Monthly Archives: July 2025

Around the dial: Splitsville, Richard Turgeon, and Lolas

29 Tuesday Jul 2025

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Today’s turn of the dial brings back a number of legends and old faves. It definitely pays to be tuned in.

After a 22 year hiatus Power Pop Hall of Famers Splitsville have reunited to produce a dynamic blast of what they do best – i.e. give us guitar-surging melodic rock without fault – on a new LP entitled Mobtown. The record is a concept album and not since HBO’s The Wire has Baltimore been given such an artistically critical appraisal. Attention to the American working class is paramount throughout, though with particular emphasis on “Beth Steel” and “Penn Station.” Musically, the record covers a range of indie styles from the past two decades. Opening cut “Cold Open” combines synthesizer riffs and a wall of guitars in a style not unlike The Dandy Warhols. “A Glorious Life” keeps the amps humming on high with a crunchy Fountains of Wayne-like set of hooks. Both “Southern Hospitality” and “Gray” address Baltimore’s longstanding issues of race. “I Hate Going To Hutzler’s” is the radio-ready single, so boppy and unpredictable. “Fallsway” takes things in different direction with some decidedly piano-centric poprock. But my personal fave is “Perry Hall” with its subtle Costello ring to it.

Consummate indie rocker Richard Turgeon has got an immediately recognizable style. But with each album he puts out his songwriting continues to evolve. Album #6 Shungite is no exception. Right out the gate Turgeon casts his spell with title track “Shungite,” an aural assault of strident guitars held aloft by some solid melodic hooks. Meanwhile “Song of Discontent” alternates between a soft and hard seductive dissonance. “Signs” throws its hook out early with a catchy lead guitar line before settling into a Sugar Ray kind of groove. “This is the Last Song (I Write for You)” is another great blast full-on guitar hookery. “Small Fry” and “Deep Cuts” offer something different, the former rocking out, the latter working a more alluring drone. I also love the transcendent shimmer defining the vocals on “All Good Things Must Come to an End.” Another exceptional cut is “I Won’t Cry” with its otherworldly oscillation between restrained verses and an high impact chorus. Then Turgeon wraps things up with another surprise, the low-key “Hit My Ceiling” animated by some very Byrdsian guitar work. Shungite is more reliably great work from Richard Turgeon.

On Big Hits and Freak Disasters Alabama’s Lolas give a melodic boost to the class struggle and then some. “Work is the Blackmail of Survival” gives you the essence of Marx’s theory of exploitation but it has never been so hummably rendered. “Shut Me Down” repudiates America’s rising totalitarianism with a 1960s poprock punch. Then “Call Your Name” turns the amps up to 11, sounding a bit like the Kinks when they really let go. Not that life is all struggle and strife here. There’s good dose of lovelorn longing too. Both “Underneath the Waves” and “From the Start” are great shimmery guitar pop songs about love. Band leader Tim Boykin’s mastery of 1960s-derived song styles is on full display on this record on tracks like “Jacqui” and the more folkie “I Wish You a Happy Journey.” But he’s also not afraid to push things in more a more punky direction on “All Sewn Up” and “I Couldn’t Stop It,” at least early on, before those super sweet pop hooks kick in. Other highlights for me include the clashy guitar pop of “Trick Myself” and the Nick Lowe-in-Rockpile mode-ish “Down We Go.” This record is full of should-be hits, no musical disasters. It’s a winner from start to finish.

Tuning in to your penchant for power pop, today’s acts are all on your wavelength. Get a repeat broadcast via the hyperlinks above.

Photo courtesy Joe Haupt Flikr collection.

Should be a hit single: Jaime Orr “Somebody Like You”

24 Thursday Jul 2025

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Jaime Orr’s “Somebody Like You” starts innocently enough, even a bit on the low key side of things. But once it gets going the song builds quickly, adding layer upon layer of sonic goodness, only to hammer things home in a killer chorus. With a Matthew Sweet kind of melodic drone defining what’s up front, you can’t help but appreciate all the little things sprinkled throughout the tune. I love the way the background vocals creep up at various melodic turns. There’s even a bit of B52’s vocal punch here and there. And all along the ringing electric guitar work keeps grinding away, a solid backdrop for everything else that is working overtime here.

Perusing the usual musical services I see a little over a dozen singles from Orr, most wielding solid, chunky electric guitar hooks while a few take up a softer poprock style. Surely there’s enough here for an album? Stylistically I think they fit together as a coherent artist statement, though to my ears he’s really coming into own as a songwriter/performer with recent cuts like “Heartache,” “Not Below You or Above,” and of course “Somebody Like You” in nailing down his powered poprock chops.

