GARFIELDS BIRTHDAY ~ LET THEM EAT CAKE

Revved-up melodic compressed British pop. Sixties inspired and pouring forth from the speakers like a celebration of everything good and fun about pre-Tommy Who, while not overtly sounding like them in any specific way. Other reference points might be the Tomorrow, Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Move, Sagittarius, the Raspberries, Badfinger, etc. Joyous harmonies, sophisticated arrangements, excellent guitar soloing meshing with jauntily catchy pure power pop satisfaction.

Reviewed in Dream Magazine by George Parsons, USA

Come meet and greet the genuinely UK born 'n' bred sonic descendents of Teenage Fanclub and even those long-lost La's! Mainly hailing from Weymouth, a town on the Dorset Coast best known (according to the enclosed info sheet) for its golden beach, candy floss and donkey rides, Garfields Birthday willfully produce a sound every bit as sand-coated, sugary and galloping as its ancestry. Sure, the strumming open D-chords and doo-doo'ing three-part vocals of course recall ghosts of Britpop past, but there's an undeniable assurance and even maturity to this material that always keeps the 20th Century safely in the rearview. In fact, this is a band that has already been together thirteen years; that they're not at least a cult sensation atop your very own Endless Playlist is but another example of what's left of the record biz again failing to look after its brightest and best.

Reviewed at Ball Buster Music by Gary Pig Gold, USA

There are two ways you can go when you’re a musician that owns a record label. You can make it a vehicle for your every musical / recorded whim, whether it’s worth hearing or not. Or you can treat it like a business, promote the music you love and eke out your own stuff whenever you have a sliver of a break in your schedule. Simon Felton, owner of Pink Hedgehog and co-leader of Garfields Birthday, follows the second path ­ he’s put out a lot of great stuff from the likes of Anton Barbeau, The Black Watch and Cheese, but at the cost of giving his own band short shrift. That’s fine, though; when he, brother Shane and drummer Adrian Payne get ‘round to finally putting out a record like Let Them Eat Cake, it’s all the (pardon the pun) sweeter. The album spills over with sparkling pop tunes built on chiming guitars, ear-tonguing melodies and the kind of close harmonies that seem to come only from siblings. Rock-poppers like 'Mystery Boy', 'Punch & Judy Man' and 'The Bastion of Teenage' bewitch with their effervescence, while the acoustic ballad 'You Should Know Better By Now' is nigh irresistible. Interestingly for a pop group, the band saves its best songs for the second half of the record, making for an unusually rewarding listen.

Reviewed at Sonic Ruin by Michael Toland, USA

When label guys decide to do that musician thang and record an album, it sometimes makes one wish that they'd stick to their day job. Such is not the case with Garfields Birthday, a Weymouth band whose main-man, Simon Felton, is also the head honcho of Pink Hedgehog Records. Their latest album, Let Them Eat Cake, is also their best, as it rocks with an assured ease, and sounds like it could have fit on the Sarah Records stable, but with a great deal more cojones! Although Garfields Birthday wasn't able to play at this year's IPO Liverpool, I made them an exception for this column as a) they've played IPO Liverpool several times before, and b) Mr. Felton put together an ace lineup of Pink Hedgehog bands for the festival. Thank you, Simon, and we all want Garfields Birthday back next year! In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy this album, and Shindig! readers should defenitely check it out as well!

Reviewed in Shindig! by David Bash, UK

This Dorset trio’s fourth album again features keyboard and production assistance from Alan Strawbridge of fellow Weymouthites, The Lucky Bishops, and it’s another confectioner’s delight of swirling, cotton-candied pop-psych. ‘Molly’s Eyes’ may be the Summer’s first bona fide smash hit and the hint of Squeeze wafting through ‘Punch & Judy Man’ is as welcome as the tender Shoes-like romanticism of ‘You Should Know Better By Now.’ And I’m not embarrassed about suggesting that ‘The Bastion of Teenage’ may be the best Dukes of Stratosphear song you’ve never heard. So if you’re among the legions who’ve never accepted the premature burial of psychedelic power pop, and if you’re a fan of any of the aforementioned groups, you’re unlikely to hear a frothier collection of Summertime pop this year. And, damn you, Simon Felton, for the supercalifragilistically delicious, ‘Sugar Pop’ whose devilishly infectious chorus and nonsensical lyrics have been permanently stapled to my brain, keeping me awake at night for days!

