Jangle Pop

New album: Magon || Did You Hear The Kids?

After a stint in France, Israeli singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Magon has now settled in Costa Rica, where he recorded his sixth album  Did You Hear The Kids?, released just half a year after his successful previous LP Enter By The Narrow Gate. You’ll hear nine original songs in which the sunny outdoors echo both musically and lyrically, with an understated pace (the sound is very relaxed) and all kinds of personal references (Magon thanks his family for endless inspiration). Standout track is Johnny Was A Son Of A Bitch, with jangly melodies and seductive “ooh la la la” chorus, but the other tunes are also quite appealing – again.



Did You Hear The Kids? is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through December Square. Magon handled vocals, guitars, ukulele, bass, synths, percussion and drums all by himself, but he got help on a few tracks – from Louise Bou (backing vocals) and Alan Borg (guitar) on Onie Was A Kid, and by Cary Morin (pedal steel) on Havana Bay.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Jack Cades || Something New

Half a year ago we raved about The Jack Cades’ 45 Something New b/w Chasing You, which left us looking forward to more. The UK garage rock four-piece now adds eleven fresh tunes (including a successful cover of The Velvet Underground’s Temptation Inside Your Heart) to those two songs, which together make up their third LP, which is also titled Something New. We know the musicians – Elsa Whittaker (rhythm guitar, organ, vocals), Mike Whittaker (lead guitar, vocals), Alexandra Cools (bass), Matthew “Mole” Lambert (drums) – from bands like The Missing Souls, The Baron Four, Thee Vicars, The Evil Thingies, Groovy Uncle and The Higher State, but the sound here is less raucous than what they did there. This record is a psychedelic surf trip, with guitars delightfully jangling away. Sun-kissed fun, let the summer begin.




Something New, produced by Ed Gizzard, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Beluga Records / Dangerhouse Skylab.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Beluga || Discogs

New album: Sumos || Surfacing

For a band called Sumos, Andrew Kilroy, Joel Sloan, Kyle Tarbuck and Siobhan Tarbuck look surprisingly fit. The Manchester band sounds good as well on their debut LP Surfacing. The record is out today on Meritorio and Safe Suburban Home Records after making some serious waves in the indie scene with their 2020 debut EP. Many of our respected fellow bloggers have been lauding the early singles of Surfacing, and to be honest, my hands have been itching to write about the band as well. We have a strict full release only policy on Add To Wantlist though. After all, our website is all about sharing music you can actually add to your wantlist, or better yet: purchase. Admittedly, we also apply the policy for our own health and safety given the onslaught of new tracks that musicians drop each hour of the day. But I’m drifting off, it’s finally time to explain why Sumos is near the top of my wantlist!

Reason 1: it has one of my favorite songs of 2023 in Small Talk, an energetic jangle pop hit. It’s no surprise the song stays just shy of the 3 minute mark, because it is a near perfect pop song.
Reason 2: Sumos are more punchy and pacey than your average indie pop band. I wouldn’t call them powerpop per se (the jangly brit pop label a more likely fit I guess), but the band has a pleasant edge that makes them stand out.
Reason 3: Sumos like to mix things up. The best example is Mostly Harmless, an outsider finger picking folky song that offers a breather in the middle part of Surfacing. The Other One is another outsider. It is the loudest and longest track and has a chorus that sends Neutral Milk Hotel vibes.
Reason 4: Sweet melodies in abundance!

I could go on, but I rather have the music convince you. Press play below and become a Sumos fan as well!




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Meritorio

New album: Bluest || Cold Sweat

We would like to introduce you to Bluest, an American indie rock five-piece inspired by 90s/00s angst pop. Songwriter Noelle Huser (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Erin Szalda-Petree (lead guitar, backing vocals), Duncan Szalda-Petree (bass), Ally Fradkin (keys, sax) and Caleb Tutty (drums) have just released their debut album Cold Sweat, one just like a diamond that keeps on growing. Listening to the eight songs you step into a cloudy dream world, on a search for meaning in daily life, especially regarding relationships: “Questioning everything // That’s where I’ll begin” (from Anemic). Expect layered and hazy music, with jangly guitars that occasionally go off the rails, menacing synths, and enchanting vocals.



Cold Sweat, recorded/produced by Chris Baumann, is out now digitally and on cassette through Anything Bagel. For fans of Alvvays, Soccer Mommy, Julien Baker, Snail Mail.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Autocamper || You Look Fabulous!

From Manchester (UK), Autocamper enters the ever-expanding jangle pop universe. The young four-piece featuring Jack (guitar, vocals), Niamh (keyboard, vocals), Arthur (drums, vocals) and Harry (bass) recently recorded three demos, now brought together on their official debut release You Look Fabulous!, whose compliment and tunes we gratefully accept. B-Side Ken Hom is a tape exclusive, but you can listen to the A-side – the melodic hit Never End and the Alvvays-esque Bonfire Night – below. This is charming and chiming C86 guitar pop that will brighten up your day.

