Author Archives: Dennis Pilon

Redd Kross my heart

04 Thursday Jul 2024

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What band variously sounds like American punk circa 1978, Frank Zappa, The Sweet, Cheap Trick, pop metal, with maybe with a touch of ELO? Only Redd Kross can pull all that off without skidding into incoherence. Of course, they don’t pour all those influences into every song, which means an album by Redd Kross can sound like multiple bands. That’s not to say their overall sound hasn’t changed over the years. This is a band that continues to move to adjacent genres without definitively leaving the old ones behind. Take the first EP and album: 1980’s debut Redd Kross and 1982’s Born Innocent. Good time, grinding, American punk and roll. By 1984’s album number two though things start to branch out, as Teen Babes From Monsanto shines a light on the band’s emerging power pop chops. I’ll confess, for the longest time Redd Kross was more a band I’d heard about rather than heard. To rectify that and catch me (and maybe you) up, this post scans every RK album for only the most hooky numbers IMHO. Redd Kross my heart!

Redd Kross got their start in the hot heat of America’s punk summers 1978 and 1979. But I wonder if it wasn’t just the manic in-your-face intensity of that genre that appealed to them because over the years they would also show a lot of love for over the top pop-metal excess, faux stadium rock, even a few tongue-in-cheek prog rock interludes. Yet for me their power pop tunes have always been a cut above in terms of craft and melodic ingenuity. The turn comes three cuts into Teen Babes From Monsanto when “Heaven Only Knows” pumps that fifties bubblegum pop nostalgia. Then “Don’t Turn Your Back On Me” has a seventies glam meets new wave feel. On 1987’s Neurotica “It’s the Little Things” reworks the disaster rock formula of The Crystals and Ronettes to good effect.

By 1990 the band had signed to a major label and released Third Eye, a more slick production. The power pop single here is certainly smooth. “Annie’s Gone” is carefully crafted with a Cars-like precision, resulting in the band’s only American chart hit. On 1993’s Phaseshifter “Saragon” is positively Beatlesque with a Live at the Hollywood Bowl kind of Lennon energy. RK rounded out the nineties with 1997’s Show World and, again, the power pop sound notably shifted. “Mess Around” sounds a bit Crowded House while “Get Out of Myself” reminds me of other strong 1990s power pop acts like Sloan.

As the twentieth century faded out so too did Redd Kross, or so it seemed. The first decade of the new millennium failed to deliver any new material. Then in 2012 Research the Blues arrived heralding Redd Kross 2.0 had finally arrived. Here I like some of the late-breaking album selections like “Winter Blues” with its winning Hoodoo Gurus vibe or “Hazel Eyes” which really has the makings of a Big Star single sound-alike. 2016’s Hot Issue was a compilation of sorts, bringing together rare and unreleased material. Like the 1970s pitch-perfect riff on The Sweet throughout “Insatiable Kind” or the unstoppable guitar pop of “Don’t Take Your Baby Downtown.” The band resurfaced again in the two-thousand-and-teens with 2019’s Beyond the Door, proving their 2012 comeback was no fluke. So many great tunes here. “There’s No One Like You” sounds like a great lost Odds single.  Or get close to “Ice Cream (Strange and Pleasing)” where the band is doing a full-on sixties garage power pop vamp a la the Troggs or Monkees.

Fans waiting for a ticker tape parade return of Redd Kross got their wish this year with the release of a sprawling self-titled album of all new material. Redd Kross (The Red Album) offers up 18 cuts and an album design mimicking The Beatles (The White Album). My own choices for winning should-be singles seems to accord with the band, who’ve turned both tunes into early release videos and singles. “The Main Attraction” builds from a slow start to a real stunner of a showcase single. Then “I’ll Take Your Word For It” works a Merseybeat seam in a style similar to contemporary acts like The Tearaways. I’d also single out “Good Times Propaganda Band,” a track that sounds like a cross between Paul Collins and mid-period Beatles. Of course, “Born Innocent” is also pretty special and the name of a recent documentary on the band.

