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Gimme 5! Natalie Sweet Shares Her 5 Favorite Go-Go’s songs

By / / Indie Pop, Power Pop / 3 Comments

With ‘Gimme 5!’ we take a peek into the collections of artists we admire. The premise is simple: artists WE like share 5 records THEY love.

The Go-Go’s arguably are one of the most succesful all-girl bands of all time. It’s kinda crazy how quickly the band catapulted from the LA punk scene into having a #1 record. By writing their own music and unapologetically rockin’ out on stage, The Go-Go’s inspired kids around the globe to pick up an instrument and get at it themselves. To celebrate the LA band, Sympathy For The Record Industry will soon release a massive 24-track tribute called If You Gotta Go-Go, Go-Go Now. Featured on the album are powerpop royalty (Paul Collins, Josie Cotton, Holly & The Italians, Fastbacks, Nikki Corvette & Mike Skill of The Romantics), and contemporary pop punk and power pop legends (and Add To Wantlist faves) like The Yum Yums, The Suitesixteen, Pale Lips, Baby Shakes, Juniper and Natalie Sweet – this Facebook page offers the full track list and artist profiles.

In anticipation of the album we reached out to massive Go-Go’s aficionado Natalie Sweet. Natalie, whose contribution to the tribute (He’s So Strange) we cannot wait to hear, was kind enough to to share her favorite five six Go-Go’s songs with us. Not an easy task: “There are just so many classics as far as I’m concerned and I’m a Libra….but I’ll give it my best shot anyways!” Read and listen below for a countdown of the songs. Natalie’s explanations reveal a love for the band that is contagious and we hope you get as excited about revisiting these songs as we did.  [post continues below]

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New single: Sister Suzie || Don’t Want To

By / / Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Straight from a garage in Edmonton (Canada) to your heart, here’s the latest single by Sister Suzie. Sister Suzie plays the kind of music that rocks and roll hard. The short and sweet Claws, with its Donnas/Runaways vibe, is my favorite track on the single. But the remaining pair of tracks  are from fillers. Don’t Want To and Are You Gonna (Give Me A Kiss) have a decidedly more bluesy and glammy sound, and plenty of swagger to get you head boppin’ and your foot stompin’.

Another strong joint release by Reta Records and Surfin’ Ki! Pre-order now to get the vinyl color and cover variant of your liking.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp ||| Discogs || Surfin’ Ki

New album: Eric Stephen Martin || Dreamlike

By / / Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

Eric Stephen Martin is a multi-talented artist from Dartmouth (Canada). I recently wrote about his side project Rick The Loser. Under that moniker he plays timeless pop songs disguised as slack indie rock and garage pop. Dreamlike is his first full length under his own name, and the record has a more traditional sound, somewhere between singer songwriter and folk. It’s the kind of music I seldom get excited about. Dreamlike is an exception to that rule. These songs are gorgeous in all their heartbreaking glory. Above all, they sound heartfelt and real and a strong support cast, including Joel Plaskett, Mo Kenney, and Bill Stevenson (the award- winning jazz and blues pianist, not the drummer of Descendents), take the songs to another level.

Unsurprisingly, Eric Stephen Martin describes the record the most meaningful and personal collection of songs he’s written in his life. I, for one, am grateful for Martin’s willingness to share these songs with the world.



Add the wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: L.A. Exes || Get Some

By / / Indie Pop, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

I recently stumbled upon a performance of Best Coast on Letterman from ten years ago. L.A. Exes, a new band from L.A. (duh), made me think of that video. Not only because L.A. Exes play a similar brand of sunshine powerpop, but also because the songs on their debut Get Some are so insanely well crafted and infectious, I wouldn’t be surprised to see L.A. Exes touring late night television sooner than later. What makes L.A. Exes stand out from Best Coast though is how they incorporate ’60s girl group influences in their songs. Add in some cool harmonies and, in alignment with their name, snarky/cheeky lyrics about their exes, and you get a winning concept.

