tag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:/blogs/big-stir-newsBig Stir News2024-02-16T19:07:25-08:00Big Stir Recordsfalsetag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/73527852024-02-16T19:07:25-08:002024-02-20T21:33:07-08:00The Cyrkle set to release their first new album in over 50 years: "Revival" out March 22<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/46ccfcdf9ee42e8336dcf71459487ace7ea095e3/original/orchard-the-cyrkle-revival.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><p><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en"><strong>Big Stir Records </strong>proudly brings you the first album from '60s hitmakers and Sunshine Pop legends <strong>THE CYRKLE</strong> in over 50 years: </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>REVIVAL</strong></span></i><span lang="en">. The album features 13 new tracks in the band's classic style from the 21<sup>st</sup> Century lineup of the band, anchored by original members <strong>DON DANNEMANN</strong> and <strong>MIKE</strong> <strong>LOSEKAMP</strong>. It includes their recent indie radio hits “We Thought We Could Fly” and “Dance With Me Tonight” as well as new versions of their '60s hits “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn-Down Day” as bonus tracks. </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>REVIVAL</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> is set for release on CD and all digital platforms on March 22 and is up for pre-order and presave now:</span></font></span></p><p> </p><p lang="en" align="CENTER"><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span>https://orcd.co/cyrkle-revival</span></font></span></p><p> </p><p><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><strong>THE CYRKLE'</strong>s return to the airwaves was one of last year's most welcome surprises. The legend of the band's meteoric mid-'60s rise is a heady one even by the halcyon standards of the era: they shared stages (and manager <strong>Brian Epstein</strong>) with <strong>The Beatles</strong> – whose <strong>John Lennon </strong>coined the spelling of their name – and scored two major hits in the <strong>Paul Simon</strong>/<strong>Bruce Woodley</strong>-written “Red Rubber Ball” and the culture-defining “Turn-Down Day”. They vanished nearly as quickly, leaving behind those undeniably definitive classics of the Sunshine Pop sound and just two proper albums. Aside from a handful of appearances and the prospect of a reunion cut short by the untimely 2007 passing of co-founder <strong>TOM DAWES</strong>, they were not to be heard from again until 2017, when <strong>DANNEMANN</strong> (vocals and guitar) and <strong>LOSEKAMP </strong>(vocals and keyboards) joined forces with some of Ohio's top performing musicians – including <strong>OHIO EXPRESS</strong> bassist<strong> Dean Kastran</strong> as well as </font><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en"><strong>Pat McLoughlin</strong> (vocals, guitar), <strong>Don White</strong> (lead guitar, vocals) and <strong>Scott Langley</strong> (drums, vocals) -- to recreate the original <strong>Cyrkle</strong> sound onstage, and bring their creative vision into the new century in the studio.</span></font></span></p><p> </p><p><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3">What sets the new version of <strong>THE CYRKLE</strong> apart from the other veteran '60s acts on the retro rock circuit is their focus on new material, all delivered with the classic band's signature harmonies and melodic charm. Indie radio has already rallied around last year's hit single “We Thought We Could Fly” – <strong>Dannemann</strong>'s touching tribute to his late musical partner <strong>Dawes</strong>, whose harmonies were added to the track via vocals from the vault – and the crowd-pleasing “Dance With Me Tonight”, a fresh staple of the band's exuberant live sets. And <i><strong>REVIVAL</strong></i> offers much more, intended as the true third proper <strong>Cyrkle</strong> album that might have appeared in 1968.</font><br> </p><p><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3">Sonically, it's just that: the inimitable harmonies soar as the band moves effortlessly from the sweet roots rock of “Goin' Steady With You” (a <strong>Dannemann</strong> tune dating back to 1959, finally given the <strong>Cyrkle </strong>treatment) to the sophisticated chamber pop of the <strong>Losekamp</strong> originals “We Can Find It” and “Singing For Today”, which connect the band's distinctive approach to the later sounds of the Laurel Canyon scene and '70s AM Gold. <strong>Losekamp</strong> also reprises his much-loved fan favorite “The Visit” from <strong>The Cyrkle</strong>'s underappreciated second album<strong> </strong><i><strong>NEON</strong></i>.</font><br> </p><p><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3">Indeed, much on <i><strong>REVIVAL</strong></i> gleefully calls back to the music of <strong>The Cyrkle</strong>'s heyday. There's the forthcoming single “We Were There” on which <strong>Dannemann </strong>breathlessly recounts the unbelievable journey of the band's original career over a musical setting that's of a piece with their work from the time (and evocative of contemporaries from <strong>The Beach Boys</strong> to <strong>The Hollies</strong>). There's the glorious psychedelia of “He Can Fly”, a recreation of an <strong>Andrew Sandoval</strong> tune originally produced by, and again featuring the vintage vocals of, <strong>Tom Dawes</strong>. The record also sees the return of renowned producer <span lang="en-US"><strong>Charlie Calello</strong>, who oversaw the band's '60s sessions and now takes the helm on “Dance With Me Tonight.” And there's even a lovely if belated version of <strong>Simon & Garfunkel</strong>'s “59<sup>th</sup> Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)”, a song the band could have recorded in 1967 when <strong>Simon </strong>offered it to them (and which they regretted declining when <strong>Harpers Bizarre </strong>picked it up and ran with it to the charts).</span></font><br> </p><p><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en-US">But there's more, much of it acknowledging the passing of time. <strong>Dannemann</strong>'s “Center Of The World” may sound like a swirling '60's throwback, but listen closely and you'll hear him tell the sweet tale of meeting his wife online at the dawn of the internet era. Likewise, the rootsy “It's </span></font><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">Alright It's Okay”, with its round-robin solo turns for all of the band's formidable singers, addresses the prospect of growing old with irresistibly youthful glee. There's also room for tales of romance, both heartbreaking (“Nobody But A Fool”) and humorous (“I Believe She Believes”). And while</span><span lang="en-US"> the bonus tracks present recreations of their indelible hits from the charts of half a century past, these are the 21<sup>st</sup> Century renditions that have been bringing audiences together across generational lines as part of <strong>The Cyrkle</strong>'s touring show. </span></font></span><br> </p><p><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en-US">As befits a band born of the optimism of the '60s, <strong>THE CYRKLE</strong> has delivered a new album that's both warmly nostalgic and forward-looking. </span><i><span lang="en-US"><strong>REVIVAL</strong></span></i><span lang="en-US"> is imbued with a sense of well-earned joy, playfulness, musicality, and that rarest of commodities in the modern world: hope. Fans of melodic and uplifting rock in all its forms across the decades can rejoice that <strong>THE CYRKLE</strong> has come back around again. It's gonna be alright, the morning sun is shining, and we at <strong>Big Stir Records</strong> dig it. We feel sure you will, too.</span></font></span></p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/73432132024-01-30T18:55:08-08:002024-01-30T18:56:20-08:00New album "Clocks Are Out Of Time" from THE JACK RUBIES out February 16 from Big Stir Records<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/e65b328f71f2281cb21a1c68c605ca7dcfb4d0b7/original/orchard-the-jack-rubies-clocks-are-out-of-time.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p><p><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en"><strong>Big Stir Records</strong> is proud to announce the February 16 release of </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME</strong></span></i><span lang="en">, the first new album from reunited English C86/postpunk veterans <strong>THE JACK RUBIES</strong> in over thirty years, on CD and Streaming worldwide. The band returns with their original lineup and bewitchingly angular sound fully intact, as heard on last year's global indie radio hit “Poltergeist” and the new single “Hark”. Those tracks are joined by ten more noir-tinged, melodically gripping and darkly humorous tunes, easily the equals of anything the band crafted in their '80s heyday and startlingly contemporary in both sound and outlook. The album is up for pre-order and pre-save now:</span></font></span></p><p lang="en" align="CENTER"><a class="no-pjax" href="https://orcd.co/jackrubies-caoot" data-link-type="url"><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span>https://orcd.co/jackrubies-caoot</span></font></span></a></p><p><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en">The title </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> bespeaks urgency, and its songs pair titles like “Heaven Shook Me,” “Corrupted” and “Shark Attack” with a thrilling push-pull between taut rhythmic passages and lush, wide-open guitarscapes that deliver that tension-and-release dynamic to great effect. But the record's name also suggests a kind of glitch in the universal timeline, and it's easy to hear why. Anyone familiar with the band's original run (including their two now-highly-sought-after albums for TVT Records), or their context among contemporaries like The The, Nick Cave and The Fall, could be forgiven for thinking that </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>Clocks</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> is a lost album of that era. At the same time, followers of newer postpunk revival groups like Interpol, The National and Dry Cleaning might well mistake it for the debut of a band that could only come into being in the here and now of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century. Both points of view would be correct: it seems like the times have finally caught up with what <strong>The Jack Rubies</strong> always had in mind.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en">The band's original lineup of <strong>Ian Wright</strong> (lead vocals and guitar), <strong>SD Ineson</strong> (backing vocals and guitar), <strong>Steve Brockway</strong> (bass), <strong>Lawrence Giltnane </strong>(percussion), and <strong>Peter Maxted</strong> (drums, and also the album's producer) have picked up right where they left off, and it sounds miraculously contemporary. </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> fits the tenor of these times to a T, sonically and thematically. Jagged riffs and propulsive rhythms worthy of Gang Of Four, Shriekback or early P.I.L. drive darkly danceable grooves on “Heaven Shook Me” and “Hark,” while “Angeline Soul” and “Corrupted” squarely hit the vintage college rock sweet spot. </span></font></span><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2">“Chandelier” evokes Berlin-era Bowie with a distinctly </font><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en"><strong>Rubies</strong> twist, and both “Read My Mind” and “Poltergeist” suggest that the band might have evolved into a leading light of the dream-pop/shoegaze movement had they not gone into hibernation at the outset of the '90s.</span></font></span></p><p lang="en"><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span>Elsewhere, a stark rootsiness informs “Hidey Hole” and the genuinely funny preview single “Terrible Crime”, while “Shark Attack” lives up to its title with genuine bite. And you simply couldn't ask for a more satisfying closer than the gorgeous, soaring “I'll Give You More,” which the band call “a slice of Gallic infused chamber pop shot with dabs of Northern Soul harmonica, psychedelic backwards guitar solos, rhapsodic piano trills and all-round anthemic performances from all.” It's intended as a bookend to the desperate opener “Hark”, and succeeds brilliantly.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en">Across all of the songs on </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>CLOCKS</strong></span></i><span lang="en">, <strong>Wrigh</strong>t's insistent baritone spins tales of separation, isolation and the post-lockdown ennui that contributed to the general tone of the collection (balanced with the old wicked humor of yore). The overarching approach is thoroughly modern: seductively dark but too wry to be goth, brightly melodic but too sly to be pop. And for all its well-earned cynicism, the album is imbued with what <strong>Wright </strong>calls “a slightly bruised and battered positivity.” Perhaps that's born of the simple joy of <strong>THE JACK RUBIES</strong> rediscovering an alchemy that might have been lost for the ages. Fortunately, on </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>CLOCKS ARE OUT OF TIME</strong></span></i><span lang="en">, it's been rekindled, sounding, if anything, more potent than ever. And that makes for a record that's not only a sort of miracle, but maybe a masterpiece as well.</span></font></span></p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/73149432023-12-05T13:06:40-08:002023-12-05T13:06:41-08:00Free 2023 Label Sampler CD with all orders while supplies last.<p>It was, to say the least, another milestone year for <strong>Big Stir Records</strong>. And to celebrate, we're including a free CD of our retrospective sampler <i><strong>THE CREAM OF 2023</strong></i> with all vinyl or CD orders while supplies last! Created to showcase our roster's releases for our friends in the radio and print media world, it's also the only place to find a few of these tracks on physical media and contains a few previews of what's to come in the year ahead. And we're being generous with some more free swag on these orders too, so you never know what might accompany your purchase! Thanks for all your support throughout the year. Whatever you may be ordering today, you'll get some cream with it!</p><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/f45fa0faa665064e5f14edfc12da3eff97319f50/original/the-cream-of-2023-foam-your-consideration-big-stir-records-cover-art.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/6cf06cebc19bad944db54333ca119174f06b8611/original/cream-cover-back.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/72539872023-08-08T09:06:40-07:002023-10-16T07:52:10-07:00GRAHAM PARKER's new album "Last Chance To Learn The Twist" out September 8 from Big Stir Records<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/6cc52bb7bc794dc9be1d342ee95e1771c2ec7f77/original/orchard-graham-parker-last-chance-to-learn-the-twist.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en"><strong>Big Stir Records</strong> is proud to announce the release date for an all-new album from British rock legend <strong>GRAHAM PARKER</strong>. </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST</strong></span></i><span lang="en">, credited to <strong>GRAHAM PARKER & THE GOLDTOPS</strong> and produced by <strong>Parker</strong> and <strong>Tuck Nelson</strong>, sees worldwide release on CD and all streaming services on September 8, with a limited-edition LP run on clear green vinyl to follow in October. The album, up for pre-order and pre-save now (</span></font></span><a class="no-pjax" href="https://orcd.co/grahamparker-lctltt"><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en"><u>https://orcd.co/grahamparker-lctltt</u></span></font></span></a><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en">), includes both of the pre-release singles that've brought <strong>Parker</strong> back to the worldwide airwaves throughout the summer, and will be supported by a full band tour of the UK this fall.</span></font></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en"><strong>GRAHAM PARKER</strong>'s first album of new material since 2018, </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> finds the veteran singer-songwriter in top form, offering up thirteen new compositions with exquisitely tasteful backing by <strong>The Goldtops</strong> (bassist <strong>Simon Edwards</strong>, drummer <strong>Jim Russell</strong>, guitarist <strong>Martin Belmont</strong> and keyboard player <strong>Geraint Watkins</strong>) and frequent contributions from the <strong>Easy Access Orchestra</strong> horns and backing vocal duo <strong>The Lady Bugs</strong>. It's a dazzlingly diverse album: sweet classic soul grooves and roots rock sounds dominate, all framing lyrics dripping with <strong>Parker</strong>'s vintage “Wicked Wit” (as one song title has it) and inimitable, impassioned vocal delivery. Two early singles have hinted at the record's depth: the devastatingly stark “We Did Nothing” with its heartbreaking examination of the cost of inaction on both the personal and global stages, and the delightfully playful reggae-tinged “Them Bugs.” But there's much more waiting to be discovered on the full album, which is at once one of <strong>Parker</strong>'s most relaxed and boldest statements to date.</span></font></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#222222;">“<font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span>My usual rather conservative arrangements went out the window on this album,” <strong>Parker </strong>says. “The songs morphed as they grew: 'Grand Scheme Of Things,' and particularly 'Sun Valley,' became less about 'parts,' as in a typical pop song, but more about 'movements.' Bridges arrive in unusual places, songs were restrained and held to under three minutes, <strong>The Lady Bugs</strong> sang like street corner ruffians on 'The Music Of The Devil,' then floated like the choir girls that they actually are on the ballads, infused with old soul. <strong>The Goldtops</strong> gave me everything I wanted. </span><span lang="en">Yes, I’m more than pleased with this one.”</span></font></span><br> </p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><span lang="en">From the sinister shuffle of the opener “The Music Of The Devil” -- a mission statement of sorts for the album and perhaps the singer-songwriter's career – through the closing honky-tonk-inflected “Since You Left Me Baby,” <strong>Parker </strong>blends humor and heartbreak as only he can. Touching on concerns both intimate and culture-wide, often within the same song as on “We Did Nothing,” </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> finds <strong>Parker</strong> moving from strength to strength over the course of its two sides. Highlights include the bittersweet, piano-led third single “It Mattered To Me,” the loose groove of “Sun Valley” with its soaring horns-and-harmonies coda, and the folksy meditation on mortality of the near-title-track “Last Stretch Of The Road” (already a fan favorite from its live airings at <strong>Graham</strong>'s recent solo gigs in the US).</span></font></span><br> </p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="2"><i><span lang="en"><strong>LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST </strong></span></i><span lang="en">is as warm and inviting a record as<strong> Graham Parker</strong> has ever issued, but it also delivers all the unflinching honesty, literate nuance and passion his admirers have come to expect from him. September brings their first chance to hear it for themselves.</span></font></span></p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/72089912023-05-14T20:17:05-07:002023-08-06T01:50:04-07:00Big Stir Records adds six new artists for our Sixth Anniversary<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/405f9de1b2af69925b87b24a9c5239ccdf2308c9/original/bsr-646-email-blast.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><p><strong>BIG STIR RECORDS</strong> celebrates our Sixth Anniversary by announcing six new artists, all with their first full-length albums for the label on their way! We are proud to introduce:</p><p>-LA guitar pop darlings <a class="no-pjax" href="/sparkle-jets-u-k" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="Sparkle*Jets U.K."><strong>SPARKLE*JETS U.K.</strong></a></p><p>-Power Pop Hall Of Famers <a class="no-pjax" href="/the-spongetones" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="The Spongetones"><strong>THE SPONGETONES</strong></a></p><p>-<a class="no-pjax" href="/arthur-alexander" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="Arthur Alexander"><strong>ARTHUR ALEXANDER</strong></a>, founder of <strong>SORROWS</strong> and <strong>THE POPPEES</strong></p><p>-Genuine '60s hitmakers and Sunshine Pop heroes <a class="no-pjax" href="/the-cyrkle" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="The Cyrkle"><strong>THE CYRKLE</strong></a></p><p>-<a class="no-pjax" href="/the-flashcubes" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="The Flashcubes"><strong>THE FLASHCUBES</strong></a>, also Power Pop Hall of Famers with our most requested album release ever, and</p><p>-Absolute rock and roll legend <a class="no-pjax" href="/graham-parker" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="Graham Parker"><strong>GRAHAM PARKER</strong></a>!</p><p>Read all about the new signings and what they have in store at our <a class="no-pjax" href="/artists" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="Artists"><strong>Artists Page</strong></a>… and thank you, friends!</p><p> </p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/71607412023-02-25T13:04:12-08:002023-05-10T03:16:51-07:00Chris Church's RADIO TRANSIENT out March 24 on Big Stir Records<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/284050/d754ce820438cbba70d5643fb0900c986484b6bc/original/orchard-chris-church-radio-transient.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">We at<strong> Big Stir Records</strong> are delighted to announce the March 24 release of </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong></span></i><span lang="en">, an all-new and breathtakingly original album from celebrated Lenoir, North Carolina singer-songwriter <strong>CHRIS CHURCH</strong>. Preceded by the lead single “Going 'Til We Go”, the album will be out on CD in record stores worldwide and streaming everywhere on the street date, and is up for pre-order at </span></font></span><a class="no-pjax" href="http://www.bigstirrecords.com/"><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en"><u>www.bigstirrecords.com</u></span></font></span></a><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">, the <strong>BSR</strong> Bandcamp page, and online retailers now. </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> features ten songs in a fresh, sparkling, and propulsive new style for <strong>Chris</strong>, each framing his renowned melodic instincts, lyrical wit and unmistakable vocal firepower in a giddy new – and irresistible – context.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en"><strong>CHRIS CHURCH</strong> has never made the same album twice, and the surprises born of that adventurous spirit are what fans and critics alike have come to love about his work. In many ways, the clean guitars, dramatic synths, franticly kinetic drums (courtesy of <strong>NICK BERTLING</strong>) and urgent backing vocals from <strong>LINDSAY MURRAY</strong> (of <strong>Gretchen's Wheel</strong>) make </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> Chris's most “pop” album yet. But i</span></font></span><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3">t's “pop” beamed in from a sort of alternate '80s radio world envisioned by <strong>Church</strong>, who frequently cites influences like Lindsey Buckingham, The Fixx, and Hall & Oates </font><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">when discussing the touchstones of the record. We at <strong>Big Stir</strong> hear also a fair dollop of the pop-leaning tendencies of The English Beat in the manic rhythms of both the drums and <strong>Chris</strong>'s machine-gun vocal delivery, and the skittering lead runs on the Danelectro 12-string that's practically the only guitar employed during the sessions. The overall effect is, in a word, intoxicating.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">The sweetly glistening single “Going 'Til We Go,” an affectionate ode to meandering conversations between <strong>Chris</strong> and his wife (and co-producer) <strong>LORI FRANKLIN</strong>, provides a taste of the unique sound of <strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong>. But the record is best first experienced as a whole, starting with the driving beats and rapid-fire hooks of the opening manifesto “GCRT” -- wherein <strong>Church</strong> imagines himself as an interstellar warrior combatting the avatars of abysmal music imbedded in emanations from the Galactic Center Radio Transient from which the album and song take their titles. From there it's a frenetic, engrossing headlong rush through a series of breakneck-paced pop jewels to the closing track, on which <strong>Chris</strong> invites the listener to catch him on the “Flip”... a cue to start the record again from the top and begin diving into the fascinating nuances of the lyrics. The pace rarely slows down, but when it does, the rewards are rich: the jaw-droppingly gorgeous ballad “One More Chance To Get Over You” (featuring a ringing guitar solo from the legendary <strong>BILL LLOYD</strong>), the groove of “Already In It” with its flourishes of Duran Duran/ABC-inspired New Romanticism, and the spooky but utterly danceable “Far Too Late”.