Redd Kross, where have I been all your life? Clearly wasting precious leisure time I could have spent with all your records. Don’t make my mistakes dear readers, complete your Redd Kross catalogue today!

You can’t wait for summer

01 Monday Jul 2024

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Summer seems to come to different people at different times, depending on whether you’ve got kids in school or a job with a set vacation schedule or live in the United Kingdom. But July 1st is a definite dividing line on seasonal states of being. So let me say it, summer is now officially here.

To kick things off mood-wise, Sparkle*Jets U.K. have got the perfect single with “I Can’t Wait for Summer.” The band may not be from the UK but they certainly do sparkle on this new song, an homage to the Beach Boys that will appear on their first album of new material in two decades, to be called Box of Letters. The opening wash of background vocals on this song are just so California sixties pop, though the treatment drifts into a more modern sound as it goes along (and deliciously so in my view). The artwork for the single is itself a riff on the famous Beach Boys Endless Summer greatest hits cover design.

Now that summer has arrived you can just sit back and marvel at that big beautiful sunny blue sky. That’s what pop tunesmith Steven Wright-Mark advises on his brand new and oh-so-timely single “Summer Sky.” This one has got an earworm for a hook so sneaky you’ll be humming it long after your portable cassette player has run out of power. Shane Tutmarc gives the sun its due on his new Dolour long-player Daylight Upon Magic. Album deep-cut “Sun On My Brain” gives voice to that feeling of summer abandon where you’ve just got to break free from work and hit the beach. ‘Why am I working so hard?’ Tutmarc sings, ‘I can only get so far …’ Indeed. I’m pretty sure that the good people of Rapid City, South Dakota have no idea what indie power pop god resides within their midst. Friends of Cesar Romero have yet another fantastic EP out, the seasonally dubbed Last Summer A Year From Now. So many songs here just cook with a garage rock intensity that never fail to strike a strongly melodic chord. This could be your go-to summer party platter for this year. But make sure to hit replay on title track “Last Summer A Year From Now” to hear a master class in hard-hitting hooky poprock.

Of course for many summer means travel. I’m not recommending this locale as much as the EP and song about it. Ricky Rochelle serves up his signature punk pop vibe on this Cannibal Island Resort EP, particularly on the darkly poppy title track. I really appreciate all the extra sonic bits Rochelle mixes into his tunes that creates a complexity that belies their apparent punky simplicity. You’ll find four fun songs here but “Cannibal Island Resort” would be the single for sure.

No more waiting. Go to the front of the queue for your ration of summer-themed tune-age right now.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Have you met Super 8?

28 Friday Jun 2024

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After 10 albums it might seem strange to re-introduce you to Super 8. But his new album is kind of a new start. Retro Metro gives you a kaleidoscope view of everything that is great about the Super 8’s supercharged take on the 1960s. So gather round errant flower children, folk rockers, sunshine pop lovers and Kinksian jangle fans, your pied piper is here with tunes to lead you astray and then some.

Following the funky keyboard-heavy instrumental opener “Retro Metro Theme” we get right down to what Super 8 does best with “Keep Doing It,” a chipper pop tune that manages to squeeze the sunshine out of the summer sky. You can practically feel the beach breeze coming off ‘feel good’ tracks like “Almost Anything” and “Mary Jane.” But the record has a harder edge too. Four songs included here are remnants of an aborted mystery-group side-project entitled The Plus 4 and they appear to have set the tone for the whole record. “You Look Right Through Me” rings out with jangle hooks that are unstoppable while the chorus is so Zombies it’ll make you swoon. Other former Plus 4 numbers like “Tell It Like It Is,” “Take It From Me” and “Every Word Is True” have a swinging Meet-the-Beatlesque charm, ornamented with some sweet sweet harmonica solos. But as we dig into the newer material here the star of this record might just be the Rickenbacker electric 12 string guitar. It makes everything sparkle. Check out its impact on “Lies,” which opens with a jauntiness reminiscent of the Fabs’ “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party.” Or see what it adds to the Stonesy “Just A Song,” the Ray Davies-ish “Another Me,” or Monkees-style “Just Me & You.”

