The Honeymoon Stallions "Monlighting" is the latest offering from ex The Sun Kings and The Goldbergs main man Andy Goldberg.
"Moonlighting" takes me back to a time of classic Power Pop tunes and bands, a time when music was created within a band not manufactured by fat, obnoxious label bosses who create a band, write some dirge of a song and then chuck out some good looking young lads in front of a bunch of 13 year old screaming girls and sell millions for five minutes!
Andy Goldberg has written a timeless classic here, whilst incorporating all that is good in music from the 60's, 70's and beyond. The songs are lyrically very strong, well crafted and held together by by all the riffs, hooks, melodies and harmonies that you could possibly desire.
This "Italian job" will do more than blow the bloody doors off, they will bring the house down with their infectious blend of Power Pop/Punk.
"The Sensibles" a four piece outfit hailing from Milan, Italy consisting of Stella - Vocals, Giacomo - bass, Fili - Guitar and Ga - drums.
The band have a sound that is reminiscent of The Exploding Hearts, The Muffs and The Rezillos, full of classic, chopping guitar riffs, all driven along at a hundred miles an hour for the ultimate audible assault!
The Sensibles have been playing together since 2009 and have just pressed a D.I.Y 7" single in a limited edition run of just 300, there is, of course a digital download, but for the music puritans who like to hear their music in the purest form (that is on vinyl by the way!) then drop the band an e mail to the following address now to avoid disappointment: thesensibles@gmail.com
On the bands Bandcamp page, you can also download their 4 song demo, which is also a rather excellent, high octane piece of pop punk and also, like the latest release, not one of the song goes up to the 3 minute mark, that is proper punk!
Download, stream and buy the latest sing and the free demo here: Bandcamp
Contact, befriend, like and love The Sensibles here: Facebook
It has been a long time since I was excited about an instrumental album and this is the first one that I have featured on the blog and for a very good reason, it is bloody brilliant!
Hailing from North Hollywood CA, these guys serve up a high energy album with traces of ska, rockabilly, punk and lots of wonderful surf guitar sounds.
The more I play this album, the more I think how these songs would make a great movie soundtrack and in my minds eye I have already finished the script, it is a kind of secret service film, yeah ok, James Bond, but a really cool one, a retro one, he is tougher and suaver than the Bonds we know and he surfs too!
Anyway, my musings apart, go check this album out, it is brilliant, I have found myself hitting the replay button several times after each track, the last time I remember doing that was many years ago, I am absolutely bowled over by this album, my only regret with this album is that I didn't discover it when it was released in 2009 and I have spent all this time without it!
Currently being repeated at least 4 times in a row, The Duke.
What do The Reigning Monarchs say about themselves? Well, just this: "Monogram your sweater vests your new favorite lifestyle has arrived! If
you like the taste of cold beer, the feel of cashmere, and skanky surf
nior jams then we are a modern American today! Lets get started!" Obviously, no need to say too much when your music speaks volumes about you anyway!
Should you get through playing the album several times and start despairing that there is no more, then satisfy your cravings with the recently released 3 track single "All Summer Single."
The Reigning Monarch also have a great range of T shirts, this band really aren't putting a foot wrong, posters, even a rag, yep a rag, with the bands logo printed on it, housework has never been so much fun, although I recommend that you use it for something more interesting instead!
Did I say that I really rate this band? I hope that you will love them too!
Stream and download the album at a Name Your Price cost here: Bandcamp
(You can also find the "All Summer Single" here too.)
Sunday Guts have released their first EP and a scout around the web and their facebook page doesn't really offer up very much info on this band, all I know is that it is a 2 man team, Billy and Victor from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, they like XTC, GBV and CCR and their focus is heavy on vocal hooks embellished by guitar phrases and "riffs."
Billy and Victor are making this rather splendid EP FREE until November, so if you like it, go and download it whilst it is free, or make a small donation to help the guys.
The Successful Failures release their 4th full length album, another jewel in the bands already sparkling crown! Quite why this band has not been elevated to the dizzy heights afforded to bands like Fountains Of Wayne, Weezer, Wilco et al, evades me somewhat. I guess it must be a sign of the times in the music industry because these guys have the songs, the well crafted tunes, in fact they have 3 previous albums of this quality behind them already, I guess they are the wrong side of 20 years old to be deemed worthy by the superficial industry, even though everything this band have behind them in terms of music (maybe even looks if we get superficial too) would run circles around what is deemed to be popular music in the mainstream, this is pop, this is Power Pop, pure, raw and exciting, go take a listen!
With a name borrowed from a Jack London short story, an indie rock work ethic, and a penchant for melody, harmony, and heart-
in-your-mouth-foot-on-your-sleeve
lyrics The Successful Failures burst onto the scene out of the NJ
pinelands in 2006. The band have released 4 full length CDs.
