Bart & Friends - There May Come A Time EP

matinée 081  /  June 2012
Bart & Friends - There May Come A Time EP
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Bart & Friends - There May Come A Time EP

matinée 081  /  June 2012

Matinée debut from Australian supergroup Bart and Friends! From humble beginnings in the 1990s in Girl of the World to founding member of The Cat’s Miaow (and later Hydroplane, Pencil Tin and The Shapiros), indiepop icon Bart Cummings has spent two decades warming our hearts with his jangly pop nuggets. With a cast of other Australian luminaries, Bart and Friends debuted at the turn of the century with releases on Drive In Records and Bart’s own Library Records.

Nearly a decade later, Bart and Friends made a welcome return with a handsomely received EP and mini-album on the hip Lost and Lonesome imprint. Joining Bart in the current superstar lineup are Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths), Louis Richter (Mid State Orange, The Lucksmiths), and Jeremy Cole (The Zebras), with ace vocal stylings by Pam Berry (The Pines, The Shapiros, Glo Worm, Black Tambourine, etc.) and Scott Stevens (Summer Cats, The Earthmen).

The Matinée debut is the ‘There May Come A Time’ EP showcasing Pam’s incomparable vocals across six fantastic songs. The melodious and chiming title track could have easily graced any former Shapiros release, and with it the band has accidentally recorded its first three-minute pop song which is certainly remarkable to any serious student of Bart’s previous bands.

Other tracks on the EP include a brilliant cover version of the Elvis Presley classic ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ with especially jangling guitars, a swinging pop gem called ‘A Kiss You Won’t Forget’ and the perfectly pithy ‘There Are So Many Things I’d Like To See’ with a bassline that will make every Lucksmiths fan smile. The EP ends with two favorites—‘These Words Are Too Small’ and ‘A Summer’s Dream’—from the sold out first EP for Lost and Lonesome.

‘There May Come A Time’ is a smashing release for Bart and Friends and another classic addition to the Matinée discography.

Tracklisting:
  1. There May Come A Time
  2. Can't Help Falling In Love
  3. A Kiss You Won't Forget
  4. There Are So Many Things I'd Like To See
  5. These Words Are Too Small
  6. A Summer's Dream

reviews

You can twist, merge, augment and invent musical genres all you like to try and describe music in fancy ways. The quest for creative cliché-avoiding is to no avail here; Bart and Friends are pure indiepop, there's no two ways about it. Of course indiepop disciples will no doubt be aware of the previous work of the Aussie gang, as they've been recording under this name for many years, and include members of other underground heroes including The Lucksmiths, The Cat's Miaow, The Shapiros, The Zebras, Black Tambourine, Summer Cats and more. Suffice to say they're no novices in the field of jangly guitar pop tunes, soaked to the skin in twinkly melodies and velvety harmonies. 'There May Come A Time' is a pretty much impeccable EP, all understated, clean production and chiming guitars with softly perfect vocals. The title-track is a thing of contemplative beauty, with every sound inch perfect in its positioning. Oddly it's followed by a similarly styled version of Elvis' 'Cant Help Falling In Love' which has a touch of Fairport Convention about its trad-folk leanings. Those precision indiepop guitars glimmer back into life on the truly lovely 'A Kiss You Won't Forget', Pam Berry's gently beguiling vocals are something to behold. 'These Words Are Too Small' is also supremely done and the maudlin finale of 'A Summer's Dream' again finds them in reflective mood, tenderly bringing things to a glistening end. At which point we simply go back to the start and listen again, as 'There May Come A Time' is a near faultless collection.   --Sounds XP
 
