Normally Minnesota pop songster Jeremy Messersmith is pretty much Mr. Affable. I mean, the man wrote eleven cheery songs for ukulele and then recorded them as 11 Obscenely Optimistic Songs For Ukulele, with a tab book included so fans could play along. His five full-length albums released since 2006 are full of perfect portraitures of quirky characters struggling for love and fast times in Minnesota. But lately Messersmith has been turning his attention to more political themes. “The Mall of America” offers clever commentary about consumerism disguised as a tribute to a gigantic shopping centre in Minneapolis that “[i]f you blew it up I know they’d only build it all again.” With “Billionaires” he wonders what life might be like if everyone had a billion dollars. What sounds like an innocent query really amounts to a clever paean to equality and against economic exploitation. Then “Boomers” sardonically offers a ‘plan’ to tackle today’s generational inequality arguing today’s economic and social problems could be dealt with if we just “wait for all the boomers to die.” Tough love or exasperation? And then Trump’s ICE descended on Minnesota and Messersmith’s Mr. Nice Guy mask dropped. “Fuck This” is a artfully insistent repudiation of the politics of hate that ICE and Trump represent as well as a call for all good people to be clear in their absolute denunciation of such politics. Buffeted by strings and Messersmith’s usual understated delivery, it loses none its searing intensity despite a disarming delivery.
When the going gets tough in America nice guy melody-makers like Messersmith are needed more than ever. And it turns out there’s also some pretty steely resolve behind his glasses too.
Something for a range of tastes, that’s what we’re looking for in this first twist of the dial for 2026. From power pop to indie rock to sixties retro to something else again. Buckle up for the tour.
You don’t have to dig very far into Tommy Marolda’s bio to know he’s no spring chicken. But you’d never know he wasn’t some fresh young thing after spinning The Toms new LP Sound Bytes. It’s got that unmistakeable note of youthful energy. Opening cut “Summer Without You” treats us to a fabulous blast of rock melody and jangling guitars. “Multiple Personalities” then moves things into a plush, sophisticated direction. “One Day” sounds kinda timeless, its sonic attack could be comfortably dropped into a variety of musical eras. As should be obvious by this point, you can’t tie Marolda down to just one genre. “I Love a Girl” almost shades into a disco kind of booty shaker. Almost. “Me and You” has got a great sixties pop swing. “She Can’t Let It Go” is pure seventies AM-ready poprock. But for contrast, check out how “Time and Time Again” insinuates a degree of sonic menace throughout the tune. Personal faves – I love how “Check Out Time” chugs along, pushing its subtle melody forward, while “houseflies hum in the key of F” is fun ditty that adds up to highly listenable song.
Get ready for a sonic departure from Boy Wonders on their recent album Character Study. Gone is the almost slacker punk ennui colouring their last outing Happy Days Are Here Again. In its place is a band driving a harder melodic bargain. Opening cut “We Could Be Yours” bristles with a kind of poprock determination, riffing into a bit of discord near the end. “Little Black Shadow” rolls out with some classic rock riffs before turning on the vocal hooks. Clearly the band summon a greater variety of styles on this outing. “Loss Adjustment” rides some wild electric guitar arpeggios worthy of early REM. “Polygraph” and “Enfant Terrible” are something else again, vibing a distinctly 1980s English-sounding mood. “Sister Suzie” is just straight up power pop while “Dreaming in B/W” gives off a sad pop feel. Accent on wonder with this new Boy Wonders LP. This is a band that has really upped their creative and performative game.
