I was listening to Strange Neighbors new EP Party of None, enjoying the first few tracks, minding my own business. I had assigned it to an upcoming ‘breaking news’ post, largely on the basis of my positive reaction to the rollicking opening cut “Whoa is Me.” I love the slashing guitars and new wave Natalie Merchant vocal. I think track 2 “Skeleton Boy” is another winner, though here the vocal tipped more toward Amy Rigby in her prime. But I was not prepared for track three, with its stark opening guitar chords and arresting verses that give scant hint of what is to come. Then “Hotline Psychic” hits the chorus like a rush of adrenaline that just goes on and on, with lyrics that are hilarious and oh so cutting. There’s a febrile energy at work in this song that will have you hitting replay over and over again. Frankly, track 3 stalled my encounter with this EP because I knew I had to feature “Hotline Psychic” as a ‘should-be hit single’ pronto. Now, as a bonus, the two remaining tracks on this EP also keep the poppy rock dynamism going, particularly “Window Watching.”
So click on “Hotline Psychic” and see if you don’t agree, it’s a should be monster hit. And then stay for the rest of Party of None, it’s one of those too-good-to-be-true EPs – as in, total enjoyment.
You can check out Party of None and Strange Neighbors’ excellent back catalogue at this Bandcamp party stop.
Photo fragment from “Hotline Psychic” 45 cover designed by band member Zach.
We don’t usually cover legacy acts or artists who make the mainstream charts here. They get a lot of press already and they’ve usually got a strong fan base. But I do have a few faves I can’t help but write about because I do love them so. Obviously I’m not going to move the needle on their chart placements but hey, I can say my piece. Today we single out a few songs from stars that continue to shine for me.
Elvis Costello’s Rusty project is such an interesting endeavor for a host of reasons. Backstory: Elvis decides to reunite with a guy he played in a duo with before he made it big on his own. I mean, what happens to all those bandmates who came before an artist gets famous? Mostly left behind, I suspect. So for Elvis to reunite with his former partner Allan Mayes 50 years after they parted is pretty special. And the results are impressive too. The Resurrection of Rust kicks off with a sound not unlike the pub rock of Brinsley Schwarz and EC’s first solo record. And why wouldn’t it? The song “Surrender the Rhythm” is a Nick Lowe Brinsley-era song. Nick’s “Don’t Lose Your Grip on Love” sounds great too. But the early EC original “Warm House (And an Hour of Joy)” is probably my fave here. Another striking blast from the past is Julian Lennon’s most recent longplayer Jude. It’s been a lifelong challenge for this guy to move out of his famous father’s shadow, given the considerable baggage he’s got. But this album might just be his best yet, playing to his soft rock strengths while still sounding very contemporary. The songs are strong, particularly the acoustic “Not One Night” and Oasis-y “Lucky Ones.” The standout track though is “Round and Round Again” with its spy-worthy trebly lead guitar and an overall atmosphere that reminds me of Black’s Wonderful Life record.
Rusty – Warm (And an Hour of Joy)Julian Lennon – Round and Round Again
Drag queenTrixie Mattel is a one-woman entertainment dispensary: comedy TV star, fashion and make-up entrepreneur, and singer-songwriter extraordinaire. In a way her recent Blonde and Pink Albums is just the culmination of a trajectory she’s been signalling for a while. Starting off in the country and folk genres Mattel has hinted throughout her various releases that she’s a poppy rock and roll girl. The 14 songs here are all-in power pop, mostly Mattel originals but with covers of the Go Go’s and Cheap Trick thrown in too. The results are maximum fun. There’s a touch of Aimee Mann on “White Rabbit,” a bit of Fountains of Wayne in “Girl of Your Dreams,” and a return to Trixie’s country roots on “This Town.” But I think my fave here is the candy-coated pop delight “Goner.” Another surprise in 2022 was the return of an old favourite band, Tears for Fears. It’s hard to capture how omnipresent the band were back in their heyday of The Hurting and Songs from the Big Chair. But last year’s comeback album The Tipping Point easily outstripped the popularity of their previous comeback album from 18 years earlier, making the top ten in countries around the world. I loved the album’s second single, the acoustic guitar-led ballad “No Small Thing.”
