The ever-vivacious Captain Stavros is back with another smorgasbord of new tunes.

 

Mr Lunge

Heavy Golden Swim

Brace Yourself Records

Weirdly Wonderful, Wonderfully weird.

 

Tops

Perfected Steps

Empty Seats EP Out Now

Got me with their Carpenters sounds and Rhodes Pian-ah on this trackeroni

 

The Queen’s Head

Your God Owes You Money

Out Now on Speedy Wunderground

Sorta sounds like drugs learned to make music.

 

American Football

Fade Into You

Rare Symetry/Fade Into You June 10 on Big Scary Monsters

Fresh Take on a classic.

 

Cola

Water Table

Deep in View Out May 20 on Fire Talk

A melancholic hook and subdued urgency that reminded us of Elliot Smith

 

Porridge Radio

The Rip

Water Slide, Diving  Board, Ladder to the Sky out May 20 on Secretly Canadian

Dug the Theremin on this track and the vocals reminiscent of Rexy

 

 

The Clockworks

Enough is Never Enough

Out Now on It’s Creation Baby

Dunno why, but it caught our eye. So we’re going to point a finger at The Clockworks, guess which one? 

 

Decisions

Nixer

People Feel – Out May 27 on Blowtorch Records

We really like this, it’s nitty gritty. It’s a bunch of different things slamming into each other like when Gomez would throw the signal and crash his trains. Only this works.

 

Park Motive

Undark

Out Now On Spinny Nights

Not usually our type of thing but credit where credit is due. Enjoyed watching and listening to the song reach critical mass. Tighten that chain though and pump those tyres though.

 

Keg

Kids

Girders EP Out September 2 Via Alcopop! Records / BMG

Hold the Sweaty Spaghetti Freddie. Shit shit shit kids. We love it.

 

Echo Beach

Am I Dreaming?

Out Now

A little poppy for our tastes, but curious enough to sneak through. Your thoughts?

 

Tan Cologne

Topaz Wave

Album Due Soon – Labrador Records

Solid shoegazey dream pop. Pretty good intro to the new Duo from New Mexico.

 

Desire

Black Latex

Out Now – Italians Do It Better

We saw Desire open for Chromatics (RIP), backed by Italians Do It Better, they never let’s us down.

 

Cola

Degree

Deep in View Out May 20 on Fire Talk

It’s got Squid vibes, nothing wrong with that.

 

The Americans

Stand True

Stand True Out Now on Loose

If you’re a fan of Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp or The White Stripes this LA Rock Trio might be for you.

 

 

 

 

 

Hot on the heels of their latest single ‘Witching Hour’, Montreal four-piece Tops have shared a new song and video from their forthcoming album I Feel Alive, which is set for release on April 3 via Musique Tops. ‘Colder & Closer’ is a shimmering, lean pop production with lyrical meditations on the social isolation that often plagues casual intimacy. The Mashie Alam-directed visual artfully represents this by following singer Jane Penny through an alternating lens of thermal and normal vision.

Speaking on the video, Alam says: "Jane had this really amazing vision where she hoped to convey the feeling of being immensely close to someone. The choice of using thermal footage was made because we wanted to see, feel, and immerse ourselves into the varying temperatures of the body as it heats up, cools down, responds to touch, and feels alone. We created a movement composition that travels between a live action world and a thermal world! The idea was to visually explore the dynamic of being far (in the live action world) and being close (in the thermal world)! Eventually the juxtaposing jumps between the two worlds merge into an immersive thermal universe to evoke a climactic sense of closeness from where there is no return."

I Feel Alive is Tops fourth full-length, following 2017's Sugar At The Gate and follows singles ‘Echo of Dawn’ and ‘Seven Minutes’ from last year. Their trademark sound of beguiling melodies over soft-rock grooves, with touches of '80s sophisti-pop and a contemporary experimental palette is intact, but bolder and more expansive. The songs manage to be both immediately catchy and deceptively deep, with Penny's literary lyrics adding an extra dimension to the pure pop hooks. Satisfying yet far from predictable, this is a record to be savoured, revealing itself slowly, gaining power and poignancy with each listen.

Beneath the soaring melodies and crisp production, I Feel Alive balances the giddiness of a new relationship with the agony of leaving old things behind. It's an introspective record that you can dance to, music that hits in an immediate rush but sticks around, lingering like the memory of a perfect doomed love affair-both the joy and the pain, until it becomes a part of your life forever.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

May 18 - Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin

May 19 - Nottingham, UK @ Bodega

May 20 - Dublin, Ireland @ Whelan's

May 21 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo

May 22 - Manchester, UK @ YES

May 23 - London, UK @ All Points East Festival

May 24 - Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana

May 25 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds