The Autumn Store blog is the blog of the Autumn Store (funny that...) which is an indie club night in Birmingham. Well worth a read.

And if you haven't got their yet visit the Anorak Forums which is the home of the indie pop community these days. You will not find a friendlier bunch!

It's the end of January and tonight sees the first Spiral Scratch popshow of 2008.

I am not sure I get The Deirdres who are the most ramshackle of bands I have seen in a long while. I like the fun approach in the way that they make music. All seven of them wear capes, constantly swap instruments, take turns in singing and partake in witty banter with the audience and each other. Whilst they certainly made me smile I would have liked to have heard some songs which were reduced to second billing thanks to the antics on stage. It was a struggle to hear anything close to a complete tune and if the band focused on them a bit more I am sure we would have heard some crackers. Of course that's not the romantic option and they have plenty of fans in the indie pop community who like their silly ways. However if The Deirdres carry on being the fun student band they currently are then they are always going to be playing on the bottom of the bill and being the warm up act for others. Which is great if that's where they want to be.

About a year ago I described Pocketbooks as a shambling mess which saw this site receive it's only hate mail! Since then the band have got better and better. Tonight was the first time I have seen them with the new drummer (Jonny) and guitarist (Ian from the Cut Outs). Ian's guitar playing adds a new dimension to the bands sound which now sounds absolute. The boy/girl vocals works oh so well and both Emma and Andy's vocals are stronger than ever especially on the recent single Cross The Line. Even the fact that for the the first time in the Pocketbooks history a guitar string broke(!) it didn't put them off and they still finished strongly. Highlight for me was I'm Not Going Out which I hope turns up on the forthcoming new single. In that article from a year ago I wrote that the band could be London's premier indie pop band if they sorted themselves out. For now I think they are just that.

Sparky's Magic Piano début album towards the end of 2007 Feel The Beat and Do It Anyway was a great way to end the year and tonight sees them headlining for the first time. The band consist of Oli (guitar) and Marion (vocals) with the back line being supplied by a laptop and sequencer. The band have been compared to the likes of Saint Etienne, Stereolab, Supermarket and Golden to name but a few and their synth driven pop tonight was a delight. The Enterprise suited their sound tonight as they sounded very intimate in such close surroundings. None more so than on the excellent Kaleidoscope which we considered to be My Bloody Valentine without the feedback! The one drawback was they did play slightly a bit too long but as it was their first headline show so who can blame them for being over eager.

A good start to the year!

The Deirdres - Hopeless Is The Venue
Pocketbooks - I'm Not Going Out
Sparky's Magic Piano - You Like Her

The next Spiral Scratch gig is on 23rd February 2008 with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Parallelograms, Pocketbooks and Pete Green - tickets here. Before then they have their monthly club night at The Royal George, Charing Cross Road on Saturday 9th February 2008 where they will be giving away a free cloudberry Records CD to the first 50 people through the door.

Let's see if I can embed this here shamelessly:



[Ringo Deathstarr on Myspace]

Titus Andronicus are a quintet from New Jersey, USA. I just got their second 7" single in the post. It's a rather fab little record. The 'A' side 'Albert Camus' starts with bombastic guitars and drum rolls before quietening down before kicking up a storm all over again. A thrilling piece of guitar pop. I am stuck for reference points and that's always a good thing. I really like the sound that these five lads make. It sounds pretty lo-fi in it's production values but it doesn't stop it being great pop music. The 'B' side 'Upon Viewing Bruegel’s Landscape with the fall of Icarus' is just as good, if not better than the 'A'' side. Another great piece of noisy guitar pop.

If these two songs weren't enough to get me all excited - the other songs on their My Space tip me over the edge. Go on - take a listen to 'My Time Outside The Womb' - it's a great song. I can't wait for the other single to land on the mat. For now this 7" and those My Space songs are enough to keep this man very happy.

