Bent Shapes' second album sees them taking their angular, literate indie rock in bold directions. Catchier, tougher and more focused then their debut, Wolves of Want marries smart songwriting to infectious, energetic playing and comes out a winner. With echoes of everyone from The Feelies to The Wedding Present and Unrest, this Boston band knows their history but also knows how to write great tunes, and this is a taut, expertly-written album that is at once personal and universal, reinvigorating indie rock with fresh relevance.

LP » $13.00 CD » $9.00

"Spilt Milk" is the brand new album from indie auteur Pete Astor, previously of The Loft, The Weather Prophets, and other esteemed acts. It was recorded onto 1/2 inch tape at the home studio of James Hoare of Ultimate Painting, The Proper Ornaments and Veronica Falls, with James playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and singing backing vocals. "He was", says Astor, "an amazing band." Other contributions came from members of Astor's live band, with Pam Berry (Black Tambourine, Withered Hand) supplying vocals, Jack Hayter (Hefner) on pedal steel, Alison Cotton (The Left Outsides) on viola, and Robin Christian (Male Bonding) and Susan Milanovic (Feathers) on drums.
ʉ۬The album has all the hallmarks of a future Pete Astor classic, drawing together key strands and tributaries of his work over the years, blending intuitive songwriting, acute lyrics and incisive melodies. After many years making more experimental, electronic music Astor has come full circle to the sound that made his name.

The Bay Area's finest folk/pop/psych/garage band returns with "All Odds End," another understated, marvelously-textured guitar pop album featuring a tweaked line-up that now includes the swirling keyboards of Carly Putnam and the rock-solid bass of Matt Bullimore. "All Odds End" is full of folky, garagey flavors that echo the Paisley Underground and the best of New Zealand's underground pop. The lovely, sympathetic production by Jason Quever (Papercuts, The Donkeys, Elisa Ambroglio) only serves to underline the timeless nature of the tunes, songs that are at once familiar and fresh and place The Mantles into a category all their own.

LP » $10.00 LP » $11.00 CD » $8.00

From The Boy Hairdressers, to The Groovy Little Numbers, to BMX Bandits, Superstar and even guest spots with Teenage Fanclub, Joe McAlinden has long been one of the key figures in the Scottish pop scene. Now he's back with his second album under the name Linden, and it's a peach. Like 2012's Bleached Highlights, the new album features Edwyn Collins behind the mixing desk, to help tease out the nuances in these gorgeously soulful pop songs. Joe is absolutely at the top of his game, making warm, melodic, emotionally literate music of the sort we just don't hear enough of anymore.

LP » $13.00 CD » $9.00

Finally, Joanna Gruesome are back with their very eagerly-awaited second album! Rival groups will be disappointed to learn that the record is a further experiment in combining hyper melodic pop music with sonic violence. Officials have confirmed that the album contains a record number of hooks, traces of nut and elements of jangle pop, British hardcore punk, atonal music, screaming and drone organs. Yet they have issued warnings of "a marriage of radical politics with peanut butter spread." One authorized statement reads: "Weighing in at a concise 25 minutes, the album hurtles through its ten songs, each one a succinct, powerful gem."

LP » $12.00 CD » $9.00

We've been fans of Toronto's Young Guv for a mighty long time, and are very pleased to bring you this fantastic mini-LP. Coming on like Big Star produced by Prince, this record smoothly covers everything from the rhythm box pop of "Crushing Sensation" to the power-pop classicism of "Crawling Back To You," from the brilliant jangle of "Living The Dream" to the Tears For Fears-tinged 80s vibe of epic closer "Wrong Crowd." Young Guv has been releasing singles, EPs and tapes for several years now (not to mention his work with Fucked Up, The Bitters and his Bad Actors label), but with Ripe 4 Luv he's finally fully realized his pop vision.

LP » $11.00 CD » $7.00

Evans the Death return with their anxiously-awaited second album Expect Delays. Recorded again with producer Rory Atwell, the album bristles with an underlying tension and veers from rip-roaring noise to quiet contemplation, underpinned by Katherine Whitaker's extraordinary voice. First single "Don't Laugh At My Angry Face" perfectly encapsulates what the album is about: dark, noise, sonically ambitious but still totally melodic. "Enabler" and "Bad Year" are classic Brit Pop, all boisterous guitars and sing-along vocals. Add in the raucous "Idiot Button" and the languorous "Waste of Sunshine" and you get a picture of a band completely in sync, reaching for the stars and getting there. A brilliant, inventive album.

LP » $13.00 CD » $9.00

Slumberland is very proud to partner with Allo Darlin' to release their eagerly awaited new album We Come From the Same Place. The third full-length recording from the much loved Anglo-Australian four-piece is made up of smart, beautiful pop music, with lyrics that resonate with experience and melodies that chime, echo and soar. The album combines the eagerness, urgency and immediacy of their 2010 self-titled debut with the contemplation, sophistication and ambition of their 2012 follow-up Europe, and yet it goes beyond either both sonically and in the song-writing.

