Author Archives: Dennis Pilon

Breaking news: Movie Movie, Mark Ward, Rick Murnane, and Yours & Mine

27 Tuesday Aug 2024

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We interrupt your internet scrolling with these breaking stories from all over. But mostly New York City. With a look in at Washington state and Massachusetts.

On album number two NYC’s Movie Movie continue to explore the far reaches of America’s rootsy rock and roll past, gathering sonic relics like a Raiders of the Lost Ark spin-off. Opening cut “You Never Learn” stokes the fires of heartland rock while “You Closed The Door” sounds like a Bo Diddly-infused Everly Brothers. Then “We Gotta Go!” takes an easygoing California sunshine pop vibe and kicks it up a notch at regular intervals. The song line-up on In 4D! will keep you guessing with its constantly shifting focus. There’s the Bond-theme-ish “You’re a Ticking Clock” with its tasty extended lead guitar solo. Or the more keyboard heavy “Anywhere But Here.” “I Want You Back (Again)” opens with a bit of mystery and rumbly guitar only to resolve into what will undoubtedly become a drunken bar sing-along chorus. Or you can dial into “Shopping Spree” with its Springsteen-esque melancholy and expansiveness. “You Can’t Hide From the Lies” sounds like the single to me, reminding me of the 1980s Americana vibe of the BoDeans and Rank and File. “Damaged Goods” is definitely not – what an organ sound! And then the band call it a wrap with the gorgeous “Living Without You,” a soaring epic of a song.

Mark Ward’s new LP Let ‘Er Rip is a perfect slice of 1980s poprock. There’s hooks aplenty spread over 15 tracks covering straight up poppy rock and roll and a host of adjacent genres. Opening cut “I’ve Been Around” plays like the AM radio-friendly single with its solid hooks and drone-heavy electric guitars. Or is “Pixie Girl” the must-release 45 here, with its insistent chorus and seductive harmony vocals? Then again, “Girl Like You” has got the big and bold lead guitar hook opener that says ‘don’t touch that dial!’ I also like the melancholic turn the melody takes in the chorus. Evident throughout the record is how well Ward knows his sources. From the opening Beatles riff he drops into “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kate” or the 1981 Athens Georgia-era sparkly folk guitar on “Zip It Up” the songs effortlessly conjure up distinct sonic atmospheres. Jangle is clearly the star here, defining tunes like “Little Frames,” “Wasted On My Own Again,” and “Blood on the Plate.” Add in some Beatlesque melodic turns and harmony vocals and tracks like “Love Me Once Again” stand out even more. But the album also showcases Ward’s range, from acoustic guitar-playing singer-songwriter (“I’m Ready”) to talking blues (“Villain”) to country (“The River”) to folk (“Hope”). He even gets downright experimental on “Paint My House.” Let ‘Er Rip is a quality poprock product but check out last year’s Key of E as well to double your pleasure.

Summer Fun is a batch of Rick Murnane’s occasional singles, released annually in summer months while heading for the beach and taken down before Labor Day. But gathered here on one long-player they cohere into an album exuding its own pop personality. Guitar pop definitely, mixing in elements of folk rock and power pop, tied together with Murnane vulnerable vocal style. Opening cut “Monkey in the Zoo” deploys synth in an otherwise solidly guitar pop song in a most fun way. Melodically it sounds like a classic Fountains of Wayne deep cut, particularly in the chorus. By contrast “Only a Game” has a Marshall Crenshaw easygoing pop demeanor. Sometimes Murnane puts his lead guitar up front, as on “A Strong Kind of Love” where some great lead guitar work drives the song along. Alternatively “We Like Animals” really shows how to use bass to anchor the feel of a tune. Or for a more contemplative moment, check out how he channels an Al Steward kind of melodic arc on “We Still See You Now.”  I can’t help reaching for my folk rock source book when “The Days” comes on. The distinctive 12 string guitar pushes the vibe toward some kind Jim McGuinn folk rock side project. Country gets a look in too on “Rodeo Bill” and “Jesus and the Bud Girls,” splashing hints of a western style and the Bakersfield sound here and there. If Summer Fun is a just a set of Murnane toss-off tunes I can’t wait to get back to his main catalogue. You should too.