The Manhattan Love Suicides release a new EP 'Clusterfuck' shortly on Squirrel Records and they've made one song from the EP available for streaming on their My Space. The song is called 'Heat and Panic' and on first play back it seems a little 'heavier' than their previous releases - but it still sounds rather wonderful and it has a great churning bass sound. The band have a few live dates coming up in February (including the Lostmusic gig Tom posted about below) and March. Here is the bands full live schedule:

25 Feb The Rescue Rooms (Red Room) - Nottingham (w/The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart & Horowitz)
26 Feb The Glebe -Stoke-On-Trent (w/ The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart & Horowitz)
27 Feb Don’t The Kids Just Love It @ The Royal Park - Leeds (w/ The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart)
29 Feb The Buffalo Bar - London (w/ The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Strawberry Story and The Hillfields)
21 Mar Mondo @ Don Hill’s New York
27 Mar Lit Lounge - New York (w/ The Insect Guide)
28 Mar Cake Shop - New York (w/ The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart & Insect Guide)

You know what you are getting with the The Trembling Blue Stars and on the Exploring The Shadows EP it's indie pop of the highest order once more.

On Beautiful Blank the band have put together a catchy song as you are likely to hear this or any other year with the vocal quality of Beth Arzy shining throughout. No doubt it will see the Trembling Blue Stars heading for radio play and chart success recently enjoyed by label mates Camera Obscura.

As Easy As Being Alone is as near to the Field Mice as you can get without a change of name being required whilst Outside Looking Elsewhere is a lovely lo-fi ballad. It all ends nicely with And Then Silence which is perfect acoustic indie pop despite the somewhat abrupt ending taking you by surprise - ambient indie anyone?

Sadly it looks like Elefant have joined in the practice spreading songs across multiple formats as perfected by the majors and you will need to pick up the 7" version to hear a new version of Say Goodbye To The Sea, originally on last years Holy Writer album.

Exploring The Shadows EP is out now on Elefant. You can stream the songs on the bands homepage.

[My Space link]

The Computer Club are another one of those bands who are heavily influenced by the 1980's, in particular new wave and post punk. Ahh Interpol I hear you cry (again!) and the influences on the PR sheet read like others I have received recently. Yep both The Cure and Joy Division are here and one wonders if a law has been passed to make both of those band names compulsory entries on the record label blurbs these days (no pun intended).

Anyway the truth is that the Computer Club make a pretty decent noise even if they sound like Strozek, A Place To Bury Strangers or any of the many other bands you can find on My Space all influenced by the same thing. Both tracks are frantic, bass driven affairs and if you enjoy the retro sound as I do you can hardly go wrong. One has to wonder though if this 1980's revival has reached saturation point already.

Both sides of the single are available for streaming on My Space. The single will be released on 24th March 2008 via Split Records.

[My Space link]

Lost Music Presents A Cloudberry Records Special at the Buffalo Bar on 29/02/2008 to celebrate the end of the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's English tour. It features four great bands who have had or will have releases on the wonderful Cloudberry Records.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Imagine if The Ramones traded in their leather jackets for anoraks, or Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine's Pam Berry and had four babies that formed a pop band in 2007. Meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a New York four-piece who plays dreamy, noisy POP with boy/girl vocals, blissful melodies and blistering drums.

"Incredibly melodic and beautiful tunes wrapped in layers of effected-guitars and backed by a drum machine using a simple and steady beat". Indie Pages

Strawberry Story

"Comes up peanuts, slice after slice"

Forged from candyfloss and mint cracknel in the late eighties, Strawberry Story was a heady mix of fuzzed out guitars, dense bass lines and joyously girly singing. The band reformed for a one off gig in June 2007 which, luckily for all of us, wetted their appetite for more. Who can forget their their triumphant return to London at Monkey Chews last September? For fans of The Shop Assistants, Darling Buds and The Primitives.

Manhattan Love Suicides

We love this band so much we made sure they were the first band we released on our new record label. For anyone who loves fuzzed up guitar assaults, feedback, hit and run gigs, female vocals, melodic pop, ear splitting minimalist noise and hates a hell of a lot of other things... Dress it in black!

"I'm just gonna go ahead and say it – The Manhattan Love Suicides are my number one favorite band of the year. Everything this band does is flawless, and they are just really, really COOL, in every single aspect of the word." Skatterbrain

The Hillfields

"Like Pavement Scoring a Hal Hartley film..."

Born in the Royal Festival Hall, overcome by the raw power of Iggy Pop's 2007 Meltdown gig, a beautiful evening, and a smattering of beers... When you listen to the Hillfields you can hear the echoes of C86, Sarah Records and The Field Mice in their music.

