Big Stir Singles: The Fifth Wave

The idea behind the Digital Singles Series by the folks at Californian power pop label Big Stir Records was quite simple: every Friday a band from their roster or a like-minded boutique company catering to that niche (Kool Kat Musik, SpyderPop Records, Karma Frog Music and their partners at Futureman Records) releases two songs. After awhile those singles are rounded up for a CD with all the artists' A-sides, followed by the B-sides. The Fifth Wave is the latest edition and it's a jukebox chock full of goodies.

The GoAllTheWays get the party started with Silly Girl, a melodic pop song that has Summer written all over it. As a contrast Saturday Show by Mod Hippie is a mid-Sixties garage rocker. Power pop as a genre reached a peak in the Seventies and The Tor Guides connected all the dots in the correct order for Just A Smile, a song on a par with Big Star and Badfinger. English It's Karma It's Cool's neo-psych song Wooden Buddha brings well-crafted eccentricity to the table. The Armoires, the band fronted by label owners Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome, make fun of themselves with the violin driven folk rocker Pushing Forty.

B-sides are often an afterthought, but there no throwaways on this collection. It's a toss-up most of the time. Try choosing a favourite of The Forty Nineteens' double whammy Tell Me and It's For Fun (That's All We're Living For) or the fuzz twins Does My Love For You Come From Shakespeare Too and Old Guitars Are Ghosts On The Sunset Strip by The Stillsouls.

With this fifth installment the Wave series now offers more than a hundred songs and the project shows no sign of slowing down. New singles are being posted every Friday on the label's website and it's only matter of time before the Sixth Wave will see the light of day.

The Fifth Wave is released via Big Stir Records.

Tracks:

1. The GoAllTheWays - Silly Girl
2. Mod Hippie - Saturday Show
3. The Speed Of Sound - I See You
4. The Stillsouls - Does My Love For You Come From Shakespeare Too
5. Blaine Campbell - Happy Faces
6. The Tor Guides - Just A Smile
7. Lannie Flowers - My Street (North Florida Version)
8. It's Karma, It's Cool - Wooden Buddha
9. The Morning Line - Nostradamus
10. The Armoires - Pushing Forty
11. The Forty Nineteens - Tell Me
12. The GoAllTheWays - Tourist
13. Mod Hippie - Shimmering Sound
14. The Speed Of Sound - Seen It All Before (Acoustic Version)
15. The Stillsouls - Old Guitars Are Ghosts On The Sunset Strip
16. Blaine Campbell - Movin' On
17. The Tor Guides - Make You Mine
18. Lannie Flowers - Summer Blue
19. It's Karma, It's Cool - Ghosts Of Rome
20. The Armoires - Shame And Bourbon
21. The Forty Nineteens - It's For Fun (That's All We're Living For)
22. The Morning Line - Nostradamus (Remix)
23. The Armoires - Shame And Bourbon (Clean Version)