We Should Thank The Lord

Many of the songs I fantasize about owning on original 7" vinyl have come into my life via Soul Jazz compilations.  Without doubt the one I would love to own most is the bubblegum (that keyboard is pure bubblegum) devotional "We Should Thank The Lord" by The Lovers Of God* from "Soul Gospel Volume 2": 

The unfathomable beauty and purity of the lead vocal, especially early on when it's at its sweetest (is it a different singer on the latter part of the song?), never fails to send me spinning  then evangelising about to it to anyone who'll hear me out; not that I can ever conjure up the right superlatives to do it justice, mind you.

Terry Malts "Distracted"

It's just so impeccably clean!  I've never seen a picture of Terry Malts but, from the sound of "Distracted" from the group's debut 7" on Slumberland, I imagine that they sport neat Sta-prest trousers, gingham button-down Ben Shermans and Y(ale) cardigans.  "Distracted" isn't the A-side but it's the song I'm drawn to most.  Not that lead track, "I'm Neurotic", isn't a top punk-pop blast - it is - but "Distracted" is just so catchy (and not just because of the sensible steal from The Go-betweens' "Lee Remick"!) and crisp that it's utterly irresistible.  It may have been recorded cleanly - the vocals in particular - but it's by no means anodyne; the guitars, for example, churn and spin before spinning so fast that they tumble over giddy and laughing in the last 20 seconds.  Slumberland has form when it comes to releasing bubblegum punk -see this smashing Parasites single - and I'm glad that they've embraced it once more. 2011 is the year of my power pop/punk epiphany after all.

Terry Malts - Distracted by Slumberland Records

Peach Kelli Pop "Do The Eggroll"

Forget Botox and anti-wrinkle creams, if you wanna stay young just listen to this!

If they ditched the line about sniffin' glue this could be a massive hit on kids tv!

Update: 1 US dollar gets you this groovy lil tune that slipped out without me having a clue it even existed in September last year!