Community Radio "Look Now You're Cursed" (Tenorio Cotobade)

According to the Tenorio Cotobade bandcamp page, "Look Now You're Cursed" was released in July 2016. I have no idea what was monopolising the Not Unloved stereo back then but it can't have been more enjoyable than Community Radio's classy second lp. The singles that preceded the lp - "Sick In The Car" and"Real Transformation" (below) - were both excellent, understated guitar pop records, similar in mood and execution to, say, The Clean's "Getaway" lp. "Real Transformation" really should have been lapped up by admirers of Ultimate Painting's brand of subdued art-rock. Maybe they did and nobody told me.

Repeated listens reveal so much to admire on "Look Now You're Cursed".  There are some lovely details such as the unexpectedly groovy piano on "Oasis" or the iridescent intro to "Crystal Ball" (not a Felt cover, although its intro wouldn't have sounded out of place on one of their records).



Possibly, the highlight of the album is the gently spinning chorus of the otherwise languid "Travel Endlessly". It's by no means a grand gesture, more a small gift to cherish. There have been a lot of great Australian lps in recent years (The Goon Sax, Twerps, The Icypoles etc. etc.) and this up there with the very best of them. Australian DJ Josh Meadows, formerly of brilliant Sarah Records group The Sugargliders (and later of  the also excellent The Steinbecks), nominated the album's opener, "One Book A Treasure", as the best song of 2016 on his It's A Jangle Out There show. High praise, indeed. If they're good enough for Josh Meadows, they're certainly good enough for me.

Teenage Moods "Select Buds" (Tenorio Cotobade, 2015)

"Select Buds" - named thus, I'm guessing, because it features 5 tracks culled from Teenage Moods' "Rosebuds" tape - is such an unpretentious, fun (without ever approaching wacky) listen that it will come in handy for lifting the spirits during the damp, grey gloom of January.  Teenage Moods call Minneapolis, USA home but their sound fits in well with a lot of the gentler guitar pop that has emanated from Australia over the last half decade.  "Get It Right", the 12" e.p.'s closing track and the one that Not Unloved craves the most, is as sprightly as your favourite Twerps track and just as sweet and features a cool, wobbly jelly guitar effect.  Teenage Moods are another great find by Madrid's loveliest label, Tenorio Cotobade.

Glaswegians: Your chums over at Monorail Music have copies for the remarkably reasonable price of £6.99. Get on it!

Look! A video for "Rosebuds":

Ginnels "Plumes"

Ginnels' music is instantly loveable.  A friend kindly passed on a copy of their "Plumes" lp on the new Madrid-based Tenorio Cotobade label and it took, say, a minute of  opening track"Don't Mean It" for me to be fairly sure that I was going to be cheered by what was to follow.  There's a freshness and sprightliness to much of "Plumes".  Songs like "Europe's Soil" and "Great Fall" rattle along apace and could easily do so for hours without becoming tiresome.  The guitar on "Stink It Out" sparkles breathlessly like an Another Sunny Day 45 played at 78 and "Wake Up Normal" provides a glimpse into how Beach Fossils might sound after a bracing dip in the Atlantic instead of a lazy day stretched out on Brighton Beach.  "Plumes" cherry picks tracks from the group's 3 previous releases and illustrates the range of their music; as well as the teen janglers there are Sentridoh/Daniel Johnston-style home-fi acoustics (see "Friends Are Dead" for an example of the latter) and fuzzed-up slacker anthems.  It's a great mix.  Over the next few days I'll have a closer listen to the lyrics - I suspect that they're worth spending the time to absorb - and over the next few months I'll keep a keen eye out for what Tenorio Cotobade does next.

First, September Girls barged their way grinning into my affections, then The #1s dared me not to love them and now I've fallen for Ginnels - Southern Irish music would appear to be in a great state at the moment.

There's a typically astute assessment of "Plumes" on the excellent The Finest Kiss blog here.