Monthly Archives: December 2021

The big fat post of everything II

31 Friday Dec 2021

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In a race against time we’re squeezing the final artists on my ‘to write about in 2021” list into this second installment of a big fat post of everything. It’s not pretty but it gets the job done.

Sometimes the parts don’t add up the way you might expect. Angel Du$t is a supergroup of sorts comprised of members from various hardcore bands but the record is anything but. Yak: A Collection of Truck Songs is the title of the album and it’s a misdirection too, the collection is more Weezer than hillbilly hangout. Check out “Big Bite” to get a taste of the poppy flavour of this outing. Mmm, good. Boston’s Glowbox grab you with guitars up front on opening cut “Screaming at the Sky” from their recent record Your Call is Very Important to Us. But that’s just the lure, it’s an album full of catchy tunes in that straight up, stripped back late 1970s rock and roll form. For instance, “Don’t Give Up on Me” is the should-be hit single for me. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are such an amazing band it’s not surprising that their spin off projects are pretty cool too. SSLYBY guitarist Will Knauer is one half of Hey Pam! along with Marrisa Mac and they’ve got an album of tunes that fall somewhere between Dropkick/Teenage Fanclub and The Weepies. It’s a bit hard to find but check out “Apocrypha” to get a sense of what they’re doing. I don’t know what it was about the pandemic that said ‘hey bands, do albums of covers!’ but they have, again and again. But Canterbury’s Spygenius give the formula a new twist on Blow Their Covers, recasting the tunes in the register of different eras and choosing a truly eclectic mix of tunes. I initially tuned in for Gene Clark’s magisterial “So You Say You Lost Your Baby” but had to stay for the reinventions of Squeeze’s “Is That Love” and Madness’ “Michael Caine.” But the real gem here the brilliant cover of The Soft Boys’ “Queen of Eyes.” He’s the driving creative force behind Dropkick and The Boys with Perpetual Nervousness but hey, that’s not enough, Andrew Taylor has another project, Andrew Taylor and the Harmonizers. So what is different here? Not that much, some pedal steel guitar maybe. Don Valentine over at I Don’t Hear a Single dubbed them ‘country guitar pop’ and that fits the bill. Basically it’s another album of Andrew Taylor goodness. Don recommends “Life is Good” and “Older” and they’re great but I think you should start with “It’s Misery Again” with its creative melodic twists and turns.

Hey Pam! – Apocrypha

Speaking of over-achievers, Guided By Voices dropped three albums in 2020 and another in 2021 and still found time for a Dukes of Stratosphere side project called Cub Scout Bowling Pins. So far there’s an EP Heaven Beats Iowa and album Clang Clang Ho and the results are wonderfully offbeat. Check out “Copyright 123” or “Magic Taxi” for representative samples. Bejamin Belinska’s Lost Illusions is marked by gently buoyant guitar playing that sometimes reminds me of Bruce Cockburn, despite its somewhat darker themes. The guitar lines that opens the album on “Dancing on the Southside” are so lyrical and set the stage for the whole album, a marriage of guitar impressionism and dark of night folkie vocals. And yet I think “Disappearing” is more of a rollicking ride in the country single. One man band LMNOP is a blast of DIY poppy fun with just tinge of punk here and there on his curiously titled album, WhatNOP dONW7. Opening cut “Things” is a good introduction to what is going on here but I’m more partial to the lilting swinging “Diver’s Head.” Very 1980s UK guitar pop. Forever Only Idaho is Harrison Lemke’s concept album of sorts, tracking what happened to the 2006 graduating class of Coeur d’Alene High School by 2018, in song. I was drawn to the contrast between the complex concept here and the simplicity of its execution, a rustic acoustic guitar heavy post-folk effort. Dip in anywhere on the record to get the feel but I’m really liking “Hayden Hello.” Ed Ryan put me on the Francis Lung and any Ed recce is usually good news. What a guitar player! Miracle is full of inspired playing and memorable tunes. “Bad Hair Day” is the single, sounding like a more uptempo Elliott Smith.

