• About Me

Poprock Record

~ Songs with a hook

Poprock Record

Monthly Archives: January 2016

Around the dial: Vant, Magic Gang, and Titus Andronicus

29 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Around the Dial

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Magic Gang, Titus Andronicus, Vant

Today’s trio is slightly more on the rock side of the poprock scale with noisier guitars, louder mixes and crashing drums. British band Vant kick things off with “Parking Lot” which begins with some seductive electric guitar that just hits the bass strings before crashing in with the full chord and band. The video shows a crowd dancing like mad and the energy in this song makes that totally believable. While the song has a strong rock feel the chorus of ‘wait a minute, wait a minute …’ is pure poprock. Other strong tracks from this politically-minded band include “Do You Know Me” and “Birth Certificate.”

Next up is the UK’s Magic Gang, with an ominous sounding yet still melodic “No Fun.” There is something very “How Soon is Now” about the way the main guitar motif swoops in between verses and choruses. The band creates an interesting kind of ‘wall of sound’ intensity with the instrumentation here. A very different sound from their brand new release EP, which has a decidedly lighter tone.

Titus Andronicus round things with the wonderfully sloppy sounding rave up, “Fatal Flaw.” My first reaction to Titus Andronicus was that they sounded like an American Pogues, with their aural assault of seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm, just two or three rehearsals short of getting everything nailed down. But seeing them live in Toronto last Fall put that notion to rest – they are one helluva band with songs that really come out in new colours live. “Fatal Flaw” is the most poprock of the recordings on 2015’s The Most Lamentable Tragedy, with the rest of the material tending toward a more punky delivery.

Find out more about Vant, The Magic Gang, and Titus Andronicus on their band webpages or Facebook accounts.

Should be a hit single: The Laughing Dogs “Reason to Love”

22 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Should be a Hit Single

≈ 1 Comment

dfdsafdsa1I was out for a run and this song came up on the playlist and I knew I had to post it. “Reason to Love” is a masterpiece of a single, a perfectly crafted piece of poprock. From the opening harmonica, to the killer organ, to the ever so slightly harmonic vocal, everything comes together in this late 1970s new wave remelding of so many elements of previous decades’ popular music.

The Laughing Dogs were part of the CBGB scene in New York City that included the Ramones and Television, but they took those influences right back into the rock and roll mainstream. This song appeared on their major label debut album, The Laughing Dogs. The-Laughing-Dogs-FrontIt should have been a huge hit single, but it wasn’t. The band had one more major label release before disappearing into obscurity. A shame but the period between 1979 and 1983 produced an amazing array of great poprock performers – people like Marshall Crenshaw, Nick Lowe and bands like Rockpile, only some of whom made it into the charts. But you can rediscover the Laughing Dogs and their music here.

https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/05-reason-for-love.mp3  Reason to Love

Do you know the way to Medellín? The many moods of Rodrigo Amarante

17 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Artist Spotlight

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Little Joy, Los Hermanos, Narcos, Rodrigo Amarante

Close up of Bogota, Colomiba on map

Netflix has a great series charting the rise and fall of Medellín drug lord Pablo Escobar: Narcos. While a bit light on the political and economic contexts that gave rise to the drug cartels, the show is sustained by great writing and acting. The music is also spot on. The series’ opening theme, “Tuyo,” written and performed by Rodrigo Amarante, captures a stereotypical latin jazz feel that nonetheless manages to sound fresh and alluring, like a modern João Gilberto. In an interview, Amarante claimed he wanted the song to sound like something Escobar’s mother might listen to. My only complaint is the song’s length – just a minute and 29 seconds in this version.

The search for the Narcos’ theme invariably led to an exploration of Rodrigo Amarante’s other material. Turns out, though “Tuyo” is sung in Spanish, Amarante is from Brazil, and so records in Portuguese for that market. Confusingly, his first band in Brazil actually had a Spanish name: Los Hermanos. Their biggest hit was the 1999 single, “Anna Júlia,” written and sung by the group’s other main songwriter, Marcelo Camelo. The song became so popular it was eventually covered in other languages, including one in English by Jim Capaldi and featuring George Harrison on lead guitar. The Harrison link was not a mistake – the song has a great early 1960s British beat group feel, with killer background vocal ‘whoa, whoa’s. While Capaldi manages a credible cover, the original is better.

Amarante’s career has moved in a number of directions. While Los Hermanos was on tour with the British group, the Strokes, Amarante and the Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti decided to form a side-project supergroup with multi-instrumentalist Bikini Shapiro: Little Joy. “Brand New Start” is from their debut album in 2007, a rollicking, pleasant tune, with a host of 1950s and 1960s influences and a great horn section.

Rodrigo Amarante released a solo album, Cavalo, in 2014 that continues to mine a minimalist, hipster, Brazilian jazz/folk vein, with a subtly catchy number, “Tardei.”

Rodrigo Amarante website and Los Hermanos website.

