Friday Album Streams: Lower Plenty, Class, Open Hands + More

It’s Friday, and while Austin is focused on ACL Weekend One, I’m here to turn your ears towards some great albums that you’ll benefit from if you’re into the whole streaming process. Several of these we’ve talked about quite a bit, so it’s good that now you can get your hands on them in their entirety. Going to start with what’s quickly becoming one of my favorite LPs of the year, then let you pick and choose what’s your flavor.

Lower PlentyNo Poets (Bedroom Suck Records)

ClassIf You’ve Got Nothing (Feel It Records)

Open CityHands in the Honey Jar (Get Better Records)

The SuncharmsThings Lost (Sunday Records)

Half StackSitting Pretty (Forged Artifacts)

The Very Most and Starry Eyed Cadet Announce Split

Ah, Tuesdays. Tuesday is a nice day for simple pop joys, and perhaps we might peak too early in the week by sharing this track from Starry Eyed Cadet. Technically, it’s a song done previously by The Very Most from Congratulations Forever, but they’ve mixed it up just a bit to put their own spin. Here, the electronic pulse of the original is still intact, but its been flipped here, turning the guitar and vocals into the driving pop vibe, which ends up creating an almost Camera Obscura-esque sensation. You can look for the Very Most to return the favor and cover Starry Eyed Cadet on the Very Most Starry Eyed Cadet split, which, of course, can only be brought to you by the good folks over at Recorded Psychic Readings/Sunday Records.

Fawns of Love Share Taboo Daydreaming

I know it’s Monday, but I’m not sure you’re ready for this new Fawns of Love tune; the video from Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome alone is enough to captivate. The wife and husband duo of Jenny and Joseph Andreotti recent announced Innocence of Protection, and below you’ve not got the striking second single from the LP. For me, I was really drawn to the synth work, which is the band’s trademark, but here it sounds both propulsive and spacious, almost as if the stabbing looped beats punctuate the song’s negative space as it swirls about our ears. Even more intriguing for my ears was the way the band put some guitar notes too in the little interlude moments, almost faint, but just enough in the mix to really deliver this subtle emotion. If you like what you hear, the new LP is out at the end of the week via Sunday Records and Kingfisher Bluez.

Cool Album Streams: Flowertown, BRNDA, The Suncharms and The Arctic Flow

Friday’s are great days to just get lost in an album, because let’s face it, none of us are really focused on work right now anyways. We’ve got some stellar ways to spend your day here; feel free to just press play and check back in to the world in a few days. You deserve it!

FlowertownTime Trials (Paisley Shirt Records)

1 part Cindy + 1 part Tony Jay = Genius. Seriously, the first LP this band put together was great. But, they were like, you know what? We can totally do better. And they did. Not a bad track here. Just imagine yourself loving pop music but getting stuck in your best dreams. That’s this record!

BRNDADo You Like Salt? (Crafted Sounds)

Why yes, I do like Salt. I also like this record from BRNDA a whole lot. All of you kids that are super into that Dry Cleaning LP, but secretly hoping for a little bit more of a groove have come the right place. This band takes that post-punk/no-punk brand and gives it a swift kick in the ass. Your Friday needs it!

The SuncharmsDistant Lights (Sunday Records)

Having mostly been quiet for the last 30 some-odd years, legendary act The Suncharms recently started to pop back up in 2018, with a couple of tunes for the heralded Slumberland 30 Series. Today, you get treated to an entire record of delightful pop tunes, perhaps a little softer around the edges, but I promise you’re all the better for it!

The Arctic FlowLost You Long Ago (Sunday Records)

Sunday Records thought releasing one great was fine, but releasing two in one day is even better, so here we are with the follow-up to Umbrella (2017). Brian Hancheck’s songwriting has always had this incredibly strong emotional pull to it, and it doesn’t seem like he’s holding anything back on this record. It’s like a softcore jangle pop record, certainly built to woo you as your drift into a Friday afternoon.

