That scuzzy indie rock sound from Manchester never fails to excite. Today it comes to us via "Luck", the first single and title track from the forthcoming EP from Manchester four-piece Sumos. Melodic, tightly constructed and dynamic, the song suggests that the band has continued to build on its strengths since its 2023 debut LP Surfacing.
Sumos was formed by Joel Sloan and Kyle Tarbuck, and now also includes Siobhan McKnight and Andrew Kilroy. Luck will be released May 8 via Meritorio Records and Safe Suburban Home records.
Manchester's Autocamper have absorbed the sounds and styles of C86, college rock, Scottish bands such as Close Lobsters and Fire Engines, and janglers of the Sarah Records roster. But like a fun house mirror, what the band reflects back to the listeners on their debut LP What Do You Do All Day? is the band's proprietary blend of the guitar pop canon. In addition to being an entertaining listen from first play, we think that the album suggests that this band has the resources and originality to continue to grow. The presentation is sincere and unpretentious and the overall vibe is of a intimate show in a comfortable local club, and that is a good thing in our book. Maybe its just us, but we give extra points to boy/girl vocals that remind us of The Pastels (for that matter, tracks four and seven remind us favorably of The Pastels).
So if you haven't given Autocamper a listen, we recommend you do so. It is one of the better debuts we have heard this year, and it is out now via Slumberland Records.
It is never a surprise when a Manchester bands again proves that bands from that city seem to have the guitar pop sound in their DNA. Never a surprise, but always a pleasure. And so, with great pleasure, we remind you that today is the release date Surfacing by Manchester's Sumos. Self-described as a 'scuzz pop' band, we think that term is too limiting for a band of Sumos' talent. On this album you will hear rock riffs, pop hooks and power pop melodies, and plenty of fuzz and jangle. Quite simply, it is a smashing album that deserves to be publicized far and wide.
Sumos are Joel Sloan (guitar/lead vocals), Kyle Tarbuck (lead guitar/backing vocals), Siobhan Tarbuck (bass), and Andy Kilroy (drums). Surfacing, will was released today, May 12, via Meritorio and Safe Suburban Home.
Our favorite new scuzz pop band Sumos has dropped their final single before releasing their debut full length album Surfacing. The song is "Enemies" and, quite simply, it rocks and swings with just the right balance of noise and melody.
Sumos are Joel Sloan (guitar/lead vocals), Kyle Tarbuck (lead guitar/backing vocals), Siobhan Tarbuck (bass), and Andy Kilroy (drums). Surfacing will be out May 12 on vinyl and digitally on Meritorio Records and Safe Suburban Home in The UK.
We believe that scuzzy, garagey indie pop bones is an essential ingredient for mental health. In fact, we are so certain in our conclusion that the science backs us up that we won't bother to look up a citation. After all, we can't remember the last time we were wrong about, well, anything.
So, with that introduction we offer some head medicine, courtesy of Manchester four-piece Sumos. It is a free-wheeling blast of noise and melody that energizes us and makes us feel young (and we are at an age where that is a coveted emotion).
Sumos are Joel Sloan (guitar/lead vocals), Kyle Tarbuck (lead guitar/backing vocals), Siobhan Tarbuck (bass), and Andy Kilroy (drums). Their debut LP, Surfacing, will be released in May 12 via Meritorio and Safe Suburban Home.
When we last covered Dignan Porch they were camped out in South London. Since then main man Joe Walsh has moved to Manchester. But he still is writing music and thank the gods for that! His songs appear to have roots in '60s garage and folk rock, rinsed with psychedelia and jangle. It manages to simultaneously sound mysterious and innocent. And while it certainly isn't music aiming for the bullseye of any commercial channel, it is timeless music superbly crafted. We are going to be playing it for a long, long time.
Joe Walsh wrote, sang, and preformed most of the instruments on Electric Threads, although his brother Sam contributed as well. Electric Threads is out now in vinyl and digital formats via Hidden Bay Records (France), Safe Suburban Home (UK), and Repeating Cloud (US).
You can call it indie rock, or you can call it punk rock, or you could take your cue from the band and call it Wonder Fuzz. But whatever label you throw at it, this music sticks with you. It is the music of our first forays into clubs and basement parties, in college dorms and apartments getting psyched for the big match, or in my case, listening at home and enjoying the reminder of my youth.
