Browsing Tag

60s Pop

Get in harmony with your soul through Skydivers’ indie pop kaleidoscope of 60s hues, Maybe I Can

Posted on 8 April 2024

Slip into the cradle of nostalgia with the latest single, Maybe I Can, from the Boone, NC-based studio project, Skydivers. The tenderly melodic kaleidoscope of 60s hues embody the colour and soul of the Beatles and the Kinks, filtered through a nuancedly modernised indie pop lens.

Hit play and cruise with the shimmering guitars, groove with the intuitively clever percussion, and find nirvana with the ascending keys which defy gravity as they sway through the production beneath the honey-timbered vocal lines as they exude a blissful state of care-free indecision.

In the frantic pace of our era, singles in the vein of Maybe I Can, which give permission to get in harmony with your own soul and slow down should be on everyone’s playlists. The sublime ease of the progressions is an efficacious sonic visualisation of the emotional themes which underpin this superlative release.

Maybe I Can was officially released on March 29; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a soulfully psychedelic trip back to the 70s with DENIM DAN’s latest single, Guess I’ll Be Alright

Posted on 26 November 2023

“Guess I’ll Be Alright” from Denim Dan is a portal back to the smooth and rich tones of 70s rock and the vibrant psychedelic colours of 60s pop. While it marks a daring step in the band’s sound, it maintains the comforting and straightforward vocal style fans have come to adore from the outfit, which banded together in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996.

There’s an unmistakable soulfulness within the smoky layers of the music, with nods to Northern Soul and a subtle jazz influence that Denim Dan integrates seamlessly; the resulting sound is both nostalgic and fresh, an ambitious blend that pays homage to the past while forging its own path.

Following the international recognition with their sixth album, their seventh, Santa Maria’s Dome, from which Guess I’ll Be Alright is prised, resounds as a cultivated new beginning. A track which focuses on two friends trying to get the other over addiction could all too easily become a sombre sonic feat, but via the depth of the storytelling, the texturally upbeat musical backdrop and the signature vocals, which always portray melancholy as an option you need not take, Guess I’ll Be Alright is a realm of captivatingly uplifting intrigue.

Stream DENIM DAN’s latest album, Santa Maria’s Dome on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christo Mondavi reversed the laws of gravity with his psychedelically transcendent single, Daisy’s Gone Electric

Posted on 15 July 2023

Christo Mondavi firmly implanted psychedelic soul back into rock n roll with his latest single, Daisy’s Gone Electric; the hazily lofty single brings brand-new and literal meaning to the concept of dancing on the ceiling.

With the colourful melodies and Mondavi’s honeyed harmonies resonating as though they have been pulled into this atmosphere from a far higher plateau, Daisy’s Gone Electric isn’t a single you can slip into; it is a single that instantaneously reverses the laws of gravity while paying homage to the tones popularised by The Doors and The Beatles.

For an extra lick of authenticity, there are also touches of Bowie to the spacey Odyssey-esque progressions and Zappa to the zanily pure vocal and lyrical presence, which proves Mondavi has a soul of solid 60s psych pop gold. Perfection may often be seen as an unattainable ideal, but if anyone can claim to sonically come close, it is Christo Mondavi.

Daisy’s Gone Electric is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BreakTime got all revved up in their 60s pop-rock single, Motor City Mama

Posted on 4 July 2023

If you wanna grease the wheels of your 60s pop-rock playlists, the latest single, Motor City Mama, from the illustrious nostalgia peddlers BreakTime, will get you all revved up with the Beach Boys-esque vocal harmonies and the bright guitar melodies that burst with vintage flair. Hitting play is like stepping into a parallel universe where Brian Setzer managed to work his way into the Beatles.

The New Jersey-hailing outfit started as a cover band before they started to nod towards their favourite eras and artists in their original music rather than assimilate them, which is exactly how BreakTime acquired their amalgamated sound that emanates rockabilly, sixties pop, blues rock and surf rock.

Even though the prodigal sons of vintage rock n roll switch up their sound between their releases, upbeat harmonies, technical skill and arresting showmanship always come as standard.

Motor City Mama is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Surfs Up in DM Street’s 60s Pop Rock Sonic Serotonin Supply, Taxi Ride

Posted on 5 January 2023

Providing a soundtrack you will want to twist and jive to, the first single, Taxi Ride, from the forthcoming LP Summer Songs for the Mustard Ear, from the 60s-inspired indie artist DM Street is a surf-rock-meets-psych-pop dream.

No fans of the Beach Boys, The Kinks, The Monkees and The Beatles will be immune to the disarming charm of Taxi Ride, which comes with an optimal pinch of roguish tongue-in-cheek swagger around the serious talent that contorted the colourful sun-soaked melodies.