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">Overall, though, </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> is sleek, and it's fast: gloriously, bracingly fast. “It sounds like it's about to fall off a cliff the whole time,” says Chris, and that driving tempo is a big part of the record's compelling allure. The pure '80s-radio textures – <strong>Chris</strong> has even codified the sonic vibe into the phrase “Buckingham/Fixx” -- may surprise fans who've followed <strong>Church</strong>'s recent run of acclaimed outings. Those have run the gamut from the classicist power pop of 2017's </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>Limitations Of Source Tape</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> to the hard rock “Heavy Melody” of </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>Backwards Compatible</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> (2020), and from the GBV-inflected lo-fi of the pandemic-era </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>Game Dirt</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> (2021) to the Crazy Horse sludge-pop of the deeply emotional </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>Darling Please</strong></span></i><span lang="en">, released last year after a decade in the vaults. But the new sound fits <strong>Chris</strong>'s melodic sensibilities like a glove and is instantly striking, a natural progression of his artistic restlessness and a perfect setting for his nuanced songcraft and impassioned singing (and the harmonies cooked up along with <strong>Murray</strong>).</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">Once you've caught your breath and settled down for a closer listen, you'll fall under the spell of the songs themselves. Not enough is said about <strong>Church</strong>'s lyrical prowess, and it's never been more clearly displayed than it is on </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong></span></i><span lang="en">. Although unified by the album's rhythmic and aural signatures, each tune on the album is distinct, and much of that's a credit to the wordplay. <strong>Chris</strong> toggles from the playfully ludicrous fantasy of “GCRT” (full of absurdist couplets like “</span></font></span><span style="color:#000000;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">Collect your fossil fuels and move it along/</span></font></span><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">Intramolecular aggression is wrong”) to the giddy dance floor come-on of “I Don't Wanna Dance With Me” which sees him feeling free enough to deploy the aside “Hot stuff/What's up?” It might take the listener a few spins to tease out the artist-to-artist love-hate encounter underpinning “I Think I Think I Like You” or how the line "It's purely protozoan, getting getting done" fits into “Flip” and its themes of accepting fate, but it's time well spent, and the melodies speak for themselves. </span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en"><strong>Church</strong>'s joy in deploying those kinds of lines is palpable and infectious, and they make it all the more rewarding when he zeroes in on sharp character sketches or deeper emotional truths. </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT</strong></span></i><span lang="en"> is anchored by movingly real renderings of romance from the first spark (“Already In It”) to the heartbreak of its conclusion (“Gotta Go Gotta Ramble”) to the soul-deepness of a forever-connection captured in small, lovely moments as on “Going 'Til We Go”. And alongside all of the quirky, often disarmingly profound turns of phrase, you'll find brilliantly crafted lines for the ages, like “Now when I see you on the boulevard, I'm the king of hearts wearing joker's shoes" from the majestic “One More Chance”.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="color:#222222;"><font face="Candara, sans-serif" size="3"><span lang="en">That's what's remarkable about <strong>Chris</strong>'s songs, and </span><i><span lang="en"><strong>RADIO TRANSIENT </strong></span></i><span lang="en">in particular: fully-formed, emotionally complex universes living beneath the inviting glossy surface. This may well be the greatest album that should have come out in 1987, but like everything <strong>CHRIS CHURCH</strong> puts forth, it's timeless at its core. And like all great pop music of any stripe, it's damned near addictive. We don't think it's too early to declare this one of the very best records of 2023, because we're certain we'll still be reveling in it by the year's end and for years to come. We're betting you will, too.</span></font></span></p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/70949552022-11-03T15:12:03-07:002023-12-10T09:55:06-08:00"All Of This Will End In Tears" from POPULAR CREEPS out December 9!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/fc94676c2363a8627a85dd4c017c5768512f9740/original/popular-creeps-all-of-this-will-end-in-tears-cover-art.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p>Big Stir Records is thrilled to close out 2022 with the highly-anticipated release of the new album from POPULAR CREEPS: ALL OF THIS WILL END IN TEARS. The record sees release on CD (in record stores worldwide) and streaming everywhere on December 9, and is up for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com and major online music retailers now. It's the band's full-length debut for Big Stir, following the success of the hit 2021 double A-side single “Black & Blue” and “Split Decision” (both included here) and the new “Gone By 45”, released to strong airplay across the global pop-rock radio scene this past October. </p>
<p>If you've somehow missed the noise kicked up by POPULAR CREEPS on the global pop scene over the past few years, a few simple facts about the band say a lot. The Creeps are a four-piece two-guitar band from Detroit who named themselves after a solo single by former Replacements drummer Chris Mars. Critics writing about their 2019 debut Bloodshot Red and their blistering live sets have cited them as torchbearers of the mid-to-late '80s college rock sound and invoked some mighty Rs -- The Replacements, R.E.M. and The Rolling Stones – to triangulate their sound. The band themselves offer: “If The 'Mats, Buffalo Tom and Television got into a bar fight, it might sound like us... maybe?” Generationally sandwiched between two iconic Detroit rock scenes -- the Grandpa Grunge era of The Stooges and The MC5, and the Gold Dollar garage revival -- Popular Creeps flex their Michigan muscle in a more melodic direction... maybe Heartland Punk? Or Northern Jangle? Or maybe just plain Midwestern? </p>
<p>You'll hear every bit of that on this record. POPULAR CREEPS -- Lenny Grassa (guitar, vocals), Andrew Colvin (guitar, vocals), Joe Heaphy (bass) and Dave Nantais (drums) – deliver tune after tune filled with hummable hooks and hard-bitten, heartfelt lyrics over a bedrock built of equal parts postpunk jangle and Hüsker Dü-style crunch. The story of ALL OF THIS WILL END IN TEARS, like the story of rock and roll itself, starts with singles. Highly recommended by THE FORTY NINETEENS (two of whom were '90s bandmates with Grassa in beloved Detroit-via-LA garage rock combo THE LEONARDS), the Creeps landed two tracks on the Big Stir Records Singles Series at its height in 2021. The punchy, instantly memorable “Black & Blue” and the ringing midtempo stunner “Split Decision” both scored big on international pop-rock radio and struck a chord with the label founders, Detroit-born Christina and unrepentant college rocker Rex. </p>
<p>Popular Creeps thus became one of the very few artists out of nearly a hundred to make the leap from the Singles Series to the permanent Big Stir Records roster, with the next single heralding the announcement of the forthcoming album. “Gone By 45”, released this October, is a driving rocker with a killer chorus and the emotional heft of paying tribute to Grassa's friend (and Leonards bassist), the late Tom Payne. All the singles are here on TEARS, including the next standalone cut to be released alongside the record: “Wait And See”, a world-weary but anthemic stomper that ties the influences of the Hüskers and R.E.M. together with natural ease. </p>
<p>The Creeps simply excel in this idiom: there's the sly and chiming ode to codependency “Window”, “From The Past” which comes on like a jangled-up Cheap Trick, and the punk-velocity earworm “Tear Me Apart”. But there's also room for detours into alt-country -- both revved up in Stonesy style (“Keep It To Myself”) and stripped-down enough to incorporate hushed vocals and banjo (“Wait Forever”) -- and the grunge-via-Buzzcocks charger “Flamethrower”. And the record closes with the lovely acoustic textures of “Favorite Picture”... a song which lends ALL OF THIS WILL END IN TEARS its seemingly fatalistic title, but closes it on a note of hope and comfort. </p>
<p>It's a remarkable showing for this band of Michigan rock veterans, who formed in 2017 when Lenny answered a Craigslist ad looking for a guitarist/singer influenced by The Replacements & Guided by Voices. Heaphy (formerly of NYC's Slingshot) had placed the ad after he and his neighborhood soulmate/drinking buddy Andrew Colvin (Last Bastards, The Happy Accident) had decided that their incessant basement tinkering might deserve to see a little sunlight. Dave Nantais of local Celtic band Odd Enough had been an acquaintance of Heaphy's and after an exhaustive "interview" at Woodbridge Tavern he was duly appointed drummer. The early rush of gigs and the momentum of the debut album and BSR single could have run aground at the start of the pandemic, but as Grassa says, “Like everybody else, Popular Creeps found a way to move forward - sharing demos via email and text, slowly coming back together to rehearse in masks and hazmat suits, six feet apart, windows down, hand sanitizer by the gallon. Before long there were new songs and work to be done.” </p>
<p>That's where the waning months of 2022 find POPULAR CREEPS, not having missed a beat as the world reawakens. Backyard and front-porch gigs give way to full electric shows as the bars slowly re-open their doors. The band is filling their calendars with dates to support ALL OF THIS WILL END IN TEARS, their live energy undimmed and their material stronger than ever. Early critical and radio response confirms that they've delivered a late but extremely potent contender for the Year's Best Albums lists just around the corner, and as for 2022 itself, for POPULAR CREEPS, it's a safe bet that it will end in cheers.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/69799082022-05-25T17:07:42-07:002022-08-31T15:29:16-07:00New album from SPYGENIUS: "Jobbernowl" out June 24<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/17dee9d3f882b4ab1d5d21eec4f59b3cd4f1850b/original/orchard-spygenius-jobbernowl.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS and SPYGENIUS are delighted to announce the June 24 release of JOBBERNOWL – a brand new album from the celebrated Canterbury, England masters of literate psych-inflected pop rock – on CD and all digital platforms. The record featuring 11 new originals including the lead single/focus track “Son Of The Morning, Go Man Go!” is up for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com now, and will be on record store shelves and streaming worldwide on the street date. The band's seventh album, JOBBERNOWL follows the acclaimed and ambitious 2020 double LP MAN ON THE SEA and 2021 tribute collection SPYGENIUS BLOW THEIR COVERS, fusing the emotive heft of the former with the rollicking energy of the latter into a visceral but sophisticated set, framed by the combination of wit, hooks and harmony that define SPYGENIUS. </p>
<p>“It's mostly about bereavement, you know. That and epistemology,” says singer, guitarist and chief songwriter PETER WATTS. But if that suggests that JOBBERNOWL is a continuation of the absorbing moodiness of Man On The Sea, it takes little more than hitting “play” to reveal that this album is involving in a very different way. The punning title of lead track “I Dig Your Your New Robes, Pierre!” gives the game away, and the groove that comes blasting out of the speakers – anchored by a tasty retro organ groove from keyboard player MATT BYRNE and propelled forward by the rhythm section of drummer ALAN CANNINGS and bassist RUTH ROGERS – is positively ebullient and even danceable. The surreally bluesy rocker “Sky Pie, Century 21” follows and keeps feet moving even as Watts unspools what must be the most erudite set of lyrics ever to start with the words “Now daddio, you gotta listen!” SPYGENIUS may be grappling with the tough stuff, but they're here to rock, not mope, and the tension kicks the record into high gear from the get-go. </p>
<p>There's a sense that the band had hoped to continue the loose and (for lack of a better word) “fun” vibe of the covers album, but the tenor of the COVID-era times and a number of deep personal losses wouldn't allow it. Instead they weave the approaches of the previous two records together and manage the staggeringly cathartic feat of being playful in confronting grief and befuddling trying times. You can hear the album's exhilarating collision between the introspective and the effervescent captured in full on the single “Son Of The Morning, Go Man Go!” It hums with touches of the '80s college rock sounds and vintage '60s psych alike, alternately breezy and sinister 12-string jangle and pristine harmonies, and an effortless progression from its beautifully airy opening to darker, urgently galloping passages and an anthemic climax worthy of The Who. And yet it flows, its radio-ready sheen and supple melodies belying its darker undercurrents. That's JOBBERNOWL in a nutshell, to the extent that the record's carefully orchestrated contradictions can be contained. </p>
<p>Spygenius may bristle at being called “clever,” but one need only scan the song titles here to confirm that their reputation for reveling in the sheer joy of language is in full bloom. Beyond “Pierre!” wordplay abounds on the liltingly sly political satire “Mandy Rice-Davies Applies,” “The Marvellous, Mendacious Time Machine” (a Nuggets-evoking swirl that's at once retro and anti-nostalgia) and the closing, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band-inspired “Foucault Swings Like A Pendulum Do”. Each drips with droll and very British wit. This is truly a record which, while teasing the ears with instantly memorable hooks, will send listeners to the lyric sheet and Watts' song notes to make sure the've heard what they thought they heard... only to discover even more buried references, linguistic gymnastics, and rewarding conceptual easter eggs. Humor is the weapon of choice in combatting heartbreak here, and Jobbernowl is as genuinely funny as it is sonically enthralling. </p>
<p>There is no mistaking the fact that the band is tackling the macro- and microcosmic cataclysms of the past two years head-on – the brooding “2020 Revision” is but the most explicit expression of loss and befuddlement. But there's glee in the way Spygenius convert it all into song, and Watts goes so far as to drop the exhortation “Hark, hark let’s have a lark!” into the Revolver-meets-The Velvets rumination “Metamorphosis” amongst near-apocalyptic imagery of insect overlords, virgin vermin and behemoth butterflies. There's room along the way for “Screwy” – a bouncy mashup between Motown, Kirsty MacColl and Ringo Starr written and sung by bassist Rogers – and the gorgeous 6/8 sway of the culturally contemplative “All That Is Solid Melts Into Air”. The themes come together in the way the penultimate track (the stately, mournful “Of Narcissus”, one of several meditations on mortality occasioned by the sudden passing of a dear friend of the band) dovetails into the unapologetic goofiness of the closer. </p>
<p>“It’s also about overcoming, about carrying what you can of those you’ve lost with you,” says Watts. “And about how if darkness is the shore of life, then silence is the shore of music, of human music, the music you must dance to when your limbs are numb and twisted with grief.” He's speaking of one track, but it may sum up all of JOBBERNOWL. Visually bedecked as always in the distinctive design work of the inimitable and enigmatic CHAMPNISS, the latest dispatch from SPYGENIUS may be a more beautiful commentary on the state of the world today than that world deserves. But it's also a source of solace, a thrilling ride, and another jewel in the crown of Canterbury's kings (and queen) of musical mayhem. Big Stir is honored to bring it to you.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/69275732022-03-20T17:39:17-07:002022-03-20T17:39:17-07:00New album from AMOEBA TEEN out April 22 on Big Stir Records<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/fbced8430315414a00f20cf8a1b510965f2d7df8/original/orchard-amoeba-teen-amoeba-teen.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p>Big Stir Records is very proud to announce the April 22 release of the new and self-titled album from Stourbridge, England's AMOEBA TEEN on CD and digital. The followup to their acclaimed 2019 BSR release Medium Wave, Amoeba Teen features ten fresh new tracks including the single “New Material World” and the early-2022 teaser “January”, each bristling with energy and discovery as the band charts new territory with all their keen Britpop instincts on full display. It's up for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com and everywhere music is sold, and will be streaming worldwide on the street date. </p>
<p>The band – singer/guitarists MARK BRITTON and MIKE TURNER, drummer CARL BAYLISS and bassist SIMON MUTTITT – provide some insight into what to expect on AMOEBA TEEN: “This album is the first one where we’ve recorded live as a four-piece, capturing the energy of the band performance Amoeba Teen are famed for.” The album was produced by Sean Lloyd – whom the band cite as instrumental in developing the Amoeba Teen sound into new sonic territories – at Claptrap Studios in Stourbridge, and mastered by George Shilling (Teenage Fanclub, Primal Scream). </p>
<p>“It was a deliberately self-titled album because it was a real band effort to capture the live performance and shape the subsequent arrangements and vocal harmonies,” the band explains. “It has been a labour of love over two disrupted years - trying to rehearse the songs and then being forced to wait due to COVID lockdowns.” </p>
<p>The intentional collision of the live sound and the diversity of the new material is a thrilling masterstroke, lending both immediacy and cohesion to the exploration of new textures. There's a strong thread of gleeful glam rock running through the album, from the lead track “Mainstream” (which counts among its memorable couplets “She likes it kinda kooky in the back of her Suzuki”) to the driving “Barlight Crawl”. It's even evident on the swaggering instrumental passage that breaks up the melancholy of “Putting The Kids Through College,” and it rears up again in the closing “King Of The Cut” -- a stomping tune tinged by the tones of Crazy Horse and Teenage Fanclub at their heaviest. </p>
<p>Elsewhere, Amoeba Teen's always-deft way with power pop hooks manifests itself in the single “New Material World” – a new-wave inflected hit-in-waiting that equally evokes The Cars and The Replacements – and “Just Not That Into You” which straddles the line between the sounds of Squeeze and Fountains Of Wayne at tops of their respective games. There's a palpable joy in the way the band dive into fresh idioms while sounding exactly like themselves: the rootsy twang of “January”, the single that heralded the forthcoming album earlier this year, is as natural as it is new. Likewise the near-'50s balladry of “A Good Reason Why” and the Zombies-like shuffle “Melody Told You” fit Amoeba Teen like a second skin. Lead vocal duties are traded between Britton and Turner, both displaying melodic gifts and wry but touching wit that bring to mind the likes of Split Enz (on the jangly “Monica Wake Up”), Blur, Jellyfish and even The Beach Boys in the sophisticated harmony passages adorning tunes across the record's span. </p>
<p>“The album touches on the perennial classic pop themes of love and loss, exacerbated by the breakdown of Mark Britton’s marriage. Additionally one of the tracks (that shall remain nameless) was written using artificial intelligence - an experiment that was too intriguing not to try once. But ultimately we wanted to write a kick-ass album that people could turn their car stereos up and enjoy during those first hints of summer. That is why bass player, Simon Muttitt’s painted canvas cover uses bright splashes of colour to capture the fun mood of the festival season we all hope to enjoy together again soon.” </p>
<p>Sonically, melodically, lyrically, and thematically, Amoeba Teen’s self-titled album raises the band’s bar and is intended to be worth the wait fans have had to endure. The wait ends in April, and the record they've crafted will delight devotees and those newly discovering the band alike.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/68084472021-11-13T13:20:19-08:002022-01-17T00:19:16-08:00Nick Frater, "Earworms" out on vinyl, CD and digital November 19<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/37a2d967871d275538d74298777a7bd9a31a549f/original/orchard-nick-frater-earworms.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p>Big Stir Records is proud to announce the upcoming release of EARWORMS, an all-new album from Croydon, England-based singer, songwriter, producer and all-around musical renaissance man NICK FRATER. The record, featuring the first single “It's All Rumours,” is out on vinyl LP, CD, and streaming on all digital platforms November 19 and is up for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com and everywhere now. It's ten new tracks from Nick and an all-star supporting cast, each one delivering on the title's promise of unshakable melodies and Frater's reputation as one of the most reliably delightful tunesmiths on the global pop rock scene. </p>
<p>To be sure, titling the record Earworms is an audacious move even for an artist coming off a rapid-fire pair of widely celebrated albums: 2020's BSR release Fast & Loose (recipient of a five star review in Shindig! Magazine) and Full Fathom Freight Train which raked in Year's Best nods including International Pop Overthrow's Album of the Year honor in 2019. But it's not hyperbole: those high standards notwithstanding, the hooks on the new album have extraordinary sticking power, taken into timeless territory by Frater's astute choice of musical settings. </p>
<p>“I wanted to make an album that sounds and feels like a lost treasure from the mid '70s melodic rock scene,” says Nick. “I’ll leave it to your ears to decide, but I think we got pretty close!” Having deliberately chosen a sonic palette from that era and then combining the vibe with his songwriting chops and lyrical wit, Frater has made a record that could have been found in the racks alongside Breakfast in America, In Colour or The Stranger. You can hear it in the infectiously crunchy drive of the single, the AM-ready electric piano balladry of “Star-Crossed,” and the sweet jangle-meets-doo-wop confection called “Buggin' Out”... and in the sunny harmonies that adorn Frater's dry English wit across the entire record. </p>
<p>Recording at home in Croydon and prevented by lockdowns from calling on his regular band and studios, Frater has instead pulled together an impressive coterie of home recordists spread across the UK and USA from his impressive Rolodex of collaborators. And what a virtual band they add up to, featuring a who’s who of guest musicians including Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish/Beck), Darian Sahanaja (Wondermints/Brian Wilson), Mike Randle (Love/Baby Lemonade), Dana Countryman, and many more from the Big Stir family and beyond. </p>
<p>While the musical muscle helps Frater nail the radio-ready vibe, it's his vocal delivery and gift with a turn of phrase that makes Earworms a record for the modern era. The title of the heavy-6/8 outing “Who Says I Need A Plan At All?” alone speaks to the clever wordplay to be expected here. There's also the Steely Dan-tinged “Desert Ships”, based around myths and legends of the Californian deserts from stories of Viking longboats being found stranded miles inland by pioneers, to Gram Parson’s body being stolen and driven out to Joshua Tree. Elsewhere, witheringly comedic takedowns of both Ayn Rand and religious fundamentalism dot the melodic but blistering “Not Born Again” (with Nick Bertling pounding the drums). And who but Frater would wrap a breezy shuffle like “Lucky Strike” around the lyrical hook “I wish I knew what you’re thinking, it’d save me from asking and pissing you off”? </p>
<p>They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but it bears mention that the cover artwork here is wonderful, shown off to best effect on the LP edition. The intricate sleeve design by Adam Mallett is a collage of images from Frater’s life and music, woven into a hand drawn giant ear, evoking some of the vibe of the Revolver cover but hinting at the psychedelic and magpie-like sonics on the record. The pitch-perfect aesthetic spills over into the music video for “It's All Rumours,” which is rife with visual in-jokes every bit as clever as Frater's lyrics for the record. </p>