The band is Mister Strange, based in Manchester and recently signed to Swedish label PNKSLM. "Laughing Wall" and "High Heel Heavy" are two of the singles taken from debut EP I, which will be released Friday, September 10. Touchstones are The Ramones, Ty Segall, and Thee Oh Sees -- and any band can be proud to keep such company.
Mister Strange is Tomas Walmsley (vocals/drums), Callum Rogers (bass), Ste Bradbury (guitar/synths), and Daryl Taylor (guitars).
Tuesday's WYMA hot shot is by Hot Shorts (admittedly, we had to go back and review that opening to ensure that we didn't mistakenly write 'Tuesday's WYMA hot shorts are by hot shot', so never let it be said we don't have standards and quality controls). Their new album I Understand & I Wish To Continue works both as good rock music in the vein of Weezer or Pavement, and as truly funny social commentary. We suppose that the latter will not surprise those readers aware that the band includes two published authors (which, at this point, should include all readers), but we think that these folks get extra credit for not just nailing the introspection, but in doing so in a manner that is humorous, engaging and very peppy. We've included two of the gems below, but some of our favorites can only by those who purchase the album or have access to it via a streaming service. You have our permission to treat yourselves.
Hot Shorts are founding members Chris Killen and Peet Earnshaw, with Lara Williams and Joel Nicholson. I Understand & I Wish To Continue is out now via Manchester label Icecapades.
It probably takes a good bit of confidence to write a batch of songs, and name the collection Struck Gold while recording them. But Neil Jarvis did just that for the second album by his project Sprinters. So we have Neil's opinion about the songs that his Manchester-based band has created, and now the listeners can weigh in. After living with this album for a few weeks, our verdict is: Sprinters have struck gold.
As the daylight hours become shorter, the skies grayer, and the rain more frequent, one thing we have been able to count on is the feeling of hazy sunshine on our shoulders and a good dose of serotonin every time we listen to this album. The title track opens the proceedings with a strutting riff borrowed from "Brimful of Asha", and then unspools down a trail of guitar pop and surf with a wash of melancholy for added depth. We previously featured single "3s & 4s" (link), a true showcase song. But we don't need to repeat it here because there are so many highlights in this ten-track set. For example, we are completely spellbound by "The Light", a slow tempo wash of liquid gold the infuses us with the same wonderful feelings that we heard the first time we heard late '60s AM hit "Grazing In The Grass" by Friends Of Distinction (despite the two songs having little in common other than a 100 percent feelgood factor), although we could understand others drawing a more direct line to The Rascals' "Groovin On A Sunday Afternoon". "Undone" features ringing shoegaze. "Demolition" slays us with a beautiful guitar line and a palpable melancholy. Currently, our most repeated song is "It's Gone". If you are a fan of guitar pop, this album is a 'must' addition to your musical library.
We suppose one could look at the title of this post and wonder whether it is a training plan for track athletes. That would be wrong -- understandable, but very wrong. But it isn't our fault, as we don't name the songs. However, whether or not you are a runner, you should pay attention to "3's & 4's" because it is one of the many excellent songs to be found on Struck Gold, which we are confident will be one of the best November releases this year. Sprinters is the project of Neil Jarvis, although for this album we understand that the effort included three others, as well. We will discuss the full length closer to its release date next month, so we will leave you with "3's & 4's", a sad tale with a beautiful, melodic wrapper.
Struck Gold will be released via Meritorio Records.
Some days we are racked with indecision. For example, is Champion of Youth a new band for us, or an old band? In support of the former proposition, we haven't previously featured any music by the band. For the latter position, we note that we have featured music by Amida, a band whose membership apparently overlaps with the players in Champion of Youth. Fortunately, like all well-run institutions we have a procedure for addressing such dilemmas. We gather together, drink a few beers, and then cop out. In this case, the cop out is deciding that Champion of Youth is a 'new old band'.
With that heavy lifting our of the way, please welcome the new old band's self-titled mini-album to your ears. Are you stuck in a rut on a Tuesday with a crying need for pep? Do you need some pop hooks, rumbling riffs, humor, jangle, and energetic performances? These guys have you covered. It is just the sort of thing you would want, and expect, from a live show. And while you won't get a live show unless you go to Manchester, you can grab the music from Bandcamp right now.
