I haven’t been as active the last months as I usually am, but now I’m hopefully back. Lots of things have piled up here at the Eardrums office, and here is a short round up of some of the singles and eps that I’ve really enjoyed lately. This is part one, and part two will follow tomorrow, and there might even be a part 3. Enjoy!

Eux Autres – “You’re alight” (2 track single).
Eux Autres is one of those bands I am stuck with. I love everything they do, and that is also the fact with this new single. Great indie pop with good melodies and an irresistible chorus. I especially like the b-side, “a band undone” with Nicholas(?) on the main vocals. It goes straight to my heart. Very, very nice! Available on iTunes and probably other good mp3 stores too.
On Eux Autres website (link above), you can find a couple of free downloads, including this from their latest album “Cold City”:

Eux Autres – When I’m Up

Hong Kong in the 60s – “Willow Pattern Songs”
A beautiful 6 track ep from this multilingual three-piece from London. This is their debut EP. Bittersweet pop melodies combined with Stereolab-esque chords and atmospheric electronics. Available in most good mp3 stores. I couldn’t find any mp3s from this ep on any of their official sites (you can stream the ep on the label’s website), but I found a nice unreleased cover song the band has done. It’s a cover of Teresa Teng:

Hong Kong in the 60s – Tian Mi Mi

The Kick Inside – “Oh, Vanity!” (2 track single)
The first release on the new label Odd Box records (run by Trev from Lostmusic/indie-mp3), and the second (??) single from The Kick Inside. This band participated on our own “A Good Crop” compilation, and if you head over to eardrumspop, you can still get that one for free. Both songs on this single are high quality guitar pop, – very bouncy and full of energy. Listening to The Kick Inside sends me right back to the 80s, with constantly moving Marr-guitars and a vocal style somewhere between Morrissey and Simon LeBon. I like the b-side best on this one too, – the more melancholic “Always the quiet ones” is a lovely song.  The single is printed in only 300 ex, and you can buy it from oddboxrecords.com.

Here’s the track we had on “A Good Crop”:

The Kick Inside – Of Love & Flesh

Peter Parker – Swallow the rocket (2 track single)

I am very excited about this one, – a wonderful debut single from Glasgow-quartet Peter Parker. Both tracks are super-catchy and quite rough guitar-based indie fronted by Roz Davies and Jane Mckeown (sister of 1990s John). The single will be released on July 6th on Lucky Number Nine records/ Say Dirty Records, and it will be on both vinyl and download. The b-side’s best on this one too…

More tomorrow!