 Here is the playlist of the ten songs this week :

01 The Jellybricks - Monday's Never

02 The Len Price Three - Man Out Of Time

03 The Journals Kept - Heartache

04 The Veras - Something To Say

05 Jonny Swift - She Said

06 Spearside - Trendsetters

07 Silent Forum - Cat Pose

08 Shangri-Lass - Father's Daughter

09 Diners - The Power

10 The Mommyheads - Such Beautiful Things

IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 60

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Listening To This Week Playlist

 

The latest Listening To This Week is brought to you by 4G this week, running as usual from Monday to Sunday. In a week when everything seems to have broken down, the router packed up on Saturday evening. Hence this being posted a little early as we work round things until the new router arrives.

26 songs for your aural pleasure. 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.

Armchair Oracles - Nilsson Wilson

Friends With Boats - The Point

Kyle Poppen - Save Me

On Being An Angel - Playin' It Cool

The Idiot Kids - Wilted Bloom

Sorry Monks - What You Make It

DeeOhGee - NaNaNa

Way Down The Rainbow - Pool Party

Espumu - Multiplying Colours

Scarlet Drive - If I Knew Your Name

A.N.J.A. - The Season Of Evil

Carousels - The Fine Line

Crash Exhibition - Alright

Frankly - Figure of Speech

Dave Burn - World In My Way

Adam's Sister - My Life Might Suck (But So Do You)

Twins Sport - Luminous

Meatball Sludge - Disco Fang

Baïki - Les Boites

Soft Contact - Boyfriend In A Band

Local Hero - End Of The World

TV Death - Scarecrow

Joschko - Home Without Bed

Teenage Tom Petties - This One's On You

The Fit - Turn to Gold

Urban Hane - Nätter Utan Drömmar

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Redprint - The Plan

Many people get sniffy about Cover Bands and I understand that when wigs are adorned for T Rox or Pink Flood. but most bands to some extent begin with covers and debut album tour setlist are awash with such. We also forget how learning these songs adds to musicianship and direction.

Dutch quartet, Reprint, began as a cover band over a decade ago and this has resulted in one hell of a debut EP. I've found myself listening to more rockier stuff lately, more of a diversion as you can get blocked up with all the crashing chords and big choruses. 

I've not grown my hair (well I have a bit, but that's because I'm too lazy to go to the Barbers and currently exhibit a sort of Robyn Hitchcock look) and I have not gone all banging. These diversions have to be melodic, well performed and vary across Classic Rock, Psych and Prog and riff driven.

Thankfully, Reprint cover all those bases. In many ways they remind me of Rush in their early days without the concepts and the lyrical depth, but instrumentally. They also exhibit a massive amount of power. A groove and boy do they hit it.

You find yourself engrossed in the hypnotic riffs, wonderfully so, yes this is Rock, but it has such a melodic bent that you become completely hooked. Immersion's eight minutes combine Classic Rock, Prog, 90s College Rock and Harder Rock and do it so well. It is a monster of a song with a monster extended solo.

Stop Running is built on a belting riff whilst Telephone is much more in Classic Rock. Herd fairly races along and Colour Me Insane mixes slight Desert Rock with big hints of Prog and is very Rush. The biggest take of the EP is how well these four can play.

The biggest plus I got was the reaction to Immersion on this week's Listening To This Week. It was so favourable from listeners and showed how many followers have open ears. It is not often that a 7 minute 55 seconds track creates such as a buzz, particularly when it is surrounded by Guitar Pop.

You can listen to the EP here and on the streaming sites. I just wish it was available to buy as the band deserve recompense for a recording as great as this.

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