"They make the sort of sounds that I can fall in love with. Gently chiming guitars and nice melodies combine to perfect effect." Indie MP3

The first 40 people through the door will receive an extremely limited edition four track Cloudberry EP only available at this gig titled What's All the Fuzz About featuring a track from each of the bands playing.

Lost Music DJ's will be playing their favourite Cloudberry Tracks throughout the night and after the gig including a special mix chosen by Roque, the founder of Cloudberry Records.

Tickets £5 in advance from We Got Tickets or £6 on the door. 8pm Start. See you there!

The next Soup Kitchen night has been confirmed for Saturday 2nd February 2008 and will take place at The Grosvenor in Stockwell. It's not too far from the Brixton Jamm.

This will be the first Soup Kitchen night that features bands. When the bands finish the Soup Kitchen Club will take place with guest DJ's from Exeter Goes Pop. The club will be free entry for all those watching the bands and for anyone joining after 11pm - the club will run to the early hours of the morning.

Smokers Die Younger

Coming down from Sheffield for a rare London show we have Smokers Die Younger who have been described as an astounding, soul-embracing band you dreamed you were discovering throughout your teenage years.

"chaotic, messy, exciting, amateurish and extremely endearing" - Rough Trade Shops

Dýrðin

Coming over all the way from Iceland for a whirlwind visit. This is their only London show of their brief stay. There are only 300,000 people who live in Iceland, 80% believe in elves. Dýrðin brings the mythologies of elves, comic book heroes and Star Trek to life with their edgy pop.

Champion Kickboxer

Again from Sheffield we have another great little band, this being Champion Kickboxer. Their recent EP - 'Candle Power' has been a firm favourite these past few months. A feast of beautifully organic pop music a little like the Super Furry Animals with great vocal harmonies and a melancholic air that drifts through all the songs. A must see band.

The Bridport Dagger

"The Bridport Dagger are a bass-less 3-piece who craft darkly hypnotic songs that conjure up images of the past without ever falling into the realms of nostalgia" so says Maps magazine.

Tickets are £5 on the door or advance tickets are just £4 from We Got Tickets.

Another post in the occasional series of catching up with bands so they don't drop out of sight!

Tesco Chainstore Mascara were one of a cluster of bands we came across on My Space last year alongside the likes of Bubblegum Lemonade and Strawberry Whiplash. Where as the latter two have now gone on to have or will have releases on Matinee Recordings it doesn't seem to have gone as swimmingly for the Mascara's.

A single was due for release in October on the Irish Simplistic Cow Records label but of that there is no sign nor is there any trace of the two compilations on Ascom Records they were going to contribute two tracks too. In fact both mentions of these releases have been removed form their My Space profile. I hope it's only a temporary setback because songs such as Just The Weight You Are and Sun's Shinin' For You deserve to be heard by all and sundry.

Tesco Chainstore Mascara - Just The Weight You Are
Tesco Chainstore Mascara - Sun's Shinin' For You

[My Space link]
[Even more Songs]

In a not to distant future Gentle Touch will release some new material. In the meantime you can do yourself an slight favour and follow the link:

[ Myspace ]

Anyone interested in bringing them over to England?

A couple of London shows to tell you about featuring bands from Scandinavia on rare visits to the capital.

First up is that Swedish band Billie The Vision & The Dancers are over, supporting Seasick Steve at the Astoria on 24th January 2008. They have their own headline show the following night at The Trinity Bar in Harrow which is a new venue on me. However it looks an interesting venue with lots on. The band then have a short UK tour the details of which can be found on their homepage.

Billie The Vision & The Dancers - Absolutely, Salutely
Billie The Vision & The Dancers - A Beautiful Night In Oslo

Next up is the news that Norwegian two piece Jeremy, who we have covered before, are headlining at the Monto Water Rats, Kings Cross on Friday 1st February. Tickets can be purchased from here.

Jeremy - Make Love Not War
Jeremy - You're Alright (RAC Mix)

Weekender Records are certainly starting 2008 with a bang or in this case, Butterfly Bangs!