NYC’s Yours & Mine open their album The Shadow You Cast with some pleasantly grinding guitars so there’s no doubt what you’re in for. Or is there? As the vocals kick in on “I’m Not Ready To Go” the hue is slightly urban country, which makes for a tantalizing and unexpected combo. Overall the guitar intensity of this new record marks a mellower departure from the band’s 2017 self-titled Yours & Mine EP – but only just. Certainly the follow up song “Pushing Up Daisies” clocks in with a strong wall-of-guitar sound and a vocal attack more reminiscent of power poppers like The Well Wishers. Other guitar interventions are more tempered, framing breezy pop melodies like “Wedding Vow” and “Our Own.” “Shadow” is the clear single with its magnetic opening guitar hook, though “Who Knows” is a close second. This time the guitar lick is a more hypnotic loop supporting vocals that fall somewhere between Taylor Swift and Michael Stipe. “September” builds tension between the strong guitar attack and melancholy melody while “The Kid” moves into more Oasis territory. The country vocal tone returns on “Head On” amid a wonderful tangle of electric guitar lines. Closer “Gimme Rock and Roll” is just a fun guitar-slashing romp. The Shadow You Cast is a striking package, hard to nail down but easy to enjoy.

That’s all the news that fits our print. Sports and weather, not so much. Click on the links to further your own citizen journalism of the musical kind.

Photo courtesy Larry Gordon Flikr collection.

Around the dial: The Half-Cubes, Tamar Berk, The Martial Arts, and Teenage Tom Petties

20 Tuesday Aug 2024

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We tune our radio dial today to throwback seventies pop, tuneful tableaus, melodic melodrama and hooky guitar noise. And with no need to change the station.

The Half-Cubes new album Pop Treasures is a monster of a collection, featuring 24 tunes that draw from 1970s and 1980s hit-makers and indie darlings in a lovingly relentless manner. At the risk of going all K-Tel on you, the hits just keep on coming here. Opening cut “Love’s Melody” sets the stage, barreling into the spotlight with an unstoppable 1970s pop punch. I can definitely hear The Searchers lurking in the arrangement of this Motors tune but the performance is classic Half-Cubes in its hooky intensity. But when the band switch to less well-known material like “Weakest Shade of Blue” from The Pernice Brothers they make that sound like a great lost hit single too. They’re just that good. Clearly I can’t touch on every tune here so let me point out some surprises and personal faves. Like their version of 10cc’s “The Dean and I.” This was the song that turned me on to that band and it’s not an easy cover, with its complex melodic turns and vocal arrangement. But the ever reliable Half-Cubes pull it off. Doing Phil Seymour’s “Precious To Me” was an obvious but no less delicious choice. Offering up a guitar-centric take on OMD’s “Souvenir” was a more bold move. You can hear a lot of thought went into the choice cuts included here, from Del Amitri’s still striking “Not Where It’s At” to the crashing guitar goodness of Cheap Trick’s “Heaven’s Falling” to 20/20’s understated guitar pop masterpiece “Jet Lag.” As an added bonus, The Half Cubes regularly share their spotlight with a number of the original artists. For instance, The Sighs entire band show up to join them on the re-make of their nineties hit “Make You Cry.” Pop Treasures really is an aptly-named assemblage of should-be hits in the best spirit of K-Tel party albums.

The title of Tamar Berk’s latest LP Good Times for a Change appears to drop a Smiths’ lyric on us with similar ironic intention. Good times don’t make for inspired art. So on solo album #4 Berk continues her journey into emotional and melodic complexity and where we end up is predictably impressive. Berk opens the record with a solid, should-be hit single. “Good Impression” flashes some Cars rhythm guitar shots so effectively I’d swear I was tuned to a 1981 car radio. This is some fabulous neo-new wave poprock. “That’s Not a Lie” is another single contender with its great vocal work. The rest of the record switches up tempo and moods, shifting through dance-able numbers like “You Trigger Me” to more contemplative efforts like “Chicago” which expertly builds its intensity throughout the performance, laying on more and more pop sheen. I’ve often compared Berk’s work to other smart and inventive female artists like Suzanne Vega and Aimee Mann and hear more that here, with the former echoing throughout “Book of Change” and “Millenium Park” or the latter on “I’ll Come to the Rescue.” There’s a playful feel so many tunes here, like the catchy ‘oh oh oh oh’s’ of “Be My Friend” or the languid shuffle on “I Don’t Mind” or the horns adorning “Artful Dodger.” Good times might be over-rated but Good Times for a Change can’t be rated high enough.

