"She's In My Head" by The Plus 4

 

The first three months of 2023 have been the most productive in terms of releases in the career of the UK's The Plus 4. Of course, we are compelled to admit that -- to our knowledge -- that three month span contains the only releases from the band. However, the quality of the releases are striking. The band clearly loves the guitar pop of the '60s, and presumably has a good collection of Beatles music.

This brings us to the latest release, "She's In My Head". We are particularly fond of this one as it veers more into the garage end of the British Invasion spectrum. And while the band aces the test on that score, they still manage to pack in a few surprise details. All in all, a joyful listen and a welcome addition to our growing collection of music from The Plus 4.

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Bandcamp for all of the releases to date

"Let's Hang Out Forever" by The High Water Marks

 

With the weekend here it is time for some top class powerpop here at WYMA World Headquarters. The selected track is the just released "Let's Hang Out Forever" which, you must admit, is a perfect weekend sentiment. The song is by The High Water Marks and is taken from their upcoming album Your Next Wolf. We can only howl with pleasure.

The Grøa, Norway fourpiece consists of Hilarie Sidney (Apples in Stereo and Elephant 6 co-founder), Per Ole Bratset, Logan Miller & Øystein Megård. Their new album Your Next Wolf will be released in June via Minty Fresh.

Fanatic Promotion · The High Water Marks - Let's Hang Out Forever

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"Please Fall In Love With Me (Booth and the bad angel)" by Lotte Kestner

 

A Seattle artist that deserves more press -- from us as well as others -- is Anna-Lynne Williams. Recording and performing as Lotte Kestner, she creates intricate and delicate folk-pop songs that tickle the brain and massage the heart. Today we feature the stunning take on "Please Fall In Love With Me (Booth and the bad angel)". If this stirs your interest, please click on the Bandcamp link below and check out her early 2022 album Lost Songs, which seems to us a good place to begin a deep dive.

Ann-Lynne was the vocalist and songwriter for Trespassers William, and also has collaborated with other artists.

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Bandcamp for Lotte Kestner's releases

"Posters" / "My First Beer" by Teenage Tom Petties

 

Tom Brown, who also has been on these pages with this duo Rural France, has found his way into our lineup again with his bedroom-project-turned-full-band Teenage Tom Petties. Their entre is via today's release of the double A-side "Posters" / "My First Beer". It is uptempo guitar pop with plenty of jangle and a good dose of punk attitude. Sounds right up our alley, you say? You are right.

Teenage Tom Petties are Tom Brown (guitar/vocals/drums), Jim Quinn (bass), Rob Fawkes (lead guitar), and Galen Richmond (backing vocals). This single is out now via Safe Suburban Home and Repeating Cloud Records. Tom released a full album under this name last year, and he and the band plan to record another one this summer. "Good news" we say.

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Goliath - The Garden EP

 

We can't tell you much about Goliath, but we think the Scottish band's recently released Garden EP deserves your ears. We are particularly taken by their lovely cover of BMX Bandit's "Serious Drugs", but there are other delights as well.

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Bandcamp for The Garden

Bandcamp page for other releases

The Sprouts - Eat Your Greens

 

It seems we never have to wait long before another musical treasure arrives from Melbourne. After some research, we discovered that the reason for our perception is that, in fact, we never have to wait long before another musical treasure arrives from Melbourne. Tonight, we celebrate the release of Eat Your Greens by Melbourne quartet The Sprouts. (the official release date is the 24th, but as we write this on the evening of the 23rd, we note that it is already the 24th in Australia).

The members of The Sprouts, well, sprout from other fine Australian bands, including Chook Race, Dippers (fka Thigh Master), Permits and Ill Globo. The songs they have crafted for this record are organic, soothing, and appealingly shaggy. There is plenty of strum and jangle, the arrangements interesting and the harmonies lovely. We honestly don't know whether Eat Your Greens is a 'one off' project or is intended to continue. We hope it is the latter, but in any case The Sprouts have snuck in under the radar with a fine, and completely addictive, set of songs.

The Sprouts are Rob Remedios, Innez Tulloch, Tom Marinelli and Matthew Ford. Eat Your Greens is out now March 24 via Tenth Court.

Bandcamp for Eat Your Greens

"Storytelling" by Talking Flowers

 

Our friends at Stockholm's Rama Lama Records are continuing to expand their rosters. And as we would expect, the additions are exciting and tasteful. Most recently, they have added Malmo-based singer songwriter and producer Astrid Lagerstedt. Astrid, who records and performs under the name Talking Flowers, has cemented the new relationship with a double A-side single titled "Storytelling". The title track and the flip side "Bedroom Walls" give us a sense of the range of Astrid's artistry and hint at a reservoir of talent. We look forward to more.

