[engl] You surely know that Japan is crazy for Powerpop in any direction, they just LOVE it, the Bubblegum or 70ties blended, the rocking and rolling type, the kind of that make your hearts explode (sic!).... and of course there are hundreds of powerpop bands there - and MOST of them are actually pretty good, but few stand out, and THE CHOOSERS are definitely in the Top 3.

[engl] Meet the new kings of Saturday Night! Circulators have proudly taken on the mantle of San Francisco's only Rock N Roll band, sharing the stage with pretty much any group of consequence that comes through the Bay. Following up a killer demo that immediately had us firing off a gushing email, THE CIRCS are back with their debut LP and I'm happy to announce its all killer no filler! A full on party starting punk romper. 90s garage punk ala Teengenerate , with the sneer of the Saints, and the hooks of the ZEROS. It's not all grime and grit though THE CIRCS find time to get a little introspective on a few tunes and even throw a punk ballad into the mix that is every bit as great as "I Want You Around" or "You Might Get Me." An extremely impressive debut.

[engl] If you've ever spent any time in the darkest recesses of the internet, you'll know that 'powerpop' is an emotive term. For every pockmarked tenderfoot flying the flag for some fuzzed-out alterna-rocker's harmony-drenched new single, there's a grizzled veteran insisting that there's not enough jangle, not enough hook, not enough oomph on display ('I hear the pop, but where's the power?'). Basically, if you thought 'what is punk' was a granular debate, trust me: you ain't seen nothing yet. Anyway, sidestepping the fact that I clearly am one of their kind, let's just say a quick 'fuck those nerds'. This is where Class come in. Class are a four-piece from Tucson, AZ, who are most assuredly all the power, all the pop, all the time. They've served time in a bunch of bands you already know and love - most notably everyone's favourite 'delinquent slobs' Rik And The Pigs - and Matt Rendon of their citymates The Resonars is the guy behind the mixing desk, so you know whatever comes out is gonna be good. '2-4-1' compiles the two cassettes they've released on Cincinnati's Feel It Records (which also released their debut LP proper, 'Epoca De Las Vaqueros') and it's absolutely rammed with new pop classics. 'Steady Hands', 'Wrong Side Of Town', 'Inspect The Receipt', 'Left In The Sink'... get learning these titles now, 'cause you're gonna get very well acquainted when you spin 'em until your needle's worn down to a flattened-out nub. Sound-wise, it's pop music as envisioned by the punks - straight to the point, no fucking about. Some of these songs feel like Alex Chilton playing 'September Gurls' on a curious cocktail of cheap speed and wayyy too much sugar; others are kinda like the aforementioned Resonars if they ditched their British Invasion records and got obsessed with a heady mixture of The #1s and Richard Lloyd's 'Alchemy'. Sometimes it just sounds like a forgotten late 70s punk classic, so I think we're all in the right place here. It's scuzzy and scuffed up in all the right places, with blazing guitar solos and crashing drum fills designed to get you where you need to go, with a minimum of fuss. 'Class' is an apt name. As you'd expect from a band with three vocalists, there's more than one style at play here, meaning this record pulls from enough varying strands to keep things interesting without sounding unfocused. There's no time to get bored, unlike when reading my drivel. What the fuck are you waiting for? This is power pop at its best, punk at its funnest, a whale of a time in less than 30 minutes. Let the nerds wage war on each other - clearly, I'll be reading it - and claim your own victory by playing this one to death. This band are in a class of their own, and if I've not laid it out explicitly enough, you need to start listening. Now.

[engl] CLASS are back with 'But Who's Reading Me?', their third outing since teaming up with Feel It Records in June 2022. Recorded at Midtown Island Studios in their hometown of Tucson, Arizona, CLASS kick off their 2023 output with four stellar new cuts rounded off by alternate versions of two from their latest full length, 'Epoca de Los Vaqueros'. Fourteen minutes of punk, glam, garage, and power pop sounds swirled into one glorious EP from a group capable of writing and cranking out the hits on par with the best of 'em. The sky truly is the limit for the desert-dwelling geniuses in CLASS.