So ask yourself, have you really met Super 8? Retro Metro is all the proof you need he is the grooviest undiscovered star you definitely need to become acquainted with. You can arrange your audio meet-up here.

The hooks are instrumental

22 Saturday Jun 2024

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Let’s face it, most killer hooks are instrumental. It’s a guitar lick, a piano riff, or even a trumpet solo. Today’s post pays tribute to those performers who have no words – just ever so alluring instrumental hooks.

We kick things off with the self-described ‘desert-influenced, surf-infused’ style of Austin, Texas band Sheverb. Their new album She Rides Again is a close study of what might be called the Morricone school of spaghetti-western guitar playing, with a strong touch of psychedelia in places. “Redemption of the River Witch” is so on point you can practically taste the dusty grit on your lips, complete with trumpet, whistling and some psych-guitar freak-out playing two-thirds in. Canada’s cold cold capital of Ottawa turns out some pretty hot guitar playing from the likes of The Reverb Syndicate. The title track from their last album Last of the V8 Interceptors is nothing but tasty licks all  the way through. I could ride that lead guitar melody into replay country all day long. For more dextrous lead guitar playing look no further than Messer Chups. These guys have a swamp monster rocking vibe and a strong sense of fun, well-illustrated with albums titles like Taste the Blood of Guitaracula and The Curse of Catzilla. From the former LP we feature the hot-blooded romp “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”

Time to take this party political, performatively speaking that is. Seems some bands can’t get enough of that Cold War nostalgia. While hailing from St. Catharines, Ontario The Kaputniks appear to love all things from our bygone bipolar world. “Politburo Dance Party” conjures images of rather rotund men in too-tight suits and uniforms dancing somewhat formally, like their lives might depend on it. In a similar vein People’s Defence Force evoke the menace and Bond-esque mystery of a cinematic 1960s Cold War on “Gear Head.” The deft application of rumbly lead guitar and few Balkan- style melodic interludes will have you reaching for the keys of your imaginary English sports car. Another group of attentive movie music aficionados can be found amongst the ranks of the music collective Morricone Youth. Their various film-themed LPs cover westerns, horror, socialist realism, porn scores and more! Here we feature two tunes from two different albums, “Barber Twist” from A Song of Two Humans and “Eva Kant” from Danger: Diabolik. Where the former gives off a retro Get Smart! vibe the latter has a much a more serious 1960s smart-pop sound.

Time to take things in more keyboard kind of direction. The Link Quartet hit the keys hard on their come-back single “The Saint​-​Tropez Heist.” Not that any guitar stood neglected. But just listen to that Hammond organ! It is driving the beat right over a cliff and then some. Toronto’s Cameronoise is also a keys guy, though his records sound like those sixties albums where someone plays the Beatles on a zither. In other words, his organ sound is out of this world, in a good way. The most recent EP is Id’s My Party and I love the way the guitar chords come crashing in on opening number “He Could.” Talk about bait and switch as this great guitar sound is quickly eclipsed by a wild bit of organ exposition. More Austin, Texas is here with uber productive performer Get Set Go. Sometimes he puts out albums where he sings, sometimes he doesn’t. Or, more to the point, there are times when he treats voice as just another instrument. Like on the all-instrumentals album Forgetting Things Done. Just listen to the crisp separation of lead guitar work and the vocal ‘la la la la’s that effortlessly propel the song along.

Let’s wrap this wordless journey with some classic 1960s instrumentalizing. On his recent EP Hot Rod Rampage Brad Marino pays tribute 1963 era surf and car music culture. So Jan and Dean and Beach Boys obviously. Given the period, a rumbly instrumental was de rigueur and Marino acquits himself admirably on the blistering “Tripwire.” Taking up the latter half of the decade LA’s Trabants crank the psychedelic side of sixties instrumentals with “Mantra.” Not to any Hendrix or Clapton excess, mind you. There is still are recognizable melody all the way through, even if things do get hazy in the final third.

