The Reds, Pinks and Purples: The Past is a Garden I Never Fed (Fire/digital outlets)

We will admit immediately that we had never heard of the Californian artist Glenn Donaldson who goes by this endearing name and opens this album with the song The World Doesn't Want Another Band.

He has apparently written a couple of hundred songs and released eight albums since 2018.

Clearly we've got a lot of catching up to do, but before then we are immersing ourselves in this smart and sometimes quite lovely collection of intelligent lyrics in the context of classic indie pop (very 1980s) which has invited comparisons with the Go-Betweens, Lloyd Cole, the Chills, REM, the Chameleons and Guided By Voices.

So he's a bit retro but also in the classic tradition.

This album is, we believe, a collection of archive and rare material in anticipation of a new album later in the year, which we look forward to because aside from the title of that opening track here too are songs with the titles I Only Ever Wanted to See You Fail (a title which recalls the Smiths?), Slow Torture of an Hourly Wage, Your Cult is on Fire, My Toxic Friend, No One Absolves Us in the End . . .

Donaldson is clearly one smart and literate guy who freights his alt.pop with lyrics which are as humorous as they are provocative.

He can also get a little rowdy (You're Never Safe from Yourself) but can also charm with a melody (Your Taste Makes You Strange) and some serious Searchers-style guitar jangle (Marty as a Youth).

The Reds, Pinks and Purples has been a real discovery and we've got to a lot to go back through as well as to look forward to.

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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here

https://theredspinksandpurples.bandcamp.com/album/the-past-is-a-garden-i-never-fed