We'll Define a Good Time For Ourselves

Another title quoting One Happy Island? Yes, it just has be a new ep! Secret Party That the Other Party Doesn't Know About is out now on UK label WeePOP!. Following up on winter's Pulaski Park EP, it starts off with a new dancefloor filler every bit as good as "Florida, Dear". It's called "Temporary Tattoo" and even mentions unicorns, yay! They go on with some great lyrics to "Earth's Circumference" and then the ukuleles are brought out for "Shorthand" and "Mothball". Did I say you can get it on 7" vinyl too? An album next, please.

Summer Cats is an Australian band featuring Scott of Summershine act The Earthmen and they're probably the only band to mention The Peppermint Trolley Company among their influences! They seem to have released a LOT of singles. Last year they had an ep on Cloudberry, their old hit "Hush Puppy" on a split with Eux Autres' ancient "Other Girls", and the Scratching Post EP. The latter was an Australian release that collected the tracks from the former, adding "Super Computer". This year has seen another split (mentioned in the post below), a new 7" and a new 3" ep! Maybe they're just trying to release something on every good label there is? The ep is on WeePOP! and I got it with the One Happy Island ep just today. It's called Passion Pop and I think most of the songs here are better than "Let's Go!". Best are the shambolic title-track and the scathing "Bed Wetter"!

Third in the parcel, and the most recent WeePOP! release is The Just Joans' new offering Hey Boy...You're Oh So Sensitive!. It's without doubt the best thing I've heard from them, and the label! Fuller arrangements and songs that range from the funniest to the saddest I've heard in a good while. The opening title-track takes a swipe at twee, starting with a guy saying "Hiya ladies, any of yous into Talulah Gosh?" in a mumbling, Scottish brogue. The whole lyric is brilliant, but here's a bit: "Dolly Mixture homemade t-shirt, Woody Allen six-disc box set, Marks & Spencers v-neck jumper - any chance I can get your number?" After that things take a turn for the tragic with "What Do We Do Now?", a heartfelt ballad about moving and growing up. I mean, "Lookin Like Rain" on Virgin Lips was sad but if you've seen the video for it it doesn't seem too serious. But "I'll always think of you whenever I smell cider, but it won't be the same... again" is like the negative opposite to "I'm drinking Irn-Bru and thinking of you" (as sung by The Orchids). And the next song "Ma Baby (He's Boring)" is bleaker than "You Made Me Forget Me Dreams" by B&S: "he yawns and just rolls over, he's circled rings in the Argos". "Grant Kelly" is about the new, popular boy in town and picks things up a bit. But as the record ends with "The Kisses At the End of His Txts" (naturally "don't mean a thing") there's definitely a feeling that the melancholy has won out. But then again, all you have to do is press the play button again and go back to "Hey Boy..."! There are a couple more videos of them from their first gig (at Tchai Ovna in 2006) on YouTube - a historic document for sure.