<p>It all adds up to a stack of tracks that's simultaneously one of the most instantly accessible and soulfully quirky collections Big Stir has ever been honored to offer. The album is destined to amass at least as many accolades as its predecessors, but more importantly, it'll keep listeners compulsively humming its tunes tunes for days on end just as its title promises... and thanking Nick Frater for the Earworms.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/66925642021-07-19T16:58:08-07:002021-07-19T16:58:08-07:00SORROWS: "Love Too Late... the real album" Out August 13 on CD, Vinyl and Digital<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/5e7b8d485d2dd85e506c88c5173293141cf3415a/original/orchard-sorrows-love-too-late-the-real-album.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled and honored to announce an all-new album from SORROWS, true legends of the power pop scene. LOVE TOO LATE... the real album sees release August 13 on all platforms, with LPs in black and red vinyl editions, and on CD. It's available for pre-order and pre-save now at www.bigstirrecords.com/sorrows and everywhere. Far from a reissue of the band's 1981 release Love Too Late, the real album is just what it claims: the record the band intended to make, finally reaching your ears, turntables, and the airwaves after forty years... but never too late. </p>
<p>In the late '70s and early '80s, SORROWS – sprung from the seeds of the equally beloved POPPEES – cut a swath across the New York rock scene on stages like CBGB and Max's Kansas City with a thrilling stage presence and a unique sound: three lead singers, a twin-guitar attack, and immediately unforgettable, hook-propelled tunes. By '81 they had had their rapturously-received debut album TEENAGE HEARTBREAK under their belts and a clutch of world class, stage-tested songs at the ready for the followup album. With the post-punk era opening the airwaves to guitar-fueled pop rock acts like The Cars, The Romantics and The Plimsouls, it seemed that SORROWS' time had come. </p>
<p>What happened instead is down to a familiar story encapsulated by two little words: “label interference”. The followup album, Love Too Late, wasn't the record Sorrows wanted to make, and it wasn't the record Sorrows fans wanted to hear. In fact, it's barely Sorrows on the original album at all, with the players and singers summarily replaced in the studio in a misguided bid at commercial success, with only the songs surviving intact. The band weren't having any of it and went back to playing the tunes as they were meant to be played, the label wasn't able to sell the results to anyone expecting the true successor to Teenage Heartbreak, and to all intents the story might have ended there, with the original album never receiving a CD release and the band going their separate ways shortly thereafter. </p>
<p>After four decades and a protracted legal battle, original SORROWS members ARTHUR ALEXANDER (vocals, guitar), JOEY COLA (vocals, guitar) and RICKY STREET (vocals, bass), joined by next generation powerhouse drummer LUIS HERRERA bring you LOVE TOO LATE... the real album. It is, as Arthur says in the sleeve notes, “real Sorrows, playing real Sorrows music, as only Sorrows can”, and those who were there to hear these songs performed live in the band's heyday will attest that The Real Album is the real deal indeed. </p>
<p>And what songs they are, now finally realized as intended with all the vintage SORROWS passion and chemistry on full display: a sterling set of pitch-perfect pop that makes it clear why the track list for Love Too Late was worth revisiting in full. From the opening “Christabelle”, now as then the lead single, and the ringingly euphoric title track, the mix of chiming and churning guitars with finely-honed harmonies and driving drums pull the listener right into the grooves of the power pop classic this album always should have been. And there's more: “Crying Time,” a beautiful souvenir of the influence reggae and dub wielded over the postpunk scene, the pristine should've-been-hit “Rita,” the driving and self-prophetic “Play This Song (On The Radio)” with its sly lyrics more apt now than ever. </p>
<p>Unforgettable choruses abound on “So Much Love”, the beautiful ballad “Breaking My Heart (Over You)” and the galloping “What I Used To Know”. This is strong stuff, with such a heady mix of energy and songcraft that the cover of The Kinks' “Tired Of Waiting For You” doesn't sound out of place in the least. And by the time the record closes with a one-two punch of the wistful “It's Not Love Anymore” and the kick-your-teeth-in roar of “Street Punk Blues”, pop rock fanatics will be ready to flip the platter right back over and start making up for years of missing out on hearing these tunes in their definitive, and this time genuine versions. </p>
<p>While the music speaks for itself, the decades-long journey of Love Too Late... the real album is a story of its own and the subject of a documentary, featuring interviews with Arthur Alexander and Joey Cola, that will accompany the release. There'll be a series of singles commencing with “Christabelle,” and fans can anticipate Alexander making the interview rounds and telling it like it is. With the highly anticipated arrival of Love Too Late... the real album , it's time to set the record straight, and what a record it is. SORROWS are back, just in time… and not a moment too late!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/66133572021-04-25T10:15:10-07:002021-04-25T10:15:10-07:00The Bablers: "Psychadilly Circus" (new album out May 29)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/b97b8b507079b38c61f4bf6ddd6f0a887e860872/original/the-babler-psychadilly-circus-cover-art.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce the upcoming release of a brand new album from Finnish guitar pop legends THE BABLERS. PSYCHADILLY CIRCUS is out May 29 on CD and all digital formats, and is up for pre-order now at www.bigstirrecords.com/store (and streaming everywhere as of the street date). The album features 15 new tracks, including the recent singles “Love Is Everything!” and “Queen Of Yesterday”, and brings their time-tested talent with hooks and studio savvy into the 21st century. </p>
<p>THE BABLERS have been hailed as “the Finnish Supergroup of Pop” for a good reason. Each individual band member – songwriter/vocalist Arto Tamminen (bass, drums, guitars, keyboards, cello, percussions, vocals), Janne Haavisto (drums, vocals), Pekka Gröhn (bass, keyboards, vocals), and Hannu Pikkarainen (guitar, vocals) – holds at least one Finnish Grammy for their musical work outside the band. Their musical chemistry has a long, rich history, though. The original group kicked off their career as teenagers storming the late-'70's power pop and new wave scene in their native land, standing out from the crowd by singing their Merseybeat-inflected originals in English. They would go on to release an LP, 1980's What's All About (a delightful live video for the title track can be found on YouTube for a look at our heroes in their early days) and a few now-highly-sought singles before separating. A literally-big-in-Japan reunion record in 1998, Like The First Time, proved resoundingly that the band's sound transcends any single era and set the stage for future endeavors. And in the past few years, a series of singles have hinted at yet a third wave of BABLERS activity. </p>
<p>PSYCHADILLY CIRCUS more than delivers on the promise of the decades past. Bookended by versions of the recent, Lennon-esque hit “Love Is Everything!” (the latter a period-perfect Sixties-stereo-spread remix), the album presents a wide array of moods reflecting the span of the band's career. Tamminen is, after all, no longer the “Angry Young Man” of whom he slyly sings on the tune of that name, and the lovely, jangling “When You Were Growing” is a cross-generational conversation of true maturity dedicated to Arto's parents. But there's ample youthful joie-de-vivre here, as on the title track, which is just as giddily dense and trippy as one might hope, and the pop-rock waltz “Queen Of Yesterday” takes a nostalgic swipe at those who live in the past to the exclusion of today. All of which is to say that this album is the work of a band moving its remarkable legacy forward. </p>
<p>A laser-sharp focus on songcraft and the long history of collaborative experience color the variety of tunes on hand. Stately ballads like “All Because Of You” and “Some Tears” are delivered with the aching sympathy they demand. Harmony-laden rockers like “I Hope It Wouldn't Rain Tomorrow” and the aforementioned “When You Were Growing” practically levitate, as does the breezy stroll of “Walking On Sunny Beach”. Elsewhere, electric piano drives the groove-based “Unidentified” and “Love To Live” in the best '70s AM tradition, and nimbly fingerpicked acoustic guitar defines the immediacy of the longing “Where Were You My Friend”, the chilling “Child Of War”, and the optimistically benedictory “Singing With The Bluebird”. It all adds up to a heady brew, and an encyclopedic tour of the whole of rock and pop history, crafted by a band who knows it, chapter and verse – a kaleidoscope that keeps revealing new horizons with every spin. </p>
<p>THE BABLERS of today remain a no-nonsense pop band with an attitude. What you hear is what you get, they insist: “If you hear drums, guitars and pianos, they are drums, guitars and pianos, played by the members of the band. No autotune. No samples. Just 100% genuine handmade organic pop music.” The band's philosophy and modus operandi are simple. The songs are in the center. Everything's done in the name of a good pop song. Creativity and boldness are cherished. But most of all, Tamminen says, “It’s always great fun and a privilege to be able make music with good friends – the most talented and crazy bunch!” </p>
<p>For Tamminen, one key thing keeps THE BABLERS an ongoing concern. “All of us can do many different things,” he says. “We're all producers. We can play cross instruments on different tracks and there are no egos in the studio. The basic thing that keeps us going – besides mutual respect, odd humor and friendship – is the songs. We want to record them in the best possible way. We are suckers for a good song.” </p>
<p>On the new album, the band delivers one good song after another, each now imbued with the spirit of the teenagers who formed the band all those years ago, and the seasoned, sensitive musicians they are now. And they have plenty more to say and play. PSYCHADILLY CIRCUS has come to town... you're going to want a front row seat.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/66003052021-04-10T11:18:19-07:002022-02-20T04:40:56-08:00The Forty Nineteens: "New Roaring Twenties" out April 24!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/166151c9d91346dd00e86aa803c3c69890d17972/original/the-forty-nineteens-new-roaring-twenties-cover-art.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS and THE FORTY NINETEENS are revved up and ready to usher in the NEW ROARING TWENTIES, the band's brand new album out April 24 on CD at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and on all digital platforms everywhere. Only the undisputed kings of California garage rock could offer such a positive and energetic take on our new decade, and the irresistible energy of the album will make you want to celebrate as well. Radio-ready and full of propulsive guitars and indelible melodies, it's the record we need right now. </p>
<p>As the band proclaims, the world will soon see a new renaissance. NEW ROARING TWENTIES is the band's promise to you of better days to come, with the spirit of timeless rock and roll as our guide. And who better to make such a guarantee than THE FORTY NINETEENS? John (vocals, guitar) and Chuck (guitar), both criminal defense attorneys / one-time touring musicians and full-time pranksters, formed the band while working in the San Diego courts. Searching for a band name that gets an inside laugh on the job, they decided on something that is said by every judge in every courtroom in the state of California. That term is "Forty Nineteen." A 4019 credit is time off the sentence of a detainee who behaves in jail. Everyone can agree that we ALL can use some time off for good behavior. </p>
<p>With boisterous energy to spare, this is a band that lives, dies, and slays onstage, but the past year without gigs hasn't dulled their drive. The new record is a red-hot barrage of 11 tracks, only one of which clears the three-minute mark – a clear signal that this is an album that has all the punch of the band's scorching live set. It's a master class in compact songwriting and stage-ready guitar sonics drawing on the whole history of tuneful, muscular rock and roll, from its rockabilly roots through the Stones, The Modern Lovers, CCR and The Smithereens. And its heart is in the garage with the likes of The Standells, whose TONY VALENTINO adds authentic psychedelic fire to the hit single “Late Night Radio.” </p>
<p>If it feels like a stack of classic 45s, that's no accident. The past year has seen the band dominating the airwaves with a series of singles, including the roaring opening manifesto “It's For Fun (That's All We're Living For)” and its flip side “Tell Me,” the vintage car rush of “Go Little GTO” and the aforementioned “Late Night Radio,” with the brand new “We're Going To Las Vegas” set to continue the run. They're all here, having received rapturous airplay across the US from terrestrial stations to the satellite realm of SiriusXM's Underground Garage, with legends like Rodney Bingenheimer, Drew Carey, Genya Ravan and Bill Kelly among their ardent boosters. Overseas, the UK's famous Radio Caroline is among those cranking the band's tunes to faithful audiences awaiting the new album... and new tunes like “You've Got Stardust Eyes”, “I'm Always Questioning Days” and “We Can't Change” deliver the hooks and stomping swing they've come to expect! </p>
<p>Individually, THE FORTY NINETEENS have a hell of a pedigree. JOHN POZZA (formerly of THE LEONARDS) leads the charge with his impassioned vocals, aided and abetted by MARY'S DANISH vets MATT COLLERAN (guitar) and NICK ZEIGLER (drums, lead and backing vocals, and perhaps truly the hardest working man in show business). Guitarist CHUCK GORIAN and bassist KEVIN BARBER kick the whole show into high gear. It's a classic lineup but with a sound that's widely hailed as one of the freshest things happening in California rock. For all their history, THE FORTY NINETEENS have their feet firmly planted in the here, the now, and the future. “Time Marches On”, as they sing, and it's time to embrace the NEW ROARING TWENTIES for what they can be. The joyous noise of THE FORTY NINETEENS is the perfect soundtrack for the times. </p>
<p>So turn it up and let them lead the way! This ride takes us to a lot of familiar places, while exploring new streets and creating new experiences. The old adage still stands: "To know where you're going, look where you've been." Just remember to have a lot of fun getting there. The New Roaring Twenties are on the horizon. The car is gassed up, so hop in with us... we're going to the Strip!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/65542582021-02-20T11:25:14-08:002023-12-10T11:07:22-08:00Chris Church: GAME DIRT (out March 27)!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/a45c9d2ef876e9e0241febf11cdb6e787dfb9746/original/chris-church-game-dirt-cover-art.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Big Stir Records is proud to announce the March 27 release of the new album from CHRIS CHURCH, GAME DIRT. It's the esteemed singer-songwriter's debut for BSR, a self-produced collection with Chris playing all the instruments on 13 brand new tunes. GAME DIRT is up for preorder now on CD and digital formats at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere music is sold or streamed. </p>
<p>It's been hard to miss the continuing rise of Lenoir, NC's CHRIS CHURCH on the global pop rock scene over the past decade. Recent releases like 2017's Limitations of Source Tape and 2020's exploration of “Heavy Melody” Backwards Compatible have topped countless critics' “Year's Best” lists. It's equally easy to hear, if harder to pin down, why Church's music reaches beyond the boundaries of the power pop form. Undoubtedly, he possesses the requisite command of melody and a powerful, instantly-recognizable vocal presence, but his compositions have an unforced depth and visceral openness that can't be learned. Simply put, Church's tunes have what Neil Young – one of an eclectic clutch of keystone influences – would call “the spook”. </p>
<p>Church has followed diverse paths over 30 years of being an original musician. In addition to his solo work, he's performed, written and recorded with power pop bands and progressive hard rock/metal outfits and taken detours into musical experimentalism and composition for performance art pieces. Recently he's moved into new roles both in the studio (as a producer) and onstage (frequently with the star-studded Nashville-based cover band The Long Players). </p>
<p>Chris's brand new album GAME DIRT is once again something different and new, even by the standards of his exploratory career. It's less a response to the musical challenges of the pandemic era than the result of simply hitting “record” and seeing what happens. The final record reflects a looser, more straight ahead rock and roll element, adding a pinch of alt-country and '90s indie styles in with his pop rock sensibilities. Literally left to his own devices, Church has tapped into a new source of urgent creativity that might not have surfaced in a more perfect world. </p>
<p>Kicking off with the boisterous lead single “Learn” (from which Lindsay Murray's artwork takes its baseball-themed cues) and diving into the brief, insistent “Falderal” – yes, all the tunes have one word titles – the album's immediacy is clear from the outset. “Fall”, with its stately groove and intricate jangle, brings the implicit melancholy of the record into focus: “You can't just ignore that you're far too critical of yourself” might be the key sentiment here. Not that Chris is telling... perhaps more than ever, the lyrics are intentionally open to interpretation, and on the following track, the gorgeous mandolin-ornamented “Gravity”, the listener may hear the references to a fever that never comes down and “the death of subtlety” as reflections of either the realities of 2020, a more internal landscape, or the hazy crossroads where the two intersect. </p>
<p>As Game Dirt unfolds, Church makes it clear that, musically, the only rule is that there are no rules. It's thus that the twangy No Depression vibes of “Lost” and “Smile” rub shoulders with the epic “Trying”, awash with shifting time changes and bittersweet major-7th chords. There are the crunching riffs and searing solos of “Hang”, and there's “Know” (as in “know your enemy”), which sounds like the Brian Jones and Mick Taylor iterations of the Stones playing at the same time. There's the '90s alt-rock march of “Down”, the near-new-wave stutter of “Praise”, and a pair of sparkling Big Star-worthy ballads in “Removed” and the closing “Sunrise”. Each one is draped with hooks and indelible choruses that easily stand with those of their influences. </p>
<p>In less subtle hands and less uncertain times, the album might play as a virtuoso rock and roll history lesson. But Game Dirt is digging at something deeper than that, as Church leaves the edges rough and favors truth over polish this time out. It's an inward-looking record for inward-looking times, the sound of an artist pushing his own limits not just musically but lyrically as well, and there's a lot of stark emotion on display. While it's fluidly grafted onto the genre conventions of more songwriterly tunes like “Learn”, “Lost” and “Smile” (although the latter contains the telling line “I'm content to reinvent the undefined”), the looser compositions sport murkier, often dark stream-0f-consciousness musings. “Removed” opens with the words “anatomy of a failure”. “Falderal” begins “and I see for the first time, and everything is black”, its title signifying “nothing left of substance”. The title of “Trying” Is simply the end of the phrase “you can die trying”. </p>
<p>That's not to say that Game Dirt is bleak so much as it is unflinching, and all the more rewarding for it. One only needs to look at the tunes bookending the record to see that Church is spotlighting honesty, especially with oneself, as the key to growth. “Learn” is so cheerfully swinging that you might miss it: “When you're just about to sort it all out, that's the best time to doubt”. And it's no accident that Chris chooses to end the record on a note of hope that doesn't shy away from the weariness familiar to many of us at the start of 2021: “I just want to feel all right... tired of hearing the worst everybody's got to say, so I'm gonna find myself a brand new way to look for the sunrise.” That new way is, in a very real sense, what's heard all across the record. </p>
<p>Those who know Chris Church's music have come to expect an attention to pop songwriting craft, but here he reinvents himself to create a record celebrating reinvention. The fact that Chris plays all the instruments on Game Dirt with a hint of abandon and produced and mixed it himself with a distinctly non-modern sonic approach proves again how his disregard for expectations remains intact. So too does his gift for following a song wherever it may lead, and giving it the passionate delivery it deserves. So too, perhaps more than ever, does the spook.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/65404342021-02-05T08:27:41-08:002021-02-05T08:27:41-08:00Dolph Chaney, THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY: Out February 20!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/caa7f41e5f8b09758c06a1af84227983efc33676/original/dolph-chaney-this-is-dolph-chaney-cover-art.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Big Stir Records is proud to present the continuing adventures of Chicagoland's DOLPH CHANEY with the February 20 release of THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY, the all-new followup to last year's watershed REBUILDING PERMIT. Featuring 13 tracks produced by NICK BERTLING, the album is available for pre-order on CD and digital formats at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere now. As intimated by the title, it's at once a career summation, an introduction, and an artistic leap forward for Chaney, hot on the heels of the many honors and breakthroughs of 2020 which culminated in his coronation as WOODY RADIO's Artist Of The Year. </p>
<p>Dolph made unprecedented new friends and fans with his first label release in 2020, but the singer-guitarist has been writing and recording for decades, dating back to his teens in the late ‘80s. Throughout that career, Dolph worked in isolation with lo-fi gear and playing every instrument, aiming to capture his songs quickly and intuitively, then move to the next. It's an approach that reached its peak in terms of both artistry and audience reach on REBUILDING PERMIT, an album that changed everything for Chaney... and just happened to materialize in April 0f last year, when the nascent COVID-19 pandemic changed everything for everyone. </p>
<p>It came as no surprise to those who have known him as long as we have that Dolph proved to be that rare artist suited to thrive and grow in adversity. As that singular moment of cultural uncertainty began to mutate into one sociopolitical nightmare after another, Chaney too evolved, and his response was nothing short of inspirational. With his album earning admirers, airplay, and strong reviews worldwide, Dolph took an invitation from online radio station Woody Radio to perform regular live webcasts and ran with it. The shows brought Dolph more than just new listeners and a much-needed opportunity to interact. “I had the chance to push myself, to try things with my guitar and voice I hadn’t thought I could pull off,” he says. “I was blessed to have all of that keeping me engaged and sharp at such a bewildering time.” </p>
<p>The impetus to keep the shows fresh saw Chaney delving into his own deep back catalog as he caught the ears of other leading lights on the global pop rock scene. Enter NICK BERTLING, also a veteran of homemade music-making, celebrated for his creative work as bertling noise laboratories and helming much-loved records from GRETCHEN'S WHEEL among others. Dolph reached out to simply to express admiration for Nick's work on the just-released Futureman Records XTC tribute. By July 4, after trading tracks, shared admiration and feedback, Nick proposed working together. Things moved quickly, and mere months later, THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY is the dazzling and thoroughly engrossing result, equal parts deeply considered craft and inspired immediacy. </p>
