Monthly Archives: December 2023

Record round up II

29 Friday Dec 2023

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Back with our second record round up in as many days in a bid to clear out the review pile before year’s end. Today’s ten just show how strong the independent music scene is at the moment. These are ten big ones, unequivocally.

The Jangles have been dropping singles all year long, mixing up fifties and sixties-themed musical offerings each time. Now for your listening ease they’ve gathered them all together on one fabulous long player entitled Just a Second. The fifties are well represented here with the Eddie Cochrane rockabilly stomper “Daddy’s Gone Batty” and the more Buddy Holly-ish “My Love Is Gone.” Then “Pea Island” segues into the early 1960s with a plaintive lead guitar led instrumental. From the 1960s there’s jangly folk rock (“Helping Hands”), singer-songwriter folk (“Take Two Steps”), and a dose of that distinctive mid-decade American guitar pop sound (“Do I Love You”). But the record’s standout track is undoubtedly the heartfelt cover of the Byrds classic “Here Without You.” Now for something somewhat different you could order up Toledo Ohio’s Equipment. This is a pop punk adjacent product, with a difference. The songs on Alt. Account don’t stick to any labeling, offering clever lyrics and unexpected turns. “Hot, Young Doctors” gets things started with lead guitar lines spinning out in all directions and lyrics that ooze relationship insecurity. Then “LO/FO” sounds like a more manic FOW. By contrast, “Jewelry” is low-key seductive, easing in on just a vocal and acoustic guitar before adding more and more captivating elements. “Username” is a kind of controlled guitar/keyboard chaos offset by a calibrated melodic theme. “Perfect Temperature Coffee” is a barely contained dose of rocking pop tuneage.

An Analog Man in a Digital World is Kurt Hagardorn’s first proper album of new material since 2009’s Leaves and he’s making a statement of sorts. The record reads like a love letter to a variety of styles from the 1970s, touched up in a completely contemporary way. Album opener “Tractor Beam” is simply marvelous. Reworked from a rougher earlier take that appeared on his 2021 EP Exile in Babylon, the song now commands attention, expertly juggling its enticing ELO keyboards and rumble guitar elements. Should-be hit single – absolutely. I almost didn’t get to the rest of the LP, I was hitting replay so often. From there it’s a tug a war between early 1970s boogie rock and roll motifs and late decade new wave/punk influences. Both “Caveat Emptor” and “Hard Back Train” sound like Hagardorn somehow got The Band back together. “Evangeline Hop,” “High in the Shadows” and “Natural Fact” channel some southern fried boogie rock, but with a stronger sense of melody. Then “767” and “Tina Tina!” vibe The Romantics and something a bit more punky respectively. Moving in a more 1960s psychedelic direction, Cupid’s Carnival appear to have hit the jackpot, gaining a major label release with Sony Records – in Japan. To be ‘big in Japan’ is a bit of rock and roll punch line but given how rabid fans are there it’s really no joke. Rainbow Child collects a number of singles and new material in a collection that showcases the band’s mastery of the late 1960s pop psychedelic sound to good effect. As always, the Beatles inflections are unmistakable on tracks like 1967-certifiable “Flower Power Revolution” or the more lush Rubber Soul acoustic guitar vibe on “Thinking About You Girl” and “Every Single Day.” Previously released singles “You’re So Cool” and “You Know” make an appearance and still sound like hit radio circa 1966. Stand out new material – definitely the hooky Hard Day’s Night-era-ish “Everything You Do.”

Cupid’s Carnival – Everything You Do

The Talking Kind LP It Did Bring Me Down kinda snuck up on me. I gave it a play on my way home from work one day, thinking ‘hey, this is OK.’ But then I was playing again. There was something about Pat Graham’s mournful vocal and fluid ‘we’ve been playing together forever’ backing band sound. You can get a sense of the whole package from the opening cut “Trouble,” with its ambling-along gait and oh-so subtle earwormy melodic turns. Then “Under Appreciated” comes on like some dreamy montage music. “Damn Shame” starts so mellow only to kick things up in the chorus. I hear a  bit Guster here, but seriously alienated (not that there’s anything wrong with that). “Never Bored” dresses up a basic folkie lament with some nice pedal steel guitar. Not everything is subdued here. Both “Brand New Face” and “My Truck” press the accelerator, the latter even veering into the punk lane. On the whole though, songs like “Trader” and “Small” confirm this LP as some kind of new cosmopolitan folk experience. And anyone who can squeeze a wolf howl out of an eclectic guitar (on “Small”) gets my ‘you’re so cool’ vote. After stepping away from music over a decade ago Paul Hughes aka The Candy Strypers has returned and then some. Just this year he’s posted 6 albums, an EP and a few singles of new and unreleased older material. So I’m just putting a pin in somewhere and calling the first 14 cuts of the 25 song album Now and Then ‘the’ new release. Others bloggers may differ. What you get here is a solid DIY, mostly acoustic collection of sixties-inspired tunes. Accent on poppy with a Beatles or Herman’s Hermits bounce. “Gonzo” opens the set with a Bo Diddley meets psych-rock shuffle. Then “We’re Gonna Win” rings with a more Brydsian acoustic jangle. “Supermarket Whiskey” hits a more sombre Ray Davies note. Folkies definitely get a look in on tracks like “Blue Is The Colour” and “Early Morning Train.” Personally I’m loving “Magic,” a track that springs along with a sprightly energy.

