The Jangles

One of the good/bad things about bandcamp is that you can dig around in trusted individuals' collections and tempt yourself into parting with yet more of that hard-earned cash. Last bandcamp Friday Not Unloved drew a blank on what to buy (after picking up the essential new Leaf Library singles and whatever comp, that is) until I stumbled on "Pioneer" by Lynchburg, Tennessee's identical twin brothers, The Jangles (thanks JM!). The Jangles are well acquainted with the best of The Monkees and are all the more lovable for it. The CD's artwork is delightfully naive in an illustration-doodled-on-the-cover-of-a-jotter way and the glorious black and white band photo could've graced the back cover of any number of semi-remembered private press lp's of the 70s:

The Jangles have good ears and sure know their way around a catchy melody and have the good sense to cherry-pick and adapt their faves from the past. Like their lite-pysch forebears, they have the requisite quota of whimsical songs about animals (monkeys, octopuses) but manage to pull them off with enough charm and restraint that the results are never too sickly sweet. After the first couple of listens, the romantic "Passing Glance" was the song that lingered longest:

 

A pleasing by-product of listening to The Jangles was being nudged to dig out those dazzling Bus Stop Label 45s by The Sneetches. Now there's a group that's ripe for a classy reissue campaign...

Communicant "She Moves The Sky" (Hypnotic Bridge)

Hypnotic Bridge has had a really fine 2020 - it's reassuring to know that some folks have - and the recent Communicant 7" does nothing to take the gloss off it. "She Moves The Sky" is that rare thing: a modern psych tune that is hyper aware of its many antecedents and incorporates a host of familiar tropes and techniques but somehow doesn't come off as an exercise in past-aping but as a piece of music that needs to exist in its festooned-in-period-specific-adornments form. It has real oomph and dynamic range; the more you ramp up the volume, the better it gets, too.

White Feather "Summer Days / Golden Haze" (No No Records, 1983)

Original copies of the "Summer Days / Golden Haze" 7" by lost pastoral psych-poppers White Feather recently appeared for sale on the Perfect Lives Records site. A tiny amount of rummaging revealed that it was a "self released 1983 single, in an unlimited edition of 500" most of which were still in group member Alan S Robinson's cupboard.  My guess is that Perfect Lives were able to retrieve some from the cupboard and I'm glad they did as it's a lovely record which deserves a second shot at finding an audience, however small. Surely, fans of the gentler side of R.E.M.'s earliest work or those who avidly thumbed the pages of Bucketful of Brains or relished rifling through the 45s in Standout and Minus Zero will see its appeal. 

P.S. An mp3 of the A-side can be downloaded for FREE here with the B-side being available here.

Journey To Tyme

Thanks to an, er, 'administrative error' (guess which chump put a decimal point in the wrong place on a speculative ebay bid), Not Unloved became the custodian of a nice promo copy of this long admired 60s psych/punk slammer:

There aren't many snarlier, snottier vocal performances in the Not Unloved 7" boxes and I reckon it outdoes most other 60s Texan punkers in terms of sheer guitar heft and its frenzied ending approaches Love's almighty "7 and 7 Is" for drumming power. A banger, for sure. The phrase "Journey To Tyme" was borrowed in the early 2000s for an enjoyable series of garage bootlegs (?), volume 2 of which provided Not Unloved's introduction to the brilliant Faine Jade.

The Prime Mover "When You Made Love To Me"

A hot contender for the Best Record Purchased By Not Unloved In 2019 garland is The Prime Mover's "When You Made Love To Me" (Sock-o, 1967):

Just listen to that arrangement - it has everything: glockenspiel (shouldn't every song?), groovy bassline, driving guitars, wonky guitars, soft, echo-ey voices, tempo changes. If yr band is only going gonna cut one 7"and disappear for good, might as well throw everything at it, eh?

Electric Looking Glass "Death of a Season" (Hypnotic Bridge)

Although I've never had the gumption to go whole hog on the 60s throwback clothing (my unfortunately chunky thighs put paid to all hopes of looking good in that gear), I've always had a sneaky admiration for those who do. After all, there's not much in life that's better than being in a roomful of people in brightly patterned, flammable garb frugging extravagantly to sweet 60s garage/psych sounds. On the evidence of the video below, LA's Electric Looking Glass don't share my retro clothing reticence. Their music, too, has all the familiar elements of mid-60s soft psych but in "Death of a Season" they have produced a song so surprisingly soulful that it renders any accusations of past-aping meaningless. It's no faded facsimile, that's for sure. Without doubt it features one of my favourite vocal melodies/performances of 1967...sorry, 2019.