Spanish band Exnovios bring together old and new influences on their album Un Neuvo Dia, late 60s psych-tinged rock and roll, 1980s and 1990s indie artists, and more. But I’m digging the jangle on tracks like “Vuela Jambo” and particularly title track “Un Nuevo Dia.” Next up, literally the great white north. Danny Laj and the Looks hail from Sudbury, Ontario, far from those wimpy border towns where most Canadians live. But that hasn’t hardened their hearts, if the joy emanating from their new album Ten Easy Pieces is anything to go by. There’s serious rocking all over the record but it’s the light boppy feel to “Don’t Keep Me Guessin’” that is keeping a smile on my face. Brighton, Michigan native Daryl Bean has got the must-have EP this year with Mr. Stangelove. Just four songs long, it’s gonna make you hate Mr. Bean – why just four songs? We want more! Spin “Keeping Me Alive” and see if you don’t hear a deliriously good reanimation of the golden years of Squeeze, Aimee Mann and Elvis Costello. Or check out his musical love letter to Fleabag star “Phoebe Waller-Bridge.” Wow. This guy should be on the star track. I’ve only heard one song from Chicago band Walcot’s upcoming album Songs for the Disenfranchised but I like it. “Dreaming Away” launches like a jaunty 1970s reinvention with just a hint of B.J. Thomas buried in the tune but as it goes on it develops in a totally original way. Can’t wait to hear more. My last contribution is from John Sally Ride’s recent LP Now Is Not A Great Time. I’ll be posting a more in depth review in the new year but for now know this, it’s amazing. Great tunes, beautifully played. Here’s a teaser, “She Doesn’t Do Nostalgia.” This is clearly ‘grade A’ Difford and Tilbrook inspired stuff.

Well there you have it. List checked off. My apologies to the artists for cramming you in like this but I had to write something about your great recordings before the year was over. Click on the hyperlinks to explore these efforts with the attention to detail they deserve.

The big fat post of everything I

30 Thursday Dec 2021

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It happens every year. My meticulous lists and projected scheduled posts invariably go awry and artists I had every intention of featuring somehow get left out. But then I had an idea. An awful idea. A wonderful, awful idea. Actually it’s one I stole from those canny Brits. What if I just packed those missing artists into one big fat of post of everything? Then I could tuck them all into 2021 no problem. It’s not a pretty … but it’s what we’re doing. Here’s the first of two installments.

Spain loves power pop, as is obvious from Hank Idory’s recent album, Sentimental Jamboree. The record has a range of tempos going but I’m drawn to the whipsmart Mersey-tinged “Un Rayo De Sol.” Austin, Texas duo Hovvdy serve up some pretty special, self-dubbed ‘pillow-core’ on True Love. It’s got a some Bon Iver, a bit of Hayden, and even some New Order in its droney intensity at times. The whole record could wallpaper an evening of low lighting intimacy for you but a quick take lands on the title track “True Love.” Rochester New York is a serious rock and roll town with so many great bands from there. Like the early 1960s beach riffing rock and roll outfit Televisionaries. Crank up “Charlotte Beach” and let the beach bingo party begin! B-side “Cuckoo Clock” is a pretty special bit of fun too – love that guitar solo. To get some jangle on, let’s turn to Gabriel’s Dawn and their exquisitely gentle, flowing single “Loose Canyon.” Kinda like the Bangles geared down for a ride in the country. Proving old indie dogs can learn new tricks, Swansea Sound come out of Wales demanding ‘indie bands of the world, unite!’ The song titles are blast – “Corporate Indie Band,” “I Sold My Soul on EBay” – and not at all off the mark. But I’m digging the more blatantly poppy “Let It Happen.”

Kent’s The Pastel Waves are also working the political side of street on their EP The Influencers. There’s a 1980s Silencers feel to the package with distinctive guitar while the politics is served with strong melody e.g. opening track “Starts Right Here.” A solo record from Cotton Mather’s Robert Harrison is a big deal and people have been writing about it all over, deservedly so. Watching the Kid Come Back is a delightful collection, marked by whimsey and emotional depth. The title track alone is worth the album price, a remarkable work of melodic minimalism. Is it wrong to buy an album for the cover? Ok, so the music got to me too but the cover of Atari Ferrari’s new Pleasant Surprise had me on pause for while. The record itself is an extraordinary distillation of 1970s influences – Marc Bolan, Queen, a raft of guitar picking singer/songwriting guys, and more. Hard to choose just one tune but I’d have you start on the Cat Stevens-ish “Keep Lookin’.” Las Vegas band The Laissez Fairs clearly just tipped out of the Tardis from 1969, they so nail the psych-poprock sound of that time. The album is “Curiosity Killed The Laissez Fairs?” and it’s a winner. But pressed for one hit, I’m really digging “Sunshine Tuff.” Two Whiltshire UK boys are Rural France. I know, it’s confusing. But ignore all that and just wade into their fab new album RF. The slightly DIY indie vibe tends to obscure the songwriting talent here – what songs! So many possible key selections: “Clementine,” “Teenage Tom Petty,” “Sing Yr Hook,” and so on. I’m voting “Resident Comedian” as the should-be hit single.

