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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The album’s greatest success is it’s potential to appeal to a wide range of music fans. Not only is its fresh-but-familiar sound going to catch ears, but there is also something for everyone in terms of the listener’s needs. I’ve enjoyed listening to it through my headphones, but I can equally imagine this proving a hit on popular radio when driving with the windows down, or in a muddy field with the last of the summer light illuminating thousands of half-cut revellers.

This duality seems present throughout the album. ‘Violent Shiver’ is at the punky end of the spectrum, with Booker pushes his vocals to the edge of comprehension before the festival-friendly singalong refrain “we found a way!”; ‘Have You Seen My Son’ starts off as a galloping rock ‘n roll song, complete with evangelical growls and yelps, before morphing into a moody bluesy rock effort that will please fans of The Black Keys;

It’s clever stuff, straddling the raw intensity of something personal and the fast-paced, why-don’t-you-join-in chorus that means that Booker could well be the next rock artist to get some love from the wider world.

Violent Shiver is out today in the UK (18/8) on Rough Trade, and tomorrow in the US on ATO Records. You can stream the album in full over at NPR if you need more convincing. Finally, if you’ve ever wondered what a singalong with the binmen of Paris might be like, La Blogothèque have you covered:

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Want For Wish For Nowhere is available from HOSS Records and Rough Trade or can be streamed from their Soundcloud page.

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