Reviewed at Terrascope Online by Jeff Penczak, UK

The unfortunate remark accredited to Marie Antoinette may suggest a disconnection with the times and, in a sense, this applies to Garfields Birthday, who sound for all the world like a lost pop/psych band from the sixties. However, in terms of identifying with their audience this is not a problem as there a lot of people out there, including yours truly, who really go for nostalgia when it’s well crafted, feel good music. Lines like "Dancing in the park to the Beach Boys after dark" on 'Punch & Judy Man' are a dead give away to where this splendid Pink Hedgehog incarnation is rooted. 'Take A Ride' could be any one of a number of mid sixties bands mostly inspired by The Beatles. This one’s written by guitarist/vocalist Shane Felton whereas the catchy opener 'Molly’s Eyes' is penned by bass player/ singer brother Simon, head honcho at Pink Hedgehog who have just had a timely boost with the appearance of one of their bands Hamfatter on the Dragon’s Den TV programme as well as hit single success.

Garfields Birthday might well do the same given support as songs like 'We Know Your Name' have a classic Revolver era sound and jangly Byrds guitar. James Laming (of Mondo Jet Set) is the writer of three of the songs on the album and also plays guitar on two of them 'You Should Know Better By Now' and the thoughtful pop anthem 'Cocaine Joe' (also on the excellent 2004 release Famous When Dead). The rest of the CD touches base with groups like The Beautiful South and Belle and Sebastian on 'The Bastion of Teenage' and also includes the solid slice of intelligent pop that is 'Mr Newton', title track of the EP released on German label Dandyland Records in 2006. There’s even a piece of "bubblegum" called 'Sugar Pop'. Indeed one wonders if groups like Teenage Fanclub hadn’t got there first what Pink Hedgehog as a whole might have achieved. Yes, Brit-pop does "seem like an awfully long time ago" but it’s still very much alive and in great hands.

Reviewed in Zeitgeist by Phil Jackson, UK

Their MySpace tag line is accurate…Garfields Birthday is indeed "Excellent indie pop for lost romantic souls". Fans of Brit pop are going to be mighty pleased with Let Them Eat Cake, the latest offering from Garfields Birthday, who hail from Weymouth, United Kingdom. The band would make their musical influences, which include Brian Wilson, Teenage Fanclub, and Big Star, proud. To my ears, Garfields Birthday sound a lot like The Connells or Aztec Camera, mostly due to the smooth and soothing vocals of the Felton brothers. The songs are quite catchy with harmonies aplenty, particularly the lead off track 'Molly’s Eyes' and the shimmering 'We Know Your Name'. Other outstanding tracks include 'Mystery Boy' and 'Sugar Pop', which is as sweet and tasty as it sounds, driven by a groovy wah wah lead. The brothers venture deep into Beach Boys territory with the energetic and sunny tune, 'Take A Ride'. I also appreciate the excellent bass tone and the fact that these guys keep it cranked up in the mix. I think this takes the songs to a new level and makes them more memorable. The mix is expertly done... bass is up enough to standout, but is never overwhelming and distracting. Garfields Birthday will impress fans of classic Brit pop and other pop rock bands that graced MTV's 120 Minutes during its hey day in the late 80s. If this is your bag, go get your cake and eat it too.

Reviewed at Bill's Music Forum, USA

Calling your band Garfields Birthday, your album Let Them Eat Cake and releasing it on Pink Hedgehog Records with a cover photo of a forlorn looking guy holding a banana up to his head like a telephone just screams twee and will no doubt put off more potential buyers than it attracts. The fact is that, although at times there is no doubt that there is a certain tweeness about the songs on Let Them Eat Cake, it would be an injustice to dismiss Garfields Birthday as just another post Sarah band trying to recreate the bubblegum sounds of bands from the past or desperately wanting to be the new Monkees. On ‘We Know Your Name’ the band does a really good Monkees impersonation actually. And there is nothing wrong with that when it is done with such grace and played as well as this. The sunshine sounds of the 60's are shining down over these ten songs. The songs were actually recorded between 2005 and 2007 so have taken some time to be released but in reality they could have been recorded any time during the last 40 odd years. Of course when you are writing and recording songs that are full of those jingle-jangle guitars and harmonies that make the sun shine through even on the rainiest of days you have to face the fact that you are doing nothing new; you’re not going to change the course of music and you’re going to get as many people disliking your music as you will loving it.

