Kevin Robertson - Why/D.C.B.A-25 (Ltd. 7")

 

 

The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane get a modern makeover on a new Fruits de Mer 7"

Seasons come and go, fashions and tastes change, but some things remain constantly awesome. A well-poured pint of Guinness, log fires in autumn, and quality time with good friends are all things guaranteed to lift my spirits. Other perennial touchstones for me include the music of the Byrds and new vinyl records. They're both things that I seek out whenever I'm in need of a mood-lifting boost. A joy then to hear this forthcoming 7" by Kevin  Robertson on the Fruits de Mer label, which features his take on The Byrds' song 'Why' as one of it's double A-sides. Kevin is the frontman of Aberdeen psych band The Vapour Trails but is flying solo on this vinyl release. His version of 'Why' is respectful to the original's tempo and feel and comes with wonderfully ripping psychedelic guitar breaks. Nice! I wonder of David Crosby has heard it yet. I'd like to think so.

The '60s revisited theme continues on the record's flip side with a cover Jefferson Airplane's 'D.C.B.A-25', a song about LCD no less. Now I'm not one to condone drug-taking, or indeed to condemn it. Whatever gets you through the night is alright by me, just make sure you stay safe folks! I have to confess that I'm not familiar with the original version, but Kevin's has plenty of 12-string jangle, harmony vocals, and hits the hotspot of slightly trippy folk-rock. And if you fancy having a go at the song yourself, the title gives away its chord sequence. How helpful is that! All in all this is set to be one of autumn's best 7" discs. The label has plenty more goodies on the way too, check out their upcoming releases via the links below.

Click here for Kevin Robertson on Twitter

Click here for the Fruits de Mer website

Click here for Fruits de Mer on Twitter 

Click here for Fruits de Mer on Facebook

Hooveriii - A Round of Applause

Hooveriii return with an album of uplifting psychedelic guitar pop

Los Angeles is a city which has given rise to some incredible music since the dawn of the recording age. It continues to do so, as I can confirm having recently had my ears turned towards LA-based band Hooveriii (pronounced “Hoover Three”). The band grew out of a bedroom recording project started by Bert Hoover (Jesus Sons, MIND MELD). The old adage about small acorns is apt here, as Hooveriii has evolved into a truly powerful psychedelic force.

Their latest album, A Round of Applause, sounds like a record that was fun to make, made by a band that would be fun to be in. A refreshing concept in itself! By the band's own admission, A Round of Applause is an unashamed attempt at making a pop record, forsaking the “jam band” approach of previous album Water for the Frogs. Anyone hoping their experimental edge has been smoothed away needn't worry. The album may be big on hooks and melody but there's plenty of left-field touches and sheer sonic brilliance to please listeners who like their sounds to lean towards the proggier, more experimental side.

The album opens with 'See', a twisted take on country rock with twin-guitar arabesques, rolling bass and mysterious lyrics. 'Out of My Time' is a sonic assault on the senses, edging towards industrial rock with its riffs and barrage-like driving drums, before sweet and stately guitar lines emerge from the sonic fog.

'Twisted and Vile' is the first showing of the album's promised pop thrust. It's a minor key affair, underpinned by a programmed electronic pulse, whereas 'Water Lily' has a frantic, unsettled feel at odds with the calmness invoked by its title. With a hint of math-rock in places it comes across akin to Marc Bolan fronting The Cardiacs. A nice thought indeed!

Elsewhere there's an alt-glam stomp to tracks such as 'Time the Outlaw' and leftfield electropop on 'My Directive', even some jazz quall courtesy of the saxophones on 'Iguana'. There's also enough to keep rockers on board. Guitar fans will surely be enthralled by the playing throughout which at times reminds one of Television's Verlaine and Lloyd, Will Sergeant of Echo and The Bunnymen, and Robert Fripp.

Sadly I missed the band on their recent short run of UK dates but hopefully they'll return soon. If that happens I'll see you down the front. In the meantime get familiar with A Round of Applause. You'll feel all the better for it, I guarantee!

