The new double LP from SPYGENIUS in a lavishly illustrated gatefold package.

1. Another True Story
2. Albion
3. If You Go A-Roving
4. Salaud Days
5. Tomorrowland
6. Cafe Emery Hill
7. Dolphinarium 1986
8. New Street
9. Man Overboard
10. Green Eyed Monster
11. In A Garden
12. Don't Blame It On Your Mother
13. Midnight Bandola
14. Spite
15. Watch Your Back
16. Windy
17. Remember Me When I Was Good

Vinyl LP with 8-page full color booklet.

SIDE ONE: 1) Appalachukrainia 2) Pushing Forty 3) McCadden 4) The Romantic Dream Appears Before Us 5) Suddenly Succulents

SIDE TWO: 1) (How Did You Make) A Mistake Like Me? 2) Satellite Business 3) Is Drama Sue Here? 4) Alesandra 619 5) Just Like Carl Crew Said 6) When We Were In England (And You Were Dead)

THE ARMOIRES return with their keenly-awaited second album ZIBALDONE. The Burbank, CA band's co-leaders Christina Bulbenko (vocals, keys) and Rex Broome (vocals, guitar) describe the new work as a sonic love letter to music itself: the music that inspired them and the music of their friends and fellow travelers on the stages of the global pop rock scene. The album will be available on vinyl, CD and digital download through Big Stir Records on August 2.

THE ARMOIRES arrived quietly on the music scene with their debut album Incidental Lightshow – a lovely but grief-shadowed record deeply informed by the loss of Christina's son Ian midway through its creation – in 2016. Since that time, Broome and Bulbenko have semi-famously poured their hearts and souls into the nurturing of the music scene which has embraced them by founding Big Stir, a rapidly rising and widely admired international record label, live concert series, magazine and general community hub for creators and lovers of melodic rock.

The band themselves, having solidified their lineup with Christina's daughter Larysa (viola, backing vocals), Clifford Ulrich (bass, harmonica, backing vocals) and Derek Hanna (drums), have gigged, toured and written relentlessly during Big Stir Records' gestation, but remained silent on the recording front for the first 12 releases on the burgeoning label they themselves founded. Earlier this year, the SIDE THREE EP appeared, introducing the band as they are now, over 100 gigs deep into their proper career: a boisterous, exuberant but sophisticated pop combo joyously banging their way through four raucous, jangling originals and a cover of a New Pornographers classic.

ZIBALDONE, produced, like the EP, by Plasticsoul's Steven Eric Wilson with a deft and empathetic touch, is a deeper dive into the same waters and crackles with the energy of a band that's found its voices... or voices, if you will. The unique harmonies of Broome and Bulbenko are the anchor, ornamented by the refined 12-string and viola lead interplay that's become the band's secondary signature. The road-tested immediacy of the EP is still very much evident, but the pallet is more varied. Alongside a clutch of vibrant rockers are the charming Go-Betweens-meet-The Beach Boys shuffle of “McCadden”, the aqueous post-punk jangle-dub of “The Romantic Dream Appears Before Us”, the low-desert chamber-pop of “Suddenly Succulents”, the pedal-steel-sweetened melancholy of “Satellite Business” and the surf-klezmer clang of “Just Like Carl Crew Said”. A veritable host of the band's friends from the pop scene show up for the party, as whimsically depicted by artist Joseph Champniss on the strikingly detailed jacket art. Along with Wilson himself, members of Spygenius, The Bobbleheads, The Corner Laughers, Toxic Melons and Blake Jones from The Trike Shop (on theremin no less!) appear, and ace harmonies from Michael Simmons and Steve Rosenbaum weave in and out between the leads... even former Soft Boy Matthew Seligman takes a turn on bass (as do Ruth Rogers of Spygenius and Broome's daughter Miranda). But despite the impressive and warm support of these luminaries, The Armoires sound more like themselves than ever before: the distinctive drumming of Hanna ties it all together, while shared lead harmonies (ranging from sunshine pop sweetness to X-like co-howls) and the bed of guitar, keys and viola, all finessed to its organic ideal by Wilson's production touch, are unmistakable for anyone else.

