King Alexander are a Cardiff based band and they make a curious racket. King Alexander's sound isn't that easy to define. The band mix up heavy bass, talked and then shouty vocals with indie guitar sounds. To date they have released one 6 track CDr EP 'Despot Chic' - which I think is self released and they also have a split 7" with a band called Male (more on Male another time). Their side of the single contains two songs 'His Nibs' and 'King Of Monsters'. Both of which are rather fine - 'His Nibs' is the more direct as a guitar riff emerges and then receeds - this reminds me of the otherside of C86, the less poppy side - as the shouty vocals comes in I am reminded of Bis doing 1986 indie. 'King Of Monsters' is a slower song - a thumping bass kicks in and male/female vocals come in, almost talking - reminding me of a less aggresive version of Prolapse.

The 6 track EP is, if anything, more noise orientated. Crunching guitars and more manic vocals are the order of the day here. Opening song 'Acrobats' is a one minute whirlwind of jagged guitars. Elsewhere 'We Are A Good Egg' echoes the style found on the 7" single - with a bassy sound to the fore. I can't find fault with the band as this is the sort of sound I love. It helps blow the cobwebs away and that's no mistake. As it stands both of these releases are available to buy and the band have 4 songs to stream over on their My Space.

An outdoor festival for free? Placed at Stockholm near the city centre next Saturday?

That sounds like the Pop Dakar festival at the University Area.
There will be playing both swedish and foreign artists at two stages.

Line-up:

Zeigeist, Laakso, Those Dancing Days, Hemlig artist, First Floor Power, Riot in Belgium, Punks Jump up, The Barbwires, La Vida Locash, Kocky, We Smoke Fags, Pacific, Gentle Touch, Lowood, Jonas Game, Twig

The festival is free and open for everyone that have the age of 18 years.


For more details about the festival and the pre-party on Friday:

www.popdakar.nu
www.myspace.com/popdakar

I recently received two Baby Calendar LPs to review. Baby Calendar are a three piece band from Miami, USA. The two LPs I received were 'Fifteen Year Old Sneakers' (self released, 2005) and 'Gingerbread Dog' (Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records, 2006). They have one other self released LP 'Your Move' (self released, 2004) which is currently not available. The band also won the Tweenet 2006 poll for best new band and I can certainly hear why.

This is good American indiepop/powerpop, recalling bands like The Besties and All Girl Summer Fun Band. There are nice vocal harmonies from singers Tom Gorrio and Jackie Biver. The self released CD is a little rougher around the edges and slightly harder in sound but both CDs are good enough. A band I'd like to hear more from. According to their My Space the band are working on a new EP. The three piece are completed by Arik Dayan and indeed, Tom and Arik have a side project called Call It Radar and their sound is a little more indierock orientated.

Baby Calendar - Traffic in the Tropics (from Gingerbread Dog)
Baby Calendar - Fifteen Year Old Sneakers (from Fifteen Year Old Sneaker, was that obvious?)

Head over to the bands website where you can download a couple more songs from the LPs.

The Monks were a band that was made up of American GIs stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties. They began playing together in 1964, calling themselves the 5 Torquays. They covered Chuck Berry songs and played music inspired by the British bands of the time (The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Beatles etc). Over time the band began experimenting with their sound and moved away from the sound that they started copying. With this change, the band renamed themselves The Monks. The Monks are probably one of the biggest cult bands of all time. They're renowned for their punky and abrasive sound. Often cited as forerunners of the punk movement. They've influenced many bands down the years and the proof of this is shown in this double CD released on Play Loud.

'Silver Monk Time' is 29 covers of Monk songs spread over 2 CDs. As with all tribute CDs it has the potential to be a mixed affair and the discs are markedly different in their approach. CD1 contains the more electronic take on The Monks sound with bands like 27 11 and Alec Empire upping the beats per minute. There are some interesting takes on the disc though as we get Jon Spencer and Solex doing a gritty little version of 'Complication' and Mouse on Mars doing 'Monks No Time'. But for me CD2 is the better of the two. Why? Simple. It is the one that brings the guitars to the fore. We get The Fall doing 'Higgle-Dy, Piggle-Dy' - which is fine slab of Fall noise as Mark E Smith growls 'Higgle-Dy, Piggle-Dy' repeatedly. Wonderful. Elsewhere Singapore Sling gives 'I Hate You' a menacing Jesus and Mary Chain make-over. The Halvetones take on 'That's My Girl' and win. I could go on - but CD2 is a rare treat, a tribute LP that I can like from start to end.