Australian indie pop institution Bart Cummings' short-but-sweet twee reflections have grown and deepened over the course of decades, first appearing in the early '90s in the form of bands like the Cat's Miaow and the Shapiros. Bart & Friends emerged at the turn of the century as a vehicle for Cummings' lovelorn tunes, assembling members of the Lucksmiths, Summer Cats, and other key players in the Australian indie scene to realize the band. As quickly as the songs themselves crackled and faded from view, Bart & Friends went through an extended absence, resurfacing in 2010 with Make You Blush, the first of what would be a series of EPs for the band, all highlighted with Pam Berry's (she of Black Tambourine, the Shapiros, Glo-Worm, and a host of other short-lived but excellent twee acts) darkly graceful vocals. There May Come a Time is the third of these EPs, following 2011's Stories with the Endings Changed. This six-song mini-album is blueprint-perfect twee pop: understated, brief, jangly, and just melancholic enough to pull the heartstrings, but not so much as to detract from a bevy of hooks and happy detours. The album-opening title track and a gentle cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" are standouts, finding Berry's croon a perfect mate in Cummings' sparkling Johnny Marr-esque guitar picking. The slightly fuzzier tones of "A Kiss You Won't Forget" and the acoustic strums and upbeat tempo of all 48 seconds of "There Are So Many Things I'd Like to See" don't recall the late-'90s indie scene of xeroxed 7" covers and fanzines as much as they sound like that time never ended for Bart & Friends. There May Come a Time doesn't smack of nostalgia, though bands coming up in the late 2000s like Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Veronica Falls have found a borrowed nostalgia in this specific brand of indie pop, certainly owing a huge debt to the sound Cummings, Berry, and the Lucksmiths crew all helped craft years earlier. While the sweetness and naive sentimentality could come off as saccharine or outdated to some listeners, Bart & Friends exist somewhat out of time, continuing to make strides in their sound on whatever schedule they see fit. Adrift in an ever-changing musical climate full of fads and competition, their ability to drop in after years of absence and pick up where they left off is a refreshing merit, and the songs have never sounded better.   --All Music Guide
 
There's a tendency these days (and we are as guilty of it as anyone) to refer to any band that contains two or more people who were once in another band as a "supergroup". In fact, the incestuous nature of our 'scene' and the um, increased maturity in years of many of our favourite indie-pop stars and starlets make such hook-ups pretty much inevitable. Indeed, if you leave aside the still-too occasional fresh-faced combos that torpedo straight from Year 12 into our hearts, pretty much *all* bands doing any serious time on the circuit are technically "supergroups". On the other hand, there are times when only the s-word will do. Sportique, obviously. The Traveling Wilburys, famously. Freebass, alarmingly. Westside Connection, indubitably. And when a new EP from Bart and Friends hoves into view, rest assured that we have no qualms whatsoever about rolling out the term (and the red carpet) for them, too. The first time we heard an instrument plucked in vain by Bart Cummings was when we grabbed Girl Of The World's 7" on Heaven Records ("Bart - the bass guitar") from the concrete bunker in Bristol that housed Replay Records. Terrific single from a much-underrated trio, but of course it is only the tiniest fragment of a formidable catalogue of inspired Melbourne-born and Bart-featuring platters from the Cat's Miaow, the Shapiros, Pencil Tin, Hydroplane and the ever-shifting line-up of Bart & Friends themselves (although there *is* one constant in that line-up: see if you can guess who), plus a heavenly host of others. It was also Bart who, in his guise as Library Records, put out not only one of our favourite ever indie-pop compilations, "A Little Help For East Timor", but also the "Munch" video which led to us belatedly discovering Black Tambourine (without which our world would therefore be a bleaker place). On this six-track extended play on all-time top ten label Matinée Recordings, the Friends of Bart include Mark Monnone (the ‘smiths, of course), Louis Richter (latterly a 'smith, and once of Mid-State Orange, whose "Flag Festival" we reviewed a zillion years ago), a revolving cast of drummers including Jeremy Cole of the Zebras (last seen - by us, at any rate - rocking the Luminaire a while back) and none other than Pam "yes, *the* Pam Berry" Berry (the Tambourine, the Shapiros, the Pines) on lead vocals. All well and good, you say, and makes for a fabulous Rock Family Tree, but what about the music? Well, the title tune is not the kind of uptempo jukebox jangler you might expect to begin proceedings. Instead, it's a disarming and vaguely sombre song, arrayed over a luxurious (for B&F) three minutes, which sees Ms Berry unfold a bittersweet tale to bright percussion and lush if muted guitars, as the gentlest of melodies rise and fall, rose petals scatter in their wake, and hints of the Shapiros flutter by in the soft breeze. By the end, as Pam angelically sings "to see you smile, from across the room..." the tension is palpable, almost unbearable. The opener is followed by a cavalcade of little bombs. "A Kiss You Won’t Forget" is a real treat, a masterly marriage of craft and melody, of trembling reverb and pealing Sarah alto, of jangle and soft fuzz. It's a song that epitomises the B&F canon, for despite being compact it's still able, without ever feeling rushed, to tell a fetching and complete tale about memories captured and held close to your heart, the kind that pricks us more and more as we grow older and further away from our own past crushes and romances. Next, the galloping "There Are So Many Things I’d Like To See" - more naked sentiment, driven by a groovesome, upwardly mobile bassline - becomes the second marvellous sub-one minute song on Matinée within a matter of months (ha, we'll have them releasing grindcore yet). Similarly honest and captivating, "These Words Are Too Small" then sees Bart (via Pam) make a virtue of not being able to express his feelings, the song chiming all the time with that classic Victoria pop sound. "A Summer's Dream" completes the EP, and while it slows the pace back down, it also finishes with a ringing and naïf guitar-line which could have been written by the young Keris Howard (or, as last year's ace Hit Parade B-side proved, written by Julian Henry channelling the young Keris Howard). If we close our eyes, we can almost see the orange duckpond sleeve of "Around The World In 80 Days"', and remember the many special moments brought to us by the music within (apologies, but when I'm listening to great indie-pop, my head often falls into this kind of muggy reverie). So, yes. Bart and Friends are a group. And they're super. And "There May Come A Time" is an EP as sweet, as joyful and as treasurable as an Andrea Pirlo spot-kick.   --In Love With These Times In Spite Of These Times
 
