Spectrals - Big Baby by Slumberland Records

"Bad Penny" is the Richard Formby-produced debut album from Spectrals aka 21 year old Louis Jones. Mixing ingredients of pop, soul, doo wop, and a garage rock ballad, it sounds vintage but current, while the Yorkshire lilt in his voice (a result of his hometown, Heckmondwike) places him firmly in the UK, rather than Detroit. Inspired by the music he grew up listening to as a child, from the Rolling Stones (the only CD's his mum ever has in her car) to The Style Council, Elvis Costello and The Ronettes (artists he regularly shares on mix tapes) it's all "just about love really."

Spectrals has always been a small operation. Now in its third year of existence, Louis started by recording in a friend's knocked-together studio and posting the songs on MySpace. Despite originally only being for his closest friends, his Myspace soon attracted the attention of discerning labels all over the world: from Brooklyn label Captured Tracks (Dum Dum Girls, Wild Nothing) to Brighton's Sex Is Disgusting (Mazes, Human Hair) to Slumberland (we released his excellent "7th Date" single last year) to Underground Peoples, where he eventually released last year's "Extended Play."