Monthly Archives: March 2021

Trixie Mattel’s not pretending

29 Monday Mar 2021

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You probably know Trixie Mattel as a world famous drag artist, stand-up comic and New York Times bestselling author. But she has also turned out tunes for four albums and a number of stand-alone singles as both songwriter and performer. This is a bit unusual. As Trixie noted in a 2019 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation “drag queens don’t play guitars and sing. It’s just not a thing.” Part of that is because drag is all about pretending, by lip-synching, imitating big stars, and messing with gender roles. In a 2017 interview with GQ she summed the drag performance dynamic as “… a room full of people knowing damn well that that’s not a woman, but we all, including the performer, simultaneously pretend that’s the truth now.” But when it comes to recording and playing songs, Mattel is not pretending. She’s got the songwriting and performing goods, delivered across an impressive range of styles.

Our story begins with her debut album, 2017’s Two Birds. The record is a stripped down country affair, so rustically acoustic and 1950s in feel it comes across more as an example of kitsch country today. It’s a great bit of fun but follow up album One Stone takes things in a more developed direction, with a full band and broader range of songwriting styles. There’s a very Kacey Musgraves aura at work here, with her combination of humour, some traditional country embellishments, and strong pop hooks, particularly on “Little Sister” and “Moving Parts.” Meanwhile tracks like “Red Side of the Moon” offer up an emotional depth that country, at its best, really can deliver on. 2019’s Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts (The Acoustic Soundtrack) returns to the spare sound of the first record but something’s different, Trixie’s vocal delivery is more vulnerable, adding more aching beauty to songs like “Moving Parts” and “Heavy Crown.” Like the documentary it accompanies, the record is more serious than it first appears.

After three albums of country Trixie shifted into a more poprock direction, admitting she was ready to channel something “more post-Beatles Invasion, beach bimbo, B-52s-meets-Blondie-meets-Fountains of Wayne.” The look and sound of her 2019 single “Yellow Cloud” exudes this sunny pop style with up-front electric guitars, plenty of ‘ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh’s’, and an addictive swing. The transition was completed on 2020’s Barbara with a sound and songwriting approach that would be definitely Fountains of Wayne approved. The record is chock full of FOW-ish hooks and clever turns of phrase on songs like “Malibu,” “Girl Next Door” and “Jesse Jesse.” But Trixie’s still a little bit country on “Gold” and even vibes a bit of Taylor Swift (in country mode) on “I Don’t Have a Broken Heart.” Over the past year the experimentation has continued with a daring reinterpretation of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” and a kick ass fun cover of the Violent Femmes “Blister in the Sun.” In both cases Mattel pushes the melodic themes more to the front of the mix, with good effect.

Who knows what Trixie Mattel will do next. Personally, I can’t wait to see where her musical muse takes her, with or without the make-up. Keep up with Trixie on Facebook, her website, Bandcamp, and listen to more of her songs on Soundcloud.

If you want to see how Trixie brings it all together – drag, comedy, and song – check out the hilarious, entertaining short living room show/concert Trixie Mattel: One Night Only.

Melody testing The Jam

26 Friday Mar 2021

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Today we inaugurate a new feature here at Poprock Record: major artist melody testing. Now let me state at the outset that our trained scienticians observe only the highest testing standards in bringing you the finest quality poprock product. Our new soon-to-be-patented ‘melody testing’ technology never fails to identify superior hooks, hidden jangle, and potentially hair-raising harmonies. Today’s nominated product for testing: the recorded output of The Jam. Our goal – to single out the most melody-drenched cuts you can find on each album, EPs or singles.

Like so many end-of-the-seventies and into-the-1980s punk/new wave bands, I came to The Jam just at the point they were winding down. I’d stumbled across “Town Called Malice” and was absolutely smitten with its driving bass, uber cool organ line and working class lyrics. I couldn’t afford the album it was included on (The Gift) at the time but did pick up a heavily discounted packaging of the band’s last two EPs featuring “The Bitterest Pill (I Had to Swallow)” and “Beat Surrender.” I loved “The Bitterest Pill” with its Bacharachian over-the-top 1960s pop excesses and biting social commentary. Later I would slowly collect all the band’s earlier albums but to be honest I never really listened to them all that carefully. I just didn’t have the whole-album-loving-experience that typified my responses to records from Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, The English Beat or Marshall Crenshaw. So for this post I’m going back to revisit The Jam to see just what I’ve been missing, melody-wise.