Trixie Mattel – Goner
Pixies are another comeback group whose quality of material didn’t suffer after two decade break. With the release of 2014’s Indie City it was like they’d never paused. Personally I thought 2016’s Head Carrier had some of their best material with tracks like “Tenement Song.” But their recent 2022 album Doggerel sounds as fresh as anything they’ve produced, particularly “Haunted House” and the should-be hit single “Thunder and Lightning.” What’s left to say about legendary American family band The Cowsills? They were inspiration for television’s The Partridge Family, originators of the Americana sound, and unlike many family bands of the period most members just oozed talent, both within and outside the group, most notably Bill, John, Bob and Susan Cowsill. Their first album came out in 1967 – their tenth arrived just last year. Rhythm of the World features Bob, Paul and Susan Cowsills sounding pretty sharp. I’m partial to the hooky “Every Little Secret” with its captivating classic-Cowsills overlapping vocal arrangement.
The Cowsills – Every Little Secret
Not all stars fade into the night sky. Some come back brighter than ever.
Fans have long been divided on just who they love more, Lennon or McCartney. Smart versus lovable, political versus sentimental, rocky versus hooky – these are the classic (and somewhat misleading) lines of division drawn between a duo who arguably comprise the greatest song-writing team of all time. Such judgements also face another challenge: in the Beatles John and Paul wrote songs together but also apart despite sharing a co-writing credit on everything, making it hard sometimes to sort out who wrote what. To make an effective comparison you really have to turn to their solo work in the 1970s to establish what each could do beyond the influence of each other and the Beatles’ unique group dynamic. Now the point here isn’t to say who is better because that is obviously completely subjective. You can’t debate taste. What I propose to do is compare their solo work to the Beatles material and ask ourselves which one, John or Paul, more consistently met that standard, a standard defined by commercially innovative singles and highly listenable albums that contained little filler. Get ready for contention! I’m fairly certain my choices and observations will spark debate but hey, that’s half the fun of writing a blog. Please do join in with your own take on this classic, endless, ultimately irresolvable dispute.
Let’s start with singles. Personally, I think John’s got a leg up here and that is saying something considering what a hit single machine Paul has been as a solo artist. Don’t get me wrong, both John and Paul have crafted some amazing singles. My measure is, who has continued the commercial innovation that we associate with the Beatles the most as a solo artist? Here I think John has the advantage with songs like “Instant Karma,” “Imagine,” “Mind Games,” and “#9 Dream.” Each one exhibits the kind of musical creativity and ‘pushing of the pop song envelope’ that I associate with the Beatles work. I could imagine any one of them appearing on a 1970s Beatles album, if such a thing had come to pass. I’m not saying every John single was a winner. Paul certainly has a few Beatles-worthy singles moments as a solo artist – songs like “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and “Band on the Run” – but they don’t branch out much from similar previous efforts with the band. I would grant that “Jet” and “Live and Let Die” met the Beatles innovation standard. Stepping away from singles for a moment, both John and Paul have got a few really special deep cuts on their 1970s solo albums, like John’s “Jealous Guy” from Imagine and Paul’s “Magneto and Titanium Man” from Venus and Mars.
What about albums? Rock critics tend to rate a few of John’s albums as the best solo work from a former Beatle, particularly Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. I’ve got to disagree. In terms of total listenability and an absence of weak cuts the hands-down winner is Paul’s Band on the Run. The difference in opinion here comes down to how much credence you give the ‘cool’ factor. Critics loved John over Paul because they saw him as serious, deep, and political. It was all part of the conversion of the music press from cheer-leading, teeny-bopper coverage to more serious journalism in the late sixties and early 1970s. And hey, if you like that sort of thing, cool. But the Beatles were not some underground indie band, judged by how ‘cool’ they were. They were a commercial juggernaut whose music was accessible to anyone with ears. Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are great albums but they’re not up to Beatles standards, in my view. Not all the songs are equally strong or accessible. This became only more pronounced on John’s later albums where he tended to feature one outstanding single amid a bevy of weaker material. In the case of Some Time in New York City there wasn’t even a decent single. By contrast, Band on the Run has no filler. All the songs are either great or very good. It’s the closest any ex-Beatle came to putting out something comparable to a Beatles album IMHO. And, just to throw in a really controversial claim, I think John’s most Beatles-worthy album is actually Double Fantasy because it’s the only one where all the songs are actually pretty good, even the Yoko tracks. And I’m not saying that McCartney’s albums were uniformly good either. Indeed, they too mostly suffered from a surfeit of rather second rank tunes cast amidst the hits.
