Wyldlife - Sorted

 

Although there are obvious signs that Wyldlife fit the Wicked Cool label well with their noisy, slightly sleazy. Guitar driven and a hint of Garage Rock, there is much more here to enjoy. In the five years since Year Of The Snake, there seems a change. The New York quartet seem more aligned to the new wave of Power Pop.

And what a wave that is. Power Pop needed change. It had become uncool, sort of laughed at and more interested in celebrating the past than anything that was new. This new breed have brought a noisier scuzzy blend of the genre, more loose and certainly more in your face.

It has become far more interesting. The riffs, melody and massive choruses are still present, but the vibe is more street, more urgent and so you can appreciate that a band as good as Wyldlife but would be great at it and they are with massive interest. 

The rhythm section always needs to be strong and it is here. But this is a Guitar album, a glorious Guitar album built on Riff after Riff and the vocals of Dave Feldman. It is anthemic at times, but always gripping. You can shake your fist whilst singing along. The choruses are totally splendid.

There are exceptions to the Power Pop theory. Generate 2 Terminate is great Garage Rock and Bystander is incendiary with its urgency, part Noise Rock, part Classic Rock and even hinting at Classic Rock. Goes Without Saying even gets close to UK New Wave.

The major stand out is Dizzy, a wonderful example of how engaging Brit Pop can be. Wyldlife are a band who know what they are doing, but I didn't expect all these glorious choruses and it will be high up in our end of year celebrations.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.

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The Shipbuilders - Hills Of Mexico

 

From the banks of the Mersey and a city we like to call Liverpool come The Shipbuilders. We've been fortunate enough to have had plenty of time to listen to their corking second album, This Blue Earth.
That is released on 11 July with an album launch at Bluecoat in Liverpool on 18 July.

Bluecoat Chambers is dear to my heart, a place where I spent a lot of my misguided youth. The album will be reviewed here just after the release date, but the band have released the lead single, Hills Of Mexico. Initially, we were gonna put it on next week's Listening To This Week, but the video is too good to stick in a corner. and deserves a viewing.

The intro beautifully tells you what the song is all about.

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Listening To This Week Playlist

Welcome to this week's Listening To This Week Playlist. 24 splendid songs and a fine mix of genres. As well as the traditional version, we have put the playlist on Spotify and you will see the link below. Remember this is early days on Spotify, so the following there is nowhere near our one here. Only 22 of the 25 songs are available on Spotify.

The weekly playlist is largely for submissions, not just the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  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. 

The Spotify Version    

Link To Spotify

The Mayflies USA - Thought The Rain Was Gone

The Wind Ups - (That's Just My) Dream Girl

The Velvoids - Because I Love Her

The Electorate - Don't Go Out

TC Tenet - Animals (Live Session)

Canada Hill - Hit!

Canada Hill · Hit!

Gawld - The Run

Will Echo - Mirror

Jumbo Chords - Beg Borrow Scream

The Airport 77s - Make 'Em Pay (Don't Make It Easy)

Marcus: The Apex Predator! - Plenty & Shine

McGet - Not Even Friends

Rzn8Str - Ze-4

Fara San - Long Lost Lover

The Sunset Donkeys - Blow (Won't Let You Go)

Omo Cloud - Ultimate Love

The Avenues - Insomniac

Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate - Living With Uncertainty

Andy Lampert - The Bottommost Of The Poppermost

Emanuele Barbati with L'emancipation - Mon Coeur

Freedom Fry - A Farewell

Sanny Veloo - Warning Signs

The Horizons - Broken

T. G. Shand - The Deadpan Break

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The Mayflies USA - Kickless Kids

 

The Mayflies USA leapt into focus riding the wave of the Chapel Hill NC scene in 1996 and released a debut album, Summertown, that still sounds as great as it did then. Aided by Chris Stamey as Producer on all three albums, it ended in 2002 after their third album.

The band went off to be successful in their chosen directions until this fourth album, 23 years on and what a reunion it is. Most seem to be calling them Power Pop, but Kickass Kids is much more than that. There are familiar handclaps and songs that are Power Pop, but the majority is spent in a much wider field.

There are touches of Pop Rock, Jangle Pop and even Americana, but they still have that second hand of the 90s American vibe. Melodic, well performed and arranged songs cross the decades without the band retaining their own identity.

Jewel Of Russia comes across all 1979 UK New Wave and Thought The Rain Was Gone may be the best thing that you will hear all year, an absolute Tour De Force Pop Rock song. You will hear that on the new Listening To This Week Playlist later..

Yet Railway Spine is very West Coast, almost Country at times and the closer, Roll It Down The Line is pure Americana. Cabbagetown is splendid Pop, yet Come On Down is more Front Porch with a wonderful weeping steel guitar accompaniment.

