February Is On Its Way

 

The 2026 Reviews finally got underway, but there are lots to come. January is always about our Best Of The Previous Year. The changes this year seemed to work well. Let focus on the countdown posts, but a much Busier Blog as readers / listeners went off to the original Reviews.

It did start too late though. The end of January is a bit late to start 2026 Reviews and so the plan will be to put everything up in the first ten days of next January and maybe gibe the Listening To This Week Playlist a rest for that one week. We are also thinking of going Alphabetical for our Best 100. Still posting in 10s and just naming an Album Of The Year numerically.

There are so many Reviews to come that February will simply be about Reviews and the 4 LTWW Playlists. See you there!

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He's Dead Jim - These Men, These Monsters

 

Welcome to the new album from one of our favourites. I love what these three do, it comes from unusual angles, but is wonderfully inventive. Guitar Pop that is all over the place, but essential listening, a little Art Rock at times and a tad 70s feel mixes with the UK New Wave and Power Pop.

The recent cover of Avenues And Alleyways is inspired and not even on the album. Instead they offer up a wonderfully chaotic version of Art For Arts Sake. I've known Neil Christie for a good while due to him being an Emperor Penguin and his fellow Penguin Nigel Winfield adds guitar to two songs.

It may only be January, but we already have a contender for the Best Album Of 2026. The whole thing is exhilarating, tons of variety. You can sit back and admire the inventiveness it all or find yourself helplessly singing along. I can think of no there band that could write a better song than The Process. It is gobsmackingly great.

Under A Rock is very different. Almost Noise Rock, but so damn catchy, part Glam Rock, part Power Pop.Human Zoo gets all Garage Rock and Negative Vibes is a cross between Pun and the New Wave that followed it, wonderfully messy and noisy. 

Living In Memory is top notch Power Pop, a little reminiscent of The Motors and yet has memorable 70s Pop Rock vibes. Dragonsfiels starts the album off and shows the album means business, great Brit Pop at a rapid pace.

I was delighted that He's Dead Jim returned, but could not have imagined how explosive their return was. No living on past glows, These Men, These Monsters are of the now, the past was the past. What an incredible album. Every phase the band takes just gets better and better.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on CD and as a download. The CD is on the Kool Kat label and can also be ordered here.

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The 425's - Monday In Disguise

Amongst the tumbleweed that is the UK scene at present, there are small shoots of recovery. The UK is so London based, yet all the happening music seems to be far away in the regions. One thing that London has provided is the debut album from this lot.

The 425's are very 60s, wonderfully so. You imagine them to live in Carnaby Street. The music is all UK Beat and melodic Psych Pop that is definitely on the Pop side. Monday In Disguise is a cracking foot tapping affair, catchy as catchy can be.

Beautiful Mistake is very Monkees, but equally like a popped up version of The Coral and wonderfully Jangly. Yet Devil You Like is more like Garage Rock, melodic Garage Rock mind you. Don't Feel Like I Should starts all Surf morphs into UK Beat and closes with glorious Psych Pop. It is a cracking listen.

Super Daydream is very much of the groovy side, but also fits Brit Pop and Psych, at times it is a little early Kula Shaker without the pomposity. Things We Share is the ideal opener, a great sampler of what is to come and what does come is excellent.

As you might expect, it is the Psych Pop has the biggest appeal to these ears, but this is really an exceptional Guitar Pop album. The biggest testament to it is that I could have chosen any of 12 songs to embed. I've chosen my 3, but your choices might be very different.

You can listen to and buy the album here.  

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Sykofant - Leaves EP

 

The beauty of I Don't Hear A Single is that I can add in the unexpected. Our base camp is largely Guitar Pop, but I listen to much different sounds when I have time, which isn't that often. I know many of you know that I am a big Prog and Psych fan, I have been for a long time. The joy of IDHAS is that I can introduce the odd thing and it gets listened to.

Some may not take to it, but more than I ever expected to do. This has been proven by the reception that Custard Flux get, culminating in a Top 10 from the Best Of 2025. Oslo's Sykofant have been the other big like from listeners. 

