Whomous and Westway bring a slinky little pop number in ‘So Vain’, all auto-tuned vocals and laid back vibes, while Lion Bark’s ‘Poolside’ is a chilled out love song. The feel is continued with Static Animal’s warm-weather instrumental track, ‘Easy, and ‘Carrie’ by London-based songwriter Nicko Franklin, a gentle and kindly pop song. Seattle’s LUWUM bring a little more lo-fi rumble to things, although as garage rock goes its still honey-smooth, before a brand new track from Harley Alexander (a familiar face here at WTD), which closes side A with their trademark suave and summery psychedelics.

Side B see a stylistic shift, with things getting hushed and acoustic and to me even better. First up is ‘No Mistake’ by Fake Laugh (which retains some of the A-side’s saunter), before Arthur Shea gets much more hushed and intimate), Clare Cottrill (which I like a lot – bedroom pop in the vein of Kissing Fractures or the solo Florist stuff) and Girlpool‘s Cleo Tucker (another quiet acoustic track with a metronomic beat).

The final track is ‘Kaleidoscope’ by Arbes, which utilises clattering percussion to enhance a song that falls somewhere between the laid back pop and quiet bedroom acoustics that appear on the compilation as a whole. A fitting end then, to a great showcase. If you’re anything like me then this taster will make you want to dive into the back catalogues of both the featured acts and the label itself. I’m sure there are tonnes of great things to discover.

So as the nights draw in and the air gets a chill, do yourself a favour and keep summer alive in your soul with RELAY. You can get it on cassette or digital download via the Sports Day Records Bandcamp page.

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Surely you have all heard of ARMS? We have certainly mentioned them a few times. For the uninitiated, ARMS is Todd Goldstein, the ex-Harlem Shakes guitarist, and a variety of friends. We were honoured and delighted when Todd offered to record a version of ‘The Book of Love’ by The Magnetic Fields.

The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It’s full of charts and facts and figures
And instructions for dancing

But I, I love it when you read to me
And you, you can read me anything

You can buy Quiet, Constant Friends now via the Wake The Deaf Bandcamp page. Remember, all tapes come with super-limited edition art print postcards. You’d be a fool to miss out!

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Some of the bands are pretty familiar to us here at WTD, including the likes of Gorgeous Bully, Diveliner and The Golden Dregs. Listen to the shoegazey jangle of Gorgeous Bully’s ‘925’ below:

But there are also lots and lots which are completely new to me. The diversity of sound is impressive, and it’s a thrill to hit play from the beginning and wait to see what comes next. It kicks off with a slick 80s pop tune from Lovepark, before a segue into the easygoing indie pop of Spring King. Moats take things up a notch with their dynamic indie rock before London’s Happyness offer a slice of real subdued beauty with their track ‘Full of Minnows.’

Other stand-outs include the half-pace R&B of Mirror Signal, the short-bu-sweet weird pop of Total Playtime and some really nice bedroom pop melancholia from Don’t Worry.

You can order the compilation on double cassette via Rough Trade, or download it for as much as you like via the 80N7 Bandcamp page.

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