 

 

Click here for Hooveriii on Facebook

Click here for Hooveriii on Instagram

Click here for Hooveriii on Bandcamp

 

 

Interview with Farmer Dave Scher (All Night Radio, HOO)

Los Angeles musicians Farmer Dave Scher and Jimi Hey had played in a string of bands together in the nineties, including Strictly Ballroom and Beachwood Sparks. But it was as duo All Night Radio that the pair were able to give full flight to their creativity. All Night Radio's sole album, Frequency Spirit Radio, was released on Sub Pop Records in 2004. Admired by those in the know at the time, the record's stature and reputation is such that it's now getting bespoke vinyl release later this month thanks to UK label Big Potato Records. You can hear it's psychedelic majesty via the embedded player below, or click over the jump to read the full interview with Farmer Dave about how the album came to be.

(CLICK OVER THE JUMP FOR THE INTERVIEW WITH FARMER DAVE)

Various - A Band For All Seasons (4CD)

Hugely enojoyable 4CD set of psych covers.

The promo of this set landed through my letterbox a few weeks back in the era now described as “pre-lockdown”. Since then the world appears to have shifted on its axis and we have this new strange reality. Given the gravity of the situation, what seemed important before the coronavirus crisis hit can now seem trivial, and it's tempting to put music in that box, along with football, luxury food items, and whether or not ITV is able to film Coronation Street. But, there's a counter argument - culture helps us make sense of the world, it keeps us sane, occupied, and entertained. That vital role should not be underestimated. Before the lockdown, I enjoyed listening to this set very much on my daily commute. Since then it's become something of a talisman to help me get through each day. I think you would enjoy it too.

Anyway I'll shut up about the coronavirus now and tell you about this compilation. Fruits de Mer released an amazing triple vinyl compilation a couple of years back. The Three Seasons featured 27 tracks, all covers of songs from the years 1967, 1968 and 1969. It sold out almost instantly so if you want a copy, be prepared to pay an inflated price via Discogs. The good news is that FdM released an expanded 4CD edition at the end of March under the title A Band For All Seasons: Songs From the Four Seasons of Love 1966-1969. The collection features a mind-blowing 61 tracks, many from HD-approved acts such as Moon Goose, Crystal Jacqueline, Schizo Fun Addict, Fuschia,Jack Ellister, Anton Barbeau and Nathan Hall. But that's just the tip of this iceberg.

Expect to hear well known psych-pop tracks getting a modern makeover along with lesser known gems that will open up new avenues of discovery. If, like myself you missed out on the pychedelic era by being born too late, this compilation will take you down musical rabbit-holes you never even knew existed and be introduced to a globe-spanning array of current bands who are not only enthralled by music from the late-'60s but use it as a starting point to take their own music to new and exciting places. Also included is a 24 page booklet to aid your enlightenment. Joy doesn't even begin to describe. A quick look at the FdM website tells me it's now sold out via their mail-order, though you should hopefully be able to track down a copy via secondary sellers.

Click here for Fruits de Mer Records.

Click over the jump below to see the full tracklisting.

The Routes – Tune Out, Switch Off, Drop In

Still where it's at! Japan-based psych-garage trio hit the spot!

I still remember the epiphany of catching the garage-rock bug as a teenager. While the majority of my fellow sixth-formers were content to have Dire Straights' Brothers In Arms on constant repeat on the common room cassette deck, (or worse - Pink Floyd's The Wall), I was introduced by my pals Chris and Sean to the Nuggets and Pebbles compilations along with a raft of reissues on Bam Caruso Records. Here was music that was punky, soulful, and psychedelic. A rich seam to explore. It was colourful and fun, which went against the grain of being a goth, seemingly the only other rebellious strain available to to us sheltered young pups in our small market town. I was smitten, and remain so to this day.

The Routes' latest album, their seventh, which came out just before Christmas, is a reminder of just how valuable that epiphany has been in forming my musical tastes and outlook, and also highlights that while the basic sonic template of psychedelic garage-rock may not have shifted much over the years, if you have something to say it will serve you well. And if you're a savvy enough musician you can add touches of other genres – R&B, surf-rock, folk-rock, Krautrock, shoegaze, even house or techno. It's no surprise that shape-shifting bands such as Primal Scream started out as a bowl-haircutted garage band with a pointy shoes, paisley shirts and a tambourine player.

