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Back To California
Price: $14.00
Artist:
20/20
Description:
“Back To California” is the first album from 20/20 co-founders Steve Allen and Ron Flynt since 1998’s “Interstate” and its hooks, harmonies and instantly memorable tunes stand with their classic late 70’s/early 80’s work that commenced with the band's undisputed classic self-titled debut album in 1979, and brings their music to a whole new generation of guitar pop fans and long-time followers alike. “How often has a band gone more than a quarter of a century between album releases and then come up with a collection of songs that stands proudly alongside their finest work? Not too often, I’d say. What the music does on ‘Back To California’ is expertly builds a bridge between 20/20’s legacy as an iconic power pop band and Allen and Flynt’s current status as seasoned songwriters and performers who have never strayed from their love of a hook. The title track harkens back to that glorious late 70’s power pop sound, with muscular, driving guitars and a riff that vaguely recall the Plimsouls’ ‘A Million Miles Away.’ Nearly every track here is framed with an inspired guitar riff accompanying an instantly memorable melody. Sometimes the guitars are forceful (those opening blasts of distorted six-string on ‘The End of the Summer’ are pretty damned cool), sometimes they’re Beatlesque (‘When the Sun Goes Down’), and sometimes they even lean ever-so-slightly toward country-rock (the catchier than hell ‘King of the Whole Wide World’). Without fail, the hook is always king, and Allen and Flynt dole them out here like there’s no tomorrow.” - John Borack EXCELLENT!!
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Person Hat
Price: $11.00
Artist:
Burgess Meredith
Description:
Burgess Meredith is a garage pop, 60’s-influenced rock & roll band from Austin, TX. The band pays tribute to the late great actor and was formed by Josh King and John Vishnesky along with long time friend Jesse Hester. Members also include guitarist Keith Lough, drummer Bryson Duhon, vocalist Cara Tillman, and bassist John Brookbank “A dozen years down the line from their debut EP ‘Banana Moon’ and seven since their first full-length ‘A Dimension of Sound’ (which was also the group’s last studio album to date). We’ve all but formally filed a missing persons report on Burgess Meredith. Heck, I personally have a very fond memory of catching them somewhere in the mid-2010s and have since caught myself looking back every now and then wondering, ‘what ever happened to them?’ Well, it turns out Burgess Meredith is alive and well, and their grip on retro pop-garage rock romance is strong as it’s ever been. With a fresh lineup and a baker’s dozen new tunes mostly recorded at the height of social distancing, Burgess Meredith has dropped ‘Person Hat’, their long overdue comeback that heralds their return. Their piano-driven arrangements and firm grasp on the baroque/chamber pop aspects of 60’s psychedelia plus Beach Boys-esque vocal unisons and harmonies – everything we’ve always loved about them. But this time those elements are joined by the welcome orchestral additions of cello, clarinet, and horns plus a generous serving of vocoder, ultimately blurring the lines between Barrett-era Pink Floyd, late Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Zombies.” - KUTX-FM GREAT!!
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Snowball
Price: $11.00
Artist:
Dislexia
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL!! The CD debut of a download-only release from November 2024! Around 1996, Pepe Murgadas (a/k/a Shennon and Lotton), Roque Esteban (a/k/a El Inquieto Roque), a dedicated follower of such luminous pop bands as Jellyfish, ELO, Jason Falkner, Redd Kross, Bleu, The Rembrandts and Silver Sun and the critically-acclaimed Coke Belda (“A true craftsman, well-schooled in the ways of melody and harmony...“ - Alan Haber) formed a band and recorded several demos. They had a great time playing around Valencia and the surrounding areas at that time. The three got together in the Summer of 2024 for a party and decided to re-record songs from those demo sessions. They’ve dubbed themselves Dislexia and “Snowball” is their (brilliant) official debut of top-notch pop!!! “A sweet EP. The opening harmonies of ‘Love Is Blind’ give you a Beatlesque gem that hits all the right buttons. I enjoyed the easy-going pysch-pop of ‘You Were Water’ and ‘Sleeping All The Days.’ Overall a very good example of pop craftsmanship. Highly Reccomended.” - Powerpopaholic “With all of the talent these three musicians/songwriters possess, there is no doubt about the high-level and quality of the music you would expect from them - and, to no one’s surprise - they deliver BIG TIME!” - Max Humphries GREAT!!
