Winter hasn’t quite got the memo. Time to move along. I’m ready for spring to be sprung, full stop. Perhaps a few singles could help signal a seasonal shift? Probably not. But hey, we’ll all feel a whole lot better.

NYC’s Strange Neighbors are building up to something with the slow drip of singles they’ve been putting out these past few months. I’m not sure a single LP is gonna be able to contain the excitement from jumping the grooves if their latest song  “Hate Me Less” is anything to go by. It’s a sometimes jarring, sometimes smooth slice of hooky pop single-age. With hardly any dust settling on their late 2024 EP release Butter Valley Malcontent The Bret Tobias Set return with a few new singles, like “It Begins With Lean.” This one is just the change of mood we need, so light and shimmery and uplifting in a 1980s English guitar band sort of way. Baby Scream’s Juan Pablo Mazzola has a new project with Muchas Hormigas called Juan La Hormiga. Wow, this is a change of pace. “After the War” has some of Mazzola’s signature Lennonisms buried in the mix but overall the song is a lovely hushed affair with a melody like a warm embrace. The lap steel guitar solo is just an added element of grace. Geoff Palmer keeps mining that stripped-back poppy rock and roll on his soon-to-be released EP Kodak Flash. Case in point – “Bye Bye Baby.” So straightforward, so simple really. Just driving guitar chords, swoon-worthy background vocals and a hook so big it won’t fit in the trunk of your car. Peter Baldrachi has a fabulous new long-player out (but more on that later – full review to come). Right now check out his killer single from that latest release entitled “Tomorrow.” It’s got overlapping hooky guitar lead lines, a seductive vocal mix, and a strongly positive vibe. Like the Jayhawks meet The Church.

Described in a presser as ‘[p]rolific, mysterious, heartbreaking, dumb’ or more simply as a ‘LA-based lo-fi stoner pop band’ I’d just add that The Memories are full-on fun. There’s nary a release from this band that doesn’t make me smile. Their latest single “Too Weak to be Strong” is no exception. It’s an ambling stroll of good-time low-key pop, equally at home near the campfire or indie coffee shop. Few bands can make ‘uhhhn’ sounds like pop heaven but that’s what you get on Wavves new single “So Long.” The song’s lineage is pop punk but with all the edges sculpted into something rocket smooth. The vocals here meld with the rest of the sonic attack in a wonderfully seamless way. Forgive me if I’m reaching back in time to feature a song from Lydia Loveless. I feel like I’m constantly catching up on this fabulous artist. Here I’m dipping into her 2023 album Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again for the electrically charged spirit of “Poor Boy.” It combines pop, country and sibilant-sounding guitars in a totally unique way. We had to get to Portland eventually and Borderlines fills our quota with their pop punk ode “Okay Socrates.” Accent on pop here with buzzy guitars. The song is about a fear of growing old but somehow doesn’t sound like a downer at all. Speaking of old, even tried and true geezers can still cut the melodic mustard, given the right project. On The Coward Brothers LP Elvis Costello and T. Bone Burnett revive their collaboration from the King of America sessions that produced the one-off single “The People’s Limousine.” Check out the interesting vocal interplay on “Always” or the more Americana “Smoke Ring Angel.”

Scoopski‘s Jim Lorino needed a vehicle that would allow him to rock out a bit more while maintaining his love of clever melodic hooks. Enter The DelCobras, where the amps go up to 11 but the melodies remain oh so sweet. You can really hear the fun they’re having cranking through “The Turnaround.” I have a feeling there’s gonna be more where that came from. Looking for a blast of 1963, perhaps a bit of folky pop simplicity? Thee Holy Brothers nail the era on their new single “Come Shine Love.” The harmonies are gorgeous and the lead guitar is so evocative of the period. Switch this on and drift into a 1960s musical diorama. Eclectic Music Lover put me on Secret Postal Society and their latest song “Autumn Leaves.” What an ambience going on here, reminiscent of 1970s folk pop or more recent lush vocally-focused folk bands like Fleet Foxes. Mooner main man Lee Ketch has an experimental EP out entitled Spiritual Milk for American Babes and it is wonderfully, creatively, ‘out there.’ As a single “Living Will” perhaps comes off a bit more mainstream as grungy, country workout. Caleb Nichols hit Valentine’s Day with the holiday timely “Love Lies.” It is wah-wah pedal drenched with a vocal wash so Elliott Smith good. Definitely a worthy song collection addition. But while there, check out the tasty “Little Red Peugot.” It’s like The Shins on a folk roll.

Spanish power poppers The Feedbacks jack into the zeitgeist of our times with the sadly timely “Hate Is All Around.” The song has a Elvis Costello surf vibe and that is one killer combo. The McCharmlys charmed me right out the gate with their self-titled debut long-player. So my breath was definitely baited for their new single “You’ll Be Fine.” It does not disappoint, combining old school sixties songwriting with some garage-y lead guitar work. B-side “Break My Heart” is pretty chanteuse perfect too. Oslo Norway’s Death By Unga Bunga unleash the party vibe on “I’m Really Old” from their recent LP Raw Muscular Power. The AM radio pinched vocal treatment perfectly offsets the slashing electric chords. Wonderfully seventies manic. It is so hard to pick just one song from Eric van Dijsseldonk’s recent album Half Time. There’s the laconic Freedy Johnson-ish “Best Kept Secret.” Or the more rumbly, slow-moving “Maybe Not Today” with its constant bursts of jangly guitar. But I’ve decided to settle on the poppy title-track “Half Time.” Seems full of good sentiments for this moment in time. Somehow I missed Pete Donnelly’s late 2024 release Never Gonna Worry, notably produced by Mike Viola. Dip into it with “Dancing Daydream” for a bit jaunty, uplifting popcraft.

It’s a wrap on this singles shindig with something a bit more serious from music veteran Jim Basnight. He’s got a pair of singles that put America’s current political plight cleverly on display. And they’re great songs to boot.

It’s been a long lonely winter of discontent this year. I suspect the discontent is going to continue for a while but hey, maybe a song in our heart will warm things up.

Photo ‘Charles Sheeler Bucks Country Barn’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.