I wasn't too impressed with their previous single, the sub Libertines sounding On The Street, but on Junk Sky Butterfly Bangs have certainly surprised me with what I can only describe as one hell of a pretty good pop tune. The attention grabbing vocals means that you are unlikely to wander during the song and musically it's all very up tempo, all very rousing and almost anthem like. Flip side It's A Lie is very Dexy's Midnight Runners-ish to say the least and singer Emmanuael even sounds like Kevin Rowland during the song. However it's far from plagiarism as they impose their own sound and identity onto the song. Impressive stuff.

Junk Sky is out on Weekender Records on March 3rd 2008.

[My Space link]

Southern Records have issued a new promo sampler called 'Monopoly of Brilliance' that features some great off kilter pop sounds along with a whole host of more experimental noisescape type stuff. The CD contains 15 songs from bands on labels linked to Southern. Including the wonderful Vic Chesnutt, the downtempo oddness of To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie, the punked up noise of Epsilons and Jenny Hoyston's (Erase Eratta) guitar driven pop.

For more info on the competition (it's really easy and the answers on contained within the mini site) and a chance to win each LP from the featured artists - simply click here.

Slow Down Tallahassee have new songs available for streaming via My Space.

Their previous single So Much For Love was a big fave here at indie mp3 towers and I can see these new tracks attaining the same status with their mix of girl band and keyboard driven pop sounds.

One of the tracks Down The Alleyway is currently available with the last issue of Thee SPC's Thee Humbug fanzine which you can order here.

Slow Down Tallahassee - Candy

[My Space link]

I generally avoid reviewing releases on Cloudberry Records not because they are not very good but because they release so many singles and reviewing them all would leave time for little else. However I am making an exception for Afternoon Naps because their début album Sunbeamed was one of my favourites of 2007.

Can't Stop The Weather is an indie pop floor filler for all of it's two minutes. It's feel good, summery music complete with organs, girl/boy harmonies, all of which is ideal for such a bleak January! The other two tracks continue in the same vein. Clean Bill Of Health sounds like a cross between Lust For Life and You Can't Hurry Love but the latter wins out as it has a very 1960's Motown/girl group feel to it. The 1960's sound stays with Happy All The Time which sadly isn't a cover of the Flatmates track but has a flowery psychedelic presence about it's person all the same.

A cracking little single and if you haven't investigated Cloudberry Records as yet this is a good place as any to start.

Afternoon Naps - Clean Bill Of Health

The single is out now and can be purchased via Cloudberry Records.

[My Space link]

I was given a tip off about The Prids a couple of days ago. And it took me less than 20 minutes to think I've got a new favourite band to obsess over. This four piece from Portland, Oregon in the USA - make a beautiful guitar noise. Sometimes sounding like a harder edged indie band. Sometimes there seems to be enough pedal action to hint at the influence of the shoegaze sound. The band also manage to do gentle guitar pop as well as any I have heard in a long while. Each song I have heard has that undeniable quality that marks the band out as something a little special.

It seems the band have been around since 2003 and have somehow managed to be one of the best kept secrets out there in internet land. I have been playing the songs on their My Space page fairly constantly the past couple of days and I have already ordered up as much of their back catalogue as I could find. I can't wait to get my hands on their CDs and EPs that are all available to order from the bands own website. I can not recommend this band enough. I have a new favourite for 2008 - everyone should give The Prids a listen. They won't disappoint.

Boy Genius are a new four piece band from Brooklyn, New York. Their debut EP 'Eureka' has 5 cracking songs on it. Coming in like a cross between indiepop and slackerpop. There are horns, catchy choruses and big beefy guitars. This is fine little EP for a band taking their first steps. I can hear echoes of early REM, Throwing Muses, Pavement and Pixies to name but four. But you will know that all four bands I have chosen to mention as comparisons are American. And that's no coincidence - for that is what Boy Genius sound like to me - a quintessential American college radio band. That's no bad thing and I am sure the band will attract a fair few fans based on the strength of this EP. A promising start.

The Foster Kids are a five piece pop band from Norwich. They sent me their self released EP to review a few weeks back and after a hectic start to 2008 I have finally found the time to give it a spin. And what do I make of the EP? Well - this isn't really indiepop music - it's more straight up 80's tinged guitar pop - recalling The Beautiful South to these ears - maybe that's the female/male vocals helping to shape my thoughts. It seems it is a comparison the band have had before.

