Supremely well-executed pop that recalls a diverse swathe of indie history, from 60s folk-pop and girl-group tunes to 80s DIY pop to solid gold 90s touchstones like The Aislers Set, The Cat's Miaow and the post-Black Tambourine bands of Pam Berry. "Each Day" is moody jangler that delivers melodic and emotional heft that belies its brief 1:43 length. "What The Echoes Say" and "Tilt In Your Eye" are both strummy delights, showcasing Alicia Jeanine's lovely vocal harmonies to maximum effect.

7" » $9.00

Following up their very well-received 2021 self-titled debut album, Chime School are back with more perfect pop, this time on the most pop of formats, the 7" single. "Coming To Your Town" was recorded while sick with COVID and rather fittingly is a feverish attempt to describe the reactionary political moment that seemed to infect the Bay Area during the pandemic. Leave it to Chime School to pen a classic 12-string jangle pop tune about the breakdown of civil society. It's not all cats and motorbikes chez Chime School! On the flip side we have the band's lovely Brighter/Field Mice-esque take of Buzzcocks' "Love You More." Originally released on the Oakland Weekender Buzzcocks covers cassette, it's available on vinyl here for the first time.

7" » $8.50

The Reds, Pinks & Purples' new collection "The Town That Cursed Your Name" gathers together twelve perfectly-constructed pop gems, some previously unheard and some released for just a few days and then withdrawn, but all adhering to the absurdly high standards of song-craft that the band's Glenn Donaldson adheres to. Echoes of everything from The Go-Betweens to Felt to Magnetic Fields reverberate through his songs, informed by an extreme dedication to detail and no small amount of outright fandom.

LP » $20.00 CD » $9.00

After spending nearly two decades establishing herself across New York and Los Angeles independent music circles, Frankie Rose returns with a fresh form, aesthetic, and purpose embodied in her new album "Love As Projection." Celebrated by countless critical and cultural outlets over the years for her expansive approach to songwriting, lush atmospherics, and transcendent vocal melodies and harmonies, "Love As Projection" is a reintroduction of her iconic style through the new lens of contemporary electronic pop. Featuring beautiful, ethereal songs like lead-off single "Anything," "Sixteen Ways" and "Come Back," this album is more than a rebirth, a refinement, a resurgence – it's a culmination of influence and the most personal and accessible collection of art-pop that Frankie has delivered yet.

LP » $20.00 CD » $9.00

The Laughing Chimes is a musical project formed by teenage brothers Evan and Quinn Seurkamp. The band draws inspiration from American and British jangle pop from the 80s and 90s, creating timeless songs that could just as easily have originated in Athens, GA or Dunedin, NZ as eastern Ohio. The "Zoo Avenue EP" is terrifically assured follow-up to their 2020 debut album, one that sharpens their sound and broadens their musical palette while retaining all of the considerable charm of their debut.

cassette » $7.00

Limited edition reissue of a very scarce 4 song EP, now expanded to mini-LP length with the addition of six bonus songs. Recorded around the same time as the songs that went on to comprise the beloved "Uncommon Weather" album, "They Only Wanted Your Soul" contains some of the best examples of Glenn Donaldson's melancholy but wry take on indie pop. It has songs about record shopping, religion, worker's rights, dysfunctional holidays, and of course heartbreak, sung over a maze of shimmering fuzzy guitars and drum machine beats -- an essential chapter of the Reds, Pinks & Purples story.

Joe Stevens' Peel Dream Magazine project has dazzled savvy listeners for the last several years with its tuneful yet hypnotic synthesis of post-punk, shoegaze, 60s pop and motorik kosmische grooves. Now Stevens is back with "Pad," a new, conceptual album which draws on influences from baroque pop to Bossa Nova, folk and mid-century orchestral, from Burt Bacharach-era 60s pop to first wave homemade post-punk. First single "Pad" is a perfect introduction to what the album is all about, all finger-snapping cool, groovy flute and sumptuous harmonies; a whispering sigh of a love song. Like the album it lends its name to, "Pad" is conceptually playful and sensuously subterranean, blurring the line between blithe escapism and pointed subversion. The limited edition mail order-only edition includes a bonus 4-song 7" EP.

