total chill out

On their spellbinding sophomore album, "Whispers in the Speech Machine," the young Ohio siblings from The Laughing Chimes fully embrace their Southern Gothic influences, cannily balancing the light of their infectious pop with the shadow of their rust belt environs. While attending an afterschool music program at their local opera house, Evan and his brother Quinn began recording The Laughing Chimes' debut album "In This Town," released in 2020. A string of well-received digital singles and a cassette EP for Slumberland followed, dazzling savvy pop fans with their Paisley Underground-inflected jangle that owes as much to the Flying Nun sound as it does to 80s Athens, GA.

The eight assured songs of "Whispers in the Speech Machine" prove The Laughing Chimes deserve the attention and accolades, while their approaches to songwriting and sonic aesthetics continue to evolve. "Southeast Ohio is the foothills of Appalachia, so it has this indescribable mood and atmosphere to it," guitarist/vocalist Evan Seurkamp told The Big Takeover. "Sometimes there's a haunting weight of decay you want to escape, but at the same time there is some sort of strange romanticism surrounding ghost towns. We've tried to channel those moods to add more regional flavor into our sound."

Whispers In The Speech Machine

The Laughing Chimes - High Beams

Ridicule

photography by: jessica gibbs
artwork by: melanie sarria
recorded by: airhockey
mixed & mastered by: sebastian hidalgo

little friday

Lunchbox's legendary lost album "Evolver" is lost no more! Sparklingly remastered for the album’s twentieth (and a few!) anniversary and available on CD, cassette and (for the first time) vinyl, this psychedelic masterpiece fills a crucial hole in the band's discography. Recorded in the couple's 1990s Oakland basement between stays in Berlin, tour dates in London, and dreamy sojourns up the rugged Mendocino coastline, "Evolver" fuses jangle and jungle, ambient and dub into a striking pop statement.

Marrying refined songcraft to the serendipitous magic hidden in half-broken reel-to-reel tape decks and vintage synthesizers, the "Evolver" plants its pop flag on the terrain of magic and mystery. Dreamy jangle pop gems emerge seamlessly out of a sea of loops, drones, and dubbed-out horn fanfares, cascades of tape echo feedback and whispers from outer space providing a trance-inducing backdrop to the pop sensibility for which Lunchbox is well-known. Hook-filled and hypnotic, "Evolver" is a sublime slice of post-pop psychedelia that you won't want to miss.

For this special and long-overdue reissue we've raided the bands vaults for three previously unreleased tunes that add extra dimensions to the album's uniquely trippy flow. And for the vinyl heads we're pressing this as a double LP for maximum fidelity and playability, including a *vinyl-only* fourth side of beats, loops, interludes and puzzling aural ephemera, all taken directly from the original master tapes. Super cool!

Lunchbox - Letter From Overend

The second single from South / East London band Cloud Studies. It's the follow-up to their debut 2024 single ‘Ghosts’.

PRESS RELEASE
============

For Fans of: Dreampop, Shoegaze, Slowdive, Film School, My  Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Stereolab, Beach House, DIIV

Cloud Studies formed in 2024, as means for Adam Cresswell and Martin J Langthorne to explore the sonic possibilities offered by the large arsenal of effects pedals they had acquired.

‘Cloud Cartography’ was the first song written by Adam for the band as a means to set the tone for the direction of their sonic explorations. It was inspired by visits to the Derryveagh Mountains of Donegal in Ireland, and fighting off the elements as sheets of rain beat down upon the mountainous landscape.

The song is about trying to make sense of a constantly changing world and our efforts to document and understand it.  In a library, the protagonist meets someone attempting to map and catalogue the clouds. They find themselves standing together on a mountainside battling the elements, their undaunted optimism constantly challenged by the impossible nature of their undertaking. 

Sonically the song presents a panoramic, full-spectrum wall of sound; dreamy synths, layers of reverb-drenched guitars from Adrian Taylor and Martin J Langthorne, ethereal vocals from Adam Cresswell, underpinned by a tight insistent rhythm from drummer Nat Guest.

