Liverpool's new finest return with the last of their pre-album singles, and "Voodoo Moon" may be the best they've come up with yet. This particular melting pot fuses plenty of native Mersey charm with a dash of Byrds jangle and stacks of articulate Manzarekian organ. "Voodoo Moon" is a slowburning, Audrey Hepburn inspired epic and an unparalleled mood setter, while on the flip "Nightbird" is a more rigorous affair which gives frontman Michael Murphy a chance to spread his wings with some surprisingly nimble guitar work. Magic, voodoo even.
Available here.
Listen here.
An excellent debut here from this young Scottish five piece who describe their sound (pretty accurately) as psychedelic western pop. Enlisting ex -Coral guitarist Bill Ryder Jones to produce makes a whole lot of sense as there's a sense of adventure and blurred genres here that at times sounds very much like the Coral's debut. "For You" is certainly a good choice for the A-Side, but B-Side "The Coroner" is arguably the highlight here, with an eclectic, frenzied approach which bodes well for a varied and multilayered debut album.
Available here.
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I'll leave it up to you to come up with something risque to say about reviewing a 10" in a 7" section, but the truth is "New Hampshire Freaks" is too good to ignore just because it's a funny size.
While the split single is often a dumping ground for ill informed covers and tracks best left on the cutting room floor, no such accusations can be made here. The A-side offers both bands a chance to show their pop smarts with a concise, memorable psych tune apiece, while the flip features a sprawling communal jam, the like of which hasnt been seen since Amon Duul (the first) roamed the earth.
Quite marvelous then.
Available here.
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A fine second release here from Paul Messis's fledgling Market Square label, this time by the distinctly English sounding American outfit the Young Sinclairs. "Engineer Man" is "Paperback Writer" performed by the Byrds, with vocals by the Who. Not a bad triumvirate. It's a vital piece of pure garage pop that once lodged within your skull will be hard to evict. You've been warned. "Problems" has a distinctive whiff of the 'oo about it too, albeit at their most subtle and delicate but is none the worse for it.
I need to hear more by these guys.
Released June 10 and will be available here.
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Before Jacco Gardner's ascent to baroque pop stardom, he was half of the Skywalkers (along with Hugo Van de Poel), a rough and ready freakadelic garage/beat group who released the album "Year One" back in 2010. As a final farewell to fans, the Skywalkers have revisited two of the highlights from that album and given them a major reboot here, recasting them in a form that will appeal to all fans of Jacco's album "Cabinet of Curiosities". Jacco's obviously learned a few tricks about studio craft in the last few years, because these new versions make the originals sound like demos. Rough edges are hewn off and given new form via sparkling, lush baroque pop arrangements. Lovely. The only problem is, that I now wish they'd re-do the whole "Year One" album in this format. This will sell out super quick, and rightly so.
Available here.
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Contact nford150@gmail.com if you have a 7" that you'd like to be considered for review in the next 7" column.
The MMOSS / Quilt folks are from my neck of the woods here in New Hampshire ... this is definitely an amazing 10" vinyl first note to last!
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