News, updated April 28, 2008
Out now: Sarandon Kill Twee Pop!
Sarandon have always impressed us with their passion, talent for crafting brief, shoutable anthems and wicked sense of humor. Taking their cues from the "other" side of C86, Sarandon pick up where bands like Big Flame, The Wolfhounds and Bogshed left off. Their tense, abrasive sound cross-breeds pop with the urgency and noise-loving aesthetic of punk. The results are catchy, bristly and totally distinctive.
Now we're quite proud to announce the release of Sarandon's debut album Kill Twee Pop!. With main man Crayola now ably aided by Alan Brown (Big Flame, Great Leap Forward) on bass and Tom Greenhalgh on drums, Sarandon have solidified into a frighteningly powerful trio, and Kill Twee Pop! appropriately overflows with confidence, humor and wit. With some tunes creeping towards the three minute limit the band are now letting things develop a bit more, and the variety of songs and sound on offer mark this as a proper album.
Kill Twee Pop! is out now on compact disc and 10" blue vinyl. Order now and get a free full-colour poster and nifty Sarandon badge while supplies last. You can go to the album page for more information, reviews and sample mp3s.
Other bits and pieces
Kid Frostbite is back with his first podcast in a while, and this one's perfect for those warm spring nights -- Soul Jerker: Sounds of '69. 50 minutes of non-stop skinhead reggae pressure guaranteed to get your party started and send you scurrying to eBay hunting for those rare Pama 7"s.
For those of you who prefer to buy our releases digitally, the Searching For The Now Vol. 1 and Searching For The Now Vol. 2 split singles are now available for download from eMusic, Amazon and Rhapsody. Go here and here for more info and direct store links.
The I Smiled Yesterday team has been hard at work and are proud to bring you their second podcast, nattily entitled I Smiled Yesterday #2. And it is an absolute corker, mixing up some crucial northern soul with crash-pop, post-punk and other fine flavors. These gents are positively unstoppable!
The Lodger's spectacular new album Life Is Sweet is coming mighty soon (check back for pre-order info in a few weeks), but in the UK Bad Sneakers is releasing a single of "The Good Old Days" on May 5. And what a tune it is -- a smashing slice of danceable pop with strong echoes of The Sound of Young Scotland, a killer bassline and an unstoppable guitar riff. It is a stone-cold classic and sure to be the soundtrack of many a summer dance party. Check out this fab video for "The Good Old Days" for further proof that Life Is Sweet is something special indeed.
And now for something completely different …
One might not guess, Slumberland being essentially a pop label, that our roots go deep into punk rock. From the proto punk of The Monks and The Stooges, to the '76/'77 UK explosion, to the fury of American first-wave hardcore, we dig it all and have been inspired by its energy, DIY ethic and uncompromising nature. Stewart Anderson from Boyracer/Steward and Martin Cannert from The Faintest Ideas/The Javelins share this love as well, and a mutual appreciation of first-wave Swedish hardcore has now exploded with Lögnhalsmottagningen.
The Öron Näsa EP is the fruit of this collaboration. Öron Näsa is seven songs in eight minutes, a rude blast of guitar mayhem and shouted Swedish vocals. Cheeky stuff to be sure, but also powerful and providing that electric punch we remember so well from the early '80s. Rushing by at breathless 100mph tempos and tight as the proverbial mosquito's, these seven songs hit hard and we can only wonder how these guys did this via the post. We shake our collective Slumberland head and count the days hoping for a sequel.
This single is a co-release between four labels: 555 (USA), Promenade (Swe), Slumberland (USA) and Yellow Mica (Swe), but limited to 300 numbered copies it's bound to sell out quickly. So if you have a taste for some unreconstructed first-wave hardcore, get on this while you can.
Searching For The Now, now!
Since kicking good ol’ Slumberland back to life barely over a year ago, we have heard some amazing songs, met loads of great bands, and wondered what we could do to get more fabulous music out there. Our answer is Searching For The Now, a series of split singles and compilation CDs through which we hope to bring you a regular selection of the music that has us excited, from bands you may already know and love, and new groups that we know will become your new favorites.
Our plan is to release two limited-edition split 7" singles every ten weeks or so, then compile every eight singles onto CDs to keep them available. Note that this is not a subscription series -- while we are limiting each single to one pressing, they'll be available from your favorite indie record retailers and mail orders, and of course directly from Slumberland. All singles will be pressed on color vinyl and packaged in special sleeves -- full-color, letterpress, silkscreen or something else cool.
Some bands confirmed include: A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Eux Autres, Bright Ideas, Public Record, Summer Cats, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Brown Recluse Sings, Liechtenstein, Boyracer, The Faintest Ideas, Ladybug Transistor, Pants Yell!, Moscow Olympics, The Sunny Street, Pipas, In Interview, Strange Idols, Mytty Archer and many more. If that sounds like a pretty unbelievable line-up we couldn't agree more, and we're really excited about the amazing contributions we're receiving on an almost daily basis.
The first two singles are available now. Volume One is an all-Glasgow edition, pairing the glam pop stomp of Roy Moller & The Company (featuring Stevie Jackson from a Glasgow band we all know and love) with the delightful folky pop of The Hermit Crabs. It's a superb combination. Volume Two features the Spectorian pop of Bye! (featuring Archie Moore from Velocity Girl/Black Tambourine) on one side, with the suave pop stylings of The Happy Couple on the flip. A mighty potent start to the series, and this really is only the start. Stay tuned for Volumes 3 & 4 coming in June.
What's that, a blog??
In our tireless efforts to bring you, the happy music fan, yet more music and information we have started a blog, If Things Were Perfect. Some of the features that used to live in our extras section will now be in the blog: the Track of The Week (now more realistically known as Song for Today), Top Tens and Year End charts. In addition, expect frequent posts from Ma and Pa Slumber, Kid Frostbite, Daddy Rich and various associates about a wide variety of musical topics. If Things Were Perfect is conveniently accessible via a link in the navigation bar right there on the left side, where you will also find a new link directly to our podcast.
Up next: The Lodger Life Is Sweet
Stay tuned for more details about The Lodger's spectacular new album Life is Sweet, due out in May. If you liked Grown-Ups you will love Life is Sweet.
Could there be even more?
Yes indeed. How about a double 7" ep from the legendary Phil Wilson, doing covers of Faust, Throbbing Gristle, S/T and Kraftwerk? Perhaps an amazing 7" from Glasgow's glamorous Sexy Kids strikes your fancy. It sure strikes ours. Brooklyn crash-pop geniuses caUSE co-MOTION! will grace us with an all-new 7" and a CD compiling all of their singles. And of course more Searching For The Now split singles.