'14 冬 ～ '15 March

05. See You Again

I'm Flexible

Lightheaded's urgent, thrillingly fresh take on 60s/80s indiepop shines brightly on their debut album "Combustible Gems" and perhaps nowhere more so than on their new single "Bright Happy Girls." What starts as 60s folk/garage pop of the Teenage Shutdown persuasion dissolves into a tumbling, almost chaotic rush of guitars and vocals that go in and out of harmony. The overall effect strongly evokes the wild flush of secret crushes and new loves, the giddy optimism and delicious confusion.

Combustible Gems

Lightheaded - Bright Happy Girls

New Jersey's Lightheaded are clearly students of pop in all of its variety, drawing as much from 60s Brill Building song writers as they do from later 60s folk/pop developments and 80s DIY pop. The striking thing is how seamlessly they're able to meld these influences, and the distinctive voice that they've crafted this early in their career. Their new album "Combustible Gems" follows-up their well-regarded "Good Good Great!" EP in fine fashion, striking all the right Phil Spector/Goffin & King chords while rooting the album firmly in the NOW. Singles like "Moments Notice" and "Bright Happy Girls" possess a timeless pop charm, brimming with jangle, drama and infectious energy.

pre-order

Lightheaded - Moments Notice

Pre-order

Lightheaded - Dawn Hush Lullaby

Out now on Slumberland Records (N & S America) and Fortuna Pop! (ROW).

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/wcftspitunes
LP/CD: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/278


Allo Darlin's new album "We Come From The Same Place" combines the eagerness, urgency and immediacy of their 2010 self-titled debut with the contemplation, sophistication and ambition of their 2012 follow-up "Europe," and yet it goes beyond either both sonically and in the songs. It was written at a time of considerable change for songwriter Elizabeth Morris, a time during which she fell in love, moved to Italy and got married - not that that seems to have hindered the songwriting process, as Elizabeth explains, "So many things have happened since I first wrote the songs that make up this album, it's difficult to remember back to where it all began. The songs were written very quickly, during a period when I found writing songs very easy, whereas I often find songwriting very difficult. Some of the songs were written so fast I can't even really remember writing them. The songs were a joy to write, and writing them made me feel better about lots of things."

Among the highlights of the album is "Bright Eyes", a duet with guitarist Paul Rains. Elizabeth again, "I wanted to write another duet, but the only problem with doing that is that when you play live it's very rare that the person you recorded it with can be there. So I thought it would be great to write a song with Paul singing the other part. I love Paul's singing and I wanted to hear him do it more, so it's quite selfish really!" Another standout is the Twin Peaks-referencing "Half-Heart Necklace", based on a true story from Elizabeth’s hometown. "There had been some murders, and this girl who was my age was missing and presumed killed. It turned out she had been hiding for years in her boyfriend's cupboard, and she was charged for wasting police time". 
 
Other notable tracks include the rollicking "Kings and Queens", inspired by a show they played in the USA with their friends and kindred spirits The Wave Pictures, and "Romance and Adventure", originally earmarked for a film soundtrack and written in response to a challenge from Paul to write a pop song in a minor key. Bass player Bill Botting sums up Elizabeth’s remarkable songwriting ability by saying, "The key to Elizabeth’s songwriting appeal is that she’s so adept at pinpointing certain ideas and moods; leaving one city and finding a new one and realising that beginnings and endings have a lot in common."

The truism is that third albums are difficult beasts, but by remaining true to themselves Allo Darlin’ have side-stepped the pitfalls to produce a wonderful record - thoughtful and exciting and exquisitely played – that will please their existing army of fans and newcomers alike. On first reading the album’s title may seem enigmatic, but from the very personal nature of Elizabeth Morris’ finely drawn vignettes to the more universal connections between the band and their audience, its meaning will be obvious to all who fall under the spell of this magical band.

"A masterclass of modern cult pop." The Guardian

"Terrific, witty and heartfelt, like a less moody Belle & Sebastian." The New York Times

Allo Darlin' - Bright Eyes

Blue Raspberry

Wait Listen

Oakland, CA mainstays Lunchbox are back with Pop and Circumstance, an explosive new album draws on influences from both sides of the Atlantic. Besides its obvious debt to the hard end of the 1970s UK mod-revival and the jangle of 1980s British indiepop, the record proclaims Lunchbox’s continued allegiance to the 1960s/70s Southern California pop sensibility and love for the classic AM radio pop single.

Over the course of their almost thirty year career Lunchbox have always impressed with their ability to mine gold from the ore of pop history, and this terrific new record shows them at their best. From the bubblegum mod pop of "Dinner for Two" to the junkshop soul of "Love for Free," the Who-adjacent power pop of "Summer’s Calling" to the horn-driven grooves of "Is this Real?," "Pop and Circumstance" transposes Lunchbox’s unique blend of influences into a transcendent new key.

Pop And Circumstance

Pop and Circumstance

Lunchbox - Dinner for Two

Some Miracle

Green shoots have burst forth from Parsnip! The Australian group have a super-catchy single out today called ‘Turn to Love’, taken from their sophisticated sophomore album ‘Behold’. Drawing comparisons with Dolly Mixture, Sara Goes Pop and Look Blue Go Purple, Parsnip are an animated ensemble, full of life, emotional complexity and humour. On ‘Behold’ they explore both the inner and outer realms of consciousness with quick wits and some seriously quality jangle and jolt. 

