The Sunny Boys - FreebOObin. OUT NOW

The summer is always a great time, hitting the beach with friends, warm evenings with a heady blossom scent in the air and of course a good soundtrack for the season.

The Sunny Boys were born in 2003 as the Italian Beach Boys Tribute Band, and started producing their own material in 2008. The “Sunnies”, as the fans love to call them, are consantly in tour between Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Finland and Svitzerland, and after more than 350 concerts they keep on revisiting the Beach Boys harmonies also in their Surf/Rock original songs. In June 2007 they published “Back To The Beach“, a live album with 20 Beach Boys songs. On July 4th 2008 they published their second album with 10 original songs called “Beach Sounds“. In February 2009 they participated to the “Festival di Sanremo“, the most important music tv festival in Italy with their single “Respirando il mare”. In 2010 they came out with their second italian single “Aria di Vacanza“. In 2011 they are touring Italy, Finland and Spain, and in 2012 they release their second album "FreebOObin'".



The Sunny Boys 10 track album is a soundtrack to make that trip to the beach to, windows rolled down, arm on the door and played loud for all to hear, spend the day kicking back at the beach or wherever and then head home and party to the upbeat, melodic tunes with the surf harmonies we all know and love.

Well, that is me then, off to wax the board, fire up the little deuce coupe, crank up the stereo and hit the beach, if anyone asks where I am, tell 'em I'm surfin!

Listen and buy The Sunny Boys album here: Bandcamp

Contact, befriend, like and love The Sunny Boys here: Facebook

Stanley Road - Mieres-Bridge Limited Edition Single

Stanley Road have released a limited edition 7" single and once again it is an absolute stomper with echoes of The Jam in amongst the grooves.  I have to say I am really looking forward to an album from these guys who seem to be going from strength to strength!

Stanley Road born in 2003 in the Asturian coal basin, specifically in Mieres, post-industrial city full of unemployed where the drug drove youth wild and cause ravage back in the 80's ... The boys decide to form a Mod revival band with the idea of shake the national scene and return this style to the place it deserves.

Listen to and buy the single here:  Bandcamp

Contact, befriend, like and love Stanley Road here: Facebook

The band also have some great T-Shirts with their logo on and I am the proud owner of two of them!!!

Shipping queries and any other questions to: stanleyroadband@gmail.com

Retrosonic Podcasts Mod Scene Part 1 & 2.

 

My good friend and fellow blogger Steve from the Retroman blog has compiled 2 very good podcasts on the Mod Scene that I would like to share with you today, featuring music by, The Past Tense, Monkeeman, The Lemontops, Len Price 3 and many, many more.  Enjoy!

Check out the Retroman blog HERE

Contact, befriend, like and love Retroman here: FACEBOOK

Phenomenal Cat - Postcards From The British Empire. Part One. FREE DOWNLOAD

Earlier in the year I featured Phenomenal Cat and quoted their music as being "Delectable slices of power pop from the top shelf of the confectionary shop."   They have now released the first six singles from their single a month project in a single package which has a little nod to my earlier comment, only the ever modest band decided to go for the middle shelf, I however, still go with my original comment of top shelf material.

Phenomenal Cat have recently been taken on by Futureman Records for this release and are currently working on the next single for release later this month.

Download Part 1 of Postcards From the British Empire here: Futureman Records

Contact, befriend, like and love Phenomenal Cat here: Facebook

Don't forget to check out all the other albums on Futureman Records too, there are some great acts on there.

Surf School Dropouts - Summer Is A State Of Mind. OUT NOW

Sun drenched harmonies and tunes that wouldn't be out of place in the surfing meccas of California like Santa Cruz, Huntington and Capistrano.  You can very easily picture this quartet in their baggys, surfboards tucked neatly under the arm, strolling casually from the Woody down to the shoreline in all their tanned glory, the only problem is that these guys would have to take a 4060 mile (6533.96 km) drive from their native Copenhagen in Denmark first!

Photo: Christian Bendix

 

I can only imagine that the album title was born on a typical summers day, I only live a couple of hours north of these guys, so I am in the know, summer really is a state of mind for the best part in these parts, but these songs will really warm the heart, even if it is rainy and grey outside.

  Ok, they don't really fall far from the format of the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, The Fantastic Baggys, Four Speeds of any of the other great surf acts, but they have perfected the sound, the harmonies, the style and above all the heart of surf music.