Nobody needs the last word on this collection of uber cool and hooky instrumentals. Just hit play and let the hooks do the talking.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Nicking Nick Lowe

16 Sunday Jun 2024

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Word hit the interweb last week that a new Nick Lowe album would arrive this coming September, the pub rock/pop rock veteran’s first album of new material since 2011’s That Old Magic and his seasonal sojourn on 2013’s Quality Street. The album cover for the to-be-released Indoor Safari lovingly recreates a mid-1960s stylized photo shoot, complete with hip fonts and a retro record design. But if you dip into the album’s proposed song order you might notice something familiar – nearly every song has already seen a public release via various EPs and extended singles that have come out over the past half decade. So this ‘new’ album really only contains just two genuinely new tracks, “Went To A Party” and “Jet Pac Boomerang.” The former is Nick doing his Cowboy Outfit era thing, a bit rockabilly in a 1980s sort of way. Los Straightjackets sound great on this track and the others that will appear on this LP, putting their considerable talents to work adding some welcome pep to Nick’s urbane performance. So, if truth be told, you can nick just about this whole album right now just by sorting through all these recent Nick and the Straightjacket EPs that have been coming out regularly. The only track you really have to wait for is the one with ‘boomerang’ in the title.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not really complaining. The songs Nick has collected for this new record are quality Lowe’s for sure. Personally I love “Blue On Blue” and “A Quiet Place.” These two and all the other selections deserve to be featured on an official Nick Lowe long-player. You can advance order your copy on Nick’s Bandcamp and website. I know I will.

Breaking news: John Larson and the Silver Fields, Peter Freebairn, Lemon Twigs, and Joe Scarborough

11 Tuesday Jun 2024

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Today’s breaking news includes a few real newsmakers of one sort or another and others who should be. Stay tuned for all the hooky details.

When heartland rock reunited with more commercial pop sensibilities in the 1980s acts like Tom Petty and Heartbreakers, Greg Kihn Band and Bruce Springsteen stormed the charts. On their new album John Larson and the Silver Fields harken back to this golden age to my ears. Constellation Prize has the easygoing live rock chops of that era, sweetened with honey-dewed melodies and hooks. “Don’t Look Too Fast” is a great album opener, holding organ, piano and guitar in a dynamic tension while spinning out a cinematic sweep of heartland imagery. “Guilty By Association” puts its guitar riff at the centre of its rock and roll celebrations. “Everything’s Easy Until You Try It” reshapes an Orbison-esque guitar hook to drape a very Tom Petty romp. Then comes the should-be hit single for me, “Learning To Love.” The song rides an unstoppable guitar riff with a relentless drive. From there the album starts to vary its tempo and aural attack. “Start With Your Heart” offers up a bit of lighter AM radio-friendly pop fare while both “I Don’t Wanna Go Back” and “Fly Away” work that ominous 1980s pop vibe, delicately balancing dark and light melodic notes. And then there’s “Margot’s Gone Dancing,” a very different kind of poprock sound more akin to mid-period XTC. This just may be my favourite song from an album with a lot to like.

Melbourne, Australia’s Peter Freebairn seems like a stately gent. The tunes on his new album Silhouettes & Cigarettes exude class and an ‘I’m not in any hurry’ air. Opening cut “World You Choose” eases us into the album with a subtle hook that just keeps tightening its grip. “Say Goodbye” sounds like something we might expect from Paul Carrack, dialing up the blue-eyed soul and some sweet organ. Then “You And I” shifts gears to a more solo Paul McCartney vibe. What comes next sounds like some great lost 1970s Hall and Oates chart hit. “Crazy Love” has all the alchemy of that decade’s melange of styles: a bit of stylized pop soul, a disco guitar figure, and an aching pop melody that stretches on and on. Both “Home Town” and “Silhouette” are slower numbers but in decidedly different registers, one Don Henley California low-key, the other John Lennon sublime. But strap yourself in for this album’s closer because it defies everything you’ve heard so far. “I Got Lucky (I Got You)” is a strut rocker rooted in an uber cool riff that resolves into a rapturously melodic chorus, ornamented with theremin and a host of seductive background vocals. Hit anyone? This is it.