Well there you have it, I rate John as the solo Beatle with the most commercially-innovative, Beatles-worthy singles and Paul as producing the album that comes closest to reproducing the Beatles trade-mark listenability. Controversial views, I know. Now whether you agree with these judgements or not, I do think there are some patterns here that are undeniable. Clearly, looking at his solo work, John just wasn’t an album man. Self-admittedly somewhat lazy, John was good for bringing in three or four really great tunes to every Beatles album session. His friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) competitiveness with Paul heightened his productivity within the group. But as a solo artist John lacked the drive to fill annual albums with top-quality Lennon material. By contrast, Paul could crank out tunes and albums with a Beatlesque eye to overall listenability and commercial success. But as a solo artist Paul never worked with anyone that challenged him the way John did and that limited his innovative creativity compared to his Beatles-era work. Compare that to John, collaborating with the likes of David Bowie and Elton John and getting some pretty impressive results (e.g. the Lennon/Bowie co-write “Fame”), and you get a glimmer of what might have been possible.
Pitting John against Paul was never gonna produce any clearcut ‘winner.’ Even their somewhat less Beatlesy solo work still contained some pretty stellar stuff from both. And, in the end, you don’t have to choose or play favourites. You can love them both. I know I do.
Top photo by Tom Murray from the Beatles ‘mad day out’ 1968.
Our first turn around the dial of the new year is like a melodic guitar rock testimonial, combining old with new sounds, the rough with the smooth. But it’s the superior song-writing on display here that will keep you from adjusting your set.
Those mourning the recent passing of David Crosby will want to catch up with Dutch band The Small Breed. Their most recent album Remember a Dream utterly nails the pop psychedelia that was such a part of the late 1960s west coast American music scene, with splashes of sunshine pop and other influences too. Title track “Remember a Dream” is a dynamite scene setter. The music is so sixties but the vocals remind of more contemporary groups like Django Django. “Picturesque Pictures” puts a dreamy Moody Blues flute front and centre. Then “Wanda Your Angel” dials things down, offering up some captivating acoustic guitar with a vocal that evokes Billy Bragg at his most tender. “She’s So Lovely” has things take a rather baroque turn. I hear a bit of Madness lurking in this song and all over the more mannered “Finders Keepers.” And then there’s the crowd-singing should-be hit, “Mirror Man.” This one jumps out and says ‘hear me!’ Remember a Dream is wonderful mixture of old and new, clearly treasuring the psychedelic sixties but refusing to remain limited to the decade in terms of influences. Definitely a trip worth taking.
The members of Electric Beautyhave been around and back again. Veterans of countless musical ventures over the decades this current project is about having fun and it shows on their self-titled debut. The songs have all got the earnest yet easygoing feel of players comfortable with each other. Check out the vocal on “Cindy’s Gone Away,” it’s so raw and unfiltered but it works fabulously with the straight up poppy rock and roll accompaniment. I also love the lead guitar line that hooks you into “Modern Lovers.” It’s so classic. Again the vocal here has a directness I associate with likes of Dion or Del Shannon (in non-falsetto mode). “Something for No One” strikes a different note, an almost spacey instrumental I could see slipping into a 1980s SciFi movie. “Lonely at the Top” counterposes a lyric Crenshaw or Springsteen could pull off with subtle organ runs and some great rumbly guitar. “The Awakening” is another cinema-worthy, other-worldly instrumental. Electric Beauty is an album that will fit you like a favourite old sweater: familiar, comfortable, enjoyable. Welcome back boys.
Cindy’s Gone AwayModern LoversLonely at the Top
With a name like Turn Turn Turnyou might expect churning Brydsian jangle or burning social commentary a la Peter Seeger. But this Minnesota trio manage to do both and neither on their brand new LP New Rays From an Old Sun. Opening cut “Stranger in a Strange Land” covers off the first theme. One minute in and that trademark Byrds/Tom Petty signature guitar drone lands in the first instrumental break. Both “Hymn of the Hater” and “7 Kids” nod toward social issues, in a decidedly Americana style. But what we have here is so much more than this or that influence. Overall this record is a gorgeous blast of harmony vocals and songs with mellifluous hooks. Everything is built on the strength of the song-writing – and it is impressive. Some are just a bit of fun. “Powder” hums along like a Monkees deep cut. And who doesn’t like a whistle solo? Others are more serious. “If You’re Gonna Leave Me” launches in like a great soul classic without losing its pop precision. “My Eyelids Weigh Mountains” could easily be mistaken for something by The Band in their prime while “Schisandra” is just so Bryds. This album is a winner from start to finish, so crisply produced, so joyously sung and played. Seriously, a veritable aural delight for your ears.