<p>The title reflects the game plan that organically drove the collaboration: an album featuring new arrangements of what had been solo lo-fi songs from Chaney's back catalog that begged for something more. Bertling introduces a clear, direct approach to the sound and the definitive new beginning it represents. It's the first time Chaney has handed over the producer's reins, and a true collaboration, with Bertling sifting through a 50-song pool of candidates to workshop with Dolph. On the final record, songs written between 1991 and 2008, sourced from the Dolph's albums RIPPLES, INFINITY DOGS, HUMBUG GLORY, CLIMBING MOUNTAIN TIME, and GUMSHOE KOALA, all receive empathetic reworkings – some drastic, some subtle, all emblematic of the “next level” production mastery that Bertling brings to the table, with the needs of the tunes front and center. </p>
<p>THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY features key vocal contributions from Kevin & Scott Robertson (The Vapour Trails) on the late-Mersey swing of "Pleasant Under Glass", and Lindsay Murray (of Gretchen's Wheel, who also handles the art design) on the irresistibly rocking first single "Now I Am A Man". But at its core it's Dolph and Nick, who found their perspectives and skills to complement each other astonishingly well. It's a natural next step from REBUILDING PERMIT, where bringing sympathetic partners into the fold multiplied the effectiveness of the results. </p>
<p>The album is, in a word, expansive. Pandemic-era recording being what it is, Bertling and Chaney go home and go big at the same time, and the sound they conjure leaves the bedroom behind for a greater wide open. And it's all different kinds of huge, encompassing Cars-worthy pop (“Cuddle Party”), Bob Mould-tinged rock (“Scales”), and the inexorably building and harrowing arena massiveness of “Meaningless”. There are the evocative Lanois-like soundscapes bookending the record – the opening “Status Unknown” and gently insistent closer “Graveyard Shift” -- and the lushly propulsive college rock heights of “Worship Song” with its sly and striking refrain “Jesus, I'm a dumbass, please forgive me” (and the even more arresting response to the plea). At the forefront, always, is Chaney's voice, bringing newfound control and urgency to the swooping melodies he's crafted over the decades. Everything old is very much new again on TIDC. </p>
<p>“As often as not, the new arrangements on the record were initiated by Nick, and frequently they were complete (pleasant!) surprises to me,” Dolph reveals. Witness the transformation of “Under The Overpass” from a winsomely strummy acoustic number written in 1991 into a lush, seductive groove suggesting Seal or Sade, albeit still sung with Dolph’s signature vulnerability. Conversely, Dolph gives Nick credit for stoking the dormant rock energy in “I Wanted You” and “My Good Twin,” two previously mopey 2008 standouts that benefit greatly from the aural caffeination that makes their hooks simply pop. </p>
<p>The broadening of the production pallet and the tightening of the performances only bring everything that was visceral, heartbreaking, and wonderfully playful about DOLPH CHANEY into clearer focus. Building on a tremendous first year with Big Stir Records, with regular FM and online airplay as well as glowing press responses, he's ready to show rock listeners everywhere what all THIS IS about. On February 20, find out why THIS IS DOLPH CHANEY, and find a new favorite song</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/64131512020-08-19T17:51:38-07:002021-04-21T10:13:54-07:00NICK FRATER, "Fast & Loose" out September 19!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/ee8c056410e3296780614c9af232d8a0582e7427/original/nick-frater-fast-loose-cover.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled to announce the September 19 release of FAST & LOOSE, the new album from Croydon, England-based musical Renaissance man NICK FRATER! The new record (his fifth “proper” album) will be issued worldwide on CD and digital formats, and is available for pre-0rder at www.bigstirrecords.com/store now. Apropos to its title, it's a full throttle collection brimming with the hooks, harmonies and sophisticated arrangements his fans have come to expect, and bubbling with a freshness and energy that'll captivate new listeners immediately as one of the UK's best-kept secrets steps onto a wider international stage. </p>
<p>The follow up to 2019’s critically acclaimed Full Fathom Freight-Train, Nick Frater’s latest album Fast & Loose was written and recorded in a burst of creativity in the weeks leading up to and following becoming a dad. “It might sound unexpected, but spending many hours each day rocking and singing to a baby is actually a great way to write songs!” says Frater. The result is a collection of 11 hook-filled power-pop songs. Fans of Jellyfish, Cheap Trick, and The Beach Boys will find much to love here, but it's Frater's own personality and mastery of melody and arrangement that'll hook them for good. </p>
<p>The new record leaves the gate with the title track, a rollicking retro-flavored instrumental showcasing Frater's period-perfect mastery of '60s and '70s sounds, and then barrels straight into a pair of rockers that set the tone. Lead single “Let's Hear It For Love” shows off Frater's love of Todd Rundgren to great effect, and “Luna” keeps the energy up with a delirious stew of organ, guitar and harmonies over a stomping beat. Both would be perfectly at home atop the radio charts half a century ago but also bear the distinctive stamp of Frater's best work. From there it's into the lovely Pet Sounds-inflected “That Ship Has Sailed” and the pitch-perfect ballad “Moonstruck”, both showcasing an attention to production and arrangement detail that does nothing to dull their immediacy. </p>
<p>And things kick back up to an appropriately jittery level of energy with “Cocaine Gurls” (with its also-appropriate namedrops of Steely Dan, Talking Heads and Stevie Nicks) and “So Now We're Here”, evoking the garage-leaning sides of The Zombies or The Cyrkle with its fierce keyboards and rich harmonies. “California Waits” pairs a giddy textbook power pop vibe with the surprise of an insistent accordion (oh, it works!) but it's the next tune, “Would You Like To Go?” that nails the LA sound, seemingly rolling all eras of The Beach Boys into one rocking instant classic. The stately, lushly-orchestrated 6/8 yearning of “Buy You Time” brings FAST & LOOSE to an impassioned crescendo and the lovely “Endless Summertime Blues” serves as its tender conclusion. </p>
<p>Recorded very ‘fast & loose’ in Frater’s home studio, FAST & LOOSE features guest appearances from many of his friends in the pop rock scene including Spygenius, The Stan Laurels, Whelligan, Emperor Penguin, Super 8, Do Me Bad Things and a blistering solo from ex-Tokyo Dragons guitarist Steve Lowe. The guest roster will come as no surprise to followers of Nick's reciprocal work as a producer, live sideman (including recent UK gigs with the current edition of Love) and the impresario behind his own Great Sheiks Music imprint... he's the kind of team player we love here at BSR, our Nick! </p>
<p>Unknown to Frater at the time, the striking cover image was taken at a photoshoot where everyone was exposed to Covid 19 and had to self-isolate; a few days later the U.K. locked down completely. “There’s probably a metaphor to be found in wrapping your head in cling film and play-doh on the last day of the old world” says Frater, “but God only knows what it might be!” We can say that having Nick in the crazy world that followed has made it better: he would go on to complete and release the unique and fascinating 59 Vignettes project, a pandemic-era daily collection of just what the title implies in the form of one-minute mini-compositions that enlightened those early quarantine days, before putting the finishing touches on FAST & LOOSE. And naturally... he's already working ahead toward another collection for 2021. We're all in for all of it, and we're certain you will be, too. </p>
<p>For more on NICK FRATER, see: </p>
<p>www.nickfrater.com </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com/nick-frater</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/63901372020-07-22T14:47:54-07:002023-06-19T05:00:04-07:00LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS: "Long Overdue" out August 14 (CD and Digital)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/cee4b757b4f3486b6e4895743b370c46b98189ff/original/librarians-with-hickeys-long-overdue-front-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS proudly announce the August 14 release on of LONG OVERDUE, the debut album from Akron, Ohio's LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS, on CD and Digital Download and available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/store now. Featuring an even dozen freshly-bound guitar-pop titles, Long Overdue is aptly (and slyly) titled: the band has taken extra time to craft a full album's worth of songs that could all be released as singles (and a few that already have been, to great acclaim). In the long run, it's worth the listener's time to invest and listen to the record as a whole... we're sure you will feel the same rush as you did when you got your first library card! </p>
<p>To extend the literary metaphor, Long Overdue is a virtual how-to manual on how to craft the textbook-perfect guitar-pop debut. It's a stack of tracks the likes of which might have felt at home in 1979 amongst the sterling first albums from The Records, The Beat, 20/20 and The Knack, each stuffed with should-be hits. And our Librarians – starting with the foundation of the twin jangle and strum of Ray Carmen (vocals/guitar) and Mike Crooker (guitar/backing vocals), the groove of Andrew Wilco (bass) and the rhythmic backbone of Rob Crossley (drums/piano) – meet the halcyon standard of that benchmark year handily. To be sure, they nod back to the earlier Beatles/Byrds/Big Star classics, and forward to the later likes of Teenage Fanclub and The Posies, but we at Big Stir, careful only to apply the term when it truly applies, can in this case assure you that, yes, it IS power pop. </p>
<p>That LWH would deliver such a record was always in the cards, if you'll pardon yet another pun. Long Overdue builds on the momentum of their first two Big Stir Records singles (“Until There Was You” b/w “And Then She's Gone” and “Black Velvet Dress” b/w “Alex”) which received world-wide airplay and rave reviews. They're all here – with the ringing jangle and choirboy harmonies of the two A-sides bookending the album – and they're joined by the lead-off single “That Time Is Now” (featuring guest vocals from LA-based pop chanteuse Lisa Mychols) and seven more tunes belonging on the same shelves as the band's storied influences. </p>
<p>The Librarians' core gift for melody and dual-guitar chime are what caught the keen Midwestern ears of Big Stir Records founder Christina Bulbenko, and the seemingly endless string of potential A-sides set co-founder Rex Broome into that 1979 all-killer, no-filler frame of mind in recommending an album. But this is pure-pop-for-always-people, as the cross-generational arrangement and production choices attest. Take, for example, the Farfisa-laden garage-rock charge of the Nuggets-ready “Leave Me Alone”, rubbing shoulders with “Be My Plus One”, a lighthearted, sunshine pop tune, complete with ukulele in a Macca-meets-Tiny Tim (somewhere in the tulips) kind of way. Add in the New Order-esque throb of Andrew Wilco's lead bass and the synths that shape “Silent Stars”, and the borderline yacht-rock of “Next Time”, a tune that might've gone missing from a John Hughes soundtrack, replete with saxophone and a Simmons electronic drum break, and the picture comes into focus. It's the full, rich history of melodic rock music, all happening at once. </p>
<p>It's all the hits that will fit, encompassing psych rock swirl (“Obsession”, which wouldn't be complete without a backward guitar solo from Crooker), the Plimsouls-like rush of “Poor Reception”, the postpunk drive of “Looking For Home”, and what Mike DeAngelis of There Once Was A Note calls “a power pop reinvention of The Beatles’ 'She’s Leaving Home,' with 'oooooohs' and chiming guitars” on “And Then She's Gone”. </p>
<p>For all the diverse stylistic flourishes, LWH stick firmly to the sonic blueprint – two guitars, bass and drums, and harmony vocals – established on their debut single “Until There Was You”. Lyrically, the song ponders a “what-if” scenario wherein Nick Drake snapped out of his depression, met someone who changed his life, and didn't die. It led off the recent Big Stir Records: The Sixth Wave CD and it leads off Long Overdue, because, as the saying goes “you dance with the girl that brought you” and this song made everything else happen in its wake. </p>
<p>That includes the other single sides (who can tell the A's from the B's?) that've preceded the record... we know they're gold. “ “Alex” is “a very lovely dreamy jangly indie-pop song,” (Kim Hatten of Bliss Aquamarine in the UK) evincing “the exceptionally ethereal sheen of, say, the (Buffalo) Springfield or even The Who at their most subtle and nuanced” (Gary Pig Gold of The Rock and Roll Report). And Gold sums up the album-closing “Black Velvet Dress” – and perhaps the whole of Long Overdue itself – as well as we could hope to: </p>
<p>“It's the power and the glory of the three-minute four-chord p-o-p song done right... 'Black Velvet Dress' will in no way fail to raise you off your settee and shove things direct towards the nearest Volume UP knob... Nostalgic? No. The word would be 'timeless'.” And so it is, all of it. Throughout Long Overdue, the band never forgets that the song comes first, and one thing remains consistent – handclaps. And tambourines! And hooks, and harmony... and much more, all of it making this record one to check out, and perhaps hold onto well past its return date. Librarians With Hickeys will forgive you.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/63494982020-06-10T20:58:49-07:002020-06-10T20:58:49-07:00SPYGENIUS: Man On The Sea (new double LP out July 10!)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/2bc560ceb0781b6e98b5f919d3524f55f11a60db/original/spygenius-man-on-the-sea-lp-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Canterbury, England's SPYGENIUS returns with a new double album, MAN ON THE SEA, to be released July 10 on Big Stir Records as a two-vinyl-LP gatefold set, double-length CD, and digital download. It's available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and at most online retailers now. Featuring 17 brand new tracks and lavish design work from the group's visual arts collaborator Joseph Champniss, the album showcases one of Britain's finest purveyors of literate psychedelic pop at the height of their melodic and genre-defying powers. </p>
<p>The ambitious new recording is at once sprawling and focused, dazzling and intimate, and continues exploring the themes of their previous album 'Pacéphale. The four sides are balanced between the intricate, sparkling, harmony-adorned jangle-pop for which the band is renowned and more contemplative explorations of loss and middle-aged regret, often expressed in the nautical imagery suggested by the collection's title. Befitting a band whose roots tap deeply into both the folk-psych sixties and the heyday of '80s college rock, Man On The Sea can be heard as Quadrophenia-by-way-of-Automatic For The People, with its stylistic diversions adding up to a questioning but ultimately exhilarating whole. </p>
<p>Man On The Sea is the fifth album from Spygenius, whose lineup – singer/guitarist/chief songwriter PETER WATTS, bassist/vocalist RUTH ROGERS, keyboardist/vocalist MATT BYRNE and drummer/vocalist ALAN CANNINGS – has developed an unmistakable vocal and instrumental chemistry since their 2008 debut and through near-constant gigging and touring in the UK and abroad. Their watershed 2017 album 'Pacéphale (released internationally by Big Stir Records) inaugurated the band's close partnership with visual artist and animator Champniss, whose strikingly whimsical videos and illustrations, combined with the record's sophisticated and beguiling songcraft, gained the band a wider global audience and set the stage for the new record's kaleidoscopic sweep. </p>
<p>Preceded by a trio of wry but musically exuberant singles – “Another True Story”, “If You Go A-Roving”, and the Rogers-penned-and-sung “Spite”, all bracingly immediate jangle-rock gems that received strong international airplay and reviews – Man On The Sea contains much that will scratch the same itch for expectant listeners. The lilting “Café Emery Hill”, the spritely-but-cautious “Salaud Days”, and the Beatles-esque “Watch Your Back” are all cut from the same cloth of catchy and very British pop perfection. They are, however, part of a deeper dive into troubled waters: the urgent drive of postpunk raveups like the R.E.M.-tinged “New Street”, the driving “In A Garden” and the genuinely harrowing “Don't Blame It On Your Mother” practically writhe with nervous energy. </p>
<p>The album's more reflective tunes likewise veer between the disquieting (the darkly humorous “Man Overboard” and the howling “Green Eyed Monster”) and the tentatively redemptive. The conciliatory likes of “Midnight Bandola” and the closing “Remember Me When I Was Good”, a pair of melancholy shuffles, offer the solace of a good drink with an old friend and a cautious celebration of “all the stuff that makes life worth the bother” respectively. Elsewhere jazz, dark folk, and delicately building psychedelia inform “Albion”, “Dolphinarium 1986” and “Windy” in turn, with all of them hinting at the yearning that's perhaps most palpable on the lush “Tomorrowland”: nostalgia for a future that never quite came to be. </p>
<p>That the seafaring voyage of Man On The Sea spans not only oceans, but decades as well, is no accident. “The Spygenius project has always been about not only writing new material, but also about realising quite a substantial back catalogue of tunes amassed over the years,” explains Watts. “I’ve actually found this quite fruitful artistically, because it creates a sort of de facto conversation between my older and younger selves, which is existentially revealing.” </p>
<p>It's thus that tunes dating back to Peter's early days in the appropriately-named Murrumbidgee Whalers (and songs ruminating on earlier times still) rub shoulders with the kind of arch commentary that could only reflect the grim realities of post-Brexit England, or the complicated grief of the passing of his mother on the closing “Remember Me”. “For me it’s almost era defining,” Watts offers. “Some of the songs were from before, everything else now on is from after, which is as yet largely uncharted waters… back to the ocean references.” </p>
<p>In its themes and by synthesizing the band's influences into a coherent amalgam of the exuberant, the urgent, and the bittersweet, Man On The Sea is at once a summation and a clearing of the deck for Spygenius. And as always, there's ample musical playfulness leavening the depths and darkness of the crossing. One can only marvel at the sturdiness and grace of the Good Ship Spygenius as she navigates these most treacherous of waters... long may she sail.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/62970572020-04-28T09:45:11-07:002022-06-01T01:52:31-07:00THE CORNER LAUGHERS: Temescal Telegraph (New album out June 5)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/adbf5b2001ac2ff84b46a5193568cf2f35bae690/original/corner-laughers-temescal-telegraph-cover-1500.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of a brand new album from THE CORNER LAUGHERS. The longtime and beloved California indie-pop band returns to beguile listeners once again with Temescal Telegraph, a ten song collection exploring themes from acceptance and loss to climate change, childhood, and the nature of time itself. The album, their fifth overall and first for BSR, is out June 5 on CD and download, and can be pre-ordered now at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and wherever music is sold. </p>
<p>The Corner Laughers' past projects, from their inception through 2015’s critically acclaimed Matilda Effect and leader Karla Kane’s 2017 solo debut have drawn from a variety of guest contributions from around the globe. For their 2020 return, Kane (vocals, ukulele and most songwriting), Charlie Crabtree (drums), KC Bowman and Khoi Huynh (sharing guitar, bass and piano duties) recorded their new LP quickly and entirely in the intimate setting of Bowman’s Timber Trout studio. Set in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, the result is grounded in an organic, cohesive and present sound emblematic of the fresh start and immediacy of the process. </p>
<p>It couldn't have been anticipated that so soon after the record's completion, a global pandemic would deny us all that simple magic of playing music together in a room. The songs, however, hum with warmly eerie prescience. “Yes I know that life means letting go, but I will hold on just a little longer” sings Kane on the lead single and video “The Accepted Time” as the groove brims with uplifting melancholy. Echoes of other times and places – often the distant past, frequently England – ornament the likes of the ebullient “Lilac Line” and “Skylarks of Britain” – but they're crafted with a wry complexity in their DNA that profoundly resonates with these times. And the affectionately unflinching depictions of the natural cycle of seasons, life, death and rebirth that inform “Wren In The Rain”, the Martin Newell-penned “Goodguy Sun”, and even the cover art could not be more relevant today. </p>
<p>Temescal Telegraph plays with micro and macro lenses, connecting detailed personal experiences with the cosmic scale. Expect to encounter bees in harmony, ghosts, fallen leaves and omniscient vultures. Moods meander between wistful yearning and exhilaration. A simple walk home becomes an entire universe encapsulated in a moment. To quote one of its songs, “It’s alright to care.”</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/62409962020-03-07T12:40:50-08:002020-03-07T12:40:50-08:00DOLPH CHANEY: "Rebuilding Permit" out April 3!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/f0ae0a6ac2caae5a4f7b51105c84b2faa57acad0/original/dolph-chaney-rebuilding-permit-cover-art.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Time to start rebuilding! BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce the April 3 release of REBUILDING PERMIT, the new album from DOLPH CHANEY, up for pre-order now at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere music is sold. Seven years since the Chicagoland singer-songwriter's last album - and two solid years in the making - the wait is over. Rebuilding Permit is in hand for spring 2020, and Dolph is here to break new ground with his full-length debut on Big Stir. </p>
<p>It's an eclectic but focused stunner. Coming out of a challenging time of loss and recovery, Dolph has tightened up and written in a way that uses his imaginative skills to connect with his listeners at a deeper level than ever. You can still expect what you came for if you're already hip to his deal: chord changes, collisions of style, and turns of phrase that fly in from all directions, only to make themselves right at home. What's different here is that Chaney has kept the quirks and digressions as filigree, digging deeper to the emotions underneath. The whimsy is in the details rather than being the point. Our boy's grown up! </p>
<p>And for the first time since his 1998 New Bird Rise album, he and his quiver of guitars, Moog, and bass are not doing all the work alone. The Rebuilding crew includes engineer Milk Arnold, Ryan O'Malley (who adds roiling Hammond organ to "A Good Road Is Hard To Find"), and drummers Clayton Melocik (on the giant psych-jangle of leadoff track"It's OK") and Jim LeFager, who navigates the rest of the album's gauntlet of genres. </p>
<p>Indeed, you'll be treated to everything from rolling shanty-folk ("The Biscuit (Who Grabbed My Face)") to sensitive and deft rimshot grooves ("Broken," "If I Write It Down") and dam-smashing echo ("Diet Of Worms"), from searing and searching roots-rock ("The Handling”) and an end-of-prom last-nerds-standing waltz ("(Who Am I) To Ask You To Dance?") to the '90s-throwback agitpop-punk of "The President Of The United States Is The Breitbart Bimbo." The comparisons to Bob Mould, Guided By Voices, and even Peter Gabriel seem apt given the scope of the work on hand here. </p>
<p>Rebuilding Permit comes on the heels of two singles, “It's OK” and “The Handling”, which garnered international airplay and a wider audience for Chaney, yielding reviews from the likes of The Big Takeover (“a passionate wall of melody”) and a Dolph-curated artist block on Boom Radio's There Once Was A Note program. Both tracks, along with exclusive non-album B-sides, can be found on the BIG STIR SINGLES CD compilations (THE THIRD WAVE and THE SIXTH WAVE respectively). Dolph Chaney is thrilled to have REBUILDING PERMIT on file with Big Stir so he can get to work making a new home in your ears and hearts.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/62193022020-02-18T12:27:36-08:002020-09-07T03:44:18-07:00Big Stir Singles: The Fifth Wave out March 6!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/4cc13ca26fc0585085de72da9e019a7e2cb05295/original/big-stir-singles-the-fifth-wave-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR SINGLES: THE FIFTH WAVE crashes on your musical shore Friday, March 6, on CD and Digital Download, and is available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/store now. It's the first installment in the series for 2020, after the First through Fourth Wave CDs released throughout 2019 debuted to rave reviews and broke new ground for collections of their type, landing on Year's Best lists among proper single artist albums. The series is now firmly established as an ongoing journal of the best new music on the global pop rock scene, beyond boundaries of geography and label affiliation, and a reliably exciting rebuke to the charge that “there's no good music any more these days”. </p>