Is the most remarkable thing about Tony Molina’s 21 song epic LP On This Day that it runs only 23 minutes long? No. Obviously it’s the consistent quality and breadth that gets packed into these pop miniatures. That 18 of the tracks are 90 seconds or less doesn’t mean they pass by unnoticed. The record is divided amongst contributions in four registers: jangle, Lennonesque Beatles, folk rock, and Brian Wilson, with a number of short solo guitar pieces in a classical mode. The Brian Wilson set includes “Faded Holiday,” “Been Wronged,” and “Out of the Dark,” all leaning into the keyboard strong side of the Beach Boys, though the last really vibes the vocal dynamics. Then “Lie to Kick It,” “Broken Down,” and “Don’t Belong” offer different shades of lush jangle. The lion’s share of tracks here touch on folk or folk rock. “Despite the Sun” is a gentle McCartney-somewhere-in-India acoustic number. “Take Some Time” speeds up the folk pop pace. “Just As the Time Was Flowing” starts sounding very really sixties folk group. Then we get the cross-over folk rock that mixes in a good measure of jangle. The cover of Eric Anderson’s “Violets of Dawn” is just such a great treatment. Carrying on, “Livin’ Wrong” and “Ghosts of Punishments Past” inhabit a Byrdsian universe. The Beatles influences lurk everywhere. “FC’ 23” has classic beat group harmonies and hooky single-note lead-guitar lines whereas “Transplant Blues” and “Inside Your Mind Pt 2” evoke a late Lennon Beatles, the latter with a bit of Elliott Smith. For something out of step (but not unwelcome), check out the bashing rock style on “Have Your Way.” It borders on a TMBG sound.
Chasing September are like a bunch of bands combined into one on their long-player Talking Circles. There’s a pop punk band banging out tracks like “Hurts More” and “Unhinged.” There’s a more strummy guitar pop band delivering “Literally” and “Close to Me.” You even get a lull-your-kids-to-sleep band with the aptly named “Lullaby” and “Purple Moon.” The cover of the Korgis’ soft rock hit “Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime” is revelatory, casting the song into a totally new register – tougher and meaner than before. “Before You Know” is another original departure with its ominous melodic development. I also really like “Anniversary” a McCartney-esque ballad in style and form.
Our fictitious radio dial nonetheless beams out should-be hits for the here and now. Add these acts to your playlists via whatever medium works for you.
A new They Might Be Giants EP is definitely something to shout about. The announcement that one was coming only came out late last week and now it’s here. Behold Eyeball. It’s so TMBG but also pushes in new directions. Title track “Eyeball” has all their usual hallmarks: a distinctive medley of sometimes-competing, sometimes-overlapping vocals, a unique array of instrument choices, and – always – a solid hook thrown in somewhere. And yet some elements of the melodic arc that play out here sound like nothing I’ve heard the duo do before. Certainly multi-playable, even in one sitting! The EP contains two other originals “The Glamour of Rock” and “Peggy Guggeheim,” the former an example of the band’s stylistic flexibility – jazzy, a bit western, and stagey – very musicalish, while the latter is a horn-based instrumental workout. It’s a combo you won’t get anywhere else. The EP also includes a stripped-down version of “Eyeball” that really allows the song to breathe. As an EP it’s not really very extended, running to just 9 minutes. But I don’t think TMBG fans really mind because the band behind ‘dial a song’ never phone it in. Every note that makes the cut of any TMBG release has been carefully chosen and lovingly rendered. They might be the most serious band to not take themselves seriously. All this is a teaser prelude to their 24th full album of original tunes, due out sometime this spring.
Yes, They Might Be Giants have done it again, delivered a hooky little marvel just when we needed it most (these days, that’s just about any time). Give in to the genius that is TMBG!
Hot on the heels of his recent eclectic indie-rock long-player Earth Station, Barney Cortez returns with a poppy new wave single that shifts the profile of his sonic identity ever so slightly again. “T-Shirt Salesman” combines solid rhythm guitar playing with some sparkling lead notes to effectively cradle a soothing pop melody. The arrangement of overlapping vocals gives the tune a slightly other-worldly demeanor. Lyrically the song appears to be mocking how independent artists like Cortez are effectively reduced to flogging merch to make ends meet. The picture he paints of the contemporary music scene is not pretty. While one day like he’d like to ‘make the girls scream’ he fears he may have to ‘fake his death’ to pay off his last album. Still, he’s a trouper, singing ‘20 people here, it’s time to sell some beer.’
Altogether it’s a track where the pleasant tune belies the sentiment captured in the song’s chorus:
‘Smile for the people/don’t show them it hurts We’re getting old and feeble/out here selling shirts’
I think a few sales might cheer this guy up. Check him out on Bandcamp, Facebook and wherever quality e-music is sold.
Are singles just the equivalent of a musical snack for you? Need something a bit meatier, a bit more filling? Well, here’s the list for you. Twenty-five full length LPs gathered from throughout the year that was 2025. There’s rock, there’s pop, there’s jangle. There’s love, there’s despair, there’s political commentary. Dig in and pick out your own faves.