Sal Baglio is having a busy year. Project one is another Amplifier Heads long-player, SaturnalienS. All the usual ingredients are there: hooky lead guitar lines, clever lyrics and surprising melodic turns buried everywhere. Just check out the Costello-worthy guitar licks launching “The House of Young Dolls.” What a tune! And then on project two he pulls a Dukes of Stratosphere move with new band The Peppermint Kicks, melding late sixties rock with a Romantics era new wave. It’s all there on “Johnny D’s (Play It Again).” One band is just not enough for some people. Going out on a limb with this next one, all the way to Selkirk Manitoba. Goody Grace has got a spooky EP out, Nostalgia Kills, and it vibes a pretty contemporary sound. But check out the 1980s spacey guitar and overall ominous poppiness to “Hold Me in the Moonlight.” Here’s another outlier from Madrid Spain group Howe Gelb and a Band of Gypsies. Overall, Algrias is tangorific, with airy background vocals and some pretty amazing guitar playing. But the standout feature of this band is how the musical accompaniment combines with the Leonard Cohen-esque lead vocals. Magic! Start with “Notoriety” and go from there. Vancouver’s WUT are great. There is something so performance artist punk about their whole demeanor on their record Now. For instance, “White Walls” almost sounds like a chant but still has some quirky melodic undercurrent carrying it through what is obviously first person account of a coffee shop apocalypse.

We’re not done. There’s even more ‘big fat post of everything’ coming your way. Tomorrow.

Snowflake singles

27 Monday Dec 2021

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Tis the season for shovels and snowflakes … and singles! What better way to wrap up the year than a slew of new 45s. Here’s 21 songs to get you through your snow-shoveling workout.

Atlanta’s Mattiel’s have early-dropped a single from their forthcoming new LP, the aptly named Georgia Gothic. The song is titled “Jeff Goldblum” and this outing is a bit more pop, kinda like something 1978 bordering on new wave. I like where this is going. I’m sneaking in another holiday-themed tune, but only because it’s so subtlely done. Brad Peterson’s “Beautiful and Bright” is lovely low-key ode to peace and goodwill, and who really gets enough of that? Nobody, that’s who. A year ago it was political drama central but amid all the competing headlines I somehow missed Sloan’s fabulous on-point single, “Silence Trumps Lies.” No fake news here, just slick melodies and wise sentiments. I may be getting to it a bit late but it’s definitely worth a replay. With “Stranger” Evan Myall combines some classic rhythm guitar shimmer with a nice bit of Todd Rundgren-like pop songcraft. From his recent EP Snail. Sticking to America’s west coast L.A. Exes offer up a light jaunty neo-early 1960s romp on “Baby Let’s Pretend.”

Cupid’s Carnival are clearly working their way up to a new album release sometime soon, given the singles we’ve seen this year. “Thinking About You Girl” is what the boys do best, another catchy mid-period Beatlesque charmer. Boston’s Bird Mancini manage to sound both very familiar and highly original, all at the same time. From their recent album The One Delight, I’m loving the rollicking joy of “Space Between Two Worlds,” driven by Ruby Bird’s impressive vocals. Sydney Australia’s Middle Kids remind me of a certain kind of contemporary poppy rock sound, like Grouplove. The keyboard opening to “Stacking Chairs” is so magnetic, drawing you in, building to a calliope-like drive in the chorus that’s aided by some nice guitar work. The song is from their most recent long-player, the perhaps only slightly over-stated Today We’re the Greatest. Dave Sheinin takes his reliable power pop chops in a sometimes rockier, sometimes more mellow direction on his recent release The Measure of Things. “St. Paul” has got a hooky bar band rockin’ feel. Richard Turgeon turns on the mellow meter for “7 Stories,” lulling us with some nice guitar swing and vocal harmonies that vibe that distinctive Eagles shiver-inducing effect.

Cupid’s Carnival – Thinking About You Girl

It’s been a while since we’ve heard an album from Wollongong, South Australia band Leadfinger but a few new singles have come out this last year. I’m currently attached to “The Fall of Rome” with its addictive lead guitar runs and ominous melodic undercurrent. I’m guessing a new album is not far off. Ottawa’s teen sixties retro band The Rockyts are clearly between albums so they released “It’s a Dirty Shame” to tide us over this year. The track plays to their melodic rock and roll strengths while adding just a bit of contemporary polish. Jeff Roberts is a mysterious guy from Charlottesville, Virginia who likes to just give his songs away. That’s right, just click on ‘free’ on Bandcamp! And you’re gonna want to with tracks like “Bones,” a shuffle-demon of a track that’s a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. Half Catholic is another band on its way to a new album, for sure, if the spate of recent singles is any indication. “What Good is Gone” has his trademark jangly lead guitar and expressive vocal delivery. It’s mournful and peppy in the same moment. For a change in direction, we head to Munster, Germany where Nah … get their twee baroque pop going on with a new single “The Useless Model.” It’s very theCatherines with some Everything but the Girl thrown in.

