Sweater Girls are a new Los Angeles-based group and, according to Mike over at Happy Happy Birthday To Me, their debut 7″ single sold out solely based on word-of-mouth. Listening to the three songs tucked within, it’s easy to hear why — Sweater Girls produce outstanding indie pop music perfect for the HHBTM label, and perfect for everyone’s favorite musical consumption format… vinyl.

Sweater Girls isn’t an all-girl group, as the name might suggest (Joseph Teran is on lead guitar, backed by Allan Kingdom on bass), though they do include a few of the fairer gender. Rounding out the group are Jackie Hundza (percussion), Diana Barraza (guitar and vocals), and Tatiana Sanchez (keys).

Their music does fit the name, though. Lo-fi with bouncy rhythms and a hint of fuz, “Fingers Crossed” and “Haven’t Got A Clue” will have you longing for those early fall days when the cutoffs go back in the closet and snug knit cotton sweaters once again rule the wardrobe. EP is not a single in the traditional sense; rather, all three songs are A-Side worthy.

Whether they are named after a 1978 film whose plot surrounded a club formed by a group of teenage girls centered around preserving their virginity or not, who knows. What we do know is that Sweater Girls produce wholesome, lovable, argyle-obsessed, fun music.

Download: “Haven’t Got A Clue” by Sweater Girls

HHBTM [7" Single, 2010]

1. Do The Sweater
2. Fingers Crossed
3. Haven’t Got A Clue

There is documentation of creative longevity and then there’s Bunnygrunt, whose sixteen plus years as a band (give or take a few) has gained them notoriety in the areas of lo-fi rock, indie pop and 90s pop-punk. This band’s latest effort is Matt Harnish & Other Delights, a record that takes its name from so-called main Grunter man Matt Harnish, the other half being that of Karen Ried (possibly the ‘other delights?).

Other Delights features an array of pop influence, from their core 90s sound to the same dating back decades and including all of that which is in between. You’ll hear hints at Bunnygrunt contemporaries from their earliest of days (just pre, with Vaselines) in “Don’t Turn Down The High”. You’ll enjoy punk worthy “Shotgun”, and several pop heavy greats like “665 & 1/2 Won’t Do” and “S.Kingshighway Bubblegum Factory”.

This is an album that might put a question mark in your eyebrows from the get-go; it’s one that you have to sit on for a listen or two. Given a short amount of time, you’ll see beyond the simple hooks and upbeat… beats. You’ll hear the swirling cacophony in “Fix It, Because You Can”, you’ll fall in love with the noise-ridden solo guitar in “Don’t Turn Down The High”, and the poppy rock-centric “Where Eagles Dare, Part II” will rocket to the front of your playlist of repeated songs.

But perhaps the most cherishing element of this album is how flat-out amazing it is. Sure, this sound has plenty of traces of bands and genres that you may know and love. The band knows best, labeling their influences as “60s pop, 70s rock, 80s punk, 90s indie rock” and they round it off with a “00s ??”. It’s an array of genres that, when mashed together, sum something epic. That being Bunnygrunt.

Bunnygrunt: Don’t Turn Down The High [mp3]

Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records [CD, 2009]

1. 665 & 1/2 Won’t Do
2. the Limits of Southern Hospitality
3. Shotgun
4. 1000% Not Creepy
5. Don’t Turn Down the High
6. S.Kingshighway Bubblegum Factory
7. Fix It Because You Can
8. Where Eagles Dare Part II
9. You Get What You Get
10. Southtown Famous

Quick, furious, and externally tempting are the best available adjectives to describe Forever and their self-titled debut EP. Their songs seem to focus on the triumph and/or tyranny of love. Vocalist Shenna Corbridge spends an electrically-fused 15 minutes screaming truths she makes you believe are self-evident. This is a group that says what they want, when they want. And in 50 words or less at times.

As Forever most likely hope for, a Dead Milkmen impression is obviously notable on tracks like “Who’s Haunting Me?” and “Psychic Resistance”. The general listener may only hear the 80′s punk influenced, western-like quick draw riffs and spills on this album. But safety pins and torn Levi’s aside, this is a solid and original album. “Tumbleweed” lands itself centered of the track list, but highest ranked as far as originality and could be a punk rock prophecy for the new millennium.

This is a group that, among other things, begs for a live audience. Even on this EP, it is extremely rational to believe that their sound would be nothing short of exciting and turbulence riddled (as they have proven audience all over the U.S.). Imagine the covers they might do. Despite this obvious revelation. This is, again, a very solid record. It is a six-track example of the high speed fundamentals that Forever have to offer the world.

Forever: Tumbleweed [mp3]

HHBTM [CDEP, 2009]

1. Oh Distant Heart
2. Something’s Missing
3. Tumbleweed
4. You Don’t Care
5. Who’s Haunting Me?
6. Psychic Resistance

Casper And The Cookies (MySpace) are an interesting bunch. Modern Silence demonstrates their agility in creating bizarre pop songs in the vein of early Of Montreal and Apples In Stereo, the Elephant 6 entourage, and underground glam pop. While front-man Jason NeSmith had a brief stint in Of Montreal, it should be noted that Casper And The Cookies were already in existence, and had been, for nearly half a decade.

So the sound mixes that highly infectious and awkward lo-fi, key heavy sound of e6 pop; it always has. Modern Silence finds the band effectively translating this sound into their own with the intense “Little Kings”, the melodic pop of “You Love Me”, and the catchy guitar riffs of “Sharp!”. This continues throughout the album in tracks like the bouncy “Eulogy For Marcel Marsalis”; even ballads such as “Your Eyes Are Gold” and closer “I Am Gone” find a unique place on the album.

Still, tracks like “Peter Erchick Bicentennial Service Area” may be a bit of a stretch for some. This song features Kay Stanton on lead vocals and her pointed vocals differentiate the song a bit more than one would expect given her noteworthy backing vocals in other tracks. Stanton makes a more than viable comeback in tracks like “Sunshine Girl”.

Modern Silence is long. The album has a full 18 tracks that clock in at an impressive 68 and a half minutes. But for pop fans, this merely means there is more to enjoy. And in that sense Casper And The Cookies delivers wholeheartedly.

Casper And The Cookies: Little King [mp3]

Happy Happy Birthday To Me [CD, 2009]

1. Little Kings
2. You Love Me
3. Pete Erchick Bicentennial Service Area
4. Sharp!
5. Song Across The Sea
6. Little Lady Larva
7. Cloud Of Bees
8. Moldy Flower
9. Meredith
10. New Day Zero
11. Nagoya
12. Keep Talking
13. Sunshine Girl
14. Eulogy For Marcel Marsalis
15. Chocolate Cake And Coffee
16. I Am Happy
17. Your Eyes Of Gold
18. I Am Gone