Kickless Kids is the sound of a band who know what they are doing, experience may have mellowed but the songwriting and playing shows the benefit of experience. It also underlines the joy of the album format. This is something to be listened to from start to finish and then played again.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.

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Welcome To June

I've already tried to get my arse in gear with three reviews posted earlier and June will be the month of reviews as we are so far behind. After telling you about a record month last month, May smashed that into oblivion with over 75,000 views.

I find it quite surprising to be honest. The last two months have been our quietest for Review numbers, yet IDHAS has gone ballistic. This has led to far more enquiries than normal, combined with a really busy time of change in my real life work. So time has been eaten up. 

Fortunately, I am on a week off all of next week, so expect tons of Reviews. I hope the volume doesn't mean you miss out on things, because there are some cracking albums to tell you all about. The Listening To This Week Playlist has also taken on a life of its own. It was only meant to be a small addition. Then again when I started IDHAS, that was only meant to have a few regulars. 

We expect to hit 2 million views this month, followed by our 9th Anniversary on 19 July. We are not really into self congratulation and with all the Reviews that need to be caught up on, it is unlikely that we will be arranging anything special for either date.

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Fara San - Fara San EP

 

Fara San are a trio who first played together as teenagers and have reunited for this splendid EP. The trio are Alex Lewis, Tom Shotton and long time I Don't Hear A Single friend, Nick Frater. Anything Frater is involved in is never less than interesting and this EP continues this thread.

Frater is known for his pop credentials, but here we have a much more Indie Rock feel, aided by Lewis taking on the vocals. Indie Rock, in the traditional sense, is only really relevant on the opener, Give And Go, a wonderfully restrain, almost melancholic song.

What follows takes on a much wider field. Locked Down is built on an ace chorus, but builds into Psych Pop joy. Long Lost Lover is a jaunty affair with a Jangle that grabs you. Sara jangles again, but has folk tinge with another great chorus that gets a little New Wave Guitar Pop.

What really surprises is a cover of Elliott Smith's Clementine. Not for these three, the original ballad, but a throughly great Noise Pop version that is almost Punk. Produced and Mixed by Frater, this is a great listen, a real surprise to me. 

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

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Those Looks - Passing Through

 

I, and maybe many more, associate New Jersey with noisy Indie Rock, so to listen to the exact opposite from there was a surprise and a delight. Passing Through is far more relaxed, without ever being boring. I suppose you might call this Indie Pop, but that isn'r half the story.

Those Looks are a quartet that came to our attention via a LTTW Playlist submission, but digging further unearthed the new 5 song offering. Kelly Bolding has the voice of an angel, it completely captivates you. A vocal that you might normally hear on something wistful.

But the quality of both the playing and arrangements take the mini album much farther afield. Palace Of Depression is a magnificent song, more upbeat instrumentally, verging on Jangle Pop with a catch all chorus, revealing a different side of the band.

All This Room is more laidback, but built around another fine arrangement and a weeping Guitar solo that captivates. In Tongues gets even moodier, Bossa Nova at times with a far away feel to another great Guitar sound and adding a wonderful harmonic chorus.

Bolding's vocal has a more fragile tone on Anti-Muse, a song that feels more Pop Rock, a little Fleetwood Mac. Passing Through has another ace arrangement, very hypnotic and a little melancholic. It is the song that introduced me to the band.

It is a brave choice as an opener, particular with the jauntiness on show elsewhere, but it really showcases the strength of the harmonies and the inspiring Guitar sound. The whole thing is a great fulfilling listen. This is the reason that I love what I do, there is always an element of surprise to delight.

You can listen to and buy Passing Through here. It is available on CD or as a download.

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Proper - Meant To Say Something

 

There seems to be a real revival of later 70s UK New Wave and The Sound Of Woking, including Mod Pop, all well and good, as long as the quality is there, something that could be lacking in its original days as the wave allowed a good deal of mediocrity away from the top notch.

Fortunately, Proper are the real thing and being on the excellent Spinout Nuggets label will help them enormously. The quartet have been around a decade and developed an excellent live reputation that has not translated to the volume of recordings that the band undoubtedly deserve.

They are also able to translate the sound away from New Wave into 60s UK Beat and the mid 80s Indie pre C86. Proper know what they are about with a superb rhythm section and a twin guitar formation that has no problem leading with riffs or branching out into something more noisier instrumentally.

This allows them to be comfortable in Post Punk and these boys can play. Extended outros reveal both that  and how tight the four of them are. No song outlasts its welcome, three minute gems that grip you and hypnotise at will.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.

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