It may be getting cooler but there’s still time to catch a ride on a dilapidated wooden chute-the-chute or duck parts flying off a few demolition derby wrecks. You may need music for that. We’ve got your midway mixtape re-up ready right here.

Young Declan McKenna broke out big in 2015 with the mesmerizing single “Brazil” when he was barely breaking 16 years old. Since then he’s exceeded the one-hit wonder expectations of the British music press to ride a reliable wave of lyrically and musically challenging songs. His new album What Happened to the Beach is being readied for a 2024 release but a double-A sided single is out now and it’s pretty impressive. “Sympathy” has shades of early 1970s Bowie’s melodic intensity with some glam dance-slam going on while “Nothing Works” could be covered by Grouplove tracking back to a more new wave time. The latter song has just an echo of Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started From” buried in the tune like an Easter egg. Another artist moving on from a musically precocious adolescence is New Jersey’s Juniper. Her previous two albums covered retro girl group groups from the 1960s to 1980s but her most recent single is something else again. “I Was Thinking About You” defies such easy categorization, combining inventive horn work with a Talking Heads kind of folk/pop sensibility. B-side “Ride Between the Cars” is special too, a light and frothy bit of pop songcraft worthy of Marti Jones. LA’s Tony Marsico has played punk (The Plugz), indie rock (Cruzados), and in the background for a host of stars as a bass man for hire. But on his recent single “Rocket Girl” he unleashes a poppy rock and roll sound in league with Greg Kihn, Tommy Tutone and The Romantics. A full album in this style would not go overlooked around here. Lost and Found brings together a collection of 1990s tracks from Philadelphia’s Buzz Zeemer that didn’t make the record store racks. So many great tunes here (e.g. “Sometimes” and “Shelly Don’t Mind”) but I’m singling out a bit of an outlier, the country-ish “Answer My Prayers.” It’s as if Buck Owen’s main lead guitar man Don Rich had sprung back to life to anchor this tune. Sydney Australia’s Gavin Bowles and the Distractions have got their new long-player Phoning It In out in shops and we’re spoiled for choice in terms of what to feature. Here I’m drawn to “Here Comes the Heartache” with its unexpected melodic twists and turns and strong 1979 vibe.

The new Jean Caffeine single “I Don’t Want to Kill You Anymore” is hilarious and earworm infectious. Disguised as an homage to early 1960s girl group twee pop, Caffeine roughs everything up, from the guitar to the deadpan, almost punk sensibility of the vocal. This is one perfect feminist rock and roll statement, both hard-hitting and hooky. From the on-the-spot handclaps, to lyrics like ‘you put the whore in horrible,’ to the speed-up at the end of the record, Caffeine has produced a 3 and half minute masterpiece. York’s Bull uncork the party again with “Start a New,” a single full of swing and enough friendly bonhomie to make you want to sing along. There’s a definitely a Kinks-meet-The Pixies feel here. Santa Monica’s The Popravinas bring their candy-coated poprock back with new song “3 Month Situation.” There’s a more Brydsian country feel to this outing, though still plenty in common with the likes of The Connection and Tommy and the Rockets. The Jellybricks are teasing us with a single from their as yet unnamed new album. “Monday’s Never” is a ferocious slice of poppy rock, inspired by The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love” but going its own way. It’s the kind of song that imprints on you more and more with every play as you hear more of the melodic nuance. The killer hooky chorus doesn’t hurt either. Kitchener Ontario’s Hyness go dark on “Driveway” with a song that lumbers along, drilling its hooks deep into your skull. The effect is hypnotic and meditatively pleasing but then brightens up in the chorus like clouds breaking to let through some sun. One of series of slow-drip release singles and that means a new album (yay!) cannot be far off.

Belfast’s Jet Black Tulips keep going from strength to singles strength. Their new double A-sided 45 is a blast of two distinct flavours of Britpop. “Young Love” rides a big guitar Oasis sound, sonorous and stadium fist-pumping good while “Dance to the Courteneers” is more Cast-acoustic fresh and poppy. A full album from this crew is going to be something else. Caleb Nichols is surely one of the most exciting and inventive artists to emerge over the past decade, comfortable in multiple genres and fiendishly creative. Last spring they dropped the EP She Is Not Your Shadow, a four song blast of bristling pop energy. Opening cut “Waylaid” struts along riding seductive guitar work and striking horn shots. There’s a Shins level of pop confidence happening here. Listening to Burner Herzog’s “Patient Zero” from his new record Random Person reminds me Rogue Wave. It’s the understated vocals and acoustic rhythm guitar dominating the mix. But it’s also the air of mystery shrouding everything. On “Thinking of You” Finnish power pop masters The Bablers dial into their Revolver-era time machine to nail the Beatles groove. It’s there in the guitar attack and oh-so smooth vocals. Right next door in Sweden Psychotic Youth offer us a few rougher edges on “Go.” From their new album Happy Songs, the song channels a more Ramones vein of punky poppy rock. Just one of 15 delightful party-worthy rock and roll tearaways.

We’ve written about theCatherines many times before. This new exclusive b-side “Where Do You Stand?” is a timely sentiment in our war-torn times, combining the band’s familiar fuzzy jangle with an urbane pop melody. Scranton, Pennsylvania’s The Menzingers deliver some heartfelt hooky Americana on their new album Some Of It Was True, nowhere more than on the should-be single “Come On Heartache.” There’s a touch of The Mavericks/Los Lobos sound here that I’m really liking. Geoff Palmer’s new album An Otherwise Negative Situation is an irrepressible capsule of explosively poppy rock and roll, one part Ramones, one part bubblegum. There just so many great tunes here. But I’m always one for outliers, like “Ignite” which leans heavily in a Nick Lowe/Ian Gomm direction. I’m also partial to “Backseat Driver” with its many melodic twists. The Golden Apples presser for their new album Bananasugarfire promises us fuzzed out guitars and joyful lyrics and that is what they deliver on  “Waiting for a Cloud,” a surging splash of sparkly guitar work and vocals with a smile. West Kirby’s (Merseyside) West Coast Music Club shift the mood on their recent single “There She Goes Again” offering up a melancholy melody. The atmosphere is rather sparse and cool, like a starlit sky in autumn.

Damn Dazy. You’ve delivered again. Another absolutely addictive earwormy single. “Forced Perspective” chugs along with a Sugar Ray-meets-Beck laid back swing, only to step on the hooks in the chorus. You can’t help but join in.

The carney’s are getting a last look in on the public before closing up shop for the season. Make your last visit a musically-accompanied one.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.