On today’s post having a bit of double vision is a good thing. We’ve got two new bands with new releases you’ll definitely want take in more than once.
Mysterious Belgian outfit Cmon Cmon are apparently a reunited trio from decades back. But just what their back story is doesn’t get much exposure in recent interviews or their website. They apparently have an new EP and album in the works too but right now all we’ve got is a single single, “The Summers We Missed.” The song definitely leaves me wanting me more. It’s got that smooth pop sheen I associate with Family of Year, Propeller, or Daisy. New York New York’s Movie Movie are working a New Jersey rock and roll side of the street circa 1979. It’s a jangle-infused melange, built on a base of uber cool organ with touches of Americana here and there. “Bright Lights” works that formula to perfection, throwing in some fabulous Turtles-esque ‘bah bah bah’s in the latter half of the song. “No Long Goodbyes” is another strong track, adding some tasty pedal steel guitar to the mix. In fact, the whole Now Playing EP is solid, chock full of winning tunes played rock and roll party style. Fans of River-era Springsteen, late seventies/early 1980s Tom Petty, and even Greg Kihn should take note.
Cmon Cmon and Movie Movie are just getting started started. And they’re good good.
The surging summer heat of late August really could do with a soundtrack all its own. What better way to fill that void than this 21 single salute? Strap in, here’s another slew of could-be hits for your perusing pleasure.
How did I miss Ducks Ltd.’s fall 2021 release Modern Fiction? Could be the name switch up from Ducks Unlimited. I guess you can have too much of a fowl thing. Critics have been all over “18 Cigarettes” from the new album and hey it’s great but I’m all in for the strummy magic that is “Grand Final Day.” It’s got jangle, New Order-worthy bass work, and some killer percussion. The overall effect is very Cure-like. “Fit to Burst” is another favourite with its discordant lead guitar lines. Netherlands sixties-style rockers The Kryng have a new album out, Twelve Hyms to Syng Along, and a full review will be coming. Right now I return to their previous single and the driving-fun stomper b-side specifically, “Twenty Two.” This one is dancing shoes approved! It’s a full-on 1966 Top of the Pops go go-ing classic. A band experiencing a reanimation after some time away is Minneapolis rockers Flipp. Time has smoothed the pop hooks in their material, i.e. less Kiss more Romantics. Their new album Too Dumb to Quit kicks off with “You Can Make It Happen” – check out the riveting cowbell and slashing guitar chords opener! This is a song that pulses with urgency but these veterans know how to pace our interest, giving the tune plenty of sonic space and changes in tempo. Fans of The Tearaways and The Empty Hearts will love this. Rural France member Tom Brown has got a thing for Tom Petty, obviously. The most recent RF record had a song called “Teenage Tom Petty” and now he’s got a side band dubbed Teenage Tom Petties. Well if loving Tom were a crime a lot of us would be doing time. TTP gives this Tom a chance to go for a bit more rough sound than Rural France but without sacrificing any hooks. “Boxroom Blues” has a muddy feel to its mix but the lead guitar grinds out a relentlessly melodic line throughout. Things get turned up to 11 on Robby Miller’s new single “Staying for the Weekend.” It rides pretty close to going all rawk with its distortion and waka waka guitar effects at times but Millar has a knack for melody that ultimately reins in any guitar excess. An album of rocking Millar tunes surely can’t be far off.