The double CD was originally released to raise funds for a film that Play Loud made called 'Monks - The Transatlantic Feedback'. Here is the trailer for the complete film.

The Patty Winters Show released 'People Like Us Aren't Meant To Win' last year and it was a decent enough little single without ever being anything to shout about. So, now a year later we have 'You Are Wrong' released as the follow up on Vacuous Pop Recordings. Is it any more distinctive?

The answer has to be a little bit. But only a little bit. Lead song 'You Are Wrong' tries to cross old school indie with the more modern art pop sound. And it's certainly got indie disco potential. Their are hints of The Good Shoes on this song. Which is no bad thing. It's a solid track without ever being remarkable. The 'B' side 'You Can't Force People To Care' is a slower song which really doesn't get going for me. There's something about it that doesn't click with me. So the jury is still out on The Patty Winters Show for me. I am struggling to be won over. I am sure there's a decent band trying to get out - but at the moment they seem a little too ordinary for me to get fully excited about. But don't take my word for it, head over to the bands My Space to stream both tracks on the single.

My Sad Captains are the latest signings to Fortuna Pop. So it's no surprise to see them headlining a Fortuna Pop night at the Buffalo Bar. Also on the bill were Kelman, Brother Francisco and Electricity In Our Homes. It had be a long day so I took in the three support bands from the comfort of the seats at the back. So no in depth review here, just a few words on each. Electricity In Our Homes were all bass and angular rhythms, a bit post-punk meets new wave meets indie. On another day this might well have got me up and paying attention. Tonight, I just wanted more tunes. Then it was the turn of Brother Francisco. I wasn't really convinced by their sound which is something akin to Stereolab on indierock steriods. Sorry. Kelman then tried to prize me away from my seat and they nearly succeeded. I have seen them before and I like the sounds they make. It was no different tonight their sub Velvets meets Galaxie 500 sound is something I would never tire from hearing. It just wasn't the most energetic of sets so I remained rooted to my seat - whilst quietly enjoying the band.

So, I finally found the energy to stand up and take a position nearer the front for My Sad Captains. I am so glad I did. I have heard the band compared to New Order, which I can't really hear myself. Tonight the band sounded like an old school Track and Field band to me. The perfect mix of 60s tinged indiepop and country rock. The band that sprang to mind as I listened to the band was American west coasters The Tyde. Tonight's set included a rather grand cover of 'Hundreds of Sparrows' (originally done by Sparklehorse) and the set concluded with both sides of their single. 'Here and Elsewhere' was even better live than on the 7". Bad Decisions' was the set closer and also the show stealer. A cracking blend of pop, country and rock. I'd seen the band before but they seem to have grown in stature these past few months. They're certainly a band to keep an eye on in the future months. Top Stuff.

The Poppycocks are a new four piece Brighton based band. This single has been out for a couple of months on Drift Records. The 'A' side on this 7" is 'Lovebirds' and it's a charming piece of indiepop recalling yesteryear at every turn. I can hear echoes of Lloyd Cole, Belle and Sebastian and early era Creation Records. That's fairly high praise for a new band. It's deserved. This is an enchanting little single. The 'B' side is called 'Tender Hooks' and while not as instant and or as catchy as the 'A' side - it's still a well crafted little pop song and gets a hearty thumbs up from me.

I think I've found a band that could fit in the category 'ones to watch'. And if you did get the urge to see them they have a few gigs lined up - including one this evening in London. Here are the full details:

25th August - Fox and Firken, Lewisham, London.
11th September - Metro Club, London
26th September - The Hope, Brighton
28th September - Joogleberry, Brighton

The band have also made a video for 'Loverbirds'

When: 30th August 2007
Doors: 20:00hrs

30th August @ The Grosvenor, 17 Sidney Rd, SW9.
Nearest tube - Stockwell (Victoria/Northern Lines)

Monotaxi, Horowitz, The Cut Outs and Hong Kong in the 60s.

+ Sounds XP DJ's

It will be £4 in advance from We Got Tickets and £5 on the door.

The Lolligags are an electro pop group from Athens, Georgia. Wired is their début EP and contains four tracks of what on the surface seems to pleasant, almost dancey, casio inspired electro pop.

