Phenomenal Cat.....A single a month for the whole of 2012......FREE DOWNLOADS!!!

Another wonderful bandcamp find PHENOMENAL CAT are a power pop 4 piece from Sandgate, Kent, UK. who are releasing a single each month for 2012, the three songs that are up so far are delectable slices of power pop from the top shelf of the power pop confectionery shop!

 Since they all lost their jobs at Woolworths, Phenomenal Cat have made the most of their free time writing and rehearsing a load of new tunes in a small room above a local greasy spoon. 'Sugary Tea' has been their hallucinogenic of choice and helped fuel a batch of new songs about love, money, jobs, sex and 21st century England.

January's release "Letters Home From Nazi Occupied France" a song written from the perspective of a front line soldier in the trenches during World War 2, is a really well crafted piece of power/indie pop with overtones of The Kinks (maybe not surprising given the bands name is a Kinks song) and The Doors amongst others, this really is a great piece of music and a great song.

Februarys release, "Ramshackle Heart."  Once again a well crafted number with lyrics suggesting love is like Richard and Judy (A husband and wife morning TV presentation team)....brilliant and humorous!

"Postcards from the British Empire" is another blinding song, both lyrically and musically. Phenomenal Cat are writing in a style that relates to the now in the same way that Blur wrote in the 90's and The Kinks wrote in the 60's, these are great songs backed with some real ear pleasing tunes, the only downside to Phenomenal Cat and it really is quite terrible....is that we have to wait another month for the next song to come out, I don't like to wish my time away, but I am looking forward to playing the 12 tracks that the band produce this year in one go, I hope they can keep up the momentum and continue to release 9 more songs of the same brilliance as these.

 Phenomenal Cat are:

Samuel Carney (Guitars, Organ, Mellotron and Voice)
Ben Day (Drums & Percussion)
Natalie Kuroczycki (Bass Guitar)
Mik Peirson (Guitar & Voice)
Other musicians:
Dan Whitehouse (Trumpet)  

Download "Letters from occupied France" HERE  and navigate to the side bar on the right hand side of the bandcamp page to download the singles for February and March.

The band are pressing a limited 25 cd singles for each song and they are currently being sold in a charity shop, with the total sales price all going to that charity.  If you want to collect the whole 12, contact the band and I am sure they will sort something out....all for charity....what lovely people as well as a great band!

Contact, like and keep up to date with the next 9 releases FACEBOOK

Femme Fatale - Fading Night Sounds FREE DOWNLOAD

 

The primordial core of FEMME FATALE born during the summer of 2007. Rox and Mick, high school’s mates, met Dave, a Mick's old time friend. Rox and Dave discovered to havea common passion for indie rock and played music, so they had the idea to form a band, getting Mick involved.
Only two guitars and the vocalist were ready. Looking for a drummer, Rox thought of a guy met during the just finished summer at the Arctic Monkeys’ gig in Turin: Nick. About the bass guitar, they decided to entrust this role to Mick. With the confirmation of Nick, the personnel of the band was ready. The monicker FEMME FATALE got chosen, as homage for a certain kind of woman’s charm and for Velvet Underground’s song, dedicated to Edie Sedgwick.
In October of 2008 the band cuted their its first “single”: You’re The One. In September 2010 they’ve released their first, totally self-produced, EP ”Fading Night Sounds”.
Later they began to pursue the goal of playing live as much as possible. The route brougth them to Milan, Florence, Genoa, Turin, Ferrara, Pavia, Biella, Novara, to mention few. The Femme Fatale’s style begins to be forged: emotional and tough, cynical and meteorosensitivity.
The band is now composing new songs whose sound is slowly detaching from the initial Brit Pop. It’s opening itself to other sounds always connected to the North American independent scene which developed during the 90s.

 

Free Download of Fading Night Sounds: HERE

Femme Fatale shall be playing 15th May at the Cavern Pub Liverpool and May 16th Cavern Club Liverpool as part of the International Pop Festival.

