The Happy Somethings: Straying Waifs (Bootleg)

English twee trio The Happy Somethings rounded up a bunch of "outtakes, undertakes and pre-takes" and a live one, because they felt they needed a bootleg. If people go to trouble of releasing your recordings without your consent, you made it, but since there were no takers so far they want ahead and put one out themselves. Straying Waifs (Bootleg) does not suffer from poor sound quality, false starts and sub-par songwriting. The acoustic versions of Consolation Street and Fragile The Heart are as catchy as the electric versions that ended up on their A Healthy Dose Of Hope album.

Long-time followers of the band will be pleasantly suprised by the bass-heavy take on Hi There Sunshine and Just Call Me (Again). Three-part harmonies get an outing with the previously unreleased Bed Friend (Clean Sheets), plus it offers some sensible relationship as well. These songs were not deemed worthy until now, but most indie bands would kill to come up with even one or two of them.

The Happy Somethings: A Healthy Dose Of Hope

English twee trio The Happy Somethings set out to record a wealth of optimistic songs for their new album A Healthy Dose Of Hope. Not the naive kind, mind, or the even worse cheesy ones. So the prospect o becoming a mother soon also comes with the realisation that a drink will come in handy to keep a modicum of sanity in the middle of sleep depravity (You'll Grow Up Quick) or settling for hanging out with a friend when the love or your life has not shown up yet (Just Being With You).

With wit and sarcasm playing catch, A Healthy Dose Of Hope is a reality check that will put a smile on the listener's face. It will take off one's mind from the troubled times, replacing big worries with a peak into the band's domestic ones. They make it sound so easy, but most musicians will come up short try writing ace lo-fi songs with earworm potential. Plus they are awfully prolific too, which is a bit unfair for all those struggling artists whose wells have ran dry.

The Happy Somethings: Consolation Street

English twee trio The Happy Somethings take a good-natured swipe at a pretty girl wandering down around town on their new single Consolation Street. Sure enough the lads take notice, while she confident that she is way out of their league: "With your sparkling teeth and your lips bright red // and your tired eyes saying time for bed, // you don’t leave much to the imagination." Of course this won't last, because beauty tends to be only skin deep. The band must have been having a lot of fun, punching holes into her inflated ego. It is a track from their forthcoming album A Healthy Dose Of Hope, which will be available on August 7th.

The Happy Somethings: Heaven Is Divine (3 versions)

English twee trio The Happy Somethings did not see the light on their new single Heaven Is Divine, but a cause could made that thye once agian mastered the art for coming up with angelic melody. This is the sort of thing that Paul McCartney could have written before having his first cigarette or breakfast in 1966. It is a subtle blend of folk and vaudeville and since the subect matter of the lyrics is being grateful for what they got - taking a walk by the riverside, enjoy the flight of couple of birds - it is the perfect soundtrack for a glorious Spring day. It comes in three flavours and all of them are pretty damn tasty.

The Happy Somethings: Meanwhile

English twee trio The Happy Somethings are in melancholy mood on their new single Meanwhile, wondering where the good times have gone, but also being optimistic that those might return. The three-part harmonies set an example for teaming up to make it happen.

With a louder electric guitar than usual they give their plea for good times, safe lives, love and freedom an edge that is a change of pace for the tongue-in-cheek approach that is such a huge part of their craft. Does it work? O yes, it does.

The Happy Somethings: Don't Mention It

English twee trio The Happy Somethings are not fans of Christmas songs, but for years they couldn't get away from writing and recording them. They have had enough and by way of musical exorcism they vowed to create just one more - the aptly titled No More Christmas Songs - and close the book with their signature blend of irony and sarcasm.

All that was left to do was rounding up all the seasonal stuff for an album, Don't Mention It, and get it out in the world and out of their system. Some it borderline adjacent to the theme, but they felt belonged to be included. It is a collection for anyone who hates the fluff that is piped ad nauseam through the crap sound systems in stores that makes shopping such a maddening experience in this time of the year.

The Happy Somethings: No More Christmas Songs

That time of the year is approaching fast again when shop owners are under the impression that their clientele needs a dose of Mariah Carey, Chris Rea, Wham!, and Bing Crosby as the soundtrack for their shopping. Christmas is a sonic nightmare, despite all good efforts each year to write and release a seasonal song that does not suck, in hopes that it will be playlisted to yank the crowd out of their painting by numbers slumber.

English twee trio The Happy Somethings give it a go with No More Christmas Songs, taking a scalpel to predictability of pretty much every song that hopes to cash in on the rampant hypocrisy. A pause from warfare is not what will people help - that's a commitment that needs to be put into effect all year long.

The Happy Somethings: EL ELU KU

English twee trio The Happy Somethings have picked four new songs from their seemingly endless stack of off-kilter pop tunes for their new EL ELU KU EP. They make fun of small flaws (Peccadillo Parade) and have a go at a doctor who has all the degrees, but is unaware of the fact that empathy goes a long way (Jean Rosealynn).

So, no songs about relationships? Yes, two of them, both of them firmly tongue-in-cheek: the self-deprecating Pretty Pathetic Love Song, followed by Feelings, the latter perfectly summarizing that reason is not part of the equation when things go wrong.