We’re not even half way through the year but it would appear that a lot of power pop scribes have already chosen their album of year. And who can blame them? The Lemon Twigs’ fifth album A Dream Is All We Know is breathtaking in its variety and command of 1960s and 1970s poprock styles. The record constantly shifts focus, from sixties English pop to California beach harmonies to 1970s commercial chart hits, but is clearly the work of one very talented band. Opening song and early release single “My Golden Years” sets the stage for what is to come. The track has the sonic dexterity of 10cc with perhaps a Queen-esque penchant for sharp melodic turns and a distinctly yearning vocals style. Sixties influences abound throughout the album with Beach Boys harmonies on “In the Eyes of a Girl” or The Byrds meet The Cyrkle on “If You And I Are Not Wise.” There’s also a very stylized English sixties pop sound coming off “Sweet Vibration” and “Church Bells.” But America gets a look in too with the more 1970s derived cuts like the Andrew Gold-ish “A Dream Is All We Know” and the keyboard-driven, Partridge Family-worthy “They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place.” The brothers behind this band have really got an ear for particular moments in pop music history. Just listen to how “How Can I Love Her More” captures the early 1970s over-the-top commercial pop, full of horns and strings and seeming vocal cast of thousands. And we’re not even done exploring how creative this band is. There’s still jazzy samba (“Ember Days”), Argy Bargy era Squeeze (Permanent Roses), and early solo McCartney (“I Should’ve Known Right From the Start”) to take stock of. And who would have predicted an album exit that hits the glam pedal hard like “Rock On (Over and Over)”?  This is band worthy of the often overused attribute ‘a sensation’.

Sometimes it’s hard to switch horses midstream. Joe Scarborough has put out an amazing power pop EP entitled Big Star but you’d never know from the press. Crickets. Well that’s probably because Joe is not just any ordinary Joe lunchbox but the Joe Scarborough of US Congressional and right-wing talk radio and TV fame. And he’s not just any high profile politico but has been a pretty hard-right libertarian Republican figure for decades, though he does appear to have exited the party at the Trump station more recently. Still, it’s hard for many to square rock and roll’s typically progressive elan with fiscal conservatism. Not that Scarborough would be the first to straddle rock and roll and the political right, it’s just that artists like Eric Carmen from the Raspberries were often associated with right-wing politics much later in their careers. But hey, what about the music? On the whole it’s pretty damn good. This EP has a grinding Well Wishers hooky edge in its title track while “Contract With Bulgaria” has lyrics you might expect from this point of view. Still eminently hummable. The cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” really gives the song some power pop oomph. This EP leans into the horn section but earlier EPs like Welcome to the Monkey House and Freaks Love Freaks draw on Costello-like turns of phrase and melody and a Matthew Sweet pop sibilance. Just goes to show, you don’t have to agree with somebody to dig their tunes.

Working hard to bring you the power pop headlines, that’s our mission. With all these great tunes, who needs film at 11?

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Back to my Crowded House

06 Thursday Jun 2024

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It’s been 40 years since Neil Finn closed shop on his older brother’s band Split Enz, ending their run with an underwhelming swan song LP See Ya ‘Round. Yet just two years later Finn would return helming a new band – Crowded House – that would far exceed what Split Enz had accomplished chart-wise. The self-titled debut Crowded House topped the charts around the world and produced a slew of hit singles, including “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Something So Strong.” The band’s commercial fortunes may have ebbed and waned since then but their creative continuity has remained strong throughout three different periods that the group has been active. 1986 to 1996 is often seen as the band’s golden age, producing four albums and more than two dozen memorable songs. But their first reunion period from 2007 to 2018 produced two more albums of classic Crowded House poprock material. Now into their third phase the band have a brand new album entitled Gravity Stairs and it’s like returning to a favourite childhood home, familiar but pleasantly different at the same time.

