The phone used to be something that hung on the wall. Now it’s a friend depository, an entertainment centre, an information lifeline, and more. People almost seem to be in a relationship with their phone – they can’t stand to be separated from it and mourn its loss if it goes astray. Everywhere you look it’s a sea of bowed heads. A lot of people don’t even talk on their phones, they’re so busy doing other things. Today’s artists have got a strong connection to their devices for sure, though the link here does appear to come back to an actual human being.
Gavin Bowles and the Distractions are all over our phone theme. Their soon-to-be released album is entitled Phoning It In while their pre-release single is “On the Telephone (I Used to Call You).” The setting lyrically and stylistically is 1979 modish power pop. I definitely get a pre-Parallel Lines Blondie feeling taking this in. By contrast The All Night Chemist brings the banjo out front for “I’m In Love With My Phone.” No, this is not a paean to some AI-driven device but someone replaying a lost love’s phone message over and over. The song is a great shambolic mix of folk and new wavey keyboard riffs. The indomitable Fernando Perdomo has yet another vehicle to showcase his formidable talents with his new duo Broken Sound. “Fiero” is taken from their new self-titled album and it’s working our phone theme hard. As the video and lyrics for the song demonstrate, it’s all about car phones. The video pastiche of 1970s movie and TV car phone clips perfectly captures how cool/not cool the car phone was at the time. Last up a band literally living our focus, The Telephone Numbers. Ok, the song is not about phones but I’m giving them a pass because this single is so good. “Weird Sisters” has a Anglo-folk pop sound I associate with Roddy Frame or The Lilac Time. A poppy delight.
Being ‘on the phone’ appears to mean something very different today compared to days of yore. And people are gonna write songs about it. You can dial up these should-be new faves by clicking the hot-linked names you see above.
Top photo featuring Poprock Record exclusive model Rob Elliott courtesy Swizzle Studio.
The Merseybeat goes on. Despite now being a long-time distant from both its time and place of origin bands just keep taking up the influence and re-working the sound. Not that I’m complaining.
With a name like The Mop Tops I was halfway to liking this group without hearing a note. This Swedish band has put out a scant few albums since 1995 but each one is pretty special. Sure, there’s a strong Beatles vibe to everything but the song-writing here is outstanding, letting the band succeed on their own merits. All 12 songs on the debut record Inside are terrific. “She’s So Fine” definitely skews to Beatles ’65 but songs like “Whenever I’m Alone” have a Smithereens’ feel. “Sending Letters” sounds a bit like Steve Earle channeling Buck Owens. And I love the driving droney guitar defining the title track “Inside.” Of course, there’s a reason “Plastic Moon Rain” was the single – it’s a killer. Thirteen years later the band returned with Ground Floor Man and it was another home run, brimming with fab cuts exuding Beatles, Tom Petty and Elvis Costello influences. Opening cut “You Crucify Me” just grabs the listener and won’t let go. Then last year the band returned with Running Out of Time and it was like no time had passed at all. The songs, the jangle, the strong Mersey vibe were all there. “Queen of Misery” gets my vote for the should-be hit single.
You Crucify Me
New Jersey’s The Weeklings seem to have come full circle. Their early records were very Mersey, recreating an early Beatles atmosphere to shroud their original songs and covers of Beatles rarities on successive albums released in 2014, 2015, and 2016. From those early records I love “If I Was In Love” and “Morning, Noon & Night” because the songs depart from the formula just a bit, marking them as unique without sacrificing the influence. 2020’s 3 saw the band branching out from their Mersey roots with a much more original sound, still Beatlesy but distant enough to make its own splash. Opening cut “I Want You Again” sets the scene with its Cheap Trick or Knack-ish fresh but rocking sound. Fast forward to 2023 and the band return to Mersey-proper with an inventive remake of “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” adding some rock muscle and vocal layering to one of McCartney’s bounciest tunes. You can hear the Weeklings’ mastery of the Beatles sonic stylings on all these recordings, whether they’re going full-on Merseybeat or just shaping a particular element to suit their melodic purpose.
