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BBI 043LP
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Can Con, the debut album from the enigmatic Canadian collective The Psych Fi's, comes via Bobo Integral. The group is an offshoot of Canadian singer-songwriter Jerry Leger's rock 'n' roll side project, The Del Fi's. Just as The Psych Fi's describe themselves as "spontaneous psychedelic rock," The Del Fi's recorded two albums characterized by spontaneity, spirit, and trust. This time Leger brings his songs to a revolving door of musicians and singers (18 members, including Jerry, in the case of Can Con). Most of the performers have not heard these compositions before recording them. They have no chance to second-guess; they must be fearless and jump in with both feet. Recorded live in a haunted Toronto studio on a cold January 2024 day by fellow "Fi" Aaron Goldstein (Espanola, Kathleen Edwards, Daniel Romano), Can Con captures a moment in time (which is relative). Leger acts as a sort of loose conductor, allowing certain soloists to emerge from the musical collage. Listeners will get lost in "Summer's Right Around the Corner", which also features Don Stevenson (founding member of the legendary '60s psychedelic rock band Moby Grape) on backing vocals, alongside Kate Boothman (Katie Cruel) and Angie Hilts. This sound has evolved out of Del Fi performances, specifically when musicians Nichol Robertson, Jason Kenemy, Dave Clark (The Rheostatics, Woodshed Orchestra), and Michael Eckert were involved. Leger and these "Fi's" eagerly ventured down less-traveled roads to destinations unknown. Other Psych Fi's include Ken Yoshioka, Matthew Cooke, Les Armstrong, Chris Bennett, Shawn Clarke, Katie Methot, and members of Jerry Leger & The Situation (Dan Mock, Kyle Sullivan, Alan Zemaitis).
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BBI 042LP
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Bobo Integral Records present the deluxe edition of Dead Calm, the debut album by The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness. This edition enriches the original tracks (now remastered), which were met with immediate success and critical acclaim, with new material and acoustic demos. Also incorporates an expected insert with all lyrics. Upon its initial release in 2019 by Pretty Olivia Records, Dead Calm was celebrated for its melodic craftsmanship. Purepopradio praised it as a "masterpiece of melody and harmony," Powerpopaholic rated it 9/10 and included it in their "best of 2019 list for best power pop this year," and Section 26 recommended it as "Presque indispensable." After two other records, Songs From Another Life and The Third Wave Of (BBI 029LP), it's the time to come back to the record that started it all. The deluxe edition offers fans an exclusive track from the original sessions, "Wouldn't Be Anywhere Else," and six acoustic demos that provide insight into the band's creative process. Reflecting their musical influences, such as The Byrds, R.E.M., Big Star, The Go-Betweens, Teenage Fanclub and the classic power pop era, the band's sound is a contemporary homage to these inspirations. Andrew Taylor is the leader and soul of Dropkick, a wonderful Scottish power pop group with touches of alt-country. Gonzalo Marcos is part of the cult Spanish indie pop group El Palacio de Linares and founder of the Bobo Integral Records label. Now it is time to return to Dead Calm, in a remastered edition, expanded with an unreleased song from those sessions ("Wouldn't Be Anywhere Else") and six acoustic demos that show how the songs were constructed and how they shone already in their embryonic state.
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BBI 039LP
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Jay Gonzalez and Pete Smith are like a modern-day Bacharach/David, if Burt spent his nights tearing it up with one of the best live rock bands in America, and Hal was a writer for Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Brak Show. Their debut album as Gonzalez Smith, Roll Up a Song, is a seamless fusion of power pop, piano ballads, bossa nova, and pure spun sugar confection. Jay brings the same multi-instrumental compositional skills found on his first three solo albums, and Pete pens lyrics by turns honest, romantic, arch and comedic, sometimes in the same verse. The results are so stellar, it's a shock to find out that the Drive-By Truckers guitarist/keyboardist and the Adult Swim comedy scribe haven't been writing together for decades. Roll Up A Song transcends eras and genres. It's a harmonious journey, uniting melodies and lyrics into a timeless masterpiece. Get set to roll up the music, immersing in captivating soundscapes.
