Psych

New album: Hoop Jail || Health Association

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

Hoop Jail is a musical/art project by Alan Connor from Long Beach (CA). Health Association apparently is the third Hoop Jail record of 2022, but my first taste of the band. I like what I’m hearing, even though it’s hard to describe. Hoop Jail is the kind of act that tickles the hearing (and reward!) centre of the brain but mutes the language centre. Here’s my try though. Health Association is a wild an unhinged trip around many musical styles but ultimately settling on a mix of protopunk, garage, rock’n’roll, and psych. It’s quirky, experimental and pretty exciting. If you like Tha Retail Simps, Personal and The Pizzas, Smirk and King Tuff, I’m pretty sure you’ll find some gems on Health Association. Read more on Hoop Jail in this exclusive interview at Clear Vision Collective.





Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Breanna Barbara || Nothin’ But Time

By / / Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

Fuzz Club has another winner. Six years after her debut LP Mirage Dreams, Breanna Barbara is back with her second full-length album, called Nothin’ But Time. Although the New York City-based musician has been collaborating with trip-hop hero Tricky in the meantime (she wrote most of the new tunes while touring with him), for this new music you’ll have to look in a different corner of your local record store. The first part of the album delivers uptempo garage psych, for fans of The Limiñanas, Ghost Woman and The Paranoyds, but towards the end the artist slows down towards dark slowcore and dreamy indie pop that could have come from Portishead or Cat Power. The songs vary in tempo and atmosphere, but they are always full of blues, grand gestures and honesty – somewhat theatrical, held together by powerful vocals. Barbara explains: “I wanted each song to come from a genuine place. I’m very sensitive and emotional, and I’m at my best when I’m coming from a true place.” It proves to be a good starting point for an intriguing and exciting journey.

Nothin’ But Time is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Fuzz Club Records. Produced, engineered and mixed by Andrija Tokic, and with contributions from Ben Trimble (guitar, keys, back-up vocals), Charles Garmendia (drums, percussion), “Tall Juan” Zaballa (guitar, bass, keys, percussion, back-up vocals), Evan Heinze (guitar, keys, back-up vocals), Jack Lawrence (bass), Derry deBorja (keys, synth), John Palmer (organ, keys), Kyshona Armstrong (back-up vocals), Alexis Saski (back-up vocals), John and Liz Estes (strings), Jose Aybar (bass) and Ricardo Allesio (keys).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Fuzz Club

New album: The Haunted Youth || Dawn Of The Freak

By / / Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

A year and a half ago we were already looking forward to the full-length debut of The Haunted Youth, finally the Belgian indie band centered around Joachim Liebens fulfills that wish. On Dawn Of The Freak you’ll hear ten songs that are as good as hoped for, dark and mesmerizing hits with their roots in the eighties: jangling guitars, melancholic synths and dreamy vocals. Half of the tracks were previously released as singles – I always find it a shame when a band’s first successful steps are left out on their first LP, so I’m very glad they were included here – and the fresh tunes fit in seamlessly. The record kicks off with the cinematic instrumental title track, an almost classical introduction to the highlights that follow – it’s a perfectly constructed album, well thought out and sounding like the masterpiece it is. You can call it psychedelic shoegaze, dream pop or autumn music, but above all it is an addictive trip – a glorious debut. Below you can listen to the first single from early 2021, Teen Rebel, and two new ones, of which closing track Fist In My Pocket is an atypical surprise.

Dawn Of The Freak, composed, written and produced by Joachim Liebens, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Mayway Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || The Haunted Youth

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of October 2022

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

Honk If You’re Lonely || Cover: Say Sue Me || Original: Silver Jews
South Korean indie rock band Say Sue Me celebrate their 10th anniversary with an EP simply called 10 (out digitally and on cassette through Damnably). For this they recorded creditable new versions of their own songs Bad Habit and Old Town, as well as covers of songs by Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Daniel Johnston, Silver Jews, Grandaddy and Guided By Voices. No weak moments here, but as we can’t honor David Berman enough, we chose this one.

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New album: The Smashing Times || Bloom

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

This is the third time we write about The Smashing Times. For good reason, the band just dropped their fourth release and all have been great – the only one we did not cover was released before we started Add To Wantlist. The latest is out today and called Bloom. It is their debut on Meritorio Records and their first on 12″ vinyl. ICYMI, The Smashing Times took their name from a Television Personalities song and the band The Times. That tells you a bit of what to expect, but Bloom shows that The Smashing Times can find inspiration anywhere and anytime.

Bloom is an interesting record, and I mean that in the best possible way. It has songs that are instantly enjoyable, like Diana, Waiting For The Sun, Come Out In The Sun And Play, The Reed Cutter, and Lost, When I Remember. Those reflect the underground pop side of Smashing Times (HITS!). But there are also a lot of quirky and experimental tracks on Bloom. Songs that may not click with you instantly, but will grow on you with each play. More importantly, the sequencing of Bloom make the more challenging songs contrast nicely with the more poppy tracks, bringing the best out of eachother.

Poppy, of course is a relative term in case of The Smashing Times, a band that is delightfully and deliberatively unpolished. On Bloom, they are also a band exploring different sounds. It’s not just ’80s underground pop, but they take influences from ’60s pop to freakbeat and psych as well. There also hints of influences from nonwestern music and different cultures.