As promised, here is the second indie pop treat of the day, III by Butcher the Bar. The Manchester project emerged over a decade ago as the solo musical act of Joel Nicholson, but has now become a five-piece consisting of Joel, Peet Earnshaw, Matt Grayson, Andrew Cheetham, and Gavin Clarke. The songs for III were recorded several years ago, and were the first tracks laid down by the expanded band. We don't know why the songs have not been released before now, but lack of quality definitely is not a factor. The songs have a breezy, weightless feel with strong melodies. Additional details such as keys and strings augment the compositions but never detract. Comparisons to The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, Being There (our of our favorite UK bands from earlier this decade) and power pop acts such as Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and Brendan Benson are apt, but none of them are a dead hit because Butcher the Bar have evolved their own appealing style. These songs are sweet and gentle in tone, but fully formed and perfectly fleshed out in execution. We have embedded a few gems below, but you really owe it to yourself to try out the whole album. And to encourage you to do so we have left out "Agree" and "Go", which are two of the highlights of an album full of highlights.
III is out now in digital and vinyl formats via Spanish label Bobo Integral.
You may be one of the music lovers who is not familiar with Virginia Wing, and if you are such a person you may wonder why your go-to blogs and zines are spending precious pixels discussing the Manchester band's new album, Ecstatic Arrow. We could be snarky and suggest that you read one or more of those blogs or zines to fine out, but since you are here we will offer you a more constructive suggestion - stream the songs below, realize that the album will enrich your life, and go to Bandcamp and buy the album while streaming it in its full glory. In our opinion, Ecstatic Arrow is a synthpop triumph, echoing the genre's glory days of the '80s and burnishing them for modern days. Core members Alice Merida Richards and Samuel Pillay, with able collaborators (including XAM Duo's Christopher Duffin on sax), have created music that is incisive, inventive and entertaining. While the lyrics can be serious, the arrangements are light filled and uplifting. Virginia Wing's previous recordings were always interesting and worth exploring, but after listening to Ecstatic Arrow, those efforts seem like practice for the big game, and the new album is the first team showing their stuff, full game face in place.
Ecstatic Arrow is out now in digital, CD, LP, and deluxe LP (with zine and poster) via Fire Records.
Pay attention here, because you are about to learn something ...
OK, that may be an example of over-promising. But there is something we wanted to point out, and that thing is that a certain Stockholm record label is putting out great stuff. The name of the label is Punk Slime Recordings, but is often referred to (even by the label), as PNKSLM. We have featured their music from time to time over the past few years, but probably will be bringing you three albums from the label in the next five weeks. That is a sign of their quality, because we wouldn't even give that kind of coverage to our mothers, if our mothers released music, and it is almost Mother's Day.
However, today isn't an album feature, but a hint of an album feature to come. The band is Beach Skulls, and they reside in Manchester and Liverpool in the UK. The name suggests head-banging, loud riffs, and dreary topics. In fact, Beach Skulls is a guitar pop band with surf and jangle tendencies. Of course, this means we love them. Two tracks from Las Dunas, their upcoming album via PNKSLM are below.
Beach Skulls are Ry Vieira, Jordan Finney, and Dan West. Las Dunas is out June 1.
We are an enlightened and progressive lot here at WYMA, and we'd be among the last you would expect to encourage you to support bullies. But we believe in the power of redemption, as well. So in the matter of Manchester's Former Bullies, we offer our unqualified support and endorsement. It isn't just that, according to their name, any unseemly, aggressively dominating activity is in the past, it also in a very major way is due to the fact that they create the sort of lo-fi, jangling garage rock that is as vital to our existence as the air we breathe and the beer we drink. You know -- the essentials of life.
On Stranger, Former Bullies' new album for CF Records and Towed By The Ghost, main man Nick Ainsworth has fashioned eleven songs with the leftover emotional parts from the termination of a long romantic relationship, glued together with an affirmation of life and some very jaunty hooks and melodies. It may have originated with some open wounds, and built in the garage (or more likely, the basement), but as a slice of guitar pop, it runs like a top-flight, fully warrantied machine. There are echoes of '60s guitar pop here, and even some surf rock touches on some songs (including the title track). Concision is important, with the less-than-three-minutes running time ensuring that no nugget overstays its welcome. It always is better to invite your listeners to hit the replay button rather than the skip button. A couple of the songs are provided below, but we think every song on the album is a keeper. So give the streams below a play, but we recommend following the Bandcamp links and living with the albums for a while. I expect you'll want to take them home and make them part of your life.