Freshshould get an award for best fake-out opener to a song. The alluring distorted guitar hook that launches “Deer in the Headlights” says punky combobulations coming right up. But then things veer into a sophisticated pop vibe reminiscent of The Sunday’s debut album. The riff then keeps coming back in, jostling the listener – but it totally works. Just one of many creative contributions to the band’s new LP Raise Hell. Chicago’s The Embryos clearly spent some time taking in the mammoth Beatles’ Get Back documentary during lockdown because their new single “The Tone” is a subtle love letter to the sound of those sessions. The vibe kicks off casual, like a rehearsal session, but as the song advances things tighten up, adding more and more polish and nuance. The Demos “Streetlight Glow” is calling up so many different possible comparisons: the spooky background vocals sounds Zolas, the acoustic guitar-anchored verses has a Farrah feel, the electric guitar shots is so Vaccines. Despite this variety it all hangs together, descending into sing-along goodness near the end. The track is from their stylishly designed new long player 24 Hour Hotline featuring a stunning candy apple red Western Electric model 500 telephone. Monica LaPlante is a solid rock and roll gal. I mean, listen to her version of Echo and Bunnymen’s “Do It Clean” – it’s like she put it through some kind of B-52’s dance machine. “Selfish Bitch” is another good time rocker. But then other tracks exude a Chrissie Hynde cool. The 2019 single with “Tinted Lights” and “Opposite Sides” doesn’t just feature an classic looking cover, both tracks have a sublime sophistication. “Opposite Sides” is particularly striking, like Peggy Lee with a Nancy Sinatra swagger floating over wonderfully ominous musical textures. It would be great to pull all Laplante’s various singles and EPs into one great big album for easy appreciation. The Veras‘ new single “Sevens and Nines” has a wow-guitar chunkiness to it. There’s something very 1970s to the monster electric guitar chord attack, a bit glam with a touch of BTO swing. This one’s a party-time crowd-pleaser! You can preview a few more tunes from their upcoming new LP V is for Vera on their website.
Time to turn down the lights for a mellow moment with Franco-American duo Freedom Fryon “True to Ourselves.” This starts off spare but just wait until Marie Seyrat gets to the line “Well it’s you and me, my friend till the bitter end …” Bliss! Very early 1970s folk pop in a Poppy Family way. Former (and current, I guess) Ride guy Andy Bell keeps releasing singles from his super solo record Flicker but the latest “Lifeline” contains a special treat, a cover of Pentangle’s “Light Flight” from their 1969 album Basket of Light. I love the English twist on sixties folk rock with its unique guitar tunings and medieval aura. Hard to live up to guitar masters like Bert Jansch and John Renbourn but here Bell proves he’s no slouch. Speaking of the Middle Ages, The Happy Somethings give a solid folk footing to their paean to Everything But the Girl’s female vocalist on “I Wish You Could Sing Like Tracey Thorn.” Who doesn’t? They offer two versions on this double b-side, both delightful in their own way. Austin’s Wiretree deliver their reliable strummy goodness on a recent one-off single “Inside.” No breaking headlines here, just the usual quality merch, a dreamy mix of acoustic guitars and swirling vocal harmonies. Or for something completely different, check out Lysa Mychols and Super 8’s expert deconstruction of The Who’s “I Can’t Explain.” Powerpopaholic called it a ‘beatnik version’ and I’d have to agree, right down to the finger snapping and period wardrobe in the video.
Time now for the Jeff Lynne portion of our programming. Starting with Phil Thornalley. Phil’s usually that man behind the curtain, writing, producing and playing on hits for all sorts of people without taking the spotlight himself. He recently launched a strong solo effort with his Astral Drive project, particularly the should-be hit single “Summer of ‘76” (reviewed here). And his soon-to-be released solo effort Now That I Have Your Attention promises to be a winner if this pre-release single is anything to go by. “Fast Car” is a loving homage to everything ELO. It’s got the strings, the pumping piano, the army of background vocals, and an earwormy set of melodic hooks. Another artist working some Lynne-isms into their new song is Bill DeMain, co-songwriting partner to a load of should-be stars and one half of Swan Dive. “Lone Ranger” is a brilliant riff on fame and heroes well past their sell-by date. But musically it’s like a easter egg hunt for ELO motifs. Pretty genius stuff here. The Rooftop Screamers offer a more distant echo of Lynne influences on “The Great Unknown.” It’s there more in the melange of sounds, the organ, Tim Smith’s great vocals, and the song’s relentless hookiness. Another drip released single on the way to a new album undoubtedly. Belfast’s Neil Brogan combines a wonderfully weird set of styles on his recent album Things Keep Getting in the Way. Not so much ELO as the melodically-folky, sometimes-rocking sound of acts like Darren Hanlon, Hayden, and Ron Sexsmith. Title track “Things Keep Getting in the Way” is a case in point: the sonorous guitar lines jump out but the vocals are so folky understated. Now get ready for a bit of joy wrapped up in a new single from Drew Beskin and the Sunshine, “Spoilers.” The opening instrumental roll out is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, the chorus is so uplifting, and the musical breaks just bolster the good feeling. A single from the much anticipated upcoming album Somewhere Sideways Same as You.
