The Cyrkle - Revival The Cyrkle

Sunshine pop pioneers and sixties hitmakers The Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball," "Turn-Down Day") return with their first album in more than half a century, Revival. The album features 13 new tracks from the band's 21st-century lineup, led by original members Don Dannemann and Mike Losekamp, and showcases the classic sound that made The Cyrkle a household name.

THE CYRKLE's return to the airwaves was one of last year's most welcome surprises. The legend of the band's meteoric mid-'60s rise is a heady one even by the halcyon standards of the era: they shared stages (and manager Brian Epstein) with The Beatles – whose John Lennon coined the spelling of their name – and scored two major hits in the Paul Simon/Bruce Woodley-written “Red Rubber Ball” and the culture-defining “Turn-Down Day”.

They vanished nearly as quickly, leaving behind those undeniably definitive classics of the Sunshine Pop sound and just two proper albums. Aside from a handful of appearances and the prospect of a reunion cut short by the untimely 2007 passing of co-founder TOM DAWES, they were not to be heard from again until 2017, when DANNEMANN (vocals and guitar) and LOSEKAMP (vocals and keyboards) joined forces with some of Ohio's top performing musicians – including OHIO EXPRESS bassist Dean Kastran as well as Pat McLoughlin (vocals, guitar), Don White (lead guitar, vocals) and Scott Langley (drums, vocals) – to recreate the original Cyrkle sound onstage and bring their creative vision into the new century in the studio.

What sets the new version of THE CYRKLE apart from other veteran '60s acts on the retro rock circuit is their focus on new material, all delivered with the classic band's signature harmonies and melodic charm. Indie radio has already rallied around last year's hit single “We Thought We Could Fly” – Dannemann's touching tribute to his late musical partner Dawes, whose harmonies were added to the track via vocals from the vault – and the crowd-pleasing “Dance With Me Tonight”, a fresh staple of the band's exuberant live sets.

REVIVAL offers much more, intended as the true third proper Cyrkle album that might have appeared in 1968.