“Incidental Lightshow was a record we had to make at the time”, says Broome, “and Zibaldone is the record we wanted to make.” The songs are the proof – they're lyrically playful and strewn with characters and mementos of the band's experiences. The record is bookended by the soaring “Appalachukrainia” and the deeply Robyn Hitchcock-indebted “When We Were In England (And You Were Dead)”, both virtual travelogues of The Armoires' two transformative swings through the UK. The band's personal musical idols crop up repeatedly. You'll catch references to The Who, Blondie, Dylan, Bob Mould, Neil Young, The Jazz Butcher and R.E.M. alongside the aforementioned X and Soft Boys and many of Bulbenko and Broome's contemporaries. It's no trainspotter's checklist for the pair, though, but a loving acknowledgement of the musical air they breathe and the inspirational power of the songs, old and new, that fuel and define them.

A strain of defiance against the middle-aged wasteland runs through tunes like “Pushing Forty”, “McCadden” and the barbershop Buzzcocks bash of “Is Drama Sue Here?”, songs that could only have been written by parents (and teachers). The Motown-meets-The Byrds stomp of the lead single “(How Did You Make) A Mistake Like Me?” nods to Christina's Detroit roots while “Satellite Business” draws on Rex's own West Virginia origins. Longtime live favorite “Alesandra 619” achieves psychedelic majesty in Wilson's ethereal mix, and Christina's vocal on the delicate “Suddenly Succulents” is a true heartbreaker. The overall package is, typically for The Armoires, timeless, at once sounding like it might have sprung from the late '60s Sunset Strip, the charts of the mid-'80s college rock heyday, or last weekend at Joe's Great American in Burbank.

The release of Zibaldone will, unsurprisingly, be followed by a new round of touring for The Armoires well into 2020 in the US and UK, sharing stages with their BSR labelmates and other beloved collaborators. New material is already in the wings as the band moves ever forward. “It's no wonder I feel like I'm dreaming”, goes the chorus to “Alesandra 619”, and The Armoires seem intent on pursuing that romantic dream for some time to come.

Deluxe vinyl edition of the bold new album from the UK's legendary THE SPEED OF SOUND, packaged with an unbelievable assortment of themed bonus items! Track list: A1. Tomorrow's World A2. Opium Eyes A3. Smokescreen A4. Zombie Century A5. Wired And Tired A6. Virtual Reality (Part 2) A7. Shadow Factory B1. Impossible Past B2. Leaf Blower B3. Blood Sweat And Tears B4. Charlotte B5. The Day The Earth Caught Fire B6. Last Orders

Big Stir Records is thrilled to announce the addition of Orange County, CA pop legends SPARKLE*JETS U.K. to our roster with their first new release in 18 years: a limited edition colored 7” vinyl single that's of unique significance to both the band and the label. It's a pair of covers related to BSR's namesake Big Star – the band's classic “The Ballad of El Goodo” and the beloved Chris Bell solo cut “You and Your Sister” – recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Jody Stephens on drums. Both the A and B sides will be available digitally ONLY with the physical 45 (until they're collected on the fourth Big Stir Singles CD in late 2019). The single is officially out Friday, July 26 and can be pre-ordered here:

www.bigstirrecords.com/sparkle-jets-u-k

It's a welcome return for sparkle*jets u.k., remembered as one of the most adored bands in the power pop movement of the late '90s and early 2000s and mainstays of the early International Pop Overthrow Festival years. Their adorably geekly sensibility and their sound – a distinctive marriage of '60s and '70s rock and whimsical guitar pop -- set then apart. Founding members Michael Simmons, Susan West, and Jamie Knight first met in 1995 at a gig for Simmons' band at the time, Virgin 7. Within a year the trio's separate acts had merged into a single entity, which included the first writing contributions from Simmons as well as material from West and Knight.

The group, which was initially dubbed Happy Birthday!, was renamed sparklekets u.k., including the "U.K." tag because the name wasn't nearly wacky enough. The three bandmembers also shared a lot of musical common ground, starting at The Beatles and running through Electric Light Orchestra, Brian Wilson, Teenage Fanclub, Pixies, The Jackson 5. SJUK recorded their 1998 debut In, Through and Beyond and pressed just 1,000 copies. Copies of the disc made it into a single store, where rock journalist John Borack (Goldmine Magazine and the Shake Some Action power pop guidebooks) bought a copy, his decision based only on the cover art and 3.99 dollar price. After passing word onto pop fanatic and International Pop Overthrow organizer David Bash, sparkle*jets u.k. were soon inducted into the close-knit family of Los Angeles-based power pop acts and their fans, then in its fondly remembered heyday.

