Big Stir Records is deeply honored to bring you the first full album of new music from psychedelic rock pioneers STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK since 1969. The new album WHERE'S ONE? returns the band to the pinnacle of the genre they helped to invent, with a lineup unmatched for its authenticity including five original members, and decades of performing and songwriting chemistry on display. Previewed in recent months by the hit indie singles “Monsters,” “Blow Your Mind” and “The Sky Isn't Falling,” WHERE'S ONE? hits record stores in a Deluxe Double LP edition and as a CD, as well as streaming on all digital platforms worldwide, on August 7, and it's up for pre-order/pre-save now:

https://orcd.co/strawberryalarmclock-w1

STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK's forthcoming album WHERE'S ONE? would be remarkable enough as the first collection of all-new music from the psych-rock legends since their '60s heyday, but there's much more to it than nostalgia. The band's current lineup is almost certainly uniquely bonafide among their '60s peers, featuring five members from their original run of four albums from 1967-1969: MARK STEPHEN WEITZ (keyboards), RANDY SEOL (drums/percussion), GEORGE BUNNELL (bass), GENE GUNNELS (drums/percussion), and STEVE BARTEK (guitar, flute, sitar and production, also well-known as a founding member of Oingo Boingo) plus guitarist HOWIE ANDERSON who's been a full member since their 1986 reunion. The decades of musical chemistry are a key part of what keeps the band so compelling to fans of all ages, onstage (as evidenced by the multigenerational crowds attending the band's live shows, often at the Whisky on LA's Sunset Strip where it all began) and on this record. But what makes WHERE'S ONE? so much more than just a trip down memory lane is a sense of adventure, experimentation and ambition that few from their generation can conjure with such thrilling results.

Unquestionably, the '60s spirit is here. You can hear it immediately in the immaculately sunny a capella harmonies of the opening track “Feel The Love,” as well as in the full record's sparkling instrumental arrangements featuring period-perfect touches of their signature swirling organ, sunshine pop flute, electric sitar, lacerating acid rock guitar and groovy percussion. But as the needle drifts into the second track, the captivatingly ominous “Monsters” (appropriately released as the album's first preview single last Halloween), it becomes obvious that STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK are here not to relive former glories but to push the psych-rock form ever forward with new ideas, fresh sounds, and unexpected reinventions. It's a revelation driven home by the next track, a dramatic deconstruction of “Day Tripper” that lets listener know to expect the unexpected: in a world of power pop bands trying to sound like The Beatles, the Alarm Clock play The Beatles like Devo plays The Stones, here and on a delightfully skewed reading of “Within You Without You”. By the third track, “White Light” – a musically and emotionally raw journey that blends psychedelia and dream rock with intense, near-metal riffing and stunning harmonies – the restless creativity of SAC in 2026 is abundantly evident, aptly summed up in the opening lyrics: “Where am I going? What will I do when I get there?”

Where we're going is deeper into the dazzling kaleidoscope of musical styles, concepts and sterling melodies that make up WHERE'S ONE? It's all rooted in the band's original brand of '60s psych – check out the Nuggets-worthy garage bounce of “Blow Your Mind,” already a hit on the global indie airwaves earlier this year – but there are touches of many musical idioms that followed, and drew upon, Strawberry Alarm Clock's original work. You'll hear gorgeous chamber pop strings under the direction of in-demand orchestrator Bartek (“Since You Have Gone Away”), angular guitars recalling the postpunk and new wave years, and bright harmonies that evoke the best of '70s AM Gold (“The Sky Isn't Falling”). There are intricate prog rock-adjacent time signatures (“I'm Not The One,” “White Light”), Beefheart/Zappa-inflected art rock (“Primordial Soup”) and grooves worthy of '70s funk and '90s trip hop (“Live Water,” “Monsters”). There's even time for a sly take on exotica in “Tahitian Gardens” before the Alarm Clock close the album, saving the trippiest for last with “Galactic Symphony – Persian Skies,” an extended psychedelic workout written by the full band together and featuring a spoken-word performance by Stephen J. Kalinich, the legendary poet laureate of the LA '60s pop scene.

It's all breathtakingly fresh for a band nearly sixty years into their career, playful and experimental but shot through with consummate tunefulness. What binds it together is the time-tested chemistry of the players, and a connection greater than the sum of its considerable parts, as GEORGE BUNNELL explains: “WHERE'S ONE? was not intended as a concept album but as it turns out, I guess it is. I think it’s about family, life and love. Howie wrote 'Since You Have Gone Away' about his mom coming to him in a dream, and 'I’m Not The One' about his kids leaving the nest. Randy wrote the lyrics to 'White Light' about his father appearing to him in his car while driving, and 'Live Water' about the good fortune of meeting his wife Beverly. Mark wrote 'Blow Your Mind' about his girlfriend. David Glück wrote the lyrics to 'Monsters' about his ex who is still his best friend, and 'Primordial Soup,' which refers to bridging the gap between inorganic matter and biological life, human, plant, animal and otherwise. Every song is like that. The album tells our story, which is a long one, about life long relationships and life in general.”

“As for the title, WHERE'S ONE?” Bunnell continues, “After all this time you’d think the Clock would know. That’s the great thing about music, you’re always searching for that elusive something. I love it when someone brings in an idea and we start exploring and expanding on it. We all have one thing in common, and that’s to find what a song idea can turn into. It keeps us going. We’ve found that if we are open minded, a good song will open itself up to us. This is the album we wanted to make. We’ve poured our hearts into it. As our own Steve Bartek (co-producing with Michael Stern) kept reminding us, we’re not looking for perfection... we just want a great-sounding album, but not at the risk of losing its heart and soul and sense of humor. I think we’ve accomplished that.”