Without further delay, here is Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2025:
My top five albums got a lot airplay from me this past year. PEI’s Absolute Losers wowed me with their sonic revamp, pretty well reinventing their sound. And it was pretty good to start with. The Sonny Wilsons album was so fresh, so straight up poprock goodness. What can I say about Strange Neighbors that I haven’t written already? They write great songs, they play in a great style. I won’t call out every LP on the list but make no mistake, I really like all that appear there. Each one had some special thing that set it apart. And breaking it down, old faves and new discoveries both appear here in roughly equal measure. You can check them out as they were featured in the original posts by clicking the hotlinks.
Now I don’t think it’s just because it’s my day job (political scientist), but the world seemed pretty intensely political in 2025. You couldn’t avoid it, it was all over social media, conventional media, and the water cooler. And that showed up in the music as well, even a genre as generally apolitical as power pop. So I’m singling out 3 albums as my top political poprock albums of 2025:
Mersey is never far from my mind, as in the distinct chimes of Merseybeat. Every year I single out some record that really revives the spirit of its golden era while still making it their own. This year’s best riff on the Beatles recognition goes to:
My policy on legacy artists is that I cover them when they put out something that grabs me but I’m not going put them in the lists above. What would be the point? They’re already getting plenty of media oxygen, they don’t life support from this little blog. But I did spent some considerable time with a few of them in 2025. Kathleen Edwards put out a stellar record, Tristen never lets me down, and what a surprise with those two albums by the boys from Stranger Things. Here’s my legacy artist shout out of notable albums for me from 2025:
Does it seem like overkill to single out the same band twice for the same award? I’m gonna risk it because this band killed with their second double-album collection of covers. This year’s special award of awesome poprock merit goes to:
Thanks for dropping by this past year and digging all these great finds with me. Check out your faves on the lists above and don’t be afraid to buy an album or two to support these artists well into their musical dotage.
Another year, another slew of great singles made their appearance throughout our 73 posts of music coverage. If you’re an old school melodic rock and roll fan like me, the jangly, hooky, guitar-centric creativity was off the charts. Sadly, such the jangly, hooky, guitar-centric creativity was off the conventional music charts as well. That’s why we don’t rely on trade mags or corporate radio to tell us what’s top of the pops, we make up our own charts. Now, let me be clear, if I wrote about a song this past year I thought it was great, full stop. We’re an ‘all-positive, all-the-time’ kinda shop around here. So what you have in this post is recap of 50 songs that burned just little more deeply into my psyche this past year. Click on the hyperlinks to hear each of the songs and read the original write ups.
Enough stalling, here are Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles from 2025:
My top five this year were real head-turners. Liverpool’s Keyside show the city has still got the fab vibes. Strange Neighbors turned out killer tunes for the second year in a row. The first I heard of The What Four’s “Quarter to Midnight” I was hooked by its adrenaline-soaked beat. The Lemon Twigs have pretty reliably produced should-be hits over the past few years but there was something about “I’ve Got a Broken Heart” that just hit all poprock marks. And from way back early in 2025 I was struck by The Sonny Wilson’s unique sound. No maybe about it. I could go on about the other 45 songs here but you can get the dirt from the original posts by clicking the hyperlinks.
Next up, Poprock Record’s most inventive covers from 2025:
The Half Cubes put out another amazing album of covers and really outdid themselves but nowhere more strongly than on their cover of an early Marshall Crenshaw classic. Sofa City Sweetheart teased us this past year with an impressive rendering of Elliott Smith’s “Waltz #2.” Not an easy tune to take up. Marshall Crenshaw pulled together a host of songs for a new album, including a cover of a Bobby Fuller Four gem. And then we have Mike Browning covering an obscure Canadian track and Chaparelle countryfying a song everybody knows.
Well, there you have it, some great songs that deserve another shot across your attention span. Click the links for the original posts and revisit just how good 2025 was to us on the single file.
