Monthly Archives: July 2021

Growing up: Drew Beskin, Matthew Milia, Brett Newski, and Common Grackle

26 Monday Jul 2021

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Today’s artists are all grappling with growing up, shifting from their twenties spent aping cool to a thirties confronting responsibility, aging and loss. They’ve glimpsed the fork in the road that spells the end to endless wandering and possibility. It’s time to commit. Luckily these hard and sometimes painful experience translate into plenty of grist for their music mill.

Athens, Georgia everyman Drew Beskin is back with solo album number three, Problematic for the People, the title a cheeky riff on REM’s Automatic for the People. Beskin’s poprock bona fides were established long ago in bands like PURSES, the District Attorneys, and Party Dolls but on this record he lets loose his considerable stylistic chops to produce an album of gorgeous breadth and intensity. I mean, check out the perfect intro roll-out on the opening cut “I’m Not Human,” the languid way it establishes the basic lead guitar hook amid some effortless rhythm guitar flourishes. As the song continues, it delivers a big chorus, the kind that keeps you humming long after the fade out. From there the album shifts moods with ease, from the rocky early 1980s retro of “Going Alright for You” (reviewed previously here) to more stark acoustic numbers like “Culdesac” and “Torn and Blue” to the lush album closer “Atlantic.” There’s some really exquisite stylistic synthesis going on here. Like “Swimming in Bed,” a track that manages to send wonderfully mixed signals with a muted performance while still bursting with an Oasis-like feel and intensity. Personally, I love “Personal Shopping” with its low key seventies pop-disco feel and Beach Boys-doing-Double Fantasy vibe. My take, Problematic for the People is enjoyment guaranteed. Slip the album on your music player and enjoy the ride.

Matthew Milia‘s second solo album Keego Harbor kicks off with “Salad Bars,” a track whose intro piano trickles out like a lost Carpenters tune, only to suddenly lean hard on the country pedal steel. At that point, it kinda sounds like a deep cut from some early America album. From there the pedal steel and country vibe never really go away, but to my ear it owes more to Fountains of Wayne and the Beatles doing country than Nashville. A lot of it has to do with song structure, with songs like “Sunburnt Landscapers” and “Haven’t Heard You Laugh in a Long Time” sounding right out of the Schlesinger/Collingwood songbook. But another factor contributing to this is Milia’s vocals with their hints of Collingwood, sometimes a bit of Elliot Smith, even exuding some Ben Kweller on “With the Taste of Metal on my Tongue.” I will confess a partiality to the few more uptempo numbers on the album, loving the ‘do do do’s carrying “Condo Lakeshore” and Joe Jackson-meets-Apples in Stereo-ish “Autumn America.” In the end, Keego Harbour is more a musical a love letter to a time rather than a place. Still, you can get there just by hitting play.

It’s Hard to be a Person is described as the soundtrack to a book, a very cool idea. Brett Newski is nothing if not barrier breaking. Developed during lockdown, the project has seen Newski confronting his anxiety and depression via a reconnaissance of his past. The project is a new book of drawings and music developed from old notebook sketches and song ideas. Yet the end result looks and sounds as fresh as anything. Fans of Newski will recognize his familiar punk rock Tom Petty vocals while the songs veer toward a caustic acoustic attack not unlike the Violent Femmes (particularly the raucous “Lie in All Honesty” and “Dead to Me”). Things go a bit more poppy on the opening cut “I Should’ve Listened to Ferris Bueller,” which features a guest vocal turn from Steven Page. Despite the album’s consistent vibe, there’s still plenty of variety, with a great shuffle feel on “Lillian Road,” a country/folk swing to “Second String Heart,” while “Life Underwater” alternates between forceful punky verses and a more hooky chorus. But the album’s coup de grace is undoubtedly “Varsity (American Pie),” the obvious single with its steamroller pace, relentless hooks and engaging falsetto vocals (in the chorus). Ultimately Newski’s right, it is definitely hard to be a person. Listening to this record is one way to make it easier.

Old Dog New Tricks is the second LP-length release from Common Grackle, a collaboration between indie pop auteur Gregory Pepper and hip hop producer Factor Chandelier. The results are a decided departure from Pepper’s more typical, madly manic poprock. The ten songs (running just 20 minutes) are low key, often spoken word ruminations on life, loss and growing up. But engaging melodies lurk here too. The McCartney-meets-Satie piano on “Tiny Aphrodite” offers us just such an engaging moment. It’s there with the lead line buried deep in “Bad News.” You can hear it all over “Bud Dwyer” with its muted, discordant Beach Boys vibe. Sometimes the key element of the song is in the changes, like where producer Chandelier changes the aural setting so strikingly it’s almost a hook in itself. The shift in “Mint Chocolate Chip” at the 22 second mark is captivating and a bit additive. Turning to possible singles, the closest thing might be “I Got Scared.” Here I really like the horns and piano and winsome vocals. Bonus: the bandcamp download contains an extra 10 songs and they’re special too (particularly for me, “Please Stop” and “Canadian Raisin”).