Bartek himself agrees: “This album is a testament to the power of long-lasting creative relationships,  despite interruptions of time and distance. We are always searching to connect to each other as we play... and land together on 'one,' occasionally.” On their first new album for this century, the legendary STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK stick that landing like few others of their generation could. Nearly sixty years beyond “Incense And Peppermints,” it's a true joy to hear them in peak form.

Big Stir Records is proud to bring you an all-new live album from British rock legend GRAHAM PARKER, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his recording career. The new Vinyl and Streaming collection QUALITY FOOTWEAR: LIVE AT THE BROOK captures the revered singer-songwriter and his ace backing band THE GOLDTOPS onstage (and on fire) during his 2023 UK tour. The limited Vinyl edition is available exclusively from the Big Stir Records online store (and at select dates of Parker's 2026 solo tour) and as part of an LP/Book bundle with the new trade paperback GRAHAM PARKER'S HOWLIN' WIND by Jay Nachman. The Vinyl and Streaming versions alike see release June 26, and they're up for pre-order and pre-save now:

https://orcd.co/grahamparker-footwear

GRAHAM PARKER is not an artist prone to looking back. In 2026, as almost every year, he's got a full solo tour booked in the US and UK, and his most recent album LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST (released in 2023 by Big Stir) was roundly hailed as one of his strongest in this century. But while the veteran singer-songwriter remains focused on the here and now, the calendar reveals that it has been five decades since the 1976 release of his classic debut album HOWLIN' WIND as well as its followup HEAT TREATMENT. The songs from the 2023 live set with THE GOLDTOPS captured on the new, 11-track LP QUALITY FOOTWEAR lean heavily into selections from those three bookend (for now) LPs of Parker's career. A trio from WIND including the rockers “Soul Shoes” and “Back To Schooldays” as well as a taut audience-participation reading of the signature tune “Don't Ask Me Questions” join HEAT TREATMENT's “Hotel Chambermaid,” while the fresh tunes from LAST CHANCE (“It Mattered To Me,” “Lost Track Of Time,” “Sun Valley” and “Since You Left Me Baby”) show Parker's latest work to have just as much bite even when leavened with a touch of tenderness. The album finds him in fine voice indeed, and the band cooks with the intensity and empathy the songs demand.

Parker tells the tale of the record at hand: “On a short UK tour in September 2023, accompanied by The Goldtops (guitarist Martin Belmont, bassist Simon Edwards, keyboard player Geraint Watkins and drummer Jim Russell) and The Lady Bugs (backup singers Paige Stubley and Martha Evans), I had the show at the Brook, Southampton, professionally recorded.  A few attempts at editing followed, but the idea from Big Stir Records to do a limited edition vinyl album made me rethink my approach.  A live LP live works best with no loose ends, no rambling monologues, and by using only the very best performances, making it tight and intense.  The result is QUALITY FOOTWEAR, which means of course that 'Soul Shoes' had to make the cut, especially with (Rumour guitarist) Brinsley Schwarz guesting on the track.  I used my Parker Pinkie electric guitar and mostly left my acoustic on the stand, which helped to kick this thing up into high gear.”

Filling out the set list are some mid-career gems including “Black Lincoln Continental” from 1985's STEADY NERVES and “Get Started. Start A Fire” from the 1988 classic THE MONA LISA'S SISTER, both given particularly intense interpretations here. There's also a playful contrast in the surprise cover, keeping with the album's footwear theme, of “Boogie Shoes” by, yes, KC and The Sunshine Band. Back to back with Schwarz joining the band for the finale of “Soul Shoes” (marking a re-convening with Belmont to recreate their classic guitar approach from The Rumour), they present a soulful finale to a fine document of Parker's latest full-band venture, while the present year finds him on the road as a solo act again in the US (Spring) and UK (this Autumn). He'll have early pre-release copies of QUALITY FOOTWEAR on hand at the merch table for those lucky enough to attend.

The inclusion of the HOWLIN' WIND tunes and the auspicious occasion of the debut's 50th Anniversary make it a natural for Big Stir Records to offer a bundled pairing of the QUALITY FOOTWEAR LP with the new book GRAHAM PARKER'S HOWLIN' WIND, penned by author Jay Nachman with the full participation of Parker and members of The Rumour. Released late last year, the book has garnered acclaim of its own, with Musoscribe noting that “Nachman’s keen and deep appreciation and understanding of Parker’s music and artistry equips him to present a story that’s balanced in its emphases... and like all of the best works of its type, Graham Parker’s Howlin’ Wind will not only lead readers back to its musical subject, but to the subsequent releases from this powerful and still wonderfully vital singer-songwriter.”

The blazing performances on the live LP do the same, and those interested in the full scope of GRAHAM PARKER's work might do well to add a copy of the still-fresh studio album LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST to their bundle. With fifty years of recordings (and twenty-four studio albums) to revisit, from the early works including the ultra-beloved Squeezing Out Sparks to recently-reissued jewels like Acid Bubblegum and Deepcut To Nowhere and the short-lived but rapturously received 2000s reunion with The Rumour, Parker's catalog is rife for fresh appreciation. And everything that make it great, from the soulful grit and impeccable phrasing of the man's vocal delivery to his unparalleled lyrical gifts and his unerring rock and roll instincts, can be heard on QUALITY FOOTWEAR: LIVE AT THE BROOK. It's one hell of an Anniversary celebration, and the best part is that Parker's still out there on the road, performing like he still has something to prove. And he's still writing songs like nobody else can... it can't be too long before he's hard at work on that 25th studio album as well.