However scratch below that surface and you will find a sinister, sometimes funnily so, dark side to the band courtesy of their lyrics. The subject matter contains references to mental anguish, stalking and being terrorised. That's just for starters and did I mention the sexual desperation of a girl in a lavender dress? It's enough to make your hair stand on end.

Maybe I am as sinister (sick?) as the Lolligags because I still have a smile on my face from listening their music. Forget your bubbly electro pop and take a trip full of mystery and suspense via this pretty fine EP.

The Wired EP is out now on Happy Birthday To Me Records. You can buy it direct from the band.

The track Wired Up can be downloaded from here.

[My Space link]

In 1993 this amazing new band won the Icelandic "Battle of the Bands". They were kinda innocent looking but the music was heavy, dark and somewhat menacing. What probably secured their victory was the drummer, Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, often nicknamed Obo, who hit the drums like the devil himself. At the time he was one of three young and talented drummers whom I was told had all been tutored by Sigtryggur of The Sugarcubes. One of them would also win the competition the next year.

Yukatan was formed in 1992 and won the competition the following year. As reward they got whopping 25 hours in a studio, which they used to record a whole album which was then released on Bad Taste the same year. It was strangely named "Safnar Guðum (Safnar Frímerkjum)", or "Collects Gods (Collects Stamps)" whatever that means. This album has been a favorite of mine ever since, but the band sadly disbanded in 1994, and so far only regrouped for a single concert in 2001 if I remember correctly. Ólafur Björn has been the most prolific in music since then, playing drums in various bands such as Unun, Stórsveit Nix Noltes and Benni Hemm Hemm to name a few. Guitarist Reynir Baldursson is now in a heavy metal band called Perfect Disorder.

The album contained 8 songs, all of whom were good with the possible exception of the last one, which always sounded like an unecessary fill-up. Of all the songs though, none got more to me than "Tunnels". After 14 years it still gives me goosebumps. I suggest you turn up the volume.

Yukatan - Tunnels
Yukatan - House

[Myspace link]
[Buy from Bad Taste]

Many of you might know Vicky Pollard only as the obnoxious teenage girl in Little Britain. However five young icelanders have now applied this name to their band, which was formed in november last year. Consisting of four girls and a guy banging the drums, this band is rapidly making a name for themselves with loud and fun live shows, and apparently they are already recording their first album, though I don't think they have a label yet.

I recommend streaming "Tender Demand" from their Myspace page, or take a listen to "The Plan" below. I'm optimistic that this band will be doing some great things pretty soon.

Vicky Pollard - The Plan

[Myspace link]

'The Sound Of You' is the 2nd single from Mono Taxi. It's released on 20th August (7" and Digital) on Ciao Ketchup Recordings. I have been playing the advance copy of this single for a good few weeks now. It's a sublime piece of indie pop/rock. I wouldn't be sure to call it Indiepop or Indie Rock - it kinda straddles the divided between the two. As the hooks and melodies are sure fire pop winners - but the band has a little more Rock'N'Roll in their bones and this shines through on the 'A' Side 'The Sound Of You'.

The 'B' side 'Operator Help' is a more stripped down song - guitar and female vocals work their way around a delicate melody. After a few listens it works a little magic on you - but if I am taken with Mono Taxi - it's more by the ever so wonderful 'A' side.

The band are currently on tour to promote the single. They even headline a Lostmusic Presents night on the 30th August. So with no hint of bias (oh well, a little I guess) I suggest you get out and see them. The full tour dates are listed on the bands My Space page. You can also stream some older tracks and the 'A' side from this new single.

Mono Taxi - My Space

My Sad Captains are a London based band who released their début single Bad Decisions on Fortuna Pop back in June. The band include Cathy Lucas who is also a member of Fanfarlo who released their debut single for the same label. Unsurprisingly their are similarities between the two although My Sad Captains lean towards the folkier end of the indie pop spectrum.

Bad Decisions has received some pretty good press with one of my colleagues at Sounds XP describing it as ”a pop confection that combines the bright jangle of the Go-Betweens and the dark majesty of the Silver Jews” And thanks to the label deciding to release the single on the internet free of charge you can hear if that assessment is correct for yourself.

My Sad Captains - Bad Decisions

You can buy the single here.

The band also have plenty of London based gigs coming up. They also play the End Of The Road Festival in September.