If I Was In LoveMorning, Noon & NightI Want You Again
The Nerk Twins album Either Way was a one-off collaboration between Herb Eimerman and Shoes member Jeff Murphy that came out in 1997. Unlike the two previous bands the Mersey influence here is more muted, filtered through a creative independence that is synthetic rather than imitative. Other than taking their name from John and Paul’s throwaway reference to their partnership this record is more Beatles-adjacent than mainline Merseybeat. Still, there are some striking Beatle-isms featured here and there. Like the classic “I Want to Hold Your Hand” instrumental turnaround tucked into “In the Middle of the Night.” Or listen to how “I Still Don’t Love You Anymore” sounds like an outtake from the Rubber Soul sessions. Then again “Dream for Love” has some very Byrdsian vocal harmonies while “On & On & On” has a late 1960s California sunshine pop vibe. But mostly this album aces that lovely mid-1980s poprock sound on nearly every cut. Long out of print, its recent digital return is most welcome.
In the Middle of the NightI Still Don’t Love You Anymore
Somewhere in Hobart, the capital city of Australia’s island state of Tasmania, you’ll find Beatles aficionado Mondo Quinnworking up another Mersey-drenched bit of pop goodness. Online he’s got two albums and handful of singles that exude the loveable charm of the Fab Four in full-on Beatlemania mode. “I Love You (Why Don’t You Love Me Too)” from Quinn’s 2013 album Another Time, Another Place has a 1960s Searchers bounce to its lead guitar work while the vocal would suit Cliff Richards to a T. From the same album “Molly’s Song” is a dynamite instrumental with a fresh, crisp acoustic guitar sound reminiscent of “And I Love Her.” Then on 2019’s Pop Till You Drop “Girl Of My Dreams” has a vibe that is so “Bad to Me.” Altogether Mondo Quinn’s work is a delightful time capsule of the 1964 Merseybeat sound.
As long as the drums keep pounding that distinctive Liverpool rhythm to our brains, the Merseybeat goes on. Check out these modern fab beat groups to see how it’s done.
Radio used to be so important, an entrée into the broader world for the lonely or bored. A lifeline sometimes, or just a bit of fun, a diversion. So let’s get some quality diverting going on.
On her 2020 self-titled debut album Juniper so nailed the early 1960s girl singer sound it was like a love letter to all the jilted dolly birds on both sides of the Atlantic. But on her follow-up long-player She Steals Candy she’s settling into her own distinctive style, folding the sixties into a broader mix that takes from country, 1980s poprock, and contemporary indie rock and roll. Producer Michael Shelley has put together a crack team of players that really lets Juniper’s vocals stand out while the selection of songs is delectable. Basically you’ve got members of Los Straitjackets, Belle and Sebastian, the Mekons, NRBQ, and The Smithereens, among others, helping to cover songs by the Go Gos, the Bangles, the Muffs, and a host of rare compositions from Delbert McClinton’s early band, The Ron-Dells. Everybody doesn’t necessarily play on everything but you get the idea. The Bangles “James” is given an interesting make-over here, sounding wonderfully familiar and yet peppered with interesting changes. Contrast that with the inventive new take on the Go Go’s “Turn To You” where the light backing and slower tempo really allows the song to breathe. The album tracks like the changing moods of a summer party, shifting from the pleasantly tuneful to a rocking good time. I hear a bit of Marti Jones on “She Steals Candy,” some country-style Nancy Sinatra on “Picture of You,” and shades of Mary Lou Lord on “Alone With You.” The more rocking tunes like “Ride Between the Cars” and “I’ve Gotta Boy” are a blast, really demonstrating Juniper’s range. Personal faves include the cover of Delbert McClinton’s countryish “I Cry Cause I Care,” a duet with the Cactus Blossoms’ Page Burkum, and the uber cool atmospheric “Dawn Stole My Guy” with that unmistakeable lead guitar work from Greg Townson. To get in on this party, you’ll find Juniper’s She Steals Candy filed under ‘maximum fun.’
Vancouver band Star Collector’s reputation is that they live in a mod, mod, mod, mod world, one where elevators all play The Jam between floors and Pete Townshend is the resident poet laureate. But on their new record Attack, Sustain, Decay ... Repeat there’s a little bit more going on. As leader Vic Wayne says in a recent interview, you can hear a bit of The Sweet, Sloan, Cheap Trick, even some Grand Funk Railroad. You really get that 1970s rocker vibe from opening cut “Feeling It Coming On” but with a poppy Alice Cooper sheen. “Beat It To Death” opens with an almost Bad Company stripped-back set of chords but morphs into something more Fastball once it gets going. Wayne himself described “Halfway Home” as Tom Petty meets Echo and Bunnymen and I can hear that. Then “If We Can’t Take a Joke” cranks up a great distorted lick that runs through the song like the Beatles “I Feel Fine” or the Monkees “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” “Crashin’” – oh, there’s the Grand Funk. Then the opposite universe, there’s a lovely acoustic guitar ballad “Cross My Heart.” Personal faves are the Sloan-ish “Don’t Have to Fold” and delightful “Hungry Like the Wolf” strutter “Broken Butterflies.” You better get your dancing shoes ready, this is a 1970s-throwback party album, par excellence.