We wrap up this batch of singles with a brand new cut from Frank Royster. Those familiar with Royster’s two phenomenally good but overlooked solo albums understand what good news this is. “Open Door” has a hint of The Smithereens songwriting stamp all over it while it’s message of faith is in your face but curiously not jarring. This is the second new single from Royster this year in anticipation of an album coming in 2023.
Frank Royster – Open Door
Whew, 21 options for your end-of-summer playlist. Surely something here to tickle every fancy.
Scott McCarl’s got a dream rock and roll story if ever there was one. After playing in numerous bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s he sends a demo of songs to Raspberries leader Eric Carmen – only to get invited to join the band! As it happened, Starting Over turned out to be ‘game over’ as the group split shortly after its release. But McCarl got the full ‘joining the band’ treatment: co-writing 5 of the album’s 11 cuts, singing lead on one track, and getting to tour with the group. So despite the Raspberries demise McCarl would appear to have had all the chops for a solo career. All of which makes his subsequent meagre solo offerings more than a little bewildering. There was the fabulous Mersey-drenched Play On that came out on a small independent label in 1997. But that’s it – sort of. Now there’s a new version of Play On that’s come out with a very different running order and mix of songs, drawing on recording sessions from 1970, 1981, 1995-6, and 2021. The whole album is really good and has a consistent vibe despite its multi-decade gestation. Drop the needle anywhere on the LP and dig that sixties-influenced songwriting and performance. Still, I felt I had to single out “I’ll Be On My Way” for your special attention. No, not the Lennon/McCartney song that Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas covered. This one is by Billy Sullivan, who also plays the ripping, jangly lead guitar lines.
Wow, talk about making a guitar sing! And McCarl’s vocal is so in the very pleasing 1980s sixties-revival mode. You can (and should) pick up the album from McCarl’s Bandcamp page, where you can also find a breakdown of the songs, when they were recorded, and who played what. Who knows, maybe there are more cuts lurking in the McCarl vaults for a new Play On … and On.
They get to me. The self-promoters with their musical wares. They write emails, they messenger me, they hit me up through my blog’s Facebook page. And I love it! Each message is like a mini-present just waiting to be opened. I always wonder what’s inside. Not every letter has the right address but most do. Case in point: today’s mailbag is full of dynamite poprock that is definitely worth a read, uh, I mean, listen.
New York City’s Brother Dynamite have been making music for decades but only just got around to releasing their debut album, If We Dare. Talk about late bloomers. The sound is poppy rock and roll, with just a hint of what we used call AOR (album-oriented rock). This used to be all over FM radio in the 1980s. LP opener “Summer’s End” sets out the brief with a great hooky swirl of overlapping electric guitars offset by Shawn Moynihan’s unique vocal attack. The hook in this song has the addictive guitar grind of Blue Oyster Cult in their most poppy moments. Then “Everything Changes” definitely brings to mind smooth melodic rockers like Fastball, Everclear and Semisonic given its easygoing jauntiness. Other tracks in this vein include “You Could Do So Much Better,” “This Time,” and hit single-ish “You Cannot Bring Me Down.” But the album is also defined by some dynamic vocal work that might be more associated with the likes of Supertramp or Styx, particularly notable on “Lucky Me” and title track “If We Dare.” And then there’s the ballads. “All Your Life” kicks off with a Paul Simon-esque fingerpicking bounce, only to build to something bigger. “Until the Stars” is a grand lead guitar-led ballad worthy of an ocean of waving Bic lighters. “Beautiful Lie” is just a gorgeous tune, sometimes vibing a Band On The Run McCartney, sometimes sounding more pop Eagles. With If We Dare Brother Dynamite recall the best of 1980s poprock, without all the hair product and spandex.