Keep your ears open for Ireland’s Jaime Orr. He’s something big about to happen.

Songs to sing and dance to: Tom Henry, The Jeanines, Autocamper, and The Airport 77s

19 Saturday Jul 2025

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You never know when a dancing and singing mood will strike. Best to be stocked up with a ready source of material to draw from. Our four selections here will have you breaking out in song and trying out moves you didn’t know you had.

The inspiration for today’s post title comes from Tom Henry’s fabulous new collection of songs, Songs to Sing and Dance To. Henry is one of those random ‘if you like’ suggestions I picked up listening to someone else on Bandcamp. I’m so glad I was lured in! As the record’s presser claims, the LP’s got a bit of power pop, garage rock, psych, and folk going on. But let’s be frank, there’s a lot of Big Star happening here. Opening cut “Close Your Eyes” is a big bold Big Star/Byrdsian delight with harmony vocals that are shivery good. The Alex Chilton influence continues on tracks like “Closer Than Before” and “Oh, I Missed the Sun,” the latter echoing the emotional cadence of “Thirteen.” Hit single? Surely “I’ll Miss You” with its Big Star-meets-Apples in Stereo sound. The instrumental choices here are a bit wacky but work. “Bella” takes things in a different direction with a bit more of a Latin feel. Folk rock gets a work out on the Dylanesque “Look to my Side” and “Going Steady.” “Art House” leans into the Farfisa organ in a way that reminds me of Squeeze or Nick Lowe. Or listen to how “But I Loved Her” is just so Beatle Paul. Another candidate for hit single-age would be “Do You Want To Be With Me?” which has a folk pop sweetness akin to the Cyrkle. Album closer “Be Mine, Forever” is pop so good it’ll make you swoon.

The Jeanines’ How Long Can It Last is an cathartic album experience, emotionally deep without even trying. I’m hearing so many possible influences, from Peggy Seeger to Vashti Bunyan, to the Springfields to the Smiths. Opening cut “To Fall” features Alicia Jeanine’s plaintive vocals in such a striking way. Indeed, her vocal talents are what adds a degree of genius to what is going on here. Should-be hit single “What’s Done Is Done” leaks a Smiths kind of emotional tonality and intensity. Another possible single is definitely “On and On,” a tune that shifts from pretty good to great in the chorus, where the medieval vocal effect is gob-stoppingly good. “You’ll Figure It Out” mines a sixties folk pop vein while “Satisfied” is just great guitar pop. “Wrong Direction” reminds me of the pleasant pop of The Happy Somethings. I love the aching quality informing so many cuts here, like “What’s Lost” and “How Long Can It Last.” This is a moving album that is both emotionally gorgeous and lingering in its impact.

I’ve been digging Autocamper releases all this past year, none of which appear on the band’s first long-player What Do You Do All Day? That speaks of a certain kind of confidence, for sure. The ten tunes here continue to develop the band’s unique sound, combining a twee pop sensibility with a keen appreciation for unique instrumental choices. Listen to how opening cut “Again” kicks off with clashy guitars only to cut the effect with a running-brook kind of electric keyboard riff.  Both “Dogsitting” and “Foxes” work a similar magic crossing-cutting guitars and keyboards in a dynamic tension. “Proper” leans on the organ to carry things along into the chorus where an army of guitars come in for support. “Street View” slows things down without losing sight to the band’s distinctive melodic charms.

Sure The Airport 77s are all about a kind of late 1970s new wave rock and roll sound. Their new album Don’t Let Go doesn’t mess with the formula but that doesn’t mean they’re just idling on the tarmac. They continue to develop their considerable songwriting talents on this release. If you were there in the 1980s these songs are like a new lease on that life. If you weren’t there then these tracks can let you pretend you were. “1999 (Take Me Back)” gives you a pretty clear indication of what is to come, with a strong a blast of retro guitar and prominent bass work. “Like Falling in Love” then dials up the melodic hooks. “Anyone But You” is the first of the monster should-be hit singles included here, in the style of poprock masters like Cheap Trick. “Make ’Em Pay (Don’t Make It Easy)” even vibes a bit of country energy. “Summer Can’t Wait” is another radio ready bit of single-age. But if I had to choose just one song to launch this album I’d choose “Don’t Let Go.” So smooth and hooky! There’s variety here for sure, with a Knack kind of energy on “She’s Everything” or a more Beatlesque turn to “The Hands of Time.” This is one return trip to the 1980s that definitely deserves a five star rating.

