Teen Line - Collecting To Collect

 

The latest offering from Dane Brunt all the way from Geelong and this time it involves classic Power Pop as he gathers together members of Vintage Crop, Luke & The Typicals and The Sues, Rather than Australian, this feels more like the UK New Wave of 1978.

There is even a Cassette release to fully blend in with the period. Collecting To Collect brings back memories of those times for me and even more recent times when I was in the thick of the genre. The album is both nostalgic, but also an eye opener for newbies who don't know what it entails.

Big choruses, massive riffs and sing along choruses linked with the obligatory Guitar solo prevail. When they step away from the obvious, Teen Line are just as great. The Critic heads into more 80s Indie territory without ever losing the sheer catchability.

There is even a Glam Rock Guitar fest part way through The Outfit which is essentially a Mod Pop song and Out Of Office flirts with Canvey Island. Face Value gets even closer to the flares and butterfly collars of Glam Rock.

Pick A Lane gets a little more Punk and Hold Music even gets a little close to the American 80s version of the genre. The riffs are wondrous with a particular reference to Sophistication. All killer no filler here. What a splendid album!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

...............

Here Is The News

 

As essentially an Album Review place. Listening To This Week was our attempt to do something for the single song has been incredibly popular and I can't believe that it is now in its second year. So whilst that thrives, it is time to move on to an idea that we've wanted to do for a while.

That is a weekly news section. This was brought more into focus by the amount of forward releases that we have in May. We only review on release generally to be able to embed songs with the review. But we were also keen to get you excited and let you know dates etc.

So Here Is The News will be a weekly post telling you about upcoming releases. There will probably be 10 - 12 items in each post. There is no PR involved and no Artist, PR Agency or label can request to be included. We decide what goes in. So obviously, albums will be in kilter with what I Don't Hear A Single is known for.

Our aim is always to help artists. We haven't decided on what weekday it will appear on. Distance from LTTW is needed, so provisionally it will be Thursdays, although we are aware that that day is close to the traditional Friday Release day. So that may be a factor.

..................................................

We may yet run a shorter test run this week if time allows. 

...................................................

Listening To This Week Playlist

An absolute cracker this week as we bring 27 new songs for your aural attention. There is no song preference in track order, just what we think flows.  I do hope that you can listen to all the songs across this week. The last listed is as great as the first and you have all week to listen. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves.

All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours. This will help you to discover more about the artists who appear here. Thank you for supporting the new music from Indie artists.

Jumbo Chords - You Don't Belong

King Black Acid - Turning Off My Television

Jim Malloy - Sinners & Saints

Dream Pony - Tonight

The Hold Fast - Let's Burn It Down (And Start Again)

Babe Rainbow - Retrograde

Big Dopes - Moon Car

Peter Freebairn - I Got Lucky (I Got You)

No Parts - Burn the Breeze

Wanderlost - Carolina

Escape Goat - Old Books

Dead Phones & Dogs  - Bones In A Suit & Tie

Iain Mann With Sandy's - Magic Tracks 

S J Armstrong - One Of A Kind

Persistent Mimes - Here She Comes

Novelistme - Open Hearts (For Open Parks)

Great Hare - Death Is Cheap

naive nature - grow up!

Stephen Chopek - Come Back Soon

Log Flume - On The Spaceship

DIXON - On the Weekend

Hot Dress - Grave Robin

Noah Colton - Immaculate

Wilson Gretchell - Half Of ATX

The Mesmerists - Full Moon

Night Rites - Black Diamond

Pink Death - Step In To View

..........

King Black Acid - Victory For Mad Love

 

The Rainbow Lodge was in the Top20 albums in last years Best 100 and King Black Acid became my new favourite band. I love 'em. So to have a follow up within a year makes me very happy indeed. Again this feels very Brit Pop, but that doesn't do it justice at all and if it was just that it would wipe the floor with anything ever from that genre.

Brit Pop is only the base camp as the territory is much wider and Victory For Mad Love revels in all that space. King Black Acid can go in any direction and master it. This is Album Of The Year material and that opinion is not based on one listen.

I've been fortunate to have the album for a couple of months and had the benefit of repeated listens and adored it more on every listen. The album never loses its melody and sheer catchiness as it twists and turns in every song.

I Roasted My Heft for instance starts all Classic Rock, adds a little 80s smooth and then goes into Psych Rock aided by a jawdropping chorus. Turning On My Televison mixes 80s Rock with Australian Psych and delights. Now I What To Remember starts with a Beat Box and then becomes an intriguing 80s Jaunty Pop joy.

Come On People starts all Classic Rock then becomes a 90s Anthem. I Don't Want To Ever Hurt You Again is an unexpected modern love song. The Invisible Wars closes the album with a top notch gentle Pastoral Psych affair which is still as catchy as catchy can be.