The flip is a perkier but equally adorable number with a great arrangement and more cheerful hooks than lesser groups manage in their entire career:

If you've ever enjoyed an issue of Shindig! magazine, you NEED this 7" now!

Groovie Records (Lisbon, Portugal)

(apologies for the wonky photo...seems I lost my balance on the cobbled street)

Even in 2016 when record shops are thinner on the ground than they've ever been, it's hard not to judge a city by the quality of its record shops.  It's just as well for Lisbon, therefore, that it has Groovie Records; if there are any other great shops, I didn't find them.  It occupies a small space near the fab Time Out Mercado but has a commendably high density of top garage punk lps and 45s.  Of course Groovie's own output was prominently displayed including the hot new lp from Russian 60s stylists The Karovas Milkshake whose "Cryptique" has to be the best Jacques Dutronc homage/facsimillie since the great man's heyday: 

"Allez les saxophones!"

As well as bagging a few of Groovie's lps (very reasonably priced they were, too!) I took the opportunity to pick up some thumping Get Hip singles including this hyper-ventilating monster from 1988 which was surely recorded at the bottom of a reverb-enhanced garbage can:

All in all a solid Not Unloved thumbs up for Groovie! 

(The) Esquires "Settle Down"

(The) Esquires seems to have been a pretty popular band name back in the 1960s. From what I've heard online, all of the groups who operated under that name were worthy of a spin or two at least but the only one whose record I actually ponied up hard cash for (ok, Paypalled Craig Moerer for) is the Springfield, Missouri incarnation:

'Settle Down' has surely set many a Chelsea boot tapping over the years.  Possibly because Glasgow has just had it's Double Sight psych weekender at the end of a week or so of playing host to a bunch of the groups who converged on Liverpool for its annual International Festival of Psychedelia, I've been spinning it loads, each time anticipating rabidly the surprisingly trippy sequence at around a minute in.  Bonus Not Unloved points for the untypically romantic lyrics, too.

You can read about The Esquires over at the always reliable Garage Hangover.

Stroll On!

Of late it seems as if the world has gone a bit psych daft what with Loop touring again, festivals such Austin Psych Fest and Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia flourishing and a procession of new and old cosmic groups releasing records to great acclaim: Temples, Night Beats, The Brian Jonestown Massacre etc.. All of which would suggest that Stroll On Records' recent 4-way split 7" landed at just the right time.  It boasts a couple of lovely tracks by established acts from the janglier end of the pop-psych spectrum in The See See's "The Evil Clutch of Dawn" and The Young Sinclairs' "In This Room" to reel in the Shindig readers.  These are paired with blinding tracks by newer groups Triptides and Frankie and The Witch Fingers.  "Shaman" by Triptides has the most arresting intro in many a light year and the shady feel and messed-with vocals of The Byrds' "Natural Harmony" while Frankie and The Witch Fingers' "Revival" is a wired blast of keyboard-enhanced psych that quickens the pulse and never lets up.  There's no point playing a record like this quietly - sorry neighbours!



I got mine from Vinyl Revival on a recent visit to Manchester.  The shop's well worth a visit and the chaps talk an enthusiastic and informed game on psych, Freakbeat, garage etc..

The Market Squares

Paul Messis ("the young king of all things '66" according to, ooh, Not Unloved) got a brief mention in yesterday's posting about The Higher State.  Today, he gets one all to himself.  His new group The Market Squares release their debut 7" on his new label Market Square Records on February the 4th, 2013.  His aims as outlined in his introduction to the new label are laudable so I can only wish him all the best with it.  If his future releases are as enjoyable as "Afternoon Tide" I'll be a keen and vocal supporter:

That psychedelic guitar line that wanders all over the place like a tipsy Freshers Week student is just great as are the none-more-English vocals.  If this had come out at the same time as the early 45s by The Times, I'd no doubt be checking discogs and ebay on a regular basis in search of an affordable copy so I'll definitely be buying it as soon as I get the chance.