Reviewers and Finn himself have described the new album as ‘dreamy’ and opening cut “Magic Piano” certainly evokes that. Then again dreamy is practically the DNA of this band, firmly established in the Temple of the Low Men era and threaded through every other release somewhere. So if you’re looking for that vintage Crowded House sound you can definitely find it on this release. Just turn on tracks like “The Howl,” “All I Can Ever Own,” “Black Water, White Circle,” and “Thirsty.” But there are some striking departures as well. Early release single “Oh Hi” shifts the band’s signature pop sound into new territory with some inventive instrumental choices and vocal arrangements. Most recent single “Teenage Summer” has echoes of a Bleachers sensibility while “Blurry Grass” throws up contemporary guitar tones that remind me of Vancouver’s The Zolas. “I Can’t Keep Up With You” honours the album art work’s riffing on Revolver by riding a Beatles ’66 blast of guitar hooks. And then there’s the obligatory Tim Finn duet on the touching  “Some Greater Plan (For Claire).”

There’s always room at my place for more Crowded House. Gravity Stairs is another winning addition to the band’s musical family.

Production numbers: Ken Sharp, Bruce Moody, and Mo Troper

01 Saturday Jun 2024

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Some acts really put on a show. For them, it’s never just some songs. There’s a concept behind what’s there and an order to the proceedings that is every bit as important as the choice of instrumentation and editing of the lyrics. Today’s acts know how to take the spotlight.

Ken Sharp falls somewhere between the Beach Boys and the 5th Dimension. Except when he’s channeling David Bowie or the Beatles. Or Cat Stevens caught between his Brit poppy and pop-folk periods. His new album Welcome to Toytown features an astonishing 41 cuts, admittedly many clocking in at a brief 1-2 minutes. Still, that’s 41 distinct ideas he’s putting out there. One song does run a bit longer – “Toytown Suite” is a medley of three related songs that stretch to 9:43. Now I can’t possibly cover everything that appears here so I’ll leave 33 songs for your own self-discovery and give particular attention to 8 tunes that really grabbed me. Like “Just Hanging Around.” The flute, strings and ukulele are so late 1960s austere England, in a moody Moodies or Kinks mold. “In Betweens” nails that Beatle Paul at the piano. And just tell me “I am a Spaceman” is not a lost early Bowie b-side. “Listen” cranks up the handclaps and piano shots for a baroque excerpt from something off-Broadway. Sharp can even toss us back to the vaudeville era with the spot-on canter of “Got Your Number.” “Stuck in a River of Lies” sounds like the hit single to me. I love the acoustic guitar drive to this one. For a closer I pick the smooth Paul Simon-meets-Elliott Smith whisper vocal and low-key accompaniment of “When It Comes.” Set aside some time to spend with Welcome to Toytown. Trust me, you’ll want to stay awhile.

Bruce Moody revived his early 1980s recordings with a fabulous, sprawling package entitled Forever Fresh! to universal indie-scribe acclaim in 2020. But what comes after the belated happily-ever-after of releasing the songs of your earlier self? For Moody, that meant heading back to his old recordings cabinet to recycle even more ideas from his past. Yet on his new album PopCycle he doesn’t just echo his past efforts, he remakes those ideas, rerecording them while branching out from the sound and styles of his yesteryear. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty eighties. But this time around he draws from a broader set of influences from that decade. “I’m Gonna Tell Her Tonight” has a classic 1980s guitar pop sheen. “Shy Girls” has an energy I associate with early 1980s Hall and Oates vibe. “Little By Little” moves into a more pop techno direction a la a daytime Gary Numan. “Labels” is so that decade, both in sound and content. I love the vocal arrangements on tracks like “It’s Not Like Mine” and “Keep It Together.” Then “Turn Away” sounds like the should-be hit-single to me with its carefully calibrated arrangement. So ear candy. With PopCycle Bruce Moody shows the 1980s have still got a lot more to give.