A turn through Andrew Bobulinski’s back Bandcamp pages suggests he’s an artist just toying with us, stylistically that is. After a long stint in heavy metal bands Bobulinski’s solo career has been careening all over the indie poprock map, from Weezer-like slathered guitar and sibilant vocals to horns aplenty over 1970s-ish soft rock. His latest project is an ABOB release entitled ABOB’s Summer Home. The songs have that breezy 70s pop feel, contrasted with some punchy horns on “Sabrina Knows” and “Talk to Her.” My fave here is the less 70s title track with its KC Bowman-like vocal sheen and straight up poprock hooks. For a more rocking demeanor, click a few pages through to Bobulinki’s earlier releases, particularly the EP entitled 2015 and the dynamite longplayer Suburban Apocalypse. The latter record has got some serious variety, from edgy guitar-distorted numbers like “Right Where You Wanted to Be” to more jaunty rock and roll with “Johnny Utah.” My fave is the killer 1960s retro-remake Bobulinski pulls off on “There’s a Reason.” Perfection! ABOB may be a musical enigma but I like mysteries. Just another fab export from Birmingham, Alabama’s bustling music scene.
I don’t usually need a message from Richard Turgeon to remind me about his latest record – I’m on it. But his latest release Rough Around the Edges has piled up a load of glowing reviews so quickly I’m looking positively out of the loop. Now I was out of the gate early reviewing his fabulous opening cut here “Better With You” last March, describing it as a ‘shot of feel-good guitar-oriented power pop’ with just the right amount of Matthew Sweetener. And this album banks on that formula. There’s a Sweet-ness to most songs here, perhaps cut with a bit of Weezer. But that just says Turgeon has achieved a trademark-able sound and songwriting style that lends his albums coherency though never sameness. The record’s first three cuts – “Better With You,” “I Never Loved You,” and “Please Take Me Back” – all deserve heavy rotation on what’s left of rock radio. They’re a masterclass in how to weave a solid hook into your song. In addition to these reliably hooky guitar wonders, the record does take some chances too. “7 Stories” is a bit more mellow, vibing a glorious Lindsay Buckingham/Well Wishers vocal style in the chorus while “Goodbye Home” has a languid Marshall Crenshaw deep cut feel. Or there’s “You Always Believe” which opens with an uncharacteristic solo piano before adding in Turgeon’s signature guitar sound. And check out the melodic shift in the chorus – it almost sounds like something from The Smiths. As Rough Around the Edges is Turgeon’s seventh album in just five years, there’s really nothing rough about it. He just keeps turning out should-be hits, waiting for the world to catch up.
I closed out 2021 with a brief notice about Chicago band Walcot and their single “Dreaming Away.” I really liked the song’s 1970s happy vibe, it’s jaunty B.J. Thomas-like demeanor. Now it’s back as part of the band’s recent EP release Songs for the Disenfranchised, appearing with “Another Man” and “It Feels Alright.” The trio make for a winning combination, sharing a similar smooth poprock polish. “Another Man” makes harpsichord sound cool on a tune that seems one part Paul McCartney, one part mid-period ABBA. By contrast, “It Feels Alright” has a more contemporary pop radio feel, like something from an early Sam Weber or Ron Sexsmith record. My only complaint about this EP is its brevity. With just three songs it’s all over in just 8 minutes. Serious boo hoo! Perhaps think about Songs for the Disenfranchised as more of a maxi-single teaser for an album that can’t arrive soon enough.
Clearly today the mailman brought me no more blues. After all, this is a poprock site.
As a young man one of my ambitions was to be a novelist. I plowed through a load of 19th century Russian and 20th century American novels in my early twenties so I was pretty sure I’d absorbed enough alienation and ennui to pull it off. But after many fruitless nights home alone with a typewriter it became clear that novelizing was not for me. I just couldn’t put my ideas into someone else’s mouth. I was more of a ‘lay it out direct’ kind of guy and damn the artistic pretences. Eventually I found an academic writing home but, happy ending, I do get my creative writing fix here with this blog. So today’s post riffs on the ‘novel’ side of music, with acts that exude a literary demeanor to me in one way or another.
