Big Stir Records is pleased as punch that this week’s Digital Single is “Saturday Show” by the L.A. post-garage collective MOD HIPPIE. The track and its B-side “Shimmering Sound” are out Friday, October 18 at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles and available for pre-order now! Showcasing members of no lesser lights than X, The Beach Boys, Cockeyed Ghost, Wormstew and Pacific Soul LTD, it's an all-star outing for a band that's been a perennial feature at Big Stir's Los Angeles concert series from the earliest days, and our first co-promotional release with Adam Marsland's celebrated Karma Frog Records.

The epic garage sound the band perfected on its first two albums is back on display on “Saturday Show”. Spearheaded by singer/songwriter Doug McGuire and including Teresa Cowles, Jason Berk, D.J. Bonebrake, David Marks, Adam Marsland and Mike Schnee, Mod Hippie streamlines their thunderous garage, psychedelic and post-punk influenced power pop into something both more accessible and experimental than their first two albums, Tomorrow Then (2015) and Big Wow (2017).

“Saturday Show” is a six minute musical suite which consolidates Mod Hippie’s trademark sprawling guitar textures and wide soundscapes into a concise, hook-driven but off-kilter rock vision. “Shimmering Sound”, the B-Side, features an earlier version of Mod Hippie and includes some haunting harmonies, some classy guitar and a wild ride of a theremin track played by Probyn Gregory.

Big Stir Records, in partnership with Rare Bird Books, is proud to announce the arrival of a brand new band (featuring some familiar faces) as TheGoAllTheWays release their debut single, “Silly Girl” b/w “Tourist”, as the newest Big Stir Digital Single! Both sides drop Friday, October 11 at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles and are available now for pre-order. But just who is this mysterious assemblage of LA pop scene veterans and why have they convened? Read on:

TheGoAllTheWays is a power pop band inspired by a book about power pop bands.

This fast and furious project sprang from the pages of Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop (Rare Bird Books). The idea was to flip the 'punks covering pop songs' trope to exploit the hidden harmonies and hooks in a couple of our favorite bashers. More reasonable musicians might have had a few punch-drunk laughs about this concept and moved on with their lives, but not Jeff Whalen (Tsar, The Brothers Steve); Rex Broome (The Armoires, Big Stir Records); Tyson Cornell (Rare Bird Lit); Marko DeSantis (Sugarcult), and Steve Coulter (aka S.W. Lauden, who co-edited Go All The Way with Paul Myers). This LA-based stupor group immediately booked time at a hidden recording studio and got to work.

The result is a jangly re-imagining of "Silly Girl" (by SoCal punk heroes The Descendents); and a wistful take on "Tourist" (by Florida underground legends The Pink Lincolns). TheGoAllTheWays lovingly reconstructed these 80s cult classics with Rickenbacker guitars, stacked vocals and driving rhythms, all adorned with backing vocals galore, thunderous hand claps and furiously shaking tambourines.

If you've read this far, you probably have your own definition of power pop. We don't claim to be experts, but our money's on this quote from Pulitzer-winning author Michael Chabon's excellent Go All The Way essay, "Tragic Magic": "Finally, power pop at its purest is the music of hit records that miss."

So are these power pop songs? That's for you to decide.

The next Big Stir Digital Single comes from THE WALKER BRIGADE, frequent and favorite performers at Big Stir's Burbank concert series since its very earliest days, before the label, before the magazine, before anyone showed up. The brand new “Tower”, b/w their cover of Madeline Kahn's Mel Brooks-penned “I'm Tired” (!) with its attendant video, are out Friday October 4 at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles and up for pre-order now!

Equal parts art-punk and pop, the band caught our ears with their early demos, mixing fine originals in the vein of X and Pixies with covers of Wire, Only Ones, Ramones and Soft Boys tunes (Rex is still badgering the band to let BSR release their version of “Rock and Roll Toilet”). We count ourselves fortunate to have been able to include their track “DisEASE” on the pre-BSR compilation CD BIG STIR: THE FIRST YEAR and can't believe it's taken us this long to feature them on an “official” release from the label!

The driving, angularly melodic “Tower” is their debut selection from recent recording sessions at Karen Basset’s Laurel Canyon New Boom Chic Studios. Side B is “I’m Tired” with a video conceived, produced and art-directed by the band’s front-person, Tracy. The song has been licensed and placed in a film, coincidentally entitled “Tired”, featuring award-winning actor Bradley Whitford. The band’s video stars genius competition-champion, drag artist Abhora. It was filmed on location at the spectacular Salton Sea.

During the pre-Brexit, American Kardashianation period, Tracy Rose Keaton and Mark Fletcher became obsessed by UK bands like Wire, Subway Sect, X-Ray Spex, The Soft Boys, and The Only Ones. During that era, no two great groups sounded alike. (That was a thing.) They began learning those songs to play them live. After people at their shows at The Redwood, Café NELA, Taix, etc. said they could not tell which songs were covers or the band’s own, The Walker Brigade began recording their debut album Therapy Animal, released in 2017... but not before the kraütrock-meets-the Pixies “DisEASE was selected by the Big Stir powers-that-be to appear on their Big Stir:The First Year CD compilation. The tune was singled out for praise in a Goldmine magazine review of the multi-artist compilation. Therapy Animal was hailed as ‘[a]n instant classic (Ralph Brown, The Guardian, UK)' and the band itself cited as “a catchy combination of anthemic despair and savior faire: Punk, art-pop, and some clever harmonies” by David Bash (International Pop Overthrow).