The Rockyts – It’s a Dirty Shame

DIY poprocker Stephen Schijns has a load of one-off singles on his Bandcamp page and they’re all pretty good. Indeed, some are pretty great even. Like the alluring charm of “I Met Her Yesterday” with its Byrdsian overtones and Al Stewart inflections. “What Do I Know About Love” is also pretty sweet. The Brandy Alexanders’ “Conventional Lie” starts off very George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” but quickly segues down its own distinctive path, combining winning vocals with some cool guitar and keyboard lines. Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang give their single a super-charged lick familiar to any early 1960s pop fan but it works on “Lucky in Love,” adding rather than overwhelming the tune. They’re a group with a limited resume that I’d love to see more from. New Orleans band Silver Synthetic have got a classic Americana thang going on. You can’t go wrong dropping your needle anywhere on their self-titled debut album but if I were calculating special moments I’d put my money on “In the Beginning.” The Caternary Wines have an otherworldly aura about them. There something Moody Blues/Jethro Tull spooky here. I’m hard pressed to choose one song from that their fab record Birling Gap but I’m going with the Enya-esque “Face on the Rail Line.”

The Brandy Alexanders – Conventional Lie

I can’t recall who put me on to Nashville songstress Tristen but whoever you were, thank you. Thank you!  She has an amazing ability to reach inside you and find some feeling you barely knew was there. At some point I’ll pay tribute to her great catalogue but for now let’s attend to her latest LP Aquatic Flowers. This is a very listenable album, with so many great cuts. I was going to recommend “I Need Your Love” and it is a great song but if I can only feature one tune then it has to be “Athena” with its dissonant lurch and melodic purity. It’s pretty special, but then Tristen is no ordinary songmaker.

No snowflake is exactly the same – ditto our singles. Celebrate the icy cool of our snow-inspired single selections. And drop a few bucks over at Bandcamp for these stellar artists.

Happy Crimble, a poprock holiday pageant

20 Monday Dec 2021

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I didn’t grow up in the Christmas pageant tradition. December 25th was more a social than religious sort of thing around my house. But is that going to stop me from launching my own poprock holiday pageant? No way. Get ready to feel the season with a righteous review of some off-the-beaten-path holiday tunes.

Let’s begin by setting the scene with Fascinations Grand Chorus and their Spector-ific proclamation of the season on “Holidays Are Here.” It’s from the Silent Stereo Records Christmas Spectacular collection but sounds like a great lost missing cut from Spector’s classic seasonal LP A Christmas Gift For You. Rochester’s The Hi Risers attempt to throw off their past Christmas blues in favour of getting into the spirit of things with the hooky “Christmas Lights.” The lovely melodic twists and turns make for a great tune and standout chorus! I almost feel like Juliana Hatfield “Christmas Cactus” was some sort of late night drinking game challenge. “Write a song about a Christmas cactus,” someone slurred after a few too many rum and eggnogs. But Hatfield delivers. The song is a subtle earworm, decorated with a host of endearing musical adornments. I loved Mike Doughty’s “I Hear the Bells” the first time I sort of heard it in the background of a Veronica Mars episode. It’s got an addictive dirge-like quality. It was so captivating that I only just noticed there’s hot make-out scene two-thirds of the way through. Definitely PG 13 Xmas tune-age. The late Frank Lee Sprague put a bit of Mersey into everything he recorded, most obviously on his Merry Merseybeat Christmas album. “Christmas Carol” draws on obvious influences but somehow makes it all sound timeless. Dave Woodard put me on to Dil Bourbonridge and the amazing story of his song, “The First Christmas Snow.” Based on a story written by his grandfather during WWII a teenage Dil fashioned it into a DIY holiday single in 1965. Despite being 56 years old, the song sounds like some new indie jangle-band release. Glasgow’s The Martial Arts add some much needed hooky drama to our proceedings, channeling some 1970s pop vibes on “Stockings.”

