Great song from The Tearaways, from the upcoming album ‘And Now For Our Next Trick.’ due out at the end of the month. The jangling alt. rock alter-ego of Jeff Shelton The Deadlights returns with a new single here, and I was impressed with the melodic EP by Peter Hall called About Last Night. The title track rocks, and “For Love” has some ELO overtones, but overall very very good. Keith Hale aka The Plus 4 sings about a UFO sighting I guess and the radio-ready single by Ransom and Subset is a real treasure that’s a free download. Loud punk rock from Friends of Cesar Romero all the same tempo, but I liked the “Bittersweet Nothing Symphony” best, and it’s a free download too.
Category: free downloads
February Singles and Freebies: The Rallies, Lisa Mychols, The Nobility, The Low Spirits, The Guts, Cliff Hillis
The animated video is from The Dowling Poole, the track is taken from the album ‘Refuse’ which is available to buy on Bandcamp here. Really great singles this month and my faves so far; The Rallies kill it with “Must Be Love” a power pop classic in the making. The queen of power pop, Lisa Mychols also returns with The Masticators for an excellent freebie “Here’s A Boy” and Nashville band The Nobility‘s ballad “Poison Mind” recall The Bee Gees styled falsetto. If your tastes are more old-school, The Low Spirits deliver the freebie “Outta Sight” with its textbook ’66 Animals style, and Geoff Palmer’s side project The Guts has a punk pop gem with “O.F.S.C.” Finally our old friend Cliff Hillis has a sweet new EP out, but since this is a singles post, his new single is a catchy sing-along about the “coolest scuba diver we know.” He should tour kindergartens with this (is this how Raffi got started?).
Best New Free Albums: The 143, Any Version of Me, Happy Somethings
These albums are brilliant statements, and they are all at a “name-your-price” download. I would encourage you to support these artists, as they deliver great pop!
The 143 “Love in the Time of Robots & Aliens”
The 143 is a collective of musical artists from Brooklyn; N.A. Smolenski, Corey Newell, and lead singer Chelsea, assisted by strings (Martin Kutnar, Matej Mihaljević) and drums (Glenn Welman, Bruno Dante).
Love the positive vibes on the opener “Emily,” the jangle and harmonies lift it up. Chelsea’s lead vocals are a standout on the mid-tempos tunes “Ivy Grows” and “Wishing Well.” Talent like this deserves more exposure and with 13 tracks, it’s loaded without filler. Highly Recommended.
Any Version Of Me “Summer After All”
French artist known as Any Version Of Me compiled a collection of past singles and some new ones into this new album. He makes sure to tell us on Bandcamp it’s “For Beach Boys fans only…” He isn’t kidding, as this borrows heavily from the Pet Sounds era. So while it is entirely derivative, it’s also an enjoyable listen. Highlights include “Away,” “Forever,” and “Going Back.”
The Happy Somethings “A Gathering of All Sorts”
An English band very much like The Free Design mixed with Velocity Girl; a kinda folk-twee pop. This collection gathers several singles over the years, and the songs are short and sweet. I appreciate the quirky “No Bother” and “I Wish You Could Sing Like Tracey Thorn.” The charm of this band is evident with the live “Sweet Little Sad Song.” Check it out!
End-of-January Singles, EPs and a Freebie: Ryan Allen, Luddites, Ilko Birov, Floral Portrait, Brock Pytel
After a relatively warm January, we settle in and see Ryan Allen is already following up his #7 album of 2022 with a new concept album. This is a taste, we’ll review the entire LP soon. Boston’s Luddites does a good job with old-school power pop riffs, and Bulgarian singer-songwriter Ilko Birov knocks this single “Mrs. James” out of the park. Fans of Elliott Smith and Dave Davies will enjoy this. Jason Bronson and Jacob Chisenhall bring us the warmth of Floral Portrait, a slice of sunny orchestral pop in the tradition of Brian Wilson. Fans of The Wondermints will appreciate it and it’s our freebie. On a louder note, Brock Pytel (formerly of The Doughboys, the Montreal punk band and NOT Richard X. Heyman’s band) has a new single and it’s got a catchy fatalism, akin to Bob Mould playing The Rolling Stones. Onward to Spam… I mean, February!
Ho-ho-holiday music: More presents under the tree for y’all
More brand new Christmas music. Love the collaboration by Coke Belda & El Inquieto Roque here, more traditional goodies from Dropkick, and Riverboat Gamblers, We have the youth vote with The Linda Lindas, and the sexy “Hey Santa” by Cindy Lawson. The Light Music Company is Mr. Martin Newell (The Cleaners From Venus) of Essex and Ms. Rachel Love of Sussex, whose combined talents have concocted this small oeuvre of their compositions to help facilitate your enjoyment of the festive season. Before we get too dignified, The Stompers gives us what we really want for Christmas, and punk princesses The Dollyrots do the “Chipmunk Song” — OK? A last-minute addition is Kai Danzberg‘s “Last Christmas” with a different melody.
While not a Christmas tune, this is a rare one by Jamie Hoover (Spongetones) hosted by fellow blogger Richard Rossi. Lots of fun!