The Jam’s 1977 debut In the City was a dramatic guitar-slashing bit of punky rock and roll. The band’s three piece format forced a kind of instrumental austerity on their sound. It was stripped down and straight up rock and roll, with little ornamentation. For the most part “Away From the Numbers” fit this mold, until it enters the chorus and an almost Springsteen-esque turn of melody emerges, later complimented by some ghostly but catchy background ‘oohs’. Follow up long-player This is the Modern World cemented the band’s reputation as the reincarnation of all things early Who and mod. But “I Need You (For Someone)” stands out for its distinctive harmony vocals, reminiscent of the Beatles Rubber Soul period, while “Tonight at Noon” has lead guitar work that is much more George Harrison than Pete Townshend, backed by Beatlesque harmonies. All Mod Cons, despite the title, broke with the type-casting the band had jammed itself into with previous releases, opening up the songwriting and performances to greater variety. You can hear it on ‘It’s Too Bad” where the guitars are toned down from slashing to shimmering in their attack, with some very “Hard Day’s Night” tones here and there.

Away from the Numbers
I Need You (For Someone)
Tonight at Noon
It’s Too Bad

By 1979 the band had shrugged off the punk sensibility to embrace more of the new wave feel of that year on Setting Sons. Just listen to the lead guitar work on “Thick as Thieves” to hear a new melodic complexity. The Canadian edition of the album contained the beautiful, sonically lush “Butterfly Collector” with its great hooky chorus. 1980s Sound Affects offers up a lot of melodic treats (“That’s Entertainment” obviously), though “Monday” is something special with its somewhat dark melodic feel, original bass lines and jangly lead guitar. In addition to regular albums the band released a host of one-off singles and the occasional EP. “Tales from the River Bank” and “Liza Radley” both appeared on the Absolute Beginners EP in 1981 and demonstrated a new breadth of songwriting, both neo-psychedelic for the former and bit of pop folk on the latter. In retrospect, 1982’s The Gift plays like a concept album, with a thematic story running through the songs. But “Town Called Malice” ended up completely over-defining a record that actually contained multiple styles. Personally I’m drawn to “Carnation” with its McCartney-ish confessional quality.

Thick as Thieves
The Butterfly Collector
Monday
Tales from the River Bank
Liza Radley
Carnation

In the end, it’s clear The Jam could offer up ace melodies crammed into tightly packed, cleverly arranged songs, if they chose to. That they didn’t always do that reflected Paul Weller’s broad tastes, musical restlessness and the band’s mod-rocking DNA. I might have preferred more hooks but who am I to place limits on the artist?

Please note: the contents of this post are completely subjective and unscientific. Individual reader melody testing results will undoubtedly vary.

Singling out the stars: Star Collector and Cheap Star

24 Wednesday Mar 2021

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Given the ubiquity of Big Star in the power pop universe, it’s no surprise to find ‘star’ worked into all sorts of guitar slashing, melody-infused musical projects. Today’s exemplars are bit different though. Both acts are not afraid to step away from the type casting on occasion, adding a different layer of poprock sophistication to their tunes. Vancouver’s Star Collector are veterans of many Who-like chord-ringing anthems and their recent Game Day is no exception, with plenty to please fans of the Who/Jam/Weller nexus. But I’m drawn to an outlier on the record, the subtle acoustic ear worm that is “Hook, Line and Singer.” The vocals remind me of The The’s Matt Johnston while the overall vibe of the song is reminiscent of John Power’s 1990s band Cast or a low key Oasis. Tripping over to Europe, Cheap Star offer up a very different mix of melody-rich influences, drawing on Teenage Fanclub, the Posies, Matthew Sweet and many others. I loved the Nada Surf wash all over “Flower Girl” with its smooth vocals and slight hint of menace in the melody when I reviewed it last fall. Now I’m grooving on the band’s great hooky new song “Wish I Could See,” another pre-release single from the upcoming album of the same name.

