High Heeled Speakers

My favourite new Spanish band since hearing Aias is Los Ginkas from Pamplona. Despite the unarguably twee cover of their first ep (above) they play melodic powerpop to rival the sadly disbanded Stolen Hearts. Of course, Spanish pop fans will liken them to TCR, Los Muebles and Zipper, but since I've listen so much to Hello Cuca lately, that's what I hear. The ep's got five songs on it, and all being equally good, it certainly makes one wonder how great their album will turn out to be?

Speaking of Zipper, their second single of the year (they're planning three, I think) came out recently on Scottish pop purveyor Bubblegum Records. It's a three-track English language affair called "Last Chance For Friday's Badge", an amalgamation of the three song titles. Opening track "Friday Night" was played at Indietracks last year, and introduced as a prequel to "Sunday Morning" off of their album 11. My favourite on the ep is "Last Chance" with its catchy major-minor chord changes.

Also out on Bubblegum is a new ep from Scottish 80s band The Hardy Boys. They've had a reunion coming a long time now, and here we get a taste of their new material in the shape of three fresh songs. "You're Just What I Need" is probably what the revivalists want: an upbeat, jangly sound, while the other two are more mellow with a fine duet between Johnny White and Kat King on "And the Trains Run On Time". The ep is called Under the Picadilly Clock and is available here. More importantly, the long-anticipated compilation of their older material is available from their own label for a mere £8 within Europe! Called The Hardy Boys Play Songs From the Lenin & McCarthy Songbook, it includes all the tracks from their lone 12" as well as the planned release on Egg (which appeared finally in 2005). "Wonderful Lie" is a classic that must be heard. Even if there is no relation to the Lenin and McCarthy label, googling it turns up this.