The EP contains 6 songs and not one of them is bad per se and the band obviously have an ear for a catchy tune. My favourite of the 6 on offer is 'Foster Kid'. Saying all that - It's still all a little light weight and fluffy for me. I'm not a huge fan of The Beautiful South (I preferred the edgier sounds of The Housemartins). But for those that like their 'pop' music this might just do it for you. It leaves me hankering for something a little harder, a little less Beautiful South.

The fourth full-length release on the How Does It Feel To Be Loved? label may have arrived without any great fanfare, but it has been a long time in the making. The Penguin League was self-released on CD-R by the band back in 2006, but remained relatively unknown until HDIF stepped in to offer it a wider audience.

The album was recorded by 22-year-old Dylan McKeever and his band onto a friend's laptop, relying solely on the computer's built-in microphone. The lo-fi approach seems to have been borne out of necessity, but the results are pleasing. The Penguin League sounds both rich and slightly ramshackle, a difficult combination to pull off. The production never detracts from the quality of the songs, and there's no shortage of songwriting talent on display.

The ten tracks contained here are apparently the first McKeever has ever written, but they sound anything but amateurish. He cites early Belle and Sebastian as an influence, and while the similarity is there, the band has managed to create its own distinct sound with its first release in much the same way as B&S did with Tigermilk.

The album opens with 'I'm No Lover', a 90-second burst of trumpets and galloping drums that starts with the lines, "I'm not a lover, I'm a fighter/And I will eat your children alive". Never has a song about violent retribution sounded so sweet. The second song, 'Circuits', is a slightly nerdy but beautifully-executed love song. The instrumentation takes more of a back seat and McKeever's voice comes to the fore, sounding not unlike Fred Thomas of Saturday Looks Good To Me.

From there on, the album continues to fluctuate between Decemberists-style tales of death and mortality, and plaintive songs about heartbreak and longing from afar. 'Davenport Coast' is probably the best example of the latter, all bittersweet lyrics and vocal harmonies undercut with a desperately sad cello part. There is one instrumental on the album, 'Flightless Birds', which rattles along at a great pace, sounding like a Californian indie kid's take on The Life Aquatic soundtrack.

The standout track, however, is left until second-last. 'Antarctica' is a paean to a continent that clearly fascinates the singer and is probably the most uplifting song here, the handclaps and harmonies never more prominent.

Not a long album by any standard, The Penguin League's ten songs are over in less than half an hour. In that time, however, the listener is taken on a journey across frozen tundra, through distant forests and over harbours shrouded in fog. McKeever has created his own slightly incongruous universe in much the same way as Zach Condon did with Beirut, and the album hangs together as a whole that should be listened to from start to finish.

In summary, I'm hard-pressed to say anything bad about this album. Fans of any of the bands I've mentioned should love it as much as I do.

The Penguin League will be in shops from 11th February, but you can order it direct from How Does It Feel To Be Loved? now. You can read more about the band here.

Antarctica Takes It - Circuits

[My Space link]

Helie and Sunshine's It's All I Can Be is the first release on the new American indie pop label Lilydale Records. And boy what a start!

All I Can Be hits all the right spots in ones indie pop heart. Yes it's influenced by all the things you expected it to be but here we have all the right ingredients - harmonies, girl/boy vocals and lyrics that will make you smile. All the four songs here makes me want to tap my feet, jump in the air and shout yay from the roof tops. A near perfect example of lo-fi indie pop that you would wish to find.

It's All I Can Be is out now and can be purchased direct from the label. It's limited to just 300 numbered copies so be quick! The title track can be streamed via My Space.

Helie and Sunshine are currently recording their début album for release on Lilydale later this year.

Strasbourg based 1984 should really have named themselves after a year or two earlier as the influences evident on this record clearly come from around 1980/81. Cache Cache is their début single for Weekender Records and sounds like Joy Division if they Scottish and releasing records on Postcard Records. A French Franz Ferdinand really! It's everything a single should be with it's catchy riffs and upbeat chorus. On this evidence I see no reason to put this lot in Room 101.