Plenty here to sing about or work out a bit of soft shoe. The secret is practice, of course. Click on the hyperlinks to get the lyrics and the dance moves down.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Piping hot hits Vol. 2

12 Saturday Jul 2025

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K-Tel had it coming and going in the 1970s. Single albums, double albums, double albums released as two single albums, and every combination in between. The point was, if they had concept that was selling they would keep selling it, any which way they could. In our second installment of Piping Hot Hits we take heed from the K-Tel gods and lay it on heavy.

Listen to how Fara San make their main guitar sing on “Long Lost Lover.” Lovingly exuding a 1960s folk rock vibe but deployed in a wholly different song register, more post-millennium indie rock with sweetly sung vocals. You never know quite what you’re going to get with any new release from The Krayolas. Could be a great lost unreleased track or a brand new retro charmer. “Surf’s Down” comes from a batch of songs recorded back in 1979 that never saw light of day. The Beach Boys notes are obvious but there’s hints of Harry Nilsson and Burt Bacharach too. Nashville’s The Tummies are also working the sixties side of the street on their self-proclaimed ‘summer ’25 road trip single.’ “Send Me a Picture” is an effortless bit of Beatlesque pop. A new Sloan album is certainly something to celebrate. Based on a Best Seller is due out in September but right now we’ve got “Live Together” and it’s everything that makes the band today’s most reliable should-be hit makers. It’s all hooks and harmonies, both familiar and surprising. And yet as they sing in this song, “The ‘90s nostalgia that you feel Is nothing compared to what’s to come.” So September can’t come soon enough. Danny Patrick is a guy who records great songs and put them up on the internet for free or whatever you want to pay. And it is great stuff. Like “A Girl Like You.” You’d swear this is time capsule 1980s radio find. The guitar sound could be any rough melodic FM rock radio band from the era while the harmony vocals conjure groups with a slight country edge.

Jean Caffeine’s new single “I Know You Know I Know” is a genius bit of pop restraint. It sounds so simple but the melodic arc shifts between an Everly Brothers and Marti Jones feel. The selection of subtle musical adornments are inspired. What is Joe Dilillo doing on his new single? Would we say it’s mining Billy Joel or perhaps Gilbert O’Sullivan? “When It Comes To Us” is such a beautiful tune, it definitely stands on its own but the melodic shading offers up hints of the masters in the details. Movie Movie’s muscular guitar pop rock returns on “After Hours” with a splash of 1980s synth, like The Fixx stopped by to jam. The Len Price 3 keep on rocking like it’s 1979 with their new song “Emily’s Shop.” It’s got a feel like The Jam or The Primitives and what’s not to like about that? Bret Tobias from The Bret Tobias Set is now apparently hanging out with Marty Wilson-Piper from the legendary Australian band The Church so not surprisingly his new song sounds pretty 1981 in the very best way. Just listen to the guitar shimmer dripping all over “Happiness Writes White.” Melodic magic!

The Len Price 3 – Emily’s Shop

Say hello to Liverpool’s Novelty Island and their upcoming LP release Jigsaw Causeway with their light sunny drop of McCartneyesque single-age “Foam Animals.” It’s dreamy with some mesmerizing keyboard work. In a very similar keyboard original register, Freedom Fry lull us with their usual signature lowkey whispery hooks on “Little Things.” Tchochtke ride some propulsive Beach Boys organ riffs with “Poor Girl” but the rest of the sonic pull on this song is seventies pop. By contrast Boston’s Invisible Rays is guitars to the front with a delightful bit of jangle launching “Lightning” that reaches new heights of hook-age in the chorus. When we last heard from Trevour Blendour he was Falling in Love but now it appears someone is Breaking Up With him. We don’t have all the details, other than the predictably super pre-release single “She’s Still My Baby.” It’s classic Blendour, full of updated fifties motifs and old school rock and roll guitars.

The Penrose Web is a new musical project that could be a great lost EP from the 1980s indie guitar scene. “Geraldine” captures the gentle pop vibe that could be Aztec Camera. From the not-so-gentle file, the recent Friends of Cesar Romero single “Can’t Get You” gets busy with clashy guitars and slightly screamy vocals but never loses the hooky plot. As we have come to expect. The Flashcubes returned recently with accolade-winning covers album but what fans always really wanted was some new material from the legendary 1970s power pop band. Now we’re getting it and disappointment is not in the cards. The new single “Reminisce” takes us back to the band’s classic sound with a tune that sounds perfect for the here and now. With help from The Figgs Mike Gent! Trim, Ireland’s Spearside embark with a slightly heavier guitar sound on their new EP Hatchet Man, cranking their amps well past 11. But on “Are Friends Electric” they bring back a more ringing bit of jangle guitar to contrast these heavier sounds and the results are explosively good. From a very different direction The Rallies focus their considerable pop talents on “Love.” It’s a jaunty, feel-good effort, full of their requisite harmonies and guitar hooks.

