Moods for moderns: Hovvdy, Bull, Seasonal Falls, and Aaron Lee Tasjan

10 Friday May 2024

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Forget the Elvis Costello tune, today’s feature is really just a staging post for bands that know how to cast a moody ambience over their recordings. Some are dark, awash with shade and mood lighting, while others seem to tweak the brightness of each hook they throw. You can take your pick of moods on offer here.

Hovvdy are masters of textured atmosphere. It jumps out and envelops you on their stand-out single “Jean.” I hadn’t even written a line about them when I included that release in my top 5 folk pop list for 2023. Now they’re got a whole album of similarly intriguing material on their recently-released fifth long-player, the self-titled Hovvdy. The LP has 19 songs that feature their amazing talent for conjuring a sonic warm blanket out of a mixture of instruments and dreamy vocals. Some selections are little more than evocative fragments of melody that get incorporated and developed elsewhere. “Forever Piano” is a striking 21 second piano riff that loses a bit of bite but gains melodic depth on the longer “Forever.” Other tracks range across styles but keep to the album’s over-arching sonic décor. For instance “Clean” vibes a DIY, lofi Elliot Smith feel while “Make Ya Proud” has more studio polish. But both are just different flavours of what I might call ‘rogue folk,’ if you’re prepared to envision New Order as back up players here. Other highlights for me include “Big Blue” and “Portrait,” the latter sounding very country with a vocal that rumbles like it was recorded in a big empty room.

10 years after their debut LP She Looks Like Kim fell to earth and three years since their major label debut Discover Effortless Living York’s Bull deliver a sweet sweet third installment with Engines of Honey. Everything here is similar – but different. The design is punchier, the production is brighter, but the songs are familiarly good. Even though the band is back on independent footing having left EMI they clearly retain the poise and polish they gained there.  Album opener “Start a New” is a winning poppy number with a melodic skip in its step. From there it’s hooks aplenty, whether delivered as power pop as on “Head Exploder” and “Crick” or with a smoother sheen on “Sid” and “Stranger.” “Red Rooves” even vibes a bit of Bleachers to my ears. The departure tune is “Imaginary Conversations” which manages to overlay a choral vocal quality on its jaunty tune. And if you really want to see how far this band has come in a decade, check out their remake of “Jan Fin” from their first album. They really imbue the song with new life.

The new Seasonal Falls album Happy Days is a lush sonic vista, where the melodic detail and pacing choices on each of its nine tunes exhibits the care of a fine pointillist painting. Title track and opening cut “Happy Days” meanders into view, lulling us with its alluring melody. “Used To Be Fun” almost seems to skip along, picking up the pace ever so slightly. There is a McCartney-esque calibration of carefully worked out guitar motifs and vocals here. Then “Lie Down” almost breaks the album’s spell, vibing a more indie rock feel – almost. You could think of this album as different shades of the same colour, each song being distinctly different but clearly relatable to the others. It all comes down to choices on tempo and instrumentation. On this front “Girlfriend” is a masterful bit of song staging, opening with such precise restraint only to slowly add more colour and sonic depth along the way. Or listen to how the country-ish tinge to “Half Moon” lends a sense of urgency to the song. I also like how “Hey Girl” deploys ‘oh oh oh oh’s to good effect, creating an almost conventional pop tune. Should be hit single? Definitely “I Wish You All The Best” with its Neil Finn sense of low-key assurance.

Stellar Evolution is album #5 for Nashville’s Aaron Lee Tasjan, another installment in his genre-defying exploration of subtle melodic hookyness and lyrical openness. Times are tough in the American south and Tasjan gives voice to how the national right-wing war on diversity lands there with particular ferocity. As he sings on “Nightmare,” ‘I’m fearing for my life’ because ‘Mama they wanna kill me.’ The song’s relentless yet even synth backdrop effectively frames a harrowing narrative. Throughout the album Tasjan’s songs are snapshots of living amidst all a kind of social carnage. “Roll Your Windows Down” paints a joyous picture of connection that needn’t be tidy. “Bird” is a peppy track about getting up every day even if you’re going nowhere. And a host of songs here specifically capture queer alienation, like “Horror of It All.” But for caustic commentary on more explicitly political topics, see the hard-hitting “I Love America Better Than You.” Should-be hit single definitely would be “Alien Space Queen,” a boppy rumination on living with difference. But I also really like  “Cry Till You’re Laughing” for its Beatlesque grandeur and just a dab of ELO. Then things close starkly with “Young,” a track that will tug at your heart with the gravity of a queer Springsteen. On Stellar Evolution Aaron Lee Tasjan offers up beautiful, heartfelt testimony to coping with and even defying America’s current ugly mood.

