Great-sounding LP pressed on lovely baby blue vinyl and including a fold-out newspaper/lyric sheet and bonus postcard. Nice!
Includes digital pre-order of New Town Dream.
You get 1 track now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
shipping out on or around May 31, 2024
Purchasable with gift card
$21USDor more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Because of an odd quirk of record production timings and our release schedule, we have THREE new Slumberland albums coming out in May. Since we know that a fair number of you might want to purchase all three we're offering a special deal that includes color vinyl copies of all 3 albums. You'll save a bit on each record, but with all three being shipped together you'll save even more on postage.
This bundle includes:
SLR 280 Lightheaded "Combustible Gems" blue vinyl LP
SLR 283 Neutrals "New Town Dream" deluxe blue vinyl LP w/newspaper & postcard
SLR 285 Lunchbox "Pop and Circumstance" pink vinyl LP
Includes digital pre-order of New Town Dream.
You get 1 track now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
shipping out on or around May 31, 2024
Purchasable with gift card
$55USDor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
In gatefold wallet with fold-out lyric sheet/poster.
Includes digital pre-order of New Town Dream.
You get 1 track now
(streaming via the free Bandcamp app
and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the
complete album the moment it’s released.
shipping out on or around May 31, 2024
Purchasable with gift card
$9USDor more
Streaming + Download
Pre-order of New Town Dream. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
Dream... or nightmare? That's the underlying question posed on "New Town Dream," the second LP from Bay Area trio Neutrals, as guitarist/vocalist Allan McNaughton's lyrical narratives expand on the world first built on the band's 2022 EP "Bus Stop Nights," offering snapshots of mundane lived realities in the "New Towns" that proliferated in the UK during the '60s and '70s. "New Town Dream" conceptually voices the psychic tension of that era, of being pushed toward the margins and becoming just another cog in a deeply broken machine.
The band's musical touchstones are squarely situated in the timeline of doomed Thatcherism that followed from the late '70s to late '80s. "Wish You Were Here" and "The Iron That Never Swung" jangle with a razor-edged rapid strum to rival The Wedding Present; "That's Him on the Daft Stuff Again" and "Travel Agent's Windows" nod to the Television Personalities' naive, kaleidoscopic mod melodies streaked with cynicism; "Steven Proctor Bus Conductor" slowly unfolds from verses in the dark, rhythm-forward spirit of Josef K to transcendently Pastels-esque pop choruses with sugary-sweet backing vocals from bassist Lauren Matsui. Perfect C86 sounds for often hellish C24 times!
- Erika Elizabeth
credits
releases May 31, 2024
Recorded and mixed July 2023 at House of Faith Oakland by Bart Thurber, except New Town Dream (Version) and How Did I Get Here recorded and mixed by Philip Lantz. How Did I Get Here was made in collaboration with Isaac Fratini, who played all the synth parts and programmed the drums.
Protest chants on Stop The Bypass by the Community United Newtown Trust - Oakland Freedom Faction, with special thanks to Comrades Brooks, Delgado, Martinez, Weatherbee, Ellis, Schulman, and the Taylor-Scotts.
Stop The Bypass partially inspired by the Pollok Free State protests in the early 90s. For more information see the book Not For Rent by Stacy Wakefield and Grrrt, or the film “Birdman of Pollok”.
Thanks also to the guvnor, Mr Tim Brooks of New Town YOFC for landlord duties on Last Orders.
Eternal thanks to Tom Static Shock and Mike Slumberland. Peace.
Neutrals drummer Phil Lantz has been in too many bands to mention. Currently playing in Sob Stories and Cocktails, he recently played drums on and recorded this tasty little number neutrals