Red Sun dominated our ten most popular posts of the previous 30 days until it has been washed away by The Best Of stuff as most will be for the next few weeks popularity wise. Leaves follows rapidly and again it is described as an EP due to having 3 songs when at 23 minutes it is as long as some of the Power Pop albums that we cover.

There is a more mellow feel to the opening two songs, more laidback, but just as enjoyable and at times chilling. A bit more instrumental, but all that changes with the magnificent, Heart Of The Woods. This is the prime example of what Sykofant do, all 16 minutes of it is an essential album.

A wonderfully noisy Guitar fest that at times sounds like 70s Pink Floyd at times, but a much heavier sound within. Built on massive riffs. At times, it gets a little early Rush, but the song seems to conflict with its length. It is over way too soon.

This for me shows the wonder of Prog, often made fun of buy those who have never listened. The closing part is awesome as it switches to something more choral. Again, for this EP, a fourth track is added which is a continuous mix and this is the best way to listen. Sykofant may be my favourite band at the moment. What they do is mind-blowing.

You can listen to and buy the EP here.

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The Plastic Pals - Keep It Burning

 

The fourth album from Stockholm's The Plastic Pals. Essentially Indie Rock, but there is a real trip across genres on a project that is beautifully performed and produced. An ear opener is the tribute to Robbie Robertson, Blue Train, it is a bit of an outlier on such an Indie Rock album.

Such a tribute might on the face of it seem a little mawkish. But the song really works, it is heartfelt and the arrangement  works wonderfully well with the Guitar sound and that organ sound lights up a song that edges to Country Rock.

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning is a great Pop Rock opener, Flames Of Fate edges towards Psych Pop at times with an absolutely killer chorus. Lost In Translation is ace 70s Classic Rock with a fab Guitar sound and a rhythm section to die for.

Elsewhere, the title track heads into West Coast Rock territory, Petty-esque at times. Keep An Eye On The Door is looser, pacy, like a cross between The Faces and a crack Power Pop band. Decisions gets even more Power Pop and reveals a Poppy side to the band that isn't always obvious.

Then there is the instrumental, The Social Loner which has an exceptional Twang to it. This is one hell of an album. A sum of its parts, but the Guitar work is extraordinarily good. An exceptional listen from a band not afraid to travel down different roads.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.

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Listening To This Week Playlist 26 January

  

A much shorter LTTW Playlist this week due to the time we were spending compiling and publishing the Best 100 Albums Of 2025. Just 16 songs, but everyone is an absolute winner. This week may not have quantity, but it certainly has quality.

The weekly playlist is largely for submissions, not just the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours. This will help you to discover more about the artists who appear here. 

Sloan Brothers - I Can't Sleep

Secret Molecules - What's Come Over Me

Kevin Robertson - Birdy In The Window

The Fake Friends - The Way She Goes

Melyssa Lee With Education Party - Just Friends

xo teague - Sing

The Morning Line - 90s Pick Up

The New Pornographers - Votive

The Leavitt Brothers - Godless

Brother Dynamite - Violet

Electric Pets - Nicky Is Dead

Borderlines - Freeselfservice

The Empty Page - Death On Our Side

Rocket Rules - Chapel St

The Sylvia Platters - Gwendolyn Approximately

William Duke - Summers End

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I Don't Hear A Single 10 Best EPs Of 2025

 

The final list before I go for a lie down. We celebrate our 10 favourite EPs Of 2025. Let normal service begin!

 

1  Hexham Heads - Hexham Heads      IDHAS Review

2  Secret Molecules - The Strawberry Sun      IDHAS Review

3   Elena Rogers - Always Trying      IDHAS Review

4   Janus 4-14 - Ghosts From Your Past      IDHAS Review

5   Skittish - Ugly Makes Pretty       IDHAS Review

6  Borderlines - Repair Kit      IDHAS Review

7   Rocket Rules - immediately and without hesitation    IDHAS Review

8   Slow Motion Film - Eastman / Untitled # 1     IDHAS Review

9   Fara San - Fara San     IDHAS Review

10  Spencer Pope - Dang       IDHAS Review

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