Cloud Studies:
Adam Cresswell, Vocals, bass; Nat Guest, Drums; Martin J Langthorne, Guitars; Adrian Taylor, Guitars

Produced by Adam Cresswell.
Mastered by Toby Campen Mastering.
Recorded at Nan's House Studios (Liverpool) and Bellasonic Sounds (London).

Cloud Cartography

CLOUD STUDIES: Cloud Cartography

Fading

Carrying on the long tradition of sentimental jangle pop songwriters, Lightheaded distill decades of lovelorn tunes into sounds for modern softies. They have the sunshine sparkle of The Left Banke and Margo Guryan, the C86 charm of Dolly Mixture and Would-Be-Goods, and the cinematic swell of Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura.

"Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming!" is their most collaborative and earnest release to date, and marks their first collaborative release with Slumberland and the UK's Skep Wax label. From Laurel Canyon folky jangle to elegant chamber pop to lovesick girl-group ballads, Lightheaded's tunes nod to the ‘60s without feeling antiquated and this new EP is their most perfectly bittersweet and fully-realized recording yet.

Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming!

pre-order

Lightheaded - Same Drop

It’s about that kind of love that spirals - consuming, impossible to quit. It’s the sound of wanting more even when it’s already too much. Perfect for those late summer nights ✨


Written by: Agnieszka Trawczynska, Simon Velazquez, Aleksander Kaczmarek
Drums by: Marek Radziminski
Producer, Mixing Engineer: Aleksander Kaczmarek
Mastering Engineer: Krzysztof Kessler

Feel me
Just like you feel your heartbeat
On your wrists
Feel the hot blood pumping

Curious
Curious, your heart is
I might let you in
If I feel you're like me

And you crawl back to my arms and overdose

Crawl
Crawl yourself to my skin
Magnetised
To what you could not see

I'll make you fall
In so many ways
You could not imagine
I'll keep you entertained
Until nothing feels just like this

And you crawl back to my arms and overdose

It's so much faster
Feel it approaching
It's so much faster
I feel it coming
It's so much faster
I feel it coming
It's so much faster
I feel it coming

This feeling
This beating
Is harder
Than anything else

Will thicken
Will bubble
Erupt and cause trouble
We'll burst to fall

I'll watch it in rapture
An outstanding finding
And overcommitting
Cause it is so blinding
I'll try to capture
Euphoria and love
And I'm forgetting
That life is upsetting
That every beginning
Is start to an end
I will forget that we ever lived
I will forget that we ever lived

overdose

Chatham Rise, a Psychedelic/Shoegaze/Space Rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota have wrapped up their 3rd full length LP, "Trillium", releasing July 25 with Infinite Spin Records. This song "Angus Says" features vocals from Paula Kelley of Drop Nineteens LINK TO BUY:  https://infinitespinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/trillium

05 Angus Says (w Paula Kelley)

Comment te dire adieu

KEYMONO - Bubble In A Trouble

http://www.plushrecs.com/release/venture-not-a-cloud-in-sight/releaseid-244

Buy Now!

Moments Of Nostalgia (Out Now)

San Francisco/Oakland's The Mantles have been charting a unique path through the Bay Area's storied garage/pop scene since 2007. The early shows were loose & loud Velvets/'Nuggets'-bashing, always with weirdly catchy songs & oddball chord changes. Their first singles saw them honing their sound, building towards their excellent 2009 self-titled debut album (on Siltbreeze) and follow-up EP on Mexican Summer. Loosely aligning with artists like White Fence and Ty Segall, The Mantles thoroughly modernize and personalize the folk-rock tradition.

Now on "Long Enough To Leave," The Mantles still color outside the lines but dial a cleaner, more infectious sound. SF's Kelley Stoltz (Sub Pop) recorded the new album with enough savvy to make it pop while keeping the performances idiosyncratic & affecting. Sharp ears may spot bits of early Love, New Zealand's Flying Nun label and LA's Paisley Underground, but The Mantles are very far from revivalists and have more song-writing and arranging skill at their disposal than many bands could hope to have.

"Long Enough To Leave" is both impressionistic and psychedelic - guitar melodies evoke lyrical themes in equal measure to the plaintive words of vocalist Michael Olivares, whose frank and poetic take on ordinary reality strips familiar themes of their clichés. The band plays with a musical synchronicity and clarity that enlivens tunes like album opener "Marbled Birds" and the rocking "Reason's Run."

"Hello" is a tough, garagey stomp that contrasts nicely with the contemplative "Long Enough To Leave" which follows it. "Raspberry Thighs," originally released on a scarce French 7" single, is reprised and re-recorded with dreamy clarity. "Bad Design" is a great take on a long-time live favorite, while "Brown Balloon" joins "Don't Lie" and "Lily Never Married" in a long line of Mantles garage-pop classics.

By foregoing the theater of retro psychedelia, The Mantles end up innovating in an area of guitar music where many bands get lost fawning over fashions, styles and trends. "Long Enough To Leave" instead stakes their claim as writers and players of distinction, building a sturdy catalog of excellent songs and increasingly accomplished records.

Tour Dates:
Fri-Jul-5       Washington, DC -- Black Whiskey
Sat-Jul-6      Baltimore, MD --- Club K
Sun-Jul-7     Philadelphia, PA -- Kung Fu Neck Tie
Mon-Jul-8    Harrisburg, PA - MakeSpace
Tue-Jul-9     Brooklyn, NY - Shea Stadium
Wed-Jul-10  New Haven, CT -- BAR
Thu-Jul-11   Cambridge, MA --  Lilypad
Fri-Jul-12     New Bedford, MA -- No Problemo Taqueria
Sat-Jul-13    NYC, NY -- Cake Shop w/Piano Movers and Pale Lights

* all shows with Juan Wauters (http://juanwauters.bandcamp.com)


US Press:
Anton Hochheim
FORCE FIELD PR
anton@forcefieldpr.com
323-344-1602


The Mantles - Hello

Buy The Long Journey Home EP on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/tljhitunes
Buy The Stars EP on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/thestars
Catching Flies on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/cfspotify
Catching Flies Bandcamp: www.catchingflies.bandcamp.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/catchingfliesmusic
Facebook: www.facebook.com/catchingfliesmusic
Twitter: www.twitter.com/catchingfliesuk


Free Download

The Long Journey Home

Slumberland began operations in 1989 as a collective effort consisting of members of DC area bands Velocity Girl, Big Jesus Trash Can/Whorl, Black Tambourine and Powderburns. We were inspired by such musical happenings as C86, early Creation, Postcard, K, Bus Stop, lower East Side noise, and also the renegade art aesthetics & methods of people like Cage, Burroughs and Duchamp. The explosion of punk had left behind a thriving network of 'zines, labels and distributors and we felt that there was room for our noise-loving, pop-obsessed aesthetic. While there were loads of US indie labels releasing a steady stream of 7"s, there wasn't much pop going on. Notable exceptions included Bus Stop, K and Picture Book, and we hoped to join that group and help chisel out some space for melodies amongst the noise.

Early releases from Velocity Girl, Whorl and Black Tambourine struck a note, and we found like-minded popsters getting in touch from all over the world. As we expanded the label roster and our own horizons, the goal was always to share great songs and interesting sounds from a range of styles. Our first burst of activity through the 1990s and early 2000s brought seminal records by legendary bands like Stereolab, Rocketship, The Ropers, Lorelei, The Aislers Set, Hood and Boyracer.

By the mid 2000s we were seeing 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.

2025 is our thirty-sixth (!) year we are still at it, ploughing our own furrow and bringing you unique, genre-defining (and genre-defying!) releases from bands like The Laughing Chimes, Humdrum, The Cords, Autocamper, Jeanines, The Umbrellas, Neutrals, Artsick, Kids On A Crime Spree, Papercuts, Lightheaded, Tony Jay, Chime School, Lunchbox and many, many more. Indie fashions come and go but we're still thrilled by great songs and the new ways that pop can be rejuvenated to fit the times.

The Mantles - Hello

Slumberland Records

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