Hitting the inner groove of this second volume we have a double shot of The Brigadier. “Blessings” is breathy and dreamy with great guitar blasts coming in at regular intervals while “Perfect Surprise” embodies even more of those characteristics but perhaps Beach Boys enriched.

Well, there you have it, a second could-be K-Tel collection volume. Feel free to recombine these volumes in any form you like, re-arranging or cutting tracks as you see fit. After all, K-Tel certainly would have.

Piping hot hits Vol. 1

06 Sunday Jul 2025

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K-Tel had some great album covers going in the 1970s, one for every musical fad or fashion. Let’s channel some of that over-the-top energy for a serious slab of summer single-age in not one, but two volumes. That’s 42 summer should be hits for your BBQ-ing playlist. Sizzling!

Kicking things off with something that really vibes a lot old school motifs, Police Touch Museum hit all the marks with “Lover.” The song structure could easily be early 1960s Brill Building or 1970s James Taylor soft rock. Tony Marsico and the Ugly Things also conjure up days gone by with a 1980s heartland rock and roll sound. “Goodbye to Lonely Town” has that Jersey organ and rumbly guitar that recalls everyone from Dion to the Boss. I’ve long been a fan of Tristen’s exquisitely compressed sound, so intimate yet with space for a range of great instrumental tones. “New Punching Bag” sounds a bit country, in a Neko Case outsider vein. It’s one of three killer cuts on a new EP entitled Zenith. I love the ambience of the recent Good Neighbours single “Starry Eyed.” Light and uplifting, it reminds me of the textured pop sound of bands like Foster the People. Toronto’s Pup have a recognizable pop punk sound on “Hallways,” a bit edgy and ragged in the verses but out-of-this-world pop brilliant in the chorus. Hooks for days.

Tomas Nilsson stocks “I Thought It Was Love (But It Was Not)” full of jangle and lighter-than-air background vocals. The song exudes 1960s style but in the 1980s revival sort of way. It’s not hard to hear where The Grip Weeds are coming from with “Gene Clark (Broken Wing).” The songs is a tribute to that member of The Byrds who wrote so many great songs but whose own solo career stalled for reasons that are hard to fathom. A worthy and highly listenable tribute. Hidden Pictures tell a story as old as time with “Wedding Singer (Going Through a Divorce).” The people who surround these life epochal events are expected be exemplars of what the event represents but things don’t always work out that way. This is a smooth bit of 1980s AM radio polished pop. Team power pop veteran Chris Stamey up with The Lemon Twigs and you knew something special would result. And it has. A new album is on the way but for now dig what “Anything is Possible” sonically conjures up. I love the tension, the sense of unease what permeates the tune until the chorus delivers us from evil. Austin Texas band Gentlemen Rogues have a rock solid band vibe going all over their recent LP Surface Noise. This is a band that could keep you dancing all night long. But from this record I’m drawn to the more subtle hooks defining “All Out of Crush.”

Somewhere out in the wilds of Wyoming teen twins Liam and Layne have cooked up a unique blend of ‘grungy mountain folk’ that slides between neat genre divides. “Cheyenne” is their most polished offering to date, IMHO, with killer harmonica and fiddle breaks. The Sonny Wilsons keep teasing us with solid singles. “Miss Kinetic” combines their distinctive guitar and vocal work into another strong effort. Can an album be far behind? The Trews fall into a more Americana zone that I usually get caught up in but their new single “Don’t Get Lost in the Dark” is so guitar-fabulous. The rippling lead lines keep you glued to speaker to see where things are going. A great deal of The Lightheaded album Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming! sounds very 1963 folk fair but “Me and Amelia Fletcher” is a cool departure, very 1980s pop chic. Richard Snow has something to say on his latest stand-alone single “Governments Always Lie” and he’s not being coy about the message. The tune is a very cool, an expertly calibrated slice of poppy indie rock.