24 Aug 2007 - Fortuna POP! Presents the Beat Hotel @ the Buffalo Bar, London
2 Sep 2007 - World Domination League @ The Windmill, Brixton, London
7 Sep 2007 - Wolfgang Bop @ The Montague Arms, New Cross, London
14 Sep 2007 - End Of The Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, North Dorset
28 Sep 2007 - How Does It Feel To Be Loved? @ The Windmill, Brixton, London

[My Space link]

Swedish band the Tillmanns will be releasing their debut album via Fraction Discs on August 25th 2007. It's titled A Careless Lifestyle.

The label have made a track, titled Heavy Rotation, taken from the album available as a free download. It has a very dark 1980's synth pop feel to it, almost gothic in parts. As it's the albums opening track it will be interesting to hear how the rest of the album pans out. It's certainly not what I expected based on the bands previous single Run.

Tillmanns - Heavy Rotation

Another track from the album, Cold Hands, can be streamed via the band's My Space page.

I have recently been reading a fascinating book entitled 'Our Band Could Be Your Life (Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991) written by Michael Azerrad. It's basically a potted history of the DIY American indie revolution that ultimately lead to bands like Nirvana and their cross over into the mainstream. It's focuses on 13 bands - most of which I was familiar with before reading (Big Black, Butthole Surfers, Husker Du, Mission of Burma, Sonic Youth etc) - but one of the bands featured, were a band I had never heard before. That band was Minutemen. I was vaguely aware of them prior to reading the book - but I had them down as a shouty hardcore band. They existed between 1980 and 1985. The band coming to an untimely end when core member D. Boon was killed in a car crash just before Christmas 1985. The other two members of the band were Mike Watt and George Hurley.

I was so intrigued by the story told in this book that I instantly wanted to hear the band. Luckily their stuff is available fairly easily and I plumped to download a couple of LPs from the Emusic site. I didn't regret it. The band were nothing like the hardcore band that I had imagined. They were a powerful band, in the sense that their songs often came across like short, sharp, shock treatment. The band were also great musicians. It showed. The drums they use move effortlessly between straight ahead rock'n'roll to more complex rhythms. I can now hear their influence across bands I grew up loving in 1987 and 1988 (Big Black, Butthole Surfers and Sonic Youth all spring to mind).

So after buying Post-Mersh, Volumes 1 and 2. I chanced upon a cheap DVD of a documentary about the band that came out in 2005. Simply entitled 'We Jam Econo' - in reference to their low budget DIY approach to music making, fanzines and touring. It's a two DVD set - one being a history of the band pieced together from old interviews, live footage and talking head interviews. The other disc is 62 songs from three filmed concerts. I'd say this pretty much an essential purchase.

Here's 'Little Man with a Gun in his Hand' from the DVD:



The Fits and Starts blog has a more general post up about this period in American music - but it has a few Minutemen songs for download.

I was given this LP to review the other day and it's another one that before listening I had no idea of what to expect. It comes out on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records and after reading the blurb that came with the release I was expecting something very lo-fi and a little unhinged - the references mentioned included Vic Chestnutt and Gram Parsons. Apparently it was recorded entirely onto cassette - so it has lo-fi credentials. I can't say I really noticed. And OK, it's a little down beat alt country sounding throughout - but whereas I can listen to Vic or Gram when the mood takes me - I can't say Ryan Anderson is in the same league. I am sure some people out there might find this kinda folky country pop rewarding. For me 'The Garden Path' is just a little too samey to ever keep my attention. A fairly standard run through singer/songwriter territory. So sadly, for me, this is going to be filed in the not for me pile.

Ryan Anderson - Hospital Bed

Ryan Anderson - My Space

I have to confess to not knowing very much about Company of Cowards prior to hearing this compilation which has just been released on Firestation Records. It's called 'A Mouthful of Tuesdays' - which compiles their recordings from 1987-1989. During their time together they only released one four track EP called ‘18 Again’.

The band existed between 1986 and 1990 and it seems they supported contemporaries like Mighty Mighty, The Chesterfields and The Brilliant Corners. The recordings collected on the compilation showcase a slightly poppy take on late 80s indiepop. It comes as no surprise that this compilation has been released by Firestation Records - as it bears a strong resemblance to a lot of the bands collated on The Sound of Leamington Spa compilations. And it seems the band are due to be featured on the up coming volume 6 of this series of records that compile the lesser known and lost gems from the 1980s indie hey day - more info on that compilation here.