<p>What makes The Fifth Wave special? As always it features an A-side and a B-side from each of the artists featured across the most recent months of the Big Stir Singles Series, this time with an emphasis on artists from our some of our other favorite labels (Kool Kat Musik, SpyderPop Records, Karma Frog Music and our partners at Futureman Records). As always it sports liner notes from a trusted authority on the music scene, as Tsar / Brothers Steve / GoAllTheWays drummer STEVE COULTER, under his crime fiction and pop critic nom-de-plume S.W. Lauden, joins the ranks of noted music writers Carl Cafarelli, Don Valentine and John Borack in doing the honors. And artist Ridley Broome has created a unique cover graphic depicting each of the A-sides in fantasy/superhero personifications, adding the character and quirk that collectors have come to expect from Big Stir's physical releases. </p>
<p>The Who's Who of celebrated artists, globetrotting international diversity, and profusion of exclusive tracks are as strong as ever. The collection is bookended by the physical-media debuts of tracks by two Southern California supergroups. It kicks off with THE GOALLTHEWAYS, a rapturously-received punk-goes-pop side project starring members of The Brothers Steve, The Armoires, and Sugarcult, formed to accompany the essay collection GO ALL THE WAY: A LITERARY APPRECIATION OF POWER POP, who delivers chiming harmony-laden re-imaginings of classics from The Descendents and Pink Lincolns. And it closes with the Big Stir debut single from THE FORTY NINETEENS, the garage rock superstars who count former members of The Leonards and Mary's Danish as part of their lineup, with a pair of originals that are already all over independent radio everywhere. </p>
<p>In between there's a lot that showcases the diversity of the modern “California Sound”. THE ARMOIRES themselves appear with a new single tied to a video release and a completely new (and unexpected!) B-side. BLAINE CAMPBELL checks in with some freshly-minted tunes that will delight fans of the '60s sunshine sound. Karma Frog Music vets MOD HIPPIE land a pair of epic rockers that stretch the single format to bracing effect. And from farther up the coast, THE MORNING LINE delivers two versions (one an exclusive synth-driven remix) of “Nostradamus”, a song that so thrilled the Big Stir label honchos that they sought Kool Kat Musik's permission to include it. </p>
<p>The UK is represented here by IT'S KARMA, IT'S COOL (again on loan from Kool Kat), the ace new project from ex-Popdogs frontman Jim Styring, and a welcome return from THE SPEED OF SOUND who contribute a Byrds cover that we Crosby-ites at BSR adore, as well as an acoustic reading of a vintage tune of their own. Futureman's Swedish sensation THE TOR GUIDES clock in with a giddy cover of Pilot's “Just A Smile” from their 2019 album Backwards In Reverse backed by a previously unheard track that's every bit as good. </p>
<p>Back in the US and deep in the heart of Texas, LANNIE FLOWERS is fresh off a round of Best Album list nods for his 2019 SpyderPop release Home (which frequently rubbed shoulders on such lists with LPs fromThe Tor Guides, Campbell and The Armoires). Lannie's tracks here don't appear on that record, though – we instead have an exclusive “North Florida Version” of “My Street” and a previously online-only favorite in “Summer Blue”. And keeping it stateside, it's the first dip into Singles Series waters for New York's THE STILLSOULS, with a pair of witty and passionate rockers – one of which displays more than a bit of Sunset Strip soul, perhaps bringing us full circle on this 22-song journey. </p>
<p>The Big Stir Singles Series continues into its Sixth Wave on our official website at www.bigstirrecords.com and on all of our social media platforms under the Big Stir Records name. Previous volumes of the BIG STIR SINGLES collections can be found there, along with full length releases from many of the featured artists... with more to come through the new year!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/61343862020-01-20T00:07:31-08:002021-01-21T08:24:27-08:00Big Stir Burbank Live: February Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/ebbe0c739ea3bbea524f88a511fb5b73d1112c99/original/big-stir-february-2020.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California friends: the day after Valentine's Day brings something we think you'll really love: BIG STIR BURBANK is back at Joe's with the next installment of our monthly live series! San Francisco's celebrated guitar pop heroes THE BOBBLEHEADS, garage-pop hit machines THE FORTY NINETEENS, and series favorites EZ TIGER and ROCKFORD... plus DJ John Borack and some soon-to-be-announced surprises at the merch table! Free as always! Come on by, and thank you, friends! </p>
<p>www.facebook.com/events/584198485760678/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/60920262020-01-12T11:20:26-08:002024-02-20T21:33:07-08:00Big Stir's Fourth Anniversary Celebration at Joe's in Burbank!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/f5a4c4e70c7c4dc6a0347e6e3d8914ec3fd58bf6/original/fourthyear-aflat11x17.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California friends: it's the start of a new year -- the fifth year for the ongoing Big Stir Concert Series in LA, in fact! And we're kicking it off Saturday with a four-year anniversary celebration at Joe's in Burbank, free as always, featuring a killer lineup! </p>
<p>We've got DAVID BROOKINGS (whose "Scorpio Monologues" album adorned many a Best of 2019 list). We've got the electric debut of THE GOALLTHEWAYS (and yes, go right ahead and call them a "supergroup")! We have our annual benedictory anniversary visit from Fresno's beloved BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP! And capping it all off are THE ARMOIRES who just might be dropping a new single and video before the festivities. Plus DJ JOHN BORACK spinning the hits when he's not hitting the skins. Please come out and be part of the party... and THANK YOU, FRIENDS, for our best year yet! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/2231134946987210/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/59685472019-11-21T13:52:33-08:002021-06-05T14:33:02-07:00Big Stir Singles: The Fourth Wave Benefit CD out on Giving Tuesday (December 3) in support of The Ed Asner Family Center!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/d77d6dcce3516cd2d1784941e34627d40a58a901/original/the-fourth-wave-cover-square.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is extraordinarily proud to wrap up its banner year with a very special CD and digital release. BIG STIR SINGLES: THE FOURTH WAVE arrives on Giving Tuesday, December 3 2019. With five dollars from each CD or download being donated to THE ED ASNER FAMILY CENTER and a generous helping of the exciting and often-exclusive pop rock jewels audiences have come to expect from the series, THE FOURTH WAVE sums up the BSR's generous and community-based ethos in grand style while making a difference in the lives of those with special needs and their families. The 25-track compilation will be available as of Giving Tuesday and can be pre-ordered at www.BigStirRecords.com/store now! </p>
<p>The first three compilations in the BIG STIR SINGLES series, collecting the label's ongoing weekly releases of A- and B-sides from a celebrated cast of bands and artists worldwide, have received rave reviews from the likes of SHINDIG! MAGAZINE, LOUDER THAN WAR MAGAZINE, THE BIG TAKEOVER MAGAZINE and more. As a collection, THE FOURTH WAVE goes far beyond offering more of the sublime same. Its literal and spiritual centerpiece is a brand new track from LA's JOE NORMAL & THE ANYTOWN'RS, “Even Now”, written especially for the Giving Tuesday event with the Asner Center's mission at its heart. It also boasts the CD and digital debut of the previously vinyl-only SPARKLE*JETS U.K. Big Star/Chris Bell tribute 45 (recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and featuring Big Star's Jody Stephens on drums) and celebrates BSR's newly-minted partnership with FUTUREMAN RECORDS by featuring exclusive tracks from the label's flagship artists THE HANGABOUTS (Ann Arbor, Michigan) and THE VAPOUR TRAILS (Aberdeen, Scotland). It's anointed with heartfelt liner notes from pop rock authority CARL CAFARELLI of This Is Rock 'N' Roll Radio and Boppin' (Like the Hip Folks Do) and showcases the artwork of all of the original digital releases. </p>
<p>You'll also find two tracks each by artists from as far afield as Wales (ARMSTRONG, appearing courtesy of our friends at Canada's THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC label), Minneapolis (THE PERSIAN LEAPS with two sizzling cuts from their brand new album), Illinois (DOLPH CHANEY's first new music in years), and Kansas City (BROKEN ARROWS with a pair of exclusives). Phoenix, Arizona roots-rock favorites CAROL PACEY & THE HONEY SHAKERS also check in with a raucous original backed with a surprise – a cover of The Violent Femmes' “Add It Up”. Like all of the collection's music, they've already received worldwide airplay and independent radio chart placements attesting to their strong hooks and immediate appeal. </p>
<p>Naturally Big Stir's home base of California is amply represented. In addition to the Joe Normal and sparkle*jets U.K. contributions, label mainstays BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP (Fresno) are here to demonstrate their mastery of art-infected pop. Two generations of the Los Angeles pop scene are represented by SHPLANG, celebrating 25 years of finely-crafted melodic rock, and the supercharged quintessential power pop of THE REFLECTORS, widely hailed as the great young hope of the genre. Meanwhile, THE WALKER BRIGADE roars back with a brand new A-side and caps the collection with, of all things, an art-punk rendition of a tune from the soundtrack to Blazing Saddles. As the UK's IAN CANTY has remarked of the BSR compilation series, “Something is definitely happening here, something special indeed. A real community of different artists coming together in a true DIY spirit to achieve their mostly noisy, sometimes more serene, but always stylish pop goals.” </p>
<p>Making that something even more special this time around, and thanks to Joe Normal, is the chance for fans to show their support for a worthy cause. Compilation curators Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome (of THE ARMOIRES and founders of the Big Stir collective) are music teachers by day have seen the uplifting effects of both music and caring education on the special needs children in their care. They're especially honored to be partnering with THE ED ASNER FAMILY CENTER, which offers arts and vocational enrichments and health and wellness programs including counseling services, as a one-stop shop for those with special needs and their families seeking wholeness in all attitudes of life. The Center acts as an oasis of balance and thought, of interaction and education. We're proud to announce that five dollars from the purchase of THE FOURTH WAVE in any format will be donated directly to the Center. Details about the Center's work can be found in the attached press release. </p>
<p>More about Big Stir Records, The Ed Asner Family Center, and Joe Normal can be found at the following links and on most social media platforms under the expected names: </p>
<p>www.BigStirRecords.com <br>www.edasnerfamilycenter.org <br>www.joenormalusa.com</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/59390882019-10-25T13:26:58-07:002020-12-04T23:15:30-08:00Big Stir Burbank Live: November Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/c98808d1bbdf976842636d0acd030ddf2184519f/original/big-stir-november-5.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The year's final BIG STIR BURBANK features DIME BOX BAND (the red hot roots rock supergroup featuring Kristi Callan of Wednesday Week), BSR's own champions PLASTICSOUL, the Rist-Basset-Borack 1-2-3 punch of THE TEST PRESSINGS, and (all the way from London) 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS! Plus DJ JOHN BORACK! Free as always -- be there, and thank you, friends! </p>
<p>www.facebook.com/events/905948793108185/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58842642019-09-07T11:52:35-07:002020-12-22T07:29:05-08:00Big Stir Records to partner with Futureman Records on upcoming releases!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/a23e719e2ffdf3e2a957184f46871d1774a9a913/original/bsr-fm-announce.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>And now the big news! </p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS and FUTUREMAN RECORDS hereby announce an ongoing partnership, co-distributing and co-promoting artists and releases from each label's rosters! </p>
<p>Anyone with an eye on the global pop rock scene will know the justly-deserved reputation of Michigan-based Futureman, under the aegis of the remarkable and indefatigable KEITH KLINGENSMITH (The Legal Matters), and how much the label has done to bring the music to the masses. And those who have observed the rise of BIG STIR RECORDS and our related enterprises in live music, publishing and more will know that our aesthetic and ethos are a perfect match. It's been a matter of "one label can't do it all". And both imprints bear the personal touch of their founders -- Keith with FM, and Christina and Rex with BSR -- and we wouldn't have it any other way! </p>
<p>What this means is that starting today you'll find each label carrying the other's selected releases on their websites, and more directly co-promoting them worldwide. So do check out the new selection of Big Stir releases from IN DEED, THE ARMOIRES and our Singles Series CDs at: </p>
<p>www.futuremanrecords.bandcamp.com </p>
<p>...and the integration of Futureman including the recent release from THE VAPOUR TRAILS and an exciting hint of things to come from THE HANGABOUTS over at: </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com </p>
<p>Yep... the Future just got Big, and there's that much more Unity in the Community. Thank you, friends, and stand by for more!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58760742019-08-30T19:38:44-07:002022-04-06T23:49:17-07:00BIG STIR MAGAZINE #4 out September 6 - free THIRD WAVE CD with the first 25 orders!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/7ae040401f32320c420de8632dfe722640255fe3/original/zine-4-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It's here at last: the all-new, full-color 72-page <strong>BIG STIR MAGAZINE #4</strong>! It shares its release date with the CD of <strong>BIG STIR SINGLES: THE THIRD WAVE</strong>, and the FIRST 25 ORDERS will include a FREE copy of the compilation! That's $18 worth of literature and music for the cover price of a single magazine... so order now! </p>
<p>At just $6 and available in print only, the newest edition of our popular periodical is out September 6 and available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/magazine now. It's the biggest and brightest issue yet, lavishly designed as always by the enigmatic CHAMPNISS OF LONDON, and features RUSS TOLMAN (True West) and STEVE WYNN (The Dream Syndicate) in conversation with each other, separate contributions from former Soft Boys KIMBERLY REW and MATTHEW SELIGMAN, and words, artwork, wit and whimsy from the width and breadth of the global pop and rock community! </p>
<p>The fourth issue also includes: </p>
<p>-Exclusive Interviews: KARLA KANE (The Corner Laughers) chats with ANTON BARBEAU, JULIA BOOKINARIS catches up with KIM REW and LEE CAVE-BERRY, and MIKE LIDSKIN (Twirl Radio) goes international with KAI DANZBERG. </p>
<p>-Comics and artwork from SUMISHTA BRAHM (13 Frightened Girls), RIDLEY BROOME, LARYSA BULBENKO (The Armoires) ED HUERTA (Rockford), and of course CHAMPNISS himself, including the brand-new MIDDLE EIGHT section starring SATCHMO PANDA, PETER WATTS and RUTH ROGERS from SPYGENIUS, and more! </p>
<p>-Fiction from MARK ENGLISH (The Gold Needles) and S.W. LAUDEN (The Brothers Steve, Tsar)! </p>
<p>-Musical memories and musings from NELSON BRAGG, CHRISTINA BULBENKO (The Armoires), CARL CAFARELLI (This Is Rock 'N' Roll Radio), PATRICK “POOCH” DiPUCCIO (The Condors, Flipside Fanzine), VIC ERWIN (SpyderPop Records), NICK FRATER, SIMON GLICKMAN (The Ex Teens), BLAKE JONES (The Trike Shop), DARRIN LEE (Subjangle Sounds and JanglePopHub), PETER MARSTON (Shplang), JEFF PARTRIDGE (Suite 100), ROBBIE RIST, STEVE ROSENBAUM, MARTY SCHNEIDER (Trip Wire), RICK WARHALL (Chasing The Essential) and STEVEN WILSON (Plasticsoul) and more! </p>
<p>-Reviews from the likes of DAVID BASH (IPO), JOHN BORACK (Goldmine), REX BROOME (The Armoires), RAY GIANCHETTI (Kool Kat Musik), ALAN HABER (Pure Pop Radio), AARON KUPFERBERG (Power Popaholic), DON VALENTINE (I Don't Hear A Single), ADAM WALTEMIRE (Pop Garden Radio) and more. </p>
<p>-Side trips, psychedelic diversions and Easter eggs galore! </p>
<p>Previous issues have sold out their original pressings, so order yours today!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58691162019-08-24T17:31:37-07:002021-06-05T14:36:02-07:00BIG STIR SINGLES: THE THIRD WAVE coming to CD!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/86fedc86b990dc2db6a21de079dbb84b8308f738/original/third-wave-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR SINGLES: THE THIRD WAVE is coming to CD Friday September 6, and is available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/store or download at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-records-compilations now. The disc features fresh (and often exclusive) pairings of A- and B-Sides from Big Stir Records' celebrated weekly Digital Singles Series, from the likes of KAI DANZBERG, PAULA CARINO, BLOW-UP, STEVE ROSENBAUM, IN DEED, DAVID BROOKINGS & THE AVERAGE LOOKINGS, BUTCH YOUNG, THE BROTHERS STEVE, JIM BASNIGHT, LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS, and SUNDIAL SYMPHONY, with liner notes from DON VALENTINE of </p>
<p>I DON'T HEAR A SINGLE. </p>
<p>The first installment of the Big Stir Singles CD compilations quickly sold out its first pressing (and is near to doing so in its second). THE SECOND WAVE on CD has garnered even greater acclaim, with the likes of Ian Canty of the UK's LOUDER THAN WAR MAGAZINE, saying of the compilation and its parent series: </p>
<p>“This is music that truly lifts the soul, makes you feel that life can still be fun, that anything is possible. It even gave this aging bag of bones a shot of fresh vigour. That is something you can’t put a price on, that leap of your heart and a touch of romance that makes it feel so good to be alive, something only quality Pop Music can do. Big Stir on The Second Wave gift you tonnes of the stuff. Like a welcome breeze on a boiling hot day, The Second Wave is a pure burst of cool.” </p>
<p>THE THIRD WAVE continues that burst with exclusives from KAI DANZBERG of Hanover Germany, who offers a sneak peek at his forthcoming EP EUPHORIA, while LA's legendary BLOW-UP contributes a brand new re-recording of a classic and a live cut from the vaults. New York's PAULA CARINO delivers our all-time best-selling single “Flying Dream”, tracked with assistance from members of THE BYE BYE BLACKBIRDS and THE CORNER LAUGHERS. STEVE ROSENBAUM of the San Diego pop scene continues to pile up the one-off releases that will doubtless comprise an absolutely epic LP in what we hope is the not-too-distant future! </p>
<p>Elsewhere DAVID BROOKINGS pairs a prime cut from his acclaimed Scorpio Monologue LP with a solo reading of a Kinks classic, and rising Akron, Ohio stars LIBRARIANS WITH HICKEYS make their bow on CD with twin tracks that amply justify the buzz that's accompanied their arrival on the scene. Longtime Big Stir friend and pop maestro BUTCH YOUNG returns with his first recordings since his debut album MERCURY MAN, with all his charm and songcraft intact. And BSR's own IN DEED (of Uppsala, Sweden) offer a new track from the US edition of their EVEREST album and back it with the lovely, and previously vinyl-only, “Holy Ground”. </p>
<p>During the span from April through July of 2019 anthologized here, BSR was also honored to present the debut of THE BROTHERS STEVE (an offshoot of LA's beloved and much-missed TSAR) who would go on to make a substantial splash on the global pop scene, and showcase ex-MOBERLYS frontman JIM BASNIGHT with a cut from his new album NOT CHANGING paired with a tune co-written with Patrick “Pooch” DiPuccio of BSR's own THE CONDORS. And we also opened ears to SUNDIAL SYMPHONY, featuring LA pop scene all-arounder ROBBIE RIST and DON FRANKEL revisiting a pair of lost sunshine pop classics from PAUL LEVINSON. </p>
<p>The tracks have all received generous airplay throughout THE THIRD WAVE's timespan and we are delighted to once again bring them all together onto physical media as they deserve, with art design by multitalented Singles Series veteran MICHAEL SIMMONS and an exuberant essay from DON VALENTINE serving as the liner notes. </p>
<p>Meanwhile the Fourth Wave continues at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles having already featured artists from Kansas City, LA, Phoenix, and Chicago and heading into a run of UK-based co-releases with sister labels like Futureman Records and The Beautiful Music, with many more surprises yet to come! </p>
<p>For more, please visit: </p>
<p>www.BigStirRecords.com</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58643162019-08-20T14:02:05-07:002019-08-20T14:02:05-07:00Big Stir Burbank: Swedish Invasion (and More!)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/40c7fbfef100294b07fab6caefc098fe2d8decfd/original/big-stir-september.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California Pop People! Saturday, September 14, Big Stir Burbank welcomes IN DEED, bringing their acclaimed indie-pop sound all the way from Sweden... plus local heroes ARTHUR ALEXANDER BAND and THE ARMOIRES, LEISURE McCORKLE all the way from North Carolina, and the LA debut of recent Bay Area transplant (and flat-out pop hero) DAVID BROOKINGS... plus DJ JOHN BORACK (doing double duty on drums for The Armoires as well)! It's a global affair right in your back yard, so be there, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/413331326201204/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58310922019-07-20T18:16:31-07:002023-12-10T09:55:47-08:00SPARKLE*JETS U.K. Limited Edition Blue Vinyl 7" 45: "The Ballad of El Goodo" b/w "You and Your Sister" (Ardent Studio Sessions)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/3f4df221cf6716b16b4107e52c048de38638fc7c/original/65318233-569343490262057-6824181985091518464-n.gif/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>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 beautiful and emotional 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” – both recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Jody Stephens on drums for the A side. Kenny Howes (yeah, that Kenny Howes) donated his guitar skills (and guitars) to the session as well. This is a physical-only release, with downloadable files unavailable except with purchase of the 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: </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com/sparkle-jets-u-k </p>
<p>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, according to Jason Damas from All Music Guide. Their adorably geekly sensibility and their sound – a distinctive marriage of '60s and '70s rock and whimsical guitar pop -- set them apart, then and now. Founding members Michael Simmons, Susan West, and Jamie Knight first met in 1995 at an open mic show in Fullerton, CA. They were in three different bands at that time, and within a year had merged the bands into a single entity, blending their songs together. </p>
<p>The group, which was initially dubbed Happy Birthday!, was renamed sparkle*jets u.k., including the very 80’s "U.K." tag as a gag. The three band members also shared a lot of musical common ground, starting with the Beatles. Their musical courtship engendered a love for ELO, Beach Boys, Jackson 5, Stax, and Big Star. They listened to Jason Faulkner and Sugarplastic while engineering their own splash in the LA Pop scene. SJ*UK recorded their 1998 debut In, Through and Beyond and pressed just 1,000 CD’s. In the true spirit of DIY, Knight placed the band’s first CD on consignment in a display next to the cash register at Pepperland Music record 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. </p>
<p>What started as an after-gig joke among their new musician friends in 2000 led to the delightfully absurd I Love Sparkle*Jets U.K., a multi-artist tribute album to themselves. They decided to curate the project, and within an hour of announcing it ran out of songs to include, such was the camaraderie of the pop scene at the time. They followed with their excellent 2001 sophomore album Bamboo Lounge which was first released on their own label, then throughout the world on Smile Records. </p>