If a gathering of jangle pop fans sat down, poured a few ales (yes, we drink ales, thank you very much), and took turns offering lineups of potential supergroups, one certainly would have a knock-out round contender if he or she suggested Bart Cummings (The Cat's Miaow, Hydroplane, Pencil Tin and The Shapiros), Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths), Louis Richter (Mid State Orange, The Lucksmiths), and Jeremy Cole (The Zebras). But the truly competitive player (assume that the winner drinks free) leaves nothing to chance, and suggests that the vocals for the group be handled by Pam Berry (The Pines, The Shapiros, Glo Worm, Black Tambourine) and Scott Stevens (Summer Cats, The Earthmen). And we all are winners, because that's the current iteration of the Australian supergroup, Bart and Friends. Assembled around Bart Cummings, Bart and Friends' first iteration was around 2000, and released a few records on two different labels. A second gathering released an EP and a mini album on the Lost and Lonesome label late in the '00s. The 2012 version, with the membership proposed by our hypothetical winning jangle pop fan above, has recorded one of the EP gems of the year so far, There May Come A Time on Matinée Recordings. Shimmering, jangling guitars, bright melodies and affecting vocals, this is the motherload for guitar pop fans. The only criticism one can have is that it is over very much too soon. The title track already is one of my favorite songs of the year. I should mention that among the other tracks is an excellent jangly version of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love", two songs from a long sold out earlier Bart and Friends album and two other sweet tunes. If my computer could develop deeper grooves from excess plays, the section with this EP would look like the Grand Canyon.   --When You Motor Away
 