We’ve offered moods for many occasions so take your pick. These artist are waiting to cast their spell via the hyperlinks appearing above.

Photo courtesy zaza23 (Jessica) Flikr collection.

Spotlight single: Grant Lindberg “In My Own Way”

05 Sunday May 2024

Posted by in Spotlight Single

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

There’s something meditative about Grant Lindberg’s new single. “In My Own Way” is slightly droney, sounding almost like an Oasis throw-back but without the sneer. As the song builds the layers pile on but without taking away from the light and buoyant quality of the song. Things start spare, just vocals and acoustic guitar, adding drums, some whammy-barred electric guitar, and a Jon Brion keyboard wash along the way. But then in the instrumental break things suddenly go unmistakeably early 1970s Lennon-esque. The single really feels like a departure for Lindberg, seeing him step away from his usual penchant for 1990s dissonance and a more rocking wall-of-sound for a genius combination of more subtle sonic inferences. The execution also sounds effortless, like we’re floating along, nudged forward only by melody and the slow beat of the bass drum. Over on his Bandcamp site Lindberg does hint that this might amount to a sneak peak at his new LP. Or it might not. Not every one-off single he’s released there has ended up album bound. Still, given the compositional creativity of “In My Own Way,” we can only hope this is the start of something long-playing.

While you wait for a new Lindberg album you can reacquaint yourself with all the old ones here.

Not workers playtime

01 Wednesday May 2024

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Workers Playtime was a BBC radio show that ran for two decades after WWII, broadcasting live music and comedy from shop floors across the UK. As culture should do, it held a mirror up to what the great mass of people do day in, day out, as if that mattered. On today’s May Day we revive that spirit with a collection of songs that also focus on work, working, and workers.

I’ve never heard anyone capture the essential problem of work in a song quite like Birmingham, Alabama’s Lolas. Running just shy of two minutes, “Work is the Blackmail of Survival” beats its jangle fueled fist against the tyranny of modern employment. Not that Lolas leader Tim Boykin could be accused of sloth, given how he regularly churns out great tunes. His real concern is about how work for pay tends to stunt out lives, alienating us from ourselves and others. Boston’s Air Traffic Controller are not clear on what kind of employment they’re writing about on “The Work” but it doesn’t sound like a walk in the park. But like Lolas they still sound chipper about it, musically at least. Cotton Mather main man Harold Whit Williams has another project that is right up our themed alley. Writing and performing under the moniker Daily Worker he has a whole album entitled May Day. On “Write If You Get Work” he offers a folk pop rumination on the struggle to get work in seemingly never-ending tough times. In a related vein Canadian power pop juggernaut Sloan weigh up the pros and cons of any given work opportunity on “Nice Work If You Can Get It” with a few Beatlesque guitar hooks just to sweeten the deal.

Our next group of songs are about working. On his website Paul McCartney writes about “On My Way to Work” from his 2013 album New. Ever the wistful one, Macca does capture the mood of his pre-Beatles working class self going to work, mind on other things. On their last album in 2011’s Sky Full of Holes Fountains of Wayne tucked in one of their usual stellar daily-life song sketches with “Workingman’s Hands.” With a quiet respect, the song’s lyrics honour the impact of work on those who do it. Jack Green’s 1980 album Humanesque has a unique blend of guitar and vocals that is so of the era. It also includes the rhythm guitar chord fabulous tribute to working class gals on “Factory Girls.” The light synth touches are just a bonus. Reaching back to 1973, the struggles of working class couples with conflicting shifts gets an airing on the Liverpool Echo’s “Sally Works Nights.” Though I doubt the protagonist’s solution here really met with Sally’s approval.

