The glorious 2021 self-titled debut by Bay Area DIY jangle project Chime School provided a giddy rush of pure pop that encapsulated thirty plus years of glorious indie within its thirty minute duration. This time out Andy Pastalaniec has drawn breath, taken stock and further honed his already considerable songcraft, making new single Give Your Heart Away his most assured statement yet.
Harnessing sun dappled sadness shot through with the gentlest ache of hope, Pastalaniec’s chiming guitars and understated melodies do the heavy lifting atop a rhythm section striving ever forward with both muscle and finesse. Lyrically, the song channels the artist’s second passion of photography, framing a distant, directionless moment in time when perhaps a few too many hours were lost enjoying endless San Francisco nights.
Give Your Heart Away video, by Britta Leijonflycht
Give Your Heart Away is taken from Chime School’s forthcoming sophomore album The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel, released 23rd August via Slumberland Records. Pre-order available here. UK readers should head here.
Chime School tour the UK this Autumn, ticket information can be found here.
Discovering the work of Manchester based DIY artist Mat Mills has been a constant source of real joy over the last few months. His songwriting blends lofi fuzz-laden indie/shoegaze with affecting electronic dreamscapes, giving his project Goodbye Wudaokou a unique flavour all of its own.
Debut album Mirror Skies wears its heart unashamedly on its sleeve with its focus on love and connection both present and past. Mills’ soaring songcraft ensures the instrumental breaks are often as moving as the lyrical content itself, adding a dynamic edge to an album that never stands still.
Highlights abound, with New Century Regrets’ shimmering jangle and the fractured dreampop of Ultraviolet Kiss jumping out from initial listens. Each play however reveals new moments to be savoured and revisited time and again. Blessed with an unwavering ability to get right to the heart of the matter, Mirror Skies is an absolute triumph.
Mirror Skies is released 14th June, limited edition CD’s are available here.
Following on from a scattering of sporadic but spellbinding live performances, Southend-on-Sea based collective Yes Today arrive in style and substance with self-released debut album Still.
Rooted in loss, acceptance and the finding of new ways to heal old wounds, Still faces up to reality with an abundance of grace and wonder. Centred around the moving songcraft and stirring vocals of Amy Glover, the music of Yes Today offers much comfort within its unflinching truth, a truth artfully woven into Still’s enveloping psychfolk fabric.
Across ten captivating compositions, inventive percussion dances beneath Glover’s delicate guitar wanderings, with violin and clarinet flourishes adding bountiful light and shade. Certain to capture hearts from the very first listen, Still is a truly wonderful debut from a very special band.
Yes Today are: Amy Glover (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, percussion), Amy McKenny (violin and backing vocals), Claire Keech (clarinet), Roy Thirlwall (bass guitar), Paul Stride-Noble (drums, bongos, percussion), Toby French (drums, percussion), James Hoare (electric guitar, electric organ, percussion).
Still was recorded and produced by James Hoare and is available for digital download here.
Audaciously adept at refashioning the very best melodic twists and turns of 90s alternative, Bay Area fourpiece Aluminum have truly arrived with thrilling debut album Fully Beat. Reminiscent of a time when it felt as if the right chord change could alter your entire world, Aluminum bathe their soaring songwriting in a contemporary California cool that is impossible to resist.
Throughout Fully Beat’s duration, guitars, beats and vocals intertwine with deft precision, a collective aural assault with a heady emphasis on melody. From opener Smile’s post shoegaze shuffle through to Upside Down’s riff-heavy fade, there is absolutely no let up in the album’s towering, beautiful intensity. Aluminum’s intoxicating creative confidence has rendered Fully Beat an essential summer soundtrack.
Aluminum – Call An Angel
Aluminum are: Marc Leyda (vocals, guitar, sampler), Ryann Gonsalves (vocals, bass), Austin Montanari (guitar), Chris Natividad (drums). Fully Beat is out now via Felte Records, you can listen/buy here.
With an immediacy that demands attention and a tenderness that pulls you close, the music of New Jersey based Lightheaded is unwaveringly pop in the truest sense of the word, a giddy combination of pure melody and electric energy.
Following on from last years introductory Slumberland Records EP Good Good Great!, the band’s full length debut Combustible Gems draws deeper on their 60s garage pop and 80s/90s indie influences and refocuses them for a vibrantly uplifting now.
Across eight sparkling indie pop gems, cascading keys and the full-hearted guitars of Stephen Stec and Sara Abdelbarry build whole worlds around Cynthia Rittenbach’s soaring, sun-soaked vocals. It all sounds so effortless, but repeat listens reveal just how much work and love has clearly gone into each of their stirring arrangements.
I’ll leave the final word to Lightheaded themselves, taken from album highlight Bright Happy Girls: ‘The way you make me feel is insane, something I can’t explain.’
Combustible Gems is out now via Slumberland Records, check it out here.
Monorail Music have a UK exclusive vinyl edition here.
Lightheaded tour the UK this July, you can find ticket information here. You can buy tickets for the band’s Glas-Goes Pop show here.
Capturing the magic of the Bay Area underground in fullest flight and rearranging it into bold new shapes, the moog-bending progressive psychedelic pop of Magic Fig is a unique, all-encompassing journey into sound.
A post-pandemic coming together comprising members of The Umbrellas, Whitney’s Playland, Almond Joy and Healing Potpourri, Magic Fig have embraced creative collectivism to mould their self-titled debut into one of the most exhilarating releases of the year so far. Lead single Goodbye Suzy laid the groundwork with its ever-shifting dynamics and ear-worm hooks, a tantalising glimpse of a creative wonderland ripe for discovery.
Nothing encapsulates the EP’s infectious energy better than the vocals of Inna Showalter, her captivating melodies providing Magic Fig’s beating heart. You can simply feel the joy as she sings softly but stirringly of love, magic and mystery. Meanwhile, Jon Chaney’s keys probe endlessly amongst the fiery fretwork of guitarist Muzzy Moskowitz, whilst Matthew Ferrara and Taylor Giffin’s rhythm section provide groove and grit in equal measure.
From PS1’s cosmic psych-jangle through to the free-spirited folk of closer Departure, Magic Fig blend Canterbury-esque mysticism with an unmistakable San Francisco pop bite. It’s a heady, intoxicating combination that showcases the giddy talents of all involved and how beautifully they pull together as one. Essential.
Magic Fig releases 17th May via Silver Current and can be pre-ordered here. UK readers can head here for the vinyl.
Formed whilst ghost hunting around Barnsley market back in 2018, slacker pop trio Porcine’s irresistible melodies and endless hooks are inspired by the very best of 80s/90s shoegaze and indiepop, with a giddy emphasis on fun.
New line-up Sam Horton, Giannis Kipreos & Georgia Murphy released their self-titled third album earlier this year and Layaway is the final single to be taken from it. The band had the following to say about the song and its beautifully sun-addled video…
“We filmed the video after indulging in 30 drinks and 4 plates of food each the night before at our all-inclusive hotel. It was our last day in Turkey and we had been putting off filming the entire time. We trekked up a large hill, which overlooked the local town, with a few bottles of water, a strange mask and a dream to create something exciting to look at. Its supposed to be a funny video with plenty of juxtaposition to the lyrics of the song. In particular the chorus ‘I will never be outside.’ which is paired with an old man struggling to navigate the landscape in the blistering heat. The song itself is lyrically rooted around the idea of a subnormal type festering away in a half paid for dusty apartment. The video takes the character out of his apartment and into the heat for a parley with normality.”
Porcine – Layaway
Layaway was filmed by music producer David Watts on an old DSLR and acted/danced/edited by Yannis who plays guitar and sings in the band.
Riding soaring sonic waves with irrepressible melodic charm, Porcine is available now on CD/digital via Safe Suburban Home. Buy here.
Huge thanks to Safe Suburban Home and Porcine for granting heavymetalkids.uk this premiere.
Throughout his creative life James Hoare has been at the heart of some of the finest and most loved underground independent music to come out of the UK. His various projects have garnered praise and admiration not only here at home, but across Europe and the US too.
On Saturday 11th May James brings his new solo project Penny Arcade to Twenty One Southend, headlining Tim Keech’s latest Tea and Oranges night. Ahead of the gig, he very kindly agreed to answer a few questions for heavymetalkids.uk:
Hi James, thank you for talking to heavymetalkids.uk. For those unaware, please introduce us to Penny Arcade. Who are you collaborating with on this project and how would you best describe your sound?
Penny Arcade is my new musical project, effectively a solo project though i do have extra people playing on it. Max Claps from The Proper Ornaments plays guitar and organ on a few of the tracks, Nathalia Bruno (Drift.) is singing backing vocals. There is a selection of different drummers including Juan Jacinto (Ultimate Painting) and Daniel O’Sullivan.
I would describe the sound as minimal psychedelic/pop.
Throughout your career thus far, between Veronica Falls, Ultimate Painting and The Proper Ornaments, you have been able to connect with some of THE key independent labels both here and in the US. How has it been linking up with the likes of Slumberland, Trouble In Mind and Tough Love Records?
I’ve worked with various labels over the years. The best kind of label for me is the one that give you the most support, enabling you to tour and get things done.
When you feel like someone has your back, that’s a good feeling.
Penny Arcade – Jona
Penny Arcade’s debut long player Backwater Collage is out now via esteemed Hamburg based label Tapete. What inspired the writing/recording of this new album and what are your hopes and expectations for it?
The writing of the album was done over the last couple of years (2021-2023) In the post lockdown world. Much of it was written in my garage late at night which gave it a slightly subterranean feel. It’s about things that were going on in my life at the time, and various fictional characters and stories that came out of my mind during that period.
The album was recorded in my home studio on a 16 track Studer tape machine and an ex BBC console from the late 70’s. Sonically I was inspired by various albums and bands. Air, Canned Heat etc…
Having your own studio is great but it can lead to procrastination, I found that the best things I did on this record were the more spontaneous.
I’m looking to start playing more with Penny Arcade and releasing more music.
It’s GREAT to see you coming to Southend as part of the ever-growing Tea and Oranges nights underneath the pier at Twenty One, and you have brilliant support lined up from local bands Yes Today and Masal. Are you looking forward to showcasing your work at such a unique venue and are there other dates coming up for those who can’t attend?
I’m very happy to be coming to Southend. I really like the place and I’ve heard good things about Twenty One. There’s a great local scene there.
I’ve got some more UK dates coming up. Falmouth, Underland on the 8th June and Coventry, Just Dropped In on the 21st June. They’ll be some more announced later in the year.
Penny Arcade – Don’t Cry No Tears
Tickets for the Tea and Oranges gig are available here. Backwater Collage is a beautifully woozy nocturnal treasure loaded with emotive minor key melodies, you can pick up the vinyl here. Huge thanks to James for talking to the blog and to Marion Seury and Tim Keech for making it happen.
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