Young Pretender

(picture from last.fm)

The ole canny shopper instincts kicked-in the other day as I was buying Sauna Youth's latest 7" from Static Shock.  I figured that if I was buying one 7", I might as well buy 2 to save a few bob on postage (that kinda logic'll see me to the poorhouse!) so I went digging around in their mailorder catalogue, a trusty browser to hand for the purpose of music sampling.  "Young Pretender" by Toronto's Dangerloves was the record that set my pulse racing the fastest and which was added to my cart with relish.  As power pop singles go, it's up there with the best I've heard in recent years (it was released in  May, 2008).  It starts off at quite a lick in full Peechees mode but when Zoe Dodd bursts into "Young pretender you don't know who you are!" things go up a gear or two.  Sparky!

Oh Joel

If Galt Toys sold a craft kit for assembling your own pop record, the chances are mine would end up sounding a lot like Sauna Youth's "Oh Joel".  It really could've been made to order for Not Unloved!  It zips along, it stutters, it fuzzes, it's uncomplicated, it has clear, slightly petulant female vocals, it has a guitar solo that Brian May would look down on and it has Joey Ramone on the cover, for goodness sake!  It's like a now-fi version of The Fizzbombs.  Fab!

Get it here.

(Big thanks to @NorthernLight27 for the tip. I would never have picked up on it given that the A-side is a cover of a song by the abysmally named Pissed Jeans.)