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BBI 037LP
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Colored Lights was born out of a deep desire to rekindle the bonds with cherished old friends and spend time in a recording studio, sharing and creating music together. More than just a musical endeavor, this heartfelt project serves as a profound tribute to a departed friend and mentor who touched our lives. The band's debut album, recorded live in a small coastal town called Egersund, Norway during a cold week in January 2023, captures the raw energy and infectious chemistry that fueled their collaboration. The studio sessions provided an intimate and authentic experience, resulting in a record that showcases the true essence of Colored Lights' music. The debut album by Colored Lights is a testament to the enduring power of friendship and the indomitable spirit of artistic collaboration. It is an invitation to embark on a captivating journey, where heartfelt lyrics, infectious melodies, and innovative sonic landscapes converge to create an unforgettable musical experience. At the helm of Colored Lights is Frode Strømstad (I Was a King, The No Ones), a musical luminary who has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, Peter Buck of R.E.M., and Scott McCoughey of The Young Fresh Fellows. For this project he is joined by Norwegian producer and musician Bård Ingebrigtsen, Frank "Tønes" Tønnesen, Ole Reidar Gudmestad (also of I Was a King), and Tomas Pettersen. From the melodic craftsmanship of Guided By Voices and The Beach Boys to the experimental genius of Brian Eno and the heartfelt sincerity of Emitt Rhodes and Palace Brothers, their music weaves together an intricate tapestry of sound. With hints of unconventional brilliance reminiscent of Ween and the genre-bending creativity of The Minus 5, Colored Lights embraces musical exploration.
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BBI 033LP
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Prior to the recording of Tough Age's fifth album, Waiting Here, the stalwart powerhouse pop band embarked on a major transition. After spending over half of their ten-year lifespan in Toronto, founding guitarist/vocalist Jarrett Evan Samson and longtime drummer Jesse Locke (Motorists, Big Rig, Simply Saucer) returned to their West Coast origins in Vancouver. Reuniting with original Tough Age bassist Lauren Smith, who has spent recent years playing with beloved DIY punk bands Jock Tears and WUT, the trio relit a spark of inspiration by coming full circle. This reshuffling of old and new members gave the band a supercharged jolt shot through with a long simmer of contemplation. Continuing their trilogy of album recording collaborations with producer Peter Woodford (Freelove Fenner), Waiting Here was once again laid down at Montreal analog studio the Bottle Garden, and mastered by Vancouver music mainstay Jay Arner (Energy Slime, Fortunato Durutti Marinetti). Tough Age's new three-piece line-up delivered a cohesive song suite recorded live to tape, bottling the energy of the band's blistering live sets, while slowing the pace of their previous releases. Packed with patient, bittersweet hooks, Waiting Here includes lyrical themes of loving contentment, catharsis rooted in realism, and pushing back against paralyzing fears. These songs may sound familiar, but they emerged from a feeling of nostalgia looking forwards, as the trio continued to broaden and refine their singular approach to pop. For Tough Age, finding a place of comfort with the people you cherish is a catalyst to keep moving ahead. Evolving alongside their wide-ranging influences, Waiting Here slows the frenetic pace of Tough Age's previous LPs via mesmerizing guitar-monies ("Scattered"), Eno-channeling surf drone ("In a Garden"), and an expansive Yo La Tengo-esque riff meditation ("Getting Closer"). The 12-string jangling "Time & Again" is Samson's attempt to write a pre-folk-revival Fairport Convention song played by The Byrds, juxtaposed by twee punk ripper "Paradise by Another Name" with lead vocals from bombastic bassist Lauren Smith. Soaring pop stunner "Which Way Am I?", cut from Tough Age's 2020 album of the same name, gleefully spreads confusion with the twisted world-building logic of Guided By Voices or The Fall. Waiting Here concludes with its blown-out organ jam title track, cycling back to the band's Flying Nun loving origins in a worthy successor to The Clean's "Tally Ho!". The wait has been worth it.