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Primary Colours
Price: $18.00
Artist:
Dropkick
Description:
Dropkick have carved out a reputation for their lush, harmony-driven power pop, drawing comparisons to the likes of Wilco, The Jayhawks, Teenage Fanclub, and Tom Petty. Their music effortlessly blends melody and introspection, making them a mainstay in the indie music scene for well over a decade. “Primary Colours” features ten meticulously crafted tracks that blend power-pop, indie rock, and folk influences. Themes of love, loss, and the inevitable passage of time permeate the songs, each rich with harmony and lyrical depth. The album kicks off with "Left Behind," a soaring anthem that sets the tone for the record. The title track captures the album's essence with vibrant, evocative melodies. The schooldays nostalgia of "Dreams Expire" offers a haunting, introspective moment, while tracks like "Too Much of the Same" explore the repetitiveness of life and relationships with a reflective, yet infectious energy. Recorded at their long-time rehearsal space at Inch House, Edinburgh, Andrew Taylor (frontman and principal songwriter) produced the record that features a polished yet authentic sound. The production highlights the band's signature harmonies and multi-instrumental talents while retaining the raw energy of their live performances. Taylor, also known for his work with cult indie-pop band The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness and as long-term producer of the renowned Scottish country band, The Wynntown Marshals, continues to hone his craft as a songwriter and producer. GREAT!!
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Head Like A Toyshop
Price: $14.00
Artist:
He's Dead Jim
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL! EMPEROR PENGUIN ALERT!!! What can it possibly be like to jaunt in hyperspace for decades? Or be cryogenically frozen on a space freighter heading to the furthermost reaches of the galaxy? Both of these fates befell He’s Dead Jim, veteran sonic explorers from the rock and roll badlands of northeast Scotland. Or maybe it was neither. Regardless, these post-post-punk-pop legends are now back with a new album on the Kool Kat label. “Head Like A Toyshop” is bursting at the seams with hummable gems, mixing garage rock, glam and psychedelia into an aurally addictive Scotch broth, seasoned with their lyrical preoccupations – sci-fi, trash comics, TV, literature, war, mind control and re-organization of local government. This is the band's first release since 2008’s “Colour Climax/Monochrome World” compilation of their savagely primitive early recordings, recorded live in an actual (freezing) garage. Originally hailing from Aberdeen and one of Scottish rock’s best kept secrets - indeed, so secret that very few have heard of them – the HDJ core trio of Andy Milne (drums, ex-The Cateran), Neil Christie (guitar/vocals, Emperor Penguin) and Allan Bell (vocals, bass) return to their mission to fuse The Move and Josef K with Mud, creating a Frankenstein’s monster of irresistible pop. Rejuvenated classics rub shoulders with thrilling new material in a terrifying universe of grotesquely tortured metaphors. Includes a kool cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”! Yesterday is now tomorrow. Surrender to the void. GREAT!!
