This is the second version of the opening as somehow the original disappeared. Hence why it's shorter.

 

December 2017 now. Will any or all be culled?

 

Anteros - 'Bonnie' & 'Love'. Buttercup yellow vinyl, attractive. Reminiscent of both Sleeper & Texas, although in a good way in the case of the latter. Possibility of a tenner though so culling. Album When We Land has appeared on Deezer this week so they're still plugging away it seems.

 

Sulky Boys (or possibly Boy, depending on whether you believe the booklet or the record) suffer from a rubbish name but do lo-fi well on opener 'Shasta Fay'. One of the best tracks in the series. 'Amorous Battles' has a good indie jangle to it, bringing Ride to mind a bit. Unfortunately it also sounds a bit wonky so the pressing may be iffy. A keeper nonetheless. To add to the confusion the band's Facebook page lists them as Sulky Boy yet they're happy to have the Sulky Boys cover image as their header photo. Crazy guys. Some live dates coming up this year.

 

Confidence Man are this month's act I'm already acquainted with, albeit only due to getting hold of their album last year. 'Better Sit Down Boy' is on that album so almost no need to play it (they may have re-recorded it for that I suppose) either way it's as catchy and fast paced as remembered so thumbs up. 'Boyfriend' is also on the album, either in the form presented here or modernised. I can't tell. A great pulsating track though so this one also stays. Keep up with their stuff here and stay confident.

 

Trudy & The Romance hail from Liverpool and are apparently our doorway back into the sounds of the '50s. You can't accuse Flying Vinyl of lacking variety. The single cover art is crap but they do get transparent red vinyl. They sound only vaguely like a band from the above mentioned decade. Not a good one either. 'Is There A Place I Can Go' leaves me hoping there is and that it has no musical equipment. 'Junkyard Cat' reminds me of The Libertines, or some other Doherty-fronted, drunken-sounding act. Apparently five people want the disc on Discogs so they're welcome to it. The band have an album out and some shows in May. Dates etc. here.

 

This week's band with a foodstuff in their name are Milk Disco. 'Weekender' has a good thumping bassline and the vocal style is somewhere between speaking & singing. Sufficiently original to warrant keeping I feel. 'Twisted Wheel' is obviously simmilar in style but delivered at a slower pace. It's in an odd position of being music I can appreciate without seeing myself playing it often in the future or bothering to get an album's worth of. Yet it still feels like it ends too soon. The band seem to have just played their last gigs for a while but keep an eye on their doings here.

Even before beginning to write the body of this I've opened a tab for Discogs as the Colouring disc ('Heathen' and 'White Whale') is so obviously not something I'll be listening to again on purpose. Their smooth '80s slightly jazzy pop sound is anathema. According to this month's booklet they supported the 1975 in North America in 2017 and that's another black mark by association with one of the worst named acts of the century. 'White Whale' offers up more of the same from the A side (the songs are interchangeable in their blandness). Unsurprisingly the valuation on Discogs is under £5 but I'll settle for that. By the looks of the band's website they've not been very busy since 2017.

 

Cosmo Sheldrake's the only one of the five acts this time around that I'd heard of prior to the parcel dropping through the letterbox. I think he's supposed to have a reputation as being a bit off the wall. 'Come Along' doesn't come across as something that'll be getting sung by the masses much in the future. Not good enough to have him mentioned in the same breath as Nick Drake or even Badly Drawn Boy. 'Mind Of Rocks' starts off with a female chorus at a pace which brings to mind pagan rituals. It goes a bit wonky too but it's not totally clear if that's to do with the pressing or deliberate. There's the possibility of a tenner being paid for it so I'd rather have that. Cosmo's website also doesn't show much recent activity but he does have a couple of gigs lined up for the summer.

 

Next up, on solid white vinyl, are The Ninth Wave. I've recently become aware of their existence and I'm sure someone I know suggested giving them a listen. 'Reformation' ticks a number of nostalgia boxes but not really for any style I was very into. I can't help thinking that they'll be less successful than Franz Ferdinand in their heyday and sink just as quickly. 'Heartfelt' has a faster pace than the A side but what I picture is Deacon Blue given a rock makeover. If someone wants to pay me a fiver for it they're welcome. Their site confirms they're alive & well with a small tour of the UK imminent.

 

So far we're three for three this time around. Given that Isaac Gracie apparently had help from BBC Introducing (so says the blurb) there's a good chance its kiss of death won't reverse the disposal trend.

 

And so it proves. Nice solid scarlet disc but yearning, drippy singing on 'All In My Mind' immediately have me switching it over to 'Reverie'. Which is better vocally but does the world need another "woe is me" tune? £20 on offer so that's four out of four getting listed. Isaac's still on the go though, with his first gig of the year scheduled for late in April.

 

Stereo Honey are immediately on a sticky (geddit?) wicket as a) there's too many bands around with honey in their name (and you don't really want your stereo anywhere near spreads) and b) they've opted for an acoustic B side. 'The Bay' comes to life when it hits the instrumental passage around halfway through and is the best song from this bunch of discs but still not one I feel a need to keep hold of. 'Angel', in the version presented here, doesn't grab me at all or give the impression that the original version would either. Whilst Discogs has no sales history (not usually a good sign) and only three people want it (but yet there are 15 selling it) I can apparently hope for the best part of £15 so that's a clean sweep. Spotify playlisting them and chatting with GQ seems to be keeping the band busy at the moment.