If you’ve had your fill of ego and pretence-driven rock, Taki Ride will all too gladly transport you to a more altruistic aural destination; with this hit on your playlists, your uber trips will never be the same again.

Taxi Ride is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lyfe created a disco fever endemic with the euphoric soul in his latest funk-pop single, Tonight

Posted on 16 December 2022
Lyfe

For his latest single, Tonight, the up-and-coming artist, Lyfe, served a potent cocktail of pop, funk, disco, and soul. Rather than evoking nostalgia from one era, the artist, who is dominating more and more of the metaverse with every subsequent release, simultaneously took us to the 60s, 70s and 80s in a dizzying feat of sonic time travel.

While you time-hop through the funk-chopped guitars, glistening piano glissandos and heady four-to-the-floor beat, Lyfe creates collaborative alchemy with the celestially timbered backing vocalists who pour a profound level of euphoric soul into the feverish with disco track.

Each song from Lyfe’s 20-track debut album has its own virtual world in the Metaverse. Before the debut LP, Lyfe founded YXY ODY Studios to create a series of NFT drops and The Odyssey Metaverse. He also deployed one of the biggest virtual concerts yet, with over 40,000 attendees.

Watch this space because Lyfe is about to revolutionise it.

Tonight will officially release on December 16th. Check it out on his official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Electro-chanson meets 00s Britpop in Laptop Singers’ single, Le Love featuring Judy St. Clarke

Posted on 11 October 2022

Here to perpetuate the myth that there’s something in Sweden’s waters that breeds pop legends is Gothenburg’s brother duo, Laptop Singers, with their latest single, Le Love, featuring the Nashville singer Judy St. Clarke.

Before Le Love swings you back to Paris in the 60s, it makes a brief pitstop in charted by Garbage and The Cardigans 90s Britpop territory, leaving ample room for modernity to reflect in the lyricism that makes no bones about getting to grips with the tantamount of the tribulation.

The era-mashing yet juxtaposingly timeless single comes with more than just a pinch of electro-pop panache. The endlessly inviting demure soul from Judy St. Clarke against the electrically reverberating keys, high-energy guitars, and absurdity-embracing lyrics makes the chaos of 2022 worth enduring.

Here’s what Laptop Singers had to say about their sticky-sweet escapist release:

“This song is inspired by listening to lots of French music, both old classics from the 60´s, like Francoise Hardy, and new French indie pop like Bon Entendeur and L’Impératrice. It´s an uptempo, guitar-based song about youthful energy, love, and confusion right in the middle of 2022!”

Le Love is now available to stream on Spotify.

Follow Laptop Singers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

60s garage rock rides surf rock waves in The MindRide’s latest single, Delta Alpha

Posted on 24 August 2022
The MindRide

Even at half the length of your average pop track, the nostalgia-driven duo, The MindRide created the ultimate LA proto punk bop with their latest single, Delta Alpha, which grooves with nuances of skate punk and surf-rock and comes together as the ultimate genre-fluid earworm.

With The Walkmen-Esque percussion falling slightly below the warm and crunchy overdriven guitar tones and the relentless momentum in the vocals, getting caught up in the punky euphoria of Delta Alpha is non-optional. Especially for fans of The Kinks, The Strokes, and The Sonics. With their 5th album in the pipeline, The MindRide deserve a spot on your radar.

Check out The MindRide on their official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BREGN set the bar with his plateau-transporting ethereal indie-folk single, Summertime

Posted on 17 June 2022

Here to make me eat my words about the banality and predictability of summer singles is the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, BREGN, with his latest otherworldly feat of melodious indie-folk, Summertime.

With little more than strings and choral vocals to drive and structure the single, immersing yourself within the all-consuming mellifluous accordance comes with an immediate payoff.

Beyond the production that stands as a testament to BREGN’s creative originality, Summertime refuses to lyrically scratch at the surface. If Dylan Thomas himself rose from the grave and speculated on the season in relation to nature, freedom, past, future and present, I’m not all too sure that he’d be able to implant as much poetry.

Hear it for yourselves on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gian Majidi explores the amorous side of ‘The Moon’ in his latest single

Posted on 27 April 2022

Before releasing his self-titled 2022 pop album, the uniquely inspired multilingual Helsinki-based singer-songwriter and composer Gian Majidi has given us a taste of what is to come by giving us a sneak peek of his single, The Moon.

Through his love of 60s pop and 70s rock, he’s orchestrated a nostalgic yet passionately refreshing take on music from decades past. The Moon comes with artfully supple vocal harmonies, intricately picked Spanish guitars and butterfly-evoking progressions that won’t fail to pull you into the colourfully rich release that will undoubtedly put Gian Majidi on the map.

You can check out Gian Majidi for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast