#tracksoftheyear

Plunger go off the rails for more tracks of 2018

In amongst all the seasonal shenanigans, Plunger pick another five cracking tracks from albums well worth catching.

Eleanor Underhill - Into The Unknown - Navigate The Madness

Banjoists bravura Beatles-straight-outta-Compton surprise Underhill Rose’s Eleanor comes out of left-field with this eclectic epic: jagged banjo and naked solo vocal builds through strings and beats to a trippy hip-hop/jazz mash-up with percussive piano, slinky brass and almost operatic bvs; a backwoods banjo lilt midbreak then culminates in an off-the-wall postmodern cabaret tango topped with seductive drawled vocal.

Lil & Ollie - Wickmere - Confessional

Youthful pairing’s precociously mature debut With Paddy Milner, Jennifer Maidman and Evan Jenkins on board you know Lil & Ollie won’t churn out thrashy over-enthusiastic under-rehearsed juvenilia: as exemplified by the lashings of slick Nicks/Buckingham Macishness in the alternating folky swirling-chiffon-and-candles and driving rockier passages on Wickmere

Lucas & King - I Only See Stars (When I Stand Up Too Fast) - Lucas & King

Brighton duo conjure Fargo-on-Sea While much of Lucas & King’s impressive debut evokes the late night vibe of shady Lynchesque dives the crackerjack surprise of the album is this rattling Cash-meets-Nancy Sinatra barroom romp with twangsome guitars and echt old-time Nashville harmonies.

Orphan Colours - Goodnight California - All On Red

UK Americana royalty go topless Ex-ahab/Noah & The Whale/Danny & the Champs members bring expansive guitar and big drums, a splash of Brucey brass, and lush multi-voice LA harmonies to capture 70s open-top freeway-cruising rock at its best with an easy-going sun-drenched assurance. Listen with your shades on.

Spencer Maybe - Wait & Patience - Wait & Patience

Throwing a few more points on the tracks of 2018

Plunger’s second selection of five cuts worth venturing ‘off the mainline’ to discover:

Ben Folke Thomas - Dead Horizon - Modern Man

Swedish folkster taps inner Neil Young Best known for delivering smouldering passions (personal and political) or wry humour with just acoustic guitar and voice, his return to full-band format sees him relish the bigger canvas. Nowhere more so than on this nearly 7-minute apocalyptic epic, brimming with anger, despair and Weld-style frenzied overdriven guitar (from Henning Sernhede).

Cordovas - Frozen Rose - That Santa Fe Channel

Unexpected discovery proves an American Beauty Despite not having heard of Cordovas last year, two live shows and their new album have made them firm Plunger favourites. Frozen Rose epitomises the Deadish mix of roadhouse country and jamband sophistication, with twangsome guitars, unexpected progression, tricksy rhythms and sublime old-time harmonies.

The Equatorial Group - Motorbikes - Apricity

Kindness of strangers brings slick surprise The pick of this stylish collection (handed to Plunger in a crowded venue) Motorbikes juxtaposes an almost-Graceland bustling African beat with slow country waltz passages before blossoming into a Dreams-style ABB coda, with Dave Davies’ delightful discursive noodling building to a feverish Warren-ish climax.

Mark Harrison - Falling Down - The Panoramic View

Domestic troubadour’s surprise cinematic scope While most of The Panoramic View is Mark’s trademark economically delivered, finely-tooled cameos of events and personalities (historical and contemporary) Falling Down is a wistful wide-screen vista: plangent brass, chiming twelve-string and mandolin, and delicate harmony vocals underpinning Mark’s own soft emotional delivery.

The Sharpeez - Automatic Mode - Wild One

Plunger get on the right track ...

We may have already made our mind up on albums of the year, but there were a lot of great releases across a pretty wide range of genres this year that may not have got the nod for the top slots but that are still worth giving a spin if you haven’t already.

So we’ve have picked some of the tracks that made our ears tingle this year, here are the first five:

Bad Touch  - Believe In Me - Shake A Leg

Stately southern rock personified There’s a touch of Tuesday’s Gone to this good ol' boy ballad lurking among the heavier material on Shake A Leg: gutsy guitars lead a lighters in the air stadium anthem, with a squealing soaring southerny break, and fine three-part band harmonies.

Curse Of Lono -  Tell Me About Your Love - As I Fell

Brooding slow burner epitomises hybrid vibe COL’s folky-indie mix is captured in this hypnotic rim-shot-and-bass-driven pulse, with chills-inducing distant guitar wails and low-key world-weary vox, gradually build through Transeurope Express drums and a wall of effects-laden organ to culminate in four-voice harmony vocal close.

Guy Bennett - Hangover - The Tallest Man

Sumptuous whiskey-soaked southern soul Not typical of the whole album, but mellow guitar and breaking vox (alternating between a husky drawl and plaintive falsetto) over hazy string textures and chiming electric piano, lead to a blaggada-boosh entrance of the band for an anthemic close where sweet celtic fiddle stands in for the expected soaring guitar solo.

Kev Walford & Kelly Bayfield - Blessed Light - Walkin’

Stillsesque stirring folk from an unexpected gem A perfect example of the deceptively simple magic of this album, where luscious harmony vocals lead a trad-sounding backwoods melody, with added sophistication in the changes and string undercurrents. The addition of drums and clap rhythms combine for a blissful close.

RHR Redfern Hutchinson Ross - She Painted The Moon - Mahogany Drift