05. See You Again

About a decade ago Mario Hernandez (of Ciao Bella & From Bubblegum To Sky) was casually sitting on a Stockholm couch drinking a really good cup of coffee when a friend put on the "Back To Mono" box set and Hernandez's life was forever changed. He was instantly drawn in by the excellent songwriting and lush instrumental arrangements; and what started out as an innocent side trip into the Phil Spector back catalog soon became a longtime fascination with the Brill Building and Spector's fabled wall of sound.

As time passed he realized that he just couldn't get away from it. He kept coming back to the idea of a simple pop song that wasn't really that simple – a happy melody with a dark underpinning in the lyric– and he knew that it wasn't enough to just listen. He had to make his own version of this great sounding stuff. Kids On a Crime Spree is the result of this obsession.

After living in New York for a spell to more fully immerse himself in the culture that spawned the music he loved, Hernandez moved back to California and began recording in earnest. Of the more than one hundred songs he composed but was not able to record while in New York, eight of the best were chosen for "We Love You So Bad," Kids On a Crime Spree's first record. Much care was taken to use older recording techniques akin to those used in the sixties in the Brill Building and the whole record was recorded on analog tape.

As recording progressed Hernandez brought in friends to help record and to recreate his songs in a live setting. Things came together quickly since they had all played together in the past and before long they had mastered they songs and were ready to play out. Key to the Kids On A Crime Spree sound is the simple yet driving drumming of Becky Barron (of #Poundsign#, Scrabbel & From Bubblegum To Sky), and the perpetually drenched in reverb guitar of Bill Evans (of From Bubblegum To Sky). From the punchy power-pop of "I Don't Wanna Call You Baby, Baby" to the classic 70s handclap-driven glam-pop of "Sweet Tooth" and the Ramones-y "To Mess With Dynamite," "We Love You So Bad" shows Hernandez and Kids On a Crime Spree's mastery of pop history and distinctive song-writing chops. "Jean-Paul Sartre 2" wraps the EP up in fine fashion, a feedback-drenched gem with a riff that most bands would just kill for. It's a perfect way to end this great debut release and points the way forward to what we hope is a lot more great pop from Mario, Becky and Bill.

Kids On A Crime Spree - Sweet Tooth

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.

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Lightheaded - Moments Notice

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Lightheaded - Dawn Hush Lullaby

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'

Blue Kite

Jahnah Camille - roadkill

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.

Kids On A Crime Spree - Sweet Tooth

Slumberland Records

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