[engl] "The Artist works in a museum And that museum is rocknroll In a world of meme punk rockabilly grandads It’s the classicists that really have something to say. Straight lines, hooks, and a clear path to your heart. They might not be dbeat heart throbs But no one else can give you that feeling that you can hold on to a moment Like you are driving too fast down route 60 And it’s never going to end. In 20 years when you skulk the dark alleyways of wherever punk’s red fern grows, they won’t be talking about Dwight Twilley, the Looks, or the Nerves, they will be looking for a little CLASS." -Tobi Vail and Hayes Waring

[engl] In Summer 2004, after their successful performances at Go Lleida and Magic Festival venues, COOL FROG contacts Bip Bip Records label who propose them to feature in one of their well-known compilations “Bip Bip Hurrah!” The release is also supported by some of the famous Flying Zirkus organized as well by the label. COOL FROG gets then to perform in Barcelona venues such Bikini, Sidecar or Magic. COOL FROG turns out to be a cult band. The next step appears to be recording at the studio. Such recording gets finally into the band’s debut album. With the name of “Tapping Songs” Bip Bip Records releases COOL FROG’s first album in January 2006. In September 2007 they get to the studio again to record their second album “Inlet”. After searching for a new record company for a while, COOL FROG signs up with Rock Indiana and in February 2009 “Inlet” is finally Released along with a big and new tour to present the album which takes the band to play in venues abroad and overseas. In September 2009 COOL FROG were picked as the winners of the first contest “Talentos Puro Cuatro” of CUATRO TV Spanish Channel. Such career had to be backed by someone else and that’s it! In February 2011 “Inlet” has been re-released on Clifford Records on a vinyl edition. Mainly influenced by the New Wave, COOL FROG gets also touches from the 60’s, the 70’s... Their music is defined as Power Wave; Pop melodies join a very Punk-New Wave bases mixed with 60’s, 70’s and 80’s influences though. The outcome of this eclectic mixture comprises COOL FROG’s style.

[engl] Poontang Twang, Cosmo J., David Kossoff, and Nigel Partridge make up the band Cosmo Jimmy. This foursome hails from a town that has a beaver for the town mascot named Seymour Of Hamilton. The album was recorded at Songgram studios in early 1987, produced by Tommy Marolda (The TOMS, Richie Sambora, Smithereens). Members of Cosmo Jimmy played the local Jersey circuit when they decided to record their song “Batteries Not Included” for a movie soundtrack project, but the movie was never released. The song became a single for the new Scorpio Records label. The 12 track album was then green lighted to be recorded with song influences ranging from XTC to the Rolling Stones. Using analog recording equipment including Tascam 16 track DBX recorder, Tascam 24 track mixing board, Hammond B-3, Magnatone and Vox guitar amps, Yamaha Baby Grand Piano, Gibson and Fender guitars and bass, Hohner Harmonica, Vibraphone and Ludwig Drums, the album was recorded within a two week period. Under That Dress was scheduled for release on Scorpio Records - and despite making it all the way to test pressings, the album never saw the light of day. 36 years later, Feel It Records (responsible for recent reissues of Marolda's late-70's recordings as the TOMS) is proud to issue the Cosmo Jimmy album for the first time ever.

[engl] nuary 2023 out of nowhere came a perfectly formed and amazing four track demo from Brussels' CŒUR À L’INDEX. Now they follow it up with an 8 track album for La Vida Es Un Mus. CŒUR À L’INDEX deal in a sound that will make your knees weak and heart melt from the very first note to the last. Fragile pop songs for people who love C86 as much as they love power pop and punk, but who also have a soft spot for French Chanson from the 60’s onwards. An instant sugar rush with a bubblegum flavour of a band bought up on a diet of GIRLS AT OUR BEST, DOLLY MIXTURE and CHIN CHIN but also ELLI ET JACNO, LOUISE FERRON or RENAUD from who they lifted their album tittle. Part of a new wave of bands like ALVILDA and RIBBON STAGE their debut LP has bounce, it’s upbeat and it’s the perfect calling card.

