Sunday Spins

I'm feeling a bit retro at the moment so I'm going to recommend three albums that are currently fighting for a play on my CD player rather than on my 'pod'.

Less Sophistication is a great pop album from Norway's The Jessica Fletchers. It has a really nice sixties guitar vibe to it and one of the best singles of the year in Summer Holiday & Me.


The Dead 60s eponymous debut album is a real funk-punk ska affair that immediately brings to mind the reggae/dub exploits of The Clash. The heavy bass, angular guitars and infectious beats, like those on their agit-pop single Riot Radio, give the whole album a vitality that I've not heard in a long time.

Disappear Here is a return to form for Silver Sun. It's a fun upbeat collection of 3-minute disposable pop tunes. An appropriately named track, Bubblegum, kicks off the album and for the next half hour you are bombarded with umpteen catchy hooks and complex backing vocals. Initially there seems to be far too much going on but after a few plays it all sinks in. Great stuff!