GARFIELDS BIRTHDAY – Next Stop Mars – review

GARFIELDS BIRTHDAY – Next Stop Mars – review
Pink Hedgehog Records

It’s been a long while since we’ve had any new music from Garfields Birthday but the Felton brothers have finally got their act together. It’s actually been 10 years since their last release so it’s long overdue. According to Simon Felton of that Parish it covers “jealousy, obsession, mental health problems and alien abduction.” Sounds like my sort of thing.

I’ve lost huge chunks of my memory but I suspect I’ve been listening to Pink Hedgehoggy stuff for, what, 15+ plus years and they’ve never failed to deliver. In fact, it may have been ‘Let Them Eat Cake’, back in 2008 or possibly the Peter Lacey album ‘Songs From A Loft’ in 2005. All of which serves to remind me how old and decrepit I am.

Anyway. Music. It’s the sort of summery indie pop that many bands tried in the nineties and resolutely failed at. I’m looking at you, The Orchids and The Field Mice. I believe the kids call this sort of thing “sunshine pop” although a slight air of melancholy hangs over some of the songs. What was it Stephen Still said? “Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit”. Something like that. Well. that’s the vibe. Man.

There aren’t any duffers here but ‘Broken Telephone’ and ‘Library’ had me hitting the repeat button immediately. The best is, actually, saved for last as ‘No Other’ is one of the best Garfields Birthday songs ever. A delightful album and one you get on CD for a perfectly reasonable price over at https://garfieldsbirthday.bandcamp.com

https://www.pinkhedgehog.com/