  Their music is not devoid of originality, in fact on many tracks they have brought the whole sound up to date, the track "Run Away" has a real freshness to it and reminded me a bit of The Cosmic Rough Riders.  All the tracks on this album are written by the guys, you can find some covers on youtube where they cover the Beach Boys and Mariah Carey though.

 This, all said and done is a fantastic debut from an extremely talented outfit. I love it.

 

 

Surf School Dropouts was formed when in fall 2008 friends Andreas, Christian and Martin – who shared a common love for the music of The Beach Boys – decided that they would start singing Beach Boys songs on semi-regular basis. Later, Jari joined the group that would, however, remain nameless for a few more months.

 

Harmony-laden songs of sun, fun and love - with the occasional dash of melancholia and longing – seem to be what being a Surf School Dropout is all about so far.

 

Surf School Dropouts are:

 

Andreas Jacobsen - vocals & keyboard/guitar/bass/drums, Christian Bendix - vocals & guitar/bass, Jari Nielsen - vocals, Martin Jensen - vocals.

 

This has been on constant repeat since I found it and is very quickly becoming one of my favourite albums this year, if you love the sound of the summer, great surf music, great harmonies, then this is an album you need to have!

 

Listen and buy the album here: Bandcamp 

 

Contact, befriend, like and love Surf School Dropouts here: Facebook 

 

 

Mod on with the Mannequins! FREE DOWNLOADS!

Mannequins are a three piece from Dagenham, East London.Formed through the passion and love of great 60's bands through to latest that the Mod world has to offer, they set about perfecting their sound and writing catchy no nonsense 3 minute pop songs. Having that in the bag and bundles of energy on stage these 3 Dagenhamites mean business, from Lee's gritty, soul vocals, Chris's thumping bass lines, and Brens effortless drumming, this band have it all. Now playing some very prestigeous venues and making waves in all things mod, MANNEQUINS are here to stay. YOU HAVE TO SEE EM TO BELIEVE EM ..........................

 Mannequins have been touring relentlessly this year, out on the road honing their sound and performance in front of live crowds up and down the country, they have even been invited to play at the Mersea Island Scooter rally as well as headline their own gig supported by P45 (more about them another day!)

The band are: Lee Bonington - Vocals, Guitars, Piano Chris Stevens - Bass Guitar, Brendan Ivie - Drums

Contact, befriend, like and love Mannequins here: FACEBOOK 

Check out the latest news and gigs etc here: Official  

More information here: Reverbnation

 

Trolley - Things That Shine And Glow

Wow! What an infectious album.  I am playing it for the umpteenth time already today and every play unearths another nugget of a riff, be it bass line or guitar, it is all here, little echoes of greats like The Beach Boys, Byrds, The Beatles and even The Jam are present in the grooves wrapped up amongst the bands very own style.

Trolley connects the creativity of the ‘60s with the energy of now. Since 1995, the Milwaukee band has released a series of albums built from the best elements of psychedelia and punk, classic pop and the hard driving beat of the Mod era.

 

Terry Hackbarth - Vox/Bass, Mike Perotto - Vox/Guitar, Paul J. Wall - Vox/Guitar, Patrick Morrow - Drums

The Milwaukee quartet has gotten around, playing South by Southwest and North by Northeast, Summerfest and International Pop Overthrow. Trolley has opened for The Jayhawks, Cotton Mather and Los Straightjackets and has risen to the forefront of the power pop movement without being confined by it. Buoyed by classic melodies from all of its members, Trolley’s songs are seldom less than memorable.  

Photo: Kip Gasparick

Things That Shine and Glow moves the legacy of great albums by the Kinks and the Zombies into the 21st century. The rich sonic tapestry is woven around the solid musicianship of Patrick Morrow (drums), Terry Hackbarth (vocals and bass), Mike Perotto (vocals and guitar) and Paul James Wall (vocals and guitar). Trolley is a loud and glorious reminder that two guitars, bass and drums can still be a formidable lineup for great music.

"Things That Shine And Glow" is an album that you will come back to time and time again, a great piece of Power Pop/Mod/Psyche/Beat....call it what you will, this album shows that Trolley are certainly a force to be reckoned with, just listen to songs like "My Obsession" and "Love The Way You Look," in fact, any of the 14 tracks on this album and I challenge you not to fall in love with Trolley, if you don't, you must be off of yours!

Stream and buy the album here: BANDCAMP

Contact, befriend, like and love Trolley here: FACEBOOK

More information: http://www.reverbnation.com/trolley1