Hey there. New to 2026? Welcome to Jerry Paper’s “New Year’s Day.” It’s as good a place as many to land on today and certainly better than some others. Who’s Jerry Paper? That’s a tougher question that you might think. Dig back in his ten plus years of material and you’ll find a host of recordings that sound like an art school installation sponsored by Moog. In fact, Jerry Paper is more a what than a who. Lucas Nathan is the brains of the organization – writer, performer, otherworldly bon vivant. Or is he? Early recordings pleaded for sales to ‘keep Jerry’s host body alive.’ So maybe Jerry’s in charge of Lucas but keeps him alive and in the credits for tax purposes? All of which is to say that Jerry or Lucas or whomever is running this show is weird. Wonderfully, creatively weird. And I mean that in a good way. The weird of this world push boundaries, tread on the stand-offish, and create space for the rest of us to defy conformity just a little bit more than we’re comfortable with.
I caught up with the Jerry Paper project on the 2022 album Free Time which featured his first really great guitar-heavy number “Kno Me.” Even on that record his basic stylistic default was more jazz meets lounge, perhaps with Donald Fagan and Frank Zappa as consultants. Yet “Kno Me” has a 1979 new wave-ish rock feel. His most recent LP is 2024’s Inbetweezer and it carries on playing with recognizable song forms in what may be his most accessible collection yet. But I digress. We come to this recent record because it is the host of our seasonal single, “New Year’s Day.” I’m loving the aural chaos that launches this track. It sounds chopped up and put back together but the song’s strong hook somehow survives. The chorus bops along, threatening to become a singalong at any moment. Ok, the ending is a bit tortuous-sounding but what new year song shouldn’t have some dread lurking in the fine print? Gotta take the goof with the rumble, no-one ever said.
Given where we’ve been and what we’ve seen these last few years, lets dispense with the unrealistic wishes for peace and normalcy. Shit’s probably coming. Let’s just enjoy this moment with Jerry.
It’s near closing time for 2025 and I’ve still got a huge backlog of material remaining on the review pile. Glass half full, it’s a problem that suggests the melodic rock and roll scene is surviving, maybe even thriving. Glass half empty, the bartender’s call for last orders on the year means there’s really only time for a scant few LPs to get some attention. Here’s the last in the door.
I don’t know how an album entitled Power Pop World Domination somehow slipped by me. But I’m not the only one. Despite an April release date the record appears to have gotten little coverage. How is that possible? Atticus Roness has not misnamed his debut LP. This record should be well on its way to at least a Lemon Twigs kind of indie stardom. From the get-go you know thrills are here as opening cut “I” lashes out with just a hint of “Helter Skelter” weaved into the tune. Then “Teens” offer up a recognizable slab of 1970s era melodic rock and roll. Next up is arguably the LPs marquis track, “Ludwig Van.” It was the early pre-release single, a song that sounds classic in so many senses of the word. What is over-arching style going on here? “Last Year’s Words” reminds me of a particular slice of new wave, circa 1979 AM radio. Jangle figures strongly in April Wine-like ballads like “I’m in Love” or The Lemon Twigs-ish “Closer.” “Sad Girls” is very Big Star. Underwriting all this is a strong appreciation of Messrs. Lennon and McCartney of course. Closing track “Not the One (I’m Looking For)” sounds so Beatles in a Cheap Trick guise. This album is a slick piece of superbly crafted power pop, a must-hear, must-add selection from this past year.
Melbourne’s The Gnomes appear to have blown up a fully formed gift from the raunchy side of the 1960s, seemingly out of nowhere. Their self-titled debut runs the gamut of rough and ready garage styles to a more pristine Beatlesque melodiousness. The germ of this LP can be found in a variety of bedroom recordings from band leader Jay Millar but recalibrated for a full band effect. The results are one hell of a good time. “Better With You” kicks open the proceedings with that sixties pre-punk swagger. This is a band you know would blow you away live. “You Won’t Fool Me” and “Play With You” are stripped down 1965 strut rockers while “Open Your Eyes” rides a tension between sweet melodic vocals and a rougher musical demeanor. “I Like It” is just a straight-up punk take on the Kinks. “Won’t Quit You” adds a psychedelic guitar fuzz to the band’s sonic palate. But melody figures strongly in here too. “I’ll Be There,” “Time Will Tell” and “I’ll Wait” all pull to the Beatles side of the sixties rock street. It will be interesting to hear where the band may go next, with songs like “I’m Not the One” perhaps gesturing toward a more 1980s-style sixties throwback. Right now, just enjoy this top rank party platter.