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BBI 036LP
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Absentee is the third solo album from Southend-on-Sea-based singer-songwriter Alfie Firmin and his first for Bobo Integral. Absentee chronicles a transitional time in the 25-year-old Alfie's life, a long-planned move to Sweden gone awry amidst a global pandemic. The ten original songs on Absentee were born out of this experience, not present to ride out the pandemic alongside family and friends back home, while similarly deprived of the opportunity to engage with his new surroundings Alfie set about writing the songs that make up the album. If follows on from and expands upon the laid-back folk-rock sound hinted at on Alfie's 2020 self-released album, Waiting On. Once back in Southend, Alfie enlisted the help of Jonathan Coddington (Ex-Vöid, Jelly Boy) to record the album at The Soapworks Recording Studio in South London. Once basic tracking was complete sessions were moved closer to home with overdubs being recorded at Southend's own SS2 Studios with Rees Broomfield (Asylums, Rooskin). Southend mainstay Ted Groves contributed piano, drums, guitar, and backing vocals alongside M.G Boulter on steel guitar and Dave Huntriss (Novo Amor) providing brass on lead single "Can't Stop Thinking About You". A miracle album from a young musician that sounds like a classic after four great records in five years (three solo and one as the band Vestiges). This is his best effort yet. From the McCartney-esque piano balladry of "Lost on Me" to the horn-laden folk rock of "Can't Stop Thinking About You" alongside the Laurel Canyon country-shuffle of "December Third", it is an album that is well-versed in the traditions of classic singer-songwriter pop filtered through the lens of Alfie's distinctive croon. RIYL: Josh Rouse, Ron Sexsmith, Andy Shauf, Harry Nilsson, early '70s Beach Boys, Beatles solo albums.
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BBI 034LP
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Furnishings is the third solo album from Narrm via Wagga Wagga musician Lachlan Denton (The Ocean Party, Partner Look, Pop Filter). Furnishings documents the shift in Lachlan's life and focus from music to furniture making, and in some ways back again, in the aftermath of the loss of his brother, Zac Denton. Containing 12 original songs, it accompanies and expands on Lachlan Denton's wonderful previous record (with Studio Magic), A Brother (BBI 010LP, 2019), dedicated to the recent tragic passing of Zac Denton. Zac, Lachlan's little brother, was also his partner in his musical adventures with the cult group The Ocean Party. Furnishings is Lachlan's most diverse album to date. Half the songs on Furnishings are dedicated to different members of Lachlan's immediate family in an attempt to say the things that could so easily go unsaid before you ever get the chance. The other half are reflection on self, the environment, and life in an ever-changing world. From lo-fi keyboard musings of "Bookshelf" to the '80s infused pop of "You" and back to the jangling guitars of "Lose" it is an album that twists and turns but still has all the songwriting hallmarks of a Lachlan Denton album. To record the album, Lachlan enlisted help from friends Anila Hasnain (Partner Look) and Dom Kearton (Skydeck), on bass and guitar respectively. The producing of the album was split up between sessions with Liam Halliwell (The Ocean Party, Snowy Band), Liam Parsons, and Stefan Blair (Good Morning), Dainis Lacey (Cool Sounds), and Tori Holleman (Douglas Fur, Retiree). For each session the engineers became quasi members of the band, playing singing and arranging collaboratively. Furnishings also accompanies Lachlan's first furniture collection, which will be on display in Melbourne to accompany the launch of the record.
