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10 More Super Rock Hits, Army Navy, Cudas, Ducks Unlimited, Jeff Whalen, Lost Ships, The Safes, The SmartHearts, Trolley, Vanilla
2019 has been a generous year for poprock. So many great songs! And yet here are a few more that I somehow didn’t manage to squeeze in before now.
There is some debate about when Jeff Whalen’s amazing solo album 10 More Super Rock Hits was released. Some say 2018, others 2019. Whatever. I have to showcase something from this very special album. Hard to choose just one song but I’ve settled on “Don’t Give Up” with its super sweet Partridge Family poprock hookiness. Whalen is a master of styles and here he nails the 1970s AM melody-to-the front pop sound. Fans of this year’s Brothers Steve album will also love this one! Portsmouth UK’s Lost Ships offer up some serious jangle with “Drug Store” from their recent EP All of the Pieces. A lot of reviewers link the sound to early Teenage Fanclub but I hear a bit of early The Lilac Time sweetness too. Cudas hail from Cape Town, South Africa and so far have released the double-sided single “TV is Cool Again”/“Kids Want Hits” – but what a release! I love the guitars and the slightly ominous melody lines in the former while the latter nails a Ramones-as-hit-makers sound with its inventive use of synth and Cheap Trick sounding enunciation of ‘tonight’ in the chorus. All this bodes very well for some future album release!
Jeff Whalen – Don’t Give Up
I love the Paste magazine tag line on their review of the Toronto janglers Ducks Unlimited EP Get Bleak: “The Toronto quartet writes lilting, throwback jangle-pop for the isolated and the underemployed.” While many commentators highlight the anomie embedded in the songs, I hear a pretty sweet and distinctive jangle coming out of “Anhedonia” that makes my heart swell! “Gleaming Spires” is also pretty fresh and sprightly IMHO. When I think of Milwaukee I think of socialist mayors and Happy Days and beer. Now I can add Trolley to that list. “I’ll Never Tell” has that Revolver-era Beatles vibe if The Byrds had recorded it. It’s the teaser single from the band’s fifth long-player, The Carnival Of Grey and White, to be released in 2020. At long last, a new record emerged from Army Navy late this year, also suggesting a future album release. “Seismic” is lovely low key number, laid over top of a basic acoustic guitar and delicately adorned with a bit of synth and a whispery vocal style. I can’t wait for more.
I could have sworn The SmartHearts were from the UK. Something about their brash punky yet melodic style of rock and roll. But they hail from Philadelphia. Vocally they remind me of Titus Andronicus, with perhaps a bit of the Clash on back up. And then there’s “Man from the Company,” which exudes a bit of mid-1960s pop sensibility, particularly on guitar, while melding it with a more punk vocal delivery. The Safes returned in 2019 with a song that put together a lot of interesting pieces together in unusual ways. “Baggage Claim” mixes keyboards and acoustic instruments and voices into a winning, distinctive combo. Tacoma’s Vanilla released a few new singles this year. I was particularly taken with the XTC-ish “Treefort.” Seriously, this could easily be mistaken for a Colin Moulding outtake. Winning stuff, obviously.
With 2020 within sight, let’s honour these 2019 winning singles with a visit from the money store. Just click on their highlighted names above.
Lightspeed Toronto streetcar photo courtesy Larry Gordon.
So many albums to listen to! Welcome to the listening room session II where we carry on distracting you from any holiday malaise that might be afoot with melody, hooks, harmonies and some jangle guitar.
Oslo, Norway’s The Needs is just another example of Nordic superiority. They manage to combine driving guitars with sweet melodies that make you want to jump and sing at the same time. The album is entitled You Need the Needs and truer words were never spoken. The record kicks off with “Summerbore,” a song that blasts out of the gate with the band’s signature driving guitar, coated with a slick vocal that holds back just a bit, creating tension between the vocal and instrumental elements. Next up is the obvious single, “I Regret It,” with its early Rooney-esque demeanor. And so on. There are a cartful of great tunes here: the hooky “I’m Doing Fine,” the more mid-tempo “First to Go,” and the fabulous “Stay at Home Friend” with its crashing guitars and endearing melody. Guitar lovers rejoice! Your needs are answered with this latest Norwegian export.
I agree with Richard Rossi over at 
Bulletproof is album number two for Birmingham, Alabama’s The Lolas for 2019 and there is no evident dilution in the quality of offering the second time around. And that’s pretty impressive because The Lolas is only one of the many musical projects that Tim Boykin is regularly writing for and performing in. Opening cut “Deestroy” sets the tone for the fun to come, sounding like a power pop Ramones with lyrics about wanting to ‘destroy capitalism’ and ‘take away your desolate vision.’ Finally, a ‘peace on earth’ vision I can get behind! Then Boykin goes all Rubber Soul Beatles on us with the delightful “Fall Away” while “Oceans on the Moon” sounds like a great lost Hollies cut to me. But the real news with this record is how political it is compared with earlier releases. Titles like “Stand Up and Fight,” “Stop the War,” and “Gunshot Holes” advertise their sentiments pretty clearly. But others, like “Storm of Silence,” carry a message of worker solidarity and hope that requires more active listening. Going political is a risk for any performer and can go agitprop in a bad way pretty quickly in the wrong hands. But this effort is entirely in good hands with Boykin, who strikes the right balance between message and art. And I love the final cut, a Merseybeat rendition of “L’Internationale” that totally works!