Get Some is the kind of record that could appeal to a broad audience. Songs like Skinny Dipping, Baby Let’s Pretend will steal the hearts of punks and power poppers whereas songs like West Keys and Get Some are full blown pop. And while the former are instant hits for me, I must admit I’m falling fall for the pop side as well.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New single: Alvilda || Négatif

By / / Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Nina, Eva, Sandra and Melanie make up Alvilda, a new jangly powerpop sensation from Paris, France. The press release namedrops The Shangri Las and Protex and that is spot on, because this four song EP is a perfect mix of both bands. Their bouncy songs are full of energy and a lot of fun, but also really well executed and sound strikingly authentic like this is some long lost late seventies gem. Alvilda mix ’60s girl group with ’70s Good Vibrations pop punk influences and je t’aime it a lot. It’s insane that these are the first recordings of the band. What a find by Alien Snatch! Let’s hope it’s the start of a prolific career.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Mystery Girl || Mystery Girl

By / / Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

What better way to return from a short summer break with a record that is fun, catchy and rocks like crazy. Albany’s (NY) finest garagepoppers Mystery Girl recently released their first full length LP, which offers eleven glammy garagepop’n’roll nuggets. The record is the highly anticipated follow up to the band’s 2019 killer single Heartbreaker. The music of Mystery Girl is like a death match between sleazy guitars in one corner and pop hooks in the opposite, with one clear winner from the fight: the audience. I bet fans of Dirty Fences, Tough Shits and Barreracudas will go crazy for this one. Out now on Boulevard Trash (US) and No Front Teeth (UK).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New single: Spells & Hooper || Rock N Roll Swap Meet: Day 1

By / / Indie Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

Snappy Little Numbers is a record label that is so productive, it’s almost impossible to keep up with their releases. And, because the label’s roster is so diverse it’ll depend on your taste pallet how much of these releases are for you. Here is a split single that definitely is for me. Two rockin’ punkrock bands, Hooper and Spells, cooperate for the first installment of a new single series from the label. The idea? Two bands cover eachother’s songs, and they also write a song for the other band to record.

Does it work? In this case: yes! Two songs stand out particularly for me. The first is Hooper’s version of Forget About Virgina, a Spells original that fits the band like a glove. The second highlight is the song Hooper wrote for Spells. Corporate Welfare Queen is a short anthem that wastes no time in winning you over, and reminds me in a good way of Avail. Snappy Little Numbers is off to a strong start of what looks to be a fun single series.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Vacation || Existential Risks And Returns

By / / Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

It’s summer, and as you may have noticed, we will be posting less frequently this month. What better band to do a post about than Vacation? The Cincinatti (Ohio) indiepunkers have been quite prolific in the past, with their Southern Grass double album in 2017 as their most ambitious project, but their new album is their first in three years. Like on their previous records, expect a catchy and energetic blend of punkrock, powerpop, grunge and GBV-fi – the band self-describes as grit pop. I’ve always enjoyed this band’s records. One of Vacation’s strengths is that they know how to balance between more noisy experimental songs, and really infectious and hooky pop songs. Existential Risks And Returns is no exception. Stand out tracks for me are Colored By Numbers, Luminary Jerry, and Quantum Cafe, but from past experiences, I already predict that’s subject to change.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: The Umbrellas || The Umbrellas

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

It’s a good thing music is not a competition, because right now there is a staggering amount of frontrunners in the indie and jangle pop field. After a slow start to the year, we had top notch releases from bands like Massage, The Telephone Numbers, The Laughing Chimes, Quivers, Holiday Ghosts and many others. Add The Umbrellas to this list, because they just released a magnificent self-titled debut LP on the ever reliable Slumberland Records. Of all before mentioned bands, The Umbrellas arguably is the most twee. Fans of Sarah Records and bands like Comet Gain, Tullycraft and The Pastels likely will embrace The Umbrellas within ten seconds of album opener Lonely. Despite the dark undertones of the lyrics, this is feel good music. The Umbrellas’ music is made for summer, even when it’s raining.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Animal Steel || A Surefire Way To Get Sober

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Here is an example of how the artwork drew me in, and the music made me stay. A Surefire Way To Get Sober may be The Animal Steel’s debut album, but its members have been playing music since the ’90s. Unburdened by a need to be cool – they are dads nowadays, the record is simply a product of true passion and love. From the first couple of songs it’s clear that approach pays off for the band. They play a heartfelt blue-collar kind of punkrock that incorporates elements of emocore (think Boysetsfire) and orgcore (somewehere between Iron Chic and The Ship Thieves). Good music, good artwork, nice vinyl color. There are worse, much worse ways to spend your money.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

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