Like I said this does sound very of it's time. The band were obviously influenced by bands like The Smiths, Lloyd Cole and Aztec Camera and to a lesser extent to the c86 stuff that was around as the band were in existence. Which is no bad thing. There's just a little something lacking throughout this compilation to really get me excited. I would never call it 'bad' but the band seemed a little shy of the killer tunes that would've made them stand out. If you really crave that late 80s indie sound, it's worth giving Company of Cowards a spin - just don't expect 15 cast iron indiepop gems - what you will get is 55 minutes of pleasant jangle pop.

Company of Cowards - Party Talk

The band have a website which has a lot more information about their past and what some of the members are up to these days.

Mother and The Addicts are a new band on me. 'Science Fiction Illustrated' is the bands 2nd LP and it's just been released on Chemikal Underground. I have always had a soft spot for this label -and their back catalogue includes some fine releases by The Delgados, Arab Strap, Cha Cha Cohen and Sister Vanilla. Mother and the Addicts continue the labels tradition of finding good bands and giving them licence to make top notch music.

The band seem to have been gathering the plaudits from the mainstream press. Often something to fear, in my eyes. But don't let it put you off. This LP is well worth hearing. The way it mixes up influences from the 70s and 80s never results in an LP the sounds dated. Mother and the Addicts cherry pick their influences rather well and they have created an LP that sounds remarkably fresh to me. The closest current band that I think of when I play 'Science Fiction Illustrated' is Sons and Daughters. Albeit a funkier and slightly mellower version of that band. Both bands write and produce high quality guitar based pop music.

The LPs opening song 'All In The Mind' sounds like a slightly tamer version of The Fall. Which is a good thing. Elsewhere the influences range from 80s electropop to 70s Roxy Music. Despite all the influences bubbling to the surface this record sounds like no one band and more importantly it never sounds derivative. Which makes a refreshing change.

Mother and the Addicts - Website - My Space
Chemikal Underground - Website - My Space

As part of the on-going changes to indie mp3 I have split the "Featured Track of the Week" from the main site into a separate blog simply called Are You Scared To Get Happy? Not very original but it's the best I can come up at present. Any ideas?

This site will hark back towards the original spirit of the indie-mp3 site. When I first started indie mp3 in 2002 there was no other site doing the same thing but since web 2.0 and blogs a number have shown up. [joke]It's time for me to take the throne back from the young pretenders [/joke]

These include:

I'm Not Always So Stupid
Heaven Is Above Your Head
The Rain Fell Down*
Skatterbrain

Is there any I have missed out?

* Now finished but worth viewing and to grab the radio shows.

Are You Scared To Get Happy? can be found here. I still need to finish things, adding links etc. But have a look around anyway!

Arriving at the Albany we found that the much vaunted Hatcham Social had cancelled their appearance. By the time the night was over they had hardly been missed!

I haven't seen or heard Wintergreen and their electro tinged indie pop for ages. I also managed to miss them at the recent Indie Tracks festival. However not much seems to have happened to the band during those 18 months and the two singles, Magic Road and the subsequent Clockwork Mice, are still the highlights of their set. When you consider the latter was released in 2005 you may think that would raise concerns although I guess the band are obviously waiting for the right song to come along. Judging by the new and untitled material aired tonight that wait may be a little longer than planned.

That said I like the bands droning sound especially when it goes up against the bands obvious love for all things jangle pop whilst at the same time experimenting with samples via their shiny new laptop. They certainly sounded good tonight although I was sad not to hear Droning Starlight which is one of their songs from a previous round of demos. Now that could have been a single.

What's with these Swedes and technology? The Honeydrips recently played their entire set via the mobile phone and here tonight Compute's backline was supplied straight via an i-pod supplemented by two keyboards on stage. Compute is one Ulrika Mild but they expand to a three piece line up tonight which included Liechtenstein's front woman Renee.

Compute play an electro pop mix that invokes some of the better synth pop sounds of the 1980's being reminiscent of Yazoo, early Depeche Mode and Giorgio Moroder. Some may have found the music slightly derivative after a few tracks but the electro pop beats came thick and fast for me. It didn't take long for the first person to start dancing with others swaying along too. The rest of Liechtenstein joined in for the set closer Dance With Me further bridging the indie and electro pop divide.