Glee Crime Scene grab the wheel of their debut DIY juggernaut and don’t let go. As an album Pickle Boi is a lofi blast, oozing personality and sincerity. Opener “Cigarette” drags the album into the spotlight and then takes flight. “Regrets” floats a sad sounding synth line over a bed of acoustic guitars, in a mellow MGMT sort of way. “Coming Home” is the hooky should-be hit-single for me. The influences here are many but muted. A bit of the new romantic scene’s science fixation in “Space Cowboy” with those unrelenting keyboards. Or there’s a light Weezer veneer on “Goth Girls.” For range check out the sombre, acoustic “Winona” next to “Perfume” which conjures a rock band out of nowhere late in the LP. The man behind John Sally Ride, Elvis Eno, and a previous solo release returned this fall with a new contribution in the latter category. With What a Difference Indifference Makes I can welcome you to John Dunbar’s piano years. Or maybe keyboard years would be more accurate. No guitars anyway. Instead Dunbar drapes his tunes with all sorts of interesting synth lines, some horns, and few things that sound like flutes. Take “I Wonder If She Colors Her Hair Now” as an example. Is that a Zombies 1968 era flute opening the song? Or just a clever keyboard substitute? No matter, the song is a masterful exercise in subtle pop sophistication. “You Really Got Meh” has got an early 1980s Joe Jackson piano feel, with Dunbar’s usual flair for clever wordplay. “What No One Is Saying” shows what kind of impact you can have with a keyboard-heavy approach, in a 10cc kind of pop tune. “They Leave In So Many Ways” layers the piano, keyboard and organ parts in a mesmerizing balance while “The Do Gooder” rocks the piano with a Ben Folds drive. Personal fave: “Isn’t It Great.” Love those horns.

A new Nite Sobs album is nothing to cry about. Their 2020 release Do the Sob! made #3 on our annual ‘must have’ album list that year for its spot-on neo-1960s beat group sound. The new album Fade Out is literally just out and I can report that their distinctive ‘contemporary retro’ sound remains intact, though I feel the ghost of Buddy Holly is more present this time around. Really it’s a toss-up between the 1950s Buddy inflections and the early 1980s reinvention of those influences. Both are on display in the opening track “Do You Wanna Be In Love,” complete with handclaps and plenty of ‘ooh ooh’s’ in the background. Then “Scar On My Heart” digs a bit more into a rootsy rock and roll sound. For solid Holly-isms check “Never Knew” and “Easy to Love,” the latter leaning toward Buddy’s country side. The early 1980s are more present in songs like “No Romance” and “I Just Don’t See That Happening,” the former reminiscent of Joe Jackson’s early spiv rock sound, with organ fills worthy of Steve Nieve’s work on Elvis Costello LPs from the same period. Should-be hit-single: definitely “Julie Ann.” The hypnotic guitar work effectively reinvents an early 1960s American song style. “Hold On To Me” is another strong single contender. Another solid slab of 1950s inflected rock and roll comes from Santa Ana sensation The McCharmlys. Right from the outset of their self-titled debut LP they own those retro influences and wield them like precision craftsmen. “Crying” paints an aural picture with tremelo heavy guitar and a generous wash of ‘wah-wah-wah-ooh’ background vocals. This album is actually a cornucopia of sounds from 1957 to 1963 but deployed in a way that just sounds so now. The brilliance of what they’re mixing together is captured on “Die,” a song where the clipped guitar lines and ‘ooh wah ooh’s’ suddenly transform in the chorus into something that sounds like Blondie circa 1979. There’s so much to like here, from the Texas Buddy Holly flavour on “LUV” to the reverb heavy melodic allure of “Miss Me” to the gritty menace behind “Strange Honey.” “Love Me Too” is undeniably the stand-out should-be hit-single. It is a rollicking bullet of a song, propelled by pert guitar work and a dynamic interplay of gorgeous background vocals and a strong Chrissie Hynde-like lead. And if there was any doubt what a killer live band this outfit would be, the “McCharmly Stomp!” dispels it. This record is monstrously good, a ‘must have’ album for 2023.

Am I caught up? Sort of. I’m already seeing ‘best of’ lists for 2023 from like-minded blogs containing acts I’ve never heard of, let alone simply failed to get through the review pile. Such is the state of the indie music world – so much quality stuff out there – but that’s a good problem to have.

Photo courtesy Nan Palmero Flikr collection.

Record round up I

27 Wednesday Dec 2023

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2023 is nearly done but my album review pile remains stacked with must-be-heard-now LPs. Some of these records only just came out while others arrived a while back but never quite fit into whatever posts I had on the go at that given moment. Whatever the reason, to get things sorted by year’s end it’s time for another seemingly annual record round-up. Or two. Brace yourself for an onslaught of quality tune-age.