The delightfully absurd I Love SparkleJets U.K. multi-artist tribute album and the excellent 2001 sophomore album Bamboo Lounge would follow before the group went dormant on the recording front. Simmons would go on play a major role in Popdudes (with Borack, Knight, Robbie Rist, BSR's own Addison Love and many more) and form another multigenerational in the form of Yorktown Lads (also with Love and Cameron Lew). His own solo album First Days of Summer, recently reissued in expanded form on Big Stir, adorned many a Best of 2018 lists. The album, along with occasional and warmly received SJUK reunion gigs, paved the way for the Memphis sessions which yielded the new single.

Along with “El Goodo”, Big Stir Records is making expanded versions of the two proper sparkle*jets u.k. albums available for download, and also offering the 2017 vinyl reissue of Bamboo Lounge in our store. There are rumblings that the much-rumored third LP may see completion and release in the year ahead... stay tuned for further developments, and grab your 45 while they last!

The new double-length album from SPYGENIUS in a lavishly illustrated single CD package,

1. Another True Story
2. Albion
3. If You Go A-Roving
4. Salaud Days
5. Tomorrowland
6. Cafe Emery Hill
7. Dolphinarium 1986
8. New Street
9. Man Overboard
10. Green Eyed Monster
11. In A Garden
12. Don't Blame It On Your Mother
13. Midnight Bandola
14. Spite
15. Watch Your Back
16. Windy
17. Remember Me When I Was Good

Ships starting August

Track List 1) Appalachukrainia 2) Pushing Forty 3) McCadden 4) The Romantic Dream Appears Before Us 5) Suddenly Succulents 6) (How Did You Make) A Mistake Like Me? 7) Satellite Business 8) Is Drama Sue Here? 9) Alesandra 619 10) Just Like Carl Crew Said 11) When We Were In England (And You Were Dead)

THE ARMOIRES return with their keenly-awaited second album ZIBALDONE. The Burbank, CA band's co-leaders Christina Bulbenko (vocals, keys) and Rex Broome (vocals, guitar) describe the new work as a sonic love letter to music itself: the music that inspired them and the music of their friends and fellow travelers on the stages of the global pop rock scene.

www.bigstirrecords.com/the-armoires

THE ARMOIRES arrived quietly on the music scene with their debut album Incidental Lightshow – a lovely but grief-shadowed record deeply informed by the loss of Christina's son Ian midway through its creation – in 2016. Since that time, Broome and Bulbenko have semi-famously poured their hearts and souls into the nurturing of the music scene which has embraced them by founding Big Stir, a rapidly rising and widely admired international record label, live concert series, magazine and general community hub for creators and lovers of melodic rock.

The band themselves, having solidified their lineup with Christina's daughter Larysa (viola, backing vocals), Clifford Ulrich (bass, harmonica, backing vocals) and Derek Hanna (drums), have gigged, toured and written relentlessly during Big Stir Records' gestation, but remained silent on the recording front for the first 12 releases on the burgeoning label they themselves founded. Earlier this year, the SIDE THREE EP appeared, introducing the band as they are now, over 100 gigs deep into their proper career: a boisterous, exuberant but sophisticated pop combo joyously banging their way through four raucous, jangling originals and a cover of a New Pornographers classic.

ZIBALDONE, produced, like the EP, by Plasticsoul's Steven Eric Wilson with a deft and empathetic touch, is a deeper dive into the same waters and crackles with the energy of a band that's found its voices... or voices, if you will. The unique harmonies of Broome and Bulbenko are the anchor, ornamented by the refined 12-string and viola lead interplay that's become the band's secondary signature. The road-tested immediacy of the EP is still very much evident, but the pallet is more varied. Alongside a clutch of vibrant rockers are the charming Go-Betweens-meet-The Beach Boys shuffle of “McCadden”, the aqueous post-punk jangle-dub of “The Romantic Dream Appears Before Us”, the low-desert chamber-pop of “Suddenly Succulents”, the pedal-steel-sweetened melancholy of “Satellite Business” and the surf-klezmer clang of “Just Like Carl Crew Said”. A veritable host of the band's friends from the pop scene show up for the party, as whimsically depicted by artist Joseph Champniss on the strikingly detailed jacket art. Along with Wilson himself, members of Spygenius, The Bobbleheads, The Corner Laughers, Toxic Melons and Blake Jones from The Trike Shop (on theremin no less!) appear, and ace harmonies from Michael Simmons and Steve Rosenbaum weave in and out between the leads... even former Soft Boy Matthew Seligman takes a turn on bass (as do Ruth Rogers of Spygenius and Broome's daughter Miranda). But despite the impressive and warm support of these luminaries, The Armoires sound more like themselves than ever before: the distinctive drumming of Hanna ties it all together, while shared lead harmonies (ranging from sunshine pop sweetness to X-like co-howls) and the bed of guitar, keys and viola, all finessed to its organic ideal by Wilson's production touch, are unmistakable for anyone else.

