We Disappear

This morning I went downstairs to discover a little package from the lovely folks at Weepop. Said package contained the new Transmittens mini-album, a badge, a sweetie and a really lovingly designed envelope to hold the 3 inch CDR. It's nice to get something so delightful through the post, and I love it when a label puts such a lot of love and effort into what they do. With Weepop this extends to the bands, and Transmittens are no exception.

I mentioned that Transmittens had a new record, 'We Disappear' coming out a few posts ago, but now that I've actually recieved it, I think it definitely deserves a larger post and it's a good excuse to post the lovely looking artwork again.

What can I say about the record except that it's fantastic? It's really very short, 10 tracks and 20 minutes, but when has that impaired the quality of a record? I think A Smile and A Ribbon's first record was similarly short and similarly brilliant. Also when it's that short, it's a great excuse to put the record on again, like I'm just about to.

Music wise, where talking tinny, bouncy, happy keyboards and cute girl vocals for the most part, though there's some nice boy/girl vocal harmonies thrown in for good measure; this is especially evident on 'Summer won't End'. Every song is catchy as hell, and the keyboards helping to suck the listener in with more hooks then a Peter Pan convention. Elsewhere, 'Too Right To Sigh' carries a calypso feel, whilst the short but sweet 'Hot Dog Suit' is ridiculous and ridiculous lovely. As the aforementioned 'Summer won't End' may have led you to suspect, this album just vibrates with the feeling of hot days and long drinks. It'll be one to play over and over (and will sound fantastic) with friends in the park, or on summer lawns or in the car on the way to another festival. There's a slight sad and nostalgic feel to some of the songs too, just right to capture that wistful mood as the sun slowly fades and casts long shadows of dusk across a city park.

That said, there's no reason why you shouldn't be listening to it now. There's already been mention of albums of the year in indiepop circles (Standard Fare being the main one), but 'We Disappear' should definitely be up there. As I say I think it's a record a lot of people will be listening to for a large part of the year. Do yourself a favour and go and order it now. Oh and once again, if you missed my post from the other day, then you can listen to opening song from the record, on Weepop. I left the link at the top for you.

Transmittens recieved

Hello. First up I'd like to introduce you to a band I've been listening to a fair bit today. They're called 'The Devil, My Pocket'. I don't know much about them (for much, read nothing), there was a brief mention on The Icicles homepage and so I thought I'd check them out. I liked what I heard too, there's a certain element of Will Oldham/Smog to them, especially on the song 'While The House Burned' As is obligatory there are songs to hear on their Myspace, as well as a 4 song demo thing on the website, here. You should go listen.

In other exciting news I've just noticed that Weepop are going to put out the new Transmittens mini album (though 10 tracks feels like an album to me) on the 29th January, though they have it up for pre-order now. You probably know Weepop through such other great bands as 'The Smittens' and 'The Just Joans', the label has a high pedigree. So do the 'Transmittens'. Weepop released there last record 'Our Dreams' as well, and it was a cracker. Ignore the cuddly name, you won't find anything too overly twee or cutesy here. I say the band are more of the vein of The Magnetic Fields, or maybe Mates Of State. I have little doubt that this record is going to be superb, the first track (and the track available to listen to HERE on the weepop website) Marfa Texas is splendid and the second track 'The Sea At Night' is also great and on their Myspace. I can't wait to listen to the whole thing. So what now? You go to Weepop and pre-order the record that's what. It's ridiculously cheap and will almost definitely sell out. I've just ordered mine.