Sam Roberts sounds so much like … Sam Roberts. What I mean is the guy has got a distinctive, immediately recognizable sound. Take his participation on last year’s Still Anyways LP from Canadian super-group Anyway Gang – his contribution “Out of Nowhere” couldn’t be mistaken as coming from any other group member. Album number 8 from the Sam Roberts Band is The Adventures of Ben Blank and the title track opens this affair in familiar Roberts territory: with a tune that is easygoing yet driving, pleasant and ear-wormy. “I Dream of You” and “Picture of Love” have been released as video singles and both are grin-inducing good time songs. Roberts’ tunes work as polished rocked-up affairs but you can tell they’d sound just as good solo on a battered acoustic guitar. “Everybody Needs Some Love” is a keeper too. I totally dug the punky ferocity of the Teenage Tom Petties self-titled debut album but one year later Tom Brown’s one man band has morphed into a total band experience. One result is that the songs on the new LP Hotbox Daydreams sounds more together, more focused. Or, as the band, say ‘supercharged, super melodic and super short.’ Case in point – “I Got It From Here.” I love the melodic twists here, one minute sweet, the next a bit sad. “Stoner” motors along with a rocking energy fueled by solid rhythm guitars and an ominous keyboard wash. “Find Me” sounds like a rough-hewn hit single. And there’s still plenty of rocked out fuzz on tracks like “Greenhorn” and “Trigger’s Broom.” “Deathtrap” even vibes some pop psychedelia.

Currently hanging in North Wales doing a PhD in Creative Writing, queer working class poet and musician Caleb Nichols has still managed to pump it out in 2023, releasing 3 EPs and this recent fantastic full length LP Let’s Look Back. The 11 songs here are a like a selection of chocolates, boxed in the same factory but all different flavours. “Demon Twink” comes on like a rush of Elliot Smith with a dash of Rogue Wave in the mix whereas “The Absolute Boy” gives off a bit Bryan Ferry meets Sparks. I hear some strong Shins influences all over “J’ai Vu La Lune” while “Blue Sky Blue” has a Tim Finn flavour to its melodic arc and vocal performance. Then there’s “Albatross” which stands out for its dark pop edge and  generally ominous aura. This record is clearly a winning collection. In 2022 LA’s The Uni Boys were universally lauded in the power pop press for their major label debut Do It All Next Week which somehow managed to melt down 1979 and compress it into 12 magic tunes. Now they’re back with Buy This Now! and I can heartedly endorse that sentiment. This outing has more of that winning guitar pop sound on tracks like “Two Years” and “Intentions,” with the latter’s twin lead guitar opening marking it as radio hit friendly. The split in the vocal duties pushes the band in a Rockpile/The Connection direction on “Don’t Want To Be Like You” and “I Want It Too” while “I Don’t Believe in Love” and “Say You’ll Make It Real” is more uber-cool Colin Blunstone smoothness. Lots to love here, with able production from The Lemon Twigs.

With Again Birmingham Alabama’s The Blips once again channel that 1970s new wave re-invention of classic rock and roll motifs. “Stay Up” serves notice that this record is going to be party time central, vibing a strong 1977 Nick Lowe energy. From there the record alternates between a garage rock stomp on tracks like “Slow Lane” and a more Stonesy saunter on “Good Lookin’ Liars.” Then “She Still Shouts” unleashes a bevy of hooky lead guitar licks in a dance floor crasher while “Laika” adds some jangle and fuzz to the mix. You’re gonna want to get your tickets pronto when The Blips come to your town because they are surely a rock and roll dance event. Now for a change of pace you could turn to Chicago’s Matt Tiegler. His recent release Hands Free Down Hill is all jaunty acoustic guitar and piano-based sunny pop songs. His early release single “Dream (reason for living)” set the tone, in a light and soft rock endearing sort of way. But quickly the album opens up in multiple and very pleasing directions. Like “I Didn’t Get You,” a rollicking pop ear worm, or the jangle-coated Beatlesque “I Want to Start a Religion With You.” Teigler rocks things up a bit more on the title track and there’s even a hint of XTC on “Murphy’s Hope.” And check out those seductive jazz guitar licks on “Summer Love Song.” Very Lane Steinberg.

Everybody is talking about Portland Oregon powerpop wunderkind Bory and his new album Who’s a Good Boy. With a talent like Mo Troper in the producer’s chair there was little doubt that this would be a quality pop product. Opening cut “The Flake” delivers with a bit of jangle and overall droney pop haze that is both distinctive and pleasantly familiar. Then “Feel the Burn” boosts the melodic hooks while “North Douglas” adds more fuzzy guitar to the overall pop goodness. Possible influences abound. “End of the World” showcases some delicate guitar work draping a Jon Brion bit of musical ennui, “We Both Won” has just a hint of Wings-era McCartney lurking in the song structure somewhere, and “Wreck” sounds so Elliott Smith to me. Then again, the stripped-down acoustic guitar ballad “Take It From Me” really shows the strength of Bory’s songwriting. Heading down the I-5 in Oregon we end up in Eugene, home of poprock oddballs Poppy Robbie. Their new LP Neighborhood Beautification Commission is almost a concept album, its disparate elements all contributing to a critique of modern living. “Heartbreak Scenario” gets things going with pop sneer vocal-phrasing reminiscent of a 1978 Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello or Graham Parker. From there “Homesteader” offers has a more Britpop jangle, “Robert Pollard Trading Card Collection” conjures a bit of Guided By Voices not surprisingly, and “(Still Bored) On the Weekend” nails that early Velvet Underground guitar sound. I also love the punky reinvention of Byrds influences in “Quite Alright” and the way that the vocal really carries the tune on “Distracted.” Poppy Robbie definitely has something to say and he’s going to say it now.