Ltd Edition LP » $24.00 LP » $20.00 CD » $9.00

Bursting out of the SF Bay Area's fertile indie scene, The Umbrellas come correct with a sound that fits snugly into a long line of classic pop, from Orange Juice and The Pastels to Comet Gain, Veronica Falls and Belle & Sebastian. Following up their super well-received 2021 debut album The Umbrellas are back with "Write It In The Sky," an instant-classic that simply demanded to be pressed onto a 7" single. Clocking in at just under 3 minutes, "Write It In The Sky" is a thrilling pop rush full of fuzz, melody and excitement that will sit easily next to singles by the likes of Talulah Gosh, Shop Assistants, The Field Mice and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. It's really that good - a sure thing to enter the canon of perennial indiepop floor-fillers.

Jeanines' 2019 self-titled debut was an indiepop tour-de-force that drew from a deep set of DIY pop influences, garnering attention from well beyond the international pop underground. Now they're back with "Don't Wait For A Sign," and it's a real gem. With the band now divided geographically and touched by the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic, Jeanines' new album is deeper and a bit darker than their debut. The folk influences feel more pronounced, at times recalling early Fairport Convention or Vashti Bunyan as much as indiepop touchstones like Dear Nora, The Aislers Set, and the many bands of Pam Berry. Second albums can be tricky, but with "Don't Wait For A Sign” Jeanines ably manage to build on their terrific debut with well-honed songwriting, singular melodies, and unerringly sympathetic production.

LP » $17.00 CD » $9.00

Jason Quever has been releasing timeless dream pop as Papercuts since 2004; his new album "Past Life Regression" is a journey into the dreamier reaches of psychedelic folk-pop that digs deep into influences as wide-ranging as The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Spiritualized, Echo & The Bunnymen, Leonard Cohen and late 60s pop of various flavors. Jason's songcraft, arranging and production are immaculate as always, reflecting his broad experience and enlivened by his move back home to the San Francisco Bay Area. It's remarkable that after more than 15 years he's writing his best songs and in "Past Life Regression" has made his finest record. Gorgeous, perfectly constructed chamber pop for the very unusual times we're living through.

LP » $17.00 CD » $9.00

"Summer at Land's End" is the 4th LP from The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Glenn Donaldson's solo kitchen pop "band." Since 2019 The Reds, Pinks & Purples has built an obsessive, ever-growing following by combining a vinyl-oriented release schedule with regular drops of new songs on Bandcamp. 2021's "Uncommon Weather" was something of a breakthrough and now Donaldson is back with the brilliantly ambitious "Summer At Land's End." Like the blossoming flower-themed sleeve might imply, it's bursting with heart-ripped-open vocals, ringing guitars, and warm reverberations. As before, "Land's End" contains plenty of concise indie-pop songs, but it also expands into hazier acoustic sounds and some extended mood pieces. You might hear '80s and '90s influences in the echoing guitars, but more so you might hear melodies and words that resonate deep down in some mysterious, transcendent space.

2xLP » $25.00 LP » $19.00 CD » $9.00

Artsick was formed in June 2018 when Christina Riley (of NorCal band Burnt Palms) teamed up with Mario Hernandez (Kids On A Crime Spree, Ciao Bella) on drums and Donna McKean (Lunchbox, Hard Left) on bass. Following up their terrific 2018 7" single they are now back with their debut album "Fingers Crossed," a thrilling, compelling and downright fun record that surveys a vast swathe of indie and indiepop history, from DIY progenitors like Dolly Mixture through the punkier side of C86 (think Talulah Gosh, Fat Tulips) to the 90s K Records-centered International Pop Underground and straight through more recent exemplars like Vivian Girls and Colleen Green. Christina says that she was "always been drawn to fuzzy guitars, melodies with emotion and songs with urgency" and that is readily apparent on every moment of this excellent album.