The trouble for Liechtenstein is that they need to know if they are playing to "old gits" like myself. Far from being a pretty good Shop Assistants clone as their recent single Stalking Skills may have suggested they also played songs that had obvious similarities with The Slits, Modettes and Dolly Mixture to name but a few. I found myself singing these bands songs whilst Liechtenstein played their set! Not that this is a criticism of what the band do - on no! Much of this music should sound new and fresh to anyone under the age of 25 whilst I enjoyed the nostalgic element!

The band were playing a few UK dates after their festival stealing performance at Rip It Up. They didn't move much on stage although the smiles suggested they enjoyed themselves. They sounded pretty good too with a range of pretty catchy songs and the set was over before it had begun. Compute joined them on Cravings although unfortunately this wasn't the electro pop version found on the band's My Space page.

Another thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable night courtesy of Spiral Scratch with some excellent Swedish sounds provided by DJ Nick from Tack! Tack! Tack!

Wintergreen - Droning Starlight
Compute - Dance With Me
Liechtenstein - Stalking Skills

[Wintergreen on My Space]
[Compute on My Space]
[Liechtenstein on My Space]

Sambassadeur - Subtle Changes

Single released by Labrador on 28/08/2007. New album to follow in November.

[via]
[My Space link]

The Besties played an awesome gig here in Reykjavik on wednesday. Due to the fact that Iceland has little tradition of Indiepop, let alone Twee, the band shared a stage with a few solid rock bands, and foremost among them were Jan Mayen who have just released an excellent album in Iceland, "So much better than your normal life". The band first appeared on the horizon in 2003 with the release of an EP, and a year later their debut full-length was released by Bad Taste, and was nominated for three awards at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2005. Jan Mayen have honed their live shows to near perfection and are a delight to watch, though for some reason they absolutely refuse to headline.

Londoners can catch them playing at The Luminaire on september 26th. Here's one of my favorite songs from the new album, and I also recommend "Joyride" and "Nick Cave" which you can stream from their Myspace page.

Parade are an indie rock band who currently reside in Atlanta but originally hail from Athens, Georgia. The Answer Me EP is the bands 4th release following a self released album, EP and last years split 7" single with Aviator.

Any indie rock band who state that the Aphex Twin and the Gang Of Four are amongst their influences is fine by me although you will hear a trace of neither here.

Instead we get five slabs of melodic indie rock which is sometimes minimalistic, sometimes atmospheric. The songs are tight, consistent and Carrie Hodges vocals are pretty impressive throughout although sometimes it just sounds a bit too polished for my liking. The big surprise is on Booths were they come over all Sky Larkin on us. It's an EP I wouldn't turn off but the big question is there enough on here to warrant me playing it again?

Parade - That's Hott
Parade - Hunting

Buy the EP.

[My Space link]

First I thought of something to write about about this new monthly club in Malmö, Sweden. But then it felt somehow unnecessary when they had already written the following text about themselves:

Don’t Die On My Doorstep is about filling gaps. For a few years now there has been a gaping hole in Malmö’s POP scene. All these great bands have turned up, like Butcher Boy and Horowitz across the North Sea and Days and Liechtenstein right here at home. Bands that we can’t live without. But they’ve got nowhere to play! This is where we come in. Don’t Die On My Doorstep is an indiepop club with live bands. Thus, it is modelled on National Pop League in Glasgow and Spiral Scratch in London. Bringing the best of these together you get a weekday club roughly once a month, playing the best records and booking the bands you thought would never come to Sweden. We can’t get all of them, but we promise to try. We don’t like booking agencies and tickets will be as cheap as we can make them. We are fed up with clubs that start late just to prove something, so we’ll have you back home before your bedtime. And we're fed up with venues that won't let you in, so no age limits around here! Yes, ruffle that bowl cut, put on your anorak, grab your silk stockings and your dance invitation!

We know there’s a gap in your heart. Well at least I can advice you to head over and say hello if you like [Myspace]

More at Heaven Is Above.

Sidecar Kisses sent me a 3 track demo for a review a few weeks back. It's finally manged to scrabble it's way to the top of the ever increasing pile of CDs that I have to 'review'.

