Sloppy Heads Announce Sometimes Just One Second LP

If you were brandishing your style of pop as slop-rock, and you wanted to go down as the coolest, how would you do it? Oh, get James McNew (its James Day at ATH!) to play dabble throughout your whole LP? Maybe get production help from Gary Olson? You might even get legendary Sesame Street animator Al Jarnow to create the LP’s first video! The new Sloppy Heads LP has all those bullet points, all of that to go with calling legendary DIY label Shrimper home for the release of Sometimes Just One Second. But what about the music? Greeted by an startling howl, you’d be forgiven for thinking the band have slid into Halloween punk, but they turn that carnivalesque manufacturing into a buzzsaw brand of pop. The song lurches and pulses, spinning into this electronic whirlpool of fuzzed electro pop. Lock into the vibe and the visuals suck you right into the wormhole that is this glorious single! If you dig, Sometimes Just One Second is out August 18th; order it HERE.

Let’s Whisper Announce The In-Between Times

You get backing vocals and recording by Gary Olson, throw in Emma Kupa, and, well, you don’t really need too much more to convince me that the new Let’s Whisper LP is going to be a stellar listen! The group’s first single from The In-Between Times churns and jangles, like a song that dips its toes in the pools of paisley vibes while pressing play on the warmth of classic pop records from Athens. It’s a short gallop with huge backing harmonies that are the best things you can offer your ears this week. Should come as no surprise that the band have found a home for their new LP on Fika Recordings, who will release the album on August 26th.

Love, Burns Shares Something Good

This week, we’re letting Phil from Love, Burns send us a blurb about various tracks on his forthcoming LP, It Should Have Been Tomorrow (which comes out Friday!). Today, we’ve got the closing track on the record, and a reminder the band are playing Pete’s Candy Store on February 10th, so here’s the words from Mr. Sutton:

“Gary Olson, who recorded and mixed the LP, said this was my Chris Isaak song. Its a very simple song, about not fitting in, and getting the hell out. Id say about 67% of my songs are about this subject. Comes of being raised in a small, conservative village, I think. This time the protagonist needs to be themselves, because the mad villagers dont like who he/she/they is. It could be that theyre gay, a Communist, a freak, a hippy, a beatnik, an artist, whatever. They need to go somewhere where they can belong, be appreciated, and loved. Bigots decry the notion of a safe space, but everyone needs one to flower. Kyles lead guitar is fantastic. Twang-tastic! Pretty much one take. Kenny Wachtel (Great Lakes) is playing lead guitar live, and also does a sublime job. If you come to Petes Candy Store, Brooklyn, NY February 10th, at 10pm, you can hear Something Good done Kenny-style!”

Love, Burns Announces It Should Have Been Tomorrow

It seems only fitting that we begin covering music in the new year by covering our first release of 2022; It Should Have Been Tomorrow by Love, Burns. The band is the solo project of Phil Sutton, who plays in Pale Lights (among other acts like Cinema Red and Blue and Comet Gain!), but the album features help from Kyle Forester, Hampus Ohland-Frolund, and Gary Olson…so it’s kind of a big deal! We’re releasing it in conjunction with Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten, Calico Cat Records and Jigsaw…all great labels run by admirable persons, so we’re fortunate to be part of this release (we’ll be handling the cassette version)! But, we can’t really convince you to pick it up without a little taste now can we? Here’s a few tunes from the album, which will be out on February 4th; buy it from us HERE.

Plus, Phil recently recorded a wonderful cover of the Wake’s “Crush the Flowers” with Suzanne Nienaber for Soleado, a Tribute to Siesta Records, organized by Fadeawayradiate. You can hear that below:

Phil photo courtesy of Dominick Mastrangelo Photography.

Nathan’s Favorite Albums of 2020

It’s been a crazy year, and a depressing year, so perhaps we all retreated more into our record collections to seek out that fleeting joy. On my end, I spent a lot of time running/walking in the ‘burbs, so these are the records that played the most in my life…thus they are my Favorite Albums of 2020. The validity means little to anyone other than myself, but since you stop by, perhaps come by and check out my list!

And, just an FYI…there are 30 bands, and I linked back to Bandcamp pages so you can buy directly from the artists…except that one band because apparently they’re too cool…even though that album rips.

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Gary Olson Shares Some Advice

About a month ago we were treated to the first single from the forthcoming Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor) LP, and now we’ve got another number, which might be even better than our first listen. Honestly, my first few runs through, I thought about how accessible his songwriting was, despite my tendency to claim indie superiority; it’s the sort of track that I could play for my mum and dad that would surely charm them. In the casual pop, you’ll find some really great arrangements working too, which seems to be the staple of a lot of the stuff Gary’s worked on as of late; I loved the horn section coming in just after the 3 minute mark…felt like a very B&S nod. The self-titled album is out on May 29th via Tapete Records.

Gary Olson Announces Solo Debut

Tapete Records is becoming a powerhouse for some of the best indiepop in the world, so it should come as no surprise that they’ve grabbed onto Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor for his debut solo record. Our first listen has that classic pop vibe, using huge sweeping string accompaniment to add textured layers to the gentle strumming of the guitars. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s this delightful skip of energy around the 2:40 mark, adding a slight boost before riding off into the song’s proverbial sunset. This feels like the perfect way to daydream through the rest of your Friday; look for the record to drop May 29th.

Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor Drops Single

We’ve told you to keep an eye on Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten, as the German label has been releasing some incredible work this past year…and they’re knocking it out of the park with this new 7″ from Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor. It’s a pretty soft ballad, with just a hint of bouncing rhythm to grab your ear. That being said, the production behind Gary is what completes the song’s magic; there’s light string arrangements accompanying the angular ring of the guitar…eventually opening up to the wondrous bursting horns that really bring the song home. Gary blends folk and pop seamlessly, and all those who listen are sure to be delighted.