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BBI 030LP
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Field School began as an experiment. As the pandemic pushed us into social isolation, Charles Bert realized that writing and recording with bandmates was off the table. But instead of burrowing away to wait it out, he seized the moment: writing, arranging, and recording songs on which he played every instrument, learning on the fly. His ingenuity was contagious, inspiring his friend, artist Jimmy Ulvenes, to start Small Craft Advisory to introduce the world (50 cassettes at a time) to Field School. When Summer Comes is a collection of these pocket-sized recordings, released as a debut album on Bobo Integral. K Records style indie pop but also the nearly mystical natural world of the Pacific Northwest is featured, with apple orchards, rippling rain, and aquatic phosphorescence drifting through the imagery. And with astonishing deftness, Charles also channels the questions and affinities of his older self through this effervescent style, allowing "twee" to grow up and flourish and renew. When Summer Comes is a panoramic album, traveling through wistful recollections and insecurity with humor and beaming hope. It's a reminder that after the separations of the pandemic, after hardship, after loss, you create your own now and you can keep learning and growing and living into the answers. Charles Bert made his mark in Seattle indie pop combo Math and Physics Club. RIYL: Math and Physics Club, Beat Happening, The Softies, The Reds, Pinks & Purples.
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BBI 029LP
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The third record by The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness contains ten songs (how not?) and it doesn't last half an hour (why more?). The guitars jangle from minute 0 (delicious "As the Day Begins"). This jangle is complemented by distorted guitars and power pop airs in songs like "Look Back" (a hit with one foot in the romantic power pop of The Keys, The Toms, The Records, the Flamin' Groovies of the Shake Some Action era (1976) and another chasing the vibes of The Cars, Weezer and even The New Pornographers), "In the Right" (the best Graham Parker or Joe Jackson must be named here, and pay close attention to the dub arrangement that splits the song in two) or the most badass "Out of Time", which is as if Weezer, Dinosaur Jr., and Nada Surf were 20 years old and played together. There is a milestone on this album and that is that Mary Lou Lord sings a duet with Andrew throughout the song "Isolation", a beautiful mid-tempo jangle a la The Bevis Frond that takes the Boys to a new dimension. Mary Lou Lord was a colleague of Elliott Smith and Kurt Cobain, a myth of the not-so-underground American music and a unique voice that should have never stopped being the protagonist. "The Stars Go Round", "Open Up the Box", and "Old Ways" are three wonderful compositions linked to the precious indie pop of Teenage Fanclub, Velvet Crush, or The Primary 5. A novelty is the use of the piano on this album, à la E Street Band, à la Attractions, in energetic and splendid songs like "Old Pictures of Ourselves" and "Turning Red". The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness is a duo formed by Andrew Taylor (Edinburgh), a member of the cult band Dropkick and Gonzalo Marcos (Madrid), from a Spanish indie pop group El Palacio de Linares.
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BBI 028LP
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Dilettante (n.): a person with an amateur interest in the arts; an album of postcard-length power pop songs. See also: Mo Troper IV.
Dilettante -- also known as Mo Troper IV -- combines decades of power-pop worship, scholarship, and penmanship into a 28-track collection of sprints. The playlist-as-album pundits might call it a data dump, but Mo brands it as a relaxed way to finish song sketches in unprecedented times. IV is a work that some of his friends call a musical, but this claim remains unverified. If there's anybody aching to spin up a limiter-drenched production centered around scrolling a cluttered inbox for serotonin, prototype theme songs for public access shows plugged into the scene, and gasp-long dips into math rock, 1990s video game cheese, and medieval revelry, get in touch. For those less dramatically inclined, there's plenty here to pick up the slack. Mo gushes about "The Perfect Song" with syrupy, undeniably guitar pop that's a remarkable stand-in for the gold he describes. False showtune "Sugar and Cream" goes medium about the wizardry found in a cup of coffee. Clipped moments like the sub-minute love song "Skyscraper Sized Bong" are as ephemeral as they are effective, shoving callouts to Big Star and Teenage Fanclub into pocket- sized arrangements. The fourth album, first on Bobo Integral Records, of the Portland power pop genius Mo Trooper. Red vinyl.
