"Mercury Girl" and "Love Is Overrated" by Lightheaded

 

Could this be your new favorite pop band? It makes us, um, Lightheaded to consider it (no, we are not above cheap wordplay, especially after beerthirty). Lightheaded is a New Jersey band with pop smarts at the graduate degree level, boy/girl vocals that penetrate your heart, and a Brill building vibe the never fails to rope us in when it is done this well. Yeah, it is nostalgic, but it quite simply is good pop music. You can sample two tracks from their upcoming EP Good Good Great! (a title which we expect will be reflected in our reviews) below. The five-track EP will be out next week via Slumberland Records.

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Veps - Oslo Park

 

Meet the Veps (Norwegian for wasps): Helena M. Olasveengen, June K. Urhot, Laura Dodson, and Maja B. Berge. The young Norwegians formed the band in middle school. Now in their late teens, they have followed up their debut EP with a full LP titled Oslo Park. Embracing the loud-soft approach of '90s bands such as The Delgados and Garbage and with plenty of songwriting chops and youthful energy, we think the album is a promising statement for the future of this fourpiece.

Oslo Park is out now on Kanine Records.

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Life Strike - Primitive Future

A couple weeks ago, we had never heard of Life Strike, but now their debut album Primitive Future is a staple of our daily listening.  Frankly, it is things like that that keep us going at WYMA.  Formed by Nick Pratt, ex-Deaf Wish bassist and songwriter, and Guitarist Patrick McCabe of Brisbane's Dollar Bar, Life Strike launches from the rich guitar pop history of Nick's native New Zealand with songs that variously bring to mind The Verlaines, The Bats, and The Clean, among others.  The songs reflect a knack for melody and simple but effective song structures, but manage to convey a sharp, dark edge as well.  Of the more pop oriented songs, "Pages" is a standout, but "Econo" and "Megabytes Are Dying" are strong contenders.  In the garage rock vein, the three opening tracks are excellent, with "Black Curtain" drawing favorable comparisons to The Black Lips.  "Contact, No Contact" reminds us of post-Genesis Peter Gabriel and The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience.  But there really isn't a weak song in the set.  Primitive Future is another triumph in the seemingly inexhaustible river of good music coming out of Melbourne

The band has been through several drummers.  Ollie Mackay served for the recording of Primitive Future, but the role now filled by Scotty Birque.  We don't want to start unfounded rumors, but when we read that Nick and Patrick both have suffered serious accidents requiring insertion of titanium in their bodies, and that the band is on their third drummer, one wonders if drummer auditions inadvisably involved trial by combat.

Primitive Future is out now in vinyl and digital formats.  See the Bandcamp link below.








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Bandcamp for Primitive Future

"Seems" by Johnny Kills

Well, dammit, someone needs to save Friday and it might as well be Johnny Kills.  The trio is one of our favorite current purveyors of exuberant garage rock.  Their contribution to Friday's salvation is via "Seems", the new single for Killing Moon Records.  Addressing the conflict presented when you receive good and bad news simultaneously (like us being happy its Friday at the same time we review the things we need to accomplish before we leave the office today), it is sure to supercharge your day.

"Seems" is available at all the usual digital outlets.  And say thank you to Tim Lloyd-Kinnings, Cameron Gipp, and Lewis Lloyd-Kinnings, aka Johnny Kills.



And because it is Friday, you may need the band's previous 2018 single, "Who's Counting?" --



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"Phantom Ride" by New Silver Girl

Finland has developed into a reliable source of excellent bands.  Today's feature from the Northern side of the Baltic Sea is New Silver Girl.  Check out the psychedelic garage pop delights of their new song, "Phantom Ride".

New Silver Girl are Olli Happonen (vocals/guitar), Samuli Sulku (guitar), Ilmo Cantell (bass), and Niilo Suihko (drums).







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Bandcamp for "Phantom Ride"
Other links for download and streaming

Beach Skulls - Las Dunas

Beach Skulls dish up a tasty musical stew on debut album Las Dunas.  The featured ingredients are psychedelia, garage pop and surf.  And the result is sunny and a bit spicy, with plenty of variety.  Consider it an album with a sense of adventure, which make it the perfect soundtrack for what you should be planning for the summer (note that we wrote "what you should be planning", now what you couch surfers actually will accomplish).  Listen to "That's Not Me" below, and you might be tempted to think that this trio is from California, rather than the UK midlands.  We take our beach music wherever we can find it (which over the years has included Scotland, Finland, Japan, and Indonesia).  This year, it is Liverpool and Manchester with Beach Skulls.

