They don’t make songs like this any more, at least they won’t until Teenage Fanclub do the decent thing and get their creative hats on again. Its makers Beachwood Sparks feel like they have been around forever but with a gap of 11 years since their last album ‘Once We Were Trees’ it may have all been a grand illusion. Even with such an elongated divide newbie ‘The Tarnished Gold’ is giving the genuine impression that it has been worth the wait. Witness the unhurried glory of primer ‘Forget The Song’ that encapsulates the effortless craftsmanship of this Los Angeles band. Wave after wave of this brand of lush harmony could be enough to keep you enthused until their next release in 2023. KD

Beachwood Sparks – Forget The Song

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Buy Songs: Beachwood Sparks
Year: 2012

If there was a label made for lazy, hazy summer evenings it is the venerable Slumberland. And to their heavily notched bedpost they recently added the considerable retro heeled charm of Kids On A Crime Spree. The Spector drenched Swede Mario Hernandez leads his posse through a ragged role call of influences that includes the Jesus & Mary Chain, Velvet Underground and the Apples In Stereo. There is plenty of sweetness and light amongst the doom laden backdrop and with instruments that date back to mono it rings so authentically the sound could well permeate your walls and into a stunned world. KD

Kids On A Crime Spree – Impasto

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Buy Songs: Kids On A Crime Spree
Year: 2011

Shouldn’t be any surprise to find out that Daniel Rossen is he out of Grizzly Bear. How else could you explain the somewhat awkward glory of ‘Return To Form’ from his debut solo release ‘Silent Hour/Golden Mile’ (out on Warp Records..). Like all the best GB moments this one doesn’t as much grab you by the throat as creep up on you and take your breath away. In my book that is always the basis for the best songs and ‘Return To Form’ is no different as its lolloping nature reveals untold pleasant nooks and crannys. As much a pleasure on the thirtieth visit as the third. KD

Daniel Rossen – Return To Form

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Buy Songs: Daniel Rossen
Year: 2012

You should know by now, even if you’re not a football fan, that Euro 2012 is just around the corner. As you’d expect we’re in a bit of a lather at the prospect of it all and this time around things are even more exciting as Ireland are making their first appearance at a major championships in 10 years. There’s definitely some great stories in the making, one of which will undoubtedly involve the 11 lads behind the Pedal To Poland campaign. It’s only 1500 kilometres to Gdansk and Matthew and his team will complete their journey by pushbike all in the name of charity. They have a big night planned tomorrow (May 22nd) in the Grand Social and by the looks of the itinerary it should be a great practise session for those heading over to Poland. As an extra treat you’ll be welcomed by the dulcet tones of our very own ‘Sing Up For The Boys In Green‘ footie album which will be given a full runout to kick-start events. We’ve been bleating about this collection of songs for a while now and in case you hadn’t heard it here is a Irish football classic in waiting from Trim’s Youth Mass called ‘Sea of Green’ which is taken from the album. Feel those tingles and learn the words below! KD

Everybody’s happy and out on the street
Kids play football on every green
We all need something, a break from the bleak
When it comes this summer we’ll be on our feet

We look to the sky
With hope in our eyes
They’re on the field
We are a sea of green

Youth Mass – Sea of Green

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Buy Songs: Sing Up For The Boys In Green
Year: 2012

Gonna ease back into this given the earth moving nature of the last few days. Baby hugger number two made his entrance into the world and he is a little topper. Fine strong footballing pins too so perhaps that is something to watch out for Euro 2032. My head is probably not up to anything new and brash so when the 90′s stylee of San Diego’s Italian Japanese’s ‘NYC’ hoved into view it seemed apt that this be the tune to kickstart this blog after its recent hibernation. Reminds me of a lighter shade of ‘Copper Blue’ from Sugar with a spoonful of the Drop Nineteen’s ‘Winona’ dropped in for good measure. No new world order, just a wonderfully retro ditty to keep the old folks happy as another nappy leaves this earth. KD

Italian Japanese – NYC

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Buy Songs: Italian Japanese
Year: 2012

