Honeyblood and Hooton Tennis Club on The Moon

This week we have two new albums from Brexity Blighty bands, proving that we can still produce some great rock n' roll despite having a deplorable rate higher than the good old US of A. Both bands are not new to The Moon as they a have featured on previous Moon best ofs, and they have now released follow up LPs that manage to improve on their debuts.

Firstly we have Honeyblood, who hail from the land of enlightenment to the north of The North. Babes Never Die is their second LP and I am just joining in the general chorus of approval from the likes of God Is In The TV and the A.V Club. I did worry that they were a band that the marketing types could turn a bit too M.O.R, but thankfully they have gone in the opposite direction. It is brilliantly produced with great energy, tuneage and lyrics. You can stream the new album directly below and also find it in the usual places

Hooton Tennis Club

On A Best of 2015 I wrote: "Some great rock n' roll from Merseyside, produced by the very talented Mr Bill Ryder-Jones of The Coral fame. They are not very Mersey beat, more Lemonheady slacker, but with a bit of extra energy from Coxon like guitar action. As often is the case, a few of the best tracks were pre-released on "singles" but they have not pretended they have a whole album as consistently as good".  

Well now, just a year later we have a second album packed with consistently great tuneage. It is less Lemonheady, and more Coxon. The producer is Edwyn Collins, but the sound is rather similar to their previous producers excellent record from last year, only less reflective and more energetic. You can also detect a bit of the Noel Gallagher in some of the melodies, and the anthemic O Man, Won't You Melt Me? seemingly makes as much sense as Mr Gallagher at his most nonsensical, but you can imagine the masses singing along.