The Routes are a trio led by Chris Jack – a Scottish born musician now resident In Hita City, Japan. While they too have a fondness for paisley shirts, skinny jeans, and teardrop-shaped guitars played through vintage fuzz pedals, there is more going on in their music than the retro bubble letters of their band logo would suggest. Within these grooves are experimental sonic threads – be it the tremolo and drone of album opener 'The Ricochet', 'Up and Down' with its shimmering layered guitars, or the title track's chromatic chord progression in the chorus recalling the works of Syd Barrett.

The album's more traditional garage-rock tracks such as 'The King Of Loose Ends' and 'You Cried Wolf' are equally thrilling, full of riffs, hooks, snarly vocals and ear-splitting trebly guitar solos. Dick Dale gets channelled on surfy number 'Split Personality', and there's plenty punkish attitude throughout with nods to artists such as Loop, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Spaceman 3, The Seeds and 13^th Floor elevators. Tune Out, Switch Off, Drop In is no pure retro trip though, it lyrically addresses current global concerns, pointing out that as a species we are without doubt regressing rather than progressing. The CD version comes with an extra four taken from the Driving Round In Circles EP, which originally came out on Ghost Highway Recordings in 2018. Whether your musical first love is '60s garage-rock, '90s indie, or simply great guitar bands from any era, this is an album worthy of your attention. Switch on and tune in!

Click here for The Routes on Twitter.

Click here for The Routes on Facebook.

Click here for The Routes on Instagram.

Click here for Groovie Records.

The Neighbourhood Strange - Russian Spy / Many Secrets (7"/CD)

The Salisbury psych-rockers are back with a single about recent hometown events.

Without wishing to make light of the seriousness of dosing someone with Novichok, at the two minute forty seconds into 'Russian Spy' there's a discordant guitar break which attempts to render in musical form the disorientating effects of the life-threatening nerve-agent. Undoubtedly safer than imbibing, it highlights The Neighbourhood Strange's growing confidence, as well as signalling the healthy state of modern psychedelic rock. With a melody that draws from eastern European folk and a brash swagger that's distinctly a “British-dudes-with-guitars” thing, 'Russian Spy' is modern musical reportage at its finest, from a band uniquely placed to commentate on such matters.

On the flipside of the vinyl is 'Many Secrets', an equally enjoyable if more trad Brit-pop affair; guitar-driven but with a big chorus. Vocalist Marcus Turner turns in a performance that's both melodic and punkish, while the band sound like they've mastered the art of ensemble playing, countless gigs having helped gel and hone their collective sound.

If the two tracks on the vinyl single aren't enough the CD version contains both 'Russian Spy' and 'Many Secrets' along with an extra three tracks. 'Mary Mary' has a neat quiet/loud dynamic and errs towards the band's West-Coast garage rock side. 'Walk On Water' has a languid, rolling feel, with plenty of space for organ runs and swells. 'Desert Sand' bookends nicely with 'Russian Spy', it's a short instrumental interspersed with occasional vocal shouts and encouragements. It too has a melodic feel that comes from somewhere between Eastern Europe and the Silk Road. Packed with plenty of surfy guitar, kind of like Dick Dale meets the Arabian Knights.

If you want to catch the band playing live, they have a hometown gig at the Market Square, Salisbury on August 23^rd. Or if you can't make it check out this rather fine disc instead.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange's website.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Facebook.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Bandcamp.

The Paperweight Array - Greek Theatre Show EP

If psych-tinged British guitar bands are your thing (and why wouldn't they be?) we have a great recommendation for you. The Paperweight Array are a Northampton-based trio who've just released Greek Theatre Show, their third EP, via Bandcamp. We've written about them before having enjoyed their debut EP Transmissions From A Distant Star. The follow up Kaleidoscope Of Antiquities was also on our radar but somehow slipped through the net when it came top writing about it. (Must have been a busy time work-wise, that's what usually stops me posting more!)

Anyhow their latest is well worth a listen. The opening track 'The Mountain' is reminiscent of Ride at their floppy-haired best, a mix of irresistible rhythms and spiky guitars. The title track 'Greek theatre Show' follows with more of a mid-'60s folk-rock feel. Lyrically it explores the volatile minefield of fractured friendships before leading into an extended coda of modal guitar arabesques.