Sometimes an album amounts to more than just a collection of songs. The new Jody and the Germs LP Love Descends is just such an experience, offering variety in song styles but giving each a coherent group stamp. Opening cut “Hooch and Happiness” sounds like the Go Go’s, grown a bit older and mellower. The spectre of Kirsty MacColl hangs over this release, evident in songs as different as “Some Day,” “Seen It All Before,” and “Unravelling.” The latter is a real standout track with its striking blast of horns and a hooky chorus. For stylistic range, you have songs like “Divine,” a culture jam of 1980s sonic motifs, or the moody, melancholic vibe suffusing “Lights.” In terms of hook-laden singles, “Liberation” fits the bill, though “Unravelling” is another strong choice. Rounding out the record are a number of songs that underline the band’s chameleon-like identity, with “Given Up Trying,” “Severance” and “Winter Heart” all incorporating folkie-ish elements without going full-on folk. I’ve been hitting repeat on this LP for weeks now. Love Descends is full-listen immersion into heart-felt melodic delight.
Let’s be honest, sometimes is it the name the grabs you. When I saw coverage of a band called Billy Joel Jr. my first thought was ‘how did they get away with that?’ Turns out, the band’s been waiting for a legal cease-and-desist letter from Joel Sr. ever since they got started. They even circulated a fake version of their own, just to get attention (it worked!). But hey, what about the music, you may ask? In a word, they rock. Track #1 “Bad Heart” is a rocking bruiser. Not Joel-esque in the least. “New to Love” has a got discordant melody that works its way into your head. Then “She’s Always On the Mind” ups the shoegaze quotient, at least until the vocal comes in clear as bell. Title track “Ur a Star” is something else again, a nicely arranged shift of sonic moods ready for radio playlisting. It’s the a-few-drinks-in singalong number for sure. Taking in the album as whole, it’s hard for me to put my finger on just what this style is. Sludge rock on “Girlfriend/Twin Bed”? The remaining tracks divide between the rocking dissonance of “Isn’t It Funny” or “About Dying (Hannah)” and the more breezy guitar pop of “About Me”? Perhaps a lack of certainty is actually a good thing as it leaves the listener attentive, trying to work it out. There’s little doubt about “Blue.” It’s the big closing number, the touching ballad that’ll see you to the exits.
If any old acquaintance from this blog be forgot just hit the search function above to track down whatever tune you’ve misplaced. That’s it for this year!
Photo “Barkeep” courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.
Sometimes acts roll out their holiday song so close to the event there’s hardly time for us scribes to consult our thesauri for appropriate words of praise. Like these Austrian guys. Sure, they’ve had a busy year getting their sixth long-player Music into record stores. I reviewed it here and nearly bankrupted my suitable-superlatives overdraft trying to capture its energy. Obviously, I’m a fan. So when I spotted that The Geezers had a seasonal single out I knew I had to rally my writing reserves to get something into a post about it before Santa completely finished his work. “White Christmas” is not that song. You know the one. Bing’s thing. Instead this version is a thing of exquisite pop craft. The lumbering gate has the ambiance of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” with its feel of a circular return in the pacing. Like you could just keep playing it over and over. Then there’s the distinctive guitar and keyboard flourishes, with some nice vocal harmonies coming in halfway through. This is perfect holiday montage music, adding a resonant seasonal sound to your mix of merry snaps of whatever this day brings you.
Holiday songs are plentiful this time of year but harder to make memorable than you might think. The Geezers have pulled off something both pleasant and original. Visit them on Bandcamp and Facebook to get more.
We’re deep into December and snow is coming and going in my part of the world. All the more reason to find shovelling inspiration wherever we can. Here’s another 21 songs to put some heft into your snow relocation efforts.
I’m a bit late picking up on this song from Dave Rave and the Governors from their 2023 LP Seven. “Distractions” has got a Blue Oyster Cult classic rock pop feel. Cool, mysterious, with a host of great inventive changes. Yorick van Norden highlights “Better Days” ahead on his recent single, full of sunny sentiment and a quality dose of jangle. Just one of many similar contributions on his new album Do It Now. The ever surprising Kurt Hagardorn goes a bit more Americana than usual on his recent single “Float Away with Me.” Very much sounding like an early 1970s-era Band deep cut. South Korea’s HOA are fab in so many ways. Open your ears to “Don’t Be A Loser” and tell me you don’t hear the Fabs at every melodic turn. It vibes Meet the Beatles with a dash of “Drive My Car.” Back in the early 1990s poprock master Bill Lloyd got the chance to work with rockabilly legend Carl Perkins on a set of session that ultimately never got released … until now. Here’s the title track to the fantastic 10 song album, Some Things Never Change. Perkins sounds like a million dollar player for sure and the song has the elan of timeless classic.