There have been times when Matinée releases have managed to get me through some pretty rough hours and days, and so it seems that Bart and Friends - whose records have done pretty much the same - should finally find their home there. Bart Cummings's latest mates include the incomparable Pam Berry, Mark Monnone of The Lucksmiths and various members of feted groups such as Mid State Orange and The Zebras, and they serve up five memorable janglepop treats here along with a cover of Elvis' 'Can't Help Falling in Love' of which we will speak no more. When you've got tracks as chocolate-y as 'A Kiss You Won't forget, which combines the effortless grace of Berry's vocals with a guitar line straight from 'Johnny Marr: the early years', then you'll never be alone. Of similar worth is 'These Words Are Too Small', a song which glides by far too quickly. An ode to stuttering amour, this is surely one of the finest love songs you'll hear for many year. Truly heartbreaking stuff. Lastly, 'A Summer's Dream' appears again on this ep, but that's not a grumble, more another chance to hear it all again in its downbeat majesty.   --A Layer of Chips
 
A sweet, melancholy toe-tapper, “There May Come a Time” comes blanketed in a vague but powerful nostalgia. When Pam Berry sings, right at the start, of someday forgetting “all the words to every song,” I feel immediately transported back to some hazy, flower-filled moment in the past (in the ’60s, no doubt). And I am filled with a lost sense of longing, as if no one actually does write songs any more. Which of course isn’t true. But. I picture Paul Simon writing about the leaves that are green, that kind of driven innocence, of someone intent on turning pop to poetry, or vice-versa. We can, it seems, no longer truly get there, but we can sing about what it must have been like. Now then, a song can’t do what I’ve been attempting to describe and not veer a bit towards the twee (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). A general kind of wavery-ness permeates here, both within the tone of Berry’s warm, unschooled alto and in the lead guitar, a mild-mannered electric which sounds as if it is being finger-picked almost the whole way through. But in the end this is much less about the quivering of too-tender emotion than the capturing of simple human performance. I like the string squeaks you can hear intermittently (the best one at 1:37)—sounds typically associated with an acoustic guitar, and in any case indicative of an organic sound. What I referred to a moment ago as wavery-ness is actually the result of honest, dynamic playing, recorded authentically, without any flattening or processing. And maybe that’s the most nostalgic thing of all. Bart and Friends is the ongoing project of Australian musician Bart Cummings, and has featured a rotating cast of friends and fellow musicians, often from among Australia’s indie pop elite and/or semi-elite (including the Lucksmiths, the Shapiros, and the Zebras). After a 1998 debut and 2001 mini-album, Bart and Friends went on hiatus until 2010, when another mini-album was released. Ditto for 2011, and now, in 2012, an EP has emerged, with “There May Come a Time” as the title track. The EP is out next week on Santa Barbara-based Matinée Recordings.   --Fingertips
 
Bart Cummings of the Cat’s Miaow had this great indie-pop collaborative group, Bart and Friends, going from time to time back in the ‘90s. In the last couple years he has brought it back as a band, now with members of the Lucksmiths and the Zebras, plus Pam Berry (Black Tambourine, etc.) and Scott Stevens (Summer Cats) as guest vocalists. On this EP, their first for Matinee (and one of two 2012 EPs, with the equally good Shelflife release It’s Not the Words That You Say), Berry sings lead on all six songs. She sang with Cummings back in the day, too, and is an irreplaceable and inimitable part of the indiepop landscape of the past couple decades. Hers is one of the great sad voices of our time, not in an anguished or depressive way, but with a voice that sounds shy, lovelorn and quietly confident at once. Those qualities relate too to these wistful love songs themselves. The songs look back on first kisses and songs written for crushes with equal measures of romantic glow and nostalgia-filled regret. The opening title track contains the awareness that a piece of first love always stays with us, and the music carries the same mix of longing, expectation and failure. The music is autumnal, like the brightness of summer is gently fading. The songs are short and bittersweet, emulating the same feeling. Even their cover of the immortal, overplayed “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, perhaps the most optimistic and permanent song here (“Take my hand / Take my whole life, too”) has this quality of lovely fleetingness, the way they play it. Memories and thoughts of love are dreams that gently fade, too. The last song “A Summer’s Dream” represents this and the mystery of endings as well as beginnings: “A summer’s dream drew you to me / And why I woke I couldn’t say”. That song and one other here appeared also on last year’s Make You Blush EP, and were its best songs. The other, “These Words Are Too Small”, encapsulates so quickly another omnipresent theme: how hard it is to express our feelings. “These words are too small / For what I’m trying to say” is a devastating conclusion.   --Pop Matters
 