Chris Church knows how to throw out a hook while cranking his amp. His records have been billed ‘heavy melody’ by more than few writers. But as I listened to his new album Radio Transient I kept feeling like I’d stumbled back into 1986, something about the guitar tones, the way the bass guitar seemed so up front in the mix. Now I’m often guilty of thinking everything sounds like 1980s – it was my coming-of-age decade after all – so I was relieved to read in Church’s liner notes that the sound he was going for on this album was something he’d dubbed ‘Buckingham-Fixx.’ Yes! That is what I’m hearing here. This album takes sonic elements of Lindsay Buckingham’s manic 1980s pop records, those great mega-hit Hall and Oates releases, and the dynamic keyboard-plus-bass sound of The Fixx. It’s all there on his fab pre-release single “Going ‘Til We Go” and “I Don’t Want to Dance With Me,” with perhaps a dab of John Waite. And the theme carries on throughout the album, leaning into particular musical nuances on each cut. “I Think I Think I Like You” really captures that bouncy-guitar dance pop that soundtracked the early part of the eighties. Then “Already In It” sneaks in some of Church’s westcoast poprock sound a la Walter Egan, with some lovely other-worldly keyboards. “Gotta Go, Gotta Ramble” turns up the 1980s Buckingham influence, with perhaps a dash of early Split Enz. But the solid gold single is undoubtedly “One More Chance to Get Over You.” This is a gorgeous piece of poprock songwriting, a masterclass in how to put all the melodic elements together for maximum impact. Guest lead guitar jangle from legendary Bill Lloyd only seals the deal. With Radio Transient Chris Church rescues the very best of the 1980s for your here and now.
I can’t quite put my finger on just what The Scarlet Goodbye are doing on their debut album Hope’s Eternal. And I kinda like that. There’s a bit of Americana and Ozzie poprock and a subtle Beatles backdrop going on. Album opener “Rosary” introduces the basic tension pursued throughout the record, the pull of a more mellow melodic ennui cast against a sometimes urgent rocking backdrop. The lead guitar features prominently in “Panic and Blame,” though taken up more like a paint brush than an axe. And then comes the obvious single “Rosary” with it’s brilliant, hooky lead guitar work and AM radio polish. This contrasts nicely with the folkie vibe threaded throughout the album on tracks “Paris,” “Charity” and “Minor Things.” “Paris” particularly sounds a bit like Peter Case on his first solo records or the Eels. For Americana there’s a western tilt to “Surprised” or countryish feel to “Firefly.” But such genre distinctions break down on songs like “Celebrated Summer” and “The Ballad of Julie Ann,” with the former’s folkie poprock reminiscent of Guster (especially that great chorus!) while the latter is kinda Crowded House (especially that great organ!) with dash of Bond. On “Sandy” the band let their rock roll a bit more than elsewhere here and it’s another should-be hit for me. “Fresh New Hell” is another highlight, coming on like Michael Penn in full-on ennui mode. You can listen to the whole album here.
There’s four fine diversions coming down your radio relay towers. Click on the hotlinks to tune in for more.
Jewel Portable Tube Radio Model 5310 (USA 1953) image courtesy Mark Amsterdam Flikr collection.
The magic of music can be its ability to capture the emotional intensity of a particular moment or conjure up long gone, almost forgotten feelings out of thin air. For many of us, music can carry a lot of emotional freight and today’s featured track is a stark, striking example of that power. No song captures the tender, fragile, wildly aching love of the early teen-age years quite like Big Star’s “Thirteen.” The song’s lyrics are so innocent and emotionally transparent, the singer so vulnerable and seemingly ripe for heartbreak. Wes Anderson’s cinematic illustration of the song’s themes in Moonrise Kingdom really captures the innocence of “Thirteen” and looks fabulous, even if it shirks a bit on the vulnerability angle.