Bandcamp for Storytelling

Various links for single

Whitney's Playland - Sunset Sea Breeze

 

Spanning delicate indie pop, gauzy dream pop and fuzzy shoegaze, Sunset Sea Breeze can quickly make a listener wish that Whitney's Playland had come into their life sooner. But we need to be thankful for musical treasures whenever they appear. And make no mistake, this is a lo-fi treasure of understated but superb songwriting and sincere performances. Get it, play it, and then irritate your friends by repeatedly asking whether they have gotten into Whitney's Playland yet. Don't worry, they will return the favor some day.

Whitney's Playland is Inna Showalter, George Tarlson, Evan Showalter and Paul DeMartini.

The album is a joint release by Spain's Meritorio Records (vinyl and digital) and San Francisco's Paisley Shirt Records (digital and cassette).

Whitney's Playland Bandcamp for album

Bandcamp for album (Paisley Shirt Records)

Meritorio page for vinyl

Death and Vanilla - Flicker

 

Sweden's Death and Vanilla are masters of dreamy, dark pop comprising of psychedelia and a cinematic melancholy. Their new album is the nine-track Flicker, and it is already one of our favorites from their discography. The band has woven delightful details (such as dub and motorik) into their creations and, dare we say, infused some sunlight into the proceedings. The album is a delight after delight and should please listeners for a long, long time -- perhaps until the next Death and Vanilla album.

Death and Vanilla are Marleen Nilsson, Anders Hansson and Magnus Bodin. Flicker is out now on vinyl, cassette and digital formats via Fire Records. 

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Bandcamp for Flicker

Various links for Flicker 

"Nationsville" by The Toads

 

At a recent WYMA editorial meeting one of our interns alleged that we haven't featured enough amphibians on the site. While we couldn't remember a recent feature focused on amphibians, we could think of some very, very good reasons why such was the case. However, the youth of today can be judgmental and surly, and we couldn't send him away to get donuts and beer because he had just finished the errand ('donuts and beer', you ask. Well, one needs to break fast and it was going to be noon in a few hours so ... ). So we looked at our recent messages and, to our relief, discovered a just released single by The Toads.

Titled "Nationville", it features a full load of pleasures including sardonic vocal delivery, terrific guitar licks, and bass and drums that are dynamite. The video is also 'too cool for school' with the quartet playing to an audience consisting of two dummies. Oh, and have we mentioned that rhythm section? The tune is the lead track on the band's upcoming debut album In The Wilderness, and it is quite likely we are going to love it.

The Toads are Miles Jensen (vocals), Billy Gardner (guitar ), Stella Rennex (bass), and Elsie Retter (drums), borrowed from The Living Eyes, The Shifters and Parsnip.

In The Wilderness is due June 9 via Anti Fade Records and Upset The Rhythm.

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Bandcamp for pre-order of In The Wilderness

"Finding A Way" by Sumos

 

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.

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Bandcamp for single and album pre-order

"Molecule" / "Soft World" by Hot Coppers

 

Keeping with the theme of new discoveries that make us happy, we are spinning "Molecule" / "Soft World" by Melbourne's Hot Coppers. While A-side is purportedly a sad song about the 'one that got away', it is too upbeat to dampen our mood. After all, we at WYMA didn't have anything invested in that particular one that got away (although we do have our own lists). And we certainly can't be sad about Hot Coppers planning to release an album on May 23.

The main man for Hot Coppers is music producer Gareth Parton, whose live band includes members of The Lucksmiths, Mid-State Orange, The Zebras, Amarillo and Clan Analogue.

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Bandcamp for single

"Fade" by Juppe

 

"Fade" just makes our day! It sounds like it sprang out of the funk scenes of Philadelphia or Detroit in the late '60s or early '70s. Our wonderment increases as we discover it is a contemporary tune by Finnish songwriter and musician Juppe (Julius Kasperi Jappinen). The single is out now via Soliti Music. And since Juppe is signed, we hope this means more of his music is coming our way.

In addition to Juppe, the players were Nestori Majoinen, liro Sivula, Saku Kaukiainen, Aapo Soulanto, Leei Haapanen, Joonas Nurela, and Hp Siikasaari.

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"Your Head's In The Sand" by Inkfields

The well-traveled Samuel James-Griffiths is Inkfields. He began the project while in Dresden, and continued perfecting his craft in street music performances while traveling through Germany and Sweden. He now resides in Edinburg. His debut album was Beneath The Waves, to be followed later this year by The Third Side Of The Coin.