Growing up is an exercise in transformation, shedding the old self for something new. Or maybe it’s just a re-arrangement of life’s deck chairs. Either way I reckon there’s insights and enjoyment galore on these here releases.

Radio station 1965: Justin Angelo Morey and John Myrtle

20 Tuesday Jul 2021

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My radio dial seems stuck on 1965, if today’s featured tracks are anything to go by. But both selections are actually brand new releases. Justin Angelo Morey knows the 1960s well, mining the psychedelic rock sounds of the time for multiple albums with his band The Black Hollies. But on this outing he dials things back a few years, with drums, guitars and a song structure that is so Beatles for Sale or anything by The Searchers. “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” brims with jangly guitar accents and an economical lead line that would make George Harrison proud. While Morey’s other recent singles (“I Want Your Love” and “Tell Me What’s Your Name”) also lean into the mid-1960s for inspiration, they’re more in the Yardbirds or Rolling Stones milieu. Personally I’d love to hear a few more tracks in this poppy Merseybeat vein. John Myrtle comes at things from a softer side of the 1960s. His earlier releases gave off a Donovan folkie vibe or the Moody Blues in a poetic moment. But his new album Mytle Soup ups the tempo and turns to more sunny pop hooks. “How Can You Tell If You Love Her” opens with a riff reminiscent of XTC’s “Love on a Farmboy’s Wages” but from there the song is firmly rooted in 1965, calling up flashes of Peter and Gordon and The Hollies. The song is a stunning evocation of the period, complete with a delightfully understated instrumental break at the one minute mark.

I end up in 1965 – musically – so often some might say my radio is broken. But I’m not complaining. There’s a joy in that moment of musical history that contemporary artists keep going back to and making their own. Today’s artists are exhibit A.

Moody melodies: Pearl Charles, Lord Huron, and Lane Steinberg

16 Friday Jul 2021

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There are records that strike a mood instantly. You put them on and slip into some place totally defined by the ambience. Today’s artists are just those kind of full immersion performers.

Pearl Charles is being written up in all the usual trend setting and mainstream places. Her self-described ‘country funk’ sound is all the rage with tastemakers in the US and Europe. But she is the real deal, a performer whose songs instantly evoke any given musical moment from mid to late 1970s. I was struck by the opening of “What I Need” from her 2021 album Magic Mirror, drawn in by its smooth keyboards, unmistakable Fleetwood Mac rhythm feel, and alluring pedal steel guitar. And then there’s her light, piercing vocal style. By the chorus I was convinced this must be some kind of 1978 re-release, the track is so era-note perfect. This only  seemed to be confirmed with “Slipping Away,” a more haunting hooky rock and roll number but still cast in a late 1970s register. Charles’ back catalogue is worth a listen too. I love the Abba-esque guitar shimmer on the title track from her 2018 album Sleepless Dreamer. I’m also really partial to the lead guitar riffs driving “I Ran So Far” from her 2015 self-titled debut EP. But don’t let all this retro music talk give you the wrong impression. While Charles is definitely inspired by the past, her tunes are enjoyable in the here and now.

I don’t think Lord Huron need any help from me to sell records. But I feel the need to write about their latest album Long Lost as it is quickly becoming my favourite album of 2021. The record’s first single “Not Dead Yet” caught my ear with its jaunty feel and Duane Eddy lead guitar. But as I started listening to the album as a whole I surrendered to the band’s cinematic neo-1950s musical landscape, with its dynamic emotional tension stretching between a prairie desert ennui and a honky tonk Saturday night. “Mine Forever” captures it all between the rumbly lead guitar, sweeping strings backing, and a tender, somewhat tentative vocal. The record then advances through a juxtaposition of songs and spoken word links, the latter sounding a bit like Andy Griffith’s creepy radio populist in Elia Kazan’s brilliant movie A Face in the Crowd. The guitar tones are also one of the real stars of this record. Just listen to the opening bars of “Love Me Like You Used To” to see how a delicious guitar resonance can make an already fabulous song even better. But arguably it’s the band’s talent in synthesizing so many disparate influences that makes this album such a remarkable achievement. Case study: title track “Long Lost.” The song manages to meld a very Beatles Sgt. Pepper strings section with some classic Owen Bradley plinky piano that is just so Patsy Cline. And the combo somehow works. I could go on (and on) about every other song here as the record really represents the band at the peak of their songwriting. Instead, I’ll just highlight the impressive Johnny Horton-like vocal buoyancy kicking off “Twenty Long Years,” the lovely duet on “I Lied,” and the subtle melodic hooks pulling you in on “What Do You Mean.” But you’ll have your own favourites.