Big Stir Records is proud to announce the first album from power pop and alternative rock heroes THE GREENBERRY WOODS in over 30 years. IT'S ALL GOOD, SUGAR..., the long-awaited follow-up to the band's two beloved albums on Sire Records in the mid-'90s, sees release on Vinyl, CD and Streaming worldwide on May 29, previewed by the advance singles “Whenever You Want Me Too” and “The One That Makes You Happy.” The new album finds all three founding singer-songwriters picking up right where they left off to deliver twelve new tracks bristling with hooks and harmonies that easily equal their vintage classics, adding up to what may be their best work yet. Up for pre-order/pre-save now:

https://orcd.co/greenberrywoods-allgood

“Let’s rewind... Can we go back in time?” Those are the first words heard on IT'S ALL GOOD, SUGAR... and they speak volumes. Coming in on the downbeat of the first track “Summer Song” accompanied by brash, bright, open guitar chords, the yearning proclamation is immediately followed by the band crashing in with an amped-up midtempo groove that carries us directly to the first of the album's many gorgeous choruses. The focus on the past is no accident: the band is fully aware that the tune instantly telegraphs that the band who brought you “Trampoline,” the 1994 college radio hit from their widely revered debut album RAPPLE DAPPLE, is back. It's a twofold callback, not just to their own heyday on the robust power pop underground that encompassed peers like Matthew Sweet, Jellyfish and Fountains Of Wayne, but also to the decades-earlier inspiration of Big Star, Badfinger, The Beach Boys, and of course The Beatles. But while the album is informed by nostalgia, it's not defined by it. On an indie pop landscape where young bands like The Lemon Twigs are making those sounds fresh again, THE GREENBERRY WOODS step back into place as masters of the form with remarkable grace, erasing the intervening decades to bring us a simply stellar, timeless collection.

But for the moment, yes, let's rewind, just briefly, to establish why this reunion of THE GREENBERRY WOODS' three founding singer-songwriters – BRANDT HUSEMAN, IRA KATZ and MATT HUSEMAN – caused such a stir on the 21st century indie pop scene when the new and utterly beautiful single “Whenever You Want Me Too” appeared this March. Its warm Byrds-via-Crazy Horse vibes instantly evoked the days when the band arose, seemingly out of nowhere but specifically in Baltimore, and within two years delivered that classic debut and its 1995 followup BIG MONEY ITEM (enshrined as one of the 50 Best Power Pop Albums Of All Time in genre expert John Borack's two definitive books). Shortly thereafter, internal tensions were exacerbated by a particularly '90s strain of label unrest, and the band called it a day. Their legacy was carried forward chiefly by the Huseman twins' band SPLITSVILLE, which saw them joined by multi-instrumentalist PAUL KRYSIAK to release five widely hailed albums of their own. But after 2003, they too went silent. The indie pop world would have to wait twenty years for the threads to come together again. It would be worth it.

Fast forward to 2024 when Big Stir Records was privately alerted to the jaw-dropping news from Baltimore that both Splitsville and even more astonishingly THE GREENBERRY WOODS were back together and working on new material with KRYSIAK now in both bands, and JOE PARSONS (Myracle Brah, The Records) inheriting the GBW drum throne. To everything there is a season, and Splitville was to be first out of the gate with their BSR debut MOBTOWN bowing in 2025 to widespread acclaim.

It wouldn't be until this year that the admittedly loosely kept secret of THE GREENBERRY WOODS' reunion was revealed with the release of “Whenever You Want Me Too,” teasing the forthcoming album IT'S ALL GOOD, SUGAR... to fans everywhere. Taken together, the single and the lead track reveal a mastery of sparkling melodic guitar balladry that few outside of Teenage Fanclub can approach, and the album is an embarrassment of riches on that front. There's the pure power pop of “Very Good Year” (driving guitars, a McCartney-worthy melody and crunchy #1 Record-style boogie-rock breaks). There's the aching majesty of the maximum jangle heartbreaker “That Won't Make You Love Me” and the instantly classic melody and lovely, keening vocal of “Leave The Light On.” These songs simply slay. They sound like what the people who write power pop press releases like this one are always promising, but too rarely deliver. On this record, The Greenberry Woods have the goods.

In fact, the quality of the material on IT'S ALL GOOD, SUGAR... is so consistently high that picking the singles from this album was a particular challenge for the band and the label team. “The One That Makes You Happy,” the ultimate choice for the second preview track, so completely combines the very best aspects of melodic '90s alternative rock – pounding drums, churning riffs, a singalong chorus and even a touch of self-deprecating angst – that one can't help but think this would have been a huge commercial radio hit back during THE GREENBERRY WOODS' original run. Likewise, the under-two-minute sugar rush of “Waiting 'Round For Something To Go Wrong,” might plausibly have charted for either The Monkees or The Cure. And the absolutely wonderful “Lame Love Letter” weds a new wave power pop pulse that might have conquered the '80s airwaves to melodies, harmonies and piano of a decidedly '60s bent to create a genre-defying treasure all its own.