Mike Doughty – I Hear the Bells
Frankie Lee Sprague – Christmas Carol

Speaking of drama, can’t be a holiday without some dysfunctional family dynamics. That means it’s time to bring the family, in song of course. Laura Cantrell and Michael Shelley go all nuclear family with their cover of George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s “Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.” It’s a delightful rendition that conjures up an idyllic 1940s Christmas movie. Martin Newell takes us out of the city centre with “Christmas in Suburbia” from his amazing 1993 album The Greatest Living Englishman. The record was produced by XTC’s Andy Partridge who clearly contributes to teasing out the melodic genius of the song. I somehow missed a gem of a seasonal song from power poppers Sloan in 2020, “Kids Come Back Again at Christmas.” But it’s never too late to catch up on holiday hooks. Getting a bit more specific, Eux Autres highlight the adolescent impact of all things merry on “Teenage Christmas.” It’s from their charming 2009 holiday EP Another Christmas at Home. Hm, sounds more like 2021 … The Krayolas add some gravity to this pageant on “Christmas with my Dad,” a bittersweet testament to loss, laughs and memory. The song title really should be “Christmas without my Dad” – that’s what they sing and sing about. The impressive thing here is how the sadness of loss is made to sound so uplifting.

Martin Newell “Christmas in Suburbia”
The Krayolas – Christmas With My Dad

Now it can’t be holiday event without some traditional tune-age, but we’re taking a rather broad interpretation of ‘tradition’ here. I spent my twenties listening to Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas, that’s my holiday tradition. Game Theory add just a hint of menace to the familiar bop of “Linus and Lucy” in a creative re-interpretation, defined by some loud guitars. On the 1960s Ventures Christmas album they meld their holiday faves with distinctive riffs and guitar rhythms from other songs. For instance, their take on “Sleigh Ride” mashes the tune with their own hit “Walk, Don’t Run.” Mucho fun! I don’t know which is funnier, the album cover of wiaiwya’s 50,000 Elves Fans Can’t be Wrong or the girlish chatter in the middle of The Weisstronauts otherwise instrumental “Silent Night” listing off everything in the store and then some. Here’s another classic: David Woodard gives the power pop treatment to the traditional hymn “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and it works. Meanwhile Peggy Sue put the brakes on the Elvis classic, “Blue Christmas.” More Orbison than Presley really. Last up, Canadian teen rock and roll sensations The Rockyts pull the melody to “Winter Wonderland” in all sorts of new and creative ways. Full marks for managing to do something different with an old reliable.

Game Theory – Linus and Lucy
The Ventures – Sleigh Ride
The Rockyts – Winter Wonderland

One last gasp of holiday spirit, that’s what our final clutch of tunes offer. The Kavanaghs love holiday tunes and want you to love them too, providing “A Song We All Can Sing.” It’s from their 2019 Complete Christmas Singles package, for those looking for more. Another ‘full marks for Christmas tune creativity’ winner is Marshall Holland with his inventive “Laughing All the Way.” He manages to create a wholly new song from something old and familiar while also interspersing a “Charlie’s Angels Theme” motif here and there. I did not see that coming. Taking an even more creative leap, Münster, Germany’s The Fisherman and his Soul (featuring The Radio Field) crank up the amp and expand our sense of appropriate holiday topics on “Santa’s Bat.” I love the punky elan coming off this tune. My holiday post tradition very much got started with The Rosebuds’ Christmas Tree Island album. It reinvents the sound, sounding old and contemporary simultaneously. This year I went back to the island, specifically the “Oh It’s Christmas” track digging its swinging, breezy feel. Ok, time for the show closer and this year is has to be the title track from David Woodard’s fab new holiday EP, Rocking Around the Power Pop Tree. If this pageant really had a story it would somehow lead to this hooky denouement – David really says (and plays) it all.

The Rosebuds – Oh It’s Christmas

John Lennon famously made up a lot of nonsense words and phrases, like our post title, so it seems an appropriate send off for this bit of nonsense. Happy Crimble everyone! Don’t forget a present ($) for your fave musical artists this season.

Chartbusters: Henry Chadwick, Hyness, The Zolas and NRBQ

16 Thursday Dec 2021

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Cue the applause and the AM radio announcer, the chartbusters are here! Today’s featured artists have got that something extra, a certain kind of chart charisma if you will. Well, they sound like hits to me. Give them a spin and see if you don’t agree.

No, not the English theologian, not the baseball Hall of Famer either, but the rock and roller from Santa Cuz, California. Henry Chadwick wowed the indie rock world with his stellar 2018 debut album Marlin Fisher. Now he’s back with album number 2, We All Start Again, and it’s another winner. Things are a bit more languid this time around, with album opener “Bloodshot” setting the pace with a strong Ben Kweller acoustic guitar feel. The acoustic guitar is the guide instrument on a host of other tracks here like ”Long Way Back,” “What I Mean to Say” and “Brief Relief” though those Abbey Road background vocals really add something to the proceedings. Not that Chadwick is averse to rocking out on occasion, as on “I’ll Tell You What” and “10 Minutes Reign.” He pulls these many influences together on proto-singles like “Tik and Talk” with a guitar reminiscent of The White Album and Mark Everett Eels’ vibe. But the radio tarted single is obviously the uptempo “Mind’s Eye” with its distinctive Tom Petty guitar ring.

