DAVID MYHR – Lucky Day

Let’s not mince words: David Myhr’s solo debut ‘Soundshine’ is a classic album. Not just for the time of its release, but a genuine classic. Its retro pop style places it on a par with 10cc’s ‘How Dare You’, with Wings’ ‘London Town’ and Badfinger’s ‘No Dice’. In terms of more contemporary recordings, it rivals the Oranjuly debut and Jellyfish’s ‘Spilt Milk’ for sheer pop wonderment.

A follow up had a hard act to follow and perhaps knowing he had a big job in hand, Myhr rallied around the troops. As a result, 2018’s ‘Lucky Day’ features co-writes with Linus of Hollywood, Bleu, Bill DeMain and Young Hines – names which should be familiar to most power pop aficionados – and songwriter/producer Brad Jones, a man whose credits involve working with Matthew Sweet, Jill Sobule and Josh Rouse. It’s fair to say it’s got some solid foundations.

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FRANK TURNER – Be More Kind

Over the first ten years of his solo career, singer-songwriter Frank Turner recorded some fantastic material. His deeply personal songs touched on many subjects, from death, love, travel, friendship, lost weekends and politics. In short, in that time, he’s acted as a friend who’s been there, seen it all and is able to lend a lyrical tale of empathy whatever your personal situation. This time, though, he’s really not messing about: the commentary of ‘Be More Kind’ is a world away from the songs of youth, parties and camaraderie that peppered his early releases. It’s also musically far broader. A restless album, even; one that refuses to settle into any one style, sometimes with only Turner’s honest and personal lyrical concerns as an obvious link to the past. And while it isn’t a concept album, more than a few of its songs are connected to the universal themes of time and mortality.

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Watch ‘Doc Watson Dream’, the new video from The Green Apple Sea

Likened by Rolling Stone to sounding “somewhere between Red House Painters and The Beach Boys”, Germany’s Green Apple Sea make wondrously timeless pop music.

The Green Apple Sea release a new album entitled ‘Directions’ on May 18th.  In the meantime, you can watch the video for a new track, ‘Doc Watson Dream’.

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MATS WAWA – Scuzz EP

NME once described Mats Wawa as having “monster riffs”. It’s clear that NME’s idea of monster riffs and actual monster riffs are two different animals. Kyuss they most certainly aren’t and the chosen title might actually be a tongue in cheek joke, but that doesn’t escape the fact that this 2018 EP from Mats Wawa has some enjoyable moments. Actually, “enjoyable moments” is pretty much an understatement, since three quarters of ‘Scuzz’ is superb.
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The Cars ‘Shake It Up’ and ‘Heartbeat City’ to be reissued in expanded deluxe editions

Following last year’s expanded reissues of The Cars’ ‘Candy-O’ and ‘Panorama’,  Rhino are set to continue their Cars reissue campaign with expanded reissues of 1981’s ‘Shake It Up’ and 1984’s pop classic ‘Heartbeat City’.

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