Staying on Weekender Records is Nitasha Jackson whose début for the label is her cover of The Maccabees track First Love. Jackson, according to her biography, started to study music at the age of five and wrote her first song before she was six years old! It's a bit of a departure for Weekender whose roster generally comprises of rock bands. Jackson's vocals are sublime and the track is transformed into haunting piano ballad and the pattern is repeated with her own composition on the flip side. However I am not sure what audience the track is aimed at or why Weekender are releasing it unless they are trying to escape being pigeon-holed. A brave move in more ways than one.

Sadly it's back to The Raid who sound like they are backing NME's vision of a bland UK rock scene populated by corporate bands coming off the conveyor belt two to the dozen with We Know Best. With a title like that it would be way easy to retaliate but the record is best ignored unless you are sadly misguided and think music like this is cool, alternative and radical.

1984 and Nitasha Jackson's records are due for release on 11th February 2008 on Weekender Records. As for The Raid who knows and who cares.

Indie Mp3 faves Horowitz have a virtual box set available as a free download from Thee SPC.

It contains two songs from The Frosty Cat Songs album plus one new track. The virtual box set also includes the video to I Need A Blanket, virtual badges, postcard and an online Humbug Special zine which contains interviews by Kieron from In Love With These Times and Roque from Cloudberry records. And the best thing is that it is free! Download it from here - it's under free downloads.

It will be available in the form of the Humbug fanzine, with a cd of the audio tracks and a dvd of the video, in a few weeks time.

Also out now is the reissue of the long-sold out Cloudberry single on super-thick, yellow 7" vinyl. You can buy it from here. The band are launching the single tomorrow night (19/01/2008) at The Glebe, Stoke-on-Trent with Champion Kickboxer and Electrophonvintage.

On 11/02/2008 the band release Sweetness, I Could Die in Your Arms as a split 7" single with Projekt AKO on Filthy Little Angels. You can pre-order it here.

Horowitz - I Need A Blanket



[My Space link]

A round up of what's available on My Space which is where the band links will take you.

The Mai 68s having been getting people excited over at Anorak recently and listening to their four songs its not hard to see why. Their music touches base in both the indie pop and indie rock camps and it's a bit like The Flatmates crossed with Melys. Their music isn't as revolutionary as their name suggests but the songs here are impressive to say the least.

Indie gazers The Olive Shoots music is influenced by the likes of Felt and to a lesser extent the Cocteau Twins. Yet another example of a Swedish band taking it's UK influences and turning it into an art form.

Talking about Felt Phil Wilson has posted an excellent cover version of their seminal track Penelope Tree. Two new singles from the ex June brides frontman will be released later this year.

Asaka are another Swedish band I wrote about way back when! The band have completed their début album Asaka Has Left The Country. Six songs from it are available via My Space as free downloads - for the time being! The band are more influenced by American indie rock than anything else. One for fans of Pavement or Built To Spill.

Another Swedish band in a similar vein to Asaka are Elmo Red. The band have just released their début album The End and the title track and others taken from the album are available for streaming/downloading from you know where.

Strozek have been making enough noise of late and they have enough friends on My Space not to warrant a mention. However if, like me, you like that 1980's retro sound (and that's only because I liked it the first time round) then they could be for you. Think Joy Division, Josef K, Killing Joke, Bunnymen etc. They have five songs for streaming on My Space with the very Joy Division sounding You Have Only Got Yourself To Blame being my pick of the bunch.

Kate Goes are an experimental band who sound like Bearsuit in a cute, funny kind of way. They have two songs to stream.

Finally to celebrate 30 years of The Ruts the band, or more accurately what's left of them, have just released a live version of the seminal Babylon's Burning! It features Henry Rollins on vocals being joined by original guitarist Paul Fox. There will also be a charity gig towards the end of this month which will see special guests performing songs from The Crack and the singles. To buy the preview or single and for details of the gig head here.

Trevor introduced me to Ceremony earlier on this blog, and visiting their myspace page I promptly fell in love with the band and ordered both of their CDs. The CDs arrived on December 31st and Disappear has fast become my favorite album of the year 2007.



[Ceremony on Myspace]
[Buy the album(s) from Safranin Sound]

Bella are a trio from Vancover, Canada.