The band are Ry Vieira, Jordan Finney, and Dan West, and they reside (variously, we assume, in Manchester and Liverpool).  And for those keeping score, this is another week with a winning release from PNK SLM Recordings.






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"Everything Will Be Fine" by Milkpunch

In our view, "Everything Will Be Fine" is appropriately named because every time I listen to it -- and we have listened to it quite frequently since we discovered it last weekend -- everything seems so much better.  We tend to develop obsessions about certain songs, and we think we have a thing going on about this one.  The good news for you, for us, and for everyone, is that the song is available as a free download.  See, we told you -- everything will be fine!

The song is by Milkpunch, a band named for a cocktail.  It started life as a bedroom project for young Brazilian Raf Lima.  Raf has moved to Sydney, Australia and added Liam, Jo, and Sam to the band.  Last year they released debut EP Junk Pop (Bandcamp link below), which featured "Iced Tea", a crunchy rocker you can watch in video below.






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Bandcamp for Junk Pop EP

The Love-Birds - In The Lover's Corner

Dealing with love isn't easy, but most musicians will admit that love is a reliable springboard for songwriting.  Sometimes the result are as messy as the relationships, but when the song and the performance click, the result is classic pop excellence.  And such is the case with In The Lover's Corner, the debut album by San Francisco's The Love-Birds.   The quartet evince a solid appreciation and understanding of their influences, and combine jangle pop, power pop and garage into a fluid and entertaining set of songs.  Sweet hooks and Byrdsian jangle alternate with crunch and fuzz as the lads tell us what went right, what went wrong, and why they are often at fault.  But while past lovers may assign blame in their direction, the listener will find no fault with this album.  This is your power pop charmer of the week.

The Love-Birds are Charlie Ertola (bass), Eli Groshelle (drums/percussion), Thomas Rubenstein (vocals/guitar), and Eli Wald (guitars).  In The Lover's Corner is out now via Trouble In Mind Records.






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Marc With a C - Obscurity

Hey, if any of you are in the Orlando area and see Marc With a C, please tell him he passed the audition.  What audition?  Well, he sent us a copy of his new album Obscurity some weeks ago, but Marc -- excuse me, Marc With a C -- hadn't been on our musical radar and the press of life prevented us from listening upon receipt.  However my unique filing system resulted in the CD still being on my desk last week, so I grabbed it on my way to work and loaded it into the car stereo.  It still is in the car stereo, and I'm still listening to it.  It turns out that Marc With a C is a very adept pop craftsman, and his album is an engaging selection if intelligent, witty tunes that encompass acoustic, power pop, and several other styles with panache.  Enjoy a few of them below, including the Smithereens' style power pop of "Terribly Popular", bitter indie pop "Your Goddamn Birthday", the folk rock "One Of These Are Gonna Be Your Day", and the country ditty "Please Don't Let My Art Die".  Any further requirements can be satisfied at the Bandcamp link.








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Alex Lahey - I Love You Like A Brother

On first listen, I Love You Like A Brother earned an ovation at WYMA World Headquarters.  Thereafter, our appreciation grew.  The work of young Australian musician Alex Lahey, the album is a poptastic rush of garage pop and energy, with a clear-eyed by witty view of relationships.  The fact that the relationships typically are troubled just adds spice (and zero pain as they aren't our relationships).  The songs are constructed with choruses that practically beg you to sing along.  And why shouldn't you?  Singing is fun, and the sense of fun pervades the proceedings.  The lyrics are witty, the peppy pace is fun and inspiring, and the artist's pure joy at performing is palpable.  But this is fun and joy delivered in concise, well-thought out nuggets with keen observations and enough self-revelatory material to give the album some personality to go with the hooks.  We hope Ms. Lahey chooses to share her fun for a long, long time.

I Love You Like A Brother is out now via Dead Oceans.  Alex Lahey will be touring North America in November and December.  Dates and locations are listed at the bottom of this post.  And if you want to explore more of her music, we recommend her previous record, B-Grade University EP.