Surprises abound on the album, too, like the genuinely haunting lullaby-like “On The Day We Drowned” and the rollicking “All I Want Is You,” its pop-punk charge dotted with more winking references to classic pop lyrics than you'll be able to catch in one listen. It's one of many sly tributes to the band's musical heroes on the album, including the dead-on, revved up Elvis Costello salute “That Girl” (“If Elvis isn’t going to write a new Elvis song, then I will,” says Katz) and the closing track “December Boy.” Any Big Star fan (and there are surely plenty of them listening) will recognize the reference, but far from a languid “September Gurls” remake, “December Boy” swings out of the gate with an infectious '60s pop sound adorned with more swirling harmonies and a chorus that won't let go. It's a lovely conclusion that invites another listen to the full album immediately.

The return of THE GREENBERRY WOODS may be the most welcome news on the indie pop scene this year. And the album they've delivered more than lives up to their legacy, it lives up to its title as well. IT'S ALL GOOD, SUGAR... indeed.

Big Stir Records is delighted to announce the upcoming release of LAST DAYS OF LOMA, the new album from Long Beach, California-based indie pop-folk trio WORMSTEW. It's the official debut album for the band, featuring the indie hit single “Spinning” and the forthcoming “Tippy Tippy Tea,” along with 12 more utterly charming tracks brimming with witty wordplay, immaculate harmonies and warmly inviting arrangements. The album is out April 24 on Vinyl, CD and Streaming worldwide and up for preorder and pre-save now:

https://orcd.co/wormstew-ldol

The endlessly catchy and lyrically fascinating LAST DAYS OF LOMA marks what WORMSTEW consider their “proper” debut album. The band has existed in various forms for over two decades as the main musical outlet for LA pop scene fixture MIKE SCHNEE, whose beloved surrealist comedy alter ego Chissum Worthington also dabbles in tunes of a more humor-centered bent. But something happened in 2024 when WORMSTEW accidentally evolved into its current and definitive lineup including bassist and vocalist TERESA COWLES (EZ Tiger, Dragsterbarbie, Evie Sands) and drummer, vocalist and producer MICHAEL SIMMONS (of sparkle*jets u.k. and solo renown). Not only did they unlock the chemistry of friends who happen to be ace musicians playing together for the sheer fun of it, the change happened to coincide with Schnee completing a new set of songs which marked a watershed of emotional depth without sacrificing the sly glee and gentle humor of what had come before.

Accidents just might be the defining factor in WORMSTEW's journey. On their prior EPs and singles, Schnee had aimed for Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Ween, and various other heroes, only to (by his own estimation) miss the target entirely. Those experiments, though, established something unique: songs that feel familiar but slightly askew, earnest yet dryly funny, guided more by instinct than polish. They were collected on eight homemade albums, handed out to anyone willing to take one. The songwriting and ideas were strong; the fidelity was inconsistent; the looseness was both charming and frustrating, but an organically-growing fanbase was increasingly intrigued. A shift toward coherence began during COVID, when Schnee and Cowles, under the side project alias The Slanket Sessions, reimagined several vintage Wormstew songs and wrote new material, developing a distinct musical and vocal rapport along the way. When Michael Simmons joined in late 2024, he expanded the skeletal tracks with drums, keyboards, and additional instrumentation. It was the same WORMSTEW, but the new ingredients were awaking hidden flavors, and LAST DAYS OF LOMA began to simmer its way toward becoming the rich and hearty main course it is today.

With its wellsprings of whimsy and effortlessly virtuosic arrangements, LOMA is an understated but profoundly engaging record that breaks new ground without sacrificing the serendipitous charm that got it here. It catches your ears and brings a smile from the moment it rides in on the shuffling beat and classic organ riff of its giddy lead single “Spinning,” and by the time the ace harmonies of the chorus hit, it's clear that the band's chemistry is potent. From there, the album throws the first of its many quirky curveballs with “Sheriff Brody,” which is very much what its title promises: a character study about the protagonist (and supporting cast) of the classic movie JAWS. Pop culture references continue to surface on the noir-tinged spy-music workout “Bucket Of Blues,” turning as it does on the line “Danny DeVito and his bad boy behavior was surprising to me,” and the genuinely creepy/funny “J.P. McCartney” on which Schnee imagines himself as “a crazed Paul McCartney superfan who breaks into his house... we strike up a friendship, play each other our songs, and walk around in our underwear.” Elsewhere, the cinematic mission statement “Movin' Along” was conceived as “the closing number in a cheesy mid-’60s Elvis movie,” but these aren't random references for nostalgia's sake: like the warm folk-rock idiom in which the band couches these tunes, these names are being recontextualized into something new and unique in service of Wormstew's singular worldview.

It wouldn't do to say that Wormstew has gotten more “mature” in comparison to their early work, but the humor is more sophisticated and slyly integrated into meditations on deeper themes. There's a touch of the childlike wonder of Jonathan Richman on songs like the jubilant celebration of all things British “Tippy Tippy Tea” (the album's second indie hit single) and the disarmingly sweet “When Our Worlds Collide.” One might also be reminded of Robyn Hitchcock's gift for blending darker themes with funny absurdism in places, as on the miniature masterpiece “When Cats Are Sad,” with its “Waterloo Sunset” feel and chipper melody cloaking an almost brutal contemplation of grief (Schnee clearly loves his pets but refuses to romanticize them, and it hits hard even while it gets your toes tapping). Loss also suffuses the closing title track, an emotional farewell to a longtime residence that's too vividly real in its details to feel saccharine (“I’m uneasy and I’m beat, and I’m tired of the packing and I need something to eat,” he sings matter-of-factly).