They save the best for last however - 'Reflections (On A Western Trail)' has a Seahorses-meets-Big Star vibe, seemingly simple but actually quite complex chords and melody and ends in an extended guitar solo that any aspiring axe-god would be proud of. All of the band's releases are available via Bandcamp so go check them out. Here's hoping a long-player will materialise sometime soon.

Click here for The Paperweight Array on Twitter.

Click here for The Paperweight Array on Facebook.

Secret Colours - Dream Dream NEW LP & VIDEO!

Secret Colours are a new group to me. Based in Chicago, they're all set to release their fourth LP, Dream Dream in July.  This is the title track and lead single. I don't often post new videos on here but thought this was pretty good! A mix of '60s psych and '90s Britpop. Pretty cool I'd say!

Click here for Secret Colours' website.

Click here for Secret Colours on Facebook.

The Corridors - The Corridors

(This review first appeared in issue #70 of Shindig! magazine.)

Viziarmonic CD

Jason Wagers makes music as The Corridors out of his apartment in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. More of a studio-based project than a band, The Corridors came about after Wagers became jaded with the under-paid, under-attended gig circuit. His re-focusing of energies is to our benefit. Stylistically loose and varied, this seven song album is difficult to pin down genre-wise but therein lies its strength.

Each song is a mini-cinematic adventure. Whether it's the domestic drug troubles documented in 'Ghoul', the Barrett-esque melody of 'Elixir Divine' or the magnificently titled 'Granny, Put Down The Gamma Ray' complete with vocoder vocals and sci-fi feel, it all holds together.

I'd wager that Wagers is something of an Anglophile, a neat guitar player in the John Squire indie-funk mould, and a singer from the Ray Davies school of vocals. True or not he's made a record that puts bigger names and established studios in the shade.

Green Seagull - Scarlet / They Just Don't Know (Ltd. 7")

(This review first appeared in issue #68 of Shindig! magazine.)

Mega Dodo 7”

As you'd expect from a band that bonded over a shared love of obscure '60s psych, Green Seagull's vinyl debut sounds like it's been beamed in from 1967, determined to warp modern day minds. 'Scarlet' sits on the darker side of baroque pop, documents the dream/nightmare knife-edge of obsessive love, and is packed with ideas, intricate instrumentation, tight harmonies and a neat melody.

Flip-side 'They Just Don't Know' could be an out-take from Forever Changes. Its opening guitar motif and odd time signature give way to a frantic flamenco rhythm, the music matching the apocalyptic theme, full of compositional quirks and false stops before the dramatic instrumental finale. Listen closely and there's as much a debt to the classical cannon as there is to The Left Banke and Love, courtesy of keyboardist Sarah Gonputh (Formerly of The Lysergics, New Electric Ride). A thrilling debut and a must-have piece of vinyl!

The Neighbourhood Strange – Let's Get High / One Last Chance 7”

If sixties were nineties. Beefy garage-psych from the Salisbury quintet.

Less than a year on from their eponymous debut 7”, The Neighbourhood Strange are back with another double A-sided dose of dark garage-psych. This couln't have arrived at a better time for me. I recently had chat with a pal about psychedelia where he described it as music that's all about head-in-the-clouds, holding hands and golden unicorns. This slab of plastic may help in opening his up his mind. Let's all wear flowers in our hair? No thanks, let's just crack on with the substances instead. Psych is a very broad church that can accomodate a lot of punk-ish attitude.

The Neighbourhood Strange have one foot in the Sunset Strip garage sound of the mid '60s and another in the swaggering guitar band sound that was all the range in the '90s. With a lead vocal that recalls both Lennon's salty snarl and Jim Morrison's baritone. 'Let's All Get High' is a call to arms for heads everywhere. Unlike the treble-heavy '60s recordings that have obviously inspired the band, the track benefits from today's production values. It's all about the full sonic spectrum baby, where the bottom end can cut through!