The records from Bart and Friends have been quite sporadic since he (he being bassist Bart Cummings) left his post as the bassist for Aussie dream poppers The Cat's Miaow (he was also in Girl of the World, Hydroplane and Pencil Tin), but the ones that have arrived have been awfully good. The There May Come A Time EP, his first for the Matinée label, is no different. In fact, these 6 songs pick right up where last years ep left off. In addition to adding a few loose Lucksmiths to the lineup, Cummings also requested the pipes of one Pam Berry to add her sweet vocals and of course she happily obliged. The record opens with the swirling title track which is then followed by a cover of Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love." The middle two cuts, "A Kiss You Won't Forget' and "There Are So Many Things I'd Like To See" are both pristine jangle by the two closing songs, "These Words Are Too Small" and "A Summer's Dream") were both swiped from last year's ep on the Lost and Lonesome label (Stories with the Endings Changed). It seems as if Cummings has set all things aside and decided to make this his full-time concern and all around the world indie pop fans are rejoicing right now.   --Blurt
 
Bart and Friends is the most recent addition to the Matinée “roster” and title track 'There May Come A Time' from the band's forthcoming EP is just as sweet and catchy (with jangling guitars of course) as you have come to expect from anything released by this superior label.   --Hits In The Car
 
Bart Cummings is an ‘indie icon’, according to his label Matinée Records. They would know, having given a welcoming home to only the cream of the indiepop scene for a decade and a half, but I have to confess to not having heard any of his other records before. Never mind, because his new band is very easy to like. Bart leads the group on guitar, with Pam Berry (best known for the Pines, and an ‘indie icon’ in her own right) on vocals and a couple of Lucksmiths lending their hands. The band last played together a decade ago, releasing a couple of singles, but have reconvened for this six-track mini-album. As a Lucksmiths diehard, who can’t believe its been over two years since their farewell tour, my favourite part of this record is when Mark Monnone’s basslines suddenly leap out to the front of the mix, but even without those moments of pure joy, this would be great. Pam Berry’s pristine vocals drift over the jangly guitars, a spellbinding sound that could have come from any of the last four decades. Their cover of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” is unpretentiously lovely, but it’s the originals that you’ll come back to. Its instinctively good pop music, and you can only hope for a full length album next time.   --Pennyblack Magazine
 
Bart Cummings has been a fixture on the Australian indie-pop scene for several decades, and occasionally, he gathers his friends together (a number of which were in the late, lamented The Lucksmiths) and releases fun, pleasant pop records as Bart And Friends. This summer, he’s released two EP’s, There May Come a Time (on Matinée) and It’s Not the Words That You Say (on Shelflife). Both records are six songs long, and each feature a surprising cover; the first EP contains a cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” (yes, the Elvis hit) with stunningly lovely vocals by the always great Pam Berry. The latter EP features a nice cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” done in a scrappy indie-pop style. The other nine songs are lovely, too; whether it’s the mopey “Hierarchy of Sorrows,” the crooning of Ms. Berry on “There May Come a Time,” the driving “These Words are Too Small,” or the sincere, intense, earnest pleading of “I’m Sure We Haven’t Met Before” and “A Summer’s Dream.” This is primo indie-pop made by people who know how it should be made. Taken together, this is a fun pair of records with plenty of songs for those early autumn heartbreak mixtapes.   --The Big Takeover Magazine
 