His day job playing guitar and keyboards for the Drive By Truckers clearly prepared Gonzalez Smith to hit the recording studio to Roll Up A Song for this solo effort. But the results are not what you might expect. The range of styles here are broader, rather exquisite and carefully curated. Take “Lexington Line,” a finely calibrated bit of baroque pop. Or “She’s My Girl,” a perfect example of undistilled power pop in the Greg Kihn tradition. “Margaret” is a lovely acoustic guitar led slice of early 1970s folk pop. And a song named for “Lindsay Buckingham” is naturally going to contain nice guitar lines for sure. I can’t decide if “I Stole Your Girlfriend” is more funny or sad. “Silhouette” is just gorgeous.  With 17 songs the LP is value for money too. Erik Voeks is one of those artists I keep trying to get to. His reputation for legendary melodic poprock crops up regularly on obscure music lists. So I’m digging in with his new Erik Voeks and The Ghosters release It Means Nothing Now. Wow, what was I waiting for? This record is maximum delight from the word go. Opening cut “It Means Nothing Now” vibes some Beach Boys and Beach Boys-influenced acts like Richard X. Heyman. “Hazy Mazes” has some addictive jangle pop hooks while “Everything Dissolves” add some XTC fuzz guitar. Some songs like “The Most Confusing Part” remind me of contemporary acts like Odds and others reinvent the past like “The One Before It” where I hear a new wave shimmering version of the Bryds. So many great songs here, though I’d single out the Marshall Crenshaw-ish “It Breaks You” and “Love You Anyway” which chugs along with good old fashioned rock and roll swing. No hesitation – this album goes directly to the ‘must have’ pile.

Round up one down, one round up to go.

Photo courtesy Megan Westerby Flikr collection.

So this is Crimble …

25 Monday Dec 2023

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Hello world on this always weird, often worrisome, yet sometimes wonderful day. John Lennon’s nonsense greeting ‘Happy Crimble’ really captures my mood. I mean, regardless of what you do or don’t believe can we all pause for some secular or nondenominational joy? Because let’s face it, we’ve not been rocking the ‘peace on earth’ thing lately. All this conflict definitely puts a crimp in the holiday suspension of disbelief that all those Hallmark movies require. Call me a cock-eyed optometrist but I’m still looking for a bit of peace, love and understanding to break out in this wicked world. Or you may call me a dreamer …

You know what might do the trick? A last minute holiday EP release combining themes like California, falling in love, and a medley of Beatles and Beatles solo material that touch on the season. Luckily here we can turn to Caleb Nichols’ December 21 holiday gate-crasher EP So This Is Crimble. Just three songs but oh what a timely trio. “Christmas, California” kicks things off with an insistent hooky urgency, the tune evoking a pleasant John/Paul melodic tug of war. Then Nichols assembles an inspired five-part medley taking bits from all four fabs, both together and apart. His “Crimble Medley” nicks parts of the Beatles fan club release “Christmas Time Is Here Again,” Paul’s “Wonderful Christmastime,” George’s “Ding Dong Ding Dong,” John’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over),” and Ringo’s “Photograph,” effortlessly weaving them together into a medley/mash-up combo. Finally to wrap things up, we come to the delicate and touching “I Fell In Love Christmas Day,” a closer that puts the tempo into slo-mo in a Josh Rouse contemplative way. And then it’s over.

Crimble comes but once a year but you can enjoy Caleb Nichols anytime. Check out their bandcamp catalogue here. And hey, let’s give peace a chance this new year.

Photo of ‘Scar of Bethlehem’ by Banksy, displayed in the Walled Off Hotel in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Celebrating Richard Turgeon 2.0

20 Wednesday Dec 2023

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Richard Turgeon’s latest long player Life of the Party kicks off with the barn-burning “All Alone.” The surging rhythm guitar propels us along, eventually resolving into a classic Turgeon fist-pumping, melody-drenched chorus. Lyrically though the song perhaps inadvertently captures the whole project that is Turgeon 2.0, a mostly one-man song-writing, performing and design phenomenon. Sure, if you dig hard enough you might find a younger iteration of Richard Turgeon, band member, doing the live music scene across the USA. But with his solo relaunch in 2017 via the acclaimed LP In Between Spaces what emerges is a mature artist in control of his muse. The space between that first album and his most recent shows up some interesting consistencies and departures. Let’s stroll through the Richard Turgeon catalogue 2.0 to explore just how he pulls that off.