In our one last EP file, here’s a release from 2018 that somehow missed my radar last year from Brooklyn’s Answering Machine – Color TV. Vocalist Samantha Campanile often comes off sounding like a edgier Neko Case meets Jenny Lewis on the epic tunes showcased here like title track “Color TV,” “Tri-State Kids,” and “Save the Date.” Though vocalist J.D. Fetcho also sounds great on backup or lead on tracks like “East of Eden.” The band did release a single in 2019 and “Bad Luck” bodes well for the group’s upcoming debut release due sometime in 2020, almost sounding an indie, slightly punk version of mid-period Fleetwood Mac.
Need some distraction to get through the holiday season’s seemingly endless family overtime period? Come with me to the listening room where we can tuck in to a raft of albums, all worthy of diverting your attention from squabbling children and leftovers. Divided into two sessions for your listening pleasure.
I miss a lot a stuff as the year goes by and one major oversight was overlooking relocated PEI-now-Toronto poprockers kiwi jr and their fab debut LP Football Money. The Canadian critics are falling all over themselves to heap 
Valencia, Spain’s Star Trip are obviously big Big Star fans. The influence is all over their 2019 long player, Salto al vacio. And yet they are so much more. First, their songwriting is strong and original. Coated with a shimmering guitar resonance and blissful harmony vocals the songs sound like a sun dappled summer day. I have no idea what they are singing about (it’s all in Spanish) but the sonic palate strongly suggest a post-1960s dose of truth, beauty and love. The whole record says ‘play me!’ but if I were single out anything, listeners are going to love the jangle and hooks propelling the opening title track, or the country pop elements undergirding “Hasta el atardecer,” or the Matthew Sweet quality of “Dias sin saber.” Overall, Salto al vacio is a must add for jangle addicts.
Add the new Mike Adams at his Honest Weight record to the pile with the likes of Matthew Milia, Telekinesis’ Michael Benjamin Lerner and even Marshall Crenshaw. Their defining element? Albums full of ebullient melodic gems, showcasing a deep knowledge of the poprock canon and an ability to twist such influences into original new material. Adam’s new LP There is No Feeling Better is a case in point. Each song is a perfectly crafted melodic miniature. From the off-kilter Beatles influences framing the opening track “Pressing Mesh” to the epic keyboard/acoustic guitar contrasts animating the closer “So Faded” this is a record of oh so pleasant surprises. “Do You One Better” is the obvious single, with its measured build up and strong melodic payout in the chorus. “Free and Reduced” has some great interplay between the rumbly guitar and 1980s keyboard while “Wonderful to Love” stokes a 1980s languid poprock groove. And check out “Datsun Dashes” with its reinvention of early 1960s American pop and Beatles influences or “I Need You” which sounds like a beat group version of the Eagles. Another ‘all-player’ for any road trip lasting longer than 39 minutes.
Let me slip in an EP amongst all this LP celebration. I featured a song recently by Pittsburg native Dave Molter but then got a copy of his 2019 EP Foolish Heart. Wow! What an action packed collection of ear worms. While citing the 1960s and Beatles as his main influences, Molter offers up a collection that exudes the best of 1980s poprock a la Greg Kihn, Huey Lewis and the News and ELO. I already lauded the Jeff Lynne-ish “Mid-Century Man” in my previous Molter post, now let me add praise for the EP’s title track “Foolish Heart” which could easily find its way onto any John Waite solo album, the psychedelic “See the Sunshine,” and the smile-generating Beatlesque “Tell Me That You Love Me.” Seriously, for Beatles fans, try not breaking into a grin when this song comes on! My only complaint about Foolish Heart is that it is an EP. Poprock Record wants more Molter!
Feel free to cancel Christmas, my present came early with Gregory Pepper’s new single “I’ve Got a Bottle.” Pepper is Canada’s should-be favourite curio pop songwriter. Master of styles, piquant tunesmith, a clever with words guy, Pepper never fails to deliver the goods. But I have to say, it’s been a while – too long. Pepper took a year to write a song a week during 2017-18 while weathering the loss of his father, arrival of a baby daughter, and driving the occasional snow plow. But now the word has come down that a new album of Pepper tunes – I Know Why You Cry – will drop in the new year. I can’t wait! Seriously, waiting is not my strong point. But in the interim you have this delightful dollop of Pepper pop craftmanship. Enjoy, and get ready for a fab Pepper-stravaganza coming to this station sometime this February.
It’s been blasting in your ears for last two months I know: festive music! Typically the same 20 songs or so. But I refuse to Grinch out on holiday music simply because we’ve become tired of the classics and not-so-classic that dominate the airwaves and the shops. So as my [insert appropriate holiday commitment here] present to you, dear reader, I’ve scoured the poprock-o-sphere for some fresh holiday tune-age. And I’m happy to report there’s still a whole lot of great stuff to choose from!
Let’s start with a brand new blast of melodic punky goodness from 
Despite the un-Christmas-y climate, Los Angeles native 
Now for something a bit different, 
The 1963-4 Beatles’ sound has become its own distinctive musical oeuvre, influencing bands around the world and across time. In the Merseybeat era, one could hear it from English bands like Gerry and Pacemakers and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas or Americans like the Bobby Fuller Four, and many others. The late 1970s saw the sound revived by mocksters like The Rutles or in note-perfect tributes from Utopia on their Deface the Music. Then a host of new wave bands dug out their skinny ties and rediscovered the sound as the 1970s gave way to the eighties. Now it’s just a thing music-literate bands might do to show off their stylistic chops! Today’s post attends to that melodic Mersey sound, both old and new.
Can’t believe the mailbag is full again! But here we are. It’s nice to hear from people and even nicer that people pay attention to what I’m doing and send suggestions that really work with the blog’s over-arching theme. So here’s another batch of self-promoting rock and roll melody pushers that deserve three minutes or so of your time!