Haven’t heard about Bart and Friends yet? Well, if you follow the Australian pop scene, then surely you’re aware of bands like The Lucksmiths, The Zebras and Black Tambourine…all of which have members in this wonderful supergroup of sorts. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they’re releasing their There May Come a Time EP on one of our favorite labels, Matinée Recordings. This is precisely the sort of gems the label is known for, featuring some of the best pop you’re going to hear around the globe. This tune has Pam Berry taking the lead, backed by a steadied hand of gorgeous pop destined to make you swoon. Give it a listen, give it some love.   --Austin Town Hall
 
I was surprised to read that it's the first EP of Bart & Friends on Matinée, as they sound like they have always been there. After having been silent during most of the 00's, they now multiply releases in the 10's. They are a team of veterans of the 90's jangly indie scene and if nostalgia is part of the game, they haven't lost their verve and their melodic qualities. If Bart Cummings (Girl of the World, The Cat’s Miaow, Hydroplane, Pencil Tin and The Shapiros) is obviously the leader of the band, he is not singing here, abandoning totally such duties to Pam Berry (The Pines, The Shapiros, Glo Worm, Black Tambourine). Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths), Louis Richter (Mid State Orange, The Lucksmiths), Jeremy Cole (The Zebras) and Scott Stevens (Summer Cats, The Earthmen) are completing the lineup. There is a cover of Elvis Presley's "Can’t Help Falling In Love" which will make the clocks turning even more backwards, and a classic jangly one minute pop song, "There Are So Many Things I'd Like To See". There are two other songs presently featured on their "Make you blush" EP and only one of the two is in a new version with Pam's vocals replacing those of Bart. The very reasons to come down here are the title track and of "A kiss you won't forget". There is something strangely desperate about "There may come a time" which makes the song poignant and perfect for rainy afternoons, a melancholic nonchalance which works like a sunny spell and leaves you with a smile. "A kiss you won't forget" is a polar opposite, sounding like springtime, upbeat and full of spontaneity, bringing back to mind the Cat's Miaow days.   --Derives
 
Bart and Friends (Bart Cummings e amici) approda su Matinée Records! L’australiano, dopo il ritorno sulle scene dello scorso anno con Stories With The Endings Changed su Lost and Lonesom, ci propone un EP di genuino indiepop minimalista. Il debutto There May Come a Time segna anche il ritorno di Pam Berry (The Pines, Black Tambourine, Glo Worm…) alla voce attraverso sei fantastiche gemme che rassicurano chiunque con la classe di chi l’indiepop l’ha vissuto – e l’ha modellato – sulla propria pelle. Esclusivamente sotto i tre minuti canonici, si balla facilmente dagli esili jangle della title-track fino alla più swinging A Kiss You Won’t Forget o alla brevissima There Are So Many Things I’d Like to See, da far impallidire i fan dei Lucksmiths. Nell’EP c’è anche spazio per due vecchie canzoni risalenti al primo EP (These Words Are Too Small e A Summer’s Dream) e una cover di Elvis Presley: Can’t Help Falling In Love. Per amanti sognatori, un nuovo tassello dalla fantastica discografia targata Matinée.   --Frigopop!
 
Desde Matinée nos informan que la banda australiana Bart and Friends (que incluye miembros de The Cat’s Miaow, The Shapiros, The Lucksmiths, Black Tambourine y The Zebras), acaba de lanzar su primer EP al mercado, que lleva por nombre “There May Come A Time EP” y del que podemos escuchar un fragmento a continuación. El sencillo incluye una versión del tema de Elvis Presley “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, bajo un punto de vista de pop cristalino y las piezas “A Kiss You Won’t Forget”, “There Are So Many Things I’d Like To See”, ‘These Words Are Too Small’ y ‘A Summer’s Dream’ que encandilarán a los amantes de las melodías sencillas y las letras directas al corazón.   --Popchild
 