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North America Tour Dates:
Wed. Nov. 15 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Thu. Nov. 16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Fri. Nov. 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
Sun. Nov. 19 - Washington, DC @ DC9
Wed. Nov. 22 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel - Underground
Fri. Nov. 24 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
Sat. Nov. 25 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Wed. Nov. 29 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Thu. Nov. 30 - Austin, TX @ Barracuda
Sat. Dec. 2 - Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge
Sun. Dec. 3 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Tue. Dec. 5 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge
Wed. Dec. 6 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Fri. Dec. 8 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Sat.Dec. 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Mon. Dec. 11 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Tue. Dec. 12 - Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
Wed. Dec. 13 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey

"Indian Pacific Express" by Wireheads

We're about to do it to you again. Yes, it is time to implant a tune in your brain that will rattle around for days.  You'll even find snippets of the melody bubbling to the surface from time to time in the coming weeks, and after a moment's reflection you will remember that it is from "Indian Pacific Express", the new song from Brisbane's Wireheads.  The song is available as a digital download now, but the really good news is that it is just the first release from the band's upcoming LP, Lightning Ears, which will be available on October 20 via Tenth Court Records.






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Bandcamp for "Indian Pacific Express"
Tenth Court Records Bandcamp page

Coco Hames - Coco Hames

The new self-titled album from Coco Hames, the former frontwoman or beloved garage pop outfit The Ettes, is your perfect music to start the weekend.  But we suspect that it won't leave your playlist for a long time.  Hames packs the record with earworm, '60s-style melodies, sung with a versatility that encompasses Spector-era girl groups, pop seductress, strutting indie rock frontwoman, and alt country siren.  And while the arrangements and melancholy pop themes nestle neatly in the indie pop standard channel, the songwriting is adept and sincere, and the execution is top quality. From the beginning to the end, the star is Coco's appealing voice, like honey laced with a shot of hot sauce. When added to her gritty performances with The Ettes, the inescapable conclusion is that Coco Hames is an artist that can deliver a winning performance in any style of pop music. Coco Hames is the beginning of a new, and very bright future for the young lady.

The album is out today on digital, CD, and vinyl formats via Merge Records.








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Emotional - The Band

Brian Wakefield is Emotional.  Not that he is weepy or has anger management issues.  He just is, well, Emotional.  I think that when Brian originally became Emotional, the project was just Brian and a crowded bedroom as a side project to Melted Toys and his other side projects.  But over time the project seems to have become his main focus.  And that causes happiness here at WYMA, because Brian's brand on psychedelic garage pop is a particular favorite.  For his new album, his second full-length, he seems to have gathered a band.  So, of course, the album is named The Band.  After all, you have to take care of the people who take care of you.

It is rare to hear an album that suggests influences as varied as Syd Barrett, Big Star, Gram Parsons.  And even rarer, I suspect, would be an album that shares that influences by nevertheless presents a coherent style.  But The Band is such an album, presenting nine varied songs of smeared psychedelic pop that delights from open to close.  We've provided a few tracks below, but we urge you to hit the Bandcamp link and listen to the entire album.

The Band is released on Brian's own Long Live Death Records, and Emotional are in the midst of a US tour.  We've provided dates and venues below (although we personally believe that if you don't come to Seattle, you aren't trying very hard).  In creating the album, Wakefield received contributions from Alex Brettin, Danny James, Sarah Bethe Nelson, Simi Sohota, Emmet Moskowitz, Geoff Morris, Ole Haarstad and Joel Robinow.







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EMOTIONAL on TOUR
Mar. 21 — Nashville, TN @ Blackbird Tattoo*$
Mar. 22 — Lexington, KY @ Best Friend Bar *
Mar. 23 — Washington, DC @ Smash! Records *
Mar. 24 — Boston, MA @ Middle East Upstairs *$
Mar. 25 — New York, NY @ Baby’s All Right *$
Mar. 26 — Burlington, VT @ TBD *
Mar. 27 — New York, NY @ Berlin ^#
Mar. 28 — Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Upstairs ^
Mar. 29 — Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog *
Mar. 30 — Indianapolis, IN @ SST *
Mar. 31 — Milwaukee, WI @ Company Brewing *
Apr. 1 — Chicago, IL @ Cole’s Bar *
Apr. 2 — Minneapolis, MN @ TBD *
Apr. 3 — Kansas City, MO @ Blind Tiger *
Apr. 4 — Denver, CO @ Hi Dive*
Apr. 5 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Apr. 6 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Griffin *
Apr. 7 — Joshua Tree