<p>The group went dormant just shy of completing their third proper album, having re-channeled their creative energies into their new career at The HB Academy for the Performing Arts. When Knight & Simmons started their unique popular music program (and West became the school’s business supervisor) they didn’t have any money for a drum set, so David Bash and John Borack donated money to buy one for the kids. Around this time was when one of their first students, Tisha Boonyawatana, joined the band on keyboards. Ten years later, Simmons was so impressed with the pop sensibilities of two of the students (Big Stir artist Addison Love and Ginger Root’s Cameron Lew) that he would go on to produce and perform with them in a group called Yorktown Lads, releasing the Songs About Girls and Other Disasters LP in 2014. It was students like Addison Love, Nicole Kubis and Cameron Lew who would help Simmons and Knight become Apple Distinguished Educators and get Knight nominated as a Grammy Teacher of the Year. </p>
<p>Simmons would go on to play a major role in pop cover band Popdudes with Borack, Knight, Kenny Howes, Robbie Rist, Kubis, Love and many more. His own solo album First Days of Summer, recently reissued in expanded form on Big Stir, adorned many a ‘Best of 2018’ list. The album, along with occasional and warmly received SJ*UK reunion gigs, paved the way for the Memphis sessions which yielded the new single. </p>
<p>Along with the El Goodo 45, 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 eventual completion... stay tuned for further developments, and grab your 45 while they last!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58310522019-07-20T17:01:39-07:002021-06-05T14:31:28-07:00The Armoires, "Zibaldone": Out August 2 on vinyl and CD<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/52d68ed6ed79196a7ebb2b83368180887d850e64/original/zibaldone-lp-cover-art.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>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 and is available for preorder now: </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com/the-armoires </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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”. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>“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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58105012019-07-01T13:28:24-07:002019-07-01T13:28:24-07:00SpyderPop Records Showcase at Big Stir Burbank<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/611ec9eaf347e6e964714e91ca7f5bc3eae7a573/original/spyderpop-big-stir.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Unity in the community, as SpyderPop Records brings their finest -- BILL LLOYD, LANNIE FLOWERS and DANNY WILKERSON, all legends in their own right -- to Big Stir Burbank where they will be joined by Big Stir Records' own THE ARMOIRES (celebrating the release of their long awaited second LP) for a FREE and fabulous show at Joe's Great American! It all kicks off at 9PM (and that's after the regular monthly Burbank show from 3-7 with four other amazing bands) -- so it's an all day guitar pop marathon with Texas meeting LA, and it's absolutely not to be missed! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/884838088536218/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58105002019-07-01T13:26:57-07:002020-11-23T08:38:38-08:00Big Stir Burbank: August Edition Part 1<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/b939b91b878c1bfee70243a71f6b483a2003ec93/original/big-stir-burbank-august.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>August's BIG STIR BURBANK is an all-day (and totally free) affair! The matinee starts at 3PM with WORMSTEW, THE FORTY NINETEENS, TROTSKY ICEPICK, ROCKFORD and DJ JOHN BORACK! And if that's not enough, we start all over again at 9pm with THE ARMOIRES' record release party and the SPYDERPOP RECORDS SHOWCASE featuring LANNIE FLOWERS, DANNY WILKERSON and BILL LLOYD! It's the biggest Big Stir at Joe's ever, and definitely worth making a day of it! </p>
<p>www.facebook.com/events/2438374756183580/ </p>
<p>Flyer art this time out by Rockford's own Edward Huerta -- thank you, Ed!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58088542019-06-29T17:47:46-07:002019-06-29T17:47:46-07:00Big Stir OC at the Orange County Fair<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/b121a353893de66874d7839cb676ac2385fa9cc1/original/big-stir-oc-2019.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Friday, July 26... it's the third annual Big Stir OC at the Orange County Fair! Some of the very best original bands from Southern California pop outside the box on an outdoor, family-friendly stage with all the fun of the fair close at hand! This year we feature the return of PLASTICSOUL, local hero ADDISON LOVE and THE ARMOIRES (who may just have a new LP on sale!) and the supergroup power of THE TEST PRESSINGS and ARTHUR ALEXANDER BAND, and ALAN BERNHOFT rocking the Promenade Stage! Free with your $12 fair admission, so make a day of it... and thank you, friends! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/430831150981881/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/58088142019-06-29T16:20:38-07:002020-11-23T06:58:53-08:00IPO LA: Big Stir Night!<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/d684c413ed697658326ca023ddd3c794a2f0eb65/original/ipo-la-2019.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Summer's underway in LA and that means the International Pop Overthrow Festival is back, kicking off once again with Big Stir Night! This year sees THE ARMOIRES and PLASTICSOUL joined by THE REFLECTORS, SITCOM NEIGHBOR, THE LIVING DOLLS, JOE NORMAL & THE ANYTOWN'RS, and for the first time THE REFLECTORS -- in other words, some of LA's best and brightest are back! And we'll have some really cool new Big Stir Records releases for you... perhaps even a brand new Armoires record on vinyl, so stay tuned for details! And thank you, friends! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/394697554723693/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57938322019-06-16T17:26:03-07:002019-06-16T17:26:03-07:00In Deed's "EVEREST" out July 5 on BSR!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/c5fbe4c471f31bd52868f0e6db8fe09461cccbdf/original/in-deed-everest-cd-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Uppsala, Sweden's IN DEED, purveyors of timeless indie-pop of the highest order, are embarking on an improbable and thrilling third act with the release of their album EVEREST for the first time on CD in a completely new configuration with three brand new tracks, expanded from the Swedish vinyl-only version, on Los Angeles-based BIG STIR RECORDS. Drawing on the history of melodic rock from The Zombies to The Posies and beyond, with echoes of female-fronted luminaries like Blondie, The Bangles and The Primitives, the new release sparkles with an energy and wit that easily stands up to and transcends those influences. At turns it's sly, tender and ferocious in the tradition of both Swedish pop and decades of hooks and harmony from the US, UK and beyond: a thing of beauty that will capture ears and hearts worldwide. </p>
<p>IN DEED made their brash arrival on the Swedish rock scene in 2001 with At 4000 Meters, an album embraced by the Swedish music press which has stood the test of time as an underheard classic. The story could have ended there, but thankfully the group has re-emerged on the live and recording scene in recent years, with their creative and performance energy undiminished. The appearance on vinyl of the original Everest album, available in their native country and in limited quantities in the UK, returned In Deed to their status of darlings of the Swedish press and radio community without missing a beat, and ushered in an overdue international appreciation of their music. Rave reviews and Top 10 placements on Year's Best Albums lists from the likes of David Bash of the International Pop Overthrow Festival heralded, as the title of one new song has it, “Another Start” for the band. </p>
<p>The vitality of the material on the new record was solid evidence that this was no nostalgia trip. Linda Karlsberg's vocals range from a vulnerable coo on the likes of the jangly, Mersey-inflected “According to You” and the frankly gorgeous “Five Times a Day” to a searingly fierce howl (as heard on the single “Heart Attack” and the Farfisa-driven “Flavour of the Month”). Guitarist Richard Öhrn remains an encyclopedia of guitar tones and textures spanning the length and breadth of modern pop, and drummer Marcus Segersvärd likewise shuffles, grooves and pounds as each tune demands. All three core members contribute tunes to the In Deed songbook, while Jens Siilakka (bass) and Johan Hellander (keys and additional guitar) round out the celebrated live version of the group. </p>
<p>Big Stir Records founders Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome enter the picture in the summer of 2018. A superb Swedish pop band being on every fledgling indie label's short list of improbable dreams, and In Deed wishing to get Everest to an international audience and onto CD for the first time, the match was, as with much of BRS's expansion from its LA roots, a natural. The band's ambitions reached beyond a simple reissue, and to the label's delight they came armed with three brand new tracks and the concept of completely reconfiguring Everest into a new animal altogether. Label co-founder Broome counts the assembly of the album into its “Capitol version” as the most fun he's ever had on the business side of the music scene. </p>
<p>The resulting new edition is as essential as the original. Kicking off with the bracing new “Another Start” and the delicate “Five Times a Day”, rushing headlong into the original lead track “What Once Was” and the soaring recent single “Don't Need, Don't Care”, this Everest has the hooks to pull in new fans and reveal new facets of the band to the faithful. The additions of “Fantastic”, whose snarky sweetness brings the band's fellow nationals The Cardigans to mind, and the deceptively giddy current single “I'm Alright (When I'm with You)” make for a cohesive and absorbing album in the best pop-rock tradition: the new version still clocks in at under 43 minutes and without a trace of bonus-track fatigue. Everest is, in either format, a singular record for the ages. </p>
<p>Plans for the band's first-ever US tour and a return to perform once again for their ever-adoring UK fans make 2019 a watershed year for In Deed. If it's been too long in coming, it's still a dream come true, and Big Stir Records is extraordinarily proud of our role in bringing it to you!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57613912019-05-20T11:43:32-07:002019-05-20T11:43:32-07:00Big Stir Burbank Live: June Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/90640ddfc237aa6555c6862131ce7144ab9a4b0c/original/big-stir-june.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California Pop People! Big Stir Burbank in June is bigger than usual: five bands! </p>
<p>www.facebook.com/events/657825368002319/ </p>
<p>THE ARMOIRES return (it's been a while!) in celebration of their new EP release, ARTHUR ALEXANDER BAND rocks rolls and repeats, CAROL PACEY & THE HONEY SHAKERS haul in from Arizona, THE LIVING DOLLS come alive, and we welcome THE REFLECTORS for the very first time... plus DJ KAREN BASSET is back, and we've got lots of new records for you to take home! FREE as always. Thank you, friends!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57448772019-05-06T12:23:47-07:002019-11-01T05:00:47-07:00AMOEBA TEEN's "Medium Wave": Out 1 June on BSR!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/0f4b2f40bd2d596d48a0b822073e548dfb504d5c/original/amoeba-teen-medium-wave-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong>Big Stir Records</strong> is proud to announce that <strong>AMOEBA TEEN</strong>'s new album <em><strong>Medium Wave</strong></em> will be released on June 1 on CD and digital download... and it's available for preorder now! </p>
<p><a contents="https://www.bigstirrecords.com/amoeba-teen&nbsp;" data-link-label="Amoeba Teen" data-link-type="page" href="/amoeba-teen">https://www.bigstirrecords.com/amoeba-teen </a></p>
<p>Here's rock scribe Jeff McGinley's note on what to expect on the new one from Stourbridge, England's finest purveyors of power pop and classic songwriting: </p>
<p>The new album from <strong>Amoeba Teen</strong> charts a band contemplating middle age, the middle class, and a comfortably numb life among middle Englanders. <em>Medium Wave</em> resurrects the band’s classic pop instincts, set in the midst of a mid-life crisis that challenges the genre’s lyrical formula to which power pop aficionados are accustomed. </p>
<p>Like the album’s title, Amoeba Teen looks back longingly to a previous radio era, as they survey an inner and outer world in flux and old physical certainties giving way to digital white noise. But there’s also a different kind of medium they seek, calling on the spirit and wisdom of Chris Bell, John Lennon and Harry Nilsson. </p>
<p>Oscar Wilde once remarked, “The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.” The album’s starter Clementine, a mid-tempo folky waltz underscores Wilde’s insight, with a sneering cynicism as, outsiders, Britton and Turner, ‘lift the lid on the cackling crush’. Defiantly, they ask the masses to come outside and embrace the cold. The agenda couldn’t be more explicit: this a band unwilling to succumb to the mainstream. </p>
<p>After a hypnotic conclusion to the album’s opener, we’re thrust into Babycakes, a jaunty Beach Boys-esque number that features stabbing horns. Here Britton contemplates the novelty and excitement of an emotionally unstable ‘drama queen’ versus the ‘steady-as-she-goes’ contentment of the familiar. This is a theme the album flirts with later on in the string-laden Wandering Bullets, where forgiveness is sought while reminding the listener of everyday addictions we all quietly lean on to get through the day. In other words, don’t be so quick to judge. </p>
<p>Suit and Tie delivers on the raucous up-tempo rock n roll that Amoeba Teen are known for; performed live and mastered at the world famous Abbey Road studios. Yet even among the crunchy guitars and bass, Turner draws our attention to a man trapped in middle management. Britton and Bayliss join in on catchy choral harmonies, in sympathy rather than mockery at the man’s predicament. </p>
<p>Hickory Hill turns left towards alt-country territory, where we are taken on a sunny day stroll. But not everything is plain sailing. For there is another place – beyond Britton’s reach – that he won’t ever get to in this life. In acknowledging his own mortality and also surrendering to his inadequacies Britton acquiesces, with a simple request to scatter his ashes in a world he never lived in. Rather than straying into a morbid tale, the song offers the listener a heart-warming story of someone finding quiet contentment with what they’ve been given. </p>
<p>Another wave washes over us in Ship To Shore, as Turner and Britton warn us that the fog’s coming down and that the Black Dog is never far away. Lyrical abstractions give way to a reminder that even ‘the greatest navigators got blinded by the sun’. </p>
<p>Medium Wave is an album for the everyman standing at their crossroads. It’s an album for those in the middle who continue to enjoy ‘the shock of the new’ but have a growing sentimentality for yesteryear. This is the sound of a band that is learning to appreciate the good in the present while sleeping with one eye open. And in doing so, Amoeba Teen continue to subvert the power pop genre, yet never straying far from a strong hook and catchy melody. </p>
<p>--Jeff McGinley, March 2019</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57429132019-05-04T12:14:47-07:002021-06-06T07:05:42-07:00The Armoires: "Some Kinda Handbook (The Senility Prayer)" Official Video<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="kz657CohWS4" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/kz657CohWS4/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kz657CohWS4?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>It's the official video for the lead track from THE ARMOIRES' new SIDE THREE EP, available for pre-order now on Big Stir Records! </p>
<p><a contents="The Armoires: Side Three" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.bigstirrecords.com/the-armoires">The Armoires: Side Three</a></p>
<p>The Armoires are: Christina Bulbenko, Rex Broome, Larysa Bulbenko, Derek Hanna and Clifford Ulrich. Guests on this recording: Patrick DiPuccio (guitar) and Robbie Rist (bass), produced by Steven Eric Wilson. Directed by Megan Mellbye and edited by Michael Bulbenko.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57356862019-04-28T19:43:22-07:002019-04-28T19:43:22-07:00The Armoires: The "Side Three" EP out May 17!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/7d4d0e6422f2b163931024c5f61d7ef46152a745/original/the-armoires-side-three-cover.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The Armoires: The "Side Three" EP. </p>
<p>Out May 17 on CD and download, and up for preorder now (the CD contains two tracks not included with the download). This is a completely separate release from the ZIBALDONE album due in August. Five (or seven!) brand new tracks to introduce you to The Armoires as we sound today. </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com/the-armoires </p>
<p>Produced by Steven Wilson of Plasticsoul (with one track helmed by Peter Watts of Spygenius). Guests include Robbie Rist, Patrick "Pooch" DiPuccio of The Condors, Jeff Charreaux of The Walker Brigade, and Rex's daughter Miranda Broome making her debut on bass. Art by Champniss. </p>
<p>More about all of this later... right now you should be picking up that Blow-Up single! </p>
<p>THANK YOU, FRIENDS!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57356842019-04-28T19:39:31-07:002019-04-28T19:39:31-07:00Big Stir Live: Burbank, May Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/d8a6f57ea6c8474bf5c943283155e12be036b385/original/may-flyer-fix-small.png" class="size_orig justify_center border_" />Big Stir's live concert series continues to flower in May at Joe's Great American! The legendary MAPLE MARS, Bakersfield's celebrated BRIAN JONES WAS MURDERED, San Diego's STEVE ROSENBAUM, and Big Stir Records' own newest signing LESLIE PEREIRA & THE LAZY HEROES, plus DJ KAREN BASSET. Free as always, so come on down... and thank you, friends!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57108472019-04-07T13:51:14-07:002022-01-26T14:13:26-08:00BIG STIR SINGLES: THE FIRST WAVE set for release on CD!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/e4091fdf3384edd1d038956628408b0c8c131ba8/original/bsds-comp-cover.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Big Stir Records is proud to announce the April 19 release of BIG STIR SINGLES: THE FIRST WAVE on CD and as a digital download. The CD collects the first twelve A-sides and B-sides from the label's acclaimed weekly Digital Singles Series, originally issued from October 2018 through January 2019 and already the subject of frequent airplay and enthusiastic reviews in their own right. More than a standard compilation, THE FIRST WAVE is a permanent record of three months of musical activity in the worldwide pop scene far beyond the scope of Big Stir Records as a label, chock full of exclusives and rarities. </p>
<p>The track list represents an impressive cross-section of artists from the global pop rock scene whose orbits intersect with Big Stir via the collective's live concert series, magazine, and BSR's own roster: KARLA KANE (The Corner Laughers), MICHAEL SIMMONS (Popdudes, Sparke*Jets UK), KAI DANZBERG, THE EX TEENS, LANNIE FLOWERS (on loan from SpyderPop Records), MYLITTLEBROTHER, TRIP WIRE, BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP, PLASTICSOUL, ADDISON LOVE, SONS OF MORNING, and THE NEWDS. The Singles Series hews to the format of classic 45s and sees each artist contributing an A-Side and a B-Side, with both included on the CD. </p>
<p>The idea of a weekly single showcase was hatched by BSR founders CHRISTINA BULBENKO and REX BROOME during their stint hosting THE BIG STIR RADAR HOUR on Woody Radio, with their attention finely focused on the week-to-week releases from their friends across the world. Too many excellent internet-only one-off releases seemed to come and go too quickly in the shuffle of social media and 21st century news cycles. A key inspiration was LANNIE FLOWERS' excellent monthly series of exclusive singles on SPYDERPOP RECORDS, as well as catching superb offerings from TRIP WIRE (the gorgeous pre-album drop of “Act Fast”) and MYLITTLEBROTHER (whose haunting “Love Song for an Island” even came with an equally beautiful video, but didn't seem to reach the ears of enough of the pair's DJ peers). </p>
<p>Much as they had when finding themselves the most likely suspects to create the original Big Stir Live Concert Series, Bulbenko and Broome realized that, with the fledgling BSR label gaining some degree of prominence, it was likely they who should step and try to find a wider audience for these ephemeral masterpieces. </p>
<p>As the liner notes tell it, the epiphany came when KARLA KANE interviewed the legendary MARTIN NEWELL (Cleaners from Venus, The Greatest Living Englishman) for the Fall edition of BIG STIR MAGAZINE. In the course of the conversation Newell offered her a brand new and gorgeous song of Autumn to record, “Goodguy Sun”. That being too good for Karla to pass up, she recorded it immediately and thought to offer it to Big Stir Records to release as a companion piece to the magazine, which was in turn too good for Christina and Rex to pass up. Almost simultaneously MICHAEL SIMMONS (fresh off of the release of his much-praised First Days of Summer LP) suddenly offered up “This Is Most Certainly True”, a political broadside specifically aimed at the upcoming 2018 US Election. It all came into focus: these were songs of the moment and deserved broader bandwidth and caretaking, and moreover a permanent home on physical media after their day in the sun. </p>
<p>From there, Broome and Bulbenko's years of passionate community building paid off, as a weekly slate of top-notch releases proved easy to maintain. Each release came with its own picture-sleeve-inspired artwork, exclusive B-sides of every type known to history (A-side-worthy triumphs, covers, offhand goofs, instrumental versions and remixes), and even a homemade color vinyl “replica” as pictured on the compilation cover. The seasonal themes continued with a double A-side Christmas release from BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP and KAI DANZBERG. THE EX TEENS provided a cat-themed tune (“Mikey & Murdercat”) in tandem with a “Pets of Pop” magazine feature. BSR's own ADDISON LOVE provided highlights with a pair of brand-new tunes delivered on the very eve of their release, and label founding fathers PLASTICSOUL provide what rock scribe JOHN BORACK has anointed as the two top-of-a-very-impressive-heap tracks here. Acts from as far afield as Bolton, England (THE NEWDS) and East Haven, CT (SONS OF MORNING) chimed in with extremely promising previews of work-in-progress LPs, and BSR was honored to put into permanent print a pair of LANNIE FLOWERS' now-deleted singles which had inspired the singles series, thanks to our friends at SPYDERPOP. </p>
<p>The pride and care that go into the Singles Series (which is now wrapping up its second wave to be anthologized on CD later this year) is evident in the CD package: the cover is no Photoshop knockup, those are actual physical records handcrafted by Bulbenko and Broome from using thrift store 45s and spray paint, with characteristically inventive heart and soul, and the disc package is lovingly assembled with release information and liner notes from the BSR founders. </p>
<p>BIG STIR SINGLES: THE FIRST WAVE is available for pre-order on CD and (perhaps redundantly!) as a digital download at the Big Stir Records online store: </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com/store</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57042752019-04-02T12:31:10-07:002019-04-02T12:31:10-07:00AMOEBA TEEN join the BIG STIR RECORDS family!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/ba92f8d1160660b0c5684a76a1ec50bf2bc3818c/original/amoeba-teen-bsws.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Major announcement time... BIG STIR RECORDS is extremely proud to welcome to its roster of artists: AMOEBA TEEN (of Stourbridge, UK)! With their new album "Medium Wave" due June 8 and a single in the coming weeks -- being previewed on BBC 6Music this Friday! -- it's a great time to introduce yourself to the lads. Hit the link for their bio and a video from the new record, or read on below the link! </p>
<p>https://www.bigstirrecords.com/amoeba-teen </p>
<p>When speaking of a band like Stourbridge, England's AMOEBA TEEN as they manifest themselves today, it's difficult not to fall back on clichés like "going from strength to strength", "at the height of their powers", or "firing on all cylinders". It's better, perhaps, to borrow a song title from the group themselves and say that they're coming on stronger: the banner year of 2018 saw an extensive reissue of their back catalog on Kool Kat Musik, their invigorating live set captured audiences at home and on festival stages across the UK, and for 2019 they have, in Medium Wave (due 1 June on Big Stir Records) synthesized their live energy and nuanced songcraft into an album that's bracing, immediate, and humming with the energy of its time in a way that fans of peak period Kinks, The Jam and classic power pop across the decades will recognize and adore. </p>