Lane Steinberg is a prolific artist, literate both intellectually and musically. His records are chock full of inverted pop culture references, clever social commentary and more than little dark humour. I discovered him via his fabulous, action-packed 2018 collection Lane Steinberg and his Magical Pony, reviewed here. More recently he’s released a cool EP of Grateful Dead covers (Lane Plays Dead) and a catchy collaboration with former bandmade Steven Burdick (Wondertrack). But I’m here to rave about his recent powerful, stripped down EP The Invisible Monster. Though it’s just Steinberg’s voice and guitar, I find the record riveting. The opening cut “The Invisible Monster” oozes menace, managing to convey both fear and vulnerability. Song-structure-wise, the tune is pure Hoagy Carmichael while the lyrics might be the dark side of Johnny Mercer. The rest of the EP is mostly covers, but you’d be hard pressed to recognize them from the originals given their transformation at Steinberg’s hands. For instance, “I Talk to the Wind” is from King Crimson’s 1969 debut album but the version here emotes a spare 1950s Mel Torme yearning. In fact, all the 1960s cuts on the EP sound like they’ve been put through a Torme/Brazilian jazz filter (and that’s a good thing, in my view). The formula works on material as disparate as Bacharach and David’s Dionne Warwick hit “In Between the Heartaches,” Love’s “Andmoreagain” (from Forever Changes), and Chico Buarque’s 1966 single “Quem Te Viu, Quem Te Vê” (obviously). Steinberg has a slightly different demeanor on a touching remake of the Beach Boys “I Want To Pick You Up” (the vocal reminds of Mark Everitt’s style on his E recordings) while his run at Kurt Weil’s “Lost in the Stars” sounds like something Elvis Costello would work up. The record ends with another original, the timely Bacharach-tinged “These Ain’t Normal Times.” If you’re looking for something to accompany those dark nights of the soul, something for Sinatra’s wee small hours, spend some time with this Lane Steinberg EP. You’ll feel something. Good.

Music can be like a magic mood changer if you’ve got records like these. Visit Pearl Charles, Lord Huron, and Lane Steinberg for your non-prescription mood altering drug.

Excitable boys: The Blendours and Ed Ryan

10 Saturday Jul 2021

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Some performers really lean on the excitement part of music. They’re a barely containable blast of pure energy. You can tell they just can’t wait to get on stage, to roll tape, and let go. That’s today acts, though in very different ways.

The word I associate with The Blendours‘ creative force Trevor Trieber is ‘glee.’ He’s kinda like that foul-mouthed, badly-behaving distant cousin your parents worry about but you can’t wait to hang with. His work conjures up a pristine world of early 1960s song structures, melodies and harmony vocals, but slathered with obscenities and observational lyrics that wouldn’t make it on American Bandstand. But as Trevor might say, ‘Fuck it.’ There’s just too much fun going on here. Go On Vacation is the band’s fabulous, delightfully crude new EP. It’s only ten minutes long but manages to space it over seven songs. Trevor doesn’t linger or belabor the point but, hey, you can always hit replay. Some tracks race along, like the manic “Buzzkill” with great lead guitar runs and a clever juxtaposition of vocals. Others, like “Tell Me the Truth,” take their time, expertly mimicking that early 1960s feel of teenage emotional drama. Instrumentally the album is pretty spare, often just acoustic rhythm guitar carrying things with some electric lead guitar adornments. But Treiber somehow makes it sound pretty rock and roll on tracks like “I’ll Be the Guy.” And how many writers can slip a ‘sha na na na’ into a song so effortlessly? I love it in “Good to You.” Album closer “Goodbye Christine” even offers up some jazzy electric guitar shots. You can read this blog’s love letter to The Blendours back catalogue here. Go On Vacation is definitely keeping that love alive.

