Kjarr - Kjarr

KJARR is the new, rather psychedelic pop project by Kjartan F. Ólafsson, formerly songwriter and producer with acclaimed Icelandic group, Ampop and currently also keyboard player with Icelandic rockers, Leaves.

The bands debut album was carefully crafted over three years in Iceland and Scotland and serves up a lovely twist of psychedelic pop with traces of The Beach Boys, Wings, ELO and later Beatles arrangements.

The albums comes to life with one of two tracks sung in Icelandic, "Beöiö eftir sumrinu" which translates as "Waiting for Summer" a rather glorious production which had me thinking  of The Beatles, "A Day in the Life" in terms of production only, followed by the song "Lottery" which Ray Davies himself could have penned and performed, however this song and the rest of the album are certainly not devoid of originality, there is a certain deftness of the songwriter and musicians here, creating an album that won't have you bouncing around the room but will certainly grab your attention and draw you in and leave you wanting more.

Album available to buy, stream and download: Bandcamp

Contact, befriend, follow, like and love Kjarr: Facebook

Research Turtles....EVERYTHING IS FREE!

As from yesterday (18th of October) those generous guys the "Research Turtles" made all of their albums and music available for FREE Download, including frontman Jud Norman's solo debut LP which was only released yesterday.

Download everything for FREE here:  http://www.researchturtles.com/music

Contact, follow, befriend, like and love Research Turtles here: Facebook

The Electric Stars - Sonic Candy Soul.

With musical reference points that stretch from the 60's era to the present day, but floating comfortably around the late 60's early 70's, but also very much in the now, this is, as the band so eloquently put it, "Beautiful music for beautiful people!"

The Electric Stars have chosen the perfect title for this album with "Sonic Candy Soul" there is power, sweetness and plenty of soul in every track.  If you could imagine a supergroup created from The Small Faces, T-Rex, Bowie, Stones, early Pink Floyd, New York Dolls, only better, then that is exactly what you have here in this band, this is, without any doubt, one of the best releases this year, if not the best!

Andy Bee – Guitar
Keef Whitehead – Bass
French Jonny – Drums
Damien Lawson – Guitar
Jason Edge – Vocals/Songwriter
Backing Vocals – Denise Johnson (Primal Scream)

This is an album of absolutely epic proportions in every aspect, from the songwriting, musicianship, right down to the production, everything is right about this album and with the promise of a new album next year, one can only wonder where The Electric Stars will take us on their next trip.

If you only buy one record this year, buy this one and then buy everyone else you love a copy too! 

Contact, follow, befriend, like and love The Electric Stars here: Facebook

Official website: http://www.theelectricstars.com

Buy the album here: Detour Records 

Follow the band on twitter: Twitter

The Young Sinclairs and the Art of Being Under the Influence.

"We Spoke Our Minds" EP. By guest contributor Interplanet Janet

Hal David once wrote “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of”. Sure, I won’t disagree that the world could use more love, but that’s not the only thing. Listening to The Young Sinclairs I am reminded that the world can always use more Sixties-inspired pop songs with jangly guitars. What? It matters too. When done right, it’s as vibrant and soul-lifting as anything that originally came out of that delicious era and I’m here to inform you The Young Sinclairs do it right.

Starting with the Byrdsesque and ultra-jangly  “We Spoke Our Minds”,  The Young Sinclairs take us through the cream of Sixites pop without ever having to change the record over. The tracks “You Can Have Her” and “Girl, I’m For Real” are what would be produced if The Beatles and The Kinks had musical lovechildren.  Catchy and Clever.  A winning combo. “Have A Home” and “Forever After” still carry the Sixties vibe but are also reflective of the early Nineties pre-britpop bands who were also heavily influenced by the Sixties. The under-rated UK indie band, Ride, especially comes to mind. This is evident  in the selective lo-fi production on the vocals and the from-the-past-but-oh-so-now psychedelic riffs. If it’s true that one can be judged solely by one’s influences, then The Young Sinclairs can sleep easy.

The debate about bands who are clearly heavily influenced by other bands has been done before and I’m not going to take up precious web space outlining the argument for or against bands wearing their musical influences on their sleeve.  Let’s just say I’m in the “wear it with pride” camp.  It’s as clear as the day is long who some of the bands are that The Young Sinclairs might call their musical influences, but therein also lies the bands strength. The Byrds, The Kinks and The Beatles are all the obvious ones, and with superb production as well, but the way the band interprets them in each song is what’s striking about The Young Sinclairs. Anyone can replicate a bands sound, but to do it and still somehow  retain their own unique sound is the difference between being great or being a tribute band. The Young Sinclairs, who hail from Roanoke, Virginia, are then no laughing matter. On the Roanoke City website it reads “In Roanoke you’ll find something unique: unexpected balance”.  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant to describe the band that calls the city home, but it is just as fitting. They perfectly balance the best of the Sixties and Nineties and make it fresh for my retro-loving-but-not-completely-living-in-the-past ears.