Contact and Like Femme Fatale here: FACEBOOK

Red Jacket Mine - "Listen Up (If the World is Going to Hell)" Limited edition 7" single

 

 From Red Jacket Mine’s origins as a bedroom four-track project, through two studio albums (including 2009′s Ken Stringfellow-produced Lovers Lookout) and dozens of high-profile shows, bandleader Lincoln Barr has displayed a restless stylistic curiosity and unique command of his influences, masterfully whittling shards of soul, country, blues, rock, and pop into a coherent whole.

The latest incarnation of Red Jacket Mine finds Barr, who also serves as guitarist in Seattle power-pop heavy hitters Stag, marrying that band’s penchant for the sub-three-minute pop gem with his love for vintage soul and ’70s British pub rock. The results are thrilling, infusing Red Jacket Mine’s trademark commitment to songcraft with a welcome dose of humor and devil-may-care kineticism.

 Longtime drummer Andrew Salzman thrives in this context, propelling the songs with a Stax-y swagger and strut, while bassist Matthew Cunningham artfully snakes his way around, over, and through Barr’s sophisticated changes. Veteran producer Johnny Sangster (The Tripwires, Cobirds Unite) proves the perfect foil for this rejuvenated lineup, contributing his trademark sparkle and peerless pop sensibility.

After club-testing the new songs in early 2011, the band and Sangster entered Seattle’s Avast! Studios and emerged with material for two singles. The first – the Curtis Mayfield-meets-Nick Lowe soul of “Listen Up (If the World is Going Hell)” [FIN-LE7-014] – was released as a limited-edition 7″ on Fin Records in February 2012, and is currently in rotation on KEXP 90.3FM.

Read and interview with Lincoln Barr here: Seattle Weekly Interview


Recommended if you like: Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Nick Lowe, Alex Chilton, Squeeze, Graham Parker, Steely Dan, 10cc, Paul Weller

 

Red Jacket Mine are:

Lincoln Barr (vocals/guitar)
Matthew Cunningham (bass)
Andy Salzman (drums/vocals)

 

RED JACKET MINE
http://www.redjacketmine.net

http://www.facebook.com/redjacketmine 

 

Find Red Jacket Mine around the web and buy the record here: 

• Bandcamp
• CD Baby
• Facebook
• Fin Records
• iTunes
• MySpace
• Sonicbids EPK
• SoundCloud
• YouTube

The Stands - All Years Leaving

 

U.K. quartet the Stands traffic in gentle jangle pop rooted in the Byrds and the '60s West Coast sound, the mid-'60s Beatles, country Dylan, and in their missing and missed countrymen the La's. Their debut album, All Years Leaving, is coated in honey-sweet vocal harmonies, rollicking tempos, gently strummed guitars, and a general sense of easy nostalgia. Many, many bands have treaded this leaf-strewn, autumnal path and the Stands don't do much to distance themselves from the pack, nor do they stumble significantly. Middle of the packers then and that's not so bad. In fact, it is unfailingly pleasant. The tunes tend to blend together in a sepia-toned wave of gentle melancholia, but there are worse ways to spend 40 minutes. There are even a few that you will want to throw on mixtapes, like the dreamy opener, "I've Waited So Long"; "The Love You Give," which has a languid beat, slow-motion guitar plucking, and fine la-la-la backing vocals; and the album's crown jewel, "Here She Comes Again." It's definitely a cousin to the La's' "There She Goes," with a lovingly similar melody (and an almost direct lift from the Cars' "My Best Friend's Girl"), but it adds some Byrds-y 12-string and an emotion-packed bridge that does what a bridge should and jumps the song's intensity up a notch. It's the kind of song that you will want to listen to about five times in a row every time you hear it, the kind of song that would make you want this album even if the rest stunk. If they can come up with a couple more like it on their next record, they might take a giant step to the front of the pack. Until then, All Years Leaving is a fine, solid debut. -All music guide

Listen: HERE

 
 

The Best Of The Northern Soul Story

 

