It started out as a project to release the solo compositions of Andrew “Goldy” Meredith (Pat Chow, Thee Gold Blooms), but soon some of his talented friends – Alanna Kusin, Dylan Szymkow, Sean Dominish, and Aidan Gordon – joined in and The Mackerels were born. Their debut album Driving Under is an uplifting collection of ten authentic indie rock songs, powerful and catchy, with entertaining lyrics. One moment jangly as Teenage Fanclub, the next folky as Tom Petty, but always with a sense of urgency. What is especially striking: the five musicians from Perth, Australia really enjoy what they do together, and you can tell by their tunes.
Driving Under is out now digitally and on cassette. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp
Let’s shift our focus to Jakarta, Indonesia, where we find one of the greatest talents in contemporary R&B/soul. Mohammad Fajar Bagus Radityo’s versatile, intriguing, flexible singing voice is one that instantly evokes a sense of sensation in any music lover. Under the moniker of Morad the singer-songwriter has just released his debut full-length album About a Woman, featuring nine intense songs inspired by his muse. Although the wonderful vocals rightly claim the leading role, the rich musical accompaniment and appropriate production (by Viki Vikranta) are sublime. This is a beautiful and impressive LP.
About a Woman is out now digitally through Berita Angkasa. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp
Now that we’re talking punky indie rock that is running way ahead of the pack (looking at you Good Grief), let’s talk PLOSIVS. Here’s a band featuring John Reis (Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Rocket From The Crypt), Rob Crow (Pinback), Atom Willard (Against Me!, The Offspring, Social Distortion) and Jordan Clark (Mrs. Magician). If that line-up’s got you excited, they sound exactly as great as you could have hoped for.
I’m not going to write too many words on it though, as I’m sure all the major websites will cover the release – and you likely already have heard the record. But if not, here are some words that came to mind when listening to this record: Tight! Yeah! Rocks! Banger! Flawless! Catchy! Effortless! Hit! So good! Repeat.
PLOSIVS is out now on Swami Records. There is a good chance you’ll want to buy it once you’ve tried it.
Good Grief? That name sounds familiar. A quick look in my record collection turned up a split 7″ with BUZZorHowl from 2013. I lost touch with the band from Liverpool after and was surprised to see their debut LP turn up just last week. One thing Good Grief are not? Prolific. Which I have no problem with at all, given the insane amount of music that is being released on a daily basis. I’ll take quality over quantity, and that is exactly what Good Grief delivers on Shake Your Faith.
The eleven songs on Shake Your Faith, just short of 40 minutes, will please the indie rock crowd that grew up loving punk rock. Most of the songs on the record are uptempo, full of punch and melody. In a sense, Good Grief are a throwback to the music of Bob Mould/Sugar (listen to standout How Can I Help Falling In Love), Superchunk (listen to standout The Pony Remark) and college rock pre 00s (listen to standout Metal Phase). The band also reminds me of melodic punkrockers Bodyjar and The Smoking Popes, particularly due to the vocals (listen to standouts High To Low and New Town). Rhetorically speaking: I guess you can’t truly speak of standout songs when they are the rule rather than the exception on a record or can you?
Shake Your Faith is a welcome surprise. It’s a record that is fun, anthemic and proof that three human beings rocking out on guitars, bass and drums will never get old. Out now through Everything Sucks and HHBTM Records.
In 2008, Wicked Cool released the 5th installment of their excellent Coolest Songs In The World series, related to Little Steven’s Underground Garage radio show. That CD, somewhere between killer tracks by Butch Walker, The Dollyrots, The Pipettes, and The Apers, was my introduction to The Len Price 3. They had been around for a few years by then, and the good news is that they still swing like a monkey. The UK trio (Glenn Page, Neil Fromow, and Steven Huggins) plays 60’s style beat music – judging by the video below not in a dirty garage as usual in this genre, but in an old attic with no heating. Their new full-length album Ip Dip Do (or ipdipdo) features 15 potent tunes that reflect the live energy of the musicians: hits that are somewhere between catchy power pop with sing-along choruses, and energetic garage rock with stomp-along guitar riffs, always surprising and good for a smile thanks to effective hooks, psychedelic elements, an organ or harmonica solo, and entertaining lyrics. If you’re going to put together a playlist with the coolest songs of 2022, you can’t really ignore Chav Squad and Billy the Quid, but there’s much more to enjoy here.
Ip Dip Do is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through The Strood Recording Company.
Twenty years after the first album by The Libertines and almost ten years after the last by Babyshambles, their (co-)frontman Peter Doherty released a new record that bears little resemblance to the rickety aggressive guitar rock of yesteryear. It is as if the English (song-)writer/musician has been captured by the sensitive side of Elvis Costello on compositions by Scott Walker. Obviously that’s not the case, these will be the influences of getting older and wiser, living in France, being clean and married, and especially working with French composer/musician/producer Frédéric Lo. The result of their collaboration, the twelve songs on The Fantasy Life Of Poetry & Crime, is melancholic, heartfelt and poetic. This is beautiful understated baroque pop with quality orchestration, fascinating for over 36 minutes. The strong lyrics and the vocals that are sometimes slightly out of tune remain, but otherwise this is very far away from Doherty’s illustrious past. And yet again it’s very good.
The Fantasy Life Of Poetry & Crime is out now digitally, on CD, cassette and vinyl LP through Strap Originals.