S'il est un label qui a su garder le cap et maintenir une véritable intégrité artistique en matière d'indie-pop, c'est bien Matinée Recordings. Voilà quinze ans que la structure ne cesse de dénicher pour nous de nouvelles gemmes pop. Si le groupe Bart & Friends ne nous était pourtant pas inconnu, qu'il est bon et tellement logique de le voir atterrir chez Matinée !C'est même aujourd'hui que les Australiens font leurs grands débuts chez le label californien. Des débuts qui prennent la forme d'un EP 6 titres où la Twee - avec un grand T - (re)trouve en Bart Cummings et ses amis plus que jamais ses lettres de noblesses (à nous faire rougir de plaisir !). Et ce n'est pas la mélancolie de There May Come A Time - titre éponyme - qui nous contredira...   --Tweendie
 
Bart And Friends es una increíble banda australiana liderada por Bart Cummings, miembro fundador de The Cat's Miaow, rodeado, obviamente, por grandes viejos amigos. Pero qué amigos: Pam Berry (Black Tambourine, The Pines, The Castaway Stones, etc), Scott Stevens (Summer Cats, The Earthmen), Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths), Louis Richter (Mid State Orange, The Lucksmiths), y Jeremy Cole (The Zebras). En junio publicaron para Matinée "There May Come A Time" un fantástico ep con seis tiernas y sosegadas canciones, atreviéndose con el "Can't Help Falling In Love" de Elvis que genera opiniones encontradas.   --Avec La Participation De
 
Sono quelle storie che forse, prima di oggi, accadevano solo nei dischi di Bart Cummings: dopo vent'anni di carriera, il cantautore australiano viene accolto presso la Matinée, etichetta di punta dell'indie-pop contemporaneo (Northern Portrait, Azure Blue, Strawberry Whiplash, Cats on Fire e così via) e tra i suoi amici torna Pam Berry, che impreziosisce i brani di questo Ep di sei canzoni con la sua voce dalla timbrica selezionata "geneticamente", ma di un altro livello, dal punto di vista tecnico, rispetto ad altre muse indie-pop. Artigiano melodico sopraffino, Cummings seleziona per questo esordio con la Matinèe sei pezzi di sonnacchioso, ciondolante ("A Summer's Dream", la title track) o volubile e fugace ("These Words Are Too Small", "There Are So Many Things I'd Like To See", quest'ultima sotto il minuto di durata) jangle. Per gli amanti delle chicche (fondamentali nel genere), ecco anche una cover di Elvis Presley: "Can't Help Falling In Love".   --Ondarock
 
Composé entre autres de membres de The Cat’s Miaow, The Shapiros, The Lucksmiths, Black Tambourine, ou The Zebras, le supergroupe indiepop australien Bart And Friends est de retour avec un nouvel ep, "There May Come A Time", chez Matinée Recordings. Voici le morceau titre à découvrir.   --PopNews
 
Formados, entre otros, por ex-miembros de The Cat’s Miaow, The Shapiros, The Lucksmiths, Black Tambourine, The Zebras, entre otros, Bart and Friends son una especie de reunión de viejos amigos que de repente quedan una noche en el local de ensayo de alguien y, casi sin quererlo, comienzan a ensayar, surge algo de magia, alguna improvisación, algunas cervezas, algunos acordes y… las canciones. Quizás sea especular demasiado, quizás sea echar a volar la imaginación, lo cierto es que Bart and Friends acaba de editar su disco de debut a través de Matineé Recordings, ya sabéis, ese sello especializado en el Pop más delicado y refinado capaz de transportar tus sentidos a realidades atemporales. Bart and Friends no iban a ser menos, y en su Ep de debut nos obsequian con seis temas de factura Pop, como decíamos, intemporal: Jangle-Pop surgido de las entrañas más líricas. Música hecha con corazón y con ternura al mismo tiempo, porque aún hoy sigue siendo posible encontrarse esa mezcla. Puedes encontrarte con There may come a time, el tema que da título al Ep en el enlace que os adjunto, disponible para su descarga. Además, entre los seis temas del disco, el grupo ha incluido una versión de Elvis: Can´t help falling in love, haciendo hincapié en las guitarras janglies. Puedes encontrar el disco en Matineé Recordings.   --The Janglebox