It’s time to put the jangle up front on jangle Thursday. And it doesn’t get any more front and centre than with these two jingle-jangle exemplars. Whether down home or down under, these bands know what to do with a bit of dynamic range compression and 12 string guitars.

The opening cut of Lynchberg Virginia’s The Jangles only LP Pioneer radiates Monkees energy. “The Things I’m Sorry For” has got the jump-style lead guitar jangle and a Nesmithian vocal delivery. But from there the band demonstrate command of a broad range of late 1950s to mid-1960s rock and roll styles. For instance, check out how “I Won’t Shed a Tear” nails a mid-1960s British beat group sound. Follow-up EP Little Island Love is less jangly than 1950s Buddy Holly country-ish poprock, e.g. “Maybe I’m In Love.” Since then the band has opted to just release a stream of singles. “Pea Island” is a languid guitar surf instrumental. You can practically hear the surf breaking on the sand. Then “Here Without You” takes us back into solid Bryds territory with a cover the lightens the song’s dark mood. Both the jangle and vocals are arranged slightly differently and the effect is refreshing. Recent release “Helping Hands” heads back to the British beat group jangle. Then there’s “My Love Is Gone” which sounds like something the Quarryman would have been banging out at the Woolton Parish Church Festival. Needle-dropping through this bevy of recent stand-alone singles you can really hear how this duo are having a great time shifting styles like some people change their clothes. I’m sure a new album can’t be far off.

Perth Australia’s The Jangle Band started as a spontaneous side project for a group of local indie rock veterans from the 1980s who’d come together for a reunion of one of their old bands. A few one-off singles eventually led to the release of an album and an EP but the members commitment to the whole exercise seemed a bit tentative. And that’s a shame because their collection of recordings are pretty special. The debut single “Kill the Lovers” came out in 2015, kicking things off in fine Byrds fashion. Really, I thought this was a cover of something from Mr. Tambourine Man. B-side “This Soul Is Not For Sale” has got more of the good same delicious jangle guitar. A year later the album Edge of a Dream collected various singles together and added new material that expanded the band’s sound, with songs like “Perth” and “It Won’t Break” exuding a more contemporary Teenage Fanclub vibe. In 2018 the band teased us with another single, the sunshine poppy jangler “The Guy Who Used to Care.” After promising a new LP 2020 saw the release of an EP instead, The Metro Hotel. It sparkles with some truly great cuts. “So Long” has got a Big Star shine, the jangle a bit more subdued to make room for the wall of harmony vocals. Then “Metro Hotel” takes things back to a Brydsian register while “Dusk Till Dawn” is more R.E.M.

You know it’s gonna be jangle good when it’s right there in the name. Visit today’s jangle bands online for an even bigger dose of trebly guitars and harmony vocals.

Photo credit: fragment from the cover art for The Jangle Band’s debut single designed by Tess Kelly.