Los Pepes - Sick And Bored

London's power pop kings Los Pepes are back today with a song from a new album that seems to have sneaked out with little fanfare. Maybe all the much deserved praise will begin at the end of this week as that's when it's down for release on the labels Bandcamp page but as it's streaming already I'm going to post one of the tracks today. 

The band line up with Ben Perrier (Vocals/Guitar), Seisuke Nakagawa (Bass/Vocals), Guilherme Rujao (Guitar/Vocals) & Kris "Killer" Kowalski (Drums) and it's fair to say that any new release from them comes with a guarantee it'll be catchy as hell. The new album is no exception. 

It's titled The Happiness Programme, it features both tracks from the excellent single they released earlier this year (Want You Back/Never Get It Right) plus 10 new compositions that are equally as good.

This is an early highlight and it is called Sick And Bored...

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The Pulsebeats - (She Sings Like) Joey Ramone

The Pulsebeats are from Santander and they play a catchy mix of power pop and garage rock. They feature vocalist/guitarist Nathan Whittle (a contributor for Louder Than War who moved from England to Spain 12 years ago and has hooked up with 3 Spaniards (Luis Ibáñez: Guitar, Alejandro Santos: Bass, Raúl García: Drums) in a band that are preparing to release their first album since 2016's Fiction Non-Fiction.

Titled Lookin' Out, it'll be available on Friday on cd and digital download via their Bandcamp.

This is the lead single, it's an up tempo rocker that more than lives up to that cool title.

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Vista Blue - Ya Bang!

Vista Blue released a 4 track ep titled New Nightmares and the songs are inspired by a quartet of horror movies; Halloween III, Candyman, Terror Train & Friday the 13th VI.

As always with the Nashville power pop outfit what we get is a very catchy collection of songs and you can get the ep as a name your price download on their Bandcamp.

This track is the Friday the 13th VI inspired one, or to be more specific it's inspired by the cop in that movie who has a laser scope that he says he's been dying to use. He says, "Wherever the red dot goes... ya bang!" It's one of the most famous and cheesiest quotes from the series and there's a clip of the scene here. 

A fun love song, this is Ya Bang!

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The Chevelles - Steve McQueen (I Wish I Was)

The Chevelles are from Perth, Western Australia, and have been around for over 3 decades. They play a mix of power pop, punk and garage rock and feature a line up of Duane Smith (Vocals/guitars), Adrian Allen (Guitars/vocals), Jeff Halley (Bass/vocals) & Ian Tubbs (Drums).

They've been pretty quiet in recent times but are going to be releasing a new album next year. They recently showcased the first single from it. It's on Wicked Cool Records and it's streaming on their Bandcamp

A nice blast of infectious psychedelia, this is Steve McQueen (I Wish I Was)... 

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The Linda Lindas - Oh!

The Linda Lindas are currently one of the most talked about new bands around and also one of the youngest. Based in Los Angeles they're two sisters, a cousin, and their close friend; 10 year old Mila, Eloise (13), Lucia (14) & Bela (16). Two of them are Asian, two Latinx and they mix up the spirit of punk rock with a healthy dose of both power pop and new wave. They took their name from a 1987 song by Japanese punks The Blue Hearts 

Signing to Epitaph hasn't done them any harm you wouldn't have thought. This is Oh!

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Max Collins - Sports Bar

Max Collins is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and bassist of the alternative rock band Eve 6, which he co-founded with Jon Siebels. Honey from the Icebox is his debut solo album which was released in 2014.

Kid Gulliver - I Started a Joke

The Hum Hums - Dee Dee Girl

The Hum Hums are a Tokyo based pop punk/power pop band who for over a decade now they've been releasing some of the catchiest tunes around. Their influences range all the way through from Stiff Little Fingers to Herman's Hermits via the likes of Jan And Dean.  

They're pretty much ready to record a new record but the restrictions caused by the pandemic have left the coffers somewhat bare so to raise funds they recently put out a couple of stop gap releases full of previously unreleased stuff. There's Teenage Loser Outtakes (7 outtakes during the pre production for "Teenage Loser" back in 2012 including an unreleased song) and even more interestingly Rejected Demos 2013-2021 (10 rejected demos in 8 years including 2 cover songs). 

Perfect music for driving in your car on a sunny day or maybe lying on a golden beach watching the surfers. 

This track is about the one and only Dee Dee Girl... 

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Plastic Flamingos - Boardwalk Dairy Queen

Plastic Flamingos are a four piece band from Durham, North Carolina. Playing a mix of summer inspired pop punk with hints of 90s skate punk and power pop, the band who consist of Brian Summer (vocals/guitar), Elliot Schelske (guitar), Ryan Quinlan (bass) and Kevin Gavagan (drums) released their debut album Halloween Beach Party over halloween weekend of 2020.