Paul McCartney – On My Way to Work
Jack Green – Factory Girl
Liverpool Echo – Sally Works Nights

Shifting gears, work is the focus of a lot anguish in terms of how it limits what people can do with their lives. Philadelphia’s 2nd Grade neatly sum the essential problem on “Work Till I Die” where the singer works and works to gain ‘free time.’ Similarly Richard Turgeon bemoans the days lost to “Workin’ for the Man.” As he notes lyrically “There’s a moral to this story but it might not have a happy ending.” The Primitives left space on their fabulous 2014 comeback album Spin-O-Rama for a soliloquy about how hard labour sucks on the delightful “Working Isn’t Working.” And they throw in some pretty special glam buzz guitar too. Then there’s Cupid’s Carnival giving their best Beatles treatment of their own “Working All Day.” It almost makes suffering the work day worthwhile.

Cupid’s Carnival – Working All Day

This May Day as much as any we have to ask why the great mass of working people put up with their situation, given that they represent the overwhelming majority of humanity. Chris Corney suggests it might have to do with a particular mindset. On “Do Not Adjust Your Mind” he addresses how people let things go rather than interrupt the flow. Robert Ellis Orrall puts the blame on a broader set of ‘doing stupid man things’ that dominate so much behaviour. What people need, according to angry troubadour Ike Reilly, is to abandon a fake past and embrace of real future and “Fuck the Good Old Days.” Amen.

Chris Corney – Do Not Adjust Your Mind
Ike Reilly – Fuck the Good Old Days

This moment in history is no workers’ playtime. While AI fiddles our future as workers burns, unless we collectively decide otherwise.

Parked with the radio on

28 Sunday Apr 2024

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nowhere to go, nothing to do – parking with the radio on was pretty much a regular teenage thing to do back in my day. You might even punch the pre-set radio station buttons and catch the same song playing on different stations! But there are no repeats here. Just 21 singles itching to make your car-time playlist.

We kick things off with David Brookings touching love letter to his wife on “Shelby.” A nice midtempo pop tune giving voice to those age-old sentiments of couple love and companionship. The track is featured on an EP of the same name amidst a few song sketches about cancel culture, football names and a lullaby. Next we crank the pop meter with The Cynz on “Crow Haired Boys.” The song comes on strong with blasting opening chords and drums only to lull us with solid melodic interludes. Erin Din is something else, sounding more like those 1970s English folk rockers Roy Harper or contemporaries like Ed Ryan. “On Top of the World” ambles along with a rhythmic hypnotic quality. From Hanover, Germany comes a stripped down affair under the moniker A Boy Named Song. “You Got the Beat” carefully measures out its sonic interventions – guitar part here, vocal line there – until it all comes together in the chorus. A bit Stonesy, Tom Petty, or even The Replacements. The Midnight Callers are signalling they are coming back power pop strong with their new single “The Eraser.” Fans are comparing it to the Raspberries or The Flashcubes and I’d concur. Worthy b-side award for the band’s energetic cover of The Who’s “Substitute.”

Minneapolis music scene veterans Electric Beauty fill the time between albums with a choice cover of Peter and Gordon’s 1964 hit “I Go To Pieces.” It’s hard to miss the mark with such a great song and the boys do not disappoint. Another band filling time between major releases is Taking Meds. Their new 3-song EP Ext Meds includes an amazing re-interpretation of My Bloody Valentine’s “Drive It All Over Me.” Talk about re-inventing someone else’s tune – TM add more melodic depth to the song while featuring some really special tone on the guitars. You might think that half a band would lose something but The Half Cubes, literally half the membership of power pop stalwarts The Flashcubes, manage to tap into a whole different well of melodic rock goodness. Their new single is a cover of The Rubinoos “The Girls” and features help from original Rubinoos members John Rubin and Tommy Dunbar. The results are dynamically ear-worm good. The Jellybricks are also working on a new album and drip-releasing singles to keep fans on the hook. “All About You” bodes well for what is coming, with a magnetic melodic pull to the tune. Toronto band Mad Ones work a classic descending chord progression with mesmerizing intensity on “Stranger Stranger.” More of the good same can be found on their new album What It Takes.