In the 1970s there was a fifties music revival that combined cartoonish hooks with a zany compressed sound that felt like it might go off the rails at any moment. You can hear it in the glam and Abba from the period and a host of deep cuts from 10cc. Add a strong dose of James Mercer’s clever pop sheen and things might add up to Glasgow’s The Martial Arts. The band’s new album In There Like Swimwear could be a time capsule from that era, except that it is much too smart and self-aware for those simple times. Opening song “Hold On Full Of Hope” gives you the flavour, riding its in-your-face melody with a bit of Elton John boogie in the background. “Empty Out There” keeps up the energy, sustained by some killer organ work. “The Attractions” strikes an Elvis Costello Armed Forces note, perhaps not surprisingly. “No Victory” was an early release single and it still sounds to me like an ice skating rink soundtrack number (and that is a very good thing). There’s so much to discover on this album, the songs are so complex and continue to reveal themselves on repeated listening. Songs like “Something in the Water” and “Exploding Crushing Inevitable” are so creatively put together, in totally different ways. Should be hit single? Definitely “Friends For Fools.” Those rhythm guitar shots are so alluring, only to break out into a beautiful melodic arc that just keeps stretching along new paths. It’s a perfect slice of melodic melodrama. There’s surprises here too. Like “Not Coming Down” which opens with a The The single synth note, only to move into a more Erasure-ish march. Then “Closing Number” offers a delightful sonic salad of varied sounds, ending with a banjo no less. Forget your bathing cap, In There Like Swimwear is actually gala entertainment.

On album number three (and second self-titled release) Teenage Tom Petties fade back from full band form to mostly just main man Tom Brown in his bedroom. But the results are still pretty rocking. The goal this time, says Brown, was to make an ‘alt-rock 90’s powerpop record’ combining influences from Fountains Of Wayne, Superdrag and Weezer with some ‘attempted Beach Boys harmonies.’ Tall order much? Yet Brown delivers and then some. “I Got Previous” has got a rough and ready DIY nineties vibe going. “Hawaiian Air” floats oh-so smooth vocals over bed of distorted guitars. Then “Kissed Me In Seattle” really is a pretty spectacular love child of all those aforementioned bands. Some songs lean more in one direction than another, with “Dumb Enough” very Weezer while “This Autumn Body” is so FOW. “Night Nurse” has got the urgency, crashing guitars, and pop hooks to be the single here. I could go on about every single song here (“Handstands for your Love” is sooo good!) but you’re getting the point. Give in to your longing for grungy 90s power pop and buy Teenage Tom Petties right now.

We’re your all-in radio station, serving up seventies retro, neo-new wave, tuneful melodrama and nineties power pop in one post. Convenient hyperlinks take you directly to the source.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr Collection.

Spotlight single: Fastball “America”

13 Tuesday Aug 2024

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This is not America, that’s the message from this great deep cut on Fastball’s latest LP Sonic Ranch. The ‘this’ talked about on “America” would be Hollywood, TV, or the seemingly endless loop of posturing politicians and pundits on social media. As the band sings, ‘maybe America is just a dream’ or perhaps it can found in the ‘middle of nowhere’ amid the folks who live out there. The song’s basic message is this: If common ground can be found in this oversaturated meme land it will require people talking to people in real, dusty, ordinary American places, not via polarized, overblown media representations of the country. Stylistically the song combines cool western guitar riffs and some great rough-hewn harmony vocals. The overall effect is gritty, like you can practically feel the desert heat and still taste the tequila in the back of your mouth. Check out this impressive live rendering of the song.

“America” is just one of ten great tunes on the album, if you’ll let me slip in a mini-review of the rest of what’s here. Sonic Ranch is the band’s ninth effort and it delivers on songwriting and performance. There’s a Beatlesque flavour to the flow of a lot of this record, from the White Album folk-fingerpicking style defining “Grey Sky Blue” to the more Rubber Soul light pop of “Hummingbird.” But there’s also classic Fastball super-charged singles like “Rather Be Me Than You” and “Let Love Back In Your Heart.” Basically, it’s another great package of tunes from a band that are just so reliably good.

You can visit Fastball at their website central locale here.

Top photo: Caroline LeDuc.

This year’s models: Toby Tantrum and Owen Adamcik

08 Thursday Aug 2024

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When Elvis Costello spit out This Year’s Model in 1978 he managed to combine a range of things that hadn’t been put together that way before. With his Buddy Holly-on-Benzedrine looks and an ability to toss off memorable tunes like a crossroads-enhanced demon, Costello and his crack new band The Attractions played the album with the in-your-face ferocity of seventies punk but with much better musical technique. Boiled right down though, it was the intelligence that stood out. Costello made being smart cool. Going forward, rock and roll’s angry young men (or women) could no longer just strike the pose, they had to have something to say. Today’s artists pay tribute to that legacy and add to it.