What really drew me to this album was just how relatable a lot of the songs are. This will make the album accessible to a lot of people. I’m so impressed with the lyrics throughout the entire album. Musically it’s fun and breezy, if you don’t want to get too deep into the lyrics and just have a good time you can do that too.

Boardwalk Dairy Queen is a sweet song about love at first sight. This song is all about the lyrics. Brian does a fantastic job of making the lyrics feel visual; it’s very easy to imagine the movie of this song. The band have also managed to make the song feel quite urgent as well. I put this down to some chugging guitars and a pounding drumbeat. There’s also a nice surprise when the band get a ukulele out to add to the sweetness of the song.

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Romero - Troublemaker

Melbourne band Romero released their debut single Honey earlier this year and they've just dropped a rather splendid follow up.

They're a 5 piece with a line up of Alanna Oliver (vocals), Adam Johnstone (guitar), Fergus Sinclair (guitar), Justin ‘Murry’ Tawil (bass) and Dave Johnstone (drums). The single's titled Troublemaker and it marries up the soulful vocals of Alanna Oliver with some playful instrumentation. It's classy stuff and I look forward to hearing more from these.

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Neon Bone - Surrender to you

Neon Bone are the Munster band that formed in 2010 and have grown into one of the catchiest outfits around. They've an impressive back catalogue of releases that'll brighten up the gloomiest of days.

They recently returned with their 4th full length (their 3rd on Monster Zero). It's titled Make It Last and unsurprisingly it's a joy. Plenty of riffs, even more hooks and every song is an earworm. You'll find yourself singing along to the likes of I've Got A Friend, I'm Coming Home and Ricky Nelson cover It's Up To You. You can get it on vinyl or digital download here.

This is Surrender To You...

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Beatnik Termites - Somebody else's baby

Having a strong affection for surf, sand, oldies radio and The Ramones, The Beatnik Termites wanted to bring the beach to their Mid-Western scene of Cleveland, OH. Pat Kim (Also known as Pat Termite) started the power pop band in 1987 and he has had many different bassists and drummers in the band. My favourite song of the band is probably “Somebody else's baby” so that is the one I am sharing today.

Vista Blue - There Goes The Sun

Vista Blue are a Nashville pop punk / power band who feature Mike, Mark, Richard, and Reese who recently released a two track single that is available as a name your price download on Bandcamp. It is a contender for the best summer song of 2020 and is guarenteed to brighten up your day.

The track that I am sharing has a title that is a play on words on the title the Beatles smash Here Comes The Sun and it's a song that reassures us that even though it may have been raining for so long, one day the sun will be out and we can forget all our stresses and get back out on the beach. It's a love song in which Mike doesn't care how long the drive is, as long as his loved one is by his side. It's a modern day power pop classic that could easily be a metaphor for these current difficult times. This is There Goes The Sun...

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Smash Fashion - Got Da Hee Bee Gee Bees (At CBGBs)

Smash Fashion are from LA and have been putting out music that's been wowing many top publications and reviewers for the last 15 years. They line up with Roger Deering (Lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Lloyd Stuart Casson (Lead guitar/backing vox), Repo (Drums/percussion) and Scarlet Rowe (Electric bass/backing vox) and so far have 4 albums under their belt.

They claim to be "Purveyors of decadent psychedelia and atomic power pop" and whilst that's quite possibly 100% correct I've got to admit I was put off by the word psychedelia but what we're presented with is some top notch rock n roll swagger that mixes up elements of the best of 70's UK and US rock, punk, glam and power pop. It's impressive and assured, doesn't hold back on the guitar riffing.

The track that I am sharing is a confident rocker namechecking the famous New York club and I'm assuming the title is inspired by Steven Lee Beeber's 2008 book Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk.

This is Got Da Hee Bee Gee Bees (At CBGBs)...


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Yeah Now Records

Tommy And The Rockets - You Don't Know What You've Got

Hailing from Odense (Denmark), Tommy And The Rockets are a very catchy good time band who have teamed up with Moss (Norway) power pop punkers The Dahlmanns to release the Scandinavian Affair 7". It's a perfect soundtrack to the approaching summer with both bands knocking it out of the park.

The Dahlmanns contribute a classy cover of Party Girl, a track from Rachel Sweet's 1981 album, ...And Then He Kissed Me. Smooth as satin and sure to have you singing along, definitely a track to check out.

Tommy And The Rockets take on a track written by Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell which originally appeared on Joan's first album from 1980. A gentle rocker about lost love, it is a catchy little number.

It's titled You Don't Know What You've Got...

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