A couple of albums here, that may not make it into the top 20 this year but certainly worth checking out if you like bands such as Les Terribles and The Come Ons. In other words, modern day garage rock, and in the case of Curlee Wurlee! also 60s instrumentals and yé-yé. This German group led by French-born singer Cécile Musy has already released three albums, the first, She’s a Pest (after the The Insects track no doubt), came out ten years ago. The new album …Likes Milk is less lo-fi, and even manages to match The Bristols’ perfect production on a couple of tracks.
The Love Me Nots from Phoenix have a much more American heritage, with a full-on Detroit sound and a singer with a similar style to Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O. Their influences are purely 60s though and for such an idiosyncratic group they recieved plenty of attention upon their 2006 debut In Black & White. I however, hadn’t heard them until this year, which saw the release of their 4th longplayer The Demon & the Devotee. The album shows no progression from its predecessors, but is still a solid effort and as much worth checking out as those.
