By releasing just three albums over a fourteen year span, you could definitely say that Dotsun Moon’s work is an exercise in quality over quantity. The one man band’s third long player,‘Tiger’, comes almost a decade after ‘A Swan’s Song’, but it’s a release that was definitely worth waiting for.
Monthly Archives: July 2025
THE BABLERS – Like The First Time
Back in 1980, at a time when the power pop world was dominated by bands in skinny ties and with names like The Pop and The Look, The Bablers released their debut LP ‘What’s It All About’. The record’s stand out track ‘Imaginary Land’, with its stabbed piano motifs and infectious wordless hook, they sounded like a cross between XTC and Nick Lowe with a Scandinavian accent. ‘What Can I Do’ showed a knack for harmony vocals on something that could’ve been a Hollies deep cut from ’75, and seemingly not caring for fashion, ‘McKinley’s Birthday Party’ applied a McCartney-esque rumpty-tumpty rhythm to a pop tune that sounded at least five years out of date at the time of release. You couldn’t ever call it a perfect album, but at its best, it showed a band with spirit, and one capable of sometimes delivering a great tune, even if the vocals weren’t as sharp as the material deserved.
ADAM SHERMAN – Nowhere But Here EP
Adam Sherman is a veteran of the Boston music scene. In the early 80s, he was the voice of power pop band Private Lightning, an act that’s been somewhat overlooked in subsequent years – you’ll never find anything from their 1980 LP included on even the most niche of compilations. In more recent times, he’s recorded with The Souls, and also The Nervous Eaters, a band whose 2024 LP captures the spirit of older power pop bands like 20/20 perfectly. He’s even recorded a couple of solo discs that, despite critical praise, didn’t reach beyond a cult following. It could definitely be said that, even though he mightn’t be a household name, he’s kept himself busy over the years.
KEELEY confirms headline tour for 2026
Since the release of their ‘Brave Warrior’ EP in 2021, Irish-Anglo band KEELEY have been a great source of thoughtful indie and shoegaze sounds. Their songs, mostly based around the disappearance of traveller Inga Maria Hauser, have provided a superb vehicle for the charismatic Keeley Moss, and whether delivering shimmering, atmospheric tunes (‘To A London Sunrise’) or really catchy pop-rockers (‘The Glitter & The Glue’), the band’s output has managed the rare feat of maintaining a high quality even with a prolific release schedule.
Watch: Ward XVI share new video for ‘At The Window’
The opening drones of Ward XVI’s current single ‘At The Window’ immediately advertise something with a grandiose heart. This almost cinematic stance is perfect for the band, since it captures their huge sound in an instant, and when providing a massive backdrop for the verse’s more goth-tinged leanings, those keys sit naturally between a darkwave unease and an orchestral flourish, reminding listeners that this shock rock act doesn’t “think small”.