Despite growing up in the 1970s I don’t think I heard Big Star’s “Thirteen” until the 1990s. Their catalogue and reputation was a bit too hipster to fall across my more AM radio radar. But when I heard it I was immediately transported back to Grade 8 and that desperate feeling I had in the pit of my stomach most of the time, crushing on nearly every boy I met but unable to tell anyone. Seems like everybody’s got a similar ‘hearing “Thirteen” for the first time’ heartbreak story. It’s a song with impact. Which makes covering it more than a bit tricky. Some say, why bother? I’d say it can be done but it takes a special kind of ear and restraint to hear just how to do it without surrendering the song’s performative beauty. Everything But the Girl recorded a fairly straightforward version in 1991 for their Acoustic album but it didn’t make the cut, only coming out on the expanded version in 2013. It’s bracing and simple and a little emotionally distant, so EBTG in other words. Who is surprised that Elliott Smith could pull off a pretty impressive cover? This version was recorded in 1996 but only released with the Thumbsucker soundtrack in 2004. Smith has a vocal delivery seemingly built just for this song.
Everything But the Girl
There are actually a lot of “Thirteen” covers, most emerging post-2000, but most suffer some serious missteps. People try to bend the song into a new shape, thus losing the charm, or seem to think they can just slouch their way through a slow-dirge, finger-picking bit of shoe-gaze. Big Star make their slow pitch on the song look easy but it is hard to sound so profound without overdoing it. Rachel Gordon strikes a nice balance with guitar and piano and a vocal that avoids over-statement. Rome, Italy’s Lone Horn is one of those rare efforts that manages to speed the tempo of the song without dropping its emotional ballast. The interesting vocal harmonies and snappy lead guitar work definitely help. Chris Richards and the Subtractions do the opposite, slowing things down and breaking out different elements while still holding the song’s unique tension together. Joshua Speers takes Big Star’s original acoustic guitar starting point but then uses that to spread out in different directions, adding complementary electric guitar, vocal effects and a Beatles-in-Abbey Road blend of background as things go on. The result is careful, understated, and ultimately complementary to the tune.
Rachel Gordon
Last up, a bit of a departure, Toronto’s Choir Choir Choir lead a cast of amateur singers in a touching, almost all voice rendition of “Thirteen.” I’m not crying, you’re crying.
It’s a special ‘Ryan’ only blog post, dedicated to new musical offerings from people with that name. Luckily we have two great examples handy.
Ed Ryan tells us the aim of his new record A Big Life “was to make a big, fun rock record!” Well he’s succeeded and then some. From the rollicking opener “Settle Down” with its rhythm guitar shots and 1980s J. Geils synth lines to a closer that reworks Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” into a rock and roll dance stomper, this record hits all the party marks. It’s like he’s taking us through all the many musical eras he’s lived through since the 1970s, adding his own distinctive Ryan-esque filter to everything. We go from what sound like 1970s guitars on “Take Away Everything” to a 1980s guitar vibe on “The Dreaming Moon.” “Wonder” is a lovely number that melds acoustic guitar and organ in a very 1970s Stonesy way. “Mary Anne” exudes what we used to call AOR (album-oriented rock) in the 1980s, where big crashing guitar chords and screaming solos ride a solid melody. Title track “A Big Life” also goes guitar-big but really delivers a subtle hook in the chorus. Then there’s the post-pub rock-styled “You Keep Me Up All Night” with its “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)” feel. But if I had to single out tracks for extensive radio play they would be “Lighthouse” and “Testify.” “Lighthouse” combines jangle guitar with a jaunty tune that skips merrily along while “Testify” just sounds like the single to me.
On his latest LP The Last Rock BandRyan Allen cooks up a concept album that explores the classic ‘Is rock dead?’ fixation of rock and roll players via a disjointed band biography. With song titles like “Start a Band,” “Like the Ramones,” and “The Last Rock and Roll Band” you can see where this is going, narrative-wise. And listening through the album it’s clear the lyrics here are smart. But concept albums really live or die by the music. Happily these tracks rock, in the very best way. As usual, the range of styles Allen pulls out is impressive. “The Last Rock Band” sounds like an edgy Bryan Adams, “Discovery” is laden with guitar windmills borrowed from The Who, while “Stop the Train” has a delicious reverby pop sound reminiscent of Fountains of Wayne. Going more for the 1970s “Second Act” has those big seventies Thin Lizzy guitars or you can enjoy something that sounds like Bowie meets Big Star on “We Have Returned.” “Bought a Computer” is that part of the story where the protagonist briefly abandons his guitar for technology but all I can hear here is some spot-on Chris Collingwood kind of lyrical phrasing. “Wrong Place Wrong Time” is just a great intense rocker. Saving the best for last Allen wraps the album with the obvious should-be hit single “Because I Have To,” a nonstop hook machine of a song. Rock may not dominate popular culture like it once did but Ryan Allen’s latest long-player proves it’s not quite on life support yet.
