Niek

New single: Uni Boys || Long Time No See

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

Uni Boys self-released two highly enjoyable records in 2020 which I kind of lost track off and had to include in my overlooked records end-of-the-year retrospect. The LA band’s first release of 2021 is a two song single, and the band’s first to get pressed on vinyl (thanx Curation Records!). Both songs won me over on the first spin. Uni Boys sounds like an authenthic ’70s powerpop band. I can see fans of the music of Matthew Melton (Bare Wires, Warm Soda) warm easily to this single as well.  Both songs set a high standard for the band’s next full-length. But, if they can pull it off we’re talking AOTY contenders. One word review of this single: HITS!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Curation Records

New album: Fastbacks || Mural Amphitheater, Seattle, WA, August 25, 1986.

By / / Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

We all have bands we should definitely like, but for various reasons never really gave the chance. Perhaps you were listening to different stuff when they were at their best, or perhaps their back catalogue has become too daunting to dive into. Or, the constant flow of new music makes it hard to find time to check out older stuff. A prime example of this for me is Fastbacks. This is a band with a poppy punk sound (or vice versa) that is right in my wheelhouse, yet I don’t own any music from.

So when Bachelor Records recently dropped us a note on how proud they were to release a live album from one of their favorite bands, my first response was a sense of guilt. But it was the positive, motivating kind of guilt, because it made me actually check out the recording of this 1986 show in the band’s hometown of Seattle.  And wouldn’t you know, this one clicks with me in spite of the first two songs not sounding particularly good; the opening of the show wasn’t recorded on the multitrack, so audience recordings have been used instead. The rest of the record, newly remixed but not fixed or overdubbed, sounds decidedly better, and I finally understand why this is a band that I should’ve checked out long ago. This truly is some catchy punky powerpop, and the voice of singer and bass player Kim Warnick is great. And the 15 song set, including several covers like Good Lovin’ by The Young Rascals, and a raucous version of Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane, offers a great introduction to the band’s discography. The video of the show is pretty cool as well, and the static video recording in combination with the dance moves of the audience offers a somewhat unnerving time capsule to a different era.

So yeah, thanx to Bachelor Records, I finally spend some time with Fastbacks, and I’m in! Help me out, which one of their records should I definitely check out?



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Bachelor Records

New album: Motorists || Surrounded

By / / Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop / 1 Comment

The Motorists debut album Surrounded evokes an immediate sense of nostalgia, particularly to the jangly powerpop of the ’80s but also to the postpunk and other guitar-oriented genres from that era. Craig Fahner, Matt Learoyd, and Jesse Locke make up the band from Canada. They started three years ago, although the member have a history of being in bands together going back to their teenage years. Past bands of Fahner, Learoyd and Locke include Feel Alright, Leather Jacuzzi, Tough Age, Simply Saucer, We Knew and Chandra.

Motorists first caught my ears with their excellent 2020 EP From The Wreckage. Its follow up Surrounded is by no means a perfect album, and the fact that Motorists do not try to hide their imperfections is part of their charm. It gives the song an authentic rough-around-the-edges feel and I’m pretty sure the band will sound more or less like this at their live shows. Fahner (guitar) and Learoyd (bass) alternate and complement each other well, and in combination with the steady beat of Locke, they give each song a distinct vibe. The power pop oriented songs are my favorites, and Through To You is the kind of underground hit that wouldn’t look out of place on any powerpop lost hits compilation from the 70s or 80s. The more postpunk oriented songs like title track Surrounded work as well, particularly because Motorists has a talent for offsetting angular riff heavy verses with catchy and straightforward choruses. I am definitely buying this co-release by We Are Time, Debt Offensive and Bobo Integral Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Friends Of Cesar Romero || War Party Favors

By / / Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Friends of Cesar Romero is kind of an enigma. It’s a band that has consistently been churning out tunes with hit potential, yet somehow stayed off the radar. War Party Favors is the bands eleventh (!) full length, and there is a large batch of EPs and singles as well. Most of these releases are digital only, which is great in terms of flexibility and speed of releasing new music, but may explain the elusiveness of the band. The principal member and songwriter of Friend of Cesar Romero is J. Waylon Porcupine, who is from Rapid City (South Dakota) and a proud member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.