“Incidental Lightshow was a record we had to make at the time”, says Broome, “and Zibaldone is the record we wanted to make.” The songs are the proof – they're lyrically playful and strewn with characters and mementos of the band's experiences. The record is bookended by the soaring “Appalachukrainia” and the deeply Robyn Hitchcock-indebted “When We Were In England (And You Were Dead)”, both virtual travelogues of The Armoires' two transformative swings through the UK. The band's personal musical idols crop up repeatedly. You'll catch references to The Who, Blondie, Dylan, Bob Mould, Neil Young, The Jazz Butcher and R.E.M. alongside the aforementioned X and Soft Boys and many of Bulbenko and Broome's contemporaries. It's no trainspotter's checklist for the pair, though, but a loving acknowledgement of the musical air they breathe and the inspirational power of the songs, old and new, that fuel and define them.

A strain of defiance against the middle-aged wasteland runs through tunes like “Pushing Forty”, “McCadden” and the barbershop Buzzcocks bash of “Is Drama Sue Here?”, songs that could only have been written by parents (and teachers). The Motown-meets-The Byrds stomp of the lead single “(How Did You Make) A Mistake Like Me?” nods to Christina's Detroit roots while “Satellite Business” draws on Rex's own West Virginia origins. Longtime live favorite “Alesandra 619” achieves psychedelic majesty in Wilson's ethereal mix, and Christina's vocal on the delicate “Suddenly Succulents” is a true heartbreaker. The overall package is, typically for The Armoires, timeless, at once sounding like it might have sprung from the late '60s Sunset Strip, the charts of the mid-'80s college rock heyday, or last weekend at Joe's Great American in Burbank.

The release of Zibaldone will, unsurprisingly, be followed by a new round of touring for The Armoires well into 2020 in the US and UK, sharing stages with their BSR labelmates and other beloved collaborators. New material is already in the wings as the band moves ever forward. “It's no wonder I feel like I'm dreaming”, goes the chorus to “Alesandra 619”, and The Armoires seem intent on pursuing that romantic dream for some time to come.

The enigmatic Agony Aunts return with their second full-length album.

1.Twenty-four Mergansers 03:14
2. Family Drugs 03:00
3. Big Cinnamon 02:47
4. Back To Back Bill 03:40
5. Undecimber 03:38 6. We Got The Jekyll 04:11
7. Mother Make Sleep 03:19
8. Uranium My Love 03:19
9. You're So Vague 02:54
10. Laughing At The World 03:25 11. Cool Fresh Nights 04:13 12. Trouble Was Born 03:15

The new album from legendary psychedelic troubadour ANTON BARBEAU! Track list: 1. Oh The Joys We Live For 2. Cowbell Camembert 3. One Of Her Super Powers 4. Filmik 5. Crystals 6. When Life Brings You Beer 7. I Love It When She Does The Dishes 8. It's Alright Rosie 9. Three Days The Death Enigma 10. Die Smiling 11. Salt Lick 12. I Been Thinking 'Bout You

TRACK LIST: 1. Wire From The Wall 2. Land of Economy 3. Beautiful Bacon Dream 4. Jingle Jangle 5. Clean Clothes In A Dirty Bag 6. Haunted In Fenland 7. Back to Balmain 8. Popsong 99 9. Tidy Up Yourself 10. Mahjong Dijon 11. Burning Burning

No one label could ever hope to claim the musical force of nature that is ANTON BARBEAU. For that reason among many others, BIG STIR RECORDS is simply and humbly grateful to bring you ANTON BARBEAU PRÉSENTE: KENNY VS. THRUST, available on CD and download on Friday, January 24 and is available for pre-order at www.BigStirRecords.com/store now.

Anton Barbeau is said to play "pre-apocalyptic psychedelic pop", but that tag doesn't even begin to touch on the scope of his work. His oeuvre ranges from surreal acoustic balladry to experimental electronica to the mutant neo-cabaret of his most recent album Berliner Grotesk. On KvT, though, Anton rocks. The record takes its name from Ant's current backing bands in the US and UK – Sacramento-based KENNY and Oxford, England's THRUST, known in their own right as CHARMS AGAINST THE EVIL EYE – and is possessed of a loose and live energy that sets it apart from the man's 2019 releases, including Berliner Grotesk, the critically-adored Natural Causes, and Ant's work fronting the French-American supergroup SALT.