After a long career in various rock and roll outfits Ed Ryan’s recent string of solo efforts has allowed us see the many, many sides to his musical personality. Albums Roadmap and Furious Mind both kicked off with screaming guitar solos but last year’s Even Time softened us up with a hooky keyboard effect on its opening cut. Then inside each release were songs cast in a range of styles spanning decades of melodic rock and roll influences. Now he’s back with another installment that both confirms and challenges our expectations. Don’t Follow Where They Lead is not just a timely caution given our recent political winds but another celebration of melody, in a variety of fun jaunty styles. First on my agenda are the straight ahead poprock gems. Album opener “Anytown” sets the tone with jangly guitars and hooky descending bass lines. Or there’s the choppy rhythm guitar and those distinctive early 1980s vocals driving “Biggest Fan.” Another fun poprock confection is “Maybe I’m Dreaming,” easily a missing deep cut from some cool 1979 guitar band.  But the obvious should-be hit for me is the sneaky earworm, “Everyone Wonders.” I love how the song shifts intensity and attack, while offering striking changes in the  structure and melody. Beyond the expected poppy rock and roll Ryan shakes things up tempo and style-wise on the mellow John Waite-ish title track or with the hepcat shuffle defining “Fish in the Sea.” Or listen to how the piano line weaving through the chorus of “Made Me” adds an extra allure to tune. I also like the guitar tension Ryan creates on “Why Doncha Do It,” only to serve up a glorious release in the chorus. The album also includes a few delightful slower numbers like “What’s True” and “So Far Away.” Altogether, Don’t Follow Where They Lead is another winner from Ed Ryan.

Who am I kidding? I’m clearly the excitable boy in this post scenario. There are just some acts I can’t wait to hear more from, like The Blendours and Ed Ryan. Check them out online and see they don’t raise your pulse just a little.

Photo credit: “Excited boy playing gamepad in VR glasses” courtesy https://www.lyncconf.com/.

I get mail: Half Catholic, All Over the Shop, Astro Chicken, James Henry and more!

05 Monday Jul 2021

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The mailbag is full. So many of today’s artists have to do it all: write, record, make the tea, and slop the product to people like me. The least I can do is respond with a little word love.

Rockford isn’t just the name of some trailer park living, hard luck 1970s private detective. It’s the Illinois home of Half Catholic (formerly Pink Beam) and their neo-1950s goth poprock. Right now they’re just a single: the stylized, mixed-genre “Slow Down.” The song has some nice 1950s touches layered into the background of a contemporary melodic angst rock number, particularly the swooping background vocals. It has a consistent feel, despite various timing changes and shifts in aural attack. Keen to see where an album or EP will take these elements. Just a state away Detroit’s All Over the Shop offer up a distinct rock sound featuring stripped down guitar work and a vocal timbre that conjures the intimate intensity of early Roxy Music on “Moving Too Slow” and Richard Thompson, particularly on the should-be single “If That’s Magic” and “Brand New Summer.” The latter track has some striking melodic changes, particularly into the chorus, with the guitar and vocals in a dynamic but complementary tension. These tracks and more all appear on the band’s recent self-titled debut EP.

If we keep moving east we’ll end up somewhere else. Like Astro Chicken’s new record Different Town. The band still reside in NYC but stylistically they’ve moved on, to a more intimate sound, sometimes folky (“Fight”), sometimes just a more laid back poprock (“Hey Charlie” “SOB” “Card Trick”), sometimes both (“Fred”). If I were a bet-making guy my money would be on “Love Comes Close” as should-be hit single material with its unmistakable Nick Lowe/John Hiatt notes. Though I admit I’m partial to the languid lead guitar driving the instrumental “At Least For Now.” Get caught up on the arc of AC’s past heroic indie poprock efforts from our previous post on the band and then enjoy the adventures this new album represents. Heading north Toronto’s Robby Miller hit 2020 with a nice bit of poprock crunch on his debut EP. But his new single “Little Words” turns up the melodic elements in a very nice Beatles/FOW sort of way. The rhythm and lead guitars nicely balance each other and there seems to be a new confidence in the songwriting. A whole album of tunes along these lines would be most welcome.

Fans of Squeeze, Crowded House, Paul Carrack or any of those early 1980s guitar poprock groups (like the revived version of The Searchers) are going to love James Henry’s new album Pluck. Henry is a virtuoso guitar player and some of his earlier work reminded me of John Martyn or Roy Harper in their more melodic moments. But with Pluck he embraces his 1980s beat group sensibilities, tossing irresistible hooks into every song. Album opener “A Girl Like You” has a vocal and song structure that is so Glenn Tilbrook meets Paul Carrack. But I hear a bit of Neil Finn (“I’ve Never Loved You More”) or Joe Jackson (“Cinema Haze”) or Todd Rundgren (“Currently Resting”) or even an updated Beatles (“Available for Selection”) elsewhere on the album. Currently I’m hitting replay on the addictive “So Many Times Before,” with its Merseybeat guitar flourishes and Billy Bremner sense of heart on the vocal. Other should-be chart toppers include “Only Find Love” with its killer chorus and background response vocals and “Tomorrow May Be Too Late” featuring those hypnotic lead guitar hooks. Get a copy of Pluck, the album is a masterclass in poprock songwriting and performance.