The stand out song is You're Going Down / Wasting In The Zone, a song that sounds very 90s with a joint vocal and the You're Going Down is venemous, yet sang so sweetly. Fans of the outer edges of Brit Pop will adore this. I'm thinking of bands like Octopus and Straw. But the album should more than appeal to all Pop Rock fans.

You can listen to and buy the album here. There is also a RSD Vinyl Release, limited to 500, that you may still be able to get at all good record stores.

...................

Pulse Park - First Second

 

I loved Pulse Park's debut Phonac Music, so much so that it was one of the albums in our Best 100 Albums Of 2022. So it is ace to listen to the Dortmund Trio's follow up and this again demonstrates the band's versatility.

I may appear contradictory, but this sounds a bit Poppier at times, but at others, it feels heavier and louder than what has gone before. What seems to have largely taken an Exit Stage Left is the Shoegaze element and this really works making the songs even more accessible.

Instrumentally, Pulse Park seem to have moved to an even greater level and become a real Power Trio. Songs are built around a wonderfully locked Rhythm Section that enhances the driving riffs. But the key take here is melody.

They also raid the genres well. Verbatim is nearer Psych Rock and a little Goth. Yet Binary could be Brit Pop. Wide Array is great Pop Rock, whilst Briars mixes 90s Rock with Indie Rock. Marginal Gains instrumentally even gets close to Neil Young.

Union Jones is a reminder of the Shoegaze of the debut, but Dylan is more in tune with modern Indie Rock. Dark Empath even gets close to Mew. Then there is the splendid Pop Rock closer that is Inertia And Mass that may just be the song that grabs most listeners here. It isn't that far away from 90's Power Pop.

The variety is the real strength here. Too many of the bands that follow similar paths is make 3 minute songs into 5 minute songs with unnecessary repeats and extended outros. Songs are just the right length here making this an album that will appeal to those who like melody and those who like Rock. Excellent!

You can listen to and buy the album here. You can learn more about the band on their website here.

.............

The Violet Twilight - Cicada

 

I covered The Violet Twilight's superb Above The Clouds album here. Just six months later we graced with a follow up EP. New South Wales's Tim Butcher has fashioned up another splendid soundscape that is simply enchanting.

The vocal as ever is gentle and fits in beautifully with the arrangements. That vocal is reminiscent of the likes of Orgone Box, but rather than Rick Corcoran's addictive choruses, these songs are built more around the instrumental performances. 

The Pastoral Psych is still present, but this EP treads more into Modern Prog. Never straying from the melody, these five tunes rely much more on the vibe and the whole piece. Cicada is more about the complete piece and the arrangements wash over you in a very soothing way. 

There are none of the usual crashing chords and riffs that you might expect from IDHAS, but the EP is so well produced, themed and performed that you cannot help but be impressed. At times, there is a chilled out feel that allows you to sit back and enjoy the depth of the music.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

....................................

Rural France - Exactamondo!

 

RF was/is a fantastic album.  I did worry, well I didn't really, if RF could be followed, it was so good. Well fear ye not,  our Wiltshire friends Tom Brown and Rob Fawkes have lost none of their chops, in fact Exactomondo feels like their balls have grown, it certainly sounds noisier and meatier.

Released on Meritorio Records, one of our favourite labels, the vibe is very 90s Indie Rock orientated, but tells you little about what is on show. At times it feels very UK, Scottish probably and yet it also edges towards US Slacker Rock. Instrumentally, it is quite a racket, wonderfully so.

The two openers are very prime time Teenage Fanclub. I know that's a lazy comparison, but they are. But elsewhere, this could be Dinosaur Jr. In between, there is Fuzz, Jangle, Power Pop and even a little Country Guitar. The odd time, the album heads into the Garage territory of say Guided By Voices.

There is a real edge on occasion, but songs never lose the sight of the melody and catchiness. Prize Goose, which closes the album, is probably the most gentle thing here, but the pair still manage to finish on a maelstrom Guitar outro.

Sunsplit jangles with a great intro. Blabbermouth strums along and contains that weeping Country Guitar and yet Guideropes is all Slacker and 90s College wrong with a great addition of Twang. Stay Away From The Widow, Sidney is great Garage Power Pop.

The latter's song title demonstrates the sly wit across the album, sort of Half Man Half Biscuit like. Indeed, there is a real lyrical adeptness across the whole piece that adds to the enjoyment through repeated  listens. Exactomondo will chime with followers here and hopefully add a whole new set of fans to the retinue. This album certainly deserves that.

You can listen and buy the album here. Please also visit Meritorio when you get chance here. It is a beacon of light in a darkening world.

................