The Golden Samphire Band - Dream Is The Driver

After only recently catching up with Junkboy’s 2023 release Littoral States, I was delighted to find I wouldn’t have a long wait for new music from the brothers Hanscomb, albeit in a slightly different context to what we’ve heard from them previously.

Dream is the Driver is the debut from The Golden Samphire Band, their new three piece outfit with vocalist Hannah Lewis (who made a couple of memorable appearances on Littoral States). 

Lewis’s vocals take centre stage here, with the brothers’ musical arrangements stepping back and playing a more intuitive supporting role, with a much more traditional and timeless approach that brings to mind more adventurous albums of the late sixties / early seventies folk revival by the likes of Shirley and Dolly Collins and Anne Briggs. 

As on Littoral States, their shared fascination with the Sussex coastline permeates much of the album, with the increased focus on vocals making this even more apparent. As a listener from a much younger country on the other side of the world (New Zealand), this deeply rooted folk tradition holds a particularly exotic appeal to me.

“Life is a journey, not a destination. If I wish to change the path, my dream is the driver” 

The Eighteenth Day Of May – S/T Expanded Reissue

The Eighteenth Day Of May only managed one album in their short lifetime, and I've been a long time fan but have never found an opportune moment to cover it until now.

The band splintered off into a number of other much longer lasting musical projects, notably Lake Ruth, the Hanging Stars and The Left Outsides, all of which have been covered here at various points over the years, but it was their brief time together as the Eighteenth Day of May which was a magical breeding ground of intersecting musical tastes coalescing into something unique in a way that hadn't been seen since Sandy Denny joined the scruffy lads of Fairport Convention in inventing UK folk-rock. While clearly not as pivotal as Unhalfbricking and Liege and Lief, the Eighteenth Day of May is equally as irreverent in its treatment of the genre, with plenty of jangly, psychedelic edges to what might otherwise seem a reasonably traditional UK folk-rock album. Indeed it is said that they were just as likely to cover Spacemen 3 as Bert Jansch in their live repertoire of the time, and vocalist Alison Brice often sounded like she'd be just as comfortable fronting a dream-pop band, which more or less came to fruition with Lake Ruth, although they're equally hard to tie down to one genre.

Tragically they were never able to complete a second album but Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube Records put together a wonderful retrospective double LP set in 2020 which included the original album in full, doubling its original length with a wealth of material intended for a second album. That second album must have been almost ready to come out of the oven, and judging from what's on here would have been even more immersive than their first, with the beautifully trippy Tell Me Tomorrow being something of a career highlight that we're privileged now to be able to hear.

Naturally the Cardinal Fuzz release sold out before I knew of its existence, but new London label Circuitry Recordings has seen fit to reissue it in a limited run of 300, due in May. These are bound to sell quickly too but can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp below where the album can also be heard in full.

The Lazy Eyes - Songbook

Here's another excellent band that popped up during our long hibernation. 

I was initially drawn to The Lazy Eyes when I noticed they had chosen to cover Broadcast, surely the actions of a band with impeccable taste. 

Their 2022 LP is an impressive, fully formed debut with that very distinct Antipodean psychedelic flavour that no one else seems to quite be able to grasp . I'm getting Pond and Violet Swells vibes from this, and that is always welcome. 

There's some serious psychedelic baroque pop songcraftery going on in songs like Starting Over, Imaginary Girl and Nobody Taught Me, which sound really carefully constructed with not a note out of place, but there's also another side to the band where they like to stretch out with some pretty wigged out instrumental jams which is where I think their strength really lies. The relentless propulsive beat of Fuzz Jam and the Where's My Brain??? are both pretty unbeatable in this regard, while the motorik drive of Tangerine finds common ground between early Tame Impala and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in the most irresistible fashion.

A really nicely balanced debut here. 

Willow Tea - Death And Life And All That Lays In Between

 

'Naive melodies for imaginary films and short walks' is how the Berlin based Willow Tea describe their music and their latest, Death And Life And All That Lays In Between certainly conjures images of something stalking the land.

This is very much my sort of comfy synth project with lots of lovely wobbly flutes and eerie mellotron choral vocals crafting a sense of creeping incidental unease in a similar fashion to earlier Active Listener favourites The Soulless Party or The Heartwood Institute. Fans of either of those acts would do well to investigate immediately.

And a serving suggestion if I may: I had this on heavy rotation while reading David Barnett's latest folk-horror opus Scratch Moss and it paired very nicely with Barnett's tale of an ancient evil stirring from deep within the earth.

Available to stream or download (on a name your price basis) here: