Handful Of Hits, the latest album of The Cry! frontman Tommy Ray, has been online for a couple of months, but for some reason I haven’t posted about it yet. Now’s as good a time as ever, because Beluga Records has picked it up for a vinyl release with updated album art. A subtitle for the record would be: ‘the home lockdown recordings,’ since it’s primarily a solo performance recorded at home during the lockdowns. If you are familiar with Tommy Ray’s previous output, you should know what to expect. If not, his music will push just the right buttons if you like your powerpop drenched in late ’70s punk & glamrock and ’60s rock-n-roll. Handful Of Hits is the follow up to First Hits Free (2020). That record contained several leftovers from the yet to be released (if ever?) third record from The Cry! I liked that one quite a lot, but overall, I think Handful Of Hits beats that record in terms of songwriting and consistency. Despite the (false) modesty in the album title, the number of hits on this one exceed the fingers on my hand. In Love Again and Feel The Pain are instant classics, and songs like One Step Closer and Runnin’ will make you want to test the maximum volume of your sound system. Handful Of Hits will be out June 4th. Pre-order the vinyl now and stream the full album here.
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