Believe it not, Settle Down in the Dirt is the first full album from Kitchener, Ontario’s Hyness. Their previous two EPs were great but this record is frickin’ fantastic. The band breaks out here full of confident song bluster and bonhomie. Opening cut “Afterlife” is sonic thing of beauty, with its resonant vocals and jangle guitar. It’s actually a bit of a departure from the rest of the album, which is generally darker and heavier though still pretty melodious. Sometimes the band appear to be channeling their 1960s influences openly, as on Merseybeat-ish “Cruelty” and the mod, mod “Foam.” “Bedroom” has got its Weezer vibe going pretty strong. But elsewhere the record is reminiscent of those fab near millennium Swervedriver records, combining a wall of buzzy guitars with sneaky, earwormy tunes. I hear that influence all over “Spill” and “Wring.” Or check out the marriage of a grungy esthetic with a George Harrison kind of vocal on “Beyond.” These guys have clearly got a talent for marrying the discordant with the melodic. Things almost get metal-FOW on “Trash” and “Mabelline” but both really soar in the chorus, tipping things back into hook country. Don’t touch that dial, this thing is already set to 11.

It’s not a moment too soon for Vancouver’s The Zolas to Come Back to Life. It’s been five long years since their last long-player, Swooner, and audiences have to wonder where we will they be at now. On past records I marveled at their ability to combine a 1980s pop keyboards sensibility with rocking dance beat. Early on “Yung Dicaprio” puts to rest any concerns I might have, with its charging, relentless rocking verse/choruses a finely taut counterpoint to the more melodic drop out sections. Classic hooky danceable Zolas are here in abundance on the catchy “Energy Czar” and early single “Bombs Away.” But there’s a Britpop twist in the mix too, with “Miles Away” and “I Feel the Transition” dosed with a smatter of Oasis and even some Stonsey The Verve on the latter track. The spacey “Let It Scare You” hosts an uncanny Smiths’ sounding guitar about a third of the way through, a delightful surprise. But the break out should-be hit here for me is the immaculate “Ultramarine” with its addictive lurch and a chorus that is all hooky bliss. The band even give us an oh-so-timely low-key anthem for these times, “Come Back to Life.” And, scene.

Ultramarine

Just once I’d like to see every indie opinion-leader’s fave band bust a chart. NRBQ go right back to the stone age of modern rock and roll, forming in 1967 and getting their first album released in 1969. 22 albums later, Dragnet is their latest pitch for chart domination. While it’s unlikely to topple this week’s whine-monger from the Lukewarm 100, it’s gonna be a hit with people who like this sort of thing. The signature old time-rock and roll-plus-country and a tinge of jazz sound is back along with another slew of eminently hummable tunes. “Where’s My Pebble?” kicks things off with a Beatles in “I Saw Her Standing There” mode rocking feel. A Beach Boys California sunshine pop sounds puts in an appearance on the clearly Trump era-influenced “You Can’t Change People.” That distinctive Bakersfield guitar sound is all over “I Like Her So Much.” And so on – it’s just the usual NRBQ mastery of so many styles on display here. “Memo Song” goofs on technology but the accordion accompaniment adds a gravity and impact to the effort. “Miss Goody Two Shoes” is a standard Terry Adams jazz vocal vamp, one that appears on nearly every NRBQ release. The band’s cover of “Dragnet” is a reverent, boogie-tinged 1960s vamp, as fans would expect. Then “The Moon and Other Things” is a happy, stroll along in the sunshine pop tune (reminding me of early Chicago) while “That Makes Me a Fool” is cast in a jazzy American songbook style that Mel Torme would ace. Overall I’d say the verdict on Dragnet is guilty – of delivering just what the fans expect.

I Like Her So Much

My chart-busting artists may not dominate the scene but that’s not for lack of trying. Let them climb yours with just a click on the hyper-linked names above.

Bah humbug, yeah yeah yeah

10 Friday Dec 2021

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Every year I laud the holiday spirit in tunes. But what about all those people who can’t stand the holidays, or, more specifically, holiday music? Don’t they deserve a special post celebrating their anti-celebration sentiments? If you’re still reading you’ve probably worked out that this year the answer is ‘yes’. Here’s what I’ve discovered so far. Turns out this whole anti-holidays thing has its own genre of music. Yup, they’re a pretty creative bunch of misanthropes too. And just cuz they’re cranky about Christmas doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a downer. So get ready to rock the ‘down with yuletide’ vibe!