People named Ryan sometimes make great music. Like these guys. Press ‘Ryan’ as your hotlink choice to find out more.
I haven’t heard much about The Plus 4 but the music they’ve released so far is really speaking to me. The band kicked off 2023 with the aptly-dubbed “Resolution (Happy New Year),” a vampy glam strutter with a touch of 1970s Kinks in the vocals. The song has a got a shambolic party vibe but don’t be fooled, that’s just a stylistic covering. This baby is one solid 45. Then barely one month later the band released another real smash single, the janglicious “You Look Right Through Me.” This one has a got a Beatles “Should Have Known Better” ambience, with an extra helping of Byrdsian trebly guitar. The more I listen to this track the more I want to listen to it. I mean, those ‘sha la la’s are exquisite. This month witnessed another singles instalment, this time taking things in a different direction. Sure, the jangle is still there, but the source material is a curious choice, a cover of Toyah’s “It’s a Mystery.” Now to be honest, going back and listening to the original version this is not a song I would normally give the time of day. But The Plus 4 take this thing off life support and literally breathe new life into it. You can hear the melody and the hooks that were buried in the original’s early-1980s bombastic production and instrumentation. The song now sparkles, all bright guitar lines, airy vocals and delightful shots of atmospheric harmonica.
The Plus 4 manage to sound so familiar and yet something new at the same time. Clearly I’m digging this new breed. I just hope it’s not going to take another 7 months to fill out a 10 track album.
For now, you can check out the jangle mystery of The Plus 4 at their Bandcamp page here.
It’s been a long time since Seattle’s Ransom and the Subset’s last album release – you’ve got to go back to 2014’s No Time to Lose. And I was late to that party, only catching on to the band in 2017. But I am on top of the latest band news, their brand new single is “Perfect Crime.” This song has got a textured pop goodness baked into its DNA, making all the various musical adornments just more ear candy. From the opening that jumps right in, to the drop-out quiet build-up in the verses, to the alluring ‘bah de bah’s in the chorus that draw you in, this song is a ride where you won’t care if you miss your stop. The sound has a smooth pop sheen I associate with Sam Roberts or Ben Folds, with some great lead guitar break out moments and organ backing. No doubt a special guest appearance from ace session guitarist Jay Graydon didn’t hurt (he played on Steely Dan’s “Peg”). The single is the first release from the band’s new album Perfect Crimes, due out in April, and it certainly bodes well for what is to come.
Give “Perfect Crime” a spin at the band’s Futureman Records Bandcamp page that can be found here.
The UK’s Ready Steady Go! was the sixties alternative to the more establishment Top of the Pops. Bands performed (mostly) live and the audience were the featured models and dancers, giving the show a more loose, spontaneous feel. I’d like to think our chosen singles are a modern embodiment of the show’s cool élan but hey, you be the judge.
Power pop legend Jamie Hoover is well known for his decades-long work with the Spongetones and collaborations with a variety of indie stalwarts. But his latest single sees him declaring his love for the recently-single mega-influencer “Kim Kardashian.” Co-written with power pop scribe and record producer Richard Rossi, the song is an amusing poke at social media and celebrity, delivered in an impeccable poprock style. Burnley and Todmorden’s The Goa Express have got a pop snarl that launches “Portrait” with a sonic 3-D impact. Comparisons to The Artic Monkeys, Oasis and the Strokes make sense, the sound here is so live and starkly authentic. Vocalist James Douglas Clark keeps the snarl neatly in check while the guitars crash in and out with an intoxicating intensity. So far it’s just singles from this band but a full album seems overdue. Leslie Rich knows political trouble, hailing from Northern Ireland. But now ensconced in Minneapolis Minnesota he’s seeing American issues from a whole new perspective. Leading Leslie Rich and the Rocket Soul Choir on “Revolt” he subtlety condemns the fake victim mentality of those with a knee on ‘some guy’s neck’. The track is so smooth, with a Fleetwood Mac mid-1970s precision of rhythm and mood. Fun but serious popsters The Happy Somethings kicked off 2023 with a collection of errant singles, bit and pieces of things set aside from the previous year. Like “Anglepoise,” a noise pop Bo Diddly remake if ever there was one. The band uncharacteristically turn up the amps this time. Hailsham’s Tim Izzard is everybody’s modern Mr. Glam, channeling a 1970s performance and song style for contemporary audiences. On his new EP Deepfake 99 you can hear him tapping a particularly Marc Bolan vein on “Walk the Walk” or a big ballad-mode Bowie on “Alice Pearl” and “Will the First to Believe Please Turn on the Lights?” But overall I’m charmed by the strut of the title track “Deepfake 99.”