When we last left the boys in New Zealand’s Best Bets their debut EP Life Under the Big Top had that ever-so-nice Grapes of Wrath guitar band sound. But how things have changed with their most recent LP On An Unhistoric Night. The sound is rougher and rockier, exuding pure party band. It’s there with the cranked lead guitar lines on “The Point” and “Crystal Mausoleum” and really takes off with the mosh pit frenzy-fueled “Wrong Side of the Sun.” Definitely getting The Buzzcocks vibe on “King Cnut” and “Whataworld” while “Look Back with Mike” is reminiscent of a more Replacements atmosphere. “The Minor Leagues” is the obvious should-be hit single, it balances polish with a rough hewn guitar charm. You get a sense of what a great live band this troupe must be listening to “Always on the Losing Side” with it very sixties garage feel. Or there’s “European Cars” which simply motors along with a manic energy, conjuring a Nick Lowe “Heart of the City” drive. The albums wraps with a bit of departure, the more mid-tempo “That Movie Never Got Made.” The subtle guitar hooks and anguished vocals really elevate the song. Spending some time with this album I’d have to say Best Bets are definitely aptly named.
From the radio to the record store, that used to be the trip. Now you don’t even have to leave home to own these (should-be) hits.
I can’t remember the first time I heard New Order’s “Blue Monday” but I do remember purchasing Power Corruption and Lies in the spring of 1983, largely on the basis of the cover design. Living in a west coast Canadian backwater I had no idea who New Order were or what their music sounded like. Still, I played the album over and over and felt pretty cool while doing so. Then I got an earful of “Blue Monday.” That hypnotic bass line, the wall of overlapping synths parts, the impassive vocals – they were all so captivating I splurged for the first 12” single I ever bought.
This past week my friend Tom posted about Orkestra Obsolete’s amazing cover of the song played on 1930s instruments. The video both sounds good and looks great. That got me wondering: what other groovy covers might there be of this oh-so unusual song? Turns out – quite a few. The reliable SecondHandSongs site lists over 70 versions in all kinds of styles. Quite a few dial up the synth like a bottle of New Order-brand concentrate but you can’t really out-New Order the originals. Why try? More interesting to me were the genre switchers, the covers that tried to put the song into a totally different context. Like the afore-mentioned Orkestra Obsolete, a one-off put-together band for a BBC program that really captured the essence of “Blue Monday” despite a lack of synths and drum machines.
Orkestra Obsolete are just the most recent example of a common tendency in covering “Blue Monday,” namely to strip things down and build them back up again but with radically different instrumentation. Acid Cowboys take things in an urban country direction, adding a loping rhythm and plenty of pedal steel guitar. The Banjo Lounge 4use their signature instrument to anchor the song, effectively replacing the synth and electric bass guitar. Of course, as a quasi-percussive instrument the banjo can take up this space and then some. Hannah Peel really does a sound reduction on the song, accompanying her spare vocal with just a music box mounted on a mandolin. Funny how all three acts also offer a cover of “Tainted Love” on their respective albums.
Now for something almost completely different, check out The Jolly Boys and their mento reworking of the tune. Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that pre-dates and heavily influenced both ska and reggae while the Jolly Boys are a band with roots stretching back to the 1940s. They really capture the lurching tempo of the song with their acoustic instruments and the radically different vocal here is inspired. By contrast Buke and Gasemirror the original sound in many ways but twist and stretch its various elements, making some more harsh and others wonderfully strange. Really, a delightful reinvention. But probably my fave cover is from Rio De Janeiro’s Autoramas. It’s all retro guitars to the front of the mix and solid four-on-the-floor drumming in a version with no vocals.
New Order continue to put out interesting music but if “Blue Monday” had been a one-hit wonder I imagine we’d still be hearing about it today. It’s just that cool.
The DIY force is strong with these two acts, conjuring band albums out of largely solo efforts recorded on Tascams at home. But the results are anything but amateur, proving that bedrooms are good for a variety of excitements.
