October 2017 – Vive Le Rock Interview
October 2017 – Arts Desk
September 2017 – Goldmine USA (John Borack)
I’ve had a cool vintage UK power pop 45 by the Favourites (titled “Angelica”) in my collection for some time, but never heard – or heard about – anything else from the band from Nottingham. Apparently they only released only one other record – another single, with the A-side being a beefed up cover of ABBA’s “SOS” – before splintering in late 1979. There was a comp with some unreleased material that surfaced in 2002, but the brand new LP/CD, New Feeling, is most definitely the Favourites collection to own. In addition to both singles and their B-sides, there are 10 rare, unreleased-at-the-time songs that have gone virtually unheard since the band’s heyday, making this the album that never was. It’s all pretty solid stuff without any of the spotty sound issues or dodgy live tracks that plague so many reissues of ‘70s/’80s UK power pop. With a bushel of hooky songs written (separately) by lead vocalist Darryl Hunt and guitarist Duncan Kerr, New Feeling is a gem of an album that proves that even nearly 40 years after the fact, there is still some cool power pop to be exhumed from the vaults. Dig in and dig it. Grade: A
The Favourites 