Electric Beauty – I Go To Pieces

Henry Chadwick works up his most pop psychedelic Beatles vibe on “I Hate the Sound,” a single from his new EP Leaving. It has a spare, spacey other-worldly quality like a kind of melodic meditation. For something a bit more driving and droney Quadruple A offer “Easy Rolling,” though get ready for a melody break-out in the chorus. This is Pennsylvania poppy rock at its finest. Now that southern California quintet The Armoires have finally produced a theme song you can just tuck this in front of the rest of their back catalogue. “We Absolutely Mean It” is a manifesto of musical intent, where making music is about having fun and bringing people together. The sunshine meets psychedelic pop backing is the perfect staging for this sentiment. Steve Conte has got a musical resume that goes on and on, working with artists as disparate as Prince, Peter Wolf and the New York Dolls. On this new LP Concrete Jangle his puts his own unique stamp on things, conjuring 1980s-style popping rock tunes like “Girl With No Name.” By contrast Dave Cope and the Sass reach further back, to a more fertile jangle scene we associate with the mid-1960s. “Precious Heart” lashes out from the start and grips you in its inescapable jangly melodic embrace. And there’s more of the same all through his fabulous new long-player Hidden From the World.

There’s something special about the distinctive sonic atmosphere Sad About Girls manage to create on all their releases. “She’s Not Here” from their new EP of the same name is no exception. Their vibe is slightly dissonant but always with a solid melodic punch in the chorus. And the EP contains a fabulous cover of Split Enz’s “History Never Repeats.” What’s a mere 18 years between records? Glasgow band Martial Arts just pick up where they left off, offering up more of their carefully crafted chamber poprock. New single “No Victory” has the pop drama chops of all those early 1960s and 1970s disaster songs. It’s enjoyable stress free crisis in a 4 minute song. Don’t know much about Brooklyn trio Wifey except that their debut single “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” is an unstoppable hook-filled aural assault, in the very best kind of way. Word is that an EP is coming entitled Just a Tease. Everything about LA band The Reflectors says its 1979 again. It’s the album covers, the outfits, and – of course – the songs themselves. Their new record Going Out of Fashion is one long love letter the late 1970s guitar band revival. But the standout track for me is “Supernova,” with its sly hooky twist in an otherwise understated chorus. Before you know it, it’s got you in its earwormy grip. I’d add “Time Is All I Have” as a worthy b-side. Words like ‘haunting’ accompany the work of Alabama’s Secret Sisters. Riding a fine line between Americana and country, their new release is Mind, Man, Medicine. There’s a lot to like here but right now I’m hooked on “Paperweight” with its Patsy Cline meets Neko Case rockabilly flair.

The work of Michael Goodman as Goodman is an enigma, unclassifiable in terms of genre. But whatever it is, I find myself drawn to whatever he puts out. His new single “Only Testimony” is grand and sweeping, except when its subtle and alluring. The guitars, piano and synth are crisply arranged to overlap and meld while the mix of vocals and harmonies are captivating. From a promised new album in the works.

There’s no danger of being hit with a parking violation for stopping here. You can idle away the time with these radio-friendly songs in park or drive.

Photo ‘Found Kodachrome Slide’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Jangle Thursday: West Coast Music Club, Your Academy, The Boolevards, and Ducks Ltd.

25 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Good thing jangle isn’t a limited resource. In fact, you could say it can be renewed every time someone picks up a guitar and chooses the appropriate effects-pedal/amp. To that end, today’s bands dial up the reverb to re-up our supply.

On Out of Reach northwest English band West Coast Music Club continue to develop their sonic palette. Things start out strongly jangle with “Sick and Tired,” a cutting political statement that musically conjures echoes of The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright” and The Byrds doing “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Then “Out of Reach” combines transcendent harmony vocals with arpeggiated guitar work in a style that is so REM. Songs like “The Only One” change things up, striking a more Jake Bugg kind of sombre intensity. The album also collects together various singles from the past year, like the ethereal “There She Goes Again” and the jaunty Lou Reed-ish “Nobody Likes You.”  The album turns more folk near the end with both “Home” and “Turning in Circles” opting for a more acoustic guitar staging.