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BBI 026LP
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The Sweetness Restored is the second full-length record from Crystal Eyes, produced and engineered by Andrew Woods (Legal Vertigo, The Operators), co-produced by Basia Bulat and recorded at Breakglass Studios in Montreal. Crystal Eyes are a Canadian indie dream rock band with touchstones of psych, shoegaze, '60s pop and '90s grunge. Led by vocalist/guitarist Erin Jenkins, the band features warm effect-drenched guitar and synth, at times layered or alternately stripped down. Drawing on a vast array of musical influences, landscapes and collaborations, Crystal Eyes have thrived in a diverse and supportive cross-Canadian music scene, honing their live show through multiple tours and as consistent hometown favorites. The Sweetness Restored is a feel-good self-help record for the age of existential dread, featuring a menagerie of musical instruments like the Hammond C3 with Leslie speakers or the Theravox, paired with string quartets, choirs, pianos, synthesizers and many guitars. It features performances from some exceptional Canadian artists, including Scott "Monty" Munroe (Preoccupations), Eve Parker Finley, and even back-up vocals from Basia Bulat. It's mixed by Mark Lawson, a Grammy award-winning engineer and producer who worked on records for Arcade Fire, Peter Gabriel, The Unicorns, and more. You'll definitely hear the band is standing on the shoulders of giants here, with sounds from the '60s, '80s and '90s popping up to be reflected in their shrine-like homage. Driven by memorable melodies and multiple textures, this record is definitely not one palette, but you'll like the postmodern confusion it speaks to. Inspired in equal parts by the streets of Montreal (The Sweetness Restored being a lyrical reference from Leonard Cohen's final album You Want it Darker) to the mountains, forests, and lakes of nature at its most free, there is both a kind of quiet sadness and a frenzied rock n' roll urge that ebbs and flows throughout.
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BBI 020LP
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At this point, Tim Cohen is something akin to a Songwriter Laureate of San Francisco. He has observed from his attic window as wave after wave of musical trend has visited upon the Pacific shores, only to wash back into the ether. His sixth solo album, You Are Still Here, is a taut, suspenseful collection of dynamic, timeless songs. Ranging from the reluctantly hopeful Rhodes-driven gospel of "Rage On" to the psychedelic kraut bombast of "Dadaist Friend", the album was recorded over three week-long sessions at Crown Lanes (Denver, CO) with Cohen's longtime collaborator James Barone (Beach House) behind the boards and the drum kit. Handing over production duties to Barone allowed the full range of both artists' talents to shine, and the result is polished and sonically satisfying, yet somehow still slightly deranged and "outsider". Cohen's vocal melodies have never been stronger, now bolstered by horn flourishes (Andrew Byars) and the lush choral vocals of Noelle Fiore (Magic Trick). Dramatic choruses give way to pensive quietude with ease, and the journey is narrated expertly by the various keyboards of Connor Birch (Flaural). Barone's keen ear and Cohen's more focused songwriting approach are a magical marriage. The result You Are Still Here, is a great opportunity for us to return to the art of album listening. Cohen's first solo album recorded in a studio proper, and the first for Bobo Integral Records (Spain). For more than a decade, Cohen has consistently released woefully under-the-radar albums of wry, intelligent, romantic pop songs. Each of his musical personalities (The Fresh & Onlys, Magic Trick) has evolved from charming bedroom shamble to fully realized studio endeavor, and finally his eponymous musical efforts have caught up with the others.