The songs are drawn from Barbeau's songbook spanning from his teen years to the present day, but the all-new performances are fresh and immediate, and the bi-continental production is a cohesive and bracing dive into the essence of Antmusik across time. And just who is Anton? He's a Taurus, born in Sacramento and now living by a canal in Berlin. He's made something like 30 albums and has worked with members of XTC, The Soft Boys, The Bevis Frond, Cake, and The Corner Laughers (his label-mates first on Mystery Lawn and now on BSR). He draws frequent comparisons to the likes of Syd Barrett, Julian Cope, and Robyn Hitchcock (whose erstwhile Egyptians bandmates Morris Windsor and Andy Metcalfe constituted the other two thirds of Ant's band Three Minute Tease). He split the singing and songwriter duties with the legendary Scott Miller on The Loud Family's What If It Works? LP. Anton breathes rarefied air indeed.

As with many of those influences and peers, there's a special magic when a musical polymath like Anton steps in front of a sympatico live band and lets the chemistry take over. On Kenny Vs. Thrust, Barbeau has two such bands: the titular Kenny (Kevin Allison: guitar, Tom Monson: drums, and Jeff Simons: bass) and Thrust (Matt Sewell: guitar, Jules Moss: bass, and Richard Nash: drums). Anton adroitly mixes and matches his tunes to each combo's considerable strength.: Thus it's Thrust powering through the two-guitar sludge attack of the opener “Wire From The Wall” (sounding not unlike, well, Wire), the rhythmically trippy pysch of “Popsong 99” and the delightfully titled “Beautiful Bacon Dream”, and the Hitchcock-indebted and -referencing “Haunted in Fenland”. “Mahjong Dijon” with its acoustic-and-electric-12-string swagger rounds out the contributions from the moonlighting Charms Against The Evil Eye lads (from whom we hope to hear more under their own name this year).

Across the pond in California, it's Kenny backing Ant on the bracing meta-metal of “Land of Economy” (replete with serpentine fuzz-guitar lines from Barbeau himself), the stately “Burning Burning”, and the country-tinged “Clean Clothes In A Dirty Bag” (on which Corner Laugher Karla Kane gets “the last word”) – all of which Anton classes as his most political of tunes and are adorned with the requisite intensity any good protest deserves. Amazingly, they also sound imminently at home on the sweetly synth-laden “Back To Balmain” and the dub workout “Tidy Up Yourself”. And there's room along the way for the Ant-only “Jingle Jangle”, which serves as both a takedown and prime example of the genre its title would lead one to expect.

“There’s something beautifully balanced between the style and sound of each band. Of course, there’s me gluing it all together with too many synths,” says Anton. And it hangs together wonderfully, united by the singular lyrical whimsy for which Barbeau is known. Ever chasing one quixotic muse or another, Anton's busily preparing his next record, a concept piece known as Manbird that promises another journey across his own musical astral plane. Meanwhile, Kenny Vs. Thrust is destined to be the most car-stereo-crankable disc of Anton's – or perhaps anyone's – year, and we are thrilled to bring it to you.

KC Bowman's 2018 release as Fireproof Sam And The Network Stars features the extended Corner Laughers/Agony Aunts family.

1. C'mon, Get Passive
2. Screwed over by Stylish Introverts
3. Old Trope Academy
4. Tryna Be Bolth
5. Rev Nine
6. Coat of Arms
7. Vatical Trance
8. Probably Twigs
9. Hide Behind My Heart
10. I Need You
11. Touch of a Clone
12. Obvious Scarecrow
13. Idiot Rock
14. Ripple up the Creek
15. Poisonous Peach
16. The Fountainhead
17. God Stopped Listening
18. Goodbye Minced Oaths
19. Wonderful Birthday
20. She Is Gonna Love You the Way She Loved Me

KAI DANZBERG's acclaimed 2018 album POP-UP RADIO has been hailed as "Album of the Year" and a masterpiece, with the accolades still flowing in. In advance of our release of his followup NOT ONLY SUNSHINE, BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to offer CDs of POP-UP RADIO signed by the artist himself! Tracklist:

1. Overture
2. Welcome to the Show
3. Yes We Can
4. Just Listen to Me
5. You're the One
6. Puppet on a String
7. Stranger
8. How Can You
9. Too Late
10. What the F (Radio Version)
11. Sophie
12. I Should Try
13. Sleep (Tell Me)