The Ramona Flowers - Part Time Spies [Distiller Records Promo]

Scheduled for relase via Distiller Records on September 9th, 2016 is "Part Time Spies", the second album effort by the Bristol-based outfit The Ramona Flowers which was already announced on these pages earlier this month. Going through the eleven songs of the album which are rolled out over roughly fourty minutes we're immediately taken by the massive opener "Dirty World" which is nothing but catchy as fuck on a little 80s tip with a great hookline that immediately sticks in your ears for ages and "Skies Turn Gold" fuses a little yearning feel with delighting, lively IndiePop before "Start To Rust" fuels drama and epicness on a well-ballad'esque vibe, incorporating great plastic sounding drums and sweet cliche piano parts. The title song  "Part Time Spies" continues to ride the midtempo wave and takes the over the top-attitude of many 80s Pop songs to a whole new level effortlessly whilst the instrumental piece "Midnight Express" serves an array of playful, highly chromatic synth melody layers accompanied by dancefloor suitable 4/4 - a tune that's meandering between genres like NeoCosmic and (Neo)Trance for sure. Following up is "Run Like Lola", an uptempo floor filler that will be battered over and over on Indie floors throughout the fall / winter season, "Hurricane" deals with a tender, romantic repetition motif-wise, serves complex, nervous beats on the fast lane as well as rapid tempo changes and several passages that - to us - evoke memories of bands like The Police for some unexplainable reason and "My Weirdo" goes full on in terms of lovely plastic romanticisms. Furthermore we see "Designer Life" enter realms of more discoid, panorama SynthPop for those loving their glitter and glitz to the max, "Sharks" are circling in shallow waters in full on romantic piano ballad mode and the final song "Cold Of The Night" takes us to more kitsch-driven late night territories and makes for a great ending of a well-recommended album effort. They say the second album is the most tricky for a band? Surely not for The Ramona Flowers !

Album artwork on Instagram!