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Stories With Guitars
Price: $14.00
Artist:
Joe Giddings
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL! Joe provides the backdrop for “Stories With Guitars”, his second terrific release on the Kool Kat label: “The writing and recording of the album started in March 2024. I wrote ‘Then Came Madeline’ for my daughter, and that started the ball rolling. It was therapy. The muse had been awakened, and I started writing and recording constantly. For months I was playing a new song for my wife, Rachel, nearly every other week. She actually helped a lot with phrasing and getting me to belt it out and change things up, vocally.” A limited vinyl pressing of the record was released in late 2024, and has already garnered some high praise! “Exquisitely crafted pop rock up to the usual Joe Giddings standards, but the biographical subject matter makes it even more special! The vocals are stunning, and the guitar work outstanding. This album has everything I love about the classic rock era without sounding like a ripoff or a parody!” - Dwayne Jones “The mastering is pristine, guitars soar, vocals are top notch and the lyrics will make you laugh and cry. Dedicated to the late Jim Palermo who I miss everyday, I hope these frequencies reach heaven, cuz it’s going to be rocking up there!!” - Aiden Stewart “Joe’s previous release, ‘Better From Here’, was one of the very best of 2020. Flash forward to the present, and ‘Stories With Guitars’ is fabulous! and it's fabulous! The high quality we've come to expect from his many projects (Star Collector, JTG Explosion, etc.), this is sure to be one of the very best albums of 2025! Bravo sir!”- Scott Theabo “Joe Giddings knows power pop from all the way back to his band Star Collector in the late 90's! And this one has plenty of power and pop! It harkens back to that fabulous Star Collector 1999 album ‘Songs for the Whole Family’. Joe, you are such a talented musician and songwriter. You deserve a much bigger audience!” - Brian Bunn AGREED!! GREAT!!
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Live In Japan at The Tsubaki House - 1984
Price: $19.00
Artist:
Rain Parade
Description:
PREVIOUSLY ONLY AVAILABLE AT THEIR 2024 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES!! Rain Parade are one of the foundational bands of the early 1980’s Paisley Underground scene, created by a loose alliance of West Coast acts who looked back to the psychedelic era of the 1960s for inspiration. More than their peers the Rain Parade were deeply indebted to the mystical psych and hazy pop sounds of the bygone era. They re-formed in the 2000’s to play a series of shows, and 2023’s “Last Rays of a Dying Sun” hit a graceful midpoint between the subtlety of their 1983 debut album and the harder attack of 1986’s “Crashing Dream”. “Like most of the bands implicated in the West Coast psychedelic revival (the Paisley Underground, if you will), Rain Parade had a better ear for style than for substance. Most of the genre’s bands tend to make very deft, subtle music but have nothing to say; Rain Parade at least knows the nuances of form better than anyone else.” - Trouser Press Recorded live at The Tsubaki House. Tokyo, Japan, December 13, 1984, the CD was previously only made available during their June 2024 tour of Europe. Track listing: “This Can’t Be Today”, “Nightshade”, “Blue”, “Kaleidoscope”, “You Are My Friend”, “Eyes Closed”, “Don’t Feel Bad”, “Sad Eyes Kill”, “No Easy Way Out” and “Crashing Dream”. GREAT!!
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Spiritual Age
Price: $14.00
Artist:
Telejet
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL!! A HUGE thanks to David Bash for hipping us to the brilliant Telejet! Friends Gene Hughes and James Ansara, looking for an original handle, came up with the name Telejet in a word-jam experiment. After 3 digital-only studio albums and several line-up changes, Gene continues to write, produce songs and create music videos from their Queen Street West studio in Toronto. Telejet songs will appeal to people who love very melodic classic or progressive pop. “I haven’t heard too many releases as good as ‘Spiritual Age’ in a long time. Gene Hughes has his fingers firmly on the pulse of tantalizing chord changes, and Partridge-esque (Andy, not Keith) melodies and lyrics. ‘She Speaks Her Mind could have been a long lost The Dukes Of Stratosphear track, ‘Indian Summer’ the same for ‘Nonesuch’; in fact, just about anything on the record rings true with XTC! If you love classic Beatle-esque and harmony pop, orchestral pop, or prog pop, and a bit of everything in between (and let’s face it, who reading this doesn’t?), then you will LOVE Telejet! This is a band that pop fans all over the world NEED to know about! I’m so appreciative that Kool Kat Musik had the good taste and persistence to finally get this album released on physical format!” – David Bash Don’t sell yourself short David, you were a big part of making this happen by (gently) leaning on Gene! It took a while, but it was well-worth it! GREAT!!
