No one (except Rawkblog) is writing about the new Idaho Falls record. I don’t know if that will change in the next couple of days with a press release announcing the new album or if there will be a sudden change of heart wherein music bloggers start to look outside of their email inboxes and P4k’s “forkcast” for music recommendations. Either way this is a record that should be heard.

First off I (and others) have miscast this band as some sort of modern day Gram Parsons with a twist. But the band is more agile and experimental than that (Idaho Falls contains sidemen from Black Eyed Peas, Mojave 3, Hope Sandoval, Cake and the Brian Jonestown Massacre) and on the new record they explore perfectly twisted pop more so than twangy indie country. I love the sound but then again I’m Dan Byrk’s biggest fan and this reminds me a bit of his piano based indie pop. The Spark comes out Jan. 26 (I couldn’t find a buy link but contact leader Raymond Richards (redredrocket@gmail.com) to purchase the record).

Here’s a song that proves my point:

Holding On To Your Name

I have a huge space in my heart for indie pop and twee. I don’t post about it much since Skatterbrain and Indie MP3 have the genre pretty well covered. But I must share with you a new song from one of my favorite British twee pop bands – The Bobby Mcgee’s.

I first heard of the band when I stumbled upon their Star Wars song here and it’s been love at first sight ever since. The band’s new song “L.O.V.E. is available as a 7″ single from Twee As Fuck Records. Despite it’s title the song is an anti-love tirade equating love to losing your dignity, your freedom, and your pornography collection. You’re gonna wanna get the vinyl 7″ since it’ll no doubt be a limited edition collectors item (the artwork in and of itself is stellar).

L.O.V.E.

This is the type of record I would have found down by St. Marks back in college that I would have fallen in love with on first listen (”you had me at the cover art”). I guess not much has changed since then. The bubblegum pop songs on Patience are thrown into a garage rock tumbler and come out as something entirely different. Think Ramones, think Smithereens and yes think The Beatles (with a little Yoko meddling away in the background).

Dreamdate = band. Patience = new record.

Buy it here through Skywriting Records.

Have I Told You
Sleeves

When you write 600 or so music blog posts a year it’s sometimes hard to find a way to single one out as something special. Luckily I have another platform or two when I think something is truly deserving. So today’s band/song will both appear on Swedesplease and be part of this month’s upcoming M.A.P. post. I can’t say enough good things about the Swedish pop band The Bridal Shop. I think they perfectly meld the sounds of electronic pop of the 80’s with shoegaze of the 90’s and indie from the 00’s. In other words they’re the complete package.

Their Peruvian label (I know that’s kind of a weird locale for a Swedish group) deserves kudos as well for releasing some of the best indie pop this side of Cloudberry. This song is from the band’s Plastilina Records mini album called In Fragments coming out in February of 2009.

The Ideal State (originally released on a Happy Robots’ compilation)

Bonus

Violation
Marine Thing

The minute I heard the title of the new record and saw that Kevin McGrother was an unrepentant indie popster I was intrigued. Living In An Enid Blyton World sounds like the best of British indie pop from the 80’s. Think Max Eider, The Housemartins, Jazz Butcher, Blue Aeroplanes, etc.

“Summer Starts on Sunday” has all the elements of a perfect indie pop song. It’s got slightly melancholy sound that is a perfect match for Kevin’s laconic vocals. The indie pop themes of simple love conquering all, the beauty of nature and the glories of summer are all present. This record deserves to be blogged about on each and every English music blog, indie pop blog, webzine and fanzine.

Buy it here.

Summer Starts On Sunday

When it comes to indie pop Scatterbrain and IndieMP3 have everything pretty well covered. But still it’s sometimes a surprise that with the explosion of music blogs this sincere and charming genre doesn’t have more blogs devoted to it. So, although I’m not an expert, I do like to chime in now and then.

One artist that I’ve chimed in on a bunch is Colin Clary. I like that he adds a little crunch to his indie pop and is not afraid of a little musical dynamic to go along with his indie pop worldview. On “Moped Rally” he and the band add a perfect 60’s sheen to the proceedings. As of Oct. 8 the digital reissue of 2004’s excellent Her Life Of Crime is available digitally at all the usual outlets.

Moped Rally