[engl] A reissue of All Dahled up plus 13 tracks on this great double album. It includes all the hits, Candy Pants, Forever My Baby, Dancing with Joey Ramone and more. When All Dahled Up was released back in 2011 it was one of the best power pop albums of that year. Now today 12 years after it still just as great! This album comes in a super nice gatefold sleeve.

[engl] Australia's unrivalled purveyors of hard-hitting tunes, Drunk Mums, are storming back onto the music scene in 2024 after a four-year hiatus that felt like a never-ending hangover. Get ready to raise your glasses because these mums are back on the bottle with a brand-new album, set to detonate in March. Prepare yourself for an electrifying experience as Drunk Mums deliver ten relentless, no-holds-barred party anthems that leave no room for sadness, emotions, or rational thinking. They've discarded all that baggage, turning it into fertile ground for a relentless, no-BS, good-time rock 'n' roll explosion. Recorded at the legendary Hot House studio with Jez at the helm and masterfully fine-tuned by the Bear, no expense was spared in crafting their sonic masterpiece, aptly named "BEER BABY." It's a cocktail of sound that'll intoxicate your senses like never before. Sobriety is a thing of the past as the Drunk Mums gear up to cash in their drink tickets at dive bars across the globe. It's time to embrace the chaos and join this rowdy bunch o

[engl] „After a lull of 25 years, the old band got together and made an album! And you know what? It turned out pretty great. Everyone played and sang their hearts out, just like the olden days. Fun and loud and proud!“ Fastbacks. The FASTBACKS have a special place in the heart of Bachelor Records. There is a small list of bands / people we dreamt of working with / releasing records with when we started this semi-professional record label, and when we got the ok to release the live LP of a 1986 show in their hometown, we were in a shock state! It was just too good to be true! It’s just funny because if you discuss stuff with newcomer bands, young lads, it is often super complicated and a downer, but this (in our eyes) superstar Kurt Bloch is the kindest guy you can think of. Anyways, when we found out that they recorded a new album which they wanted to release in an edition of just 500 copies at their own No Threes imprint, we jumped on the wagon and asked to do a european pressing, and tahtah! Here it is! Pure Fastbacks Pop Punk taking takes you back to the good days, late 80s / early 90s, when life was fun, music was fresh, you could discover new bands every other week by just going to a record store, skipping classes at college / university, and procrastinate with your walkman / boombox in the park. Listen to the album! It sounds like nothing really has happened in the last 25-30 years…. FASTBACKS FOREVER! Or as a band called THE SUBJUNCTIVES put it in a song…. „The Fastbacks Are the Greatest Band in History, So Fuck YOU!“ Lacquer cut by Dave / Lucky Lacquers, artwork and recordings by the band members themselves. Pressed on beautiful black vinyl.

[engl] We are always excited about our new releases but this one is pretty pretty special. Oh-my-god-I- cannot-believe-it special. One of our all-time favorite bands is releasing a record on our label. Boom! Early in the 90ties as I dived into our little punkrock microcosm I found their ZU?CKER album and I immediately knew that this is a special band for me, too sugary for the punks, too rocknroll for the poppunks haha, to weird for the now emerging grunge scene, but still, my little pocketband I told everyone about. And with Glitterhouse Germany running the Sub Pop Europe business, all of their records were available and not expensive. I never saw them live, although I had tickets to their show in Innsbruck, Austria, when they were touring with Pearl Jam, but as fate would have it, their van broke down the day before in Milano, Italy. Goddamnit! “Trouser Press” once said the FASTBACKS were “always good but never trendy”, now THAT sounds like a perfect fit to Bachelor Records. This live show from 1986 (!!!) captures HOW GOOD they were, how fun their shows must have been and how much fun they had on stage. After Kurt Bloch himself remastered this show for a CD release, we thought this has to be pressed on vinyl of course too! And here you have this whole show (with the exception of the first two songs, the CD version has the audience recording of it, but it is not on the LP, which features the whole multitrack recordings)

