Stay - Always Here EP

Spanpop, anyone? Barcelona’s Stay have the 90s British neo-psych revival down pat, with jingly jangly guitars, unforgettable melodies, and swaying anthems that earworm their way into your skull and refuse to evacuate the premises. Shades of Oasis permeate the title track, lifted from their current long player The Mean Solar Times (Picture In My Ear Records). The Bee Gees overlooked dreamy psych classic ‘Every Christian Lion-Hearted Man Will Show You’ outshines the original, with swirling organs, backwards guitars and cotton-mouthed vocals evincing headswirling magnificence we’ve missed ever since Kula Shaker hung up their hookahs.

‘Where Have All The Good Times Gone’ perks up the proceedings, the revolving organ flourishes adding a distinctly Charlatans-channeling-Ray-&-Co. vibe, and Britpop royalty Andy Bell (Oasis, Ride) adds some McGuinn-like guitar charms to the brilliant pop-psych singalong, ‘You Know It’s Right’. Get out the lighters! [Do the kids still do that?] Everything ends on a, er, high note with a wah-wah-and-harmony filled rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Rock and Roll Woman’ that’ll make you forget the original (especially after you hear that Byrdsy ‘Renaissance Fair’ break in the middle). Brilliant work all around, chicos!