Monday, April 27, 2009

Jason Falkner and XTC fans meet... Barry O'Brien and Slumberjet

This little known Irish band is a terrific find for lovers of Jason Falkner, Pugwash and XTC. For the last several years Barry O'Brien has made guest appearances with Pugwash. He is a kindred spirit producing top flight Power Pop. In 2004, Barry released a four song EP entitled "Spark" that name-checked Pugwash, XTC, Jason Falkner and Elliot Smith. Every track is a winner on that EP, shining with great playing and great hooks. These tracks were released pretty widely and are freely available on Garageband and Stumble. I've collected them here for convenience

When I recently checked Myspace to see what Barry had been up to, I found his new band Slumberjet and two new tracks and they are excellent! To my ears the track "The Letter" sounds like a lost track from a Jason Falkner album. Try it out and let me know if you agree. I've looked long and hard, but there are the only six finished tracks available from this band as yet. I added a couple of low quality acoustic recordings I found to round out the collection.

According to their Myspace site, Slumberjet has finished recording their new CD. I can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

Do not miss this great new band!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the post...another great one! I was wondering what happened to Barry O'brien after that fantastic EP a few years back.

I look forward to the release of the album. If the two new songs are any indication of what to expect, I think it will be a humdinger!

-mc

iMADEtheBBC said...

Hey thanks for that. I know of Barry through Thomas from Pugwash. Can't believe I haven't heard any of his material. Going to check out the EP now.

babs said...

Yeah, I've seen slumberjet twice live. they are excellent. Can't wait for the album launch

Anonymous said...

Wow! Awesome blog, lots of stuff right up my alley. Have you heard American Suitcase? Busch? Lolas?Check them out. Keep up the great posts!
e6gMan

Haper said...

Love American Suitcase. Thinik I have most of the Lolas' stuff. Great! Busch? Don't think I know band named Busch. Let me know what you like and where you found them.

Anonymous said...

They're on Marsh Marigold. You can listen here:

http://www.emusic.com/artist/Busch-MP3-Download/11887547.html

Track one, "Ausser Atem, Ausser Dir," on Bossa Nova for starters.

Peace to you,
e6gMan

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm in Beatlesque Heaven... What a find! Power pop at its best.

Anything Should Happen said...

Great Site.

Thanks for linking me

Anonymous said...

FYI, Slumberjet's debut album is now for sale, but sadly it's only available in Europe at the present time. Nevertheless, I ordered it from Tower records Dublin online and should arrive anytime! Here's the link to myspace blog with more info about the release:

http://www.myspace.com/slumberjet/blog

-MC