<p>Amoeba Teen were founded by critically acclaimed songwriting team of Mark Britton and Mike Turner. Armed with a four-track tape recorder and junk shop guitars, the pair began writing together back in the dying embers of the last century. With a rag-tag collection of scratchy demos, they slowly honed their craft, melding together lush harmonies, hooky melodies, the odd sample and overdriven guitars. Hints of power pop can be heard – Teenage Fanclub, Jellyfish and Big Star spring to mind – but Turner’s raucous guitar and reverb soundscapes keeps the vibe punky and a little dirtier. </p>
<p>During a particularly dark year of damp accommodation and alcohol, their work attracted the attention of Nokia, who wanted to feature their track "Friend to the Stars", in a TV advert. They declined and chose to remain underground and drunk. During a three-year break Mark Britton re-released some of Amoeba Teen’s material, attracting international acclaim that included rave reviews from Powerpopaholic, Pure Pop Radio and an Album of the Month award from Ryan’s Gig Guide. A reformation was in order: in 2016 the group rebuilt upon Britton and Turner’s songwriting foundations, adding Simon Muttit, legendary former bassist of Fierce Panda Records' darlings, X>Y. On drums is Carl Baylis, whose percussive skills have found him featured on Steve Lamacq’s record of the week on BBC 6Music. </p>
<p>The band's 2017 album The Appleyard Sessions was an acoustic detour that hinted at their hidden alt-country influences, while retaining their hallmark harmonies and melodic hooks. Meanwhile the live band sharpened its electric energy and were invited to perform at the International Pop Overthrow Festival at the iconic Cavern Club in Liverpool, and appeared on a compilation on Omnivore Records, home to artists such as The Beach Boys, Tim Buckley and Hank Williams. They found themselves warming up football fans at the West Bromwich Albion versus Liverpool match and rounded off a year of big performances with an appearance at Brierley Hill Civic hall, having won a local radio competition to support BBC2 Radio favourites, King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys. </p>
<p>Amoeba Teen's arrival in the orbit of the burgeoning Big Stir massive comes at a renaissance moment for both parties, as Medium Wave proves to be a gorgeous summation of the band's recorded and live strengths into a cohesive and affecting work that's certain to catch ears both at home and in the US. Already the album's lead single "Suit and Tie", included as part of the label's Digital Singles Series, is seeing a debut on BBC 6Music, and the album joins a robust slate of new records from the international likes of Kai Danzberg (Germany), Trip Wire (San Francisco), In Deed (Sweden) and The Armoires (LA). Tour dates throughout the year in support of the album are being lined up as Amoeba Teen prepares to support its best record yet with the kind of bravura live performances fans have come to expect. Stay tuned for more as the year unfolds!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57018362019-03-31T15:40:32-07:002019-03-31T15:40:32-07:00Big Stir Bay Area: TRIP WIRE album release party with THE BOBBLEHEADS and SCOTT GAGNER<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/381845efb346c4c68ab1a0beedef381c91a86b98/original/big-stir-bay-area.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It's always a San Francisco treat to be able to present a BIG STIR BAY AREA show, especially when it's an album release party for our very own TRIP WIRE's new CD "Once & Always" and also features our friends THE BOBBLEHEADS (who have their own great new record out) and SCOTT GAGNER (who has one coming soon)! Saturday May 4 at The Make-Out Room... be there, and thank you, friends! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/339463316693546/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/57018332019-03-31T15:28:45-07:002019-03-31T15:28:45-07:00Big Stir Britannia Co-Presents A NIGHT AT THE POPERA with AMOEBA TEEN, SPYGENIUS and CAPER CLOWNS!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/766459750fff1b9c1b2a42516f315b024a7bdeba/original/55644698-10157204325753033-9160798550945169408-n.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Over in Merry Old England -- Stourbridge, to be exact -- BIG STIR BRITANNIA is proud to have a part in presenting A Night at the Popera at Claptrap on May 17, with three absolutely terrific bands including two of our own: SPYGENIUS, AMOEBA TEEN and CAPER CLOWNS! Truly a trio to treasure... UK pop people, take note! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/1962300757221317/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/56897352019-03-22T13:32:23-07:002021-02-27T04:20:21-08:00Big Stir artists profiled at Sweet Sweet Music!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/a9e1105723180eb7077a7262cf7afcc88ed932c5/original/ssm-blog.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We are are so delighted to share this great entry on the fine Dutch music blog SWEET SWEET MUSIC wherein the wonderful PATRICK DONDERS speaks with the newest members of the Big Stir family: KAI DANZBERG, TRIP WIRE, and IN DEED, plus a Q&A with BSR founders CHRISTINA and REX! Some great reading here... enjoy, and thank you, friends! </p>
<p>https://sweetsweetmusicblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/21/running-in-the-big-stir-family-kai-danzberg-trip-wire-in-deed/?fbclid=IwAR35ENc9dU3AkrHBX7x_lWiVGFyYUUk3uVJEgs1hR4fAFpFUikUoq0i3gHU</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/56870582019-03-20T12:15:46-07:002019-03-20T12:15:46-07:00Big Stir Live: Burbank, April Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/56eee2cde370f84f20276718e41d04d5793b16c0/original/big-stir-april-rough.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California friends... Big Stir Burbank is back once again on April 20! This time we've got the highly acclaimed (like, REALLY highly acclaimed) SITCOM NEIGHBOR, the legendary ANNY CELSI & NELSON BRAGG, three acclaimed legends at once in THE TEST PRESSINGS, and the legendarily acclaimed ARTHUR ALEXANDER BAND... plus the man the myth the legend DJ JOHN BORACK, no stranger to acclaim! Come down and show your acclamation for what promises to be a legendary afternoon, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/2204347196493419/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/56803802019-03-14T12:12:44-07:002019-03-14T12:12:44-07:00Big Stir Records profiled in VOYAGE LA Magazine!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/2d2654504deaef9eded2b9c36a7fb4ca4e5520a1/original/voyage-la-piece.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We at Big Stir Records -- Christina and Rex in particular -- are humbled to be the subjects of this interview in VOYAGE LA magazine. If you've ever wondered who these "paisley twins" are, how we got started, what we actually do, and why we do it... all the answers are here. Thank you, friends! </p>
<p>http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-rex-broome-christina-bulbenko-big-stir-records/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/56665832019-03-02T13:07:22-08:002019-07-27T04:27:44-07:00Introducing: TRIP WIRE<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/bea5a512ecc1de2c4dcb1de2050cf832a2132696/original/trip-wire-bsws.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled to welcome to its roster: TRIP WIRE! The band's brand new fourth album Once & Always will see release digitally on Friday, March 15, with a physical CD to follow in late April. </p>
<p>TRIP WIRE has risen a long way in a very short time. From their formation in 2015 as a collaboration between singer-guitarists MARTY SCHNEIDER (Midway Delta, Campbell Apartment) and BILL HUNT (Captain Fatass, The Generous Grants) to today, they've released three full-length albums, culminating with the celebrated and raucous hook-fest Cold Gas Giants (Kool Kat Musik, 2017). Along the way they've become a hard-gigging and compelling live act, regularly commanding stages on the vibrant San Francisco guitar-pop scene alongside the likes of Bye Bye Blackbirds, The Bobbleheads, David Brookings and Scott Gagner. </p>
<p>It was the late 2016 addition of JEFF SHELTON (The Well Wishers, Hot Nun, ex-Spinning Jennies and host of KSCU's The Power Pop Show) and drummer STU SHADER that pushed TRIP WIRE over the top. What you witness onstage and hear on record now is a trio of top-notch songwriters and players pushing each other to new levels of performance and craft, propelled along by Shader, an absolute monster who's as much fun to watch as he is to hear. Schneider, Shelton, and Hunt trade duties on guitar, bass and lead vocals (sometimes within a single song). </p>
<p>The band's live set draws on Shelton's Well Wishers back catalog. It's a joy to hear those songs (and that voice!) in a wild and wooly live setting, and Hunt's contributions shine as well. Schneider's songs, sung in turn by himself and the others, are the emotive glue holding the polyphony together, and the band play with the chemistry of a group that's been together far longer than they have, and the energy and abandon of teenagers just out of the garage. It's a joy to behold. That live energy informed Cold Gas Giants, which burnished the band's power pop pedigree and evoked the heady heyday of '80's college rock radio and early '90s alt-pop: crunchy echoes of The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, The Posies and Teenage Fanclub, Uncle Tupelo and Wilco at their early, rocking finest were well evident. </p>
<p>The energy spills over into the brand new ONCE & ALWAYS, which roars out of the gate with Schneider's “Had Enough” and Shelton's irresistible “Down” and is replete with giddy melodic rockers like “Bottle Rocket” and the Hunt/Shelton collaboration “Light of the Moon”. But the record quickly reveals itself as the most textured, varied, and (dare one say it?) mature platter in the TRIP WIRE catalog. It evokes at times the early work of The Band filtered through the “No Depression” era of what we now call Americana, with nods back to straight country (“Carolina”), hints of that driving early-R.E.M. jangle (the gorgeous “Act Fast”, written by Schnieder but sung by Shelton, and “Easy Exit”) and even chamber-pop and psych flourishes (“Into the Sound”). </p>
<p>Schneider handles the lion's share of the writing here and he's in fine form, turning in a Warren Zevon-worthy hard luck tearjerker in the form of the subtly string-laden “Golden Gloves”. It's one of a pair of boxing-themed tunes alongside “Get Up Slow” which inspired the art design (from multitalented SF power pop master Scott Gagner). Elsewhere flashes of pedal steel and even a Pixie-evoking theremin broaden the sonic pallet beyond the guitar sound that's the band's bedrock. </p>
<p>ONCE & ALWAYS lives up to its title in its timelessness. It pushes beyond genre labels, but it's a cohesive and engrossing work that invites repeated listening and shows off TRIP WIRE as the treasure of the San Francisco scene that they are. Act fast in deed... this is a band for the ages.</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/56593722019-02-25T16:56:43-08:002021-01-16T10:05:18-08:00Big Stir Live: Burbank, March Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/725b853dae101bd182b6edcb01a20376e60f3f9f/original/big-stir-march.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California popsters and bopsters: Big Stir is back in Burbank again! We welcome back our founding fathers PLASTICSOUL, Big Stir Singles Series veterans JOE NORMAL & THE ANYTOWN'RS, local legends THE LIVING DOLLS, THE BREAKUPS (who are very much still together), and a rare appearance by BRANDON SCHOTT, plus DJ JOHN BORACK! Reminds us of our early days, and it's FREE, so please do come on down. Thank you, friends! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/534850110358553/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/56173592019-01-28T20:00:24-08:002019-01-28T20:00:24-08:00Big Stir Live: Burbank, February Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/c6abf4b8d03f64ed356e28afd8f53c262b66073f/original/big-stir-feb.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" />Southern California people: Big Stir Burbank's biggest year yet continues February 23 at Joe's, with THE KARIANNES, EZ TIGER, THE BOBBLEHEADS (all the way from San Francisco) and THE FORTY NINETEENS, plus DJ JOHN BORACK and a guaranteed bunch of surprises! FREE as always... we'll see you there, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/2278239599087418/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/55836712019-01-06T16:03:57-08:002019-01-06T16:03:57-08:00Big Stir's Third (year anniversary show)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/8e821338d21f2c560e5f4f3d595c166d751f50c3/original/big-stir-third.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>SoCal Pop People: For three years the Stir has been getting Bigger. Come celebrate on Saturday, January 26 at JOE'S GREAT AMERICAN in Burbank with one of our best lineups ever! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/390482828425307/ </p>
<p>MC JIM PRELL of THE MUSIC AUTHORITY in Florida hosts, DJ JOHN BORACK of SHAKE SOME ACTION V2.0 spins the tunes... and, the bands? ARTHUR ALEXANDER BAND (featuring the man behind THE SORROWS), BALLZY TOMORROW (starring the one and only ROBBIE RIST), Big Stir Records' own BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP all the way from Fresno, BSR Digitial Singles Series vets and live scene heroes THE EX TEENS, and, from Liverpool (NY), it's MODEFERRI! Now how much would you pay? Well, it's FREE as always. Be there, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS for three amazing years!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/55142892018-11-14T18:34:50-08:002021-08-03T04:41:44-07:00John Borack Book Release Party!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/fbcd7e21a0b8a78725852adc943edf3cf615a0e6/original/bigstirborack2.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The final lineup for our JOHN BORACK BOOK RELEASE event is here and it's KILLER... an lineup befitting a tome on the best of Power Pop! </p>
<p>A rare LA performance by WALTER CLEVENGER & THE DAIRY KINGS, MANUAL SCAN from San Diego, a special appearance by LANNIE FLOWERS and DANNY WILKERSON, and John himself behind the drumkit with POPDUDES! Copies of the book on hand to be signed by the author! Don't miss this totally updated and definitive LIVE event! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/2212707479011035/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/55001452018-11-05T09:51:09-08:002021-02-10T23:02:06-08:00Introducing: KAI DANZBERG!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/df95d8372138e777ab647ae82614ce169e4cb1ed/original/kai-bsws.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce the latest artist to officially join our roster: KAI DANZBERG, whose new single “Let Me Know” is available now, with a new album to follow early in 2019! </p>
<p>KAI DANZBERG emerged to take the pop world by storm in 2018 with his self-produced album Pop Up Radio. Hailing from Hanover, Germany, Danzberg, who's only 25, wowed critics and listeners alike with his firm grasp of songcraft and studio technique, drawing sonic comparisons to legends like ELO while presenting a fresh take on classic pop. Like his California-based BSR labelmate ADDISON LOVE, Danzberg represents the new generation of power pop millennials, crafting hooks and harmonies to stand with the greats. </p>
<p>Danzberg has been honing his craft since age 4, starting on drums and joining a German punk band by age 12. Around the same time, he taught himself guitar and took a deep dive into vintage sounds of Queen, Jellyfish, Chris Rainbow and of course The Beatles. Those influences shaped Pop Up Radio into the ambitious, hook-filled concoction that captured ears everywhere. </p>
<p>Hailed as “the standard against which all 2018 releases will be measured”, the record's production and arrangements (all handled by Danzberg) evoked song cycles like A Night at the Opera and Pet Sounds, as the '70s-radio-ready sheen adorns a set of thematically-related songs. “The lyrics are very personal,” Danzberg explains. “It had to do with a relationship I had for 8 years, which broke up in early 2017.” That cathartic underpinning makes the record all the more accessible, and tunes like “Too Late” and “Just Listen to Me” show that a blend of passion and craft can still exhilarate in the right hands. </p>
<p>The success of Pop Up Radio opened doors for the tireless Danzberg, who quickly began work on the followup with the assistance of new peers and heroes from the global pop community. Luminaries like DANA COUNTRYMAN, DAVID MYHR, and ROGER MANNING JR. (of Danzberg's beloved Jellyfish) all contributed to the record. Los Angeles songstress LISA MYCHOLS serves as Kai's duet partner on the lead single, “Let Me Know”. </p>
<p>“The album is called Not Only Sunshine, and it will have different themes,” Danzberg explains. “Some are love songs, some are just happy or aggressive. I chose the title because it means that not everything turns good in your life... sometimes you need to go through stuff. But it also contains a lot of sunshine melodies and good-vibe songs!” </p>
<p>Not Only Sunshine will see release in early 2019 on Big Stir Records. “Let Me Know” is available now as part of the label's Digital Singles series. Pop Up Radio is also available for free at the BSR website. </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com/kai-danzberg </p>
<p>www.bigstirrecords.com </p>
<p>www.facebook.com/bigstirrecords </p>
<p>www.kaidanzberg.bandcamp.com</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/54836182018-10-23T20:30:39-07:002018-10-23T20:30:39-07:00Big Stir Burbank: November Gurls<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/d8765e392b5ffeada47b44dec960844781871473/original/november-gurls.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California Popsters: Yes, there's a LOT going on with us, but our November show in Burbank is just three weeks after the October show, and we want to let you know about it -- here's why we're already so hyped about it! </p>
<p>November Gurls! The Big Stir debut for the acclaimed ANNY CELSI & NELSON BRAGG and EZ TIGER! The all-new collaboration THE KARIANNES featuring KAREN BASSET, MARYANN WINDOW, SANDY NEADES and SHERRI WEINSTEIN! Our beloved and extremely rocking regulars LESLIE PEREIRA AND THE LAZY HEROES with some fantastic new tunes! And as always DJ JOHN BORACK shaking some action. And some surprise guests! Be there, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/176186243322930/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/54785832018-10-20T12:53:34-07:002018-10-20T12:53:34-07:00Big Stir Britannia LIVE: Spygenius and The Fast Camels at The Oval Tavern<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/41c6414ae841686984b4a49139363fe041317d21/original/44361922-10156589077113796-1965695429165187072-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>UK Popsters -- BIG STIR BRITANNIA is BACK! Join your hosts, Canterbury's SPYGENIUS, and Glasgow Scotland's THE FAST CAMELA -- both freshly returned from US tours -- for a glorious evening at THE OVAL TAVERN in Croydon South London, Friday 16 November at 8PM sharp. It's FREE as always and it's going to be brilliant (also as always) -- THANK YOU, FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/219658241938174/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/54784002018-10-20T10:18:15-07:002018-10-20T10:18:15-07:00Introducing: BIG STIR RECORDS DIGITAL SINGLES!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/3ebdc68c4564835b5884cf214f321e2156cf354a/original/digital-singles.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Introducing: BIG STIR RECORDS DIGITAL SINGLES! </p>
<p>What are they? Every Friday we'll release a new single (A-Side and B-Side) from one of our friends in the global pop world. The first run includes KARLA KANE (The Corner Laughers), MICHAEL SIMMONS ("The First Days of Summer"), and KAI DANZBERG ("Pop Up Radio") with LISA MYCHOLS! Future releases will feature THE EX TEENS, TRIP WIRE, MYLITTLEBROTHER, CHARMS AGAINST THE EVIL EYE and BSR artists like SPYGENIUS, PLASTICSOUL, BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP and THE ARMOIRES. </p>
<p>Why? Well, we got to thinking. The best thing about music on the internet is that it's IMMEDIATE. That means anyone who comes up with a timely tune can record it and get it out there right away. The worst thing is that it's EPHEMERAL and we've seen brilliant one-off tunes not getting the attention they deserve because of the blink-and-you-miss-it pace of social media. </p>
<p>Reflecting the core beliefs of Big Stir and everything we do, we believe these artists and these tunes deserve more listeners, so BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLES is our attempt to showcase them for more listeners. Physical CD compilations of the series will be issued as we go to give them a permanent home. More details to come soon, but be ready for some great music every week... and THANK YOU, FRIENDS!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/54516402018-10-01T22:20:51-07:002018-10-01T22:20:51-07:00Big Stir Burbank LIVE: October 27 at Joe's<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/2f4a1f163c03abf2cd7b2458811daefe671363d3/original/big-stir-october.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>October 27 brings an extra-autumnal and wonderful installment of BIG STIR at Joe's in Burbank -- and it's part of and all-day all-free banner day for indie music in LA that you should experience in full! We have: </p>
<p>-The always-enchanting CORNER LAUGHERS from the Bay Area! <br>-Indie-folk-pop chanteuse REBECCA SCHIFFMAN! <br>-Power pop all-stars SITCOM NEIGHBOR! <br>-Your mysterious hosts THE ARMOIRES! <br>-DJ extraordinaire and Shake Some Action author JOHN BORACK! </p>
<p>And, when Big Stir wraps up at 7, head west to The Cinema Bar in Culver City for a KARMA FROG showcase at 9, featuring MOD HIPPIE, a rare PACIFIC SOUL LTD. performance, SUMMER CHILDREN and more surprises. This is no either/or gig day... all LA music lovers should be at both! We will! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/271020846953852/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/54273062018-09-13T11:34:22-07:002018-09-13T11:34:22-07:00LIVE SHOW: The Armoires, The Living Dolls, Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders at the Park Bar in Burbank<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/9551650aa178bd36317f04943adf4de568e8717e/original/screen-shot-2018-09-13-at-11-04-31-am.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Not every gig for THE ARMOIRES is a Big Stir Extravaganza, and when the chance comes along to play along one of our all time favorite bands, THE LIVING DOLLS, and the amazing PAT TODD & THE RANKOUTSIDERS at The Park Bar in our hometown of Burbank... we're in! And we hope you will be too! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/267644443867345/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53965202018-08-21T18:00:15-07:002022-03-22T06:55:33-07:00Introducing: ADDISON LOVE and "Thoughts On Lunch?"<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/225df45ba67816c5fb3cc44856c8f820a2f67b5e/original/addison-bsws.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We are immensely proud to welcome <strong>ADDISON LOVE</strong> to the Big Stir Records family with the release of his debut solo album: <strong><em>Thoughts On Lunch? </em></strong></p>
<p>Huntington Beach, CA native Love is a founding member of <strong>The Yorktown Lads</strong> alongside Orange County's pop maestro and his former teacher <strong>Michael Simmons</strong> (Sparkle*Jets UK) and frequent member of OC pop collective <strong>Popdudes</strong>. His first album under his own name is a collection of twelve modern pop rock gems, retro in feel but up-to-the-minute in presentation, performed and produced almost exclusively by Addison himself. </p>
<p>“My first teachers were John, Paul, George and Ringo”, says Love, and the track “Like The Beatles” (featuring guest vocals from Simmons) shows he's learned his craft very well. What sets Addison apart from the many other power poppers who might make the same claim is his age: despite his already impressive resume, Love turned 22 just prior to the release of Thoughts. </p>
<p>The absolutely infectious lead single “Wee & Nancy Lee” also displays that deep affinity with the Fab Four, and the Southern California coastal roots of The Beach Boys permeate the record as well. They're evident in the Pet Sounds-inspired arrangements and harmonies of the lovely “The Other Angels”, dedicated to Addison's wife Madison (“rhyming names for your convenience” according to the artist) and the delicate “She”. That the melodies and sentiments of the songs stand up to their inspirations is one of the album's many charms. </p>
<p>The record's sound isn't just rooted in the '60s, though: rockers like “Anything's Right” and the tightly wound “Blinds” evoke the whole history of hook-propelled pop rock from the heyday of The Cars to best of Fountains of Wayne. The acidic Ray Davies-worthy character sketch “The Ballad of Dr. Minard” is framed as a modern day sea shanty. And the album is peppered with intimate piano and acoustic guitar based ballads, from the opening “Just One Minute” to the deeply touching closing track “Marquita”. </p>
