Sunflower Bean - 2013 (video)

Psychedelic Jangle spanglers, Sunflower Bean, are on some kind of roll and ain't no one kickin em off. Just saw their write up in The Voice (worth reading) and so its time we mention them here. Like the love child of Felt, Vivian Girls and possibly Spacemen 3, SB are genre mashers of the highest pedigree. Spinning weaves of intricate, chorus laden guitar, beneath bewitching basslines and hair-raising drum clatters, this is the type of shit I'm tryina hear. Vocally comparative to other C86ers, Sunflower keep their psychedelics grounded with focused pop melodies and harmonies. Check this out, right now:

Close Lobsters - New York City In Space (video)

The overwhelmingly underrated and criminally underheard Close Lobsters, are back with a brand new single! New York City In Space trembles with familiarity, as the Lobsters reintroduce us to their warm hypnotic guitar layerings. It's a sleepy, dream-like single that unwinds behind Andrew Burnett's echoing Scotish drawl. It could easily be a restored lost cut from Headache Rhetoric, their last LP. Even if you never got into the whole C86 thing, or ever even heard What Is There To Smile About, you may find something pleasing in this tune. For fans of Galaxie 500, Felt, or any recent Captured Tracks singees:

Blouse - No Shelter

Shedding their early snyth-pop structures for a more standard 60s guitar sound, Blouse is returning with a new single. No Shelter still contains the echoing reverb that swallowed most Blouse's early material, yet now they lean more towards the sound of Nico or the c86 groups. This is a catchy tune, but really it sounds a bit like a Dum Dum Girls' B-side, with a Nirvana'd out bridge. Check it:

Girls Names - Hypnotic Regression

This jingle jangle, post-punk, guitar warped, echo chambered, drone popper, is a true new neu wave ear tickler. Girls Names(w/ the world's worst band name), despite this track's title, have progressed from their fuzz-pop origins to a more intricate and accessible sound. Shedding the noise for dissonance and delay, GN seem to be channeling both Flock of Seagulls and Echo and the Bunnymen, without biting too much from either group. This is a rad tune, so give it a quick spin:

Close Lobsters - What Is There To Smile About?

Scottish C86'ers, Close Lobsters have remained largely unknown for what seems like eons. This summer they'll join other post-punk, twee, and jangle-pop connoisseurs like The Bats, and The Monochrome Set at New York's Popfest. Despite their often avante-garde guitar structures, the band is really a pop powerhouse; which can be noted with their first album Foxheads Stalk This Land. (Their second effort Headache Rhetoric is nothing to snub your nose at either!) Take a listen to their 88' single What Is There To Smile About? I'd say there really is nothing to smile about this time of year, except perhaps this song and its fun lovin video, featured on MTV!