[engl] FLATHEAD and THE SEGMENTS, the cream of French powerpop, celebrate the Marseille-Lyon rock connection by releasing a split 12"

[engl] For a band hailed as the new voice of Italian slacker rock, there’s a defiant sense of energy and zeal to the music on FREEZ’s new album Icebreaker. Urgency, too, like they’re in a hurry to fulfil all those lofty proclamations of greatness thrust upon them since their debut EP, Routine, in 2017. And while their echo-drenched, garage rock vibes make it sound like they were birthed between Oakland, San Francisco, and Long Beach, for frontman and songwriter Michele Bellinaso, there’s a better descriptor for where the quintet – Bellinaso on vocals and guitar, Stefano Bassan on guitar, Nicolò Bressan on drums, Alessandro Zordan on bass, and Riccardo Persico on Eko organ and percussion – find themselves in 2023; Emo. Paring back the sound somewhat suits FREEZ just fine, all the better to showcase Bellinaso’s keen ear for melody and the clarity of his songwriting. For while Icebreaker stands as a fine addition to the garage rock cannon and will no doubt fuel many giddy nights of down-the-front revellery, it’s also a deeply personal statement; not just about where Bellinaso and the band find themselves now, but what they’ve lived through. Icebreaker is the second album from Italian quintet FREEZ, written between 2020 and the beginning of 2023.

[engl] Definitive vinyl edition of this lost album from the Bosstown Sound scene. Front Page Review rubbed shoulders with bands like Eden's Children, Beacon Street Union and Strawberry Alarm Clock. With legendary producer Alan Lorber behind the controls, they recorded in 1968 a whole album for MGM which was never released at the time. ''Mystic Soldiers'' is a prime example of late 60s US psychedelic rock, featuring a young Steve Cataldo (Saint Steven, Nervous Eaters) on songwriting / vocals. All the right ingredients are featured here: wah- fuzz guitars, organ, phasing, effects? Master tape sound, two bonus tracks, new cover design with unseen band photo, insert with detailed liner notes by Jeremy Cargill (Got Kinda Lost / Ugly Things) telling the story of the band for the first time.

[engl] After ten long years away from the studio, Gentleman Jesse returns to us bearing a new ten-track album that benefits greatly from the wisdom and heartbreak that a decade of life on this planet affords. An album titled "Lose Everything" is bound to have its dark side, and behind the powerful melodies and jangly guitars a hint of sadness hangs in the air. But Jesse makes a bad time a good listen—after all, he's responsible for tunes like Carbonas' "Phone Booth" and his debut single "I Don't Wanna Know." While age tends to water down the output of older musicians, it's had the opposite effect on Jesse. Gone is any semblance of kitsch or power-pop convention. Also gone are his band—he's flying solo this time. What remains is a dazzling, mature earworm of a guitar-pop album. Each record comes in a matte jacket adorned with the photography of Riley McBride and also includes a lovingly assembled booklet featuring lyrics and original woodcut prints made by the Gentleman himself.

[engl] Brand new album (their seventh lp) by legendary Los Imposibles. Almost 30 years after their first gig, the most infamous inhabitants of Madrid's r&r neighbourhood of Malasaña announced they were back with not one but two albums! The first one of which is here now. “Red!” shows us the wildest side of Los Imposibles, “Red!” is untamed rhythms, primary stomps, fuzzy melodies, sex, fire, anger and desire... “Red!” is not a record for rainy days, it's a record to get ready for action on a Saturday evening, to go crazy, jump, dance and live.

[engl] First released in 1981 on Blue Chip Records / Cygnet Records, they called themselves THE KICKS for this record. Good luck and a lottery jackpot if you find a copy out in the wild. Reissued by 1977 Records (Japan) in 2002, also very rare, if you see one for 50 Euros you should jump on it!