LP » $17.00 CD » $9.00 cassette » $6.00

Oakland, CA's Kids On A Crime Spree have spent the last decade crafting a compact discography that shows a deep love of 60s Brill Building songwriting, 70s power-pop, bubblegum glam/pop, the Ramones and of course Phil Spector's legendary productions. "Fall In Love Not In Line" is the band's first full album and it's a corker. Head Kid Mario Hernandez -- along with drummer Becky Barron, and guitarist Bill Evans -- sought to move even farther from their influences, and the thick, rich sound that the band has put to tape (analog, of course) shows more warmth and some darker textures than in previous efforts; more shifting of tempos and melodies; a unity of purpose that can only come from years of playing together and listening to each other. The result is thoroughly modern power-pop that wears it's love of the classics lightly, finding new paths through familiar territory.

LP » $18.00 CD » $9.00 cassette » $6.00

Chime School is the project of San Francisco musician Andy Pastalaniec. Charmed by 80s indie and its 60s forbearers, Andy cut his teeth as a drummer with SF groups Pink Films, Cruel Summer, and Seablite; now he has come out from behind the kit to write and record his own material. The aptly named Chime School pays homage to the formative jangle of The Byrds by way of early Primal Scream and The Springfields; the production and pop sensibility of the Biff Bang Pow! and Razorcuts; and the spirit of great singles labels like Creation, Postcard and Sarah. From the dreamy album opener "Wait Your Turn" to the driving jangle of singles "Taking Time To Tell You" and "It's True" we can see that we're in the presence of a very talented writer indeed, someone with a lifetime's worth of pop fandom just waiting to burst out in song.

CD » $9.00 cassette » $7.00 LP » $20.00

Joining a long line of SF bay area indie bands, The Umbrellas are sure to dazzle with their new self-titled debut album. Classic indiepop influences abound, from The Byrds to Orange Juice, The Pastels, Comet Gain and Belle & Sebastian, along with a noticeable garage-pop/Paisley Underground flavor that is a hallmark of San Francisco's best bands. Lead-off single "She Buys Herself Flowers" introduces us to a band that's both intimately conversant with indiepop history but also unburdened by it, a group with the song-crafting chops and spirit to take familiar elements and create for themselves a fresh new sound. The album goes from strength to strength, studded with pop gems like "Near You," "Lonely" and "Pictures" -- tunes that sound like classics from the first listen, as timeless and elemental as all great pop.

LP » $18.00 LP » $20.00 CD » $9.00

Glenn Donaldson has really seized the moment with his new project The Reds, Pinks & Purples. A long-standing fixture on San Francisco's DIY indie scene, Glenn has concentrated his efforts lately on making downcast perfect with The RPPs and people are listening. He's so prolific that "I'd Rather Astral Project" and "Work It Out While You Can" were originally released as a limited edition bonus 7", but the songs are 100% top quality pop in the classic Cherry Red/Flying Nun/early Creation vein and hence more than worthy of a wider airing. These gorgeous, melancholic and melodic tunes are both an ideal addendum to "Uncommon Weather" and a terrific intro to the project for newcomers. Brilliant, as always.

From the many musical lives of artist Glenn Donaldson emerges The Reds, Pinks and Purples, a project that sifts out the purest elements of pop music and in the process chronicles the point of view of an assiduous songwriter. His new album "Uncommon Weather" is both an elusive portrait of San Francisco -- during one of its fluctuations as an untenable place for musicians and artists -- and also a self-portrait of a songwriter who has dispatched another treasured collection of timeless sounding DIY-pop songs. Self-recorded and mostly self-performed, the music on "Uncommon Weather" continuously reckons with the influence of The Television Personalities' Dan Treacy, as well as The Cleaners From Venus, Blueboy, East River Pipe, and the Cherry Red and Flying Nun labels. Beautiful, mysterious and rather perfect pop.

LP » $17.00 CD » $9.00