Marc Valentine’s Futura Obscura is a solid album of power pop delights but few of the songs challenge the obvious power single, “Last Train Tonight.” The driving guitar-based melody is delivered with a mix of what sounds like Fountains of Wayne and Farrah influences, the latter particularly evident in the chorus. Rochester’s Katie Morey is a great post-folk artist. You can tell by skipping through her Friend of a Friend album that coffee houses and streel strings played a key part in its genesis. But then other instruments come in, adding to the aural splendour. Just listen to the mix on “Deep End” with its great contrast of rumbly guitar and deadpan vocals. A slightly more rock and roll Suzanne Vega or Jane Siberry I think. Thee Lonely Hearts have got a quartet of songs caught in the twilight between retro cool and modern indie panache. Last Fall’s “Glen Ponder” cooks with a clean 1980s take on sixties guitar poppy rock while b-side “I Came Back Again” channels The Smithereens. But the band’s should-be hit is undoubtedly “Treat Me Like You Just Don’t Care.” This 45 has the energy of an updated early Beatles number performed by Eugene Edwards. Schio Italy’s Freezsound like members of California’s slacker pop punk diaspora. Their 2019 album Always Friends alternated between rocking workouts and more subtle, alluring melodic numbers. Then late in 2022 they offered up something different again. “Nothing” is brief 90 seconds of relentless droney attack, somewhat hypnotic, ready for pogo-ing. The new millennium has witnessed the rebirth of a crowd of decades-dormant bands from days gone by. But few sound as fresh and in the swing of now as Finland’s The Bablers. Sure, there’s a retro feel to “Holding Me Tight Tonight” and yet the sound is so timeless too. Altogether the song has that smooth poprock sheen of the 1980s Moody Blues in comeback mode with a touch of 1974 McCartney in the bridge.
Thee Lonely Hearts – Treat Me Like You Just Don’t Care
In the fading hours of 2022 there was a lot buzz about Michigan’s Popular Creeps. A lot of ‘R’ band references got thrown around, as in The Replacements, REM, and the Rolling Stones. Kicking back with the full album All This Will End in Tears there’s definitely a lot ‘R’ here, though I tend to agree with Add to Want List that the sound is perhaps closer to Peter Case and Paul Collins, particularly on tracks like “Gone By 45.” My vote for double A-sided single goes to the combo of “From the Past” and “Keep It To Myself,” just for exuding so much new wave joy and echoes of The Connection. On Ant Farm Pittsburg’s The Zells give voice to the harsh working class experience of contemporary America where living is from payday to payday and life is suffering and suffering truther uncles. But the record shifts back and forth between distorted punk anti-paeans to tracks that expose the band’s superior musical chops. Like on “Dummy,” a song that kicks off sounding like a speed version of “Dancing With Myself” only to switch to a Titus Andronicus vocal and guitar attack. The lead guitar line snaking throughout Kid Gulliver’s latest single “Kiss and Tell” is so captivating it just keep running through my head long after the song has ended. It’s got fun adornments, like riffs from the Batman theme, but really the backbone of the song is Simone Berk’s smooth vocal and that killer lead guitar work. Another guitar winning single comes from LA’s Billy Tibbals. Reviewers are noting the 1970s glam and pub rock influences but all I can hear is that addictive droney lead guitar on “Onwards and Upwards” that says new wave to me. So many potential influences here but I hear some Zombies in the vocals and even some Squeeze in the melodic twists. As a band The No Ones are full of someones: people like REM’s Peter Buck and Young Fresh Fellows alumnus Scott McCaughey. And on their soon-to-be-released new album My Best Evil Friend the list of guest stars is pretty gob-smacking, including contributions from Ben Gibbard, Debbi Peterson and Norman Blake. Of the two pre-release teaser singles I can’t decide which I like more, the dreamy, bucolic “Song for George” or the more Byrdsian “Phil Ochs is Dead.”