North Carolina’s Orchidales is John O’Donahue over three albums released between 2012 and 2018. The sound is a shoegazey Velvet Underground homage that gets crisper and less gazey and VU over time. The self-titled debut sounds like some dark underground club somewhere, the guitar tones shifting between Velvets rocking rudimentary (“Junky”) and exquisite innovation (“Lushes”). “Everyone’s Girl” sounds like a 60s garage classic. The sound on this record also remind me Patrick Boutwell’s work from the same time period. A year later things sound a bit less VU on An American Album of Familiar Music but still pretty garagey rough and ready. I love the relentless drive of tracks like “Electro,” “Seventeen” and “Emily.” But the record is also marked by some more mid-temp material like “No Name #7” and “Above the Clouds.” Five years passed before Mysterious Skin and Other Favorites came out in 2018 and the production sound was markedly different, cleaner and with vocals more present in the mix. Just listen to the guitar and vocal seem to pop out of the speakers on “Mysterious Skin.” Or there’s the fabulously layered arrangement of “Mira Sorvino // Lisa Kudrow.” “No Name #9” strips everything down to acoustic guitar and a vocal to reveal something so magnificent and honest. But 60s garagey goodness still prevails here in strength on tracks like “Nightcrawler” and “The DEA Took My Baby Away.” Too many years have passed since this last installment of O’Donahue’s fuzzy musical vision.
Andrew Haworth writes a lot songs. He’s put out 9 albums under his own name and two more as his one-man band Where Is Your Dog Now? since 2017. And that’s not the whole of it. By his own account he dramatically overwrites for each album. He wrote 114 songs for 2020’s Songs from the Second Wave and 130 for 2021’s Country Songs for People Who Hate This Country. Holy over-productivity Batman – both records only ended up with 14 cuts each. So what are the results? His nine solo records are full of clever wordplay and fun absurdity, delivered with a Frank Zappa-like deadpan. But his more recent Where Is Your Dog Now? releases have a fuller sound, the hooks are more polished, delivered with an almost McCartney-esque sonic diversity. Hard to believe these are home recordings! The lyrics are still super-smart, cleverisms around every corner, but the tunes are earworm worthy. Case in point from Songs from the Second Wave: “How to Not Go Insane.” So many subtle shifts of hooky melody here. I’m also partial to the driving “Some Things Never Change” and handclap happy “Rewriting Your Narrative.” A year later Country Songs for People Who Hate This Country continued in the same vein, still madcap lyrically and musically full of popped out rock. You could sample the vibe with tracks like “Coffee Table Crooks” and “Claire’s Ween Playlist” but, frankly, just needle-dropping anywhere would work too. “New York Intellectual” reminds me of Momus’s “A Maoist Intellectual” not because they sound similar but because they exude a similar righteous disdain for pseudo-intellectuals. Should-be hit single? Check out “A Little Invested” for your earworm winner. Haworth is busy at work on album #3 for this project, to be entitled The First Songs in the World, and with four preview singles up it’s clear it’s gonna be another winner. My current fave is “Cave” and its cleverly crafted video.
Most of us learn by example. Looking to self-start your own DIY poprock recording career? You won’t get much better teachers than these two indefatigable acts. Click on the links to start your lessons today.
Once again I’ve assembled a crack team of ace reviewers to whittle our towering pile of albums from 2022 down to an essential must-have list of just 25 choices. How could these stuffed suits know what’s hip, you might say? It’s kinda like how album covers can be deceiving – the dullest dust jacket may obscure a real gem. So I’ve had these guys working overtime to bring you the very best of 2022, as featured in the annals of this here blog over the past calendar year. They’ve combed through countless long-players, extended plays and concept albums to put together multiple ‘must have’ lists. Tough work but you can tell by quality of their tailoring that they were up for it.
Cue drumroll – here we have it, Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs from 2022:
Tamar Berk’s outstanding album Start at End tops our list for 2022. Melodic, poppy, inventive, and with a smooth AM radio sheen that encourages repeated listening. And then it’s hard not to fall for the manic, almost gleeful energy of Trevor Blendour’s Falling in Love. The Televisionaries’ Mad About You is just a wonderful mixture of retro rock and roll and hooky modern melodic riffing. I could go on (and I have – click on the hot links to go to the original posts). The list has got old faves (Freedy Johnston, Edward O’Connell, Eytan Mirsky), power pop stalwarts (Sloan, Greg Pope, Chris Lund), and a whole lot that was entirely new to me (Kate Clover, Push Puppets, Pete Astor). And there’s jangle to spare (The Kryng, Young Guv, The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness). The list is proof that, contra claims we are solely a sample culture, the long-playing album is alive and well in the new millennium.