It probably loses a little of its early ecstatic vim along the way but there’s no denying that this little nugget had us scurrying for more information about its makers. Nice bunch of lads from Philadelphia by all accounts (mostly their own) and a nice back catalogue with which to impress the girls (if the haircuts don’t get them first). Album number three is a mere tyke having only left the presses a couple of months ago. ‘Leaves’ does its merry thang after the third short silence and gives credence to a small hankering for certain whistling Swedes. Could we be the most cherishable hurried groove of the summer, disagree and I might have to take you to tusk. KD

Cheers Elephant – Leaves

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Buy Songs: Cheers Elephant
Year: 2012

Their debut ‘Life’ may contain their most famous efforts but the follow up ‘The Beast Inside’ was always my favourite album from Oldham’s the Inspiral Carpets. The band bred a love-hate relationship with the press with lots of barbs aimed at their fashion sense and choice of barbers. But that side was incidental because their music was all that mattered. Of course they hardly revolutionised the art of songwriting but at the heart of much of their output was psychedelic drenched melody. And that was largely down to Clint Boon’s Farfisa organ interjections, giving the baggy grooves a blast of Doorsesque retro glamour. Recently the band announced plans to record their first new material in over 15 years and are currently out on tour around the UK and Ireland. To celebrate here is one of my favourite tracks from the band, the 13 minute plus grandeur of ‘Further Away’. Mooove aside Adele. KD

The Inspiral Carpets – Further Away

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Buy Songs: The Inspiral Carpets
Year: 1991

If I wasn’t so old and busy I’d be dragging my lard to see the bands that kick-started me on this road. Legends like the Happy Mondays and the Inspiral Carpets who play a double-header in the Olympia next week. The Roses are also playing nearby in the summer but I’ll definitely be giving that a wide berth, disappointment is the only possible outcome. James are another of that early 90′s Madchester brigade, even if they never really took to its baggy machinations, who are back touring. Their 1992 album ‘Seven’ ranks as one of the finest of the era and it really came into its own in a live context. The band recorded an MTV performance soon after the album’s release and such was its hold over me I wasn’t long wearing out the videotape, after which it lay motionless at my feet like a spurned ball of chewed tobacco. Listen to the brass on ‘Born of Frustration’ and dance like someone who can’t (take your cues from Tim, the lead singer). KD

James – Born Of Frustration

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Buy Songs: James
Year: 1992

Somewhat bored by today’s mainstream diet of Springsteen, Coldplay and the Roger Waters “The Wall” tour, I recently installed Spotify on my PC and boy am I glad I did. While Spotify is legal and some other file sharing programs aren’t, there’s the disadvantage of not being able to drag songs into i-Tunes and “keep” them. But when you can open Spotify anytime you want and listen to virtually any song you want, why would you care? I know I don’t. Initially I just roamed about putting various queries into the search bar, like “trance acid blues” or “psychedelic techno”, or searching for better known stuff like but then I started searching for bands and albums I hadn’t listened to in a long, long time. Probably the most memorable of them is The Naked Prey’s Under the Blue Marlin from 1986. I can still remember the first time I listened to that album. It was 1987. We were in a friend’s flat, back home in Manchester. I’d just gone and picked up a tape of the album from a local psychedelic music aficionado, and we imbibed of some suitable victuals before banging it on the stereo. We were paralysed in our seats throughout the entire first track, “The Ride”, and then some. “These people are mental”, my mate spat, alarmed at the advanced state of terror “The Ride” had sent him into. “And so are that Thin White Rope an’ all!” “That Thin White Rope” was a reference to a band who’d also recently emerged from the L.A. music scene known as The Paisley Underground. Thin White Rope had released Exploring the Axis in 1985, hot on the heels of other Paisley Underground luminaries such as The Rain Parade, Green on Red and The Dream Syndicate. In 1987 they bettered Exploring the Axis with a shocker of an album entitled Moonhead. Moonhead basically scared the pants off anyone daft enough to listen to it “in the right frame of mind”, and indeed the local oficionado himself described his initial reaction to it as “Pickin’ me brains off the ceiling when it finished”.