The NJ Americana/indie-rock band, The Successful Failures, have released
their 4th full length album, "Here I Am" – a 12 song barrage of
roaring, kicking, indie rock fun. The 12 new songs penned by
singer/guitarist Mick Chorba (formerly of well-loved NJ garage rock
band, Dipsomaniacs) are about fallen Civil War heroes, shark attacks,
Vikings, the rise of new world leaders, and surviving the NJ Turnpike:
the typical off-kilter subject matter the band has become know for. This
album is all about the rock - blanketed with sweet harmonies and
hook-laden melodies and guitar riffs. The Successful Failures will play a
series of shows and live performances in support of "Here I Am".
The 8th single in the "Postcards From The British Empire" single a month is out now for FREE download and once again this band manages to blow us away with another fantastic slice of top shelf power pop!
The band played a gig in their hometown of Folkestone last Saturday and the "Ice Cream Man" took a short flight from Sweden to go and see the band play, play with the mixing desk and soak up some great music and atmosphere.
The venue, Chambers, was a small basement with loads of little nooks and crannies for people to sit and enjoy a drink or three and these started to fill up fast and the house was virtually full by the time, the very young, but very able support band "The Basement People" took to the stage to do a first class job on waking the venue up with their synth based indie/pop/rock, (check them out here Bandcamp and like them here Facebook).
The Basement People
As Phenomenal Cat took to the stage with their new brass section in the form of Dan and Tim on trumpet and sax, the faces emerged from the nooks and crannies and Phenomenal Cat displayed why we shouldn't ignore them, nothing is lost in their live performance but so much more is added, Sam's wry sense of humour, Natalie's charming smile, Mik's cowboys and Indians shirt and Ben's unwavering concentration on the beat, creating the backbone to a band that already has more spine than your average Joe!
Sam, Mik, Natalie, Ben, Dan and Tim played through the 12 songs that will eventually make up the complete "Postcards From The British Empire" in its entirety, the brass section really adds an exciting dimension to a sound that was already something special, a band that is so quintessentially English in the same way The Kinks, The Jam, The WhoandBlur are, a band that sing observational songs about everyday life that are easy to relate to. Phenomenal Cat are passionate about their music and work hard to deliver, both in their recordings, a single a month is no mean feat, and live too.
The night ended with the band playing "Ramshackle Heart" for the encore and the crowd still shouting for more half an hour after the set had finished and the band were packing their instruments away. I hope the band will spread their wings and share this music around the country and beyond because they put on a great, fun live show, they certainly have the songs and they are one of the most friendly, unassuming bands that I have had the pleasure to meet as well!
All the proceeds from the physical single sales will be offered up in the usual fashion of this band to charity. I would also like to give a special shout out to Holly Coull who crafted 30 very stylish "Cat" keyrings (one of which is now living here in Sweden with me) which were sold at the gig with all profits going to Guys and St Thomas' hospital charity. Great work by both the band and Holly.
Download the latest single and check out the previous 7 releases here: Bandcamp
(The songs are available for free download, just put in "0" in the price field, but if you really enjoy the music, please consider making a donation to enable this band to continue making music)
Contact, follow, befriend, like and love Phenomenal Cat here: Facebook
State Records was founded in the Autumn of 2007 with the intention of making records that sound like records used to and they have certainly achieved that with some very fine recordings of a wonderful stable of bands.
The label records their signings on an 8 track anologue set up and produce and engineer the music to a very high standard, to my ears there is a certain warmth in the sound of the recordings which you just can't capture with a digital recording, kind of like the Vinyl over CD argument maybe?
State records very kindly sent me a whole pile of music from the label and as I was listening through it to see what I would feature on the blog, the pile for inclusion far outweighed that I was going to include, in fact there wasn't anything in the latter, so I decided to feature the label as a whole and include something from all the bands in the State Records family whilst recognising the work behind the recordings at the same time.
Before we head onto the music of the label, here is an interesting short documentary about the label.
The Higher State - Automatic Motion
"The Higher State" is the labels own band and this superb video was Directed by none other than Sam Carney, vocalist and guitarist with Ice Cream Man favourites "Phenomenal Cat" with the splendid camera work carried out by James Newton.
Follow, befriend, like and love The Higher State here: Facebook
Paul Messis - Time Will Tell
Paul plays an authentic 60's garage style of music incorporating elements from the Michigan and New England teen scenes along with West Coast folk rock and Psychadelic scenes.
Contact, follow and find out more about Paul Messis here: Official Site
Groovy Uncle - Count On Me
Groovy Uncle began as a solo venture for Glenn Prangnell way back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. I am not sure how much truth there is in that, but, they are very good!
These are just three bands that make up part of the State Records label, other signings to the label, and all are worth hearing, are: Internationale, Hidden Masters, Marty Ratcliffe, The Lykes Of Yew, Bernard Eveleigh, The Wildkat Tamers, The Offhooks, Sleeping Bear, The Galileo 7 and Suzi Chunk.
This really is a great label with great bands and a fantatstic ethic of making records like they used to, so the least we can do is go and buy records like we used too!
State Records have a brilliant web site which gives you all the information about their studio, should you wish to record some fine anologue sounds, you can listen to music by all their signings and find out more about the artists too and of course you can buy all the music there too.