Porcupine has a huge back catalogue of over 300 songs, mostly recorded and produced solo. It’s an insane number, and yet the songs on War Party Favors, like most of Porcupine’s songs, never outstay their welcome. They are poignant and melodic powerpop songs with a punk edge, and Porcupine’s voice has a grit size that matches the music perfectly. Snappy Little Numbers is releasing the record on CD, and I am hoping it’s the start of a bigger fanbase, because the songs of Friends Of Cesar Romero deserve to be heard.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Liquid Mike || Stuntman

By / / Indie Rock, Power Pop / 4 Comments

Liquid Mike is a five piece from Marquette, Michigan who just dropped their debut album Stuntman. Liquid Mike’s principal songwriter is Michael Maple, who started the band after his previous band (We Should Be Laughing) more or less dissipated with band members moving to different areas. I wrote about another project of Maple (MikeTeeeVeee) earlier this year, and if you like to hear early versions of some of the songs on Stuntman, make sure to check Maple’s bandcamp page.  Liquid Mike features one other WSBL member (synth player Monica), and is joined by three other songwriting and recording musicians: Raymond Little of The Thirties (guitar), Heather Evans (bass), and Cody Marecek of Yard Waste (drums). That accumulation of talent may help to explain why this band sounds so damn good. Liquid Mike clearly is collective with great taste in music unfitted to write songs that suck. The band’s sound is somewhere between indie punk and indie rock, with sufficient pace, energy and melody to appeal to punk and powerpop fans, and with enough diversity to appeal to fans of classic indie rock and ’80s US underground pop. Fans of bands like The Promise Ring and Laika’s Orbit should also take note of this band.

It’s discoveries like these why we started this website. My current favorite track on the record is Employee Of The Month, but I haven’t found myself skipping any of the other songs yet.  Don’t expect Liquid Mike to be a flash-in-the-pan one-hit-wonder. A new batch of songs is already in the works. Not bad for a band that has to go through lengths to get some practice done. As Maple explains: “For as long as we’ve been together, we’ve only rehearsed outside in the middle of the woods with a gas generator in a place called Forestville. It’s the only spot we have where we can be loud.”



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Dazy || MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs

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

Be careful what you wish for. Earlier this year, I wrote about Dazy. I mentioned how I hoped James Goodson, who is the artist/music publicist/podcast host behind this one-man band, would someday release his best work on a LP. There is no LP yet, but we do get a digital/cassette compilation of all of the songs Dazy has recorded so far, including three new songs. And that’s a lot: MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD has 24 tracks of hook filled fuzzy ’90s alt pop. What stands out even more than the quantity of Dazy’s output is its consistent quality. Good luck in finding a filler track among these songs. Don’t just take my word for it, here are some blurbs from Bandcamp supporters that I fully agree with:
“It’s brand new music that makes me nostalgic. That’s why we listen, isn’t it?” (Foobella)
“It’s like someone passed the 90s through a filter so only the best bits were left: fuzzy guitars and massive hooks.” (Mark Grassick)
“We are witnessing the beginning of something truly great.” (Captain_Codeine)

MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD is out now on cassette at Convulse Records in a limited run of 50, which of course is already sold out. Fingers crossed that this gets pressed on vinyl eventually.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New Album: Chubby And The Gang || The Mutt’s Nuts

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Speed Kills, the debut album from Chubby And The Gang, was a pure adrenaline rush. Perhaps there is some recency bias on my part, but I have trouble recalling a more exciting debut in the past decade – it was my favorite record of 2020. How do you follow up a record that special and that succesful? Chubby And The Gang seem less interested in that question than the serious music critics, because on their sophomore album the band does whatever they feel like. The Mutt’s Nuts is a different beast altogether while still very recognizably Chubby And The Gang. The band did not try to replicate Speed Kills, although The Mutt’s Nuts has that same violent threat of street punk and the agressive rush of hardcore: The first couple of tracks on The Mutt’s Nuts would have fit perfectly on Speed Kills. The rest of the record shows that the band has more to offer and is unafraid to create their own path. Try sitting still to the Malcolm Youngesque guitar riff over a thumping bass in Coming Up Tough, or the pub rock’n’ roll of Life On The Bayou and Lightning Don’t Strike Twice. There is even some tasteful soulful balladry in songs like I Hate The Radio and Life’s Lemons.

If Speed Kills was a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart, The Mutt’s Nuts is more like a surprise seven course meal where you never know what is coming up next. Ultimately, it offers a more diverse rush that likely is healthier in the longer term for mind, body and soul. This is one hell of an album.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Bambies || Summer Soon

By / / Garage Rock, Power Pop / 1 Comment

My summer was pretty good, but right now my return to work and blogging feels like one giant game of catchup and I am getting no way close. This may explain why Summer Soon by Canadian three piece Bambies is such a welcome record. Uncomplicated and upbeat, Bambies play the kind of garage pop punk’n’roll that mixes bubblegum goodness with Heartbreakers swagger. From the one-two opening punch of Dirty Taint and Summer Soon, through the glam hit Tear Off My Face, it’s clear that Bambies is a band that sounds fun because they are having fun. It’s exactly what I need right now. Add Bambies to an already long list of cool Canadian bands. There was a time I associated Canada with its beautiful nature. Nowadays, my first association with Canada is great garage and power pop.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Wanda (EU) || Spaghetty Town

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

By / / Indie Pop, Power Pop / 4 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

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