Nouvelle Vague | Nouvelle Vague

Marc Collin’s documentary on his ultimate covers band.

The Gabriels | We

Country- and sixties–tinged pop that echoes the very best of Camera Obscura.

The Trudy | Dear Sancho

A new single from a band who began in the 1970s and whose output is intermittent, to say the least. Their debut LP was released in 1980, two have followed since, and this is their first release since 2016’s Always Never Beautiful Forever.

Lisasinson | Tú Y Yo

The latest single from the Valencia band’s debut LP, Perdona Mamá.

Quivers | Gutters of Love

The fourth single taken from Quivers’ forthcoming LP, Golden Doubt.

Hooverman | Staying Alive

I was never a great fan of cassettes, unlike friends who had banks of them or immediately recorded all their records (as we called vinyl in those days) onto the plastic tapes. But I was saddened to read of the death of their inventor, Lou Ottens

This portable cassette player, my “Walkman”, was a constant companion in the nineties. Purchased from one of those giant hi-fi shops that used to line London’s Tottenham Court Road, it was the preferred choice of producer Pascal Gabriel when he reviewed a selection for some forgotten magazine.

The catch stopped working after I dropped it a few days later but no matter, to my ears it always and still sounds great. I say still because it still works, though since I got my first iPod it’s only been dusted off to allow me to rip some old tapes into iTunes. It sits in a metal tin in the loft together with my three surviving cassettes.

The first is a cassette single by the Go–Go’s, best known these days perhaps and indirectly for being fronted by soon-to-be global superstar Belinda Carlisle. Had the whole world lost its head?

Bearsuit | When Will I Be Queen?

It’s 10 years since Bearsuit released this ahead of their third and final LP, The Phantom Forest.

Talk about going out with a bang — this a great single with a fantastic video.

And that wasn’t even the best song on the album.

Laura Cantrell | Radio for Heartache

Another belated release from Laura Cantrell’s archive, this one a song by Freedy Johnston that Laura recorded in 2013 during the sessions for her No Way There From Here LP.

The Kensingtons | All it Was, Was Everything

The eponymous opening track from a new mini-LP.

Dentist | Don’t Let Me Catch You

The Ashbury, New Jersey three-piece return with about as perfect a piece of indiepop as you are likely to hear this year.