Opening song 'Austere' is a nice mix of indie/pop/new wave with female vocals. 'Little Ones' is a more rocky affair recalling the slacker sounds of Royal Trux to my ears. It's a sound I like. The lead vocals on this one are taken by one of the blokes in the band. Final song 'Gunslinger' is more straight forward indie song - I can maybe hear a little of The Breeders on this one and the vocals this time are shared between the two previous lead. This is a promising demo. It's not 100% winning me over - but Sidecar Kisses have certainly done enough to make me want to hear more. It's hard to tell whether I will really fall for this band on the strength of these three tunes. You can currently stream all three songs via their My Space.

The Manhattan Love Suicides have a fab new single out on Magic Marker Records. The 'Kick It Back 7" EP' contains four glorious slabs of fuzzed up indiepop. It's available to order from the Magic Marker website and from Squirrel Records in the UK.

The single contains a re-recorded version of 'Kick It Back' which appeared on the bands debut LP. The other three tracks are all new and they indicate that the band are getting better with each release. 'Cracked Open' is simply a stunning piece of fuzzed up indie pop - recalling The Shop Assistants, The Primitives and The Darling Buds without ever sounding like a pastiche. 'You'll Never Get That Guy' slows down the tempo whilst maintaing the fuzz that makes the Manhattan Love Suicides so distinctive. 'Way Out Of Reach' ends the EP. That's so nearly a Primitives song title. This is another slower song. Caroline's voice just sounds so right for this kinda of slowburn pop noise. For my money, The Manhattan Love Suicides are the best band in the UK at the moment.

The band are also playing our Lostmusic Presents night on October 5th. Also on the bill are Irene, The Trudy and Downdime. We will have more details on this gig shortly - but what we can mention that this night is set to be a Lostmusic Records launch night. We are all dead chuffed that as our first ever release will be a new 4 track 7" EP from The Manhattan Love Suicides. More details on this, to follow, in the coming weeks.

Penny Century released a free download single on Letterbox Records on August 14th 2007. Titled Nothing Burns Like Bridges it is taken from their recent Between A Hundred Lies Album.

Penny Century - Nothing Burns Like Bridges

Head to Letterbox Records to view the video and download the artwork for the single.

The Swedish indie pop/folksters embark on a UK tour later this month. The dates are:

Fri 24 Aug 2007 - Nambucca, London

Sat 25 Aug 2007 - Ryan's Bar, London. With label mates, Morning Bride

Mon 27 Aug 2007 - Head of Steam @ The Cluny, Newcastle

Tues 28 Aug 2007 - John Paul Jones, Whitehaven

Wed 29 Aug 2007 - Capitol, Glasgow. With The Hermit Crabs, Saint Eskimo and Cancel The Astronauts

Thurs 30 Aug 2007 - Westport Bar, Dundee. With The A Forest, Mr Gavin McGinty and guests

Fri 31 Aug 2007 - Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh. With label mates Amateurs, Katie Sutherland, Mr Gavin McGinty

[My Space link]

I wrote about Little Name last week and now the band's label has made two more mp3's available. Both tracks are taken from the forthcoming album How to Swim and Live which is due for release via Sleepy Records on October 2007.

The record label thinks Little Name's music will appeal to fans of Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura. See what you think.


Little Name - Tracey & I
Little Name - How to Swim and Live

[My Space link]

The Summercats hail from Victoria, Australia and play a bright and breezy version of indie pop which is just perfect for the last days of summer. There is all sorts of influential bits and pieces in their music which range from The Go-Betweens, The Beach Boys, 1980's indie pop as well as hints of organ driven American bands such as The Shins and The Features. The band have also been playing with the likes of The Lucksmiths and The Zebras.

The band have four songs for streaming via their My Space page including the current track on their split single with Eux Autres entitled Hush Puppy.

The band also featured on one of the earlier releases on Cloudberry Records releasing a lurverly three track EP and it is these three tracks that make up the rest available on My Space with Crocodiles being my favourite!

Summercats - Discothéque

Check them out! The EP can be purchased at Cloudberry whilst the single can be brought directly from the band.

Last year we finished an incredible 10th in the BT Digital Awards people choice. You can vote any number of times from different e-mail addresses which seems to ridicule the whole process but who said democracy works? Put indie pop on the agenda!

Prinzhorn Dance School make a fascinating noise. They are male/female duo from Brighton. There are heavy nods to Mark E Smith littered throughout their debut LP. Current single 'Crackerjack Docker' comes over like The Fall circa 1982. The LP has just been released on DFA (EMI). I really like it - although it can sound a bit samey after a few listens. But like I said, I do like it. The sound the band go for is very minimal but with a lovely heavy bass sound. The band have a website - here - but it's a bit scant on information and preview songs. So this video for 'Crackerjack Docker' will have to do as way of a preview.