Reaching back to the first installment of what would be become his California Trilogy of albums In Between Spaces features bankable singles like “Bigfoot’s an Alien” and “Bad Seed.” But returning now I’m struck by how “30” both announces his new direction and finds the sweet spot between dissonance and melody that would become Turgeon’s musical calling card. From 2018’s Lost Angeles I was taken with “Big Break” and “Look Away” but overlooked the alluring, hypnotic “Creeper.” This one keeps shifting between idling and revving before accelerating into the chorus. By album number three of the series, 2019’s Go Deep, Turgeon was breaking out all over stylistically, with grunge, ska, and country inflections added to his usual Matthew Sweet-meets-Weezer brand of power pop. The songs this go round were so impressive – killers like “Loneliness” and “Next to Me” – they had me overlooking a gem like “If You Leave Me.” This is like some sixties classic given a grunge wash. 2020’s Sea Change was a legit new direction, adding menace and more up-front social commentary to the mix. So many contenders for top single here but going back now I’m gobsmacked by the melodic punch buried in “Jolene.” I called Turgeon a hook machine on this album for good reason.

In addition to albums proper Turgeon has turned out a number of EPs and cover albums. 10 Covers Volume I took on mostly indie material and demonstrated his talent for sonic reinvention. His take on The Lemonheads “Into Your Arms” added muscle without losing the song’s tenderness. 10 Covers Volume II took on classics of the poprock canon from the Monkees to The Cure without blinking. His cover of Hole’s “Malibu” elevated it to a should-be FM rock radio staple. From his two EPs – 2021’s Campfire Songs and 2022’s Rough Around the Edges – I now find myself drawn to the outliers, like the countryish “Promised Land” from the former or understated “Fire Drill” on the latter. Though it has to be noted that “Better With You” from Rough Around the Edges may just be Turgeon’s greatest single. And that’s saying something.

All of this brings us back to the present and Turgeon’s latest release, Life of the Party. The album opens with three solid guitar pop grinders showcasing that perfect Turgeon balance of sweet melody and sonic dissonance. The aforementioned “All Alone” is should-be hit single material for sure. “You’ve Moved On” eases in, building over time to a glorious guitar crashing chorus. “I’ve Got You Now” puts some blistering lead guitar up front, prefacing a really hypnotic, driving tune. Then the album takes the first of a number of stylistic turns with “Friend Zone.” Here the opening riff has an unmistakeable seventies Lindsay Buckingham tone while Turgeon’s vocals pull between dissonance and rich harmony. “Our Fair City” starts so Smiths before casting its social commentary over a bed of jangle. With “Parasite” I hear bits of both the Smiths and Swervedriver. The album has lighter moments too. I love the understated low key vocals guiding “Forgiveness” before they up the impact in the chorus. Both “Sweet as Pie” and “What Could’ve Been” have a sunny pop disposition, despite their ringing electric guitars. And then there’s “Without You,” a classic slice of Turgeon’s ‘new vintage rock’ surely worthy of regular FM radio rotation. Album closer “Don’t Forget Me When You’re Gone” is a bit of surprise, leaning on the piano with a decidedly Procol Harum-meets-The Beatles feel. Talk about ending on a high note.

Spread over six years Turgeon 2.0 represents quite an accomplishment: 5 albums, 2 EPs, and 2 covers albums, all chock full of solid material, offered up with Turgeon’s striking artwork and design. The quality has been so consistent we’ve featured his work in 15 separate posts and he’s made both our should-be hit singles and must-have albums lists every year since 2017. Certainly vote-able as the life of our party.

Visit Richard Turgeon online to get an even fuller picture of this renaissance man – music maker, screenwriter, designer – and fill in the blanks in your record collection at his Bandcamp site.

Santa’s got the nightshift

17 Sunday Dec 2023

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It’s popular to paint Santa in petit-bourgeois hues, as if he’s the boss of the North Pole. For many he’s like a festive foreman, running the workshop as a seasonal overseer. But what if Santa is just another worker, one perennially doomed to work the night shift? It’s plausible. I mean, it’s not like he charges for the toys – we’re told he gives them away to boys and girls for no more payment than good behaviour. That hardly seems the ethos of some kind of profit-obsessed Christmas CEO. And if you set aside the magically-conceived-baby thing (and let’s face it, most of us do) what you’re left with actually sounds pretty socialist. In a sharing, caring, skip the work-camps sort of way. So corral your work-team into the break room – it’s time for our annual spate of poprock holiday hymns.

My go-to source for hooky holiday material is NYC’s mysterious merrymakers Make Like Monkeys. Do they work hard for holidays? I count twenty separate seasonally-themed pages on the band’s Bandcamp page so the answer would be yes. Here they get us into the spirit of getting busy with “Let’s Go Christmas,” a song that levels with you about what is to come (and it may be painful). Another reality check comes from Norfolk, Virginia’s The Mockers as they dispel the make-believe culture war nonsense of the political right on “(There’s No War on Christmas) When Christmas Is In Your Heart.” Keeping to the reality theme Jeremy Fisher completes our initial trio of tunes with the inflation-timely “Economy Xmas.” With a chorus consisting of ‘I owe, I owe, I owe’ this is clearly a real singalong number for many this year. So if you’re just looking for a Quiet Christmas this year, check out Jeremy’s album of the same name.