Woohoo, the masters of the double A-sided single are back in town. Uni Boys made it to several of our year end lists in the past two years, and are about a lock with their latest double feature. Both songs are accompanied by a video that looks transported from some lost VHS tapes from the ’70s, and both songs will be included on the band’s new record Do It All Next Week. That LP will be out this Summer and if these two songs are the bar for what to expect, we’re in for a treat.
Both songs are indeed certifiable A-sides. But if you listen to just one song today, make sure it’s On Your Lovin’ Mind. It’s Uni Boys’ love letter to all your favorite power pop bands of the late ’70s, like 20/20, Shoes, Milk ‘N’ Cookies and The Records. It’s decidely out of time and absolutely inch-perfect.
The double A-sided single out now on Curation Records, who will als be releasing the band’s new full length.
The Bay Area is home to many of the best present day indie pop acts. Yea-Ming & The Rumours, who just released their sophomore album, are no exception.
Within that wealth of indie pop goodness, Yea-Ming & The Rumours have carved out a nice niche for themselves. Their songs are soaked in ‘60s nostalgia with a bit of folk, a bit of country and touches of Camera Obscura, France Gall, and The Crystals. Expect sweet, dreamy and gorgeous melodies, expect to be mesmerized by the voice of Yea-Ming Chen, expect jangly guitars, expect your heart to be broken, expect your soul to be mended.
At first blush, the songs of Yea-Ming Chen sound stripped to their essence. A consequence of growing up listening to bands like Mr. T Experience, The Queers and Dressy Bessy, I read Chen explaining in a write up at Lilystars Records: “Bands like that made me realize the power of a simple song.”
But it won’t take long to discover how subtle and plentiful the instrumentation and arrangements are. Chen wrote all the songs on “So, Bird…”– with the exception of album closer Takeda Lullaby which is a traditional Japanese folk song. She plays a lot of the instruments on the record as well, including guitar (and slide), bass, piano, drums and synths. Anna Hillburg, Sonia Hayden, Eoin P. Galvin, and Matt Bullimore contribute with additional (slide) guitars, drums, lap steel, and percussion.
The result is a record full of standout tracks. Oh Sweet Mother and Back To The Days Of I Don’t Knows immediately made me add the record to my wantlist. Other tracks, like the indie country Ruth and mellow By The Sea (video here) offer perfect backdrops for staring out of the window longing for spring. Heartache Ain’t Nothing almost sounds like a classic folkhit from the ‘60s.
So yeah, plenty to like and discover on this one. And what a release week for Dandy Boy Records, who also released the new Sob Stories LP (our post here), and the vinyl reissue of Blue Ocean’s excellent self-titled EP compilation (more on that here).
Few bands have such an eclectic, crazy sound as Hogchoker, the Shanghai-based 4-piece with Simon Jackson (vocals, sax), Tom Brodie (bass), Matt Saunders (guitar), and Zee (drums). You can describe their style as theatrical, funky world punk, always socially aware and played with full dedication. On February 22, 2022 at 22:22 their new full-length 2222 went live on the streaming services, which should contain 22 tracks but turned out to be 26 (not really unexpected, because in our Gimme 5 feature they also exceeded the usual 5 choices ;)). It’s a concept album, featuring songs for people – poets, nurses, wrestlers and murderers – who would be 100, 200 or 300 this year. Good idea, well executed. Moreover, on a song level this release is much more unambiguous and classic in structure than before, which will make it more enjoyable for most listeners (the versatility is certainly reflected in the entire project, because ska, dub, punk, klezmer, jazz, EDM, salsa, and even ballads all come by). This is 112 minutes of fascinating, surprising music, in which everyone should be able to find something to their taste. History has never been so much fun.
2222 is out digitally (name your price). Add to wantlist: Bandcamp
Joel Cusumano not only is one of the more interesting and eccentric playlist curators, he also played (or plays) in DSTVV, Cocktails, RAZZ and Talkies. One of his more recent projects is Sob Stories, who released their debut LP Fair Shakes this week – the follow up to their 2017 self-titled EP.
I don’t want to tell you what to do, but if you are looking for a kickass powerpop record, look no further. With Fair Shakes, Cusumano is at the top of his game. There is not a weak song on the record, and while you are likely to fall for it from the get go, most of the songs take multiple plays to fully appreciate. Sob Stories offer a modern take on ’70s powerpop, with plenty of layers, diversity and Big Staresque guitar work.
Sob Stories sound tight as hell on the record. No surprise given the veteran experience provided by Owen Adair Kelley (Sleepy Sun, Talkies), Phillip Lantz (Cocktails, Neutrals, Razz, Sydney Ducks, Talkies) and Rob Good (Warm Soda, Jesus Sons, BT’s). I’m namedropping a lot of the musicians’ other project on purpose, because there is a fair chance that if you like any or some of them, you will completely fall for Sob Stories.
Fair Shakes works particularly well in the album format, played front to back. It is kind of ironic that someone who is so great at curating playlists wrote something that doesn’t fit that mold at all. There either are no obvious hits on the record, or as I would argue, all of the songs are hits. Anyhow, I like ’em all and finding it difficult to pick out individual tracks. Just press play on the first track, grab a coffee. Play all 12 songs. Repeat.
Fair Shakes is out now on Oakland’s bedroom label Dandy Boy Records.