Clearly, for all its clever asides and delightful wordplay, LAST DAYS OF LOMA is anything but a novelty album. Schnee zeroes in on one of its core concerns: “A recurring theme in many of my songs is the feeling that I could do better—in life, in love, etc.—while ultimately not changing much at all.” You can hear that in the self-effacing takedown “Assholes” (fueled by the deft banjo of guest Probyn Gregory), the gently fatalistic chamber pop ballad “Forgotten,” and on what may be Schnee's quintessential set of lyrics “Another Stupid Song.” “It's love song about being insecure about being loved,” he says, and the key line “I can be different, I can’t be anything but different” bears that out. It's not a stupid song at all... or maybe it is, but that doesn't stop it from being absolutely heartbreaking, especially when the harmonies and gorgeous AM Gold arrangement lift it into the musical stratosphere. Schnee needn't be worrying that he's a “good person” – we know him, and he most certainly is, in the way that only people who would ask themselves that question can be. But more importantly, on LAST DAYS OF LOMA, he and his bandmates touch the hearts of anyone else looking inward with the same hopes and fears. This is WORMSTEW... grab a spoon and get a taste of one of the most unique and compelling bands on the indie pop menu this year.

Indie-pop darlings THE CORNER LAUGHERS return with their first new album in over five years, CONCERNS OF WASP AND WILLOW, out March 27 on CD and Streaming. The band's sixth full-length release and the keenly-awaited followup to 2020's critically-hailed TEMESCAL TELEGRAPH, the new record balances sunshine and shadow in the band's distinctive style and resonates with wit, whimsy and bewitching melodies. Already previewed by the hit indie singles “Rainbow Cardigan” and last year's “Dark Matter,” CONCERNS OF WASP AND WILLOW is up for pre-order and presave now:

https://orcd.co/cornerlaughers-cowaw

Northern California indie pop/folk outfit THE CORNER LAUGHERS have been weaving a rich tapestry of timeless sounds and lyricism since the early 2000s to ever-increasing acclaim, solidifying their quintessential lineup of Karla Kane (vocals, ukulele), Khoi Huynh (bass, vocals and more), KC Bowman (guitar, vocals and more) and Charlie Crabtree (drums) on their 2015 breakthrough album MATILDA EFFECT. When last we left our heroes, they'd spent five years crafting its followup, the band's Big Stir Records debut TEMESCAL TELEGRAPH, only to have its release date coincide with the onset of the 2020 pandemic. In a musical miracle for troubled times, the album's themes and musical settings resonated with the unease of the year and offered solace for the losses and isolation of that bleak miniature era. The global music press took note: Goldmine Magazine called it “a wonderfully enticing triumph,” The Swindonian labeled it “a magical otherworld, idyllic and innocent and yet poignant in its many charms,” and Shindig! Magazine's five-star review concluded “Every track is absolutely brilliant, brimming with vim and vigor.” In the end, TEMESCAL TELEGRAPH was not just a leap forward for the band, but a lifeline of comfort for fans old and new.

We haven't been treated to the unique wordplay, inventive arrangements and sheer idiosyncratic ebullience that characterize THE CORNER LAUGHERS' original music for over half a decade, and it's arguable that we need them more than ever. The world remains unsettled, and anyone possessed of empathy might find themselves vacillating between profound sadness and the need to reclaim the joy on which hope is founded. With their new album CONCERNS OF WASP AND WILLOW, THE CORNER LAUGHERS audaciously and artfully create consonance from those very contrasts. While the band is often thought of as purveying “sunshine” pop, Kane's lyrics and the band's musical textures have always balanced the dark and the light. On CONCERNS, erasing that dichotomy becomes a mission statement with endlessly fascinating results. Listeners first heard this new blend last Halloween when the single “Dark Matter” appeared, its title belied by its jubilant beat and bright melody as Kane celebrated (not for the first time) ravens and crows, inviting listeners to join the band's “new crone coven” in solidarity with anyone who's ever felt like an outsider.

The blurring of the lines between seeming opposites came into even clearer focus on this January's single “Rainbow Cardigan”: here, vibrant hues stand out against graveyard grey, stark minor key ukulele gives way to expansive major key harmonies, and the chorus hook itself proclaims “We were old, yes we were ancient / We were young, yes, we were barely conceived.” Kane rightly describes the tune (already a hit on indie radio worldwide) as “a microcosm of the album as a whole, with its imagery of colors and shades, and its distinctive blend of melancholy and exuberance, anxiety and wonder.” When listeners hear CONCERNS OF WASP AND WILLOW in full this March, it'll be abundantly clear what she means from the very first track, “Terra Mia”. It begins sweetly, all jangling uke and delightful wordplay, but it grows denser and darker as it unfolds. “It's an epic folk-rock tale of environmental destruction and apocalyptic imagery,” Kane explains. “Is it describing events eons ago or yet to come in the near future? Probably both!”

If that effortless melding of future and past, giddiness and anxiety, and light and darkness evokes twilight for you, listen on. Embedded within the album is what Kane refers to as “the Dusking Trilogy” starting with the second track, “Dusking.” The tune is a wistfully romantic slice-of-life idyll with a fully organic classic pop arrangement that retains the pulse of its '80s synth-pop inspiration. Later comes the elegiac chamber pop of the closing “Larkspur Landing,” with its autumnal imagery and hints of transitioning between worlds (yet even here there's the promise of renewal in the natural world). Between the two and at the album's heart is the moody masterpiece “The Harvestman,” the identity of its seemingly ominous title character shrouded in ambiguity but the lyrics “Let the night air in, I want to feel it under my skin” suggesting acceptance and even a longing for what he brings. The half-light of sunset suffuses other songs as well.