Disc 1

01. Bob Brady And The Con Chords – Everybody’s Goin’ To The Love-In

02. Major Lance – It’s The Beat

03. Johnny Johnson – Breakin’ Down The Walls Of Heartache

04. The Spellbinders – Help Me (Get Myself Back Together Again)

05. Major Lance – Ain’t No Soul (In These Old Shoes)

06. Peaches And Herb – I Need Your Love So Desperately

07. Larry Williams And Johnny Watson – Too Late

08. Little Richard – I Don’t Want To Discuss It

09. The Vibrations – Gonna Get Along Without You Now

10. Shirley Ellis – Soul Time

11. Phillip Mitchell – Free For All (Winner Takes All)

12. Bobbi Lynn – Earthquake

13. Billy Butler – Right Track

14. Major Lance – Investigate

15. Roy Hamilton – Crackin’ Up Over You

16. The Exciters – Blowin’ Up My Mind

17. The Sweet Things – I’m In A World Of Trouble

18. Johnny Moore – Walk Like A Man

19. Willie Kendrick – Change Your Ways

20. The Glories – I Worship You Baby

21. The Cavaliers – Hold On To My Baby

22. Herb Ward – Honest To Goodness

23. Lorraine Chandler – I Can’t Hold on

CD 1 

Disc 2

01. Majoe Lance – You Don’t Want Me No More

02. The Charmaines – Eternally

03. Lou Courtney – Trying To Find My Woman

04. Susan Barrett – What’s it Gonna Be

05. Lee David – Temptation Is Call My Name

06. Dana Valery – You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies

07. Reperta And The Delrons – Panic

08. Morris Chestnut – Too Darn Soulful

09. Laura Greene – Moonlight Music And You

10. Spiral Staircase – More Today Than Yesterday

11. Shane Martin – I Need You

12. Lou Ragland – I Travel Alone

13. Beverley Ann – You’ve Got Your Mind On Other Things

14. Nancy Ames – I Don’t Want To Talk About It

15. Tony Middleton – Paris Blues

16. The M.V.P.’s – Turnin’ My Heartbeat Up

17. Paul Anka – I Can’t Help Lovin’ You

18. Lorraine Chandler – I Can’t Change

19. Dean Courtney – I’ll Always Need You

20. Bernie Williams – Ever Again

21. The Trammps – Hold Back The Night

22. Tobi Legend – Time Will Pass You By

CD 2 

Dot Dash - Spark>Flame>Ember>Ash

 

Dot Dash are:

Terry Banks - guitar, voice;
Bill Crandall - guitar;
Hunter Bennett - bass;
Danny Ingram - drums

Guitarist/singer Terry Banks and bassist Hunter Bennett were in punky power poppers Julie Ocean. Before that, Terry was in a bunch of jangly guitar bands, including The Saturday People, Tree Fort Angst, Glo-Worm and St. Christopher, Guitarist Bill Crandall was in the mod/pop band Modest Proposal. Drummer Danny Ingram began musical life in Dischord-label punks Youth Brigade before moving on to Strange Boutique and later, U.K. guitar-wranglers Swervedriver.

Dot Dash cite their influences as The Jam, Joy Division and The Byrds with an appreciation for the Creation, Postcards and Whaam record labels and you can certainly hear the influence of The Jam on album opener "The Colour and the Sound" that has a riff very similar to "All mod cons."

The 14 songs on the debut album are very well crafted with intelligent lyrics and some catchy guitar riffs and impressively recorded in just 3 afternoons.

You can hear many influences on the album, both in the songs and in Terry's vocal styles, there is a nod to the source of the bands name on track 3, "Learn how to fly" which starts of very much like a Wire song but is then dressed with the bands own stylings.

Overall, the album is really good, maybe missing out on some angst and the kick of distortion here and there, but I think that Dot Dash will certainly be flying high in the future if this debut is the first stepping stone.

Check out the band's Facebook . 

The album can be purchased from The Beautiful Music, Amazon or iTunes.

Len Price 3 LIVE DATES

If you have not seen this exciting, energetic band live and any of these dates are near you, go along and check them out.  Len Price 3 are going to be a band to watch this year!