This might seem like a stretch but Appleton, Wisconsin artistAmos Pitsch has a name that sounds like a character from a Harper Lee novel to me. I came to Pitsch’s work on his debut solo record, the bracing, delicately lyrical, mostly acoustic guitar-laden Lake Effect. To get a sense of the ambience you might check out “Lake of the Old Northeast,” a track that reminds me of The Shins or Guster in a mellow mood. Or dig the subtle melodic hook buried in the spare acoustic guitar and vocal performance of “Shiny Things to Stop Your Tears.” But the standout track here for me is the title song “Lake Effect,” a real poprock gem – again, simple and direct in execution with a wonderful swirl of vocals, up front rhythm guitar, and colourful piano lead lines. There’s a light Ben Folds air about the song. Pitsch’s new 2022 album Acid Rain departs from this ambience, adding more lyrical bite and musical distortion. Opening cut “I’m So Angry” lays it all out over a buzz of reverby, distorted guitar. The album is a incisive critical rumination on where America is now politically. “(We Got It Made) In the USA” bristles with sarcastic condemnation, practically sung through gritted teeth. There are upbeat moments too though, like the keyboard-riffic “It Feels So Good (To Know That You’re Around).” Or the seventies-positive Wings vibe on “In Our Old House, Part Two.” The album wraps with two tracks that capture the 1970s cross-over country feel of The Band. “Oak Hill Blues” is hit worthy and wouldn’t be amiss covered by The Sheepdogs. “Dying Young” has a more soul vamp, like 70s Hall and Oates meets Levon Helm. Basic takeaway: Pitsch is smart but relatable, like any good novelist should be.
Another novel-like character name is Trapper Schoepp. I can see him springing from the pages of Sinclair Lewis or even Jack Kerouac in his later period. Musically, this boy is a great big ball of talent. Over the course of five or so albums his crack band has conjured up an Americana sound with bits of influence from the Byrds, Tom Petty, Wilco and early Bruce Springsteen. “Pins and Needles” from 2012’s Run Engine Run is emblematic of this fun synthesis, vibing a Replacements-style ramshackle excitement. On 2016’s Rangers and Valentines producer Brendan Benson gives Schoepp’s word-packed tunes a wonderful poprock sheen. So many highlights here like “Mono, Pt. 2,” “Ogailala,” and “Settlin’ or Sleepin’.” The album oscillates between uptempo and more Dylanesque folky numbers. Check out the Springsteen River-ish feel on “Dream.” As an interlude 2017’s EP Bay Beach Amusement Park is a neo-1950s celebration of the rides on the midway. 2019 brought Shoepp’s tour-de-force recording Primetime Illusion. What a collection of tunes! Again, I hear some Springsteen, this time a less bleak Darkness-era aura, particularly on “Drive-Thru Divorce.” Shoepp’s strongly socially-conscious lyrics shine powerfully on his anti-sexual assault song “What You Do To Her.” The album also contains his co-write with Bob Dylan on “On, Wisconsin” though my personal fave is “TV Shows” with its tasty guitar work. In 2021 Schoepp took a pastoral turn on May Day, mixing up the tempo from tune to tune, from the lovely “Paris Syndrome” to the more acid “Hotel Astor.” With song titles like “May Day” “Mr. President, Have Pity on the Working Man” and “My Comrade” there definitely something literary going on here.
Trapper Schoepp – Pins and Needles
And now for the inspiration behind today’s themed post, New York City’s The Great American Novel. These guys have got it all: literary references, wry humour, and hooks galore. The band’s debut Kissing is essentially a concept album revolving around the post-teenage experiences of the group’s creative force, Layne Montgomery. Songs deal with kissing, being good at kissing, sleeping alone, being bad with girls, and wanting to hang out, interspersed with numbers dropping clear literary references. Alienation and ennui? Check. But hold up, the tunes themselves belie such downer labels. “Sleeping Alone” is the peppiest rumination on the theme I’ve ever heard. “American Weekend” is a rollicking poprock romp.”Raymond Carver” lands where pub rock meets new wave, with great organ and background vocal highlights. “Kissing” sounds like it borrowed keyboards from the Penguin Café Orchestra. A year later album number 2 featured a harsher sound and a less coherent concept but the songs were still strong. I’d single out “Wish You Were Beer” and “Rad Education” for special mention. The next seven years would only see the occasional single or EP surface, like the punchy “Teenage Feelings.” In 2021 the band finally turned out a new LP, the very Sloan-ish Extremely Loud and Incredibly Online. The amps are turned up and the songs have a bit more attack: less jokey tentative, more rockin’ you direct. “Grabbin’ a Slice” sounds like 1990s FM radio hit single material. The short cut opener “Bad News, I Still Love You” is a winner too.