Toby Tantrum is the musical vehicle of Ben Simon. He’s got a load of singles and EPs up on Bandcamp though it’s hard map his career as most appear to be released in 2018 or 2021 and the artwork looks remarkably consistent throughout. In fact, he appears to be wearing the same 1965 jacket and tie in every pic. Musically Simon oscillates between an early Beatles Merseybeat and a ramshackle Velvet Underground strut. Lyrically, he splits his focus between mocking the pretentions/self-absorption of the musically famous and more obvious political themes. Songs like “One Take Wonder” and “One Chord” employ an unreliable narrator technique to tell us more than the protagonist realizes while “I Found Someone And It’s Me” speaks to the irresponsibility and shallowness of those in the spotlight. Politically “A City Is Not a Dormitory” from the EP Community for Those That Can Afford It is a scathing indictment of developers and local housing policy. And they all work as songs, which makes this whole affair more than a conceptual art project. Picking and choosing from his varied catalogue I’d draw your attention to at least three really hooky tunes. “People Are People” bursts with great guitar lines that ripple on repeat like a trickling stream while stylistically the song sounds like a rockier 1970s Roxy Music. “Hold Me Down” clocked me with its spot-on early 1960s vocal harmonies, very much in the early 1960s folk rock/country register. And listen to what Simon does on “So Many Times.” The vibe reminds me of those early Zombies records where they cover a load of American R&B 45s. Simon’s vocal even matches the delightful whine of Colin Blunstone in places. Alas, it appears Simon may have forsaken music for a more direct approach to politics, running for Cambridge City Council in 2019 as a Marxist socialist. My kind of guy.

Owen Adamcik loves The Nerves and The Plimsouls and you only have to tune in briefly to his recent long player Owen Adamcik’s Power Pop Paradise to get that message. But there’s more going on too. On his Bandcamp page you can find a raft of releases that chart his progress – from DIY teen-with-guitar to proto-punk to his more recent polished performances – and the pace of change has been meteoric. The new LP has oh so Plimsouls numbers like “Don’t Call Me on the Phone” and “When She Finds Out.” Then things branch out, drawing from a variety of sixties and late seventies new wave motifs. “She Kissed Me First” is built around some really nice lead guitar work that leads the vocal melody. Both “Her Eyes Made A Million Boys Cry” and “Maybe You Like Me” explore different song structures and put some interesting twists into their melodies. Really the Costello comparison here is more about intensity. Adamcik manages to squeeze maximum vocal anguish into every song, without over-reaching. On the other hand “Mixed Signals” definitely has a Costello punch to the chorus, run through a CCR filter. There are lighter moments too, caught in the more sixties boppy numbers like “You’ll Tell Your Friends” and “She’s My Girlfriend.”

Role models are important. Today’s acts show how to balance being ‘intense’ while still having a good time. Elvis would be proud.

Photo ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Something new II: Ethan Beck and the Charlie Browns, Laughing, and Chris Milam

03 Saturday Aug 2024

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Discovering new artists is pretty much our raison d’etre here at Poprock Record. But some artists are so new I haven’t heard nada about them. That’s today’s acts, absolutely brand new to me and perhaps you too. So let’s get the plastic wrap off this e-vinyl together.

On Duck Hollow Pittsburgh’s Ethan Beck and the Charlie Browns use steel town’s working class neighbourhoods as fodder for setting the scene over a handful of songs. Things kick off with a bit of guitar blast and hummable melodies on opening tunes “Fear and Loathing in Grammercy” and “Monk Eric.” Both fall somewhere between the Sam Roberts Band and Ruler on the manic guitar pop scale. Other songs like “And And And” and “North” have a more vulnerable pop vibe, in line with acts like Sam Weber, Matthew Milia and Nicholas Altobelli. And is that an Apples in Stereo melodic turn embedded in “Does This Bus Stop at Douglas Street”? Sounds that way to me. There are a few sonic departures on the album, like the Latin dance rhythm defining “Matthew Song.” Billy Joel even gets a look in when the couple from his “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” appear in “Brenda and Eddie.”  In the ‘my fave’ file, I love the ferocious poppy guitar grind driving “Fear and Loathing in Squirrel Hill.” All in all a visit to Duck Hollow is definitely worth the trip.