You won’t need a sextant or telescope to find these stars. Just open your ears at their respective Bandcamp pages and let the music do its work.

Let’s get rich! With Rich McCulley, Rich Arithmetic, and Rich Mattson and the North Stars

18 Thursday Mar 2021

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This is no get rich quick infomercial, just the straight goods about some boys trying to make an honest living. With music. Today we showcase three Riches that have some fine singles and long players that will definitely pay dividends, if great hooks and solid melodies are your currency.

Attention to Rich McCulley on this blog has been a long time coming. Across seven LPs and a handful of stand-alone singles McCulley has carved out a distinct brand of Americana-infused poprock containing rock, country and indie flourishes. “All I Can Do” from his 2000 debut After the Moment has Past is a lovely lilting roots pop tune, with some striking slide guitar. Two years later he got a rocking backing band together for “Unwound,” a Costello-ish uptempo number from If Faith Doesn’t Matter (check out “Bend For No One” from the same album for a solid jangle entry). McCulley stayed in the poprock zone for his next few releases – you can hear it on the Odds-like “Forget It All Again” from 2007’s Cerro Gordo and the power pop “Falling Apart” from 2010’s Starting All Over Again. Things get a little bit country into Rich’s second decade of recording, as you can hear on 2013’s The Grand Design and 2017’s Out Along the Edges. I love the George Harrison-like lead guitar work on “The Most Beautiful Thing” and that killer organ. Or check out the rootsy acoustic guitar adorning the should-be hit single, “Hey Trouble,” a song reminds me a bit of Ron Sexsmith with its sophisticated hooks and unexpected melodic turns. Or just go for the more straight ahead country feel on the 2016 stand-alone single “Summer Storm.” McCulley’s most recent release, his 2020 single “Your Heart Said,” continues to meld country and rock and roll influences, combining sweet pedal steel guitar with just a touch of Tom Petty in the tune. And all this just skates across the surface of McCulley’s great catalogue. Seriously, drop the needle anywhere on his records and get ready to enjoy some high quality tuneage from a journeyman songwriter/performer.

Despite vibing just about every great artist from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s Rich Arithmetic’s Shifting Gears is undeniably a highly original piece of work. His ability to combine so many influences in interesting and unpredictable ways makes this album a constant source of surprise and delight. Album opener “In Our Time” alternates between touches of XTC and 1967 era Beatles, with a slightly baroque feel. “Do You Remember” has a bit of 10cc and the non-psychedelic Pink Floyd about it. “One Thing,” featuring Maura Kennedy on vocals, alternatively reminds me of Crowded House and the Go Go’s with its moody, atmospheric verses and punchy hooky choruses. There’s an effortless quality to the shifts between styles and influences, from the sultry pop jazz of “A Girl’s Reply” (featuring Diane Leigh’s alluring vocals) or the neo-1950s vamp “Haley” (again, so 10cc here), to the early Yardbirds feel of “She Moves Me” and the uptempo Alan Parsons Project sound on “Always.” And plenty more Beatles nods, like the Fab’s brand of pop psychedelia on “Waiting for the Isaac” or the Penny Lane-ish “He’s a Good Man” or that unmistakably Beatlesy descending chord progression in “Book of Lamentations.” And then there’s the quietly epic quality of “Before the First Slice (Wedding For The Disenchanted)” with its very Joe Jackson piano style. While Shifting Gears has a lot of moving parts, it still comes together as a coherent and highly entertaining musical statement. My recommendation – definitely add some Arithmetic to your current playlist.