The band are playing a couple of instores to promote the LP:

12th August - Manchester, Picadilly Records (1pm)
14th August - Brighton, Resident Records (6pm)

They have a full UK tour pencilled in for October:

mon 1st - london, durr@ the end
wed 3rd - norwich, sonic
thur 4th - bristol, thekla
fri 5th - liverpool, korova milk bar
sat 6th - manchester, night & day
mon 8th - sheffield, the plug
tues 9th - stoke, sugar mill
thur 11th - leeds, faversham
fri 12th - glasgow, nice & sleazy
sat 13th - aberdeen, the tunnels
sun 14th - dundee, reading rooms
tues 16th - nottingham, social
wed 17th - london, 100 club

Pretty sad news regardless of your perspective of the man. I hope it puts the current New Order rows into context.

Indie MP3 passes it's condolences to his family and friends.

BBC Obituary.

King Of England by The Hot Puppies starts out sounding like The Envelopes track Free Jazz which is no bad thing in itself! It develops into a punchy and catchy song with more than a serious anti-war message to it. The b-side Power To Spare is a brat of a track which shows me how wrong I was not to give the band a second chance after hearing one of their earlier singles a few years back. Get it whilst I have some catching up to do!

King Of England is out now via the bands website and is a strictly limited edition.

Hungary's The Puzzle sound like Primal Scream during their Give Out But Don't Give Up period. The Creation links don't stop there with Alan McGee, who has proclaimed the band as "the find of the year" co-producing the tracks whilst the band are scheduled to appear regularly at Death Disco which is run by McGee's son.

Neither track on this double a-side is special or unique enough to stand out on it's own and when I state that the Skull Juice Remix of My Little Animal, with is heavy bass beats, is the best track on the single you will know what I mean. However if you like your rock n' roll dirty I suggest you give them a listen.

You're So Cruel/My Little Animal is out on Weekender Records on August 27th 2007.

The number of nondescript singles I have been sent previously makes me kind of sad especially when they are sent from a label I like such as Kids Records. I really tried hard to find something positive to say about The Steers and their début single Rewind Repeat but I failed. When the Observer wrote their revival of indie pop article a few weeks back it wasn't about the music of 20 years ago but rather the unimaginative corporate indie (read alternative) for the masses like this. There is a chain of thought that bloggers should not publish a review if it is negative. However when the music is as bland as this something has to be said. Avoid unless you believe everything the NME tells you.

Rewind Repeat is out on Kids on September 10th 2007.

Finally The Tacticians have been re-recording and releasing their previous singles since signing to Setanta Records. Now it's the turn of Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys and I am not sure the re-recording was necessary especially as it was originally out less than a year ago. Still it's a great song as my previous review testifies.

Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys is out on Setanta Records on August 27th 2007.

Strawberry Story are back! The band whose brand of fuzzy guitar pop and female vocals saw them compared to the likes of The Darling Buds and The Primitives are all set to support Bunnygrunt at London's Horse & Groom on September 21st. The band played a comeback gig last month and this seems to have wetted their appetite for some more appearances.

I never caught them the first time round so I am looking forward to the gig. I will post further details when the tickets go on sale.

Strawberry Story - Ashlands Road
Strawberry Story - Gone Like Summer

There are two more songs to download via My Space.

EDIT: See the comments for ticket details etc.

Limbs are a three piece band from Brooklyn, New York. Their debut long player 'Stages' has just been self released and follows on the back of two earlier self released singles (Suspension and Limbs - both still available to buy from the bands website). It seems the DIY ethic is alive and well away from the indiepop scene too. This record is probably best described as 'Math Rock' but that's a description that owes a little to me playing safe with this review. As I can't comfortably pigeon hole the band. There are traces of traditional indie, post rock and all this is confused and enriched by heavy percussion on some of the songs. Unlike most bands that take musicianship and challenging song structures the songs don't become overblown and over produced. Very rarely do the band over indulge in 'noodling' and not one song of this LP tops 5 minutes. Which is unusual for this style of music.

This is one of those LPs that you will, I think, get more and more from over time. I have been pleasantly surprised as I was fearing a musician fest. And sure these guys can play - but that's not what keeps my attention. It's the way the band manage to sound light and airy whilst taking a path th