Montreal seems to be on fire in terms of cranking out great melodic rock bands of late. We’ve featured Los and The Wesleys recently just to name a few. Now you can add Laughing to that ever growing list with their self-titled debut LP. Giving this record a spin, it’d be easy to turn on opening cut “Easier Said” and declare Teenage Fanclub to be the sonic ghost haunting what is going on here. Ok, then “Pebble” comes along and it has pretty strong TF vibes too. But as we cruise along to “Bruised” the atmosphere subtlely shifts to a more muscular poprock sound.  “Narcissist Blues” even harshes up the lead guitar solo a bit. “Garden Path” continues this trend toward a rockier pop style. Then “Will She Ever Be A Friend of Mine” and “You and I” turn things back in more TF pop direction. For something different check out how “Don’t Care” and “Secret” amp up the country quotient. I also really like “Sour Note” which sounds like Sloan on a Byrds kick to me. Overall the band have a surprisingly coherent sound given that they have come together only recently, drawing members from a variety of acts like Nap Eyes, Monomyth, Human Music, and Fountain.

Thrumming is the word I’d use to describe Chris Milam’s new album Orchid South. Like a kid at the gates to an amusement park, the record positively bursts with barely contained excitement. Opening cut and title track “Orchid South” sets the album’s tone using elements of a Springsteen structured sonic landscape, with the alternating high and lows, upfront guitars, and requisite horn section. Then “Almost Gone” lays down shotgun rhythm guitar work draped with an Eagles-like harmony vocal precision. And those horns! “Always On My Mind” brings to mind recent poppy Americana-inflected work from the likes of Jim Larson and the Silver Fields. The record does ease up here and there with more atmospheric contemplative numbers, like “Bad Dream,” “Underwater,” and “Song of the Summer.” Or there are tracks like “Let Me Love You” and “Thoughts On Hold” where Milam expertly alters the pace and attack for maximum impact. “Out” is just a rollicking good time and amazing guitar solo workout. Overall Orchid South is an album rife with Americana energy that doesn’t neglect its pop hooks.

Here we have brand new artists that I’m sure will become old faves in the years to come. But you have start somewhere. Visit these artists online to get to know them better.

Photo ‘What Time Is It In Miami Beach’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Should be a hit single: Los “Wonders”

28 Sunday Jul 2024

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Quebec City band Los don’t appear to have gotten a lot of attention with the EP, double-sided single, and LP they released a decade ago. To my ears, that’s really hard to understand. Their one long-player Big Surf particularly is savagely good, bristling with a new romantic pop crispness but anchored by a whole load of killer lead guitar hooks. Just check out the excitement the opening strum gets going on “Harrison Slide” before adding in some pretty seductive harmony vocals. “Bellevue” has an acoustic guitar and layered vocals dreamy quality I associate with bands like Family of Year. Or listen closely to how “Seventeen On One” bends its minor chords in a heart rending way. But hey, the focus we’re here for is the album’s should-be hit-single IMHO: “Wonders.” As the LP’s opening cut, talk about starting out strong! Right out of the gate, the song says ‘don’t touch that dial’ with its striking lead guitar riffs and slightly melancholic guitar pop groove. As it goes on, the organ comes up in the background, buffeting and expanding the overall sound. Then in the instrumental break the lead guitar vibes a strong 1970s Wings urgency. By the song’s end the vocals overlap in a very sunny Beach Boys way.

The band appear to have changed their name more recently from Los to Lose while releasing two new singles, very much in the same dreamy atmospheric guitar pop style of their earlier work. And that’s fine by me.

Something new: Sergio Ceccanti, Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kicking Team, and Mark Alan Lofgren

23 Tuesday Jul 2024

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Today’s post is all new. I mean, most of the stuff I write about is new but this is a crew of talent I’ve heard nary a whisper about.

Everything about Sergio Ceccanti’s new album Mysterious Journey is freighted with retro cool. The guitar tones are like selections from a guitar pedals buffet. The song styles run the gamut of 1960s melodic forms. And yet, somehow, the album’s sonic aura is timeless. Opening track “Mystery Girl” captures the broader elan of the album with its distinctive lead guitar lines and hushed vocals. Jangle comes to the fore on tracks like “On My Way” with a Searchers buoyant energy. Then “You Dropped Me Alone” lightens the mood with a boppy bubblegum feel. Despite a consistent overall sound, the album does branch out in terms of sixties genres. “From My Mysterious Journey” suggests an early 1960s Roy Orbison intrigue while “Without You” tips things in a more Stones direction (in their more melodic moments). There are real departures here too, like the Teenage Fanclubby “Waiting Outside.” Or listen to how the guitar work on “Forget Me” pretty much guarantees that won’t happen. Really, this album is a summer sleeper chart climber.