Skylights is album number 5 for Rich Mattson and the North Stars and it carries on the band’s tradition of badlands rock and roll, a style that exudes authenticity with its gritty, sometimes edgy, stripped-down sound. “Death Valley” opens the album and sets the tone for what’s coming: the song has a striking, eerie aura, with a bit of menace in the vocals that are nicely offset by the restrained instrumental backing. Vocals are really one of the most distinctive elements on this record, with Rich Mattson and Germaine Gemberling trading lead duties and working up some amazing harmonies. Though the results vary, from the almost jazzy quality of “Against the Wall” to the alt country of “Short Lived.” Influences abound, from the John Prine feel on “Iowa” (and “Short Lived” frankly) to the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” electric guitar sound on “How Can It Be.” And there are a few poppy rock numbers like “Processing” and “In Flight.” I love the guitar shots driving the latter tune and its eerie harmony vocals. When Skylights end with “King by Now,” a lovely plaintive ballad, it’s like the curtain has come down on a great show and you can’t wait for the encore. In this case the record is over but you could just move on to check out the band’s solid back catalogue.

Money can’t buy you love. But if great music makes you happy, we’ve got you covered. Get Rich quick by clicking on the hyperlinks above and visiting these artists’ musical e-venues.

March Music Express

11 Thursday Mar 2021

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Pick up this fantasy compilation I’ve entitled March Music Express and here’s what you get: twenty should-hits, all original artists, and melody for days. It’s a collection that rocks when it wants to, throws in some jangle to make your heart sing, and even goes mellow when the moment calls for it. I’m telling you, K-Tel never treated you this good. March Music Express has all the hooks and none of the groove cramming. Just hit play and let it ride!

Let’s start side one with some sophisticated pop. Dolour offer up a very smooth ambience on “Televangelist,” a keyboard-heavy single wrapped in breathy background vocals with some swing in the beat. There’s something I find so captivating about Brian Bringelson’s vocal treatment on “Losing Train of Thought” from his recent album, Desperate Days. Shades of Gerry Rafferty and Paul Kelly covering a long lost 1970s AM radio pop song. Brooklyn’s The Suns kick off “When You’re Not Around” sounding like some wayward Mersey cover band though the song quickly develops its own distinctive feel. The Mersey vibe’s still there, but now its cast in a more 1968 mold. The song is from the band’s recent EP Big Break, a brief excursion into the 1960s-infused rocky pop numbers. I love the urgency established early in William M. Michael breakneck, rollicking “Miles Away” from his EP Modern Sounds in Pop Music. The feel is very 1980s western Rank and File or True West. Detroit’s Dave Caruso creates such pretty pop songs on his recent album Radiophonic Supersonic, reminding me of 10cc mixed with more than a little Macca. “The Drop” perfectly captures his careful attention to song arrangements, juxtaposing some crunchy rhythm guitar with low key sweet vocals.

Oslo, Norway’s Death By Unga Bunga offer a striking a mix of influences, a bit of metal ‘tude, a dash of 1970s glam, and lurking behind their in-your-face guitars is usually an ear-worm quality set of hooks. Take their new release Heavy Male Insecurity. The first singles – “Egocentric” and “Faster Than Light” – are slow burn hook machines. But I find myself drawn to album deep cut “Trouble” with its subtle, alluring chorus. Looking for something completely original? Scotland’s Pictish Trail has an endearing, inventive indie sound that is something else. Just check all the elements at work on “Bad Algebra,” from the ping pong speaker effect on the opening guitar, to the softly understated vocals, to the explosive outbreak in the chorus. And the guy’s website is pretty hilarious too. Tampa Bay’s The Easy Button claim a musical lineage to Weezer but I hear more Fountains of Wayne on their new single, “Waiting Room.” Great edgy lead guitar here, tempered by some pretty smooth vocals. With a name like Cult Stars from Mars you know you’re in for some fun. I was totally grooving on the band’s fab recent cover of the Springsteen-written, Manfred Mann hit “Blinded by the Light” when I stumbled on “Can’t Wait to See You.” What a song! The performance kicks off like some mid-1980s pop hair band (and I’m liking that a bit more than I should) when suddenly the track transforms into a slice of poprock heaven. Something very Cheap Trick going on here, at their most melodic. Tamar Berk’s new album explores the restless dreams of youth but as a politics guy I was immediately drawn to the song “Socrates and Me.” It’s a cool bit of understated guitar pop, kinda like a new wave Suzanne Vega.