But I digress. We were sitting in my mate’s flat, picking our brains off the ceiling having been subjected to Naked Prey’s “The Ride”, and he was terrified and moaning about how they and Thin White Rope were sick, twisted people who should never have been allowed into a recording studio. I was similarly alarmed at the weirdness and power of Naked Prey’s sound, but I wasn’t ready to denounce them as he had; they were just too %$&@%^$ good. At first blush they seemed like a fairly normal guitar band with a dark southwestern feel. But as the record progressed it became obvious there were large undercurrents here. Riptides and eddies that threatened to pull you under and crush the breath from your very bones. “The Ride”‘s frenzied pace switched down to a moodier even more dangerous sounding “A Stranger (Never Says Goodbye)” for track 2, doing nothing to help either of us regain our composure. The undulating, slow guitar riff along which “The Stranger” sailed sounded like it should have been in a much more famous song by a much more famous band, but wasn’t that like all Paisley Underground music? Each of the outfits associated with the scene represented a wasted ability to be stellar while sounding strange enough to never hit the big time. “Stranger” gave way to a storming version of The Stooges’ “Dirt”, taking Iggy’s Jim Morrison-esque vocals and injecting them with a big dose of speed. This was followed by a haunting track called “Train Whistle” whose lyrics melted into double-entendres that keep you awake nights feeling like a demented freak. Speaking of haunting, there truly is something odd about the quality of vocalist Van Christian’s voice. Half folk-psych-distorto-rocker, half plain Silence of the Lambs style insanity, Christian’s words were a force like a warm wind deep inside a dark desert cave.

The years 1983 to 1988 were definitely Brain On Ceiling vintage and “Under the Blue Marlin” was up there with the very best. While Thin White Rope were more obvious in their evil intentions, The Naked Prey were more of a stealth mindquake. Like quicksand, you were already in too deep by the time you realised you were in mortal danger, and by then it was too late; you were paralysed in your seat and your head was nearing explosion point. Being a fan of the Paisley Underground bands, and being 18, 19, 20, 21 years old when it was all happening has left an alien scar on my musical tastes. No offence intended, but the likes of Roger Waters, Springsteen and Coldplay are indistinguishable from One Direction when you’ve taken the trip into the labyrinth.

Ian Hough

More Info: Wiki

Despite winning the 2011 Juno Award (Canada’s version of the Choice Music Prize) for his 3rd LP ‘Oh Fortune’ word of Dan Mangan’s near infinite talent hasn’t spread as far and widely as expected on this side of the Atlantic. Probably a minor delay on his road to superstardom though because the kid is able to produce gold from base ingredients. You think there isn’t much happening but his subtle jigsaws are adept at coming together at the least expected moment. Not that you’d call them anthems but there is generally at least one powerful accelerant embedded in each of his tunes. ‘Oh Fortune’ is oh too short, but as sweet as a cookie. KD

Dan Mangan – Oh Fortune

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Buy Songs: Dan Mangan
Year: 2011

Dublin band the Crayon Set have been gently tapping on my door for over a year now and while their sound is a snug fit I always tended to get diverted. ‘I Worry’ from their soon to be released debut ‘The Crayon Album’ is impossible to resist however. Structurally it is sewn together with the finesse of a group of indie pop greats and when you throw in the girl/boy vocals you are left with a sweet number that will have the tweepop boards all aglow. More small successes like this can only lead to much bigger ones. KD

The Crayon Set – I Worry

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Buy Songs: The Crayon Set
Year: 2012

Jared Miles has some backstory, at least the first few weeks of his introduction to the world which belongs in biblical times. Not that that will in any way colour your views of his music which is well capable of setting its own scenery. And for all that tunes like ‘He Once Was A Friend Of Mine’ could well turn people off due to its slow canter with revelations that come so organically you may just feel like the world is passing you by. But herein lies the beauty, once drawn in it is very hard to move on to anything else. The instrumentation too may not initially appear that elaborate, which could be down to Miles captivating vocals, but there is much to savour. Not least the climatic brass and the delicate chord changes. Should be enough to get you hunting down Miles’ 2011 record ‘Rocketship’.KD

Jared Miles – He Once Was A Friend Of Mine

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Buy Songs: Jared Miles
Year: 2011