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BBI 019LP
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The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness is a remote, atypical music group on the frontiers between indie pop, jangle pop, and power pop. It is a duo formed by Gonzalo Marcos (from Madrid, member of El Palacio de Linares, a group already consolidated in Spanish indie pop) and Andrew Taylor (from Edinburgh, member of Dropkick, a long-lived Scottish cult group). In 2019 they released the album Dead Calm on the Pretty Olivia Records label to great acclaim. The vinyl run sold out in a couple of weeks. The album was featured on the "best of the year" lists by various international media, both American, French, Italian, German, or Japanese outlets, and received praise from artists, such as Mary Lou Lord. They are compared to Teenage Fanclub, The Byrds, Big Star, and Elliot Smith. And here comes the sophomore album, Songs From Another Life, taking a new stride and reaching master heights again. For this second album, confirmation album, The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness open the range of influences, more American, more exuberant and present a powerful sound with arrangements that make us dream of better days. In addition to Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and The Byrds, there are sonic references to Fountains Of Wayne, Matthew Sweet, Weezer, R.E.M., The Lemonheads, The Beach Boys, and there are even distorted breaks à la Dinosaur Jr. or Sugar. Recorded separately, in two parts, without the two musicians sharing a studio, not even a city: Andrew his part in Edinburgh, at his rehearsal room, Gonzalo his, in San Sebastián, at Yon Vidaur's studios. Applying social distance before it was an obligation. These songs so beautiful, so bright, so stimulating, this pop music of heavenly guitars, can only come from another life, from a life that might never return.
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BBI 013LP
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Elrichman -- the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Paul Erlichman is set to release its new album, Heaven's Mayor. Following his work as part of the art-pop duo Goosebump (formally Germaphobes), Erlichman, who also plays in the jangle- pop quartet, Ducks Unlimited, recorded the new album with producer, Alex Gamble (Fucked Up, Alvvays). It's the first record under the Elrichman moniker since 2014's Young, Healthy, and Wonderful and finds further contributions from members of Hooded Fang (Jon Pappo), Weaves (Zach Bines), and Twisted Pine (Anh Phung). Recorded at Toronto's recently closed studios, The Hive, Heaven's Mayor looks to meticulously examine how to be honest with oneself in our strange postmodern world. Featuring lavish strings and woodwind arrangements, it's a versatile sophomore album that allows songs to celebrate their own sonic idiosyncrasies as much as they do their tales of consumption, helplessness, and despair.
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BBI 014LP
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Written following a bout of heavy touring and breakup of his previous band, and amidst the degradation of multiple relationships, the songs that make up Carousel were culled from an obsessive trove of singer-songwriter Ezra Tenenbaum's dozens over reel to reel demo recordings. Sounds oscillate from jangly meditations ("Turn the Time"), drum machine fueled heart pangs ("Picture Taker"), and the ethereal ruminations of a shut in ("Loud Sounds"). After tracking live at Brooklyn's Figure 8 Studios, guitarist Ezra Tenenbaum and drummer Michael Stasiak fleshed-out, knotty, hook-filled arrangements at home with the help of a rotating crew of friends, including Kyle Forester (Woods, Purple Mountains), John Andrews (Hand Habits, Cut Worms), Michael Hesslein (Mail the Horse), and others. Ezrat is a simple twist of the lemon for followers of Ezra Tenenbaum's previous band, EZTV, who released two hook filled LPs on Captured Tracks and toured with the likes of Real Estate, Ultimate Painting, Jenny Lewis, and others. Listeners can expect the same deliciously deployed power-pop hooks that recall British invaders or left of the dial new wave. New players are in the mix, plus some old faces, playing pop-inflected rock music that operates as both a mirror to our past and a strum-happy tunnel to the future.
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BBI 016LP
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Milky Wimpshake are a lo-fi indie punk threesome from Newcastle consisting of Emma Wigham (drums), Christine Rowe (bass), and front man Pete Dale (vocals, guitar, songwriting), whose scene credits include running the Slampt label; FAST Connection fanzine, and the bands Avocado Baby, Pussycat Trash, Chronicity, and Red Monkey. Milky Wimpshake began their under-the-radar run in the early '90s to investigate daydreamy sentiments and DIY takes on sociopolitical protest songs. Working at an extremely relaxed pace, Milky Wimpshake's discography exists in piecemeal compilation appearances, long out-of-print 7" singles, and a scant seven albums stretched out over the course of more than 25 years. Confessions Of An English Marxist is one of their best albums to date, these are songs that say more about today's world than most of the written media. Fuck art, let's danse! Referred to by some as punk folk and twee skiffle, they're considered witty, satirical, and both irritating and utterly enjoyable, Newcastle Upon Tyne based cult indie-pop heroes Milky Wimpshake have released numerous singles and compilation tracks on assorted indie labels since forming in 1993.
