LOOFK

So many good soul records this year. Just as I was overdosing on the new Nicole Willis album, along comes Portland, Oregon's Liz Vice with here debut LP There's a Light.

Parisian punks with a penchant for the Buzzcocks and Television Personalities Cheap Riot follow up last year’s excellent Part-Time Vacancy single with a full length called Ballroom Portraits. Cop it from Requiem Pour Un Twister.

I've long been looking forward to this album. After a handful of single, Melbourne's Terrible Truths are ready to unleash self-titled debut LP on Bedroom Suck. The Coast Is Clear features everything that’s great about this trio: a little funkiness, a jagged guitar riff, twin vocals and general all around coolness!

Seattle duo Pony Time are readying their third LP for release on September 11. It’s called Rumours 2: The Rumours Are True. The first single Time Tells Me is a scorcher that sounds nothing like Fleetwood Mac (thankfully).

Redspencer are from Melbourne. They sound like early Blur with some XTC, Chills and La's thrown in to even things out. Classic pop sounds abound on their four song debut EP. Sunny pop for summer time in the northern hemisphere. You can stream and buy their EP on Deaf Ambitions’s bandcamp page.

Drinks is Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon. Between the two of them they've released some impressive music. So when you hear the beginning of Hermits on Holiday you might be a little underwhelmed at first. It starts out spartan and minimalist. It’s catchy and a bit angular, but you start to wonder if this was really worth the effort. Not to fear though, because midway through it gets funky and playful and lives up to expectations.

From Australia (where else?) comes this killer single by Contrast. For some reason they remind me of Ride. Maybe because of the singer and the way he seems to sing the harmony instead of the obvious melody. Out of nowhere, Sidewalk is an early contender for single of the year. 

Missing Kids are a guitar and drums duo from York. The singer kind of sounds like Martin Carr, but has the energy of Stew Boyracer. Their new song Mouthwash has some killer raw energy making me want to hear more.

Ok, I give up Australia. I can’t keep up. Elizaband are a Melbourne band who have a new three song EP. They sound like they owe a little bit to the Bardots, and infuse some glam into their windswept coolness. 

Last year's Hickford Whizz 7" was something of a departure for Day Ravies, having shed many of the shoegaze aspects of their sound for pure pop shimmer. They continue that trajectory, though some etherial elements peak out from behind the songs on their latest EP. Like many of the OG shoegazers, Day Ravies are moving beyond the confines of their original sound and letting their first rate pop talents burn off the haze of shoegaze.