What is Mo Troper trying to say with his new long, long-player Svengali? That he is some evil pop master dominating us with mesmerizing melody? Because I’d sign up for that. Gladly. This new album is certainly captivating, spilling over with 23 songs that punch up multiple styles and include a 6 part instrumental Svengali theme. Things kick off with “Bleach,” a bit of dissonant power pop bliss with blown speakers. The sound comes on like it is being stretched and pulled into shape. Then “A Piece of You Broken Through My Heart” offers a high definition contrast, all jangle clear and buoyant sunshine pop. “The Billy Joel Fanclub” is a bit more mysterious. Serious or satire? The ambiguity is so Troper. Light and dark constantly alternate here. From the rough garage Apples In Stereo “Spark World” and freewheeling punky “The Face of Kindness” to sweet sweeping seventies pop numbers like “You Always Loved Me” and “You Can Call Me Your Baby.” And then there’s the showstopper, “For You To Sing.” The melodic arc on this tune has a magnetic pull that insists on an instant replay. But I’m also charmed by the breezy rollicking flow of “Like I Do.”

As you can hear, underneath all the high production trappings are some great songs. Enjoy the show over and over again via the artist hyperlinks. You don’t even have to buy a ticket (but that would be nice).

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Around the dial: The Embryos, David Woodard, Aerial and Harvey Gerard

25 Saturday May 2024

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Why waste time searching the radio dial for hooks when we’ve got you covered right here? Today’s post promises both something new and a return of familiar faves, all packaged up to be stylishly long-playing.

Just one spin of The Embryos new album Selling What You Want To Buy confirms they know their market research. There’s so much to love on these 11 finely crafted songs, performed in multiple styles. I continue to be impressed by the band’s easygoing facility with just about any rock subgenre, though if I were forced to slot this new album in somewhere I’d say it has a decidedly Americana accent in places. This was on display strongly on the pre-release single “Desiree,” a breezy mid-1970s Eagles country-ish romp. And it’s there again on the Band-like “Sweater in the Heather.” Then you have tracks like “He’s a Hypocrite” which exude a Marshall Crenshaw vibe that easily shades into Americana. But the band’s penchant for Brit influences remains too, mostly audibly on “Somehow She Knew” and the record’s hidden title track “The Embryos Live” which lyrically features the album title and some alluring psychedelic lead guitar. “Frozen City” sounds like the should-be single to me, with the light and bouncy “Fortunes” a close second.

For another aptly named release, you can turn to David Woodard’s latest LP Get It Good. Now given that his 2022 album Stupid Kid was not merely good but great can we expect Get It Good to be even better? The opening track “The Last of the Full Grown Men” is certainly promising, kicking off with a strong Beatles ’66 vibe before morphing into a kind of Fountains of Wayne suburban anxiety song. It also hints at a lyrical depth that defines this album as Woodard grapples with issues of aging (“I Used To Be Cool”), nostalgia (“Flower Power in the 80s”) and social alienation (“I Can’t Make The World A Better Place”) on various songs. Musically the record steers between sixties and eighties influences. For instance, like “The Last of the Full Grown Men” “Coming To Life” also launches with recognizable Beatles motifs before moving in a more Odds direction. There’s even some recognizably U2-ish lead guitar setting the atmosphere on “Crazy One.” But I think where he excels is with the more low-key, midtempo FOW numbers like “Grace Under Pressure,” “Get It Good” and “Awkward Conversations” because there’s no place to hide – the melody has got to be good (and they are).  “Riptide” is striking outlier here with its wistful electric piano layered over an ominous set of synth strings.

Apparently you can’t hurry a band like Aerial. It’s been ten years since this Scottish duo put out Why Don’t They Teach Heartbreak In School and that record had come 13 years after their debut LP Back Within Reach. But now they’ve returned with Activities of Daily Living and it’s like no time has passed at all. The title track opener signals strongly that the band’s power pop chops remain undiminished. Then “Pixelated Youth” adds a pinch of dissonance to the mix, offset by some sweetly melodic vocal work in the chorus. The band’s signature, self-described ‘smash and grab’ style of power pop can be found on both “An Encore and Cover Song” and “Bad Tattoo.” But there are departures too. “Hollywood Ghosts” has an AM radio hit-single sheen all over it while “Run These Lights” is more of a mellow, ambient mood-setter. The album also features a number of gorgeous, moving piano ballads like “Debutante” and “Silversand Beach.” But my personal faves lean into the Teenage Fanclub/FOW kind of melodic guitar pop, specifically “I Bet You Know Karate” and “Cadence.”

