Press Club - To All The Ones That I Love

 

I was thinking that it would be nice to have something noisy to sort of rattle the dentures whilst still being melodic instead of a sound that spouted pure anger. Lo and Behold, Brunswick, Australia's Press Club have arrived with their fourth album after a three year gap to provide just that.

They certainly get noisy on the likes of Tightrope and No Pressure, wonderfully so, without ever losing the plot or losing the magnificence of those ace gripping Riffs. Wilt for instance is built around a jangling riff that wouldn't be out of place in the 80s.

I suppose you might call the band Indie Rock, but that wouldn't be the half of it. There's plenty here to interest Punk, Power Pop, Noise Rock and Alt Rock fans. The solos are awesome mixing Classic Rock and 90s Rock and they enhance the songs.

Don't expect Press Club to come up for air, these songs are built around a cracking rhythm section that grounds the sound and allows the guitar and vocal to go in whatever direction they choose and boy, do they. This is an absolutely gripping album.

Vacate starts like something from a 1981 Post Punk band with a vocal that is a little Feargal Sharkey, but then it launches into a magnificent twang led affair. The title track is pure pace, but based on a riff that is part Johnny Marr and part Psych Pop.

Staring At The Ceiling is almost a Pop song and certainly the most accessible, it is anthemic. Desolation is a cracking closer, almost Garbage instrumentally and again offering up an all together now vibe. You can imagine this lot being at their best Live. I can't wait to see them over here in July. To All The Ones I Love is a corking listen, absolutely Top Notch.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.

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The Spindles - Wavelength

 

What we discover or is submitted does seem to come in waves. Lately, it seems to be 90s Rock, 80s New Wave or Pop Punk. Pop Rock has been fairly low key and when you hear an album as good as this, you wonder why.

Chicago's The Spindles have delivered an album of real quality that warrants listening to from start to finish, because the quality never wavers. Built on big choruses, bigger riffs. wonderful melodic arrangements and generally catch all songs.

It does sound a little 70s at times, but that's no problem, it was probably the glory days of the genre. More than that though, this is a real guitarathon. There's also no fear of stepping away from the norm. For instance, Two Sides To Every Story is prime time Rockville.

Ride My Bike steps into Classic Rock Territory and I Found A Girl is splendid jangling Power Pop of the highest order. Ballads are at a premium, but the closer, Best Of Everything, is built around a killer riff and very nearly steals the show.

If I had one slight criticism it is that the album is a bit cover heavy with 4 of the 14 sons not being originals. With the sheer quality of the originals, going with 10 songs may have suited me more. Bus Stop, for instance, is a classic, but being the second song in takes away the quality of the self written joy. Having said that, the cover of Rob Elvis's Rock For It is magnificent.

Wavelength is an album that knows what it is about and goes off and masters it. There is real quality in the arrangements and the production. It is a melodic masterpiece and more than demonstrates the strength of great Pop Rock.

You can listen to and buy the album here. You can buy the CD from Kool Kat here.

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Listening To This Week Playlist

Welcome to the new Listening To This Week Playlist. 22 songs this week and it is a cracker. As well as the traditional version, we have put the playlist on Spotify and you will see the link below. Remember this is early days on Spotify, so the following there is nowhere near our one here.

The weekly playlist is largely for submissions, not just the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  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. 

The Spotify Version    (The Shake Ups song is not on Spotify)

The Supernaturals - Killed By Submarines

Canadian Invasion - Picture Frames

The Confusions - Holding On

Sona Bliss - Just Wanna Be Free

Professor Hollman - Two Alone

The Genuine Fakes - Unhand Me

Smackbeat - You And Me

Tom Minor - The Manic Phase

Tom Minor · The Manic Phase

The Convenience - Target Offer

Frankie And The Witch Fingers - Dead Silence

Eilish Constance - Long Distance Train

RedLight - As Always

Stig & Theo - The Witness

The House Of Jed - O Caligula

The House of Jed · O Caligula

Cymbient - Gotta Get Out

Aviv Gros-Allon - I'm A Nomad Jew

The Corrupted Hearts - Broken Slinky

The Crystal Teardrop - Into The Unknown

keepsake - Battlebots

Gabe Ziro - Outer Space

The Shake Ups - In Cartoon Motion (Not On Spotify)

Smalts - B B Told You So

Smalts · B B Told You So

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The Supernaturals - Show Tunes

Our favourite Glaswegians are back and of course we are more than interested, The Supernaturals have never been afraid to experiment, but Show Tunes finds them back in the genre of their Heyday and you are reminded of what a great Pop Rock band they are.

The trailing singles Roy Wouldn't and Burn The Witch warned us of what we were in for. The former is Power Pop Gold, dripping with James McColl's wit and the latter takes us back to the glory days of Brit Pop which I still think is yesterday, not 30 years ago.

At times the vocal gold that McColl sounds a tad more mellow, but he can still belt it out, especially on the splendid If You Can't Love Yourself which sounds a little 70s. Killed By Submarines is up there with the best things they have released to the world.

The Dread comes close to it, much slower but beautifully arranged, wonderfully haunting yet providing a real optimistic vibe. We Were On Fire is incredibly jaunty and Of Human Bondage is mellow until it bursts into 70s Piano Pop, another highlight.

The main Ballad, Clockwork Orange, is outstanding, a co write with long time Anything Should Happen friend and guitarist Joe Greatorex. Show Tunes is a fine example of how uplifting, well written Pop Rock can make you forget about all the dirge that surrounds us politically.