I recently downloaded their album No One Will Know from e-music on the basis that it was number 3 in the e-music indie pop charts and that New Order, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, the Legends and Vapnet were mentioned as sound alikes which may give you some idea that the band has a synth led sound.

To be honest the comparisons with the Swedish bands were some way off the mark although their were plenty of New Order style bass lines running through the album. The band, who are two women and one male, know their harmonies but it does take a few listens to break the album down. Initially the guitar spoils the earlier songs but the album soon settled down into a consistent pattern courtesy of obvious homage to Peter Hook via the bass.

The best thing will come to those who wait and that's the case with the albums final track Didn't Mean To Break Our Love which outshines by far the other tracks with it's blend of electro and indie pop complete with a sultry vocal. If Ladytron were inspired by indie pop I guess that they would sound like this.

Not an original album by any stretch of the imagination but a pretty enjoyable one if you are prepared to give it a few listens.

There are no tracks to download but a number of tracks from the album can be streamed via My Space.

[My Space link]

So better late than never and two days later than promised here is the second volume of the best free legal downloads voted for by indie mp3 readers which wraps up the year which was 2007.

I really like the folky sounds of Protestant Work Ethic and it was also good to see some south American indie courtesy of Amps & Lina.

Amps & Lina - Curva E Linha
Palomar - Our Haunt
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
Club 8 - Whatever You Want
Sunny Intervals - Sixty Seconds To Fall In Love
Bowerbirds - Dark Horse
Young Husband - Actors And Actresses
Crystal Stilts - Crippled Croon
Apple Orchard - Half-Steps Toward Bright Skies
My Teenage Stride - To Live And Die In The Airport Lounge
Sambassadeur - Subtle Changes
Protestant Work Ethic - Weather Side
Sleeping States - Rivers
The Psychotic Reaction - A Moment Of Clarity
We All Have Hooks For Hands - Hold On, C'mon
Signed Papercuts - Only Fools Rush In
Punk TV - Day By Day
The Dreadful Yawns - You're Pure

Download from here (zip file, 87MB)

Volume One can be found here.

Feel free to leave comments!

A couple of indie pop blogs you may be interested in:

Alex Loves You And Your Silly Pop Songs A new Aussie based blog which covers many of the bands written about on indie mp3 so that in itself should entice you to venture over.

Pop 'n' Cherries - An established Belgian blog covering post punk as well as indie pop from throughout the ages. I love the Les Calamites post.

I will add these two to the recommended blogs list in due course - these blogger templates take a lot of time updating!

I wrote about the Santa Cruz based Antarctica Takes It back in June last year.

The bands 2006 debut album The Penguin League has just got a UK release on the How Does It Feel To Be Loved label. I have just got my copy so expect a review shortly. In the meantime Circuits is a track taken from the album.

Antarctica Takes It - Circuits

[My Space link]

Sunny Day Sets Fire new single End Of The Road will be released later this month on Brikbrak Records. Their 2006 single Brainless has been one of my favouite singles of the past couple of years.

The band also plan to release their debut album Summer Palace in April 2008. The track listing can be found here.

Prior to this they release another single in the shape of Stranger. This EP will feature remixes of the title track as well as their previous two singles from a range of remixers such as CSS and The Cool Kids. The EP is set for release on February 26th 2008. You can listen to remixes from the release here and pre-order it from here.

Sunny Day Sets Fire - Stranger

[My Space link]

Yesterday was a day of gig hopping. First up was a trip to RoTa in Notting Hill. These Rough Trade endorsed afternoons have been running for about 8 years now. I used to be a frequent Saturday afternoon attendee. It's a great little idea. 3 or 4 bands for free in an 'Arts Centre' often curated by small labels/promoters. Yesterday's it was the turn of Smalltown America. The line up consisted of three bands - Alan MX, Q Without U and Pocketbooks.

I went down this afternoon to catch Pocketbooks. I had seen the band a fair few times before with mixed results. They were sometimes brilliant and sometimes shambolic. This was the first time I have seen the band with new guitarist Ian (he of The Cut Outs and London promoters Spiral Scratch). And it seems the band have come a long long way in the past few months. This current line up is delivering indiepop with a 60s flavour and they are delivering it with a high degree of style. Vocals from both Emma and Andy have improved greatly and the songs seem to have a much snappier feel. I've always liked Pocketbooks, but I think this was the first time I can say that as a live act the whole set worked for me. I can't put my finger on exactly where the improvement has sprung from - I would guess it would be down to growing confidence and a solid drum beat. I think 2008 could be a very good year for Pocketbooks.