Around the dial: Matthew Barber, Simple Kid, and Strange Babes

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Around the Dial

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Matthew Barber, Simple Kid, Strange Babes

Matthew Barber Cover Art2There is no particular theme to this post’s trio of songs, though each selection has a distinct sound that sets it apart. Starting with some Canadian content, Ontario native Matthew Barber typically runs the gamut of breathy guitar folk to straight up bar room rock and roll, but on “Blue Forever” it is the hypnotic piano hook that drives the song, later aided by some understated, echo-y electric guitar.

 

Simple-Kid-The-Average-Man-281091Simple Kid is the moniker for Irish multi-instrumentalist/producer Ciarán McFeely. After making some waves with his punk band, The Young Offenders, McFeely stripped things down to a solo project, initially recorded on a home multi-track cassette recorder. “Staring at the Sun,” from his 2004 album 1, kicks off with a distinctive guitar hook, with the rest of the song channeling a great Beck-like vibe. Sadly, after his equally interesting 2007 album 2, Simple Kid largely disappeared.

https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/03-staring-at-the-sun.m4a Staring at the Sun

11154785_368993533287884_1318022293851095863_oNew Zealand’s Strange Babes round things out with a blissful, retro-sixties pop gem, “Come Back Around,” featuring chime-y guitars and killer organ fill that follows the chorus. They are not going to win any awards for lip-synching but the video here shows a band that is reverent without being derivative of the poprock psychedelic scene.

 

Matthew Barber webpage and Strange Babes Facebook.

New world Poprock Record with Quiet Company

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Artist Spotlight

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Quiet Company

photo-1446776858070-70c3d5ed6758A new year is new world. This past year has been one of rediscovering my excitement at finding new music. I’ve been to more concerts this past year alone than in the previous decade. I’ve also bought and listened to more music than previous years, some of which I’ve posted here. But there is much more out there to find. Poprock Record got off the ground four months ago and posting once a week has proven a challenge but not for a lack of material. I’ve posted on some of my favourite new artists like the Vaccines, Good Old War, Daveit Ferris, Gregory Pepper, Ezra Furman, Family of Year, Tally Hall, Ike Reilly, and Together Pangea but there were so many other discoveries that I haven’t had time to write about like Bleachers, Sunday Sun, Farrah, Dylan Gardner, Summer Fiction, Titus Andronicus, Salim Nourallah, Faded Paper Tigers, and so many more. What I find striking is how out of sync my list of discoveries is with both commercial and indie end-of-the-year ‘best of’ lists. So I think I’m on to something here, a niche that is going largely uncovered by other sources. Tell your friends!

QT 1Instead of rehashing stuff that has already appeared here, let’s start off the new year with some new music: Quiet Company. An apropos discovery for the kind of new year’s eve we were having here at Poprock Record headquarters. Kids were in bed, husband was on the phone with relatives, Game of Thrones episode was cued for later consumption and I was working my way through the PopMatters blog’s “Best Songs of 2015” playlist when I stumbled across this band. A needledrop tour through their five albums worth of material reveals an amazing cache of great creative poprock songs. QuietCompany2We’ll return to give the band a fuller treatment in future but for now here is a song from their most recent release, Trangressor, and one from the previous year’s release, the EP Other People’s Hits. “Understand the Problem” kicks off with a great fun-fair-esque organ fill that is just the first of a number of great hooks in the song, while their cover of Pedro the Lion’s “When They Get to Know You They Will Run” shows up the rockier side of the band’s sound.

Find Quiet Company’s website and Facebook pages here.

Blogroll

  • Absolute Powerpop
  • I Don't Hear a Single
  • Power Pop News
  • PowerPop
  • Powerpopaholic
  • PowerPopSquare
  • Powerpopulist
  • Sweet Sweet Music

Recent Posts

  • Singling out the stars
  • Lennon versus McCartney
  • Around the dial: The Small Breed, Electric Beauty, Turn Turn Turn, and Best Bets
  • Cover me! New Order “Blue Monday”
  • Poprock self-starter kit: Orchidales and Where Is Your Dog Now?

Recent Comments

Dennis Pilon on Singling out the stars
EclecticMusicLover on Singling out the stars
Dennis Pilon on Singling out the stars
thehappysomethings on Singling out the stars
Dennis Pilon on Lennon versus McCartney

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015

Categories

  • Around the Dial
  • Artist Spotlight
  • Breaking News
  • Poprock Themepark
  • Should be a Hit Single
  • Spotlight Single
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • Singling out the stars
  • Lennon versus McCartney
  • Around the dial: The Small Breed, Electric Beauty, Turn Turn Turn, and Best Bets
  • Cover me! New Order “Blue Monday”
  • Poprock self-starter kit: Orchidales and Where Is Your Dog Now?

Recent Comments

Dennis Pilon on Singling out the stars
EclecticMusicLover on Singling out the stars
Dennis Pilon on Singling out the stars
thehappysomethings on Singling out the stars
Dennis Pilon on Lennon versus McCartney

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015

Categories

  • Around the Dial
  • Artist Spotlight
  • Breaking News
  • Poprock Themepark
  • Should be a Hit Single
  • Spotlight Single
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Poprock Record
    • Join 161 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Poprock Record
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...