When Ottawa band The Rockyts burst on the scene in 2019 with their debut album Come and Dance reviewers were dumbfounded that three gangly teens could recreate the 1960s sound so authentically, both on originals and covers from the era. Now reduced to a one man band focused on lead guitarist, songwriter and singer Jeremy Abboud, their new single “I Get High” recasts the retro influences into a totally contemporary sound. Well, 1980s Cars-era contemporary anyway. The guitar work is now more stolid, the vocals enlivened by some otherworldly harmonies. By contrast Austin Texas troubadour Phil Dutra brings back his signature telenovela-style big emotional ballad on “I Feel Your Pain.” There’s something very Vicki Lawrence or 1970s Cher style-wise lingering over this tale of cheating and remorse while the hooks are big and bold and stuck in your head. I can already see the movie montage running behind this song. Scotland’s Dropkick are like your favourite hang-out spot, immediately familiar, comforting, but open to some surprise guests. The advance single from their upcoming album The Wireless Revolution is “Telephone” and it is everything fans of the band love: ringing guitars, a sweet feel-good vibe, and a strong Teenage Fanclub family resemblance. On his new album Alter Ego Irish singer/songwriter Paul McCann offers a mix of styles, both fast and slow, sounding at times 1970s lush or 1980s poppy rock. My current fave is “Lost in This Moment” with its slow build up and break out hooky chorus. Another lush poprock offering comes from Norway’s Armchair Oracles. Given the song’s focus, perhaps that’s not surprising. “Nilsson Wilson” observes how two great artists emerged from traumatic childhoods. The vibe is very Rogue Wave meets Al Stewart.
Rounding out our ready steady singles is another fab new song from mister poprock-reliable, Richard Turgeon. “I’ve Got You Now” features Turgeon’s now familiar formula of discordant guitars and poppy melodic hooks, delivered with a captivating vocal arrangement. Grunge definitely meets the beach on the this 45.
RSG! only ran on UK television for three years but it defined an era of mod music, hip fashion, and an almost DIY broadcast esthetic. And The Who managed to appear on the show 18 times! Our humble efforts pale by comparison but I like to think that the spark lives on in the music. Click on the hyperlinked band names to feel that surge.
Just five tracks, that’s all you get from Ski Lift on their debut EP Singles. The band is just one of many side projects for Welsh sometime folkie Benji Trantor, joined here by Ailsa Tully and Jovis Lane. Things get started with the 2019 release of single “Comfortable Here,” a mellow bit of pleasing guitar pop. Then the four other songs emerge sporadically throughout 2021, culminating in the EP’s release halfway though 2022. First up “Portal,” a track that gets the band’s engine running a bit faster and adds some fine vocal harmony detailing. Just two months later there a distinctive change in sound on “Moaning Again,” all fun experimental keyboards and poppy hooks. “Teenager” has a spare airy electric guitar feel, so like the poppy confectionary from Kevine Devine and *repeat repeat. “I Wanna Be You” wraps up the band’s singles run with a sometimes punchy, sometimes low key singalong. All in all, these five songs are fresh and buoyant and cool, thus the skiing imagery no doubt.
These five ‘fresh tracks’ (to use the ski lingo) are the band’s only tracks so far, as far as I can tell. Will there be more? Even if this is it I’d still say it’s a pretty good run.
The teletype keeps offering up that staccato rhythm as more breaking news hits our airwaves. More new albums by brand new bands (to me, anyway). Get those dinner tea-trays stabilized, our program is about to begin.
I stumbled across Dignan Porch’s pre-album release single “Electric Threads” quite by accident in Bandcamp’s ‘if you like’ section. I was immediately drawn to the song’s poppy sense of dread, retro organ fills, and faint fragrance of McCartney in Band on the Run mode, particularly those chorus-pedalled lead guitar lines. Couldn’t wait to hear more. The full album Electric Threads is a wonderful mix of eclectic noise-meets-pop coated songs. Some are just straight up 1960s-influenced English pop a la the Kinks (“Pictures”) while others work in fabulously weird but alluring keyboard sounds (“Hidden Levels”). Keyboards really do define this album, giving various songs a surreal, other-wordly feel, “VR Park Keeper,” “States Revealed,” and “Ancestral Trail” particularly. Then there’s “Mesmerized” that combines organ and guitar in an exquisite tension. Rivalling “Electric Threads” for should-be feature single is the Shins-like “Simulation One,” though “Hounded” is a close second. The outlier track here is “Walk!” where an edgy rhythm guitar attack suddenly converts the band into a 1979 new wave outfit. With Electric Threads Dignan Porch really set the bar high for reinventing the power pop sound.