Flipside 'One Last Chance' has a slower early '70s Stones-ey vibe. Jagger-esque vocals with instrumental passages where both guitar and organ get to take centre stage. Another top release. Nice work lads! Anyway where did I leave that golden unicorn?

Released on March 17th on 7” vinyl and CD (Each limited to 500 copies).

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Facebook.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Bandcamp.

The Creation Factory - Let Me Go / You Got It (Ltd. 7")

Limited edition 7” from LA's hottest underground psych band!

In a week where, on both sides of the Atlantic, the political shit heads towards its proverbial fan, it's reassuring to know that America still makes great music. And it's similarly reassuring that a small record label on our side of the pond is willing and able to press this music onto black vinyl. The Creation Factory are the latest Los Angeles band to have the kudos of a 7” release on Market Square Records, the small but perfectly formed bespoke label based in West Sussex.

The band's sound harks back to an earlier period in the city's musical history, a time when fuzzy guitars, reedy organ, three chords and a whole lotta snotty attitude was the order of the day. The A-side is pure riot on Sunset Strip, the sound of US teens' take on Them & The Rolling Stones. (Who were themselves imitating US blues musicians! Hell what's the point in nativism and shoring up borders when internationalism sounds this good!) Shot through with that garage-punk vibe we all dig, the track culminates in a band freak-out complete with wailing police sirens. Get diggin' it!

The flip-side is an altogether different beast. A dancefloor instrumental containing funky drummer beats, organ and guitar solos. A surefire smash down your local garage club-night. Don't leave it too late to bag a copy of this 7”, it's limited to 300 copies only and I'm not having you coming round here a-cryin' on my shoulder if you miss out!

Click here for The Creation Factory's website.

Click here for The Creation Factory on Facebook.

Click here for Market Square Records.

Bananas Magazine - Issue #14

Latest issue of the coolest zine around! Garage, punk and psych inky available from all good stores & distros!

I think we can all agree that 2016 has been a heinous beast of a year. Brexit, Trump, all those deaths and the murder of a forward-thinking, kind-hearted MP. A seismic year, the effects of which have yet to truly affect us. Where the hell do we go from here?! It's a point well made by editor Christophe in his column of the latest issue of Bananas Magazine. What we do need to do is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and continue to stand up and fight for what we believe in. As a musical community, (especially one as uniquely small yet global, as the garage scene is), is to keep the "citizen of the world" ethos alive, despite what Theresa May and nativist politicians the world over want to do. Hey, maybe here's not the place for politics but I just wanted to get that off my chest and try and remain positive.

Anyhow, one bright spot at the tail end of the year is issue #14 of the best garage 'zine around, a timely reminder that there are still good people, good events and great bands. If Ian Dury was around today it would be one of his reasons to be cheerful. Packed as usual with interviews, reviews, awesome illustrations that'll have even the most rural dwellers hip to the scene. Grab a copy from your local store or distro, or via the mag's website. And also check out their latest online comp, (see embedded player below). A soundtrack for your New Year's Eve party. Here's to 2017, stay strong brothers and sisters!

http://bananas-magazine.com/

Oriental Sunshine - Dedicated To The Bird We Love

Deluxe reissue out 2nd December on Round 2 Records 

 

The long and winding countryside of Norway in the late sixties was hardly the ideal time or place to be playing psychedelic folk music. But the teenage duo of Nina Johansen and Rune Walle, aided by their friend Satnam Singh, triumphed over high odds to make one of the most spellbinding albums in the genre made in any country.

Johansen and Walle met at a Peoples College in 1968 in the rainy small town Manger outside of Bergen, and discovered a shared love of The Beatles, Joni Mitchell and eastern sounds. They soon started playing and writing songs together. Then they met Satnam Singh, one of the very few people of colour living in Norway at the time, and luckily he turned out to be an excellent flute and tabla player. It was meant to be — Oriental Sunshine was formed.

A sole album was made, released on Philips in 1970, with the trio joined by accomplished jazz musicians Espen Rud (Min Bul), Sture Janson, and Helge Grøslie (Junipher Greene). The album was recorded by the legendary Norwegian producer and recording technician Jan Erik Kongshaug. After the death of Johansen’s father and with Satnam Singh facing deportation the band lost contact for 35 years and no music has been produced by the group since. This truly is a one off, and a key, unique record in Norway’s psych history.