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The Dynamo Hymn
Price: $14.00
Artist:
The Dynamo Hymn
Description:
NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 21! The CD debut of a 2024 download-only release! The Dynamo Hymn are the collective that have recorded this album featuring the songs of Shaun McGee. Shaun previously played bass and sang backing vocals with Pugwash between the years 2000-2016 and toured doing the same for Pete Wylie's "Wah!" (2016/17). Also in the band are guitarist/keyboardist Tosh Flood(Divine Comedy/Pugwash) and drummer Joe Fitzgerald (Saville/Pugwash). Duncan Maitland (Slumberjet) also lends a hand throughout. The album was mainly recorded between May 2023 and January 2024 in Southport, UK with additional recording in Liverpool, Ireland, Scotland and Japan. “As the 2010’s progressed and the music writing grew way beyond expectations, I seemed to get out and about far less, but I always found time for Pugwash, who were a great live band. Shaun McGee was a key part of the quartet with his inventive bass playing and impressive backing vocals. He now takes centre stage as vocalist of his own songs as well as adding that superb bass playing and more. There are obviously similarities to Pugwash, particularly on ‘The Third Time Round’ and the splendid ‘Here He Comes Again’ and overall the influences will be no surprise. Those influences include Beatles circa 1968, Idle Race, The Move, Pop Rock akin to the likes of Liverpool Express and hints at times of Jimmy Campbell in the vocal and the production. ‘Satellite’ latterly contains a wonderful Baroque arrangement. ‘It's Too Late’ even hints at Glam Rock whilst drawing up images of those great 70’s Pop Rock albums that everyone seems to be rediscovering. ‘Colours’ is great UK Beat, reminiscent of The Kinks and ‘White Album’-era Beatles, while flirting with Psych Pop. ‘Andy's Waltz’ is part Jeff Lynne, but also hints at the likes of 10cc whilst ‘Without’ is a great moody melancholic closer. McGee's vocal is superb and you wonder why he hasn't gone up front more. This is the sort of album that I thought I would never hear again from the participants. It has made my year. Magnificent!” - I Don’t Hear A Single GREAT!!
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The Heats
Price: $12.00
Artist:
The Heats
Description:
Originally known as The Heaters, The Heats are a seminal power-pop band from Seattle that gained local fame in the late 70s and 80’s. Known for their high-energy performances and catchy rock sound, the band continues to be a fan favorite in the Pacific Northwest music scene. Joining founding members Steve Pearson, Keith Lilly, and Kenny Deans is their newest member, guitarist Jon Memolo, bringing fresh energy to the group's timeless sound. “There’s definitely party vibe to opening cuts ‘I Hope You’re Wrong’ and ‘You Know.’ Dancing shoes material, for sure. A lot of this record has that 80’s guitar crunch I associate with the early Romantics or Tommy Tutone, e.g. ‘For You”’ and ‘Where’s Your Love.’ There’s a strong Beatlesque quality to so many tunes here, like ‘She Belongs With Me’ and ‘As If,’ the latter some Costello flavour to the mix. So many great tunes here but I’d single out the Marshall Crenshaw-ish ‘Heartbroken Past’ and AM radio-ready should be hit ‘Never Be the Same.’” - Poprock Record “There are only a handful of must have albums from 2024 – and The Heats’ new one tops the list.” - Power Pop News “The opening riffs of ‘I Hope You’re Wrong’ prove the band still has the goods musically, although Pearson’s vocal delivery is an acquired tasted here, a little like Tom Petty mixed with Bob Dylan. The band struts out the melodic rock on ‘You Know,’ and most of this wouldn’t be out of place on the Rumbar Records' artist roster. Other impressive songs include ‘The Life of The Party’ and ‘She Belongs To Me.’ It leans more toward hard rock than power pop, but there is still enough here to satisfy. Jon Memolo’s ‘You Know’ and ‘Never Be The Same’ showcase the bands depth of style and helps make this one highly recommended.” - Powerpopaholic GREAT!!
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