I won’t name names, but you have bands that ride on the coattails of their influences and it just falls flat. Therefore, it seems to me then that taking the music of your heroes and making it good in it’s own right should be considered  a fine art. The Scottish indie bands Lenzie Moss and The Wellgreen are other excellent examples of bands who excel at wearing their influences on their sleeve without compromising their originality. Just think of your favourite band and you will probably say they are superb at this as well. If you can’t, then The Young Sinclairs may deserve to be your new favourite band. Now,  time to give them some love, sweet love.  

Review by Interplanet Janet

Contact, befriend, follow, like and love The Young Sinclairs here:  Facebook

Stream and purchase the "We Spoke Our Minds" EP here: Bandcamp

You can find several releases at the bandcamp page including a "Name Your price" download album of covers, B'sides and demos.

Physical copies of the bands records can be found at the excellent: Planting Seeds Records

The Popdogs - Cool Cats For Pop Dogs. OUT SOON

Putting the Pop firmly in Power Pop by name and by virtue, The Popdogs lead us through 10 tracks over 30 minutes that will have you tapping anything to hand, singing along to catchy lyrics, punky power chords and if you are a cat person, you will certainly become a dog person!

This band, currently a two piece consisting of James Styring (Ex "Postcards From Places That Don't Exist") on vocals and Tim McKeating on guitar and backing vocals, hail from Lincoln in England and seem to have cracked the perfect pop song formula as this album displays.  It is very hard to pick out a favourite track on this album, every track on the album could quite easily be released as a single, something that is pretty rare these days.

Who let the dogs out?  Who cares?  Thanks! 

At present there is no official release date for the album as the "boarding kennels" all snap at the heel of The Popdogs, but as soon as this magnificent debut is made widely available, I wil be sure to let you know, this is one that you will not want to miss!

In the meantime, contact, follow, befriend, adopt a dog, like and love The Popdogs here: Facebook

The Condors - 3 Item Combo. Out 31st October.

"3 Item Combo" is the third album from this Los Angeles 3 piece and, as per the previous two releases by the band, it is full to the brim with Power Pop pearls of wisdom, attitude, intellect and an abundance of energy.
The songwriting skills of Pat DiPuccio absolutely sparkle here with tales both personal and emotional,  coupled together with great scores of music that will satisfy all your desires with gritty riffs and sweet harmonies, and like the bands previous albums, will surely become staple listening for fans of quality Power Pop/Rock 'N' Roll.

The band’s one constant has been songwriter and frontman, Pat “Pooch” DiPuccio, but past and present band members have added their stamp on each incarnation of The Condors. Formed out of the remnants of several groups, this band has grown into a tight, proficient outfit; logging many hours recording in the studio and playing live shows.

The Condors are:

 Pat "Pooch" DiPuccio - Lead Vocals/Guitar

Miggs DiLeva - Bass/Vocals 

Mark Francis White - Drums/Vocals

"Set Me On Fire" from the film "Target Practice" taken from the bands second album "Wait For It."

Listen to tracks from "3 Item Combo" here: Amazon

I am really enjoying this album, it is certainly going to be one that graces my year end "Best Of" list and really deserves to be in there, this is proper old school power pop, brilliant!

Contact, befriend, follow, like and love The Condors here: Facebook

The album wil be available from October the 31st from: Amazon cdbaby itunes Napster and other quality websites.

Te Condors Official website: The Condors

The Bidons - Granma Killer!!! OUT NOW

The Bidons were created for the weekend, ok, they probably didn't have this in mind when they formed, but their brand of 60's garage punk will get you in the mood to party and party hard!

This 8 track album ticks all the boxes, the bands own compositions sit beautifully next to the two covers included here, which happen to be personal favourites, "Night Time" by The Strangeloves and "Be a Caveman" by The Avengers.

This has to be the most immediate album I have heard this year, but as a fan of 60's garage punk, it wasn't going to be hard to impress me with their style, they may not be the most original band on the block but they are certainly one of the best at what they are doing and for that reason alone this band will go on to feature heavily in the year end lists of many blogs I am sure.

As usual, don't take my word for it, I don't like to teach granny to suck eggs, in the same way I don't believe these guys are "Granma Killers!" Go take a listen.

Contact, befriend, follow, like and love The Bidons here: Facebook

Stream and but the digital album here: Bandcamp

Buy the physical album here: AreaPirata