Round 2 are proud to present this long out of print rarity, with remastered audio, exclusive poster and liner notes by Richard Morton Jack.

Tracklisting:

Side A
Across Your Life
Mother Nature
Look At Me
Unless
Land of Wisdom
Let It Be My Birth

Side B
Can Anybody Tell?
Visions
My Way To Be Hurt
Where You Went (Tum Kahan Gaye)
I’m Going

Soft Hearted Scientists - Golden Omens

Modern life is weird! Prolific Cardiff collective's 7^th long player!

It's been a busy few months for me and I've not always been able to post here as often as I would have liked. One release I definitely didn't want to let slip through the net is the latest opus from Soft Hearted Scientists. Hot on the heels of their recently reissued debut Uncanny Tales From The Everyday Undergrowth comes Golden Omens, their latest album of new material, this time on a double CD. Split into 4 parts, it's a song cycle that once again helps us see the world with fresh eyes. This is a band with a seemingly bottomless well of inspiration from which they conjure up tunes to delight and entertain us.

There's a Robyn Hitchcock lyric that goes something like “a sideways glance in a full on world”. I may have that slightly wrong but it sums up what Soft Hearted Scientists are all about. Their songs are rooted in the ordinary and everyday but make you see the world anew, opening your eyes to the inherent weirdness and absurdity that surrounds us when we step back and examine what's going on around us. Odd juxtapositions and associations abound.

Not only that but musically they continue to come up with the goods. Gentle pastoral folksiness one minute, into soundscapes and Barrett-esque whimsy the next. As hinted at on the album sleeve, Soft Hearted Scientists are the musically equivalent of jellyfish, fascinatingly odd and funny, they swim beneath the surface, are endurable and ever present, and might just sting you. Encounter them and life is never quite the same again. Dive in and swim with them!

Click here for Soft Hearted Scientists' website.

Cyanna Mercury - New video + forthcoming debut album!

Good pals of ours, Cyanna Mercury, have a new video out for 'There Will Be A Time'. It's the 4^th track to be revealed from their debut album, Archetypes, which is due out in November. The video is inspired in part by Alan Parker's 1984 film Birdy.

Dig in, get deep and enjoy!

For more info visit the band's website.

The Fast Camels – Tales Of The Expected

Third LP from Scotland's premier neo-psych band!

Glasgow may be 5,000 miles from San Francisco, and nowhere near as warm and sunny but maybe it's looking out from a west coast onto a large body of water that induces a psychedelic mindset. Okay maybe not, but there's certainly plenty of that psychedelic mindset on the latest LP from The Fast Camels, one of the best neo-psych outfits in Britain right now. And plenty of the Glasgow-based band's inspiration comes from that other west coast. Check out their debt to Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' on 'Watchmaker', or the dark acoustic vibes of 'Madame Matron' a track that would fit in easily on Love's Forever Changes.

It's been 2 years since their previous long player, Deadrooms And Butterfly Dreams, and 9 since their debut, The Magic Optician. There's been no major stylistic overhaul, with the band content to mix '60s psych influences with some '90s Britpop swagger. Though the band seem re-energised with a fresh batch of tunes that if anything surpasses their previous output, playing to their strengths in the studio and gelling like only a well-gigged and rehearsed band could.

The primary influences of US psych bands from '66 onwards (A support slot at one of the recent Love Revisited gigs must have been a boost and a validation) is there in the music but lyrically they couldn't be from anywhere else except these isles. The sense of humour found in their Kinksian vignettes is purely British, a tradition that goes right back to the days of music halls. Check out their dig at bar-room bullshitters on the title track opener, or 'Joy Of Roy', a character study that peers beneath the surface of ordinary everyday people to reveal their quirks and foibles. So musically it's a pill-poppin' trip down the rabbit-hole, while lyrically ripping the piss out of their acquaintances like only us Brits know how to do. A true transatlantic trip, and one you need to experience.