And there’s more. The ongoing revival of the extended play record format has led to this list, Poprock Record’s must-have EPs from 2022:
The Happy Somethings make me happy, about a lot of things. They say important things, they give me hope. And their tunes are swell. The rest of the list is pretty winning too. Great tunes in smaller packages. That leaves no excuses not to check them out.
Sometimes an album is bigger than its constituent parts. Sometimes it’s just big. So I had to carve out a special category for Ken Sharp’s latest homage to the 1970s, Poprock Record’s must-have concept album from 2022:
Our last category recognizes an artist of prodigious talent and shocking productivity. By my reckoning over the past year alone he has turned out 2 albums of completely new material, 8 EPs of new material, 3 double-sided singles, 3 greatest hits albums, a b-sides album, an EP of remakes, and a holiday EP. Sleep is apparently not for this guy. Thus we bestow the Poprock Recordspecial award of awesome poprock merit to:
Another year, another avalanche of great tunes. Melodic rock and roll lives and here is the proof. Click on the links and find your new faves. The guys in suits are done here (for now).
1954 ‘Speaking of Pictures’ ad courtesyJames Vaughn.
It was another busy year for melody-drenched rock and roll. Releases were coming fast and furious and frankly I could barely keep up. Still, I managed to get 82 posts up on the blog in 2022 and write over 64,000 words on the loosely-defined rock and roll sub-genre I call ‘poprock.’ I couldn’t write about everything that crossed my desk or what others may have necessarily thought was review-worthy, I just covered what caught my ear or worked itself into some kooky theme I cooked up. So let me be clear, what appears here is a completely arbitrary exercise in personal taste and discretion. I’m sure others may have a somewhat different set of worthy tunes that deserve more attention. And that is totally cool. The point is to celebrate the artists and perhaps give people another shot at checking them out.
So here it is, Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles from 2022:
There were so many great songs put out this past year, I was spoiled for choice. And choosing wasn’t easy. Sometimes I cheated a little. Grrrl Gang’s “Pop Princess” technically came out before 2022 but I only got around to writing about it this last year. What a tune! It’s a perfect example of the kind of excitement a great single can generate and, really, why I write this blog. People need to hear it! Or there’s the fresh indie hooks driving The Bleeding Idahos’ “The Beat Said” and Bloody Norah’s “Shooting Star.” Dazy had a knock out AM radio earworm with “Rollercoaster Ride.” And then there was veteran songster Allan Kaplon coming on like The Highwaymen at first only to let loose the Rockpile hooks in the chorus of “Restless Ones.” There were new faces and old favourites and surprises aplenty. Click on the links to go to the original posts featuring each song.
I had to create a few new categories this year, just to capture all that was good and groovy about 2022. The post-Covid covers album phenomenon continued and most were great fun. But some were particularly inspired. And then there were a lot of acoustic guitar-dominant tunes out this past year that I felt really needed to be singled out in a category I’ve dubbed folk pop.
So, without further ado, here are Poprock Record’s most inventive covers from 2022:
I do love making lists but the choices do not amount to any big heavy pronouncement on anything – just my bit of fun and chance to celebrate these artists a little bit more. Check them out and see if you don’t agree, they’re seriously good!
Psst. Reasonably pleasant new year to you. I’m just keeping this celebration thing on the down low. If we’ve learned anything over the past few years it’s don’t get your hopes up, don’t expect big and bold good things, just rescale your sense of what’s possible. Between war and inflation and these almost-over but really never-ending pandemics we’ve all taken a beating. So let’s start 2023 with an attitude adjustment, a reality reset, a proper mind-frame for (limited) success. And a few tunes.
Talk about timely. Austria’s The Geezers literally have just released an album and single entitled 2023. This from a band with song titles like “Jeff Lynne” and “Tom Petty,” which tell you a lot. But this new song suggests they might need tunes named for New Order or some of those Britpop artists. An interesting mix of rock and roll and dance synth elements. Perhaps 2023 might be time to take what’s familiar in some slightly new directions.