The second single from the upcoming album is the just-released "Your Head's In The Sand". The arrangement is flowing, but the theme is intense: Pride and stubbornness causes failure. It is out now as a digital single via Rave Child.

Inkfields · Your Head's In The Sand

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"Easy Hands" / "Pearl Machine" by The Mary Onettes

 

Into their third decade together, Sweden's The Mary Onettes are not highly prolific, but when they deliver the results are unfailingly worth the wait. And so we happily welcome their latest single, the two-track "Easy Hands" / "Pearl Machine". The record displays two sides of The Mary Onettes, with the A-side delivering morerobust indie pop with a storyline personal to songwriter Phillip Ekstrom and the life of an artist. "Pearl Machine is a pensive but relaxing listen with a stately pace and spare lyrics that don't make an appearance until well after the two-minute mark. All in all, another treasure from The Mary Onettes.

"Easy Hands" / "Pearl Machine" is released via Stockholm's Labrador.

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Labrador

"Madhouse Breakout Multitool" by Kindsight

 

When the WYMA brain trust (yes, there is one, just ... ummm ... trust us on that point) decides that a band is one of the best indie band on the scene, there is a concern that we may have set a difficult bar for the group's next record. However, Kindsight's new single "Madhouse Breakout Multitool" suggests that the Danish quartet are going to follow last year's debut album Swedish Punk (our feature here) with another stellar recording.

As we expected, the sound of "Madhouse Breakout Multitool" is wonderful - layered, dynamic and sparkling with a dose of fuzz and grit. But it also has the delicious storyline of a couple of siblings barricading themselves in their rural house to protect against the inmates of a local mental institution that have escaped.

"Madhouse Breakout Multitool" is out now via Rama Lama Records. Kindsight are Nina Hyldgaard Rasmussen (vocals/guitar), Soren Svensson (guitar), Anders Prip (bass), and Johannes Jacobsen (drums). The band is playing SXSW in Texas, and is preparing their second full length album.

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Bandcamp for Madhouse Breakout Multitool

Various links for Madhouse Breakout Multitool

Rama Lama Records

Coral Grief - Daydrops

 

Some bands achieve their dreampop sound with haze and pastel arrangements. It seems to us that Seattle band Coral Grief takes a different route, achieving a dreamy sound via dreamy, wistful vocals and distinct but layered instrumentation. The result walks the line between dreampop and post punk, but it does so with a well-earned confidence. The six songs on their new EP Daydrops are uniformly polished and produced many approving sighs from our review panel.

Coral Grief are Lena Farr-Morrisey (vocals/bass/synth/guitar), Sam Fason (guitar/synth/samples), and Cam Hancock (drums/percussion). Daydrops is out now in digital and cassette formats via Den Tapes.

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Bandcamp for Daydrops

"It's A Mystery" by The Plus 4

 

When we first introduced The Plus 4 last month, we admitted that we knew nothing about them other than they are based in the UK and are dedicated to a Beatlesque version of indie pop. However, now -- as we are about to reveal their third single of 2023 -- we can confirm that, well, we know nothing more. So, we direct you straight to the music.

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"Don't Give Yourself Away" and "Telephone" by Dropkick

 

A couple of years ago we raved about an album from Scotland's Dropkick (our feature here). In the meantime we have covered releases from another project engaging Dropkick's principal songwriter, Andrew Taylor: The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness. But our gaze turns back to Andrew's main band as it is poised to release a new album in April. Titled The Wireless Revolution, we expect that it will feature the sweet jangle and even sweeter vocal harmonies for which this band is deservedly loved. And you can get a preview of the reason for that love on the first two singles from the album. Stream them below and enjoy!

Dropkick is Andrew Taylor, Ian Grier, and Alan Shields. The Wireless Revolution will be out via Hurrah Musica (Murcia) and Rock Indiana Records (Madrid).

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Bandcamp for pre-orders of album

Various links for Dropkick and their music

"An Imposed Exile" by High Water Marks

 

The name of this band lends itself to some word play, but as a matter of fact, the high quality pop of Norway's High Water Marks is arguably at or near the high water line for the genre. For proof you need look (and listen) no further than their new single "An Imposed Exile". The Grøa, Norway fourpiece consists of Hilarie Sidney (Apples in Stereo and Elephant 6 co-founder), Per Ole Bratset, Logan Miller & Øystein Megård. Do we like it? Yes, we do. And that makes us very happy to learn that their new album Your Next Wolf will be released in June.

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Bandcamp for single