Stay - Always Here (Ltd. Col 7" +DVD)

Barcelona psych-rockers latest five-track EP!

Spain is fast becoming a hot-spot for home-grown indie music, a must tour destination for British bands, and home to one of Europe's best DIY networks. Promoters, radio shows, venues, labels and gig-swappers all seem to be at the top of their game in Spain at the moment. It's within this hothouse environment that a band like Stay can flourish. Their latest five-track EP on Fruits de Mer Records mixes a couple of original songs with three choice covers. The Bee Gees (' Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You'), The Kinks ('Where Have All The Good Times Gone'), and Buffalo Springfield ('Rock and Roll Woman') all get a Stay makeover.

These tracks give you a clue to where their heads are at – melodic and psychedelic, all shimmering guitar jangle and the rhythm section's taut driving push, but it's the original songs that are the stars of the show. Lead track 'Always Here' sets out the stall. Any song that has the word “mind” in its first sentence always gets my vote. It may be shorthand for instant psych but in this instance works a treat. Classic modern guitar-based psych-pop at its best.

'You Know It's Right' is the other self-penned tune, this version being a remix with added guitar courtesy of Andy Bell (Ride, Oasis). It's rooted in the folk-rock sound of The Byrds but with a modern speaker-pushing sheen. Neat! This limited edition coloured vinyl 7” also comes with a DVD insert, featuring a documentary about the recording sessions for the band's latest LP The Mean Solar Times. What the hell is not to like!

Click here for the Fruits de Mer website.

Click here Stay's website.

Click here for Stay on Facebook.

Click here for Stay on Twitter.

Jessica & The Fletchers – Marble Fountain b/w Crystal Tears (Ltd. 7”)

Barcelona Indie-Pop outfit return with limited edition 7”!

Listening to Jessica & The Fletchers' latest 7” re-awakened something of my fading youth. Too young for punk or post-punk, and jaded by the time Brit-pop took over the charts, my own year zero was back in 1986. Or C86 if you prefer. A time when the likes of Talulah Gosh, The Shop Assistants and The Bodines were putting out great records, doing grass roots gigs and getting recognition in the weeklies. It was an all-too brief flowering but regained important ground from '80s perfectionists and pony-tailed professionals. More importantly it gave females an equal footing in making music, something which hadn't really happened since the very early days of punk (a move sadly hi-jacked by punk's second wave and the onset of Oi).

Jessica & The Fletchers describe themselves as a noise-pop quartet and that's pretty much on the mark; bittersweet lyrics are sweetly sung and backed up by fuzzy guitars. One part flowers, one part razorblades. With a sound that's deliberately amateurish, in the purest and best sense of the word, the lyrics are winsome with themes of young and innocent love, somehow apart from the modern world but also very much needed. The songs are short, with no needless solos, and all about the melody. Perfect fayre to be pressed onto their natural home of 7” plastic.

For fans of Sarah Records, Talulah Gosh, Jesus & Mary Chain and fans of spirited and catchy pure-pop in general. Limited to 300 copies, this 7” comes housed in a Risograph fold-over sleeve with a hand-numbered postcard fetauring the lyrics to both songs.

Click here for Jessica & The Fletchers on Twitter.

Click here for Jessica & The Fletchers on Facebook.