Brighton, UK band The Popguns, make delightful guitar pop-rock with a nod to a retro sixties sound. So Long (seen/heard here) is from the band’s latest LP, Sugar Kisses (June 2017), and is a great example of the overall feel of the long-player, but should not be construed as some sort of a formula of what is to follow. For instance, the sugary sweet lead off track Sugar Kisses (with a near Dire Straits Sultans Of Swing guitar intro) is followed by the grungy We Don’t Go Around There…
Read MoreMost of Vodka’s regular readers know that video reviews are often written a month or so in advance of the posting and saved in the queue with a specific publish date. That isn’t true this time around. When I heard that Flagship Romance was playing a house concert near me on a Tuesday evening, I held up writing this review that I had scheduled originally for the first week in September. Now that I’ve been to that house concert, I’m ready not only to write the review but to…
Read MoreVodka readers may remember Sara Niemietz from our review of Taxi Outside from her wonderful EP Fountain and Vine about a year ago. Enter Sara’s first full-length LP, Travel Light (July 2017) which includes 10 pop, jazz, lounge tracks-polished musical gemstones really, featuring Sara’s powerful and beautiful vocals. There is so much to love about this music. Travel Light kicks off with what we would call a straight-up pop song, New Things. Don’t Walk Me Home follows up with a bluesy tune in the vein of Taxi Outside. Monroe is…
Read MoreThe Clear make retro pop-flavored music that reminds you of the days when The Mama’s and The Papa’s were all the rage-that is to say that it does if you were alive then. The collection of mostly previously released singles from this Sheffield, UK band, Patchwork (November 2016), includes America (seen/heard here) from back when the band was just recently formed in 2013. The video’s the band makes are largely formed from stock clips of 60′s videos, which is in keeping with the retro sound. America’s lyrical reminder of…
Read MoreJames Elkington is someone you’ve probably never heard of but yet you’ve heard plenty from. That’s because Mr. Elkington has played in several well-known bands, collaborating with such artists as Richard Thompson and James Tweedy. His finger-style guitar licks are a magical bit of musical sorcery here on Make It Up, the lead-off track from Elkington’s forthcoming debut solo LP, Wintres Woma, which is ‘the sound of winter’ in old English. [The record is due to be released on June 30, 2017, but due to forward posting,…
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