It’s hard to know just how seriously to take Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kicking Team on their new record Got To Be Strong. I mean, the name invites guffaws aplenty. And then there’s the choice of song themes: chainsaws, bandanas, box wine, etc. Not topics that say serious song-smithing. But here’s the thing – the more I listen to this album the more I’m convinced these are fine specimens of sophisticated song craft. Stylistically, there’s more than hint of the Allman Brothers in their poppier moments. Things even stretch into Bachman Turner Overdrive territory on the opening cut “Chainsaw Repair Shop” with its chugging rhythm guitars. “My Bandana” sounds more pub rock/Rockpile era Nick Lowe. Then comes “Best Day Ever,” just the kind of feel-good rock and roll we really need right now, sustained by some serious organ backing. The album changes tempos effortlessly – things slow down on “Dilapidated Heart,” a song that really gets its Americana blight on (both material and spiritual), while “Magnificent” takes a more Byrds-meets-The Band approach. Then comes the album’s secret weapon “Regret Avenue,” a song whose jangle and hooks scream should-be hit single. I could go on loving up every song here but you get the picture. Got To Be Strong is just a great album experience from some very serious talent.

It happens. Turns out sometime over the past few years I bought Mark Alan Lofgren’s first volume of his Black Moon Book project but I never wrote about it. And that’s a shame because the record and follow up Black Moon Book 2 have got some lovely performances. Like “We Don’t Leave the Yard” from the latter – that synth work is utterly captivating. Well, making up for lost time I’m turning to the latest installment in the series Black Moon Book 3 and I can report it’s fabulous too. Just lay your ears on “Ne’er Do Well” and tell me if this doesn’t sound like a misplaced deep cut from the recent Real Estate offering Daniel. Damn but that lead guitar sound is to die for! “Get Out or We’ll Stay” works up a positively meditative drone that is so different but also very pleasing. “Perennials” has a English folkish feel compositionally, reminding me of Vashti Bunyan despite its delightful jangle coating. “The End of the Novel in Your Head” balances dreamy lead guitar and vocals in a perfect balance. Then “Ocean Drive” kicks things into a new lane, sounding more latter day XTC. “Glass Half Full” even threatens to break out into come classic Chuck Berry riffs, before art rocking the hell out of the arrangement. With this Black Moon Book triple play it’s clear Lofgren is just getting better and better.

There’s too many new somethings for one post – look for something new II, coming your way soon.

Photo courtesy James Vaughn Flikr collection.

Rediscovering The Decemberists

18 Thursday Jul 2024

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I’ve always felt like I should like The Decemberists more. I mean, they’re folky, they’re kinda political at times. And lead vocalist Colin Meloy is the closest thing America is ever going to have to a Morrissey-like tortured artiste. But, for whatever reason, I’ve often found that a little Decemberists goes a long way for me. Like one or two songs an album. But that has ended abruptly with the release of the band’s ninth long-player, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. The record’s song selections flow like a greatest hits of the band’s stylistic range over their whole career. There’s folk aplenty on cuts like “William Fitzwilliam” “Don’t Go Into the Woods,” and “Black Maria.” I love the delicious jangle and pedal steel draping “Long White Veil.” The band turn up the horns and a Latin rhythm to define “Oh No!” Meanwhile “Tell Me What’s On Your Mind” is just a magnificent pop anthem. And then on “All I Want Is You” Colin Meloy suddenly becomes Don McLean. It’s quite an astonishing transformation, really.  But the album’s standout track is undoubtedly the majestic lead single “Burial Ground.” With help from The Shins James Mercer and R.E.M.’s bassist Mike Mills the song rings out with a Byrdsian jangle and overlapping vocal lines that will make your heart soar.

With As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again The Decemberists confirm their status as a kind of American treasure. What a live show this album promises to be!

Songs for a summer soiree

14 Sunday Jul 2024

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Clinking glasses beneath a dusky summer sky. You need music for that. Definitely. Here’s a curated list of party-approved poppy rock numbers suitable for friends, fading sunshine and a night full of stars.