The Happy Somethings: Fair Weather Friend

The Happy Somethings see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel on their new single, Fair Weather Friend. It is a gentle advice to get of your arse if you want to upgrade your life. They offer this pastoral psych-pop ditty in three different guises: basic, open, and closed. It is impossible to pick a favourite, but hey - you can't have too much of a good thing.

The Happy Somethings: A Kind Of Longing

English twee trio The Happy Somethings' hiatus did not last long. Just a few months after the release of Felt, they are back with another quartet of tunes on the new A Kind Of Longing EP, with optimism superseding the darker mood, proclaiming that in the end love will have the upper hand.

The Lost Paradise is just around the corner. All that is needed is to let go from the narrow mindedness and open up to other people and outlooks of life. If anything, these four songs are capable to cheer one up and get cracking again.

The Happy Somethings: A Kind Of Loving

English twee trio The Happy Somethings have made a song about a one-sided love affair waiting to be reciprocated. In those early stages everything is fine and even the yet unnamed annoyances - "I'll take you as you are." - are welcomed with open arms. There is a bit of Simon & Garfunkel melodicism int there as well, so this one is tailor made for unfettered daydreaming.

The Happy Somethings: Felt

English twee trio The Happy Somethings are in a melancholy mood on their Felt EP. Breakups seems unavoidable, never mind trying to make amends when it is a lost cause to the other party.

All that is left are memories of the good times - of which there were plenty. The sea could not care less about human misfortune, so that offers a bit of solace when one's is staring at it from a window on a grey day.

The Happy Somethings: Love Songs

English twee trio The Happy Somethings named their new EP Love Songs, but rest assured: they haven't gone soft. It was more entertaining to poke fun at prospective signifant others - after all if he or she can't take a joke, it is time to get the hell out of there.

It's all done tongue-in-cheek and slightlty over the top, but it also very refreshing to indulge into a bit of wryly sarcasm. After the novelty of being in a relationship wears off, sharing the same sense of humour is what keeps people going.

The Happy Somethings: Rent To Kill

English twee trio The Happy Somethings take a swipe at the costs of housing (and some other things) on their new single Rent To Kill. Left or right, you are fucked. They take it slow on the furnished version, with a sparse backing to get all the emphasis on the words. A fine of of bottled anger in a folk setting, which is quite fitting for a genre that is known for taking a stand for the less privileged. The unfurnished version is a tad faster, with a more prominent role for the guitar.

The Happy Somethings: Caught In The Web EP

The Happy Somethings are killing two birds with one stone on their new Caught In The Web EP: the rabbit hole of misinformation and general stupidity that people can stumble into on social media as well as the spiders and flies that keep them company in their recording space. And it actually works both ways: serious worries and a bit of a laugh are locked into a groove.

Instead of filming an unfortunate victim for a couple of likes in Kiss of Life, people might actually call for help from the boys and girls who can take care of her. A Quick Waylay is a plea for keeping the phone in one's pocket in order to connect with the real world and - gasp! - maybe even real people.

The Happy Somethings: A Quick Waylay

English quirky pop trio The Happy Somethings make a case for being offline on their new single A Quick Waylay. It is kind of refreshing to connect in real life every now and then and go through the magazines that have been gathering dust under the bed.

Is it worth your time to engage in a bidding frenzy on eBay? Or being surprised/agitated/annoyed about blurry webcam footage? Rest assured, no need to go full Luddite, but switching off the phone or laptop never hurts. Go out, and smell the roses for fuck's sake.

Lost Signal & The Happy Somethings: Time

Electronica artist Matt Couchman of one-man band Lost Signal and quirky pop trio The Happy Somethings joined forces for a bit of melancholy with their Time single. A nice play of light and shade, contemplating the past, present and future, and wondering why it seems that things are happening faster each day: "Time comes over the hills // No time to kill // Can't stop - never will".

The Happy Somethings: Second Time Around

English quirky pop trio The Happy Somethings have left the safety of their comfort zone, covering the classic Second Time Around, a song made famous by the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. It is for a good cause, with all proceeds donated to The Specialized Project, a charity raising funds for The Teenage Cancer Trust among others. They reworked the track as a lo-fi Sixties pop gem, with their signature harmonies smack in the middle of the mix.

The Happy Somethings: Apples & Pairs

English quirky pop trio The Happy Somethings keep in touch with their off-kilter outlook on life on their new single Apples & Pairs. The first one is about a breakup, liking it to the skinning and cutting of an apple and thinking about collecting the pits to poison the other party, and the other one is basically a list of things they love - including pears obviously, because they love wordplay.

Their childlike optimistic sound is irresistible and it might take awhile before one realizes that they can be actually quite tough underneath. Therapists might call it empowering, but "fuck it, I'll make up my own mind, get even, and move on" will work as well.

The Happy Somethings: Daisy Bracelet

English quirky pop trio The Happy Somethings offer their new single Daisy Bracelet in two flavours: a psychedelic "yellow heart version" and a darker echo-heavy "petal version". Sometimes telling the story of a girl who does not fit in, but is always free, can't be done in two-and-a-half minutes, so they went for it again. The different backing tracks add different moods to the lyrics, and that changes the perspective a bit, which is a good thing indeed.