Trees and presents are essential components of consumer Christmas – we have to cover them. But we’re not heading to that in-town Xmas three lot, no sir. Instead we’ve signed up Sweden’s The Genuine Fakes to take us to Taylor Swift’s “Christmas Tree Farm.” It’s in a rougher part of the outback than Taylor usually frequents. Sometimes the guitars get turned up to 11. Moving on to presents, well you never know what you might get. Here to monetize that anxiety are everyone’s fave pop punkers Vista Blue with a track from their new EP Christmas Every Day entitled “What Are You Gonna Get?” But why worry about stuff when there’s love on the line? The Mockers explore the real meaning of the season and good deal of NYC and its boroughs on their beat group-inspired “(What’s a Better Present) At Christmas Time.”

Christmas is also about geography. After all, Santa’s got to cover a lot of ground in just one night. Perennial pub rocker Geraint Watkins draws our attention to classic humanist theme of harmony and togetherness in his beautiful, piano-based ballad “Christmas Day All Over the World.” Chicago’s Alpine Subs have a more narrow focus, finding Santa “Over Wichita”. There’s a nice Shins-meets-Paul McCartney vibe going on here. LA’s Sofa City Sweetheart draws our attention to the less savory side of a sunshine state seasonal celebration on “Christmas in California.” Still, it’s sung so pretty everything still sounds like a pretty good time. And there’s a whole album to go with it – you can literally spend Christmas on the Sofa.

What about feelings? We know that all the hyped holiday togetherness wallpapered through Xmas advertising gets a lot of people down. Geoff Palmer gives voice to some of this on “Lonely Christmas Call.” It’s basically a George Jones family break-up song but done in a more Nick Lowe poprock style. Make Like Monkeys hit the Beatles pedal hard on “Found Love for Christmas.” It’s an old, old story – everyone can see your new flame is about to go out. Looks like you’re getting heartbreak for Christmas. By contrast, Tall Poppy Syndrome are taking it slow. Why not just “Come Some Christmas Eve”? Seems like a curious time for a drop-in date but what do I know? The song is an oldie from Robin Gibb while the band features Vince Maloney from the original sixties version of the Bee Gees. Their version is both sixties immaculate and rather timeless.

You know what makes Christmas cool? Ok sure, snow. But beyond that you need a healthy dose of surf guitar holiday song instrumentals. Toronto’s all woman Surfrajettes go on a lovely guitar-lick-filled “Marshmallow March.” Then to the Jersey shore where The Evergleams take up the tempo on “Marshmallow World.” So much marshmallow, so little fire. Guitar virtuoso Joel Paterson is back with a second installment of his Hi Fi Christmas Guitar series, dubbed The More The Merrier. So hard to choose just one song from this fabulous collection. His take on “O Tannenbaum” is so groovy, one part Vince Guaraldi, one part shake and shimmying goodness. But then his work on “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” takes a song most of can’t bear to hear again and makes it jump with new life. I’m just going to put them both right down here.

Wrapping things up, Vancouver’s Said the Whale remind us of the “Weight of the Season,” the different ways it affects us all. Now that Saint Shane is gone York’s Bull get my vote for most emotionally-charged Christmas tune with their new “Gay Days.” In their view the world may be shit and darkness reigns but as long as ‘you’re coming home for Christmas’ they can muster up a choir, some horns, and few penny whistles. We end our melodious journey where we began, with Make Like Monkeys and a focus on St. Nick. On “Father Christmas” the band reflect on the old man’s drive to make some good happen for those who believe while battling wind and weather and whatnot. Kinda like the rest of us (well, some of us).

It’s been a rough year for the working classes at home and abroad and wherever you may be. So please accept a merry happy whatever-you-celebrate this year from us here at Poprock Record.

Image courtesy Tatsuya Tanaka from his Miniature Calendar. I feature his image in part to help promote his great project – check it out here.

Around the dial: Thomas Walsh, The Small Square, The Exbats, and Miss Chain and the Broken Heels

15 Friday Dec 2023

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Time again to twist the dial in our never-ending search for exciting and hooky new tuneage.  Today’s finds qualify as some quality discoveries.

Pugwash regularly conjured review comparisons to the Beatles and XTC but their sound eventually became its own point of reference. The band’s creative force Thomas Walsh now returns with a solo album The Rest is History that bears the mark of his distinctive artistic imprimatur and then some. The record launches with “A Good Day for Me,” a very ELO-inflected bit of pop genius. The arrangement of the song is so perfect, shifting from delicate moments and lush interludes to straight up earwormy hooks. Singles don’t get much better than this. “Another Lesson in Life” is a close second vote for should-be single with its psych Beatles feel and Lennonesque vocals. From there the album oscillates between spare and sunny pop sketches like “Love in a Circumstance” or “Born of Kamchatka” and the more jangle-pop contributions like “Take Your Time” and “Man Lies Down Again.” “All This Hurt” does crank things in a more power pop direction. And of course there must be some XTC vibes somewhere on any given Walsh product, this time featured heavily on “Everyone Back in the Water.” Pugwash fans are going to be very happy with Walsh in solo guise. The Rest is History is pure enjoyment.

