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Birthday Party’ applied a McCartney-esque rumpty-tumpty rhythm to a pop tune that sounded at least five years out of date at the time of release.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.
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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.
HIKE THE PEAK – Air EP
At the beginning of 2025, Hike The Peak – an ongoing, collaborative punk project helmed by Sheffield based musician Lee Byatt – released ‘Fire’, a two track offering that, musically, fell between the tougher end of Sum 41’s work and the more melodic elements of Strike Anywhere. Members of Aussie punk band Fake News and US punks Gametime proved to be useful musical allies, and although there were elements of the short listen that already felt familiar from a fan’s point of view, it more than suggested that Byatt would deliver even more great music going forward.
CHEAP FIX – Re-Animator Blues / French Song
A new band for 2025, Austin’s Cheap Fix deliver two slabs of raw garage punk on their debut 7”. Whilst neither track attempts to break any new ground, genre wise, it’s actually clear within seconds of hitting the play button that these Texan lads mean business, and this first taste of their hard and fast sound suggests they are capable of going head to head with some of the scene’s best noise makers.
amilost – Chapter A Heartbreak EP
With members hailing from Norway and Scotland, amilost are a duo with a truly international flavour. Vocalist Sigrid Zeiner’s vocal style taps into a very melodic vein of Scandinavian singer songwriter fare, somewhere on the fringes of adult pop – something which dominated their breakthrough single ‘Pillowside’ in 2022. Multi instrumentalist Ross Craib isn’t shy of allowing his geographical roots to show, sometimes strongly, adding a traditional folk/Celtic melody to a sound that’s been dubbed having a “sense of cinematic grandeur”. On amilost’s ‘Good Morning’ single from 2023, Sigrid’s strong vocal was augmented by a choir of smooth voices that offered more than a strong callback to classic Clannad. This gave amilost a very easy vibe, but this certainly helped to bring out the very best in their very adult oriented sound.