pop opt

A trillion years ago Mike was in the band Black Tambourine.

A billion years ago he co-founded Slumberland Records and went on to release Stereolab and Velocity Girl singles.

A million years ago Slumberland released records from my favorite San Francisco pop band The Aislers Set.

Now, after a little quiet period in the catalog, Slumberland is back with more catchy melodies: a new album, Grown-Ups, by The Lodger.

I am a shameless pop fan, so when analogies are drawn, I perk up and nod my head up and down in time to the jangle:

We don't know if it's something in the water or what, but England is fairly bursting with exciting guitar pop bands right now, and The Lodger are amongst the brightest hopes. Taking their cues from fellow northerners The Smiths and The Wedding Present, The Lodger's music is classic melodic pop, fueled by sparkling hooks and plangent lyrics. The tunes are sharp and timeless, a thoroughly modern distillation of great Britpop from the 60s right up to today.

The Lodger is on tour this month and you can download the hit "Let it Go" on the Slumberland site and stream the whole album on myspace.

Comments

[Stephen]

Mimi,

I'm so glad that you got Loud Paper up and running in lieu of print.

Thanks for the Lodger tip. The hit singles seem on the mark, but The Wedding Present comparison of the hype seems a push; he's just too young and not nearly as quick and hard hitting as WP is and was. Its an OK effort thus far, but I'm not all that enthused about it. Hard Fi seems deeper than Lodger, and that's saying something.

Best in Boston there.