The Fast Camels are -

Drew Sturgeon: vocals/guitar

Mark O'Connor: vocals/lead guitar/12 string acoustic

Andy Rene: vocals/bass guitar

Joe Smith: drums/organ/vocals

Craig Jenkins: vocals/percussion

Click here for The Fast Camels' website

July - Can I Go Back Again (Ltd. colour 7")

Revitalised psych legends give nostalgia a good name! First single from the band's forthcoming LP!

A familiar name to fans of '60s UK psychedelia, July have made a number of selective live appearances since reforming for their 2011 comeback. And vinyl fans will be happy to hear they have a forthcoming 7” single due out in May on Fruits de Mer Records. 'Can I Go Back Again' is a track from the band's new album Resurrection, but features here in an extended version with the slightly more lo-fi demo version on the flipside.

The track opens with a drone and sitar motif before settling into vamped piano chords. Over the hypnotic backing the lyrics pay homage to the heady days of their '60s high watermark via lyrics which list titles of Beatles' songs along with snatches of their lyrics. A simple enough trick and one which on paper shouldn't work. Truth is, as the track progresses you're pulled in by its genuine yearning and simple charm. I get the impression they're not yearning for lost youth as such, more for a lost age of innocence and open possibilities. I think we're all down for that, where do we sign up?

Released on May 9^th as a limited edition colour vinyl 7”.

Click here for July on Facebook.

Click here for Fruits de Mer Records.

The Neighbourhood Strange – The Neighbourhood Strange/Wytches Sky (Ltd. 7”)

Is there something strange in your neighbourhood? Who you gonna call?

If your postcode has an SP prefix there's definitely some strange in your neighbourhood, namely The Neighbourhood Strange, a six-strong gang of '60s loving renegades who are on the verge of releasing their debut 45 on their own £.s.d Records imprint.

Pressed on reassuringly heavy black vinyl, with the band's circular logo on a similarly dark sleeve. Retro? Yes, but in a good way! The eponymous A-side harks back to the '60s purple patch, when psychedelia gripped the world's switched on youth. Though it's not the fully bloomed '67 flower power era the band echo, they're more attuned to the tightly clenched fist of 1966's dark satanic psych, with a sound propelled by nascent guitar fuzz, Farfisa solos and Jagger-inspired swagger.

The flipside 'Wytches Sky' takes a further step into the darkside of garage-rock. Not so much riot on Sunset Strip as strange rituals in darkened rooms. This is a record for fans of the Nuggets and Pebbles compilations, Aftermath-era Stones, Them and early Love. With the band already getting airplay on BBC6 Music, their future looks ironically bright! Look out for the band coming to make your neighbourhood that little bit stranger soon.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Facebook.

Click here for The Neighbourhood Strange on Bandcamp.

Out soon on £.s.d Records.

Soft Hearted Scientists – Uncanny Tales From The Everyday Undergrowth

Long out of print debut gets reissued with previously unheard demos! Pulp meets Pink Floyd for a peppermint tea!

I came across Soft Hearted Scientists ashamedly late, around the time of their fourth long-player Wandermoon, a lovely album that still offers fresh insights with each listen. A further two albums, both equally rewarding, have since followed and the band are now tantalisingly close to releasing their seventh - Golden Omens. Until then we can content ourselves by checking out where their journey started.

As with most bands there's something special about first albums, those records that somehow capture the initial flurry of ideas and enthusiasms and can be almost manifesto like in terms of setting down a band's identity. Such is the case with Soft Hearted Scientists' Uncanny Tales From The Everyday Undergrowth, their debut album from 2005. Critically acclaimed on it's release, it's long been out of print but is now getting a release on The Hip Replacement label. Along with the original record this reissue comes with a second disc containing demos of the songs on the album.

It's reassuring to find that the band's trademark mix of gentle and quirky melodies mixed with garden shed experimentalism was present at the get-go. The band describe their sound as kitchen-sink psychedelia, citing The Beach Boys and (perhaps more importantly) Oliver Postgate among their influences. Kitchen-sink psychedelia is pretty much bang on the button but I'd also propose the album is akin to Pulp meeting Pink Floyd to put the world to rights over a peppermint tea. An album of lovably eccentric songs with a softness of heart at their core. If you're new to the band start your journey here.

Clickhere for Soft Hearted Scientists' website.