Calling their new album #2 Record is one way Memphis power pop outfit Your Academy can signal they’re reviving a key local indie brand. And in so many ways this record does mark a strong resurrection of Big Star’s distinctive jangle vibe. “My Near Catastrophe” is a case in point it so resembles the original act in sound, tempo and hooks. But Your Academy are more than just Alex Chilton’s children. “Marilu” sounds like so many great contemporary bands working the harmony vocals/melodic rock and roll scene these days, like say The Maureens. At other points the Big Star style gets subtly modified, as when “Just a Little Out of Tune” appears to add a dose of Wings, or just harkens further back in time, as on the more Byrdsian “Wasting Time.” Personally, I hear more than little Moody Blues on this record, whether we’re talking the spot-on Justin Hayward vocal of “Miss Amphetamine,” the more power pop version of the Moodies on “(Not) Forever After All,” or that band’s over-the-top pastorally poetic inclinations on “B 612,” a tribute to the book The Little Prince. Other departures include the ambling Americana of “Greta” that features some snappy electric piano and distinctive harmony vocals. Then again, tracks like “When We Dream” just deliver the goods – relentless jangle.

Chicago’s The Boolevards have a sound that shifts between 1965 and 1978 on their new LP Real Pop Radio. Tracks like “On the Run” have that jaunty mid-sixties energy, still innocent of the heavier themes that would come later. “Last Night” even cheekily nicks the signature harmonica riff from “Love Me Do.” Then “If I Gave My Heart To You” and “Bittersweet” offer serious jangle from the Merseybeat playbook. But the other audio landscape marked out here is that poppy light rock that resurfaced in the mid-1970s as a precursor to various waves of indie to come. Here “It’s OK,” “Dance All Night,” and “Just Another Lousy Day” all have a compressed 1970s pre-New Wave sound. I really like how both “One More Chance” and “Out of Breath” use distinctive guitar tones to elevate the proceedings. “Get Out Tonight” even rocks things up a bit. With 16 tracks Real Pop Radio tirelessly barrels along song after song exuding positive poppy sentiments.

From the opening strums of “Hollowed Out,” the kick off track to the new Ducks Ltd. album Harm’s Way, you know you’ve dialed into something special. By the chorus you’ll be ready to get your fist-waving, pogo-dancing party shoes on. This is jangle pop with extra degree of intensity. Both “Cathedral City” and “The Main Thing” spit out lightening lead-guitar hooks with relentless precision. “Train Full of Gasoline” is a more even ride, though no less steely on impact. People compare this band to REM but I hear more of The Silencers or Grapes of Wrath, particular on cuts like “Deleted Scenes” and “Harm’s Way.” You’ll want to get out to see these boys live if they come to your town just so you can dance to the unstoppable beat of “On Our Way to the Rave.” The record does hit the brakes with its closing track “Heavy Bag,” giving acoustic guitar and mournful strings a look in. Harm’s Way is 28 minutes of quality jangle like no other, a 2024 must buy LP.

Jangle is both a tone and vibration and these bands have locked in on to both. Fill out your collection with the hyperlinked LPs above.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

The (almost) hit career of Bas Muys

21 Sunday Apr 2024

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

You’ve probably never heard of him but you have heard him countless times if you had an AM radio in the early 1980s. He comes in at the 1:30 mark of the “Stars on 45” hit single as the voice of John Lennon, a song that topped charts around the world when it was released in 1981. He’s Bas Muys – Dutch singer, songwriter, guitarist and famously unknown guy. Though that’s not for lack of trying.

His first break came when his 1970s band Smyle climbed the Dutch charts with the Beatlesque single “It’s Gonna Be Alright” in 1972. Listeners heard echoes of the mid-1960s Nederbeat (Dutch Merseybeat) sound on the track so the record company deliberately obscured the band’s identity in a pre-Klattu bit of Fab Four misdirection. Smyle sputtered after just a few singles and Muys spend the rest of the seventies doing studio work. Of course that paid off big time when the Stars on 45 project took off. Hoping to cash in on that success he got to release a single under his own name in 1981 called “Oh Terry.” The song is so eerily spot-on Lennon vocally, nailing his falsetto and the more tender side of his delivery while the tune has a melodic bass line reminiscent of “Help.” With better promotion it might have caught on, given the strong appetite for Lennon-esque material in the wake of his death. Muys recorded a whole album to go with the song but his record company failed to release it at the time. Still, he did manage to put out a different LP a year later entitled Lennon and McCartney (Never Issued), later retitled Lennon and McCartney: Secret Songs. The album features Muys doing very Beatles versions of a host of songs Lennon and McCartney had written for other acts in the early 1960s. Sometimes the results hardly differ from the originals, like the cover of “Bad To Me” (a hit for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas). But others like “From a Window” and “I’m In Love” really polish up nicely.

