{"title":"Connections","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"foreign-affairs","title":"Foreign Affairs","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, The Men, Mike Krol and The Replacements. Fifth album from the beloved Columbus, OH band and first for Trouble in Mind, after four albums on Columbus label Anyway Records. Features former members of 84 Nash. Since 2013, Columbus, Ohio's Connections have made four near perfect albums of lo-fi pop majesty for the seminal Midwest label Anyway Records, and \u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e - their latest album (and first for Trouble In Mind), continues that winning streak with fifteen songs packed with sardonic tunefulness and Buckeye bombast, firmly planting them in the canon of the Ohio Sound. Connections sprung forth from the ashes of Nineties pop band 84 Nash, infamous for being the only non-GBV related band released on Robert Pollard's own Rockathon Records and comparisons to the Indie Rock underdogs seem inevitable, if not a little shortsighted. \u003ci\u003eConnections'\u003c\/i\u003e brand of indie rock definitely has one foot in The Nineties but maintains a classicist's penchant for nuanced and timeless rock'n'roll. Many songs use classic pop structures (see \u003ci\u003eLove Me Still\"s\u003c\/i\u003e quiet \/ loud \/ quiet power ballad-isms) but subvert them with a clever melodic twist, a bonkers twin guitar solo or unexpected synth squiggle underneath. These guys have done their homework, but nothing feels studied - they've drunk from the waters of the Ohio Underground and the tunes flow forth naturally, with nods to their Nineties brethren (GBV, Breeders, Gaunt) as well as idiosyncratic Midwest legends like Mike Rep and The Quotas or Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Black Vinyl - No Download.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP+ - Limited Red Vinyl - No Download.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Trouble In Mind","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50497762263371,"sku":"1035932","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50497762951499,"sku":"1035930","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5c8a02c6-47da-46d2-bc56-a69f8d1cf1bd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727732084"},{"product_id":"cool-change-2","title":"Cool Change","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor fans of: Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Car Seat Headrest, The Men, Mike Krol, The Replacements, The Stevens. Limited “Cool Blue” vinyl version available while supplies last. Revered Columbus band’s SIXTH album, 2nd for TiM. Album art by Adam Elliott (Times New Viking). Before ALL OF THIS Connections needed… Cool Change. Then ALL OF THIS happened, things slowed down, things got weird, the world split in half, things like this should never happen. Now more than ever we need… Cool Change. Before and during ALL OF THIS, Connections assembled to make Cool Change, their sixth LP, with new member JP Herrmann at his studio, the long-revered Center for Japanese Helium. The balance held. Cool Change is being released in the last year of the first decade of Connections. Why shouldn’t it be full of brighter, sharper, hooks of suburban pop? Hyper-regional and universal? These songs want basements, and grandstands, and the occasional festival – once ALL OF THIS is good. Those songs were written as an exercise as a breakup album though there was no relationship currently active to break up. A fantasy of a life not currently being lived or necessarily wanted. Good or bad. Post-ALL OF THIS malaise. Connections are in perpetual motion (there’s more where this came from), but the moment calls for Cool Change. Listen to the moment. Cool Change.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Trouble In Mind","offers":[{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50507251253579,"sku":"2011732","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50507251056971,"sku":"2011666","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Connections_-_Cool_Change_b2003049_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727844328"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/connections.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}