Beyond acknowledging and contemplating the malaise and challenges and of our times, CONCERNS also weaves calls to action into its quilt, subtly and often joyously. The band's long-held environmental activism fuels the bounce of “Crumb Clean,” based on a piano riff created by Kane and Huynh's daughter Octavia, who plays it here. Ecology, specifically that of the band's native California, informs the warm jazz-folk of “Red Yarrow, Yellow Yarrow” and surfaces in “Larkspur Landing” as well. The sweeping “Universe Point,” written by the band's KC Bowman, ponders the cultural tension between those who allow themselves to be swept away by conspiracy, bigotry and ignorance, and those who value kindness, science and education, welcoming imagination but remaining rooted in reality. And there could be no better embodiment of a fact-based flight of fancy than “Victoria Sponge”, co-written by Huynh and Helen Luker (of England's Fun Of The Pier, who also sings on the track), spanning over 150 years of London history and narrated by omniscient Victorian ghosts who never lose sight of the small pleasures in life – the chorus is, of course, a cake recipe – while also pondering environmental destruction and renewal.

It should be clear by now that collaboration is a key ingredient in the way The Corner Laughers bring the album to life: Bowman and Huynh are both consummate players and arrangers able to draw on touchstones from the ancient to the “retro” to the futuristic as appropriate, and Crabtree's empathetic drumming bounces from folk-punk to jazzy swing as each song requires. The record also finds the band welcoming back co-founder Angela Rhoades (née Silletto) after a decade away for cameos on three tracks, while Bradley Skaught of Bay Area indie pop legends Bye Bye Blackbirds sits in on drums for “The Harvestman” and the woodwinds of Jeri Sykes complement the baroque vibes on “Larkspur Landing.”

All of which only scratches the surface of the world (or worlds) conjured by THE CORNER LAUGHERS on the new album. Its rich imagery -- encompassing woven textiles, cartography, botany, circular timelines and so much more – meld with its musical textures and instantly memorable melodies to describe itself in one final, but instinctively coherent, paradox. It is, as always with the band, a place very much worth visiting, and we at Big Stir Records invite you to make these CONCERNS OF OF WASP AND WILLOW your own.

Big Stir Records is delighted to announce the release date for the new album from Michigan indie pop all-stars THE LEGAL MATTERS. The band's fourth full-length record (and their first for BSR) LOST AT SEA will see worldwide release on Vinyl, CD and Streaming on February 27. Already previewed by the indie hit single “Everybody Knows” with “The Message” soon to follow, the album is a triumph of sharp hooks, songwriting and performances even by the high standards set by the band on their acclaimed previous albums. LOST AT SEA is up for pre-order and presave now:

https://orcd.co/legalmatters-las

It's become traditional to refer to THE LEGAL MATTERS as a “midwestern power pop supergroup,” but they've long since transcended that label. It's true that when the band formed in 2013, KEITH KLINGENSMITH, ANDY REED and CHRIS RICHARDS were already key players on the Michigan scene, with a combined pedigree encompassing beloved bands like The Phenomenal Cats, An American Underdog, and Richards' ongoing solo career with The Subtractions. But they've undeniably become a force of their own, and more than the sum of their parts, over the course of releasing three of the most celebrated indie pop albums of recent decades: their self-titled 2014 debut, 2016's CONRAD (one of the few albums by emerging artists to be backed by reissue powerhouse Omnivore Recordings) and 2021's CHAPTER THREE. All three garnered critical praise and berths on Year's Best Albums list across the indie pop world from Popdose and MusicTAP to the UK's I Don't Hear A Single and beyond, and the list of classic artists artists referenced in those glowing notices – Big Star, Badfinger, Teenage Fanclub, Fountains Of Wayne, Crowded House – does provide some idea of what to expect. What sets THE LEGAL MATTERS apart, though, is the magic of their chemistry as songwriters, harmonizing vocalists and players.

If the spark of three world-class creators pushing each other to ever greater heights is what's fueled the band's ascent, fans can expect an even deeper level of collaboration to shine on LOST AT SEA. The title, to be clear, is what RICHARDS calls “a fitting comment about our current political state” rather than a self-assessment of the band, who are if anything more on course and full-steam-ahead than ever before. In fact, a more communal creative approach was part of the goal for the writing and recording sessions that yielded the ten glorious tracks that make up the album. “We wanted to approach this one in a different way,” says RICHARDS. “The idea was that each of us would bring in an idea, riff, concept or lyrical hook and build the song together as a group as opposed to demoing fully realized songs. As a result, Lost at Sea is easily the most collaborative record in the Legal Matters canon.”

Fans have already heard one sterling example of the strategy on the lush, heartfelt lead single “Everybody Knows” which also serves as LOST AT SEA's opening track. With its yearning lyrical and instrumental nods to the music that inspires and unites the trio (Badfinger being a key touchstone) it just might be the quintessential LEGAL MATTERS song, but they're just getting started. “The Message,” next in both the track sequence and on the singles release schedule, ratchets up the tension and addresses some of the cultural unease alluded to by the album title. Also slated to hit the airwaves and streaming services in advance of the album is “It Doesn't Matter” which Reed calls “our rockiest tune” and Richards labels “one of the more anthemic tracks we’ve ever gone for.” Combining a Spoon-inspired riff cooked up by Reed with a chorus from Richards and lyrics primarily crafted by Klingensmith and ultimately evoking Split Enz at their best, It's emblematic of the alchemy the band have achieved on LOST AT SEA.