McColl, lyrically, is on the top of his game and the five piece link perfectly. The CD and Vinyl are on the excellent Late Night From Glasgow label which seems a marriage made in heaven. Any album from this lot is worth attention, but Show Tunes is particularly worth the effort. You even get to hear James McColl's hidden Brass expertise.

You can buy the Vinyl and CD from here. You can listen to and buy the download here. (I was struggling to pick which three tracks to embed, so I've sneaked a fourth below.

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Slow Buildings - Crash Landings, Coincidences, Chaos.

This is a splendid album and I feel a bit guilty taking so long to get round to it. With being late to it, I thought I would have a look around at what others were saying about it and that is when my frustration with the general state of reviewing kicked in.

Most reviews were cut and paste of what Jason had already written on the Bandcamp page. It is an album about the ups and downs, largely downs, of the past couple of years and that also invited amateur psychology. I was left thinking "What About The Music?" because this is what reviewing should be about and this album is really really good.

So let me tell you. This is great Pop Rock with the emphasis on melodic Indie Guitar Rock that is equally at home in IRS land as it is when it goes Psych Pop or Jangle Pop. It is beautifully arranged and performed, built on big chorusses, memorable riffs and some great playing.

The subjects are tackled in a fine lyrically adept way, yet the seriousness of the subject doesn't make this a woe is me affair and that is partly because of the quality and sheer catchiness of the arrangement. From the chiming opener, Red Flag Surrender and all its jangly pace to the wonderful jaunty closer, Drained, which may be the catchiest thing here, all 12 songs resonate.

In choosing 3 songs to embed, I could choose any and be delighted. Cruel Girls Are Wrong is built around a killer Psych Pop Riff, Insane Fucker is very early R.E.M. built around an 80s Indie Riff, Lightning Zwelhander sounds like something out of Glasgow in 1989.

Sweet n Sour Luv instrumentally sounds like something from 90s darlings Space, but the vibe is very 60s UK Beat. Slow Buildings is New Jeresy's Jason Legacy and although this is his 7th album, it sounds as fresh as a debut. Wall to Wall excellence!

You can listen to and buy the album here. It cries out for a physical release.

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The Convenience - Like Cartoon Vampires

 

You never really think of New Orleans as a hotbed of Intelligent Angular Indie, but duo Nick Corson and Duncan Troast have fashioned up an album that reminds you of the best of that genre at times. I'm thinking of the likes of early XTC, The Sugarplastic, Franz Ferdinand et al.

The arrangements are incredibly unexpected and inventive, so unusual that they can tread into the footsteps of Elephant Talk King Crimson or melodic post punk. Dominated by exceptional hypnotic riffs that mesmerise at times without ever losing sight of the song.

This is in an area that we were noted for in the Anything Should Happen days, less so on IDHAS, but that may because so few attempt this at the moment, so when they do, it sounds very special indeed and Like Cartoon Vampires certainly excited.

Riffs suddenly change direction or unexpected diversions join in, the whole album is inspired and a cracking listen for those who appreciate more than crashing chords. There are reminders of others too, Pray'r sounds very latter day Radiohead for instance.

Cafe Style is a short 2 minute instrumental that gets a little Psych, but is prime time Drums And Wires. Western Pepsi Cola Town even gets close to a Guitar Pop song, adding unexpected pace, sounding like a more expansive version of The Strokes. Vanity Shapes is wonderfully melodic and restrained.

The Convenience may have saved the best until last. Surrounded by a selection of shorter songs, they come up with a sprawling 10 and a half minutes on Fake The Feeling which is an absolute Prog masterpiece, astounding considering what it accompanies here and a perfect way to end a splendid album.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available, on Vinyl, CD, Cassette and as a download.

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Skittish - Ugly Makes Pretty EP

 

You are about to read words describing what will possibly be the best EP of 2025. This and some upcoming stuff that has yet to be released will reveal what rude health Indie Pop is currently in. There's also a cautionary tale for both reviewer and artist here.

I was initially sent a song for the Listening To This Week Playlist which I thought was a little mellow for it. I was wrong and would have discovered so if I had listened to it a bit more. But with so many weekly submissions for a 25 song playlist, decisions can be too quick.

Rather than going off feeling down or, as some do, telling me how wrong I was, I got a reply saying I think this song may suit your place more. That song was Kicking In and it opened last week's LTTW playlist. I wanted to listen to more and bizarrely discovered that I had reviewed the Skittish album from 2023 here. Blame my aging memory, but to be fair, I do listen to more music than I should do.

These five songs are all different. Again the male / female vocal split works wonderfully. The latter provides a more Pop feel, at times a little more commercial. There is also a bigger Electric Guitar vibe to the EP than previously, particularly on the songs sung by Jeff Noller.

Kicking In remains a wonderful listen. Beautifully arranged that sort of marches as it builds and builds, it is an absolute joy. Piece Of Heaven is much rockier and pacy, instrumentally a little Housemartins with a better arrangement, less simplistic than they would offer up. It is a reminder of those glorious Indie Guitar Pop days of the second half of the 80s.

Present Tense is more brooding, kind of epic, with a wonderful Brass arrangement. Mother Nature is a more straight ahead ballad, more Modern Melodic Pop built around Piano and Organ and yet still splendidly arranged.

My Day Of Revenge is built a mesmerising keyboard riff that is a little Toytown, but just wait for the poptastic chorus. Sassy and again beautifully arranged and written. Five great songs that sort of reinvigorate your faith in the magic that music brings into your life.

You can listen to and buy the EP here. You really really should give it a go.

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