Power pop
Live Review: Pastiche / T A D H G – Upstairs at Whelans, Dublin 11.11.2021, plus galleries
In the intimate upstairs at Whelans, two future pop stars peddled their significant wares to a enthusiastic sold out crowd. Opening up was singer-songwriter T A D H G, who played a half hour set on the piano, sounding and performing a bit like Elton John, as if there were ever a better compliment. T …
See: Novelty Island invites you to his Mersey archipelago for the baroque piano pop of ‘Listen’
NOVELTY ISLAND, much like Coral Island but not so much Hilbre Island, though that’s weird in its own way, is part of the mythical archipelago of offshore Liverpudlian islands of the musical mind. Castaway under a solitary palm on this particular shore, with a whole Bond-villain musical laboratory accessible through a hidden hatch, is the …
See: Teenage Fanclub – ‘The Sun Won’t Shine On Me’: Glaswegians pull back the curtain on their tenth
BELOVED Glasgow band Teenage Fanclub present their tenth album with a new single, “The Sun Won’t Shine On Me” – as Norman Blake said, a rare 3/4 track for the band. This is the third single anticipating the album, after “Home” and “I’m More Inclined”. It follows in the mellower imprint the band has taken …
Track: Sydney’s Steve Smith unleashes a vibrant slice of Americana power pop in ‘Runnin’ Red Lights’
Steve Smith has a lot of very impressive form in Sydney’s indie scene, stretching right back to his early solo career (as Steven Smith) with the famous Green Fez/Citadel Records in the eighties and membership of Catherine Wheel. More recently, Smith has released a series of lauded albums that has seen him move towards a …
Say Psych: Video Premiere: Radio Days – Lose Control
‘Lose Control’ is the third single from Milan’s Radio Days forthcoming LP Rave On! due out on 21 May via Ammonia Records, and BSM is proud to present the premiere of their new video. The powerpop trio have been on the scene since 2008, playing in their current line up since 2015. They are an …
ALBUM REVIEW: Pale Waves – Who Am I?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a band in possession of good reviews for their first album must find the second difficult. Debuts are, after all, borne out of years of hard graft and fine-tuning, whereas follow-ups are often written and recorded amongst a brand-new dizzying schedule of touring and promotion and under the …
See: Wicketkeeper release new video for single ‘The Side’
London/Margate Trio Wicketkeeper have released a new video for their single The Side, taken from their upcoming debut LP Shonk, out on October 16th via Meritorio Records. Of the track, the bands simon describes it as “Have you ever seen someone in a crowd and recognised them, but then realised it’s because they look like …
Track: Broadside – Heavenly
Pop Punkers Broadside have just released their 3rd single taken from forthcoming album Into the Raging Sea due 24th July. Heavenly is another slice of emotion filled “From the very beginning, my attitude was: I don’t have shit to look forward to and everything behind me is trash, soI’m going to make myself the hero …
EP: BARBE ROUSSE – FACTORY SETTINGS
DESCRIBING themselves as “psychedelic slop-pop”, Edinburgh’s Barbe Rousse (it’s French for ‘ginger beard’) are to these ears, conversely, a rather neat proposition. Their digitally released five-tracker, the Factory Settings EP, is the brainchild of Leith home recording magician Alasdair Kelly, and is a paisley treat. Following on from a full-length debut for Double A-Side Records …
Track: Herzog – Shadows
Herzog returns with the second month of their one song per month project, that will culminate in the release of the LP, Fiction Writer, next year via Exit Stencil Records. After releasing ‘I’m Being Replaced’ this month they share Shadows. About the song Nick commented, “Song two is entitled ‘Shadows’. This song is about the …