Those tracks are just the tip of the album's iceberg (to extend the nautical metaphor of the title). The band's renowned harmonies have never sounded better, and with the remarkably versatile Donny Brown returning from the Chapter Three sessions to handle all the drumming, there seem to be no limits on THE LEGAL MATTERS' collective ambitions. “Shake This Feeling” finds them in cinematic, Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell territory, while “Temporary Thing” melds touches of rootsy country to classic pop with just a touch of noirish mystery. Future single “Let Me Explain” goes full-on Abbey Road to jaw-dropping effect, while the pitch-perfect pop of “Stuck With Me” is front-to-back harmonies, inspired in equal parts by The Kinks and XTC (but pure Legal Matters in execution).

LOST AT SEA closes with a trio of tracks that continue to reveal both its depth and diversity of musical textures. “Marching On” takes another eagle-eyed look at the needlessly fragmented cultural landscape of today, its ever-shifting arrangement and surging tempo building a tension that matches the urgency of its subject matter. The controlled chaos of its climax dovetails into the stripped down beauty of “Slow Down,” a ballad that evokes the most tender moments of Big Star. And the record concludes with “The Exit Signs,” an ornately arranged retro pop masterpiece and prime example of the band's unique modular approach to writing on the album. “It has all of our influences in one track. It’s a great way to wrap up the LP,” says Reed, while Klingensmith cites it as his favorite of the new tunes.

Those who have followed THE LEGAL MATTERS since the beginning will find everything they love about the band on LOST AT SEA, while recognizing it as a major leap forward on their collaborative journey. For lovers of the hooks and harmonies that define the classic pop and power pop sounds who've somehow missed the band until now, it's an introduction to one of the finest practitioners on the modern indie rock landscape. The songs of the record tap into the whole of pop rock history, add keen observations that speak to life in the present day, and add up to a work that genuinely deserves to be considered timeless. Big Stir Records is proud to welcome THE LEGAL MATTERS aboard as they continue to push that legacy forward.

Big Stir Records is proud to begin 2026 with the January 23 release of a new album by acclaimed UK postpunk veterans THE JACK RUBIES: VISIONS IN THE BOWLING ALLEY on CD, Streaming and, for the first time since 1990, Vinyl as well. The band's fourth album and the followup to their critically-hailed 2024 comeback CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME, the full-length release features the band's recent indie hits “Are We Being Recorded?” and “Greedy” as well as “Phantom” as heard on BSR's 2025 Halloween collection, along with nine more all-new tracks. It's up for pre-order and presave now:

https://orcd.co/jackrubies-vitba

The time-tested lineup of THE JACK RUBIES – Ian Wright (lead vocals and guitar), SD Ineson (guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Steve Brockway (bass), Lawrence Giltnane (percussion), and Peter Maxted (drums, and also the album's producer) – is exactly the same today as it was four decades ago when the band emerged from the English C86 and postpunk scene, and the new record even sees the return of violinist and honorary sixth member Emma Peters who guested on the debut album and performed live with the band during the early UK tours. At that time, they won the hearts of fans of college radio and MTV's 120 Minutes with their angular, noir-tinged sound, memorable melodies and sly, literate lyrics, shared stages worldwide with the likes of Katrina & the Waves, The Triffids, They Might Be Giants and Modern English, and delivered two deeply engrossing albums, Fascinatin’ Vacation (1988) and See The Money In My Smile (1990), for TVT Records. Then came the grunge and Britpop years, and the band slept, as life and other exploits took center stage until the unlikely catalyst of the 2020 pandemic led the geographically-dispersed members to rekindle their collaboration with all on board and, miraculously, their original chemistry intact. The resulting flurry of activity led first to a series of singles (all of them at once of a piece with the band's early work and yet shockingly contemporary in every sense) and ultimately to the 2024 release of their third album, CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME, hailed by rock writers worldwide as not just a return to form but the band's best work yet.

Even that is now old news, and with VISIONS IN THE BOWLING ALLEY, The Jack Rubies demonstrate just why their new material feels so very urgent: the band were almost always unquestionably ahead of their time. It's difficult to take joy in the fact that we now live in times so closely resembling the dystopian collapse that the Rubies' early lyrics so often seemed to depict, but here we are, and there could be no better sonic documentarians of the present day. If the songs on Clocks Are Out Of Time dealt in part with The Jack Rubies’ miraculous regeneration, then Visions In The Bowling Alley sees their collective gaze turn to the strange new future world where they now find themselves. Visions indeed, that summon gluttonous desires, artificial malevolent lovers, Martian pyramids and London buses, labyrinths, phantoms (always phantoms), Beatles books and devil boys, bullet trains and deep fakes... all of these and more inform the album, taking their place among bewitching guitar textures, infectious beats and deadpan but consummately melodic vocal deliveries.

It's not just the tenor of the times but also the enduring resurgence of the postpunk sound in this century, from Interpol to Dry Cleaning, that make THE JACK RUBIES feel more relevant than ever. Even so, there's a freshness and urgency to the band's newest material that sets them apart from their followers, and part of that is a function of the band's own inspired need to keep its own eerie flame alight. The single “Phantom,” with its tense lyrics and Remain In Light-inspired groove, was all over indie radio by October 2024, mere months after CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME's release, and the even more unsettling remix featured here was a highlight of Big Stir's Halloween collection CHILLING, THRILLING HOOKS AND HAUNTED HARMONIES a year later. Between Autumns, fans were treated to the very of-the-times postmodern spy music outing “Are We Being Recorded?” and most recently, setting the stage for VISIONS, there was the standalone release of the album's archly humorous rocker of a lead track “Greedy.” The new singles have all been accompanied by compellingly original and artistic music videos of the kind they just don't make any more, with all the media telegraphing just how driven the band is to seize the moment and make it their own.