But it must be said that Garfields Birthday are making all the right noises and for sticking with making music that recalls that of the bands they are so obviously influenced by they deserve a great deal of praise. I actually think that this is the best album of original sunshine pop I’ve heard all year. There are far too many of us who are desperately buying all the so-called lost classics of the 60's which were originally lost and never sold for a good reason; they were never any good to start with. While we are searching for the lost original sounds of our youth we are missing out on bands like Garfields Birthday who are keeping the spirit of the sunshine pop of the 60's alive with their music and doing it with such verve that it’s these bands we should be spending our hard-earned on. Bassist Simon Felton takes all the lead vocals apart from two when brother Shane who also handles guitars extremely well and one James Laming stand up to the mike. Simon also wrote the majority of the songs all of which are catchy, hook-filled slices of sun drenched harmony pop. This is a summer record that won’t fail to lift the dreariest of winter days too; it’s one of those albums that makes you feel happy to be alive. It’s well played, well produced and the songs stand up to repeated playing. A little ray of sunshine in fact.

Reviewed at Pennyblack Music by Malcolm Carter, UK

Sometimes the need for a new hit of 1960s-styled sunshine harmony-pop becomes almost overwhelming, and when you just happen to load up the fine sounds of Let Them Eat Cake by Garfields Birthday (and the entire Pink Hedgehog label back-catalogue for that matter) something deeply satisfying scratches that itch that was making your world a little colder. If I begin listing ‘Power Pop’ names like The Shoes, Big Star, The Records, Teenage Fanclub or the lesser-known but wondrous Three Hour Tour or Frisbie…. well all of that music was still deeply rooted in those long-ago (pardon my age) mid-period Beatles LP’s of yore, with jingle-jangley guitars, hook-laden psychedelic songs and harmonies & a feel-good factor that is immeasurable in its warmth and goodness. So it is with the Pink Hedgehog (UK) label’s latest release Garfields Birthday! Just think of Rubber Soul (particularly George Harrison’s 'If I Needed Someone') and you’re there, right in a shimmer of dappled sunlight in the corner of Garfield’s garden shed, being on the occasion of this glorious birthday celebration. Regardless of the season, the sunshine will flood your heart and head!!!

Reviewed at Rustic Rod's by Rod Goodway, UK

After 10 years of road and five EPs, the Garfields Birthday arrives at the first record, bonanza Let Them Eat Cake. Not to know them does not arrive to be a problem, but it does not want to know who are, this yes is a problem. The brothers Simon and Shane Felton and Adrian Payne make an excellent one to power pop with guitars jangle and influences that go of Beatles to the Teenage Fanclub. Good part of these musics was in its EPs original, what it does not disqualify this work in way some. The work opens in 'Molly' s Eyes' , a beautiful song that floats between Byrds and Beatles. 'Punch And Judy Man' it make reference to references Beach Boys, but it has a taste Cosmic Rough Riders, a light, optimistical melody and cantanda with much joy.

The same it happens with climatic 'Take the Ride' e with acoustics 'You Should Know Better By Now'. One of my favourites person or thing continues being 'Mr Newton' , with an excellent conjunction of low e battery. The record closes with two heavier songs, the dançante 'To suck Pop' e the basic rock of 'Cocaine Joe'. Let Them Eat Cake it shows a band without commitments to be I do not obtain same in making good melodies and a record that can be heard some times, rare thing in the world pop of today. It is not necessary to say that this did not leave in Brazil, but you can import it in this address. Highly recommendable.

Reviewed at Mofo by Rubens Leme Da Costa, BRAZIL

The story of Garfields Birthday is centered around their musical home of Weymouth. A collection of EPs to their name, gigs at Liverpool's Cavern Club and a mutual love of Teenage Fanclub is finally capped by their long-time-coming debut album. Weymouth as everyone knows is home to candyfloss, donkey rides and golden sands. It's also home to some fabulous bands and equally fabulous indie-pop label Pink Hedgehog, who have been instrumental in the release of Let Them Eat Cake and also supply at least one band member. So, was the album worth the three year wait? You bet. Garfields Birthday live in a world where the sun shines all year long and conjure memories of the first ice cream of the year. You know the one, vanilla but with cream, nuts, strawberry sauce and a flake.