Sometimes the mail presents me with boundary issues. Is this song/album/band really poprock? I’d put Sweden’s Kingfisher somewhere near the border yet still inside. Overall their sound may be a bit on the rock club/dancy side of things but “Illusions” has the punch and swing and melodic chops I associate with genre-crossing acts like Portugal The Man, particularly the guitar work. So I’m counting them in. Their current release of three singles definitely shows tremendous promise. Meanwhile Old Town Crier has that old timely Americana thing going on. “Don’t Go” sounds like something Lennon and McCartney might have vamped during those extended Let It Be sessions, Americana with a touch of punk. But most of the EP I’m Longing for You Honey in Middleboro, Mass has a more Springsteen meets Titus Andronicus vibe, particularly the distinctive harmonica/piano combo on “I Might Get Lost.”

You don’t need a letter from me to find these acts. Click on the hotlinked artist names to reward their melodic hustle.

All Canada’s Tomorrows

01 Thursday Jul 2021

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This is not a holiday post. While Canada may not fly the flag like our neighbour to the south this year’s national day is even more muted than normal as the nation grapples with its state’s historic mistreatment of indigenous peoples. The gist of today is then more about reckoning than celebration. Just what does an invocation of nationhood even mean anymore? Today’s songs all draw on ideas or stereotypes about Canada that people in this space we call Canada are starting to question.

The Sheepdogs not only sing about Canada, they’re from Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to be specific. “Up in Canada” appears on their 2018 album Changing Colours and captures the longing and nostalgia for home of an Canadian expat living in the American south. The song has a fresh country pop sound reminiscent of so many mid-1970s crossover hits, with pretty pedal steel guitar and plinky piano. The song also seems pretty lyrically positive about their northern home, though the singer admits Canada ‘has got our ways to go’. Slowpoke, another Canadian band (this time from Toronto), has written a song simply entitled “Canada.” The mood of the song shifts from jaunty to somber but the lyrics are hard to decipher. There’s something about ‘winter’s dawn’ and ‘fire’ and how ‘in Canada you always lose it all’ but just who and what is losing or being lost is unclear.

Other bands pitch an image of Canada from popular culture tropes: vernacular, sports, how we are perceived by people in other places. Guster let loose with a host of familiar Canadianism with the help of Barenaked Ladies member Tyler Stewart on a customized version of their 2019 single “Overexcited” from the Look Alive album. It was just one of eight extra versions of the song the band recorded in different languages to suit different cultures. As such, the tune has plenty of ‘eh’s and references to Tim Horton’s. While fun, it reproduces the jokey view of Canada as a generally nice place, perhaps a bit obsessed with hockey, cheap coffee, and not being American. Sure Canada is all that but there’s a darker side to the country that such characterizations tend to obscure. On his Threeep EP Matt Pond sings about getting “Calls From Canada” and he seems to be considering whether it represents a better life for himself as an American. The song is a pleasant, airy hummable tune, with nice strings and acoustic and pedal steel guitar. But really, how can Canada offer a ‘better life’ for others when it fails those who’ve been around for thousands of years?

Matt Pond – Calls From Canada

The largely uncritical international view of Canada as ‘good’ is probably why an Ann Arbor, Michigan band decided to name themselves after the country. I mean, no one is rushing to name their band after Uganda or Belarus. Giving their 2006 album This Cursed House a spin, the songs don’t appear to deal with anything distinctly Canadian. Then again, maybe the LP’s title would seem apropos to indigenous peoples. Canada’s music is a nice rootsy folk pop that reminds me of Bombadil. I’m particularly taken with their clever use of a typewriter as a source of percussion on the instrumental “Hey Garland.”

You never really get away from the sins of the past. Sooner or later, somebody’s gotta pay. On this day the indigenous peoples in this geographic locale we call Canada are demanding change. Everybody else here needs to think deeply about just how to do that.

Today’s banner visual was designed by the late Kwakwaka’wakw artist Curtis Wilson. The design features swimming salmon on the side panels with an orca whale inside the maple leaf.