I’ve got to start this themed post with Nicholas Altobelli, whose brand new “I Hate Christmas Without U” got me started down this track. He’s giving maximum mellow on this low key Christmas complaint tune. It starts punchy with a great weird organ sound before turning more intimate, ornamented with some nice guitar runs and heavenly background vocals. It’s not in-your-face fist-pumping stuff but there’s a subtle hypnotic allure that keeps me hitting replay.

Altobelli’s contribution is actually emblematic of a distinct sub-genre of holiday complaint music, the ‘I hate holidays because I’m lonely’ song. With these tunes it’s pretty clear that the real issue is not so much the holidays as it is facing them alone. Charly Bliss get to this point rather directly on their thoroughly power pop “It’s Christmas and I Fucking Miss You.” Kris Rogers and the Dirty Gems take a more Americana poprock approach to a similar sentiment on “Can’t Spend Another Christmas (Without You).” Now nobody does holiday ennui better than country artists and drag artist Trixie Mattel captures those mixed feelings on the wonderfully understated, occasionally comic “Christmas Without You.” Braden Blake and the Oh Wells so nail the Grinch musical backdrop in kicking off their “Bittersweet Noel” before shifting to a more Fountains of Wayne hooky ode to loneliness. It’s from a consistently sad sack brand new seasonal EP called Satin Bows (and Arrows) where feeling bad never sounded so good. And then there’s The Mixtapes who don’t seem anti-holidays at all as much as looking for anything to blot out the heartache that is only obliquely referenced on “Broken Hearted Christmas.” So, sure, they sound like they’re really into the season but it’s pretty clear that’s just a dodge.

Trixie Mattel – Christmas Without You

Now we turn to the serious Grinches on the anti-holiday front. These guys have a ‘tude’ and hooks to spare. Starting with Richard Turgeon,“Skippin’ Christmas” gives voice to those exhausted by all the forced festive bonhomie. The track is both hilarious and jangly-melodic in a addictive Brydsian sort of way. I ran across Slow Club when I noticed the multitude of covers of their song “Christmas TV.” But that’s not even the highlight for me from their anti-holidays EP of tunes, appropriately entitled Christmas, Thanks for Nothing. The collection covers off Christmas lonliness, a spirited cover of Darlene Love’s “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home,” a raucous, decidedly unsilent “Silent Night,” and my personal fave “It’s Christmas and You’re Boring Me.” Probably the most unique deferred break-up song in a Christmas setting – and that’s an award category if ever there was one. John Sally Ride member John Dunbar has put together a holiday song from a point of view that seldom gets attention, that of the empty nester with no one left around to buy for. “He Has No One To Buy Gifts For Anymore” has a rather sad theme but is delivered in peppy style, with some cool organ and a very Michael Penn vocal delivery. Brent Seavers has got the holiday blues and just can’t get any Christmas inspiration going. Sure, he’s missing some special someone but it’s more than that. On “It’s Christmas” Seaver works a Lennon-esque tune and sentiment that leaves us wondering where he’s ended up by the end of the song. Maybe he’s found his “blessings all around” but I’m leaving him in the holiday-agnostic camp for now. Joseph Bradshaw draws on a classic American Songbook style for “Santa Claus Can Keep His Bag.” It’s another ‘you ain’t here so I’m pouting about Christmas’ song but Bradshaw does it with such class, it’s worthy of your seasonal appreciation. From his brief but punchy EP Xmas.

Wrapping things up (not literally, we’re against gifts in this post), the record that definitely inspired me to get keep this anti-holidays theme going, Michael M’s brilliant and hilarious EP A Digital Christmas Gift For You. With songs titles like “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Which Directly Contravenes All Social Distancing Guidelines)” and “Baby I’ll Zoom You This Christmas” it would be easy to see the whole affair as just a timely send up. But this record is no joke. The songwriting is strong and hooky, with sudden punky interludes interspersed here and there. Opening cut “Humans Are Not Worth Saving (Merry Christmas)” is a delightful slice of Futureheads discordant pop with a sly dose of stinging social commentary mixed in (click back from track 2 below using the reverse arrow). And the genius bonus cut is the note perfect cover of McCartney’s holiday song, reduced to a single line of its lyrics. Hilarious and oh so cutting.

Well there you have it. Proof you can whistle a merry tune about hating the holidays. It’s your time to shine bah-humbuggers! Support the artists not supporting mandatory holiday cheer by visiting them online (no gifts required, just $).