With song titles like “Dream Not Found” and “Us Ugly Guys” you quickly get the sense that The King Teen is some serious kind of lovable loser on his EP Us Ugly Guys Got Style. But he sharpens the critique on “Mediocre Man,” a bouncy acoustic guitar-led mediation about over-estimating your competence. Bonus points for including an rousing, updated version of Bertolt Brecht’s “United Front Song” appearing here as “Left Two Three.” Is it just me or does Rhode Island’s Andy Lampert sound particularly English?  There’s a certain kind of sixties poprock from the UK that straddles folk and pop and psychedelia and that’s what hear coming from “The Bottommost of the Poppermost.” Speaking of folk, those folks in The Happy Somethings have resurrected a band member’s old track “A Kind of Loving” and it’s a delight, a gentle paean to unrequited love. Your Academy name the elephant in the political room right now in the US on “National News,” calling out the clown holding the country hostage. Stylistically the vibe is late 1970s Fleetwood Mac in AM radio hit mode. Liquid Mike often leans into a heavier sound somewhere in just about every cut but “Selling Swords” has to be his poppiest offering yet. Very Wavves or SMRS.

The cover and title of the new Fortitude Valley LP says somebody’s is gonna get a serious talking to. Don’t be fooled by the fresh guitar pop vibe guiding early release single “Sunshine State.” Lead singer and songwriter Laura Kovic is only just getting started. Stay tuned for the rest when Part of the Problem, Baby comes out next month.

21 should-be hits and that’s just Vol. 1! Check your fave internet fanzines soon for deets about Piping Hot Hits Vol. 2.

Pacific overture: Couple and Hoff Dylan

01 Tuesday Jul 2025

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Social media strangers often give me the best tips for out-of-the-way poprock gems. Like today’s acts, hailing from across the bright blue Pacific Ocean, one from Malaysia and the other from Japan. East definitely meets west in terms of sonic influences and dissonances. Get ready to set your translation settings to stunning.

Malaysia’s Couple put out a few albums in the millennium’s first decade but then hit pause until the release of 2022’s Poptimism. Wow, what a transformation occurred in the interim. Where the early albums were solid poprock with a hint of edginess their new venture added multiple layers of sonic sophistication, effortlessly melding different styles and influences while singing in both Malay and English. Things begin with “Marlam Minggu,” a track that really sets the scene. You know this is not going to be your average pop album. To be fair, the album features more than few off-the-shelf pleasant pop tunes like “Let Me Love You” and “I Do” that vibe classic 1950s and 1960s song motifs. By contrast “Think About It” comes on like some kind of new wave fifties reinvention. Then there are songs like “Be My Baby” that mess with the form, full of buzzy guitar at times and oh-so-smooth vocals. “KTYT” even brings in a screamcore interlude to break up the poppiness. In a throwback vein “Goddamn Mighty Tune” is a light pop punk tune with a Weezer-ish flavour. “Sedia Sedia” starts with striking guitars and then lays in some pretty keyboard work. Sometimes the guitars come in spare as on “Call Me,” only to flare out with a sudden addition wall of sound of multiple guitars, voices and synths. “Slap Slap Nak Raya” sounds like a single, shaped by classic vocal contrasts and a mellow but striking hook. Call me poptimistic but I think more Couple would make a welcome import.

Japan’s Hoff Dylan are an enigma in more than a couple of ways. First, they have so many LPs, EPs, compilations and one-off singles that it’s hard to navigate the band’s career and musical development. Then the band’s song titles are sometimes translated to English, or remain in Japanese but in Roman (i.e. English) lettering, or appear in Japanese script. And there’s the album content itself, which can range from Beatlesque to winsomely childlike. After needle-dropping as much of their catalogue as I can find I’ve pulled out 22 pretty solid cuts of the poppy rock variety but I’m sure there’s more. Here I’ll just highlight a few outstanding examples, IMHO. Starting with “Koi wa Itsumo Maboroshi no Youni” from the band’s breakthrough LP Washington, C.D. Check out the George Harrison-worthy lead guitar riffs, buffeted by classic 1970s keyboard tones. “Gokuraku wa Dokoda” from 1998’s self-titled Hoff Dylan kicks off with some BTO-ish guitar chords before bringing another great keyboard vibe. This is group that are masters at dropping in a recognizable musical phrase. Listen to how they evoke the Beatles “Dr. Robert” at the start of “Madman” or repurpose the opening lick of the Knack’s “My Sharona” for “Manamana.” After over two decades of releases, Hoff Dylan continue to rework disparate influences into something new, sometimes sounding like the Beatles, McCartney in Wings mode, 10cc, or even Sloan. Their most recent record is 2022’s Island and it is no exception, offering up pretty easy-listening poppy cuts like “Kaze no Sasoide.”

Koi wa Itsumo Maboroshi no Youni
Gokuraku wa Dokoda
Kaze no Sasoide

It’s a great big beautiful world out there, full of winning tunes and solid acts singing in all sorts of languages. You don’t need to understand the words to get their message. Tune in with the hyperlinks above.

Photo ‘An old school Tokyo record shop‘ courtesy Tokyo Times, May 18, 2022.