<p><em><strong>Thoughts On Lunch?</strong></em> is more than just a promising debut – it's the sound of a young artist already well in command of his craft, spinning everyday concerns into a collection of tunes that are at once funny, moving, and instantly memorable. Big Stir Records is delighted to share it with you!</p>
<p><a contents="Order Addison Love: Thoughts On Lunch? here!" data-link-label="Addison Love" data-link-type="page" href="/addison-love">Order <em><strong>Addison Love: Thoughts On Lunch?</strong></em> here!</a></p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="Addison Love" data-link-type="page" href="/addison-love"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/3d2d21816dc057846f29f0808e28ab7540d9a468/original/addison-thoughts-cover.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></a></p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53904722018-08-16T15:13:41-07:002023-12-10T11:24:09-08:00Big Stir Burbank, September: The Fast Camels, Addison Love, Plasticsoul, Michael Simmons<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/ee7b76fd277cbcd87e578b06aab7cbdaef98f13e/original/bigstirseptemberjoes.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Southern California Pop People: Big Stir is back at Joe's Great American in Burbank with a BIG global lineup in September! </p>
<p>-THE FAST CAMELS, Scotland's premiere freakbeat/psych-pop band, on tour in California for the first time ever! </p>
<p>-ADDISON LOVE, the newest star on the Big Stir Records roster, celebrating the release of his amazing new record "Thougts on Lunch?" </p>
<p>-PLASTICSOUL, BSR's own masters of sheer rock majesty, in a rare LA appearance! </p>
<p>-MICHAEL SIMMONS, the OC's master of all things pop, closing out the season with tunes from his celebrated "First Days of Summer" LP! </p>
<p>-DJ JOHN BORACK, author of the definitive power pop guidebook "Shake Some Action", spinning the classics between sets! </p>
<p>FREE as always -- bring some cash for the merch table and the Big Stir Bucket of Love to show these brilliant artists that their music matters! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/231436210878676/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53904592018-08-16T14:26:33-07:002018-08-16T14:26:33-07:00Big Stir DTLA: The Fast Camels, The Armoires, Leslie Pereira & the Lazy Heroes<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/c54e3915812f09ab415be7b199f3aa71e3373723/original/bigstirseptemberredwood.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" />It's the first ever Big Stir Downtown, as the Fast Camels (Glasgow, Scotland's premiere pop-psych rockers) join The Armoires and Leslie Pereira & the Lazy Heroes, for this Shake Some Action! co-production featuring all-vinyl DJ sets from the many they can only call Power Pop Jeff. FREE as always, but bring some cash for the Big Stir Bucket to keep the Camels roadworthy as their California tour continues!</p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/219579898723068/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53904532018-08-16T14:19:35-07:002018-08-16T14:19:35-07:00International Pop Overthrow San Francisco starring the bands and friends of Big Stir Records<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/b3f259ae68d9704118f327573791451ef4acdceb/original/ipo-sf-instagram-saturday.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" />International Pop Overthrow San Francisco is always a family reunion for the artists of BSR and our friends in the global pop universe!</p>
<p>Friday, Night 2 of IPO in San Francisco features many of the leading lights of the Big Stir family, and you should be there! The first PLASTICSOUL performance since main man Steven Wilson's move to Northern California, and our great pal from LA, JASON BERK, plus some of the Bay's very finest -- TRIP WIRE, THE WELL WISHERS, and much much more!</p>
<p>Saturday, the final night of IPO SF, is just plain Bigstirrific! Our very own BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP and THE ARMOIRES on tour from Fresno and Burbank respectively, plus fantastic Bay Area mainstays like THE BOBBLEHEADS, SEAN O-BRIEN & HIS DIRTY HANDS, THE CLARENCES (whom we love and support!) and much much more! We shall see you there, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS!</p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/299436990632180/</p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/291165604771800/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53490222018-07-16T19:24:05-07:002018-07-16T19:24:05-07:00Big Stir Tarzana: Spygenius, The Armoires, Jason Berk, Mod Hippie<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/5fecc3d0440dfa75f3003c9c4a6ed4bf2d1fce51/original/bstarzana.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>More global pop fun in California as Big Stir presents a last chance to catch SPYGENIUS before the return to the UK, with stellar support from JASON BERK, MOD HIPPIE, and THE ARMOIRES, at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon in the fair city of Tarzana! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/631130213920258/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53484712018-07-16T13:23:34-07:002018-07-16T13:23:34-07:00Big Stir OC at the Orange County Fair<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/89dacd6aeab45ac623b9e23bcbe9b275d4c87d5e/original/bsoc.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Big Stir invades the Orange County Fair with seven terrific artists from around the globe! Rising star KRISTA MARINA, THE JEREMY MORRIS BAND all the way from Michigan, OC natives POPDUDES, Big Stir's own SPYGENIUS over from Canterbury England, your hosts THE ARMOIRES out of Burbank, ADDISON LOVE & THE PEOPLE MOVERS with a preview of a sensational new album, and local legend MICHAEL SIMMONS with tunes from his celebrated LP "First Days of Summer". </p>
<p>The show is free with fair admission ($12 adults, $7 kids, FREE for kids under 5) so make a day of it -- the Fair is a great day out for the family!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53471202018-07-15T08:56:40-07:002018-07-15T08:56:40-07:00Don't Let the Door Hit You Festival, Fresno: Sunday<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/932ac6b1b56e04eb1a445dce68172b0744beb656/original/fresnosunday.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The totally free and fabulous DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU FESTIVAL at Tower District Records in Fresno, California closes out on August 5 with more from the Big Stir Family! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/262542411218907/ </p>
<p>Kicking off at 11 with gospel from Ray Moore & Keysha Burns Isler, continuing at 12:30 with Dave, Brian & the Forty Hour Work Week, the Big Stir crew rounds things of with our very own THE ARMOIRES at 2:00 and San Francisco's mind-boggling THE BOBBLEHEADS at 3:30! </p>
<p>Part of a wonderful event which also includes BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP, SPYGENIUS, and ROCKFORD on Saturday. All five days are FREE and ALL AGES with refreshments on hand, and Tower District Records is amazing and deserves all of your support. Make it a Fresno weekend with Big Stir!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53471142018-07-15T08:33:33-07:002019-09-03T23:20:54-07:00Don't Let the Door Hit You Festival, Fresno: Saturday<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/9be3a2cc41486477e5a66377646c01c4a9f788cf/original/fresnosaturday.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Another brilliant summer festival for the Big Stir crew: introducing the DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU FESTIVAL at Tower District Records in Fresno, California! The BSR family is invading the weekend, and here's what Saturday August 4 includes: </p>
<p>5:00 VICTOR SOTELO of Fresno's own Sparklejet! </p>
<p>6:30 Our dear friends ROCKFORD up from Long Beach! </p>
<p>8:00 BSR's own BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP rocking their hometown! </p>
<p>9:30: All the way from Canterbury, England, it's over very own SPYGENIUS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/659831347709826/ </p>
<p>More on Sunday as the festival closes with THE ARMOIRES and THE BOBBLEHEADS. All five days are FREE and ALL AGES with refreshments on hand, and Tower District Records is amazing and deserves all of your support. Make it a Fresno weekend with Big Stir!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53467692018-07-14T20:15:02-07:002020-10-05T23:29:01-07:00International Pop Overthrow LA: Spygenius, The Ex Teens and MORE!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/6f451fc7a1a16e3f4354c343dc3c0e30e1c7957a/original/ipoaug2.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Every night at IPO LA is amazing! We at Big Stir direct your attention to the Thursday show at The Silver Lake Lounge featuring, all the way from Canterbury, England, our very own SPYGENIUS, plus one of our favorite discoveries from this year's live shows, THE EX TEENS! Plus, The Motion, Twenty Cent Crush, Evil Maria, and Drool Brothers. The Big Stir British Invasion has begun! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/209133546454609/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53466812018-07-14T16:53:18-07:002022-05-18T01:41:03-07:00BIG STIR NIGHT at the International Pop Overthrow Festival LA!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/eb93830a030a42841881a4e5817ed0b431efea40/original/36335651-10156652841143459-7382556707420897280-n.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Big Stir's California summer events start BIG... night one of the 21st Annual INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW FESTIVAL is BIG STIR NIGHT! Friday, July 27 at Fais Do Do! </p>
<p>That means our very own BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP head down to LA from Fresno, to join THE ARMOIRES and our dear friends CAIT BRENNAN (rolling out fresh material from her just-recorded new record), MICHAEL SIMMONS (debuting songs from his acclaimed "First Days of Summer"), our beloved SITCOM NEIGHBOR, THE WORLD RECORD (who've snuck a revamped tune onto the reissue of our Big Stir: The First Year compilation), and the always amazing LESLIE PEREIRA & THE LAZY HEROES. Such an honor... come share it with us, and THANK YOU FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/664266020585451/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/53465942018-07-14T16:25:56-07:002018-07-14T16:25:56-07:00Big Stir Britannia: July Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/a29a99843486ca888eb9f2f6ff0f098819b09e88/original/36570767-1928639827428225-2866716728199479296-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Time to start rolling out the Big Stir summer live season... it's all about California, but it starts 21 July in Croydon South London over in the UK, with BIG STIR BRITANNIA featuring our own SPYGENIUS on the eve of their departure for LA, their Canterbury cohorts PICTUREBOX, and a rare full band extravaganza from NICK FRATER -- don't miss this one! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/787984851408578/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/52796562018-06-06T13:58:54-07:002018-06-06T13:58:54-07:00Big Stir Burbank: June Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/b8ea5175cde8a5994bc70c707170412dcbe891ce/original/bsjunea.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />BIG STIR is back for June! Featuring the mighty MAPLE MARS fresh from their East Coast tour, the unstoppable FORTY NINETEENS, the legendary JOE NORMAL & THE ANYTOWN'RS, and the mesmerizing MERIT BADGE, plus DJ JOHN BORACK spinning the hits that should have been! We'd call this one rock solid... Saturday, June 23 at 3PM sharp, and FREE as always! Be there, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/2068116680069364/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/52248782018-05-09T10:40:53-07:002022-05-12T22:59:53-07:00The Big Stir Radar Hour with Christina and Rex on Woody Radio!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/186d6f1c801be10a1961cb37d835145f669fbb23/original/bigstirradarhourscreen.png/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Debuting this week and broadcasting every Thursday at 7PM on Woody Radio -- it's The Big Stir Radar Hour with Christina and Rex!</p>
<p>The Paisley Twins (also known as The Armoires and the founders of Big Stir in all its various forms) hip you to what's on their radar from the global power pop and more community and spin some related classics and obscurities from across the decades!</p>
<p>Please tune in to this and the many other fine programs on woodyradio.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, perhaps more on special occasions!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/52018912018-04-25T11:42:16-07:002018-04-25T11:42:17-07:00Blake Jones & the Trike Shop: Record Release Party in Fresno!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/0ab2636d405b81caa0a9c9ae974e458a36adfff2/original/bsrblakeshow2.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>May 6, at 55 Fulton in Fresno: It's a party for Blake Jones & the Trike shop celebrating the release of their new album MAKE! It's a party for Big Stir Records as The Armoires head north to join the fun! It's a party for Fresno as the likes of Poplord, Jet Electro, Terry Barnes, Jeff Bowman, Spencer/Morris, Sylvana Celeste, Jaguar Bennett, Chelsea Jones, and Guy Beard & the Lunch Wagon Romeos join the fun! It's a party for the whole global pop community, really, so if you're in Fresno, it's a can't-miss evening, and if you're not, it's worth the trip! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/1041714199312483/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/51962762018-04-22T13:54:33-07:002023-12-10T11:07:22-08:00Live Shows: Big Stir Burbank, May Edition<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/380033532513575/" target="_self"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/11519c1a7b01a2b2906ec80c06ba184f3908b207/original/bsmay.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p>An EXTREMELY special event celebrating our own Blake Jones & the Trike Shop's release of their new album MAKE, plus some true superstars of the power pop and punk pop firmament!</p>
<p>Big Stir Burbank, Saturday May 26 at Joe's Great American, is perhaps the Biggest Stir Ever: </p>
<p>-THE RECORDS, power pop hall of famers in every sense! <br>-BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP, down from Fresno to celebrate their acclaimed new album MAKE on Big Stir Records! <br>-THE AUTOMATICS, legends of British first wave punk! <br>-THE ARMOIRES, back as a full band with new tunes to premiere! <br>-DJ JOHN BORACK spinning the classics! </p>
<p>FREE as always and guaranteed to thrill! Pass it on! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/380033532513575/</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/51706652018-04-08T11:30:46-07:002018-04-08T11:30:46-07:00NEW RELEASE: Blake Jones & the Trike Shop, MAKE (April 21)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/3cfbe75a749f61af40cbd7db6b0a8c04da18c452/medium/lp-cover.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TIME! </p>
<p>Big Stir Records is unspeakably proud to be able to announce that we will be releasing a brand new album from Fresno, CA legends BLAKE JONES & THE TRIKE SHOP on vinyl LP, CD and digital download. April 21, through the Big Stir Records website and other online music retailers! </p>
<p>It's called "MAKE". It's the Trike Shop's sixth album and their first on BSR. And it's really an extraordinary work, a celebration of the importance of creativity and community in the face of an indifferent world and personal grief. But it's also got all the quirky pop hooks and humor that the Trike Shop is justly famous for. It's a career high in an already illustrious career -- Rex keeps calling it BSR's "Forever Changes" -- and we can't wait for you to hear it. </p>
<p>We'll be telling you a lot more about it, and you'll be getting previews and hearing airplay from our friends in the global pop community, in the coming weeks. Stand by to MAKE a new day!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/51515742018-03-27T23:11:40-07:002023-12-10T11:11:44-08:00Introducing: BIG STIR MAGAZINE<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/6f0d24bab913a403cd5f0c41cf14ff3d35fd8e4e/original/screen-shot-2018-03-26-at-6-14-59-pm.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Officially introducing: BIG STIR MAGAZINE Issue 1! </p>
<p>You've heard the rumors, seen the selfies, and tasted the teasers. Now it's time to tell you what it's all about. </p>
<p>Lovingly created by and for the international Big Stir music community, BIG STIR MAGAZINE is a 21st Century spin on the classic Zine format, published quarterly. Not just music reviews and features (although we have those, from some of the best music writers out there), it's just as much a lifestyle journal, with the prime movers from your favorite bands musing on whatever may strike them: books, food, culture, history, and of course records and live shows. </p>
<p>All 36 pages are packed with original illustrations and comics from the contributors, designed by the always-brilliant Champniss of London, making BIG STIR MAGAZINE a feast for the eyes as well as the mind and soul. As diverse, whimsical, and loose as the community it represents, BSM aims to be an antidote to the divisiveness that too often pervades social media, and a reminder that music, now more than ever, can and must bring people together. </p>
<p>BSM is available at Big Stir Concert Series events in the US and UK, or by mail through the BSR website here -- we wish shipping weren't so much, but it's handcrafted and we'll get as many autographs on your copy as we can! </p>
<p>https://bigstirrecords.com/magazine </p>
<p>Contributors include Carl Cafarelli (This Is Rock & Roll Radio), Rex Broome (The Armoires) and his daughters Miranda and Ridley, Steven Wilson (Plasticsoul), Blake Jones (Blake Jones & the Trike Shop), Peter Watts (Spygenius), Patrick "Pooch" DiPuccio (The Condors, Flipside Fanzine), Sumishta Brahm (13 Frightened Girls), Christina Bulbenko (The Armoires) and her daughter Larysa, Andy Rennie (The Fast Camels), John Borack (Goldmine Magazine, Popdudes), David Bash (International Pop Overthrow Festival), Keith Klingensmith (The Legal Matters, Futureman Records), Jeff Charreaux (The Walker Brigade) and Andy Creighton (The World Record). Also included are special interviews as Big Stir Annoys the Women of Pop: Ella Pearson (Hux & the Hitmen), Karla Kane (The Corner Laughers), Lindsay Murray (Gretchen's Wheel), Ruth Rogers (Spygenius), Christina (The Armoires) and Teresa Cowles (Pacific Soul LTD and Mod Hippie among many others)!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/51515732018-03-27T23:10:27-07:002018-03-27T23:10:27-07:00Live Shows: Big Stir Britannia (May Edition)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/ef91d1a7725f06d5f161482f2252e78bf2008f46/original/29680488-10156328915288086-695353811-o.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>BIG STIR BRITANNIA returns to The Oval in Croydon, South London, with a visit from psych-pop legend ANTON BARBEAU, traveling from Berlin in support of his fabulous new record "Natural Causes", ably assisted by Oxford's finest, CHARMS AGAINST THE EVIL EYE, who'll also do their own set... and hosted by Big Stir Records' own masters of quirky jangle-pop and more, SPYGENIUS of Canterbury. FREE as always! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/2328263470733662/ </p>
<p>Plus: BIG STIR MAGAZINE available on the premises!!!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/51515722018-03-27T23:09:01-07:002018-03-27T23:09:01-07:00Live Shows: Big Stir Burbank (April Edition)<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/2221a10a0d3e043a1f5c5dea25518943c60932aa/original/bsaprilb.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Saturday April 21, at Joe's in Burbank, BIG STIR is back again with: </p>
<p>-The pure pop perfection of SHPLANG! <br>-The freakbeat fury of THE LIVING DOLLS! <br>-The garage-rock grandeur of THE EX-TEENS! <br>-The Bollywood-psych blend of DOCTORS & ENGINEERS! </p>
<p>FREE as always! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/1636376749774834/ </p>
<p>Big Stir Magazine for sale on the premises! Tasty food and free parking! Don't miss out, and THANK YOU, FRIENDS!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/51219712018-03-10T16:46:02-08:002018-03-10T16:46:02-08:00Big Stir Live: March Edition<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/19da4ff912ac7238454668a681a2d24eb6c299ce/original/big-stir-march-b.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The Big Stir concert series continues March 24 at Joe's in Burbank -- FREE as always! </p>
<p>https://www.facebook.com/events/195018444429193/ </p>
<p>13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS from London keep it transcontinental! <br>THE WORLD RECORD cannot be surpassed! <br>LESLIE PEREIRA & THE LAZY HEROES spring into action! <br>BSR's very own PLASTICSOUL causes a rock and roll meltdown! <br>Plus DJ JOHN BORACK and his Stack of Tracks tying it all together! </p>
<p>Stay tuned for an announcement about a special surprise available for the first time ever at THIS SHOW...</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/50873552018-02-19T08:22:36-08:002018-02-19T08:22:36-08:00Video: "And Her Snakes Were Decked With Smiles" by SPYGENIUS<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/99c5a908214eeb4da560398c0c51efcc81fe1415/original/screen-shot-2018-02-19-at-8-05-36-am.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Was one brilliant animated video from SPYGENIUS not enough to convince you that their new release 'Pacéphale (on Big Stir Records) belongs in your collection? Then behold, for lo, All Her Snakes Were Decked With Smiles! </p>
<p><a contents='"And Her Snakes Were Decked With Smiles" by SPYGENIUS' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjnqHhjX6Cg&index=2&list=PLytjEtvLHP3vgK9OYd1riSsnQBt-BzUWH">"And Her Snakes Were Decked With Smiles" by SPYGENIUS</a></p>
<p>Again helmed by the brilliant Champniss and this time featuring the vocal stylings of Ruth "Cosima Ovum" Rogers. You've now experienced visualizations of the first and final tracks on this fine album. Grab your own copy here today (and check out the entire Spygenius back catalog, also available on this site)!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/50855142018-02-17T18:45:09-08:002018-02-17T18:48:11-08:00Big Stir Live at Joe's in Burbank <p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/2025d348b7e26a11601fc510214a499b8a63db7c/original/big-stir-febaf.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />This month's BIG STIR LIVE concert at Joe's Great American Bar & Grill in Burbank celebrates the release of Spygenius's 'PACÉPHALE album with a televisual live acoustic set from the band, live and direct from Canterbury! Meanwhile you'll get free live sets from your local favorites MOD HIPPIE, JASON BERK, PLASTICSOUL and THE ARMOIRES, with tunes between sets from DJ JOHN BORACK!</p>
<p>Details are here:</p>
<p><a contents="Big Stir, Feb. 24 at Joe's" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/402669496848062/">https://www.facebook.com/events/402669496848062/</a></p>
<p>Thank you, friends!</p>Big Stir Recordstag:www.bigstirrecords.com,2005:Post/50405022018-01-23T23:49:48-08:002020-11-14T01:48:58-08:00SPYGENIUS joins the Big Stir Records roster!<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/284050/77bc013f79b30581bd6fd374a289dc37585d5c34/medium/81uyguyt0kl-sl1425.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" />Longtime friends of the <em>Big Stir: Power Pop & More</em> Concert Series and founders of <em>Big Stir Britannia</em>, Canterbury, England's <strong>SPYGENIUS</strong> have joined the roster of <strong>Big Stir Records</strong>!</p>
<p>To celebrate, we are issuing a special US edition of their fourth record, the brilliant but far-too-little-heard <em>'Pacéphale, </em>their gorgeously jangly, sophisticated, whimsical and acidic masterpiece. Drenched in hooks and structured around a mythological pataphysical journey sumptuously illustrated by mad genius Joseph Champniss, the record will reach the US with a few bonus goodies in its Big Stir Records iteration.</p>
<p>We will naturally be celebrating this momentous event with live music. Plans are for the band's Peter Watts and Ruth Rogers to join us via Skype from Canterbury at the monthly <em>Big Stir: Power Pop & More</em> shindig at Joe's Great American Bar & Grill on February 24th. Live and in person performances from BSR bands <strong>Plasticsoul</strong> and <strong>The Armoires</strong>, along with fellow pop travelers <strong>Jason Berk</strong> and <strong>Mod Hippie</strong>, will continue the revels.</p>
<p>Further frivolity will no doubt ensue when <strong>Spygenius</strong> recommences Big Stir Britannia in Croydon, South London for the new year. Details will follow, but for now, let us welcome Peter, Ruth, Alan and Matt officially to the inner sanctum of BSR, grab a copy of 'Paceéphale, and start the 2018 as we mean to go on: with melodic madness and musical mayhem in the Big Stir style!</p>Big Stir Records