Brian Dunne’s most recent album is Selling Things. With song titles like “Getting Wrecked on Election Day” and “I Hope I Can Make it to the Show” you get the sense he’s fully onboard with this whole lowered expectations thing. But his track “Nothing Matters Anymore” is an acoustic guitar-loaded gut-wrencher from the Springsteen school of social realist heartache. Really the song is saying ‘what does matter’? And that is the question for our age. RL’s response is “Be True.” Stripped down name, stripped down sentiment. With some groovy, rather spacy organ riffs and spare guitar work.
In times like these some people turn inward, looking for love in all the most available spaces. Sweden’s The Genuine Fakes make the whole enterprise sound pretty sweet melodically, if still somewhat lyrically dicey, on “Two Fine Lovers.” Rogers and Butler country-rock things up on “Oh Romeo” in a Steve Forbert kind of way, calling for Romeo to play his predictable bad boyfriend part. Janelane is having no part of that on “Goodbye to Heartache,” responding with a Tamar Berk sense of upbeat rocking melody and noticeable electric piano hooks.
Of course, another option to go really inward, like ‘dude where’s my inner peace?’ inward. That does make some sense. Now with wacky tibaccky legalization happening most everywhere across western countries Bellows suggest just letting “Marijuana Grow.” This mellow tune is so channeling the Elliott Smith school of breathy poprock – and I like it. The Moneygoround call for you to ‘hazy up the day’ with a Beach Boys vibe but perhaps that’s not spliff code on their light and breezy single “Catch a Breeze.” Or maybe it is. You can enjoy it either way.
I’ve been messaging Jonathan Kupersmith about getting his fabulous tunes up on some service where the whole wide world can buy them. So far he’s just got an album’s worth of stuff on YouTube videos. I guess that’s working for him. “Number One On My Playlist” seems apropos for our ‘scaling it back’ theme here. Or, going back to The Genuine Fakes fabulous new EP Extended Play Vol. 3, perhaps “We’re All We Need”?
What’s advice worth? Not the e-paper it’s printed on. But anyways, happy new mumble mumble …
This is it, round three of our year-end record round-up, our final one for the year. And it is definitely a strong finish. If round one was rocking and round two was retro then round three is a tad more out there and experimental. But oh-so listenable.
Everyone Stop is *repeat repeat’s sprawling new 27-cut double-plus album. Just released at year’s end, you can enjoy it as an uninterrupted 91 minute experience or skip all over its many different contributions, needle-dropping your way through its musical depths. With so much material here the record lacks the laser-like stylistic focus of the band’s magisterial 2019 release Glazed. But the expanse gives them a chance to hang out in so many different sonic playrooms. The results are a rocking good-time funk dancing acoustic emotional ballad roller coaster. You’re gonna need to hang on tight to hang in here. The first three cuts are a good introduction to the textured genius of this band: “Everyone Stop,” “Dearly Departed,” and “Arrangements” hit you with such cool guitar tones, a solid dance bass/drum combo, and airy-light vocals. The whole album could have just stayed in this lane. But suddenly “Adult Friend Finder” flips the script, taking us into alt-folk territory not unlike the likes of You Won’t and Bombadil. Just looking for earworms? Let’s cut to the hits chase: “Hmm Feels Like,” “Diamonds,” and “Tripping (I Know I Will)” are all should-be hit singles. What hooks! What sonic artistry! There’s so much to love here and I can only scrape the surface of what the band accomplish on this LP. Right now I’ll just draw attention to the wistful “I Was Happy” which lays its dreamy pop over a musical bed that sounds so Portugal the Man. Or there’s my today-fave cut (it may change tomorrow) “Burn Another Layer.” My recommendation: you’re going to need to set aside some time to fall in love with Everyone Stop. But you will.
I fell hard for The Stroppies killer 2019 single “First Time Favourites” with its harpsichordian keyboard riffs and folk rock vocals. So my first hit of their new album Levity was more than a bit jarring. But I loved it. What an interesting shift of musical emphasis from this band on this record, to a more daring, somewhat techno-experimental sound laid over solid rock and roll tunes. You can feel the creative tension of this mixture rippling throughout opening cut “The Perfect Crime,” with the guitar and keyboard parts pulling in different directions. Then “Smilers Strange Politely” floats a pleasant melody over a relentless guitar riff that gets seared into your consciousness. The record is really all about letting the electric lead guitar drive the songs – songs like “Up To My Elbows,” “I’m In the Water” and “Figure Eights” all let the guitar work cut loose in exciting ways. And yet there’s still a folk rock feel to so many tracks here, like “Material Conditions” and “Butchering the Punchline.” Seriously, Levity is a great new direction from a very good band.