The ‘Bah Humbug’ banner-post graphic above was designed by Aled Lewis. It can be purchased as Christmas card here.

Star power: Aimee Mann, Ruen Brothers, and They Might Be Giants

07 Tuesday Dec 2021

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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Time to turn up the wattage on the choice of featured artists for this post. I mean, don’t get me wrong, everybody I put up on this blog is a star to me. But some acts don’t really need much push from Poprock Record to sell records. You know what? Who cares. I still want to rave about their fabulous new releases and I’m gonna do it now.

Aimee Mann is the Joni Mitchell of her generation. Her ear for melody, her unique vocal phrasing, her restless pursuit of new musical challenges, they all exude that Joni brand of creativity. At the same time Mann embraces Mitchell’s intellectual seriousness. Just one listen to Queens of the Summer Hotel and you know you’re at the grown-up table. Others have explored the subject matter of the album in some detail so I won’t repeat that here. Suffice to say for our purposes, the tunes here are lush and memorable. There’s an acoustic bent to the instrumentation, Mann’s distinctive electric keyboard set aside for this outing. The style is sometimes somewhere between Costello’s Brodsky Quartet and his work with Bacharach, except when it’s pure Mann. Listeners looking for a hit of the latter classic sound, go directly to “Burn It Out.” She has a very specific and familiar way of bending a hook, usually occurring two thirds of the way through a sentence. But the rest of Queens of the Summer Hotel is both familiar and yet new territory. Opening cut “You Fall” has the delicate introspection of Joe Jackson in strong piano mode. “Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath,” “At the Frick Museum” and “You Could Have Been a Roosevelt” all vibe a musicals feel (as in Broadway), minus the dance numbers. I love the swing on “Give Me Fifteen,” the wistful melancholia to “Suicide is Murder,” and the subtle hook anchoring “I See You.”  Ultimately, this is an album that pays repeated listening. Queens of the Summer Hotel confirms Mann as one of America’s premier troubadours, delivering an album that defies genre, time and any sense of commercial constraint. And it’s a damn good listen.

Burn It Out

With Ultramodern the Ruen Brothers take their distinctive postmodern pastiche of classic 1960s Americana with a contemporary twist in some decidedly new directions. First there’s something old. The album does gather together some of the previous year’s stand-alone singles, radio-friendly should-be hits like the broody Blue Velvet pop of “Saving Me, Saving You” and the infectious earworm “A Million Things.” Then there’s the familiar ‘git along little doggie’ western sound the boys do so well on tracks like “The Storm in You” and “Topanga Canyon.” Things go in a more contemporary pop direction on songs like “San Diego Nights” and the explosive dance number “Takin’ It Easy.” Other tracks max out a rollicking sense of fun, with “Up in California” a bouncy ditty with a surprising pedal steel guitar solo while “Flying Cars” sounds very early 1980s new wave. And no Ruen Brothers release would be complete with some dark, introspective testaments to loneliness. Fittingly, “Alone” has an aching cinematic quality in its spare delivery. Or check out how the demo version of “Takin’ It Easy” is like a completely different song, its formerly frantic commercial delivery transformed into a haunting acoustic number. If Ultramodern is the future of music I say, bring on tomorrow!

Takin’ It Easy
Flying Cars

They Might Be Giants are a seemingly unstoppable force. Year after year they just keep putting out great material, with no appreciable decline in quality or productivity. Book is album number 23 and it represents no revolutionary change for the band. It’s just more of that heart-lifting, ‘life as a mad montage of silliness and sadness’ kind of goodness. It’s all there on selections like “Moonbeam Rays,” pleasant hooky numbers that instantly put a smile on your face. But what sounds simple can obscure some serious complexity, like the melodic and rhythmic development of the earwormy “Brontosaurus.” TMBG also always curate great instrumental sounds on their records. Exhibit A, some recognizably early EC Steve Nieve organ fills add value to the poppy delight of “Lord Snowdon.” Clever wordplay is another hallmark of TMBG songs, in evidence on the “Anna Ng”-ish “I Can’t Remember the Dream.” “I Lost Thursday” was a pre-release single and it has the obvious mark of a should-be radio hit (in my poprock alternative universe, at least). And check out the cocktail jazz laminating “Super Cool.” It certainly is. The verdict on Book is simple, another great TMBG record. Albums for these guys are more like another episode of your favourite show that you can’t wait to see and see again.

Brontosaurus
I Can’t Remember the Dream

They are the stars of poprock indie-verse and just as reliable as those lights in the night sky. You won’t go far wrong with any of these shiny things.