With Bloom, The Smashing Times sure push the boundaries of what I’d normally listen to. I wouldn’t expect anything different from the band and wouldn’t have it any other way. The Smashing Times are a mind opening band that stimulates you to explore new music and expand your record collection in new directions.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Meritorio

New album: The Mellons || Introducing​.​.​.​The Mellons

By / / Psych / Leave a Comment

The Mellons are the baroque pop project of Andrew Colin Beck, Robert Martin Jepson, Dennis Fuller and Ian Francis, from Salt Lake City (US). I guess one of them found a crate of records from the 60s in an elderly relative’s attic (inspiration!), after which another arrived with a large box full of instruments from that era (opportunities!). On their aptly titled debut album Introducing​.​.​.​The Mellons you’ll hear everything they could find that makes a sound – from clarinets, trumpets and violins to sleigh bells, old telephones and muffled laughter.  They applied all them pretty well though, in fourteen original psychedelia-infused songs with Beatlesque melodies and Beach Boys-worthy vocal harmonies. The music is chock full of ideas and yet a coherent whole – layered and rich, nostalgic and melancholic, surprising and entertaining, colorful and warm. The vintage vibe not only extends to the carefully crafted sound, but also to the band’s clothing, cover art and videos.

Introducing​.​.​.​The Mellons is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Earth Libraries.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

Festival report || Left of the Dial 2022

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 2 Comments

Left of the Dial is an annual international showcase festival that takes place in mid-October in the city center of Rotterdam. The tastemaker event, named after that song by The Replacements, offers three days of new alternative music: more than 100 bands (many of them perform twice or even thrice) on 12 different stages (including a sailing boat, a stationary lightship, a beautiful church, and an improvised gym where you have to cycle to put the performers in the spotlight) – it must have been a complex logistical challenge. Because we love Rotterdam, but even more because the program fits very well with the releases we’ve written about before, the Add To Wantlist crew was happy to be there. We enjoyed a lot of great bands in really cool locations (in most cases with surprisingly good sound quality), along with other music fans (and members of performing bands in the audience) who weren’t there just to catch up, but to enjoy all those amazing shows. If one thing became clear: rock ‘n’ roll isn’t dead, far from it.

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New album: Burghers Orquestra || Burghers Orquestra

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

Amsterdam-based musicians Niels de Wit (Electric Tears, The Vernon Walters, Johan, De Kift) and Simone Mansveld (Bugs, Simone Joan Mansfield) released two singles and two EPs as Burghers in the period 2018-2021, but they are now making a fresh start as Burghers Orquestra. And what a start it is. With this new project they also take a different path musically, because the spiky and dark indie rock sound has made way for a kind of versatile power pop in a psychedelic jacket. It fits them like a glove. Their self-titled debut album contains eleven exotic gems with wonderful melodies, beautiful harmonies, and cinematic delicacies, that prompt the sun to break through the autumn clouds. It’s an amazing, uplifting and somewhat alienating mix of 60’s psych pop, yé-yé, popcorn, surf, garage rock, folk and even dub. Rich in instruments and ideas, but always at the service of the perfect song.

Burghers Orquestra’s self-titled album is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Dewityourself Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Uplifting Bell Ends || Super Giant IV

By / / Country & Folk, Psych / Leave a Comment

Australian psych-folk outfit The Uplifting Bell Ends (aka The Bell Ends) conclude their “Super Giant saga” with their new (fifth) full-length album, Super Giant IV. In the ten new original songs here, Chet Tucker, James French, Luke Moroney and Jack Whittingham revive bluesy country rock from the late 60s and early 70s. You’ll hear stories of travel, nature, isolation, love and longing for connection, written in the desert during the pandemic. The sound is melancholic, warm and atmospheric, for example beautifully reflected in That Old Familiar Feeling: ‘As the dust settles I start thinking // If we can put back the pieces ever again // I’m a man that doesn’t mind changing / / But if I can I can’t say when.’ Life is good Travellin’ Home this way: ‘Nah nah nah nah no // Hey hey hey hey // Oh yeah // Hey hey hey hey.’

Super Giant IV is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Third Eye Stimuli Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Third Eye Stimuli

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of September 2022

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

In September we heard Rita Wilson’s Now & Forever cover LP featuring duets with Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Elvis Costello and other big names, Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe SuperSession featuring 33 artists interpreting the music of James Toth (Wooden Wand), Geoff Palmer’s version of Dee Dee Ramone’s Standing In The Spotlight album, the 15-track Sea Creatures compilation as a homage to the songwriting of Jeffrey Lewis, a sponsored Old Man cover by Beck that Neil Young was unhappy with, and previously we wrote about releases from Herman Hitson, Hayley And The Crushers, Crocodile Tears, Dangüs Tarküs and The Manges with some successful cover versions. We actually saw too many other cover versions come along, most of which were slow and subdued – apparently fall has has caught up with music too. Below is a selection of songs that haven’t yet received the attention they deserve.

I Just Wanted To See You So Bad || Cover: Quivers || Original: Lucinda Williams
On the flip side of their new single If Only, Melbourne four-piece Quivers cover a hidden gem of Lucinda Williams’ 1989 self-titled LP, sung by Bella Quinlan: “It felt so good to have a bit of a shouted call and response.” Out on red colored vinyl 7″ through Ba Da Bing!.

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