On album IIThe Blusterfields jam together an impressive array of sonic influences over what amounts to a double album’s worth of material. There’s mid-1960s jangle guitar cropping up here and there contrasting a 1970s boogie rock and roll feel with a hint of 1980s indie poprock, sometimes all in the same song! But if there’s an influence hovering over everything here it’s XTC. “Tool Belt” is channeling Andy Partridge hard. You really get the XTC feel from the vocals on “Fear of Depths” (and what an ace lead guitar tone!). The band even manage to bend the Swindon sound in a 1970s rock guitar direction on “Into the Light.” Not that that’s a problem. Who doesn’t love XTC that reads this blog? And it’s not like Colin and Andy are making much use of it these days. Ok, that out of the way, the album seems to be roughly divided in two, with the first half giving off more 1970s vibes while the latter half bridges the 1960s-meets-1980s indie sound. Check out the great lead guitar opener to “Bad Penny” on what sounds like a Badfinger vamp. Then “Not in Denial,” “Johnny Paycheck,” “Scraptown” and “Henry’s Swing Club” all amp up the 1970s boogie rock sound, with a few Beatlesque touches. Things start to turn on “It’s a Tricky Thing” with its smooth poprock Odds-meets-XTC elan while “International” has got that Beatles Hard Day’s Night album guitar sound. “Agent Zero” sounds like it combines the B52’s with a Dukes of Stratosphere sensibility. I could go on – there’s really so much to like here. If you dig smart lyrics and are tired of pining for an XTC reunion, get off the couch and introduce yourself to The Blusterfields.
No, that is not Richard Thompson singing lead on The Tubs new album Dead Meat. But man does it sure sound like it. Except that Thompson and company never produced anything quite as poppy pleasing at “Illusion Pt. II.” What a rollicking good time! And it sets the pace for the whole album. What follows are songs with a folk singer’s melancholy heart and a pop band’s lust for hooks. This tension is inventively put together on “Two Person Love” which features a Futureheads pinched lead guitar sound that quickly gives way to a more jangle rhythm texture. “I Don’t Know How it Works” hits you right in the melodic solar plexus, all crashing rhythm guitar and trippy organ shots, while those Richard and Linda Thompson-like male/female harmony vocals are there to trigger the shivers. Then “Dead Meat” has a Specials-like vocal intensity in the verses that alternates with buoyant guitar work and sweet harmonies in the chorus. Meanwhile “Duped,” “That’s Fine,” and “Round the Bend” are all a rush of folky vocals and unstoppable guitars. If you ever wondered what might happen if a seminal folk act decided to turn on the pop faucet, this is it. Dead Meat delivers folk music you can jump up and down to.
The Roves’ Needle Factory comes off like the consummate party sing-along album. You can practically see the indirectly lit living room and guys with guitars playing effortlessly, leaving plenty of space for you to join in. But listen closely and all this ease masks a high degree of precision in the performance. Like all those endlessly touring bar bands, they just make it looks easy. That demeanor is all over the brilliantly understated “I Am The Flood.” It’s got an easygoing swing reminiscent of an early 1970s Van Morrison, the Band, or Brinsley Schwartz. You could hear more edgy modern influences on “So Thankful” like Titus Andronicus or Twin Peaks. Then again, “Drug Deal” rolls out with what sounds like the unique poprock charm of NRBQ. Is that a hint of Dylan on “Archway Blues” or the Stones on “Sunday’s Lost”? Hunches confirmed – this is a band with solid rock and roll chops. Personally, I hear a candidate for the late Beatles cavalcade of curio characters on “Mr. White.” Should be single? Definitely “Alberto Zi and the Uptown Three.” So catchy.
They say thousands of new songs are being released every day. No wonder the teletype never stops clacking. You can follow up on these stories yourself by clicking the links above.
Photo courtesy of James Vaughn’s amazing Flikr collection.
Poprock Record 