Velvet Crush main man Paul Chastain has a new outfit and the vibe is something else. The band is The Small Square and they have a new LP entitled Ours and Others. I love the distinct mood on this album. Opening cut “Twenty-Third” sets a sombre tone before breaking out into a more Mike Viola pop ode. By contrast “The Hourglass” builds on its acoustic guitar base in a very Michael Penn kind of way. Then “Open Up (Closer)” commits to a more rocking demeanor with a Matthew Sweet balance of ripping lead guitar and strong melodic hooks. And check out the gorgeous jangle defining the enigmatic lurch of “Tilt.” It’s got Byrds, some Tom Petty, and just a hint of Mike Viola again. Come to think of it “Insta” has got some Brydsian turns too. The album has got a load of beautiful mellow pieces too like “Days In,” “Found Object,” and “Baby Face.” Should be single is definitely “Can’t Let Go (Oh, Tommy).” This one saunters in, understated, only to break out a great hook in the chorus. I’m also partial “N. Main Blues” with its otherworldly synth textures and chugging chorus.

With their new album Song Machine Bisbee Arizona father/daughter combo The Exbats move the dial up from their usual early 1960s Brill Building/Phil Spector sound to a more early 1970s Partridge Family vibe. “Riding With Paul” has got the ‘ba ba ba ba’s of the TV band down, with just a dash of Monkees guitar work near the end. Not that the sixties motifs have been entirely put away. “To All the Mothers I’d Like to Forgive” harkens back to an early 1960s girl group sound. Other sixties riffs can be found on the 1960s girl singer standards “Easy to be Sorry” and “Himbo.” Or there’s the more late 1960s Sonny and Cher feel to “Better At Love.” Sometimes the retro sound gets refracted through later periods. “Cry About Me” takes a new wave remake approach to the sixties girls group sound while the current single “Like It Like I Do” could be either The Bangles or The Go Go’s doing their hip-shaking, good time take on the past. Then there’s “You Got My Heart” and “Food Fight,” both rollicking blasts of goof pop, the latter getting garagey in a Velvets way. Last up, a real surprise – is that some Abba I hear lurking deep in “The Happy Castaway”? Get yourself a copy of Song Machine. You’ll have it running for a long time.

All this past week I just can’t stop listening to Miss Chain and the Broken Heels new album Storms. On the bus, during my run, on my way shopping for the husband, I just keep choosing this record and then hitting repeat. There’s something brash and raw and real going on here while still being oh-so polished and hooky. Sometimes the sound has a strong retro 1950s sheen. Songs like “Wild Wind,” “Caring Wolves” and “Uh Uh Uh” lean into that more rough-hewn, fifties-style melodic rock that reminds of another great find this year, The McCharmleys. But at other points lead singer Astrid Dante exudes the vocal charisma of a Neko Case, Jenny Lewis or Chrissie Hynde. Opening cut “I Don’t Know” is like a declaration of purpose, wielding its original and distinctive rhythm guitar work to anchor the song. “Storms” trundles along with a carefree abandon. “Hunters of Hope” has a more anglo-poprock gloss. Really, there are just so many great tunes here: “Since You’re Gone,” “Perfect Day” and the hypnotic “Green and Black.” Storms works on the stereo and you know it would rock live.

There’s nothing like twisting the dial and stumbling across a new find. Today’s acts will give you plenty to return to.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Spotlight single: Bill Lloyd “Keep the Place Clean”

08 Friday Dec 2023

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On the self-penned presser for his new album Look Into It Bill Lloyd describes himself as ‘willfully eclectic’ for refusing to pick a genre and just do that. Good on him say fans who see Lloyd’s genre diversity as a real strength. He’s a whole lot of country and rock and roll. This album outing is no different. Come to think of it, Willfully Eclectic might have made a more apt album title for this diverse collection. There’s Steve Earle-inflected outlaw-country here on “Aroma Dollhead” and “Half Mast.” Bluegrass gets a look in with “Bunny in the High Grass.” You  can get your jangle fix during “Look Into It” and “This Ain’t My Parade.” Some tracks like “The After Party Party” and “Game Show Stars of the 1970s” are delivered with a wry grin. There’s even a reggae turn on “Don’t Watch Me.” But for me the album’s strengths are to be found in Lloyd mastery of the melodic rock form. Take “She Cheated on her Pain” or “We Can Drive” – the observational lyrics ride over subtle melodic hooks in a style familiar to us from the work of Marshall Crenshaw, Freedy Johnston, Mark Everett (particularly in his ‘Man Called E’ guise), and many others. Or simply go directly to this album’s star should-be single IMHO, “Keep The Place Clean.” This track is pure pop magic in both composition and execution. Clean guitar lines set the stage for some initially understated vocals, occasionally buffeted by seductive pedal steel, only to bait the hook with a seriously Beatlesque ear-worm in the chorus. Overall the tune reminds me of the mood of Babylon and On, Squeeze’s 1987 comeback album. It’s ‘instant replay’ material for sure.