LA’s The Dreambots thread some 1980s jangly guitar throughout their debut single “Tightrope” but that’s almost a distraction compared to the subtle earworm this melody turns out to be. The song’s main guitar tone reminds me of Steve Addabbo’s distinctive sound on Suzanne Vega’s self-titled debut LP back in 1985 but here it serves a totally different kind of tune. Repeated listening will just lead to further repeated listenings. Strange Neighbors were one of my fave finds of 2023. Their single (“Hotline Psychic”) and EP (Party of None) were number one on both my year-end singles and EP charts. They were that good. Some might say there’s nowhere to go from there but one listen to the band’s new single “Tell All Your Friends” and you’d know that’s wrong. The striking guitar lines, the harmony vocals, the build-up to a great killer chorus: this is the stuff of greatness. The internet is allowing a lot of old bands that didn’t quite make it to relaunch, if not for the big time then at least a smidgeon of the attention economy. The Hollywood Stars got a few record deals in the 1970s but never took off. Now fifty years later they’ve got a new album Starstruck. I’m really digging the Stonesy/Springsteen swagger of “Walking With an Angel.” Montreal’s The Wesleys also present as a contradiction. So much of their self-titled debut album almost leaps out of the speakers with high degree of rock and roll ferocity and menace. And then there’s “A Lot To Lose,” a gentle, almost languid jangle affair that floats a dreamy vocal over everything. Ever reliable guitar pop-meister 65MPH is back again with “Again.” This time the crashing guitars have a Bond-esque intrigue and Jam-worthy Paul Weller vocal attack.

New Jersey’s Sad About Girls is having a very productive 2024, releasing their third EP of the year Sad To Go in May. There’s some slow meditative material here and then there are songs that really cook. Like “Expect To Lose” with its ripping lead guitar lines and magnetically hooky chorus. “We Didn’t Do Anything Last Year” is another winner with its Everything But The Girl flavour. Another band with two really hot tracks on their most recent album is Melbourne’s Lava Fangs. From Sub Auroram “Photograph” really lands in the Jayhawks ballpark while “Lost For Words” motors along shifting its melodic attack in the most delightful ways. Nick Piunti delivers his signature refreshingly old-fashioned poppy rock and roll on his new one-off single with The Complicated Men, “Bottle It.” Attractively packaged and performed with a Bryan Adams easygoing feel. Most of The Twins of Franklin album This Life is a folky Americana excursion, delivered with a First Aid Kit freshness. But “Life By Design” is something else. The propulsive acoustic rhythm guitar keeps things thrumming on this song, only to be elevated by the electric shock vocal harmonies in the chorus. The title track from George Marinelli’s recent hybrid greatest hits/new material mega-album Except Always has to vie for attention with 25 other songs. But it’s got some notable features, like a Stones rhythm guitar sound and chorus hook that really delivers.

Papa Schmapa main man Joe DelVecchio put me on to a new project he’s got going and the vibe is so NRBQ it could be mistaken for those Louisville sloggers. The new band is SidePlay and the song I can’t get enough of is “Hit the Road Mac.” It’s got boogie and an old man kind of cool. Little Roger has got a ticklish question to put in his recent single “Does Susie Like Boys?” It’s the kind of query that could easily go wrong fast but Roger’s whole delivery seems supportive. The guitars here are so 1970s AM radio while the vocal reminds me of Billy Bremner in his more tender moments. Out of the blue former Irish band The Fireflys frontman Barry J. Walsh pops up with his first solo effort in decades “Rescue Me.” The song is a distillation of essential 1960s sounds: swinging London, Merseybeat, some pop psychedelia, and more. Let there be more is all I can say. Everything about Gary Kaluza’s single “On the Waterfront” says ‘classic’ – from the Silencers/Simple Minds guitar tone, to the stentorian singing from what sounds like the back of an empty echoey church, to the video with its Bogey and Bergman imagery. It’s not a new song but a very worthy re-release for sure. Perennial 1990s throwback Richard Turgeon swore he would take some time off from the last half decade’s punishing schedule of constantly writing and releasing new singles, albums and covers. But just seven months after this last album he’s back with a new single “This is the Last Song (I Write For You).”  What can I say? It’s reliably Turgeon great! And I highly doubt it won’t be followed by more good tunes to come in the days ahead.

SidePlay – Hit the Road Mac

Jon Hyde’s new album The Sad Lights is solidly in Americana territory, neither poppy nor rocky for the most part. But title track “The Sad Lights” swerves a bit into our lane with a very hum-able melody that ambles along with a peculiar but captivating charm. I love the mood that The Chris Vandalay Project strike on their new single “Better Than Before.” The synth suggests late night, a bit of indirect lighting, and some serious introspecting going on. The overall sound really reminds me of Liverpool’s Black from the 1980s. Cal Rifkin return with a single named for every power pop fan’s fave commercially unsuccessful supergroup, “Big Star.” The song’s connection to that Memphis combo is both lyrical and sonic, popping up in the tune’s narrative and overall jangly sound. And the song’s arrangement is outasight. Kurt Hagardorn has an exciting new project that concentrates his poppy rocky tendencies even more than his exemplary solo efforts. His new band is The High Elves and their debut single “Thirsty and Blue” is full of 1970s Steve Miller guitar tone and a killer rhythm guitar swing. It’s impossible not to hip sway within listening distance of this song. More please! The latest outing from The Bret Tobias Set is positively mercurial in its instrumental choices. “Fait Accompli” has got shoe-gazey vocals, slashes of reverby guitar, and an organ timbre straight out of a Vincent Price horror movie. And that is a very good combo.

When they’re not busy turning out great tunes for Starbelly Dennis Schocket and Cliff Hillis also like to put out duo numbers. Their newest is a sweet walk down melody lane boasting a title that gives away its inspiration. “For Everly” could be a certain brothers act circa 1965 or something more modern, say a nice deep cut from one of those Don Dixon and Marti Jones albums.

Your summer soiree is practically ready for guests with a song list like this on standby. You just have to strike up the bands.

Photo courtesy Tom Magliery Flikr collection.

Out in the country: Rural France and Valley Lodge

09 Tuesday Jul 2024

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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As the sun hangs high in the summer sky roads spill over with those fleeing urban life for a bit of the country. And that needs some apropos musical accompaniment, of course. Enter our featured pair of bands. They can be enjoyed city or country, wherever you are, but their nom de plumes give me an excuse to slot them in here.

Whiltshire’s favourite jangle duo Rural France return with album #3 Exactomondo, still channeling their own unique interpretation of influences like Teenage Fanclub, Lemonheads, and Guided By Voices. Opening cut “Tag Along” has a sweet lofi charm, almost shoe-gazey. Other songs like “Sunslip” and “Guideropes” kick off with solid guitar hooks while the vocals ride a solid bed of jangle. “Ghost Dance” sounds like a single, launching with an alluring opening and crashing guitar chords. Though “Packhorse” is a solid second choice for chart action, a carefully calibrated assortment of sounds that swap out the spotlight. “Blabbermouth” deploys a pedal steel guitar to expertly add a country shade to everything. “Prize Goose” rides us out to the inner groove with an almost meditative Shins-like pop perfection, sliding into guitar god territory near the end. Looking back after hearing it all, Exactomondo is clearly full of great songs but it’s also a solid album experience.

On the new Valley Lodge LP Shadows in Paradise things open with a stunning should-be hit single: “Daylights.” From the relentless driving guitar work to the seductive interplay between the main and background vocals this song just never lets up on its addictive sonic attack. It’s a song that should be echoing out of car stereos all summer. From there the band showcase their amazing melodic dexterity, throwing hooks into multiple styles of poprock. Whether offering a Bruno Mars pop playfulness of “I Wrote a Song” or a more Vaccines-like party energy on “Trouble” there seems to be no subgenre they can’t excel at. You can find a new wave rock and roll attack on “After School,” a seventies disco and pop R&B flavour to “Secret Lover,” or even a 1980s Merseyside revival-style happening with “Dyin’.” The attention to song arrangements here is impressive. “Hanging Around” takes that classic “Latest Flame” guitar strum the Jam also used for “That’s Entertainment” and artfully arranges a kind of sonic tour, with a little acoustic guitar here, some keyboard shots there, all tied up with a very singable tune. Then there’s “Out Of Time,” my personal fave. So hummable – I love the lush background vocals and crashing guitar chords. Closing song “That Love” makes what could be a sitar sound almost upbeat with a tune and vocal hauntingly reminiscent of Ian Gomm.

Enjoy that country air with just the right mix to tunes. Like these ones. Hit those hyperlinks above to properly soundtrack your summer travels.

Photo ‘Tomorrow’s the Day my Bride’s Gonna Come’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.