Spanish Prisoners, Oregon Bike Trails, Long Walks on the Beach [monday Threesome]

Welcome to another edition of ‘Monday Threesome’, a series of posts from The Wild Honey Pie where we post free/cheap music from three bands with similar vibes.  Think of it like a Pandora station made by humans.

After such a stormy weekend, we could all use some tunes that remind us of the joys of pleasant weather.

Oregon Bike Trails simply sound like California. While that may be cliché to say, their 50’s-60’s lo-fi pop sound, shuffling rhythm, and bright lyrics embody the carefree feeling of dancing on the beach. Their Latin-influenced beats also blend well with the jangling keys and guitars.  Though the band doesn’t have plans to release new music until  November, their bandcamp is well worth the perusal.

Literally Crazy For You – Long Walks On The Beach

Recognizing a theme here? Incorporating elements of both punk and folk into their songwriting, Long Walks on the Beach are a bit more intense, though their song titles don’t appear that way — “True Love or Bust”, “I Didn’t Want to Make Out”, and “Literally Crazy for You” are all available for free on their bandcamp page. Oozing with retro sounds, I could easily see an alternate reality Ronettes or Crystals singing these songs.

Rich Blood – Spanish Prisoners

With such beautiful female vocals, Spanish Prisoners exude an etherial quality present only in great pop music. Built around moving, swirling sounds, their songs are truly made for the total envelopment of headphones, while the complex, slightly psychedelic arrangements create a great deal of depth.  The band has a full length coming in the fall called Gold Fools and a generous smattering of songs to stream on their bandcamp both from that album and earlier releases (including a cover of my personal favorite Smiths song, “Still Ill”).