On a couple of singles released in 2023, Tucson’s The Lemon Drop Gang cemented their very retro sound on tracks that melded garage rock with surf, and roughly hewn 60s pop with an obvious love of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Nobody would ever have called the results perfect, but to expect perfection from a band such as this would be to miss the point, since The Lemon Drop Gang champion a fun aesthetic and they deliver a raw sound that – if you’re into it – can thrill purely because of its imperfections.
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RICHARD EVANS – Quantum
When it comes to applying retro synth melodies to compositions that still hold up decades after some their 80s influences have long faded, the work of Richard Evans is hard to beat. His 2023 EP ‘Dream of The World’ brought the classic elements of Jean Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream’s mid 80s soundtrack works into the then present, and by dropping in a few nods to very early Depeche Mode along the way, the short release also felt a little more lyrical and accessible in a “pop” sense. Part of its appeal also came from the brevity of the release: three songs was enough to get the measure of a great artist, but didn’t allow anything to feel repetitive.
FVZZ POPVLI – Melting Pop
When it comes to stoner influenced sounds, Italian band Fvzz Popvli aren’t afraid of mixing things up a little. On their third album (the prosaically titled ‘III’, released in March 2023), their distorted, Orange Goblin-esque blueprint came with a few very welcome twists. ‘Post Shit’ took a layer of stoner fuzz and placed it across a high octane number that celebrated the spirit of garage punk; the percussive ‘Monnoratzo’ shared some fairly typical stoner rock guitar sounds and a busy Geezer Butler inspired bassline, but injected the usual tropes with more of a Latin American groove, sounding like an uneasy blend of Fu Manchu and Santana, and – perhaps best of all – ‘The Last Place of Shame’ worked a massive chorus to its advantage, with a melody that sounded more like a Britpop throwback from Shed Seven than the expected Sabbath and Corrosion of Conformity influences usually found at the heart of the genre’s usual fare.
MAX RAEL – Brighter Future / The People Have Won (Persistence Is All)
A key member of industrial project History of Guns and also the experimental band Decommissioned Forests, Max Rael has been a strange enigma within the underground of the UK’s electronica and industrial scenes for a number of years. This solo debut finds him taking a few familiar past traits and twisting them into new shapes, creating something that preaches positivity but contrasts that with a cold, almost bleak backdrop for the world’s entertainment. It’s a contrast that really works.
THE INCITERS – Bring Back The Weekend / If I Could Only Be Sure
Over the years, American band The Inciters have delivered a great blend of northern soul and rocking sounds in a package that’s pretty much guaranteed to get their audience jumping. Their ‘Boot N Soul’ single from 2023 was a perfect example of their retro heart beating furiously, and its parent album ‘Bring Back The Weekend’ showed how the band were not just about quality, but also consistency. Within that thirty five minutes, the musicians worked their way through self penned soul bangers, twangy rock numbers with a retro flair, and even a couple of retro pop infused numbers that lent themselves brilliantly to a horn section, each with equal greatness. It was one of those albums that, no matter where you dropped the needle, a good time was guaranteed.