Pitchfork

Glasgow is a traditional wellspring of indie pop, from early-1980s progenitors like Orange Juice, the Pastels, and Aztec Camera up through the noisier Jesus and Mary Chain, the dancier Primal Scream, the power-poppier Teenage Fanclub, and the more recent likes of Belle & Sebastian, the Delgados, Camera Obscura, Franz Ferdinand, and the Twilight Sad-- among many others. Bubblegum Lemonade is primarily the project of a man named Laz, a veteran of several Glaswegian bands. Laz's current projects joins the 12-string Rickenbacker jangle of the Byrds (or their successors in the 80s Paisley Underground scene) along with the upbeat scruffiness and simple tunes of such C86 acts as another set of fellow Glaswegians, the Shop Assistants.

"Tyler" comes from The Matinée Hit Parade compilation, which pulls together previously unreleased tracks by 13 artists on California indie-pop label Matinée (The Lucksmiths, the Fairways, Math and Physics Club). While a couple of the songs on Bubblegum Lemonade's MySpace page feature prominent electronics, including the title track to the forthcoming Ten Years Younger EP, this one could almost have been pulled straight out of the 1960s, with tambourines and Laz's cheery vocal harmonies nicely recalling the false ebullience of classics like "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better". Updating the sound slightly is a thin haze of JAMC-informed distortion, and some programmed beats do glimmer beneath it all, only fully emerging near the end. Sweden may be doing more to move indie pop forward these days, but Glasgow is keeping the flame.

MP3:> Bubblegum Lemonade: "Tyler"
[from The Matinée Hit Parade; out now on Matinée]