John Sally Ride main man John Dunbar works up a new alias for his most recent project. The Elbow Patches exude a psychadelic pop feeling on “The Day Got Away From Me.” Just one of ten great pop numbers on their full length record Achingly Familiar. Tommy Sistak pushes the Everlys faders up full on the “Long Goodbye.” Really, the Everly tone here is eerie but oh so pleasant. Wow, Log Flume offer up a Joni Mitchell “Clouds” bit of jangle-age on “Get The Picture.” Just great guitar work, period. Egersund, Norway’s I Was A King have a sound that’s warm and just a bit spooky on their new LP Until the End. Title track “Until the End” even has a splash of folkish charm pop up in the instrumental break. Jeff Shelton gets political on the most recent Well Wishers single. “littleorangemagaman” has some rough edges, solids hooks and a point of view, just what we’d expect of him.
On 2022’s BackgammonesqueLos Andes gave us a killer South America-flavoured Teenage Fanclub vibe. Their new single “Facil” (or “Easy” in English) is just as delightful, swimming with lush guitars and beautiful vocal harmonies, in both full band and acoustic versions. Doug Hammond’s Daisy House was an early fave on this blog. His recent releases as Vaughn Trapp revive that magic, drawing from his remarkable, 1960s-infused songwriting skills. “What’s On Your Mind” has a particular pop sheen, so classy and smooth in its execution. Remember Sports are a band that sound live and lively. “Across the Line” rolls out with a steady emphasis, alternating between a laconic and deliberate kind of impact. The contrast between the spacey guitar tones and the folk-friendly vocals gives Guppy’s new song “Back to the Thing” a really unique charm. My head just starts doing the Peanuts head-bop dancing thing without much prompting here. Andrea Calvo is Grand Drifter, a sophisticated folkster of Italian persuasion who is long overdue for a new long-player. In the interim we can enjoy is hot-off-the-45-stamper “Any Second Now.” It’s a song about ‘finding traces of love hidden in the small, ordinary moments of everyday life,’ cocooned in a soft, Lennon-as-homemaker style.
Brian Dunne knows how to strum a guitar up into a catchy song. But he’s also got something to say. His most recent LP Clam Casino runneth over with plenty of hooks and homilies, none more so than the should-be hit-single “Fake Version of the Real Thing.” A poppier Bruce Springsteen, for sure. On Mondo Cool Brooklyn’s No Jersey lay it all out, how the system works and for whom, in a winning Americana-tinged pop-punk style. It was a toss-up between “You and Me and the Means of the Production” and “How To Make It In America” but I think the latter just has more hooks. Right next door New Jersey’s the dt’s revive a particularly groovy 1980s popping rock sound on “Sorry Not Sorry.” While crashing a party might be a real dilemma, it’s fodder for a great song here. Secret Postal Society have a new single and its dreamy, strummy good. “Heather” has a lilting soft intensity that builds as it goes on. Great synth runs too! Ricky Rochelle rides the line between punky rock abandon and sweet sweet melodic hooks. His recent long-player Second Layer runs the same play over and over again (and I love it), starting out every song with a starkly plain or rough-edged attack only to seduce us in the melody-drenched chorus. “Highlight Reel” makes this obvious but, frankly, any track from the record could demonstrate this magic.
Original Merseybeater Billy J. Kramer has a new album out and it’s got some killer tracks. Title-track “Are You With Me” works some autobiography into a very hummable effort. “My Sweet Rose” is another notable cut. But the radio ready song here is the early 1960s crooner “Go On Girl.” Sounds so of the era!
Living driving distance from the bottom of the Canadian shield I know a thing or two about snow. And it definitely goes better with music. Here you’ve got 21 snow drift sanctioned songs to get you through it.
Poprock Record 