The essence of summer and the essence of British pop. It all started with a Teenage Fanclub record collection, and draws on a heritage of all things Liverpool. Cast, Shed 7, The La's and even The Coral. Put simply it's beautifully crafted indie-pop for incurable romantics from the shaded 60s psychedelia of 'Mollys Eyes' to the sheer wistfulness of 'You Should Know Better By Now'. Let Them Eat Cake is joyous escapism. Close your eyes, listen to stand-out track 'Mr Newton' and you'll swear you can feel warm sane between your toes.

Reviewed in Fuse by Andy Tibbs, UK

This band from England's Dorset coast first formed in 1995, but Let Them Eat Cake is their first full album, and nine of its 10 songs come from three previous EPs. They call their music "indie pop for lost romantic souls," and that's a pretty apt description. So is the title of this disc's brilliant ninth track, 'Sugar Pop', except the album isn't sickly sweet and won't rot your teeth. But pick your favourite type of guitar-based pop and you'll likely find it here: psychedelic on 'Molly's Eyes', power on 'Punch & Judy Man', Brit on 'Take A Ride', jangle on 'We Know Your Name', acoustic on 'You Should Know Better By Now', and classic on 'The Bastion Of Teenage'. It's all over within a half-hour and, like a tasty piece of cake, makes you want a second helping. While I'd never heard of Garfields Birthday until now, they've become my favourite discovery of the year.

Reviewed at Chart Attack by Steve McLean, CANADA

Garfields Birthday has nothing to do with a fat orange cat, but a prime example of British power pop. The album Let Them Eat Cake starts with the excellent single 'Molly's Eyes' complete with reverb and melodic hooks that remind me of early Teenage Fanclub with Belle and Sebastian doing vocals. The group was formed by brothers Shane and Simon Felton, who have slowly been gaining acclaim over the years from Wales to Liverpool. The pop stylings also recall a bit of The Shoes and The Cosmic Rough Riders. The excellent 'Take A Ride' is a nice Hollies-styled tune updated for the times. This is followed by the Byrds-Beatles combo of 'We Know Your Name'. Lots of classic Rickenbacker guitar sounds surround this release. 'You Should Know Better By Now' has lovely gentle harmonies of the boys that compare nicely to The Everly Brothers. Every track here is pretty good and the album picks up tempo at the end with the funky psyche-pop of 'Sugar Pop'. A wonderful album any way you slice it.

Reviewed at Powerpopaholic by Aaron Kupferberg, USA

Elsewhere in today's pile, in cheers me no end to acknowledge the presence of a new album by my chums Garfields Birthday, namely Let Them Eat Cake - blessed for the most part with the band's most muscular production to date (take a bow, Al!) and crammed end to end with characteristic Teenage Fanclub style melodic robustness. To hear the big old harmonies of 'Punch & Judy Man', 'Take A Ride' and 'We Know Your Name' is to be reminded of the Stiff Records slogan "Pure Pop For Now People", while 'The Bastion Of Teenage' ponits a wry finger and makes you relieved that you don't have to be a teenager anymore.

Reviewed in Dorset Echo by Marco Rossi, UK

Let Them Eat Cake is a thoroughly pleasant summer pop album. Crisp, clean vocals abound and lovely melodies are ever present. There's the odd intriguing bit, the beginning of 'Take A Ride' sounds like the theme to Never Mind The Buzzcocks, 'You Should Know Better By Now' strips things back and produces a lovely acoustic thing while 'Sugar Pop' is a big old pop thing, riding on an organ wave. Consistent and happy, the perfect thing as the warmer days draw closer.

Reviewed at Russell's Reviews by Russell Barker, UK

1995 was the absolute peak of the Britpop movement, remember Blur vs. Oasis? The year is also significant for the fact that it was the year Garfields Birthday was formed. Whilst that name may not ring any bells for you, dear reader, take my word for it, GB’s latest album - Let Them Eat Cake - might just be the best Britpop album you’re going to hear in 2008! Audacious? Well, my justification for that assertion is simple. Just listen to the songs and you will hard pressed to demur. Sweet melodies, pleasing chord changes and simple arrangements translate into instant accessibility. These qualities are self-evident on sublime tracks like the wistful ballad 'You Should Know Better By Now', the punchy (sorry!) catchy 'Punch & Judy Man' (”We’ll go dancing in the park/To the Beach Boys after dark”), the odd Byrds-REM amalgam of 'Molly’s Eyes', the Beatlesque 'Take A Ride', the jangly folky 'We Know Your Name' and the pub rocking 'Cocaine Joe'. Two years in the making, Let Them Eat Cake proves that the time was well spent (indeed) by the band viz. Shane Felton, Simon Felton and Adrian Payne. For Britpop lovers everywhere, it seldom gets better than this.

Reviewed at Power Of Pop by Kevin Mathews, SINGAPORE

Garfields Birthday's latest release takes one straight into the world of true and memorable pop music; not the bubble gum pop or the mass produced muzac pop but the feel good well produced pop. Pop music has, to an extent, vanished over these past years and there are not many bands who can do it justice. Garfields Birthday, however, are the caretakers of the genre and show just how good and memorable short, snappy tunes can be. 'Molly's eyes', the opening track sets a fine pace for the other numbers to follow and throughout there are good lyrics, excellent musicianship with some great harmonies and guitar breaks. If anyone thinks Pop is beneath them they should stop deluding themselves and take a well earned break, get comfortable with a suitable beverage or two to hand and wallow in the sounds of a band who knows how to play and entertain, a rare event these days.

Reviewed by Tony Bates (Highlands FM), AUSTRALIA

Garfields Birthday album of ten summery pop gems is certain to put a smile on your face. Their musical home, Weymouth in Dorset, has a remarkable music scene - it's been home to many great bands including Orange, Electrasy and The Lucky Bishops. After a couple of singles and EPs on the German label Dandyland Records, Garfields Birthday finally dragged themselves into a studio on Portland to put the finishing touches to this long awaited album. This is jangling melodic British guitar pop, a la Teenage Fanclub or the Cosmic Rough Riders, with a passing nod to the psychedelia of XTC and the powerpop of Shoes or Big Star.

Reviewed at Rhythm Online, UK

GARFIELDS BIRTHDAY ~ DEAF IN VENICE EP

Garfields Birthday hail from a landscape of candyfloss, salt air and donkey rides. Given that, the only rock you'd expect in their hometown of Weymouth would be stripey and packed with sugar. There is however a thriving music scene from which comes Garfields Birthday, a classy, polished Brit-Pop band. If asked to guess their geographic origins we'd have said Liverpool! Their music keeps fine company with that city's tradition of crafted, jangly pop music laced with irony and humour. Cast, Shed 7, The La's, The Coral, these boys could hold their own with any of them. Deaf In Venice has three glorious bursts of spiralling sunshine, play loud on a beach near you. 'We Know Your Name' is thirty years of British guitar pop condensed into three minutes. No coincidence that the bands sporadic history has seen them headline at Liverpool's legendary Cavern on three occasions.'Take A Ride' is an ode to Summer love, roll the top down and head for the coast. 'Cocaine Joe' is a rumbling, tumbling tune held firm by slightly frail, laid-back vocals and the band's now trade-mark spacy, jangly guitar sound. If your record collection can trace many of it's family trees back to Liverpool you should immediately add Garfields Birthday to it. There's an album coming soon too, Let Them Eat Cake.

Reviewed in Fuse, UK

Every Christmas, I always save a special present until last - the one that I know I'll like the most, or the one which looks the most exciting in its wrapping paper - and so it is that I've saved the Deaf In Venice EP (Pink Hedgehog) by Garfield's Birthday until last in this review, knowing that my chums will make me smile with relief and summon forth the antic spirit of early Teenage Fanclub and their exalted ilk. Sure enough, the three tracks in question ('We Know Your Name', 'Take A Ride' and 'Cocaine Joe') drink deeply from the Righteous Source and instil timely notes of hope and renewal in my until-now dormant breast. The band are in sparky and determined form, and a sympathetically organic production accentuates all the quirky characteristics which make Garfield's the band of choice for so many standard bearers of quality pop the world over. Watch out for the forthcoming album Let Them Eat Cake - which reminds me, I haven't eaten or regurgitated anything for at least 10 minutes now, so if you'll excuse me...