* = w/ The Memories
% = w/ Death Valley Girls, Death Hymn No. 9
$ = w/ Colleen Green
# = w/ Cosmonauts

Cakefight - Cakefight 7" EP

Conceived in Melbourne, Australia, and recorded in Austin, Texas, here is Cakefight.  The members are Andrew Porter and Vanessa Morris and they play garage rock designed to make your beer glass jump around on the table.  So press play below and enjoy Cakefight 7" EP.  I radiates summer vibes shot through with gooey hooks and excited yelps.  And if you don't have a glass with beer in it, get one.  It is that kind of music.  And for that matter, 2017 is going to be that kind of year.



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"I Won't Blame You" by Zebra Hunt

Zebra Hunt is one of our favorite local Seattle bands.  They will release a new album later this year on the tasteful little Spanish label, Tenorio Cotobade.  And just to remind us all why we should care, they have provided album track "I Won't Blame You".  And we appreciate the sentiment guys -- with all the bad stuff that has happened the last few months, I don't want anyone blaming me.  For anything.

And speaking of avoiding blame, no zebras were hunted or otherwise harmed in the recording of his song.




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Soft Lions - XOXO

There is a lot to like about XOXO, the six song EP from San Diego's Soft Lions.  The trio of Megan Liscomb (vocals/guitar), Ana Ramundo (keys/vocals), and Jon Bonser (drums) blends '60s girl group garage pop, riot girl pop punk and a bit of new wave into a delicious set of songs.

XOXO kicks off with "Freeway", a new wave slice of indie pop that is perfect to get everyone at your next party dancing.  "I Get Lost" follows with a perfect blend of riot girl, garage pop, and slacker doo wop.  The band turns down the pop for the post punk "Digital Girl".  Next is the garage romp "Pretty Enough".  The EP ends with the upbeat "Run In Dreams" and the rootsy boot stomping "In The Garden".  Very good stuff from a band to watch.

XOXO is out now via Velvet Blue Music.






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Velvet Blue Music page for XOXO

POST - Subliminal Fuzz E.P.

Graham Wann's Glasgow/Manchester project POST has appeared here a number of times.  The lineup can change from time to time, and busy lives impose periods of silence.  But when this band has something for our ears, we are always happy to listen.  Playing garage pop that bleeds into power pop and college rock, you may at times wonder if you are hearing Teenage Fanclub or Close Lobsters playing a garage rock tribute festival (comet to think of it, that is a great idea).  I was disappointed in January when Wann announced that the band would be taking a bit of a break.  Fortunately, by the end of last week we had an brand new four-song E.P.  I guess this may be our farewell present, but if so, it is a worthy send off.  Quite simply, this is quality rock music.    Test out the lead track "Feedback On A Concrete Wall" and the best instrumental I've heard in years, "Man Rayzarek".  You can stream the entire EP at the Bandcamp link below.







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Video for "Doorframe" by The Mantles

Way back -- two days ago (link) when we reviewed All Odds End, the new album from The Mantles, we didn't have a video for album track "Doorframe".   A great song with a bit of The Bats and The Chills in its DNA, the video is a fine way to experience it again.




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Slumberland Records page for album

"Studville" by Tempura Nights

"Studville" is a perfect introduction to Brisbane's Tempura Nights -- four musicians with a great feel for garage pop.  If you like what you hear, click through to the Bandcamp page for their Whine EP or their Soundcloud page.



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Redspencer - Redspencer EP

At the risk of being overly bossy, I think that everyone needs a bit of Redspencer in their lives.  I think that David, Aiden and Andre would agree, but they have a clear bias as they are the members of the band.  The trio resides in Melbourne, and plays melodic guitar pop that to my ears is perfect for the transition from summer to fall.  The recently released a four-song EP via home town label Deaf Ambitions, and I give it my firm endorsement.  From the shimmering opener "Everyday" to the garage pop of "Happy Slow Riverbends" to the dreamy showcase tune "Ride It Out" to the county-inflected closer "Someday's Gone", there isn't a bad note in the set.  The only complaint I could muster is that there weren't enough of them.  But because I'm a self-help kind of guy, I found an older track that is available to download and linked in below.  But don't let that stop you from getting this EP.  You'll have it on repeat.






And here is a video for Respencer's song "Tell", which can be downloaded for free here.



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