Smyle – It’s Gonna Be Alright
Bas Muys – Oh Terry
Bas Muys – From a Window

Muys’ long lost 1981 album Hold On finally got a release date in 2022, complete with live concert and some media attention in his native Holland. But it really deserves a wider audience. The record alternates between Lennon’s 1970s soft rock vibe and a strong Beatles 65 flavour. The ‘guitar’ version of “Lovely Single Angel” really captures the latter.

Bas Muys – Lovely Single Angel (Guitar Version)

Bas Muys is the anonymous guy with an immediately recognizable voice. He could stand to get more attention for his work on its own terms. You can visit basmuys.com to help get that started.

Should be a hit single: Peter Baldrachi “You’re Gonna Miss Me Someday”

16 Tuesday Apr 2024

Posted by in Should be a Hit Single

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

With just three albums released since 2006 Peter Baldrachi is not going to win any productivity awards. But drop in anywhere on his catalogue and prepare for a jolt of pure pop excitement. These are epic recordings, melding a Replacements kind of great rock and roll flair with an ear for melody worthy of Matthew Sweet. And to be fair on the output markers, there are a few stand-alone singles and EPs in the mix. I got wind of his work when someone tipped me to Change, his fabulous 2019 collection of singles. But I ended up buying everything he’s put out. So – no surprise – I’m pretty sure I’ll be featuring a lot of Baldrachi in the days to come. But my initial needle-drop through these all these releases had one track really leap out as clear hit-single material, “You’re Gonna Miss Me Someday.”

The first version of the song appears on Baldrachi’s 2006 solo debut Solid Ground. The track opens with a sweet solo lead guitar line before easing into its acoustic guitar-centric rhythm pop sway. The melodic lead guitar riffs that pop up again and again are delightful while the harmony vocals build as things go on. Background vocalist Alice Austin adds a Go Go’s element to the mix with her contribution. All in all it is a fabulous album deep cut. But wait, there’s more. Baldrachi released a second version in 2015, remixed by power pop legend Ed Stasium. The new version is so subtly different yet the impact elevates the track to should-be hit-single status, it’s hidden charms now not so hidden. The opening lead guitar line is excised letting Baldrachi launch directly into the tune. Stasium then gives the track a bit more bite, lifting the faders on various guitar and drum tracks to increase the impact. Frankly, in my head I hear a third version produced by Steve Lillywhite that could slip on to Crenshaw’s Field Day but perhaps that’s just being greedy.

Peter Baldrachi is your unheralded star-of-the-day discovery. Or maybe you know his stuff? In which case, isn’t it great to hear it again? Either way, you too can buy all his releases at one convenient online stop.

Overlord therapy session

12 Friday Apr 2024

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Sometimes you don’t realize how much you’ve been missing something until it suddenly re-appears. Like a good bit of musical relationship therapy from Overlord. Brooklyn’s fave curio popsters finally return after a two and half year absence with a pair of songs that anticipate a whole new album to come (tentatively entitled Tragedy Gold). Get ready for some seriously clever lyrical sophistication and hooky tunes! In the meantime we’ve got two songs to hold us over and they certainly bode well for what is to come.

Repeated listens so far fail to reveal an A side/B side divide to me. Both tunes sound like the main event. And while they seem like they might be related to each other with the ‘ex-girlfriends’ and ‘crying boyfriend’ themes a closer inspection reveals quite different lyrical foci. “The Boy Who Cried Goodbye” ponders whether the boy in question is really suffering or just a drama queen, played out over a music bed that vibes Magnetic Fields or They Might Be Giants. But “The City of Ex-Girlfriends” shifts focus, lifting its lyrical narrative directly from the pages of DC Superman comics and the flying hero’s adventures with his sometime girlfriend, the aquatically-constrained Lori Lamaris. Musically there’s a subtle bit of what sounds like a The The keyboard progression added to the generally Stephen Merritt-ish mix. These two songs signal Overlord is back poppier than ever, just when we need them most.