Sunday Records Shares Something Beautiful

Being one of the heralded indiepop labels gives you responsibilities, and for Sunday Records, it seems that responsibility is to organize a collection of great acts to contribute some tunes for a compilation, aptly titled Something Beautiful. Obviously reading our site, you’re aware of the acts, like Letting Up Despite Great Faults or the Suncharms. Personally, this Suncharms tune here is pretty special, like a slow-burning jangler; it feels like something Pete Astor might write, which I don’t mind one bit. Plus, you get other ATH faves like Alpaca Sports and Arctic Flow, along with some bonus tunes from Mariana in Our Heads and the aforementioned Suncharms. If you want to stream, you can do so below, but CD copies are out this Friday, with a vinyl version to follow in September! Grab it HERE.

Lost Tapes Return with Quoting Salter EP

I always love the stuff that Lost Tapes release; they seem to have this knack for crafting just the right brand of melodic pop that lets the mind wonder. With their latest single, I can’t help but think of myself rocking gently in a nice hammock, breezily blowing in the wind as I let my eyes rest and my mind escape the mundane daily rituals. Things seem so clean and perfect in the way the duo work their songs, and in doing so, they create these nuggets of pop joy; it’s like unwrapping your Christmas present early and realizing nothing else in this moment matters. They’ll be releasing the Quoting Salter EP on December 4th via the esteemed Sunday Records.

The Proctors Release New LP, Summer Lane

Well, perhaps Summer Lane isn’t the brand new album from the Proctors, but it’s the long lost record that we deserved…we just never got the chance…until now. The majority of these tunes were written between 1993-1997, with Sunday Records being so kind as to finally bring these songs to light. I love the forlorn guitar sounds on “Distant Echoes,” matched with that longing in the vocals. “Moon Song” has a great performance from Christina Priest (and maybe some opening drum work familiar to Oasis fans). And don’t get stuck on the mellow pop you say? Then turn on the upbeat jangling rocker, “Shooting Star,” full of delightful dual vocals. Or maybe the dreamy guitars circling on “Not So Far Away” are more your style. All this to say that Summer Lane is needed in your life today, and thanks to Sunday Records, you can get your hands on it!

Sorry I Missed This: Teen Idle Share Insomniac Dreams

So I’m only a week or so late here, but I really wanted you to wake up on Friday with something special: the new Insomniac Dreams EP from Teen Idle. It’d be easy to pigeonhole this is as something akin to dream pop or shoegaze, particularly since its been released by Sunday Records. But, I think that sells Sara Abdelbarry a little short. Sure, some of those touches are omnipresent, particularly in the pacing of each track, or maybe even that haunting guitar sound we know and love. Take, for instance, “Dreaming,” which seems more like an exorcism of personal demons, a song that feels like escapism. For me, the aforementioned genres are all about building emotion through their sonic texturing, and I love that; I love that experience. This, however, this whole EP has emotion just dripping through it. Sure, you can lose yourself in the emotive qualities of the musical notes, but I beg you to just sit there and feel along with the entirety of this EP. Grab it from Sunday Records!

The Arctic Flow Share New Single

The Arctic Flow have graced these fair pages on several occasions, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t toss them a mention now that they’ve got a fresh single out on the esteemed Sunday Records. In a sense, it reminds me a lot of the stuff that came out on the Tres Oui record last year, though this one definitely feels like Brian’s playing up the dream factor in song; there’s not atmospheric haze really, but the vocals feel list gasps of air floating through your speakers. Not quite sure if this means there’s a new record on the way, but you can’t really turn away from a great song on a Friday, can you?

Sunday Records Offers Free Album

The aptly titled Shelter album is being released for free by Sunday Records, in hopes of keeping your love for the purity of pop move strong while we all shelter in place. The Sugar World tune that opens it up is a flat out stunner of indiepop songwriting; it has this spritely bounce and this words like the wind vocals drifting through your speakers. Tracks from the likes of Day & Dream and Fawns of Love definitely up the dream pop ante, in case you were wanting to listen and let the day drift away from you. Plus, nice to hear The Memory Fades do an acoustic version of “Listening to the Marychain.” It’s streaming below, but remember, just because its free doesn’t mean you can’t throw a buck or two to the label!

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