For side two, let’s hit southern Europe. Italy has got a pretty impressive underground rock and roll scene, with an accent on Ramones-inspired acts. Milan’s Radio Days up the melodic quotient on a straight rocking sound with “I Got Love” from last year’s EP of the same name. Crashing chords with soaring harmony vocals equals one appealing single. Another band mining a classic rock and roll sound are The Rubs. The new single “I Want You” kicks off oh so Stonesy but into the main body of the tune there’s a bit more Steve Miller Band attention to melody. Love the space synth! Tim Izzard wrote me about his Bowie-influenced album, Starlight Rendezvous, and boy has this guy got Ziggy nailed. But I found myself drawn more to the less Bowie-fied numbers, like the wonderfully hooky “Breaking Me Down.” The main riff is sensational, effectively threaded throughout the song and nicely offset with some pumping piano. Portland punk-noise meisters White Fang tune up the acoustic guitars on their new album Don’t Want to Hear It. The party dude sentiment is still there (on tracks like “Drunk with my Friends”) but check out the easygoing feel of “Never Give Up.” The song opens with a relentless hook that comes back again and again, effectively haunting the song. Then the track shifts to an acoustic guitar heavy sound that reminds me of Eels or Guster. Overall, it’s a concentrated dose of poprock goodness, a delightful departure from these party rockers. Melbourne, Australia’s Farewell Horizontal offer up a dreamy, reverb-drenched testament to the times we are in with “I Never Know What Time It Is.” I love the musical ornamentation here, from the jangle and psych lead guitar, to the subtle, atmospheric keyboard touches, to the soothing harmony vocals. And that’s not the only highlight from their new record, An Argument with an Idiot – definitely worth checking out.

The irony of Mt. Misery’s single “The Dreaming Days Are Over” is just how dream-like the roll out to the tune is. The song sounds like a skip through a spring garden, all pleasant acoustic guitar and keyboard embellishments, carried forward in a distinctive folk pop style. It’s been ten years since Irene Peña’s fabulous debut album Nothing To Do With You came out, with just an EP and a handful of singles released since then. But what killer singles! Like last year’s shimmering “Ridiculous,” a track on par with anything from Juliana Hatfield and Liz Phair. Such a great crisp guitar sound counterbalanced with a candy-coated vocal shine. Somehow I missed Purling Hiss’ 2019 EP, Interstellar Blue, and that’s a shame because “Useful Information” is song that screams classic 1960s rock and roll. The driving guitar hook is so 1968. And yet the song has a very subtle melody snaking throughout the song. Another band known for noise and screaming guitars that has turned over a more melodic leaf of late is Terry Malts. “Distracted” lays a folkie vocal harmony over a bed of grinding guitars in an effective hooky counterpoint. Last up, The Menzingers’ reworking of their 2019 Hello Exile went from punky to four on the floor folk with 2020’s From Exile. From what I can hear “America Pt. 2” is a slight reworking of the “America, You’re Freaking Me Out” that appears on the album. It’s topical and has got a winning sing-along chorus.

With any great compilation album, someone else has done all the work. All you have to do is let the music play. Though hitting the hyperlinked artist names and checking out their musical wares wouldn’t hurt.

Around the dial: Nuevos Hobbies, The Lodger, The Stan Laurels, and Mason Summit

06 Saturday Mar 2021

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March brings the promise of a bit more musical sun on our blog horizon. Today’s post gathers new tunes from Madrid, west Yorkshire, Austin and L.A., all featuring big and bold hooks. Get set for some audio sunshine!

Last December I was all over Nuevos Hobbies’ single “No puedo esperar” and the song ultimately made my should-be hit singles list for 2020. Now the accompanying album is out and it is just as exciting. Monstruso, or Monsters, is a dynamite collection of jangle-infused melodic should-be hits. The title track ambles along with the breezy, carefree abandon of sixties acts like The Cykle or eighties pop groups like The Housemartins. I don’t want to generalize but there’s something distinctive about Spanish poprock acts, a particularly smooth vocal style that you hear on “Sentado en la esquina de tu cama.” Of course, at other times the album vibes Teenage Fanclub pretty strongly, as on “El viento.” On the whole, the record has a strong consistency, with a few departures like “De mayor” with its more jaunty feel and stand out guitar work. And then there’s my vote for the follow up single, the stunning “Cara limpia.” The lead guitar hook just sings! As an album, Monstruso is a monstrously delightful experience, maxing out on pleasant melodies and enough trebly guitars for everyone.