Isn’t it time you had a session with Overlord? That was a rhetorical question. Hit the hyperlinks to perform your proper fealty now.

Breaking news: The Trafalgars, Aaron Pinto, Bloody Norah, and Phil Thornalley

06 Saturday Apr 2024

Posted by in Breaking News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Today’s headlines are attention grabbing indeed. These four stories are so packed with juicy details you won’t dare give up the remote lest someone try to click over to the shopping channel.

It’s been nearly two decades since Adelaide, Australia’s The Trafalgars put out two snappy guitar popping EPs and at least one supremely sublime single, “Second Hand Shop Girl.” But their new album, the aptly named About Time, is something else again, a record that manages to transcend their prior work with a new level of sophistication. Opening cut “Come On” makes the link to the older version of band with its crisp clean guitar rocking sound. But “Company Time” signals a whole new sonic vista opening up, with tight overlapping guitar lines and strong melodic twists. Then “Girl” turns on a mysterious hooky magnetism that draws you in with a deft use of minor keys. I love the jangle launch of “Start Again,” a song that really vibes the band’s Canadian heroes Sloan. Good songs so are in abundance here, like “Davey Parker” and “I’ve Gotta Know.” And I could totally hear Matthew Sweet covering “Get You Back Again,” which is not to say the original here isn’t delightful.  About Time is a keenly listenable album, the kind you used to play through without a second thought.

Aaron Pinto’s self-titled debut disc is a sprawling 30 song statement of artistic intent, a musical manifesto of sorts that vibes punk, sixties throwbacks, and DIY power pop. The record oscillates between a rough and ready Merseybeat groove and a more polished indie pop sound, though sometimes Pinto isn’t afraid to let the needle bleed into the red. Case in point, opening cut “1st” launches with a blistering, messy rendition of the tune that gives away the album’s secret from the start. This is an LP largely driven by heart, fumes and all. From there Pinto just keeps revving the engine, peeling out into multiple musical directions. There’s the distinct new millennium take on the early Beatles energy on tracks like “Yo Girls” and “Leave Your Man,” though “Over U” moves things into the Fabs psychedelic period. Other sixties triggers register on “The Grass and I were Greener” (somewhat Kinks-ian to my ears), “Corrine (I’m Sorry I Let You Go),” and “Oh, Come On,” while “The Obstacle Course” takes us into early seventies Bowie territory. If there’s a spectre haunting this enterprise it’s Elvis Costello. Sometimes it’s very My Aim is True (“Little Luck”) or Hi Fidelity (“Left On Read”) or Blood and Chocolate (“Hey Little Blonde Girl”). But variation is the default state of play here. Listen to the paired duo of tunes comprising “You’re My New Routine” and “You’re My Old Routine” for proof. The first is polished Costello while the latter vibes Lou Reed. Pinto can also just rock things up with a bar band confidence, as evident on “Now I’m in a Dream” and “I Hate Your Boyfriend.” Still, for me, it’s Pinto’s pop hook instincts I marvel at. He tosses off great hooks with a Mo Troper sense of carefree abandon all over the record, particularly on “The Pilots,” “Tired of Chasing You ‘Round,” “Few and Far Between,” and the exquisite “Your Party.” You’re gonna want to run –not walk – to your local music retailer to get a copy of Aaron Pinto, it’s that exciting.

Brighton, UK’s Bloody Norah have taken their time getting an LP out after first popping up our radar more  than two years ago with the addictive, earwormy single “Shooting Star.” But the results are more than worth the wait. Fun While It Lasted collects the band’s two singles and b-sides, adding six more winning tunes in the bargain. The sound here varies from a poppy sixties beat-group revival to shades of folk pop. Things kick off with “When It’s Gone,” a song that harbours what sounds like a dark Hollies feel. “Susan” lightens the mood, combining Beach Boys harmonies with Beatles Abbey Road guitar tones. “Take It Easy” then takes a surprising turn into 1970 pop soul. So clearly variety is the name of the game here. I love the mannered pop style of “The Clown” compared to the looser rock meandering of “Microwave.” “Tell Me” feels very much in the Beatles ’66 register while “Something New” is all breathy low-key neo-folk rock. Overall this record is all over the musical map, in the very best way. Fun While It Lasted is definitely fun while it lasts, and then some.