Reviewed in Dorset Echo by Marco Rossi, UK

We all know you can count on death and taxes. You can also count on Garfields Birthday delivering sterling nuggets of guitar pop. The three songs found here, each of which high-light a member, are catchy, smart and heartfelt - simply excellent. If forced by radio tyranny to pick one, I’ll go with 'Cocaine Joe', but really, any of these would light up your stereo’s speakers. At three songs, it’s almost a cruel tease, but if this doesn’t whet your appetite for more Garfields Birthday cake, you just don’t like frosting.

Reviewed in High Bias by Michael Toland, USA

Three scrumptious portions of effervescent 60's laced jangle pop from Pink Hedgehog head honcho Simon Felton's ensemble Garfield's Birthday see the beginning of a buzz of activity from the power popping label which should in the coming weeks sees outings for Peter Lacey and Steven Wilson. Serving as a taster for the bands forthcoming full length Let Them Eat Cake this sizzling sun shining set opens with 'We Know Your Name' - a flirtatious fusing of The Byrds and the supremely breezily toned 'Pleasant Valley Sunday' era Monkees diligently crafted and wrapped in the pristine good to be alive mindset of The Boo Radleys as though waiting at the departure lounge clutching tickets bound for a West Coast jaunt.

The more up tempo and Mod-ish inclined 'Take A Ride' courts with subtle lysergic accents draped as were with fuzzy riffs and the delicate wash of shimmering keys that recall the Barracudas at the height of their powers being twiddled about by The Raspberries while personally for me 'Cocaine Joe' provides the set with its crowning glory imagining as it does an all star cast formed from various members of Gumball, Velvet Crush and Teenage Fanclub forging their collective mindset to decode and germinate under test conditions the Only Ones 'Another girl another planet' into a friskily shimmering fluorescent action painting of princely pop that wrestles with your defences, ekes its way beneath your skin and sends your nervous system into a jangle like swoon. Essential type thing.

Reviewed at The Sunday Experience by Mark, UK

Part of the fun of running your own reviews site is being able to showcase lesser known music you personally um… dig. Pink Hedgehog Records has been supporting Power of Pop for years now with regular packages of great power pop every now and then. The man behind Pink Hedgehog – Simon Felton – is the same person behind Garfields Birthday and like Jeremy Morris (of Jam Recordings) favors the Beatles-Byrds jangle folk pop that conquered the planet in the mid-60s – now more than 40 years ago. Imagine that… So I hope you will forgive me if I give this spanking new Garfields Birthday EP a little more attention that would be normally accorded to three-tracked discs.

'We Know Your Name' - opens with a gorgeous 12-string (Rickenbacker?) guitar and Simon Felton channeling the late Gene Clark. That 60s vibes permeates every aspect of this lively song – from the memorable tune to those McGuinn-Crosby harmony backing vocals. Traces of R.E.M. and Teenage Fanclub abound as well. 'Take A Ride' – a driving catchy ditty – sung by Shane Felton – is similarly 60s-fueled but reminds one of The Kinks with its off-kilter, roughly hewn quality. Relentless in its own way, as the slightly repetitive verse burrows deep into your consciousness. Snatches of psychedelic rock filter through in waves. 'Cocaine Joe' – a little downbeat rocker finds James Laming singing rather low in his vocal range. The song moves ahead of its colleagues bearing strong resemblance to the Paisley Underground scene of the 80s viz. Rain Parade, Dream Syndicate and yes, R.E.M. A fine sampler for the upcoming new album – Let Them Eat Cake. Can hardly wait. (A)

Reviewed at Power Of Pop by Kevin Mathews, SINGAPORE

The Deaf In Venice EP by Garfields Birthday is three slices of lovely unashamed pop music. Three of the band take turns writing and singing a song and I'd have to plump for 'We Know Your Name' as my favourite. It's the lovely pastoral yet suburban pop that wins me over. Having said that, I also have a soft spot for 'Cocaine Joe' and James's winsome voice.

Reviewed at Russell's Reviews by Russell Barker, UK