After taking a decade off West Yorkshire’s The Lodger are back with Cul-De-Sac of Love. Time has not dulled the melodic songwriting skill and performance driving this band. The record is a jam packed with intriguing tunes that combine both dissonant and complementary elements. Take the first single, “Dual Lives.” This song and “I’m Over This (Get Over It)” rehabilitate the disco rhythm guitar feel, subordinating it to a different kind of dance song. And yet these two songs are bit of an outlier for me, a departure from the more joyous poppy feel of much else that appears here. Personally I would have led the single releases with “Wasting My Time With You,” a track with a killer hypnotic lead line that reels you in and keeps you there. It might just be me, but there is something so English about the pop sheen all over this record, like the piano-led melody carrying the Paul Weller-ish “Perfect Fit” or the more New Order/Pet Shop Boys-ish “Stop That Girl.” And then there’s the interesting rhythm guitar and inventive chorus hooks on the title track, capped with an addictive droning guitar break and a glorious wall-of-sound finish. I could go on calling out each song’s unique merits but you get the picture. For me, faves include “I Don’t Want to Be It,” the country-ish “My Poor Mind,” and the timeless, manicured English pop sound on “Former Life,” a style that Robyn Gibson has perfected on his Bob of the Pops releases. Suffice to say, Cul-De-Sac of Love is a winning return for The Lodger, well deserving of 37 minutes of your time.

From the cover art to the general tone of the recording, The Stan Laurels’ There is No Light Without Dark is definitely a step into the shadows, a departure for John Lathrop given his usual sunny disposition. There was a bit of advance notice with last summer’s advance single “Lost and Found,” with its combination of somber melody and crunchy lead guitar flourishes. The song’s strong Pugwash vibe is even more apparent cast amongst all these new tunes. Opening cut “Florida Man” sounds like the b-side to the prior single, a bit achingly sad and strikingly tuneful. Other songs have amazing structural architecture, almost Alan Parsonian in their twist and turns, like the bewitching “Of Love, Wine, and Song.” My personal fave is the strummy beautiful “Red Handed Puppet,” a track that matches the mellow tenderness of the lighter side of Fountains of Wayne. Or check out the strong echoes of The Smiths in “On Paper” or The Beatles/ELO influences on “Mo Collins.” The play with light and dark all over this record is a testament to Lathrop’s cinematic approach to creativity, you feel and see the sound as much as hear it. And what I’m seeing is good. Very good.

This was an artist and album I somehow overlooked in 2020. I don’t know how because one listen to Mason Summit’s Negative Space and you know you’re on to something special. The record opens so inauspiciously with some acoustic guitar kicking off “Doomed from the Start” but by the time you’ve hit that brilliant but oh-so-subtle hook in the chorus, a shift worthy of Mark Everett or even an early Elvis Costello, it’s apparent the track is a minor masterpiece. From there Summit juxtaposes a few rockers with some beautiful, acoustic guitar driven tunes. On the rock side, I could have sworn I was listening to Eugene Edwards as “Confidant’ was playing. Both the songwriting style and performance seemed so in sync with Edward’s brilliant LP My Favorite Revolution. And then, just as suddenly, “Asterisk” thrust me into a full blown Elliot Smith experience, with perhaps some backing from Aimee Mann. The acoustic guitar numbers have a spooky, roomy feel, like the ambient “How Does It End?” and beautiful “More to Fear.” Variety? Sure. How about a killer take on a 1960s Bond-esque instrumental? “Point Doom” delivers that. Or perhaps a more Squeeze take on songwriting with the title track, “Negative Space.” Don’t let the title fool you: Negative Space is definitely something positive.

No static at all, not on today’s post. Nuevos Hobbies, The Lodger, The Stan Laurels, and Mason Summit are coming through clean and ready to (pop) rock.