Keep the Place Clean

With his latest record Bill Lloyd delivers serious variety in one highly listenable package. Really, you’d be missing out not to Look Into It.

Going Velvet Underground

05 Tuesday Dec 2023

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Back in the mid-1980s Polydor started re-issuing the Velvet Underground’s back catalogue on a budget line series. I stumbled across a promo copy of the famous banana cover debut while doing time at my early morning show on the University of British Columbia’s CITR student radio in Vancouver. The cover initially grabbed my attention but it was the tunes that sent me to A&B Sound after the show to buy up the band’s first two albums. I was both intrigued and confused. Songs like “There She Goes Again” and “Sunday Morning” were totally in my melodic rock wheelhouse but others like “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” were a bit out there for me. I was certain of one thing though. This band was cool personified. Four decades later The Velvets remain a touchstone for indie bands who continue to cover their tunes as a rite of hip passage. This post draws from a wide range one-off song covers and VU tribute albums to recreate their 1967 debut with Nico.

Things kick off with Austrian band Die Buben im Pelz’s version of “Sunday Morning,” sung in German (rendered as “Sonntag Morgn”). Their take is more muted than the original but still just as sunny and wistful. The band actually give the whole album a German twist, even replacing the iconic banana with a bratwurst sausage. New Jersey’s The Feelies cover a wide range of the Velvet’s material on their live Some Kinda Love LP, including a propulsive take on “I’m Waiting for the Man.” By contrast, the Chrysanthemums lead guitar man Alan Jenkins has put together a great collection of instrumental covers of VU songs, including a trebly take on “Femme Fatale” that leans heavily on the whammy bar. Jason Alarm takes a different approach to covering the band, keeping their lyrics but abandoning their tune on “Venus in Furs” for his own more rollicking composition. Another departure from form comes The California Honeydrops whose version of “Run Run Run” slows things down and gospels things up. Side one closes rather quietly with crazytrain and a whisper folk treatment of “All Tomorrow’s Parties” that really highlights just how pretty this tune is.

Side two should start with a cover of “Heroin.” But try as I might I couldn’t find any version that did not emulate the original a bit too closely. So instead we go back to the source – Lou himself – and a 1965 demo that Reed and Cale recorded and mailed to themselves as kind of ‘poor man’s copyright’ protection. 50 years later the unopened envelope was discovered and had to be released so here is Lou Reed pre-covering himself. Next up a Spanish language rip through “There She Goes Again” from picondemulo, complete with Bond-esque intro guitar work and fun sing-along background vocals. TM Collective are cover song superstars so when they turned their attention to the Velvet Underground I had to give every track some serious scrutiny. Here I love Keith Klingensmith’s jaunty run over “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” with its sunshine pop vocals, guitars and keyboards. For something a bit different there’s Joe Ladyboy’s synth-driven interpretation of “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” Wrapping things up on side two, another selection from the TM Collective VU covers collection, this time Isaac King doing “European Son.” But wait, there’s more. A tribute wouldn’t be complete without something a bit kooky. How about barbershop Velvets? Got it right here with Nick Luna’s “Velvet Underground Barbershop Medley.”  Take that hipsters.

In our ever changing world some things remain constant. I mean, as long as young people search for authenticity in popular music there’s always going to be someone covering the Velvet Underground. See, there is hope.

The Plus 4 mystery solved!

01 Friday Dec 2023

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Yup. Everyone is looking for answers.

Early in 2023 a curious new band hit the scene offering up a whole lot of 1960s beat-group shake and sizzle. The Plus 4 quickly issued 4 tunes, one a month, before disappearing just as mysteriously as they had arrived. But what a quartet of singles they left us! The tunes channeled a glammy Kinks/Beatles/Byrds melange (reviewed here) that definitely had me wanting more. Well, it would appear the wait is now over and the mystery of just who this band is can be solved.

Turns out – it was Super 8 behind every song.

Why am I not really surprised? Paul Ryan is a master of sixties stylings, deploying hints of all the great beat groups, right from the British invasion through their psychedelic reinventions and beyond to the sunshine pop that took them into the 1970s. His songs are littered with inventive reworkings of Kinks, Beatles, Beach Boys and Byrdsian motifs. But this Plus 4 project is something special. It’s like he’s put a particularly unique sixties filter on the stereo for these tunes. What I hear is a bit more stripped down affair, with greater prominence given to the jangly guitars, and a stronger to-the-front-of-the-mix on the vocals. Check out for yourself just what the differences amount to by hitting play on the just released The Plus 4 EP #1. You get – no surprise here – four songs. One track is a slightly revamped take on “Resolution (Happy New Year),” the project’s very first single that came out in early January. Glam Kinks was how I initially described it and I stand by that declaration. From there we segue into the new tunes, starting with the swinging Meet-the-Beatlesque “Take It From Me.” The guitar so nails the period. Dance-able? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. “Every Word is True” breaks out the harmonica to good effect. Then things wrap up with the janglelicious “Tell It Like It Is.” The EPs overall effect is like a fresh blast of Merseyfied poprock at its finest.

Given the prior releases and now these new tunes my guess is that this is only the start of a fab new year for us and The Plus 4. Mystery solving never sounded so good.