Upset The Rhythm and Anti Fade Records will release ‘Behold’ on April 26th. There’s a limited transparent vinyl edition, available to pre-order (drum roll please)… now: upsettherhythm.bigcartel.com/

Parsnip - 'Turn To Love'

Out now on Slumberland Records (N & S America) and Fortuna Pop! (ROW).

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/expectdelays
LP/CD: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/283

Evans the Death return with their second album "Expect Delays" in March via Fortuna POP! (Europe) and Slumberland Records (USA). Recorded again with producer Rory Atwell, the album bristles with an underlying tension and veers from rip-roaring noise to quiet contemplation, underpinned by Katherine Whitaker’s extraordinary voice.

Still barely out of their teens, there’s a tremendous sense across "Expect Delays" of a band coming into their own, honing a plethora of influences to make a sound that is uniquely them. Each song on the album has a different feel to it: some of them are melodic and pretty; some of them heavy and dissonant; and some of them are, to quote guitarist Dan Moss, “a bit strange”. While retaining the post-punk and 90s alt-rock inspired elements that peppered their debut, the music is more expressive, heavier and more experimental, and the lyrics more nuanced, the sense of despair leavened by sharp wordplay and humour.

The unsettling undercurrent of melancholy and hopelessness that pervades the record has its roots in the last three years, spent eking out an existence on the poverty line in Cameron’s Britain, leaving them with a succession of minimum-wage jobs and unemployment benefits interviews. As guitarist Dan Moss relates, the album is about “being in London and feeling hopeless and a bit lost. Not having any money, relationships falling apart, things just not connecting or going anywhere and getting absolutely wasted all the time.”

Named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's 'Under Milk Wood,' the band’s 2012 self-titled inaugural album saw critical acclaim from the likes of Q, Uncut and Artrocker, as well as radio play on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music and XFM. After a change in line-up following the release of their debut, the band regrouped around the core of brothers Dan and Olly Moss and singer Katherine Whitaker for the recording of "Expect Delays." Drummer James Burkitt was recruited from Leeds’ band The ABC Club to complete a taut new four-piece.

More ambitious and focused than their previous record, whilst sacrificing none of their spontaneity and vitality, "Expect Delays" is a supremely inventive and intelligently crafted album from a band who have suffered for their art, and used that experience to inform and nourish their work. Expect no more delays, Evans the Death have arrived.

“Evans the Death manage to make humdrum everyday existence seem quite magical” Q ****

“A wonderful marriage of converse elements elegantly crafted into its own neat mess.” Artrocker *****

“Terrific” Uncut


Evans The Death - Enabler

Taken from the LP/CD "Ripe 4 Luv." Out March 10th on Slumberland Records.
Pre-order iTunes: http://smarturl.it/ripe4luv
Pre-order LP/CD: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/282

Crawling Back To You 
(Prod. By Guv & Price)

I've been thinking of crawling back to you 
the umbilical cord was cut too soon
placenta sleeping bags for two 
when my heart breaks then yours may too

Water breaks
Waiting room
Now where to.. ?
Can I crawl back inside you 

I can't think of a better place to stay 
Soft flesh will carry me today 
placenta sleeping bags for two 
when my heart breaks then yours may too

Cuz I need the attention now of every single girl
I'm one of those guys who can't find pleasure in the world
I'm foolish enough to wanna move back inside you

I've been thinking of crawling back to you
(inside you)


Buy LP/CD

Young Guv - Crawling Back To You

Blue Kite

Jahnah Camille - roadkill

Plastic Love

It's Alright is co-written with Peter Morén and Markus Jägerstedt, produced by Joe Cross, mixed by Jon Gray and masted by Nigel Walton.

It is on our debut album "Home Before the Dark" out June 15th.

Stream on Spotify

Kid Astray - It's Alright

Slumberland began operations in 1989, inspired by such musical happenings as C-86, early Creation, Sarah, Postcard, and the UK post-punk indie label scene. Since then we've covered a lot of territory, from punk to lofi noise to shoegaze and of course pop, releasing records from bands like The Aislers Set, Boyracer, Stereolab, Rocketship, Lorelei, The Ropers, The Saturday People and Black Tambourine.

By the mid 2000s we were starting to see a resurgence of interest in guitar pop and the start of the ongoing vinyl revival: the perfect environment for Slumberland! We launched into our latest phase of activity with as string of classic releases from The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Crystal Stilts, Frankie Rose, Veronica Falls, Allo Darlin', Joanna Gruesome and so many more.

2018 is our twenty-ninth year we are still going strong, ploughing our own furrow and bringing you unique, genre-defining (and genre-defying!) releases from bands like Smokescreens, Tony Molina, Papercuts, Business of Dreams, Peel Dream Magazine, D.A. Stern, The Spook School, Frankie Rose, Young Guv, Terry Malts and many, many more. As always, we operate entirely outside of the echo chamber of trends, fashion and phoney hipness. Slumberland bands are independent in the best way possible -- making music devoid of bullshit and true to their own voices, regardless of current popular taste.

Evans The Death - Enabler

Slumberland Records

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