You Look Fabulous!, recorded/produced by John Harkins, is out now digitally and on cassette through Discontinuous Innovation Inc.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Ashenden Papers || Night Walk

The Ashenden Papers are one of the projects of Californian singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jason Dezember. Together with some friends he recorded the eight songs that together form this Night Walk, actually a compilation of the previous four digital singles: Summer (August 2021), Fall (November 2021), Winter (March 2022) and Spring (June 2022). To be honest, I can’t immediately tell which tune belongs to which season – they all have both the twinkle of the spring sun and the color tones of autumn leaves. Jason told JanglePopHub how the tracks came about, making it sound easier that it must have actually been (about opening song Summer’s Coming On: “I wrote it during a camping trip; I was afraid I was going to forget it so kept singing it in my head all weekend until I was well tired of it”). Anyway, this is half an hour of delicious jangle pop that can be enjoyed all year round.


Night Walk is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Secret Center Records / Subjangle. Featuring Jason Dezember (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion), Leon Levy (bass), Matt Hull (drums), Ella Cross (vocals), Matt Bullimore (lead guitar on The Margins), Marie Davenport (bass and keys on The River Highway), and Rose Melberg (backing vocals on Summer’s Coming On and Little Jumpy T).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp (Secret Center) || Bandcamp (Subjangle)

New album: The Ekphrastics || Special Delivery

The Ekphrastics are a new band fronted by Frank Boscoe of The Gazetteers, Vehicle Flips, Wimp Factor 14. Mark Wolfe, Paul Coleman and John Lancia are the other members in the band who last week released their debut album Special Delivery. It’s one of those records that are an instant delight. The Ekphrastics write unassuming timeless indie pop tunes that are scrappy, lo-fi, and above all super catchy. The music will put a smile on the face of fans of underground pop, and the lyrics will further raise the corners of their mouths. “My neighbor works late, late at night // From my window I can see his basement light // His time zone is GMT+9 // That’s where all the best cryptocurrency is mined,” Boscoe sings in Making Fun Of Bitcoin. The song is a perfect combination of schadenfreude and FOMO.

Special Delivery is full of wry and sharp observations on every topics like landscape painting, ski accidents, track and field. One of the highlights on the record is a sequence that starts with the title track. In the song, The Ekphrastics write about a delivery man who, to his annoyance, has to make a special delivery to a woman named Becky Jane Joplin each day. “your driveway is long and your driveway is steep.” Then, in the subsequent song The Ballad Of Becky Jane Joplin, The Ekphrastics switch to the perspective of Becky Jane Joplin. We discover that she is actually fed up with her letter sending boyfriend and has fallen hard for her delivery man. The Ekphrastics, they are my kinda band!

Special Delivery is out now on CD at Harriet Records.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Terje Torkellsen || Loose Ends…

Terje Torkellsen is an Oslo-based Norwegian musician who has played in bands such as Hockney, Palmface, Mats Wawa, Plooms and Geetar, but has only caught our attention since breaking out solo. Last year’s Feeling Things EP was our first acquaintance, now there is also the full-length album Loose Ends​…. It features twelve jangly indie-pop songs – the four tracks from the mentioned EP are present – that are playful and warm, attractive and impossible not to like. The highlights include Go Up The Country, She’s Alright and Nobody Cares (we care!), that evoke a naive sense of optimism. These tunes are done short by labeling them as loose ends – probably the reason why there are three dots in the album title.



Loose Ends… is out now digitally and on CD through Subjangle.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Atomic Blue || Blurry Memories

It’s been a wonderful week for jangle pop fans. In the first place thanks to Mac DeMarco who released One Wayne G, a collection of 199(!) previously unreleased tunes. But we also heard nice new LP’s by Lachlan Denton (Furnishings), High Sunn (Heavenly Petticoat), Jody and the Jerms (Wonder) and The National Honor Society (To All The Distance Between Us), and a beautiful debut EP by Matt Aveiro and Daniel Garcia as Damaso (Reason Season).  That’s not even mentioning everything that came out, but I’d like to turn the spotlight on Atomic Blue. A trip by the Danish indie/dream pop band through California and neighboring states in the late summer of 2022 led to Blurry Memories: “The big sun over the expressway, the starry sky above the Canyons and a dreamy festival in the desert, gifted us with music sheets seemingly already written.” Rarely has an album title expressed the atmosphere that the record exudes so well. You’ll hear 12 songs that are hazy, jangly and sunny, with poetic lyrics that take your mind elsewhere: “You play your dreams and rewind.”



Blurry Memories is out now digitally and on vinyl LP (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Atomic Blue || Bandcamp

New album: Jody and the Jerms || Wonder

UK indie pop 5-piece Jody and the Jerms are back and proudly share full-length album number 3. Jody Jeger (vocals), her husband Niall Jeger (guitar, vocals), Peter James Millson (guitar, vocals), Robert Anwood (keys), David Meaden (bass) and Alex Bridge (drums, percussion) rise above themselves, both vocally and in terms of song structures and melodies they are moving towards perfection. Their new LP Wonder consists of 12 punk-influenced jangle pop tracks that directly address the listener: “You and I, just make believe” (from Started Something), “You, you and me // Are we the only dreamers // Who still believe? ” (Last Ones Standing), “You know I will bare my soul // For love // And bare my soul for you” (Bare), and so on. Those pretty relatable lyrics, combined with a sound that is sunny and uplifting but also has a sharp edge, make this a very enjoyable record that keeps getting better.



Wonder, produced by Mark Gardener, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP (self-released on JATJ Records).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Jody and the Jerms

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