“But I Like You” by Say Sue Me

Say Sue Me are from Busan, South Korea and their new album, released in April is a delight. Here’s “But I Like You”.

Sumi Choi is the guitarist, vocalist and lyricist and also presumably the origin of the band’s name. She rates Yo La Tengo as an influence and also the kind of long-lasting music making institution she aspires to.

Early Yo La Tengo is also a good reference point for the manner in which Say Sue Me effortlessly assimilate a wide range of stylistic influences, and incorporate elements of surf music, classic 60’s girl-group pop (as filtered through The Jesus & Mary Chain’s fuzz & reverb), French Ye-Ye pop, 80’s guitar pop, garage rock and shoegaze – sometimes in the same song.

The album “Where We Were Together” is a perfect collection of guitar pop songs in a range of styles, performed in with unaffected enthusiasm, with Sumi delivering lyrics balancing melancholy with optimism. Highly recommended for fans of Alvvays, Trick Mammoth, Fazerdaze, and, of course, Yo La Tengo.

Oh, and The Shop Assistants too:

 

“Glitter & Weed” by Aüva

Aüva hail from Boston, Massachusetts, in the US of A and “Glitter & Weed” is from a recently released 3 track EP available for free download. It’s wonderful, so go forth and discover it and the rest of their back-catalogue too:

It’s one of many great indie pop songs (mostly available via the artists’ Bandcamp pages) discovered via this an excellent playlist “How Did We Make It This Far?” from The Shadow of the Wall music blog.

Aüva’s “Glitter & Weed” reminds me of Canadian band Alvvays. The music is chiming synth-backed guitar pop, packed with sing-along melodic hooks and wonderful lyrics like “Glitter and weed and LSD / All of my friends moved in with me.”

The combination of the dolorous voice of Jack Markwordt (I’m assuming he’s the male lead voice on these) and the brighter, lighter voice of keyboard player Miette Hope also gives the song (and the rest of the EP) a nice kind of human contrast, particularly combined with the wry, articulate lyrics in these “sweet and sad songs about friends and lovers” (according to their Facebook page bio). It’s the kind of literate pop that fans of Anthonie Tonnon, Jens Lekman, and the above-mentioned Alvvays should instantly appreciate.