Philadelphia’s 2nd Grade always give a little bit more. 2020’s Hit to Hit had 24 songs. 2021’s Wish You Were Here Tour Revisited had 23. Now in 2022 they’ve scaled back – to 16 cuts. But new LP Easy Listening does not skimp on quality. This is one fine crew of melodic tunes, accent on poppy. Opening cut “Cover of the Rolling Stone” hits all the classic powerpop marks, vibing Mo Troper pretty strongly for me. But then “Strung Out On You” throws some 70s rock jauntiness into the mix. “Hung Up” is all 1980s guitar pop. “Me and My Blue Angels” works in a few more minor chords while “Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Let It Be” lets a big room rumble guitar fill the space in another otherwise airy lowkey number. For variety check out the Stones rhythmic slouch all over “Poet in Residence” or the bubblegum Ramones feel to “Beat of the Drum.” This record is like some K-tel super hits collection, there’s so much diversity here (and I’m not even half through the album). Personal faves: “Teenage Overpopulation” and “Hands Down” – such exhibit A perfect poprock singles. “Planetarium” is pretty sweet too. Easy Listening is not just truth in advertising, it’s 100% fun.
I feel like I’ve been trying to write about The Rubs all year. Ever since I ran across their Stonesy “I Want You” last March and found their album (dust) in August it’s been on the shortlist. But for one reason or another the record didn’t fit into this to that post. Not for lack of trying. So now let me say, this album is phenomenal piece of work. It’s like a great lost record from the 1979 to 1982 period, it so nails the guitars and poppy rock and roll songwriting and sound of the records in that era. Songwriter and one-man band Joey Rubbish (not his real name?) takes a host of classic rock motifs and pops them up, front-loading some great melodies. Opening cut “I Want You” is an attention grabber, so classic rock and roll but those candy coated vocals make it irresistible. But then things shift with “Dana” and its kooky fun spacey keyboards. From there variety comes in many forms, from the folk rock “Here In My Dreams” to the keyboard punchy “I Don’t Wanna Wait” to Thin Lizzy-ish “Hang On To Me.” Rubbish so nails the everyman rock and roll vocals of the late 1970s on tracks like “Waste of Time” or the propulsive Plimsouls guitar drive on tunes like “The Same Thing to Me.” But my vote for outstanding track here is “When I Dream About You,” a genuine poprock tour-de-force. What a majestic melody! Don’t waste time, just place (dust) directly into your ‘best of the year’ pile.
NYC’s Cherry Slide are a slice of acoustic guitar pop, dropped from the Family of the Year mold. It’s all strummy strummy strummy against a wash of harmony vocals. Except when it’s not. “Not Fair” captures the basic sound: acoustic guitar front and centre, light and airy vocals, all in the service of a poppy tune. “I Took a Number” adds some variation to this with its nice lead guitar accents. But then we have “Generate This!” It’s a wonderful single that just cooks along, riding a strong acoustic rhythm guitar and dropping in bits of electric guitar amid a captivating mix of vocals. Picked straight from the ‘hits’ tree. The band also offer up a souped-up cover His Name Is Alive’s rather spare “Wall of Speed” adding a soft-rock Spector Wall of Sound effect. Moving north Halifax Nova Scotia’s Municipality also ride the lowkey guitar pop train, sounding a bit more Elephant 6 though. On their debut Sunroom they really do sound sometimes like Apples in Stereo just popped into the Beatles Let It Be sessions. “First and Last” and “Let It Go” have really got that late period Abbey Road feel. But the material itself is more 90s indie poprock e.g. there’s a bit of Elliot Smith on “Without You.” On the other hand, “All in My Mind” sounds like the single to me with its hooky guitar shots. It’s been an odyssey, getting through this end-of-the-year record round-up. But so worth it – so many great acts, so many great tunes. And dropped in just in time for 2022.
Photo fragment of 57 Chevy ad courtesy James Vaughn.
Poprock Record 