Former Bullies are Nick Ainsworth (guitar/vocals), Matthew Taylor (bass) and Tom Settle (drums/guitar/vocals). Stranger is the band's fourth album, and you can get it at the Bandcamp links below.
Rarely to you hear electro pop with this much attitude. But Manchester-raised, London-based Natalie Findlay is appears to be the rare artist that can straddle the indie rock/electro pop divide and make both camps quite happy indeed. Her thirteen songs on Forgotten Pleasures make stops in other sub-genres as well, and all of them work. The success is due to Findlay's powerful but extraordinarily versatile vocals, but also the talent of her collaborators. Co-producer Jules Apollinaire contributed keys, bass and guitar, while Ben Simon played guitar and Christina Lamas played drums. Additional assistance came from Carl Barat (composition on "St. Elmo's Fire"), and producers Jake Gosling, Samy Osta, and Flood.
Forgotten Pleasures is out now via Findlay's Mint Records, BMG, and The End Records. Check your favorite online store. And so you don't easily forget the pleasures of Forgotten Pleasures, enjoy a few tracks below.
Former Bullies, the Manchester, UK project headed by Nick Ainsworth, aren't prolific in the recording studio, but their music always is welcome. Their sweet spot is warm, accessible guitar pop with a touch of melancholy -- simple but affecting. They remind me a bit of Liverpool's The La's and San Francisco's The Mantles, both of whom are in regular rotation in my collection. The band's new single is "Don't Ask Many Questions", which also appears on Stranger, their latest album. The single is available now, and you can take it for a test listen on the sweet video below. The album is out now in digital and vinyl formats via CF Records and Towed By The Ghost Records. See the Bandcamp links below. I highly recommend the single and the album. Stream along, and I think you'll agree.
In addition to Ainsworth (guitar/vocals), Former Bullies are Matthew Taylor (bass) and Tom Settle (drums/guitar/vocals).
Well, this a Margarita pitcher full of fun, I must say. One of our favorite little labels, Glasgow's Fuzzkill, has released Summer Slummin', a six track record with two songs each from Manchester's Fruit Tones, London's Abjects, and Glasgow's Halfrican. Fruit Tones open and close the set with their hooky garage rock. Abjects hit it hard with two punk smeared rock tunes. Halfrican's two songs are energetic, and slightly off center, indie pop. Despite some stylistic differences, the songs fit together well, and I expect that they are a delight on the same bill. Stream and enjoy the entire set below.
Summer Slummin' is a cassette, but the cassette comes with use of the Bandcamp stream and a digital download so it is about as flexible of a release as you could desire. It is out now -- check out the Bandcamp link below. I wouldn't be surprised if this one sold out, so delay at your own risk.
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.
We have another Valentine's Day offering for you, and consistent with my less than straightforward tastes, it isn't a happy song. But it is a really great not happy song, born of Rikki Turner watching the woman he loved walking out the door fourteen years ago while The Shirelles played in the background. He poured the feelings into "Brown Eyes", and now his Manchester based based band, The New Southern Electrikk, may have a massive hit on their hands. Echoing ''60s girl groups and with restrained but inch-perfect production and Monica Ward's heartbreakingly evocative vocals, it has steadily added fans due to radio play and enthusiastic music writers. Louder Than War Records has picked it up for a Valentines Day digital release, and the vinyl edition will follow in March.
B-sides "Mother of Earth" and "The Theme to The New Southern Electrikk" reveal that the band is more than a one-hit wonder. While the former is a surging, atmospheric delight, the latter suggests the most promise. It sprawls over five minutes with the rhythmic sense of The Charlatans (UK) or New Order with samples from Charles Bukowski.
The New Southern Electrikk is Monica Ward, Zack Davies (guitar), Rikki Turner (keys), Steven Tajti (bass) and Jim Correy (drums).