With Holly Would Phil Thornalley proves once again how much he’s a worthy inheritor to Jeff Lynne’s brand of symphonic pop. His opening song “Holly Would Love (Suite)” could be plucked anywhere from the ELO canon with its sweeping strings and colourfully tweaked vocal lines. Those same recognizable strings and vocals dominate “How to Marry a Millionaire” and “Shipwrecked Love” too. And the album’s single can’t get any more Lynnesque. “Mr. Moonlight” is practically a sequel to “Mr. Blue Sky.” But hold up, song #2 on the track listing “When the Riots Start” sounds so like a Travelling Wilbury’s deep cut it’s hard not to do a double take. Strong Tom Petty vibes here, both vocally and rhythm guitar-wise. I hear Petty on “Falling Upwards” and “Heaven Help Me” likewise. By contrast “We Could Be Starting Something” sounds more like the song-writing work Thornalley’s been doing for Bryan Adams of late. Then for pure pop whimsy there’s “The Golden Age,” a shuffling pop ditty touting the end of the rock and roll age with a light touch on piano and some attractive whistling. Thornalley’s been in the music-making game for a long time (stretching back to 1978) but Holly Would signals there’s been no ebbing of his creative genius.

Headlines don’t get any more ‘breaking’ than with these headliners. Get more on these stories by following the conveniently emplaced hyperlinks above.

The pre-Fabs faux: Pickle Darling, The Rebutles, Escape Artists, and The Robinsons

01 Monday Apr 2024

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Knowing you have a problem is the first step to really enjoying it. Like Beatlemania. I’ve got it bad and that means I can’t help serving up any Fabs-adjacent musical act I run across. Today’s acts are afflicted too. Such sweet suffering …

Let’s kick things off with a straight-up cover album. Or is it? From Christchurch New Zealand Pickle Darling amble through five mid-period Beatles tunes on Oh Golly Gosh, It’s the Beatles, accent on ambling. These are very acoustic-guitar pleasant renderings of famous selections, slowed down and coloured in with original instrumentation. I mean, I never really realized how much “Hello Goodbye” needed a melodica accompaniment until now. Or check out the transformation of “We Can Work It Out” which now comes off like some Donovan hippy-era folk tune.

The year’s going-meta award has to go to Nick Frater for imagining a convincing album/song arc for everybody’s fave imaginary band, The Rutles. His first foray into this territory was spent imagining what a solo career might have sounded like from each of The Rutles’ four members. Now he goes backward to provide a ‘blue’ album of could-have-been hits on The Rebutles 1967​-​1970. The songs are all original works but they don’t hide their inspiration. I’m not going to spoil the fun of ‘spot the Beatles original’ but take “One Lump or Two” as an illustrative example. The pumping piano is clearly vibing “Lady Madonna” while the melody goes elsewhere.

Rounding things out on our faux pre-Fabs contributions are two tunes that name drop Beatle-isms shamelessly. And oh-so effectively I might add. Escape Artists hardly dent the internet. Who are they?  Maybe we’ll never know. At least we’ve got a great song with “Beatles For Sale.” The tune has an Alan Parson Project soft rock melodic charm while endlessly dropping Beatles song references. The concept should amount to an unlistenable hot mess but it works somehow. Meanwhile on “She Likes the Beatles (Party)” Radiant Radish Records house band The Robinsons bemoan how a punk rock girlfriend just keeps stealing song ideas from the singer’s Beatles, Beach Boys and Weezer tapes. Performed in a spot-on Beach Boys’ Party fake live style.

Escape Artists – Beatles For Sale

Image of the American Beetles courtesy Bill Ande. You can read more about this actual pre-fabbed fake Beatles that toured Latin America in 1964 here.