VISIONS IN THE BOWLING ALLEY makes good on every last bit of that ambition. Beyond the singles, the album features hooks and grooves aplenty and deeper explorations of the kind of paranoia, scrambled identity and media saturation that's barely science fiction any more. There are cautionary tales of intrusive technology like the loping “My Perceptron,” the near-blues retro vibes of “Dead Man” framing a '50s-era character study involving ghosts and Martians, and the darkly twanging tones of the genuinely spooky and likewise flying-saucer-inspired “Flying Machine.” Fragments of ska and ABBA-inspired piano mingle with the noir guitar leads on the humorously menacing “Asteroid,” while “This Is Not A Joke,” an exploration of a delusional world of secret societies, false rumors and omens of impending upheaval, radiates unease with mounting layers of guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals.

For all its tales of untethered personalities adrift in an unhinged world that frighteningly resembles our own, VISIONS IN THE BOWLING ALLEY, even at its darkest, is shot through with humor that's too clever and heartfelt to be truly bleak. It ends with a trio of tracks that are conversely too knowing to be considered strictly gleeful, but which sport indelible hooks that are sure to spark joy in anyone who hears them. “Boat Rocker” finds the band in almost Squeeze-like pop territory, and it's followed by an irresistibly toe-tapping cover of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's “Swampsnake” pushed over the edge by guest Ayumi Ishito's saxophone. And the closing “Be Good Or Be Gone” is simply a delight: with its dancefloor beat, wailing harmonica, soulful backing vocals courtesy of Cat Henry, and one of Ian Wright's most instantly memorable vocal hooks ever, it's quite simply a hit waiting to happen.

Enter, then, the hallucinatory delirium of this thoroughly inviting fever dream of a record, where lions weep and creatures crawl. Where birds fly in reverse and truant scarecrows flee their fields. Yes, folks, nothing too weird or outlandish here – just the matrix overloading in this Garden of Earthly Delights. As the enigmatic Netherlandish rock star Hieronymus Bosch is unreliably reported to have said, “Life is a simulation!” You are invited to overindulge, go overboard, and wolf down this sonic slice of post punk pie. It’s The Jack Rubies’ new album... binge on!

Big Stir Records is very proud to announce the December 12 release of a new album from England's own THE GOLD NEEDLES on CD and Streaming worldwide. MOOD ELEVATOR, the fourth full-length release from the Kingston-Upon-Hull-based indie rockers and their first for BSR, features no fewer than four indie hit singles released across the past year including last month's “Turns To Gold” and their 2024 label bow “I Don't Know About That.” MOOD ELEVATOR is sure to be a late-year hit, and it's up for pre-order and pre-save now:

https://orcd.co/goldneedles-moodelevator

With MOOD ELEVATOR, THE GOLD NEEDLES (Simon Dowson, lead vocals, guitar; Dave Burbage, lead guitar; Mark English, keyboards; Carl Slaughter, bass; Will Jones, drums) have taken a definitive leap forward in an already acclaimed career. There's a new polish to the production that retains all the band's energy, and the tunes are the catchiest the Needles have ever crafted. The strength of the singles – the pure power pop of “I Don't Know About That,” the lush textures of “Supernature,” the hooks of the acerbic “Turns To Gold” and the sheer beauty of the current “Crescent Moon” (already taking the global indie rock airwaves by storm) – are evidence enough that an already exciting group has leveled up, but the depth of the album is still a revelation. All ten songs are up to the standards of the singles, presenting the label with the good-problem-to-have of picking the tracks to receive standalone releases in support of MOOD ELEVATOR.

It's thus that “Keep On Telling Me Why,” a punchy and completely infectious rocker with an eminently relatable theme, will be the record's fifth single this Winter. But even with fully half of the album's tracks getting showcases on the airwaves, there's more: one trip through the record reveals the way the urgent “Eleven Eleven,” the second track on the album, propels the album forward, barely leaving the listener time to catch their breath. “I'll Take My Chances” would likewise have been a clear pick for airplay on any other album, and “Someone Someday” puts a unique GNs spin on the Style Council/Aztec Camera sonics of '80s radio. With so many of the tracks pulling inspiration from the whole of rock history from the '60s British Invasion to the '90s Britpop movement and beyond, MOOD ELEVATOR is perhaps most remarkable in its timelessness. Almost any of these tracks could have been a commercial hit at any point during those decades: it's equally easy to imagine these tracks rubbing shoulders on the charts with the Stones, Cheap Trick, Duran Duran or Blur... or indeed The Bay City Rollers, who are specifically cited by the band as a key inspiration for the accessible approach they so adroitly achieve here.

More importantly, the record simply radiates confidence and, even better, the joy of a band that clearly knows they're onto something special. The closing track, a killer near-instrumental whose only lyrics are its own (and the album's) title, illuminates how much fun THE GOLD NEEDLES have clearly had creating these songs in a way that can't help but sweep the listener along with them. The title is no accident: this is an album intended to raise spirits, and early reactions strongly suggest that it's a rousing success. Take a ride on this MOOD ELEVATOR... we feel certain you will agree.