BIG STIR RECORDS presents a true first for the label: the first-ever digital release of an album previously available only on 8-Track and Reel-To-Reel tape! It's HAVE A COOL SUMMER! SUMMER-POP DEMOS & 4-TRACK GEMS 1979-1989 from veteran San Diego guitar pop singer-songwriter STEVE ROSENBAUM, and it's exactly what the title promises: lo-fi delights from a gifted melody maker who's still going strong. It's out Friday, December 2 at bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com and hits all the major streaming services the same day. Here's more about the collection:

Originally released on the first day of Summer 2021 on 8-track and Reel-To-Reel tape only, HAVE A COOL SUMMER! is now available as digital download and streaming worldwide for the first time ever, courtesy of Big Stir Records! This is a collection of Steve Rosenbaum’s demos of songs written during the 1980s. Faced with a minimal budget and a will to get these songs recorded, he began by “bouncing” tracks between cassette decks and then, after a few years, recording on the Tascam Portastudio. Many tracks feature pre-drum machine percussion like Tupperware and buckets, as well as spring reverbs, guitar pedal compressors, and toy instruments. Those who were there in the pro-ProTools era will remember what it was like, and delight in just how far a terrific songsmith like Rosenbaum was able to push what passed for “tech” in those days: HAVE COOL SUMMER! represents the best of the DIY attitude while still presenting each song as a finished piece.

Notes from the original release on Dead Media Tapes:
This collection is an almost TRIPLE length album compilation of songs Rosenbaum recorded between 1979-89, mainly on the Tascam 244 cassette 4-track Portastudio. There are also a couple of studio recordings, but this is primarily '80s DIY. These songs were never released when they were originally recorded, so this is the first time the rest of the world, besides Steve's family and friends, are hearing this! His sweet melodies and smart arrangements on every song beg the question, "Why wasn't he signed to a major label back then??" You hear perfect elements of Power Pop, Surf, Bedroom Pop, Dream POp, 50s, 60s, and 80s vibes and Jangle Pop. But I like to chew all those terms together and call it Summer Pop, which the longing, optimism and melancholy perfectly place you in that last month of school, and from the start to the very end of summer.

Review from Power Popaholic:
Steve Rosenbaum is a DIY San Diego musician with a jangling guitar and lots of songs written between 1979-89. Steve really should have been signed by a major label at that time. But it never happened. Fans of the era will see the potential in these songs because it’s music that deserves to be heard.

Review from Poprock Record:
Steve Rosenbaum’s monumental collection Have a Cool Summer! is like a message in a bottle that’s suddenly washed ashore. The album contains 23 songs recorded on his home 4-track between 1979-89 that never saw the light of day at the time. After spinning these tunes a few times all I can say is, what a shame. Get ready for a ‘great lost album’ experience because Rosenbaum’s songs are tight hooky little masterpieces, combining bits of the Raspberries, the Beach Boys and Marshall Crenshaw. Honestly, there are just too many highlights on this record to really sum the total effect.

About STEVE ROSENBAUM:
Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Steve Rosenbaum has been knocking around the power pop scene for many years. His formative years were spent in suburban Toledo, Ohio, where he came of age at the crossroads of rock, soul, pop, and bubblegum.

While studying at University of Michigan in 1978, Rosenbaum was one of the early performers at the now-famous Bookies Club 870, a seminal punk and new wave club. He went on to perform in Detroit and Ann Arbor in a series of original and cover bands. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, where he played in Flip City, a fixture at Madame Wong's West, and other '80s clubs. From there, he and bass player (and Grammy nominated producer) Bruce Witkin (Hollywood Vampires) left to form the Lonely Bulls, a Beatle-esque vocal-centric acoustic fronted project that featured Everly Brothers-type harmonies.

Steve Rosenbaum's Mess of Fun released their album Making Up A Mess Of Fun in 2014. The band's rotating roster has included LA’s Bruce Witkin (Supremium) and Rob Klonel (Supremium, Cruzados), Pete Bayard and Brendan Ruff (Super Buffet), as well as Scott Samuels (Roxy Monoxide, Bona Fides, Vinyl Pirates).

Steve's roots with Big Stir Records go back to the label's very beginnings as a California live music concert series, having played on Big Stir bills in Los Angeles and San Diego alike. He's had song on Big Stir compilations since before the label was formally launched and contributed to the Big Stir Singles Series. Label heads Christina and Rex have often opined that “Compilation” ought to be Rosenbaum's middle name, not just because of his frequent appearances on Various Artist collections but his tendency to draw the best reviews on such comps almost every time out. It's the label's contention that the ever-growing collection of one-off tunes from Rosenbaum will soon total up to the 21st Century equivalent of the current retrospective compilation, and we aim to be there when it all comes together. Stand by!