After the afternoon show I hot footed it across London to catch a Guided Missile night at the Buffalo Bar. They'd put together a night that screamed nostalgia for me. For on the bill was Adrian R. Teenbeat, Ricky Spontane and Zombina and her Skeletones. All bands I used to see a lot back 6 or 7 years ago - especially at the Bull and Gate in Kentish town.

Adrain R. Teenbeat was performing a solo spot this evening. Which invariably meant, him and a acoustic guitar and some rather witty songs that rely heavily on his northern charm (being a native from Lancashire). It all seems a little lost on the crowd, which is a shame, as we get songs about getting a hard on in the gard-on (Hard On) and songs about, a young lass with bulimia (Urina). Adrian's usual dry and occasionally sick wit shining through at all times. I've missed seeing him on the London gig circuit.

If that wasn't enough tonight saw the return of Ricky Spontane. Another band I saw all the time a fair few years ago. The last time being back in 2003 (I think). It seems singer Richard moved to France and that made the band a hard thing to maintain. So I was surprised and delighted when I saw the bands name on the bill for this evening. The band duly delivered a resounding set, drummer Talya is still the most fun I have seen behind a drumkit. Guitarist Stephen Wood was always under-rated and tonight the songs (that I've not heard in years) coming flooding back to me and the guitar sounds great. It's weird I've never managed to own a Ricky Spontane LP but I seemed to know most of the songs in the set last night. Singer Richard still bounds around the stage like a man possessed. Ricky Spontane are a great live band. I am glad they are back.

I was feeling tired by now and decided to skip Zombina and her Skeletones - so no review of them this time around.

Wow. We had an amazing response to our best downloaded track of 2007 post with a lot more being put forward this year than in 2006. So much so we need to spread it across two volumes. A big thanks to all those who took part and an e-mail is winging it's way towards the winner in the prize draw.

What were indie mp3 readers listening too? The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart were extremely popular as were the Manhattan Love Suicides and their blend of fuzzy guitar pop. There were a number of nominations for bands leaning towards folk, most of which grabbed my fancy.

One of the points of this exercise is to discover new music. A few people voted for Cloetta Paris who I have not heard of and has been described as making "lolita-electro-pop"! Her music reminded me of Sally Shapiro who was the token dance act in last years poll. I also enjoyed We All Have Hooks For Hands and People In Airports.

Today we have Volume One - enjoy!

Billie The Vision and the Dancers - Absolutely, Salutely
All My Friends - Think Of Rain
The Shining Hour - Before You Know It
We All Have Hooks For Hands - Elvis 'MF'Christ
Pelle Carlberg - I Love You You Imbecile
A Classic Education - Stay Son
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Orchard Of My Eye
Sambassadeur - Final Say
Manhattan Love Suicides - Last Stand
The Electric Pop Group - My Only Inspiration
Lacrosse - You Can't Say No Forever
Pants Yell! - Magnenta and Green
Morning Bride - Replica
Sarandon - The Linguist
Club 8 - Heaven
The School - All I Wanna Do
People In Airports - Dwelling On You
Cloetta Paris - I Miss You Someone
Wanlight - Do (Paramaterial Deep Mix)

Download from here (zip file, 83 MB artwork with tagged and replaygained tracks.)

Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Volume Two will be posted tomorrow.

Lost Music Presents A Cloudberry Records Special at the Buffalo Bar on 29/02/2008 to celebrate the end of the Pains Of being Pure At Heart's English tour. It features four great bands who have had or will have releases on the wonderful Cloudberry Records.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Imagine if The Ramones traded in their leather jackets for anoraks, or Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine's Pam Berry and had four babies that formed a pop band in 2007. Meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a New York four-piece who plays dreamy, noisy POP with boy/girl vocals, blissful melodies and blistering drums.

Incredibly melodic and beautiful tunes wrapped in layers of effected-guitars and backed by a drum machine using a simple and steady beat. In