Further Listening: Debbie Downer, Sam Airey, Siv Jakobsen, Trevor Sensor, Pom Poko, Sulky Boy, Marcus Nordberg, Tryptamines, Orchards, Laucan, Maria Kelly, Rips, Miss World, Las Cobras, Table Scraps, Beach Fossils, The Districts, Organ Tree, Mi Mye ft. Post War Glamour Girls, Los Campesinos!, Talay, Eerie Gaits, Thelma, Rudy Stone, Mac Demarco, Chloe Foye, Amber Arcades, The Nickajack Men, Bandini, Walrus, Ora Corgan, Gun Fight, Mikko Joensuu, Nugget, The Mountain Goats, ShitKid and Kevin Morby’s contribution to the Our First 100 Days Compilation.

5. Charmpit > Fascists

Last minute editions to this weekend’s DIY Popfest, London via California trio Charmpit have this week shared their cover of the Woody Guthrie classic, All You Fascists Bound 2 Lose: although we’re not sure Woody spelt it with a number!

Charmpit’s take on Woody’s protest song is pretty much everything you’d want it to be; sweet layered harmonies, bright and breezy guitar playing, and primal drum clatter. In their hands Woody’s word seem to echo with a new-found resonance, “I’m gonna tell you fascists, you may be surprised, people in this world are getting organised, you’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose”. Intriguingly Charmpit’s upcoming tour ties in with the upcoming election…June 8th, you know what to do.

All You Fascists Bound to Lose is lifted from Hang In There: A DIY Covers Compilation, out now via For The Sake Of Tapes. Charmpit play DIY Popfest this evening, before heading out on a UK tour in June, click HERE for more information.

4. The Hayman Kupa Bomb

The story of the Hayman Kupa band starts with Darren Hayman watching Emma Kupa’s old band, Standard Fare, and liking it so much he couldn’t help but rip off Emma’s songwriting style. Seeking to cover up his shameless thievery, Darren asked Emma to sing the song, and the rest as they say, is history. Now bulked out to a four piece band courtesy of rhythm section Michael Wood and Cat Loye, The Hayman Kupa Band have this week announced their debut album will be out this summer on the ever reliable Fika Recordings. About time too we say, as it was recorded two and a half years ago, and Darren and Emma have released five albums between them since then.

The band have also this week shared the first taste of the record, No More Bombs. It’s the sort of energetic, scratchy indie-pop you’d expect from these two songwriters only structured like a classic pop-duet, the back and forth vocals reminiscent of Sunny & Cher or Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg. Lyrically, it paints them as a couple, begging one another for a cease-fire in their argumentative ways, “I want you see, and you want me, why can’t we be kind. Oh lover, no more bombs”. Sure their back story might be a tale of theft, drunken schemes come good in the light of day, and not actually releasing the music you’ve recorded, but somehow that just serves to add a generous helping of charm to this very exciting record.

The Hayman Kupa Band’s self-titled debut album is out July 21st via Fika Recordings. Click HERE for further information.

3. Angelo De Augustine Truly Going Somewhere

He might only be in his early 20’s but excellently named Californian songwriter Angelo De Augustine has already been writing songs for over a decade. With a back catalogue already featuring a self-release debut album, 2014’s Spiral Of Silence, and an EP, 2015’s How Past Begins, Angelo is set for even bigger things in the near future, after this week announcing his signing to Sufjan Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty label.

Angelo’s debut release on Asthmatic Kitty will be the single Truly Gone, the first taste of his upcoming album, due later this year. Sure it sounds a bit like it was recorded in a tin bath, but Truly Gone is a beguiling piece of songwriting; chiming acoustic guitars melding with Angelo’s half-whispered vocals, falling somewhere between Nick Drake and Iron & Wine. It’s a tremendously delicate piece of song writing, and even though you have to strain to make out his words, it is still somehow shrouded in a mysterious sense of melancholy. Perfectly lo-fi, Angelo recorded his album on a shoe-string budget, but has managed to create something unique and intriguing, and we can’t wait to hear more.

Angelo’s debut album will be out later this year via Asthmatic Kitty. Click HERE for further information.

2. Listen to Kane Strang – It’s A No Brainer

A big week for Kiwi-sensation Kane Strang, as he announces details of his upcoming album, Two Hearts And No Brain. The album, which was recorded in the notoriously haunted Chick’s Hotel studio, finds Kane expanding on the lo-fi recording of his earlier material with a more sonically adventurous record which should put to bed those, “bedroom musician” tags that frequently come his way.

Kane has this week shared a new single, and while we love My Smile Is Extinct, we are a little worried about just how sad he sounds. Building from a lone clanking acoustic guitar, Kane’s voice enters, his delivery clipped, his words heavily enunciated. Then the soaring chorus enters, all driving drum beats and strutting bass, at complete odds to the melancholic lyrics. “She said, “I’ve met a boy, another pretty boy”, I said kill me now, I want to die, if there’s a chance at an after life, I might not get let in, but at least I won’t be living” – It’s a strong reaction to heartbreak certainly, but who doesn’t remember that formative feeling of the whole world crumbling around you. It’s a fabulous pop song, and further evidence that Kane is making music that’s anything but brainless.

Two Hearts and No Brain is out June 30th via Dead Oceans. Kane Strang tours the UK in May, click HERE for all live dates and more information.

1. A Hiding To Bad Things

Lovely Bad Things are a quintet from the, “eerily boring” California town of La Mirada, a place the band describe as, “a fitting place to find solace in music”. The band offer a DIY-take on early 90’s rock, fusing layered melodious vocals with a vicious three-pronged guitar assault and powerful rhythm section. Having honed their sound for the best part of eight years, Lovely Bad Things are set to release a new EP Homebodied next month, and have this week shared a new single, Hiding To Nothing.

With its prominent rolling basslines, arsenal of jangling guitar tones, and heavily beaten drums, Hiding To Nothing finds the potent middle ground between the alt-rock of Dinosaur Jr and the poppy melodies of The Goon Sax. The stars of the show are the contrasting vocals lines, Camron Ward’s easy-going Stephen Malkmus-like delivery set against Lauren Curtius’ powerfully melodic tones – The Pixies comparisons are as accurate as they are predictable.  A band who’ve taken their time to perfect their sound, Lovely Bad Things now emerge as a thrilling prospect, and with a full length release and European tour to come later in this year, they are a band who might just be one of 2017’s break-out acts.

Homebodied is out May 12th via Burger Records. Click HERE for further information on Lovely Bad Things.