LP » $13.00 CD » $9.00

Sparkling, classic indie-pop from a great young Philadelphia band that will sit comfortably next to your Orange Juice, Close Lobsters and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart records. The tunes on "Chorus" are timeless, immediate and well-crafted, each song exploding with energy, clever lyrics and brilliant instrumental detail. Every song on here could be a single; it's that stacked.

LP » $13.00 CD » $8.00

Slumberland Records is pleased to bring you the debut album from London-based neo-psychedelic pop group The Proper Ornaments. Mining the rich territories between The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys, Wooden Head features fourteen thrillingly taut and melodic pop songs with a deep undercurrent. Taking inspiration from Berlin-era Lou Reed, Jesus and Mary Chain's Darklands, The Television Personalities and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, the songs are breezy and easy on the ear, with sublime harmonies and chiming Byrdsian guitar, but with a darker twist and a pervasive air of melancholy.

CD » $8.00

Devon Williams' third solo album is a tour de force of shimmering, melodic pop. Devon combines his broad musical tastes with exceptional song-writing and arranging skill, and an unerring ear for melody - all of which are in ample evidence on Gilding The Lily. Williams trademark sound is a seamless blend of power-pop, orchestrated soft-rock and layered, complex jangle-pop that recalls such forebears as The Church, Felt and Aztec Camera. Genuinely beautiful music that reveals a songwriter fully realizing his talent and reaching a new peak of craft and creativity.

LP » $13.00 CD » $8.00

Atlanta's noise-pop greats are back with their long-awaited second album! Dalliance is more focused and abrasive than that 2011 debut, combining their noise-pop influences from forebears like Boyracer and The Wedding Present with shades of the post-hardcore, emo and post-punk on which the band all cut their musical teeth. This is not to say that Gold-Bears gave up impossibly catchy song-writing, just that their signature indie punk anthems are now even sharper, the guitars even more slashing, and the songs even more harrowing and heartfelt than ever.

CD » $8.00

Breathless, lightning-quick power-pop songs that feature some of the best tunes we've heard in ages. Taking his cues from Thin Lizzy, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, Dinosaur Jr and Guided By Voices, Tony has an unerring grasp on what makes great pop work, and these twelve songs (including an ace GBV cover) could all be lost 70s radio hits, albeit ones filtered through a love of punk and hardcore. Brevity is the name of the game here - most songs run under one minute and yet don't skimp at all on melody or self-deprecating humor. Awesome.

LP » $18.00 CD » $6.00

The long-awaited second album from this respected Edinburgh artist. Produced by Tony Doogan (Mountain Goats, Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, The Pastels) and featuring a stellar array of guests including members of Belle & Sebastian, Frightened Rabbit, Black Tambourine and The Vaselines, New Gods is a brilliant and impassioned piece of songwriting and arranging. Calling it "folk" or "pop" really only tells part of the story -- Withered Hand's music is beautiful, melodic, honest and beyond easy categorization.

LP » $14.00 CD » $8.00

Brilliant space-rock/shoegaze/post-everything album from this new group that features Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3), Mark Van Hoen (Locust, Seefeel) and Nick Holton (Holton's Opulent Oog). They've all worked together for years on various projects and now team up to give us wide-ranging double-LP that could only come from a band with this much talent and experience. A gorgeously-textured yet experimental album, it's rich tapestry of sound creates an almost synaesthesic experience, overflowing with enraptured, glowing textures, flaring white light like magnesium, in consort with brilliant red-blue waves of psychedelia.

CD » $8.00

The Bay Area's Terry Malts are back with a smashing new album, and it's every bit the equal of their debut "Killing Time." On this tough second album, Terry Malts deliver up eleven bone-crunching punk/pop anthems that ably blend smart, disgusted lyrics with breakneck tunes and stick-in-your-head melodies. From ripping opener "Two Faces" through alienated first single "I Was Not There" right down to closer "So Serious," "Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere" is a total blast and one of the records of the year.

LP » $13.00 CD » $8.00

We're excited to announce the release of the debut album by thrilling Cardiff-based noisepop five-piece Joanna Gruesome. Brimming with irresistible pop melodies and spiked with dissonant fuzzy jangle, their songs are shot through with loud discordant feedback and super-fast, hardcore punk drumbeats. Kicking against sexism and homophobia, nothing is off-limits, drawing inspiration from DIY scenes such as Riot Grrrl/noisepop/C86/K Records as well as post-hardcore like Drive Like Jehu/Converge and the art rock of The Velvet Underground, Swirlies and My Bloody Valentine.

LP » $13.00 CD » $8.00