Harvey Gerard looks the part of a loveable loser and lyrically his work is etched full of trouble, chaos and social ennui. But musically he consistently manages to turn that frown upside-down on his latest album Cul De Sac. That’s kinda impressive. He may be singing about drunken nights on the bar stool (“Bar Stool”) or seasonal mental health episodes (“Quarterly Paranoid Cycle”) but somehow it comes out sounding like there’s an upside. The trick is to bring in some sweet harmony vocals and an extra hook somewhere, usually in the chorus. I mean, look at the structure of opening cut “Last Days of the Hated Family” where the deft application of back-up vocals in the chorus totally elevates the tune. The sound here is miles away from the trainwreck country vibe (not that there’s anything wrong with that) of his 2017 release Pickled Wisdom. Echoes of previous work can be found on the country-ish “Thin Lipped and Nordic” and “Left To My Own Devices” but overall that album leans poppy rock, particularly on tracks like “Phase Pedal” and “Nervous Energy.” Should-be hit-single is undoubtedly title-track “Cul De Sac.” Compositionally it’s got a McCartney-esque complexity, developing different sonic layers and delightful melodic twists throughout.

These LPs are not going to race up the charts all on their own. Click on the hotlinks to register your approval.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Prepare for take-off: Sunken Planes, On the Runway, and The Speed of Sound

20 Monday May 2024

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As a metaphor, flight is pretty self-explanatory. To say things ‘take flight’ or end up ‘grounded’ lets the reader know where things stand fairly quickly. Today’s post sees three bands chart distinctive flight paths but you’ve got to listen carefully to see where each goes.

Sunken Planes have got an early REM vibe animating the tight collection of songs on their Intersections EP. You can definitely hear it on “Two Trains” and “The Ghost of Jennifer Bradley.” Should-be hit single “There’s a World” spreads the sonic influences a big further, over a host of other college bands from that decade. Then “Constellation Light” initially strikes a different mood before resolving into the band’s signature, self-described ‘jangle-shoe gaze’ sound. The most serious outlier on the record is “Doppelganger” with its almost jazzy chords and lead guitar lines and distinctive harmony vocals in the chorus. My only complaint here is that everything ends too soon, given the brevity of this EP’s five songs – start to finish barely cracks a quarter hour. A debut long-player can’t come fast enough for me.

With a name like On the Runway you might expect a sense of urgency from this band. But the songs on Tell Yourself It’s Pretty mostly vibe a pretty mellow jangle. Some are very early 1980s soft rock, like the atmospheric “Set For Life” and “Stuck On You.” Others have a more 1970s Fleetwood Mac feel – here “Loser Of The Year” comes to mind. Then you have tracks like “Consolation Prize” that exude a sombre intensity, even as they throw out some solid melodic hooks. For singles material I would nominate the guitar-driven “This Charade” and the almost anthemic “This Will Be Your Year.” The material on this alum is really something meant to heard on an AM transistor radio. For a study in tempo contrasts, check out how things really slow down on “House Is Not A Home,” a quiet pop song that is almost whispered but enlivened by ringing guitar tone, while “Bring Yourself Down” picks up speed right as the album ends.

Talk about an aptly named album. The Speed of Sound’s new LP A Cornucopia: Minerva really is buffet-style serving of multiple musical styles. There’s a bit of Bo Diddley boogie, Velvet Underground swagger, and 60s melodious beat – and that’s just the first three cuts. John Armstrong and Ann-Marie Crowley share vocals duties in a creative tension on nearly all the songs, the former pulling in an Anglo-Lou Reed direction, the latter evoking an Alison Moyet pop confidence. With 14 songs here there’s plenty to choose from in terms of highlights. Personally, I’m drawn the straightforward poprock efficiency of “Clickbait” with its slight snarl. “Yet Another Tuesday” sounds like a punked up Monkees to me. However, my fave is undoubtedly “Question Time.” I love the multiple guitar hooks as well as the spot-on lyrical sentiment.

You won’t need a boarding pass to access these high flyers. Just click the hyperlinks to get airborne.

Photo courtesy Swizzle Studios.