Review: The Telephones - Hummingbyrd / Amsterdam

I love the internet! A little while back a post popped up on my Facebook timeline (if I remember rightly, posted by Fruits De Mer)that mentioned a new single from a group called The Telephones, a band with whom I was totally unfamiliar. Anyway, any group that Keith FdM rates is going to be worth investigating, which is exactly what I did and ended up ordering the single. What a little beauty it is !

The A side, 'Hummingbyrd' is a lovely slice of psych pop that takes you back to 1960's West Coast US with some Byrds like harmonies and some great sitar and 12 string acoustic work. It also brought to mind, for me, some of the Paisley Underground sounds of the 1980s and would sit more than comfortably on the 'Children Of Nuggets' boxset. The record arrived today and I've already played it a dozen times. The B side 'Amsterdam' has a grittier feel to it and sounds unmistakeably british - it's the sort of song that Oasis should have written if they weren't so....Oasis-y and shite!

This is a very assured and very accomplished record and, if there is any justice in the world, should be a raging success. I will be keeping an eye out for future releases and snapping them up!

The record can be ordered via The Telephones UK Facebook page or the PPAJ Facebook page.