Tracy and Mark employ a writerly sensibility to their approach to The Walker Brigade. Tracy’s training as a playwright brings emotional nuance to her songwriting and performing. (Her book on The Shangri-Las was published by Rhino.) Mark is a staff writer at AFI and brings a cineaste’s sensibility to his metteur-en-scène bass arrangements. Drummer Craig Tyrka has played with Doug McGuire (Mod Hippie) and Chissum Worthington (Wormstew) – he's a New Yorker and a CBGB alumnus. Jeff Charreaux, a bridge-and-tunnel guitar player, eventually made his way to L.A. too. He co-wrote two songs on Michael Simmon’s celebrated First Days of Summer solo LP and sings on a track by The Armoires on their Side Three EP—securing him a Champniss of London Big Stir caricature.

THE WALKER BRIGADE continues work with Karen Basset (Test Pressings, Pandoras, Arthur Alexander Band) on the followup to Therapy Animal for release in 2020. “Tower” gives a bracing glimpse into what to expect from the new record as the band continues to gig regularly around the LA area, winning new attention with each performance. More on the band can be found at: www.facebook.com/thewalkerbrigade

“Tower” (Jeff Charreaux) Radical Inclusionist (BMI) Recorded by Karen Basset at New Boom Chic Studios, Laurel Canyon, Mixed by Brad Gordon at Gordotone, Los Angeles. Mastered by Steven Wilson

“I’m Tired” (Brooks) Warner-Tamerlane Publishing (BMI) Recorded by Marc Doten at Coma Trend Bootlegs Studio, Echo Park. Mastered by Brad Gordon

Walker Brigade is:

Tracy Landecker—vocals & guitar Jeff Charreaux—guitar & vocals Mark Fletcher—bass & acoustic guitar Craig Tyrka—drums & percussion

Big Stir Records is thrilled to release “Catnip For Cupid” by The Persian Leaps for this week’s Digital Single! The name “The Persian Leaps” came to frontman and guitarist Drew Forsberg in a daydream during a college Greek Archaeology class. That phrase was the first spark that would lead to the formation of “The Persian Leaps” in 2012. Since then “The Persian Leaps” have delivered five EPs of power-pop earworms with Midwestern charm. The Eps were released every fall. To cap it off, TPL released an 18 track anthology LP Pop Goes Crunch in 2018.

The Persian Leaps won critical acclaim from the start. Their debut EP Praise Elephants achieved notable critical acclaim from vanguard NME Magazine. As the band’s discography grew, so did the glowing reviews, including support from the likes of Magnet, Northern Transmissions and NYC’s Impose Magazine along with countless others. Hailing form the Twin Cities, the band takes influences from the likes of Teenage Fanclub and Guided By Voices. TPL is currently composed of founding member/leader Drew Forsberg and John Hunt.

The Persian Leaps have adhered to a disciplined schedule of concise releases, each fall bringing an EP of five songs totaling fifteen minutes or less. In 2013, The Persian Leaps released their debut EP PRAISE ELEPHANTS which NME Magazine described as a “celestial guitar jangle.” The band completed a follow-up EP DRIVE DRIVE DELAY in 2014, praised by XS Noize for its “instantly catchy melodic harmonies layered on top of droning guitar.” In 2015, the band issued HIGH & VIBRATE, an EP championed by The Big Takeover for its “big-time hooks, upbeat attitude, and classic power-trio punch. 2016 saw the release of YOUR CITY, UNDERWATER, which earned a spot on The Big Takeover’s TOP 30 EP’s of 2016. In September of 2017 the band’s fifth EP BICYCLE FACE was delivered and brought The Persian Leaps further praise from fans and critics alike. Named for a 19th century medical condition concocted to scare women away from biking, BICYCLE FACE was described as the “perfect power pop cocktail by 50thirdand3rd. POP THAT GOES CRUNCH, an 18 song best-of anthology, released in 2018, marked the end of an era by revisiting and celebrating some of The Persian Leaps’ best work.

In 2018, The Persian Leaps retired as a live, full band and returned to their roots as a studio project. Together with John Hunt, a musician and graphic designer who has created the cover-art for most of the band’s releases, Drew Forsberg recorded 11 new songs that continue The Persian Leaps’ guitar-driven power pop/indie rock sound while adding keyboards for the first time. The resulting album ELECTRICAL LIVING, will be released by Land Ski Records on September 27, 2019.

“I’ve been a comic book fan since I was a kid,” says TPL songwriter Drew Forsberg. “The phrase “Catnip For Cupid” actually came from the TV show “Arrow.” Team Arrow was fighting a villain-of-the-week named Cupid. They needed some irresistible bait to catch her—some “catnip for Cupid.” I loved the phrase and immediately wrote this song, the premise of which is that we’re all toys that Cupid can’t resist playing with—often too roughly. I don’t necessarily think that’s true but I like the way it came together.

We here at BSR love the result and are pleased to present “Catnip For Cupid” by The Persian Leaps as our “Digital Single Of The Week” for September 27, 2019!