"A slow birth! At least one song on this album was written when 'Dave' Cameron (remember him?) was prime minister, hence a nod to bestiality on one track. Oh yeah, and then bloody Brexit happened, blimey, that didn't escape anyone's attention did it? And now this album finalised at a time of global pandemic, ha! This predicament meant that a working title of 'The Wimps are Alright' had to be abandoned (possibly to be revived later). There's a few confessions on this album, but not enough confessions of guilt perhaps -- I'll get there." --Pete Dale about Confessions Of An English Marxist.
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BBI 012LP
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The Scenic Route is Dropkick's most accomplished, coherent, and fully-realized collection of songs to date. The record showcases the timeless, jangly-pop simplicity of their music and the ear for melody and harmony that has helped Dropkick's music appeal to a growing cohort of music lovers around the world. Their 16th album, The Scenic Route, concerns itself lyrically with the passing of time: relationships with people, places, and music -- some expired and some constant. The album was recorded in Dropkick's rehearsal space in Inch House, Edinburgh between May and July 2019. Recorded mainly live, with minimal overdubs, this is the sound of the band enjoying playing together, trusting their instincts and delivering their best ever set of songs. Hailing from the east of Scotland, Dropkick have drawn on influences such as Wilco, Teenage Fanclub, and The Jayhawks to produce their own blend of harmony-driven power-pop.
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BBI 011EP
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Jangle-pop conservationists Ducks Unlimited flashback to the wiry guitars, snappy clothes, and book smarts of groups like The Go-Betweens and The Verlaines. Ducks Unlimited, formed around singer Tom McGreevy, are from Toronto. The blind listening of their first singles produced by Josh Korody (Weaves, Fucked Up) and Shehzaad Jiwani (Grays) would have made us rather sideways on the side of New Zealand or Australia. Indeed, in the wake of the endearing The Goon Sax or the remarkable Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Canadians are already presenting themselves as the new natural heirs of The Go Betweens, The Chills, or The Verlaines. This is their first 7" EP, the record that should soon be making a name for themselves among the elite of the international jangle-pop. It somehow manages to seamlessly combine the slightly edgy, cool distance of any number of late '80s Flying Nun Records bands, with the modern-day indie chic of second generation The Go Betweens bands like The Goon Sax, albeit with a bounce and energy that hints more at the latest Brooklyn scene.
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BBI 010LP
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After releasing his debut solo album Two Months In Ben Woolley's Room in 2018, Lachlan Denton directed his focus back to The Ocean Party. After finishing off their next record and in the midst of organizing its release Lachlan's brother and Ocean Party band mate, Zac Denton, tragically and suddenly passed away. The band released The Oddfellows' Hall as well as an EP of Zac's final Ocean Party recordings, titled Nothing Grows, and put their band of ten years to rest. In a state of shock and confusion Lachlan put his thoughts to music, working through his emotions and looking for solace in a time of immense sadness. A Brother though born from grief, is work of catharsis and a stunning reflection on a loving relationship between brothers. To record the album, Lachlan assembled a band now collectively known as Studio Magic, featuring Ambrin Hasnain (Cool Sounds, Pregnancy, Skydeck), Dainis Lacey (Cool Sounds), Liam Halliwell (The Ocean Party, No Local), Rose Kean, and Anila Hasnain, to live track the album at his Coburg home and Halliwell's home studio in Preston. Mixed and mastered by Halliwell, the album has a live charm that lends itself to the honest and personal nature of the songwriting. The clean instrumental interplay and Denton's deft pop hooks perfectly juxtapose against the devastatingly direct lyrical content, creating songs that are equal parts sad and hopeful. A Brother is also a tribute to an incredible person and songwriter taken from us far too soon. Features a cover of a Zac Denton original, "Spat Out", taken from Zac's own solo work under the Hobby Farm moniker.
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