Well if today’s post has taught us anything it’s that some acts belt out the tunes and have something to say. In our visually saturated world, that is novel.
Ok this one really should have been a hit single. It was pre-released and getting good reactions from radio music journos in late August 1997 until a princess car crash led the record company to pull it to avoid possible accusations of poor taste. Poor Lawrence (no surname)! After releasing 10 critically acclaimed but not million selling albums and singles as Felt in the 1980s his new band Denim was supposed to bring on the success his talent so obviously deserved. Alas, it wasn’t to be. This single and the third Demin album it was supposed to launch never materialized. Lawrence would go with another vehicle Go Kart Mozart/Mozart Estate that would continue with his playful dystopian social commentary and peppy tunes, though with similar commercial results. A recent-ish documentary has revived interest in Lawrence’s career and catalogue, so perhaps it will help finally garner the mass audience he once dreamed would be his.
It’s fascinating to see the arc of Lawrence’s career through his many different musical projects: from an English indie-jangle Lou Reed (early Felt), to ground-breaking keyboard heavy indie pop (later Felt), to more focused (though still eccentric) efforts at commercial hit-making (in both later bands). “Summer Smash” is really the best example of Lawrence’s wonderfully weird reach for a chart topper. The keyboards are so computer poppy and boppy, the track bubbles with hooky charm and a radio friendly elan. Nothing ironic here. Just a fun blast of carefully crafted sure-fire hit tuneage. If this really had got its proper release back in 1997 it would have wallpapered radio everywhere.
Denim – Summer Smash (remix single)
If you’re just getting started with Lawrence I’d recommend Felt’s Forever Breathes the Lonely Word from 1986, it’s their electrifying transition-to-keyboards album. For Demin, there’s a great 4 song Summer Smash EP. And check out Lawrence’s most recent single from Mozart Estate “When You’re Depressed” to see how his hooks never fail him.
You can keep up with Lawrence’s occasional news on his Mozart Estate Facebook page.
Mike Viola is a mountain of talent. Singer, songwriter, performer, producer – he can do it all. And sometimes he does do everything – for himself and for others. Indeed, I seem to have left ‘collaborator’ off of the list. When Viola turns his hand to helping others the results a very Viola, in the most good way possible. Today we focus on just three examples of his production/song-writing oeuvre focusing on work he’s done with Kelly Jones, Mandy Moore and Lori McKenna. We could cover more, many more. But these three are pretty special examples of the ‘Viola’ effect.
I first discovered Kelly Jones via her collaboration with Teddy Thompson on 2016’s Little Windows, particularly the magical opening cut “I Never Knew You Loved Me Too.” By contrast, I only ran across her 2008 SheBang! album this past year (that’s ten years of special album goodness I’m never gonna get back). You can really see Mike’s ‘all in’ approach to project management on this record. He’s the producer, a good deal of the band (contributing guitar, bass, keyboards and backing vocals), and co-writes seven of the ten songs on the record. And what songs they are! “There Goes My Baby” kicks things off in full 1983 Tracy Ullman mode. “Same Songs” has solo-era Viola guitar all over it. “Fire Escape” has those signature Viola melodic hooks. And “The Girl With the Silver Lining” is just Go Go’s fun. Meanwhile Jones proves she not just a singer of sad country songs. Her energetic stand-out vocals balance perfectly with Mike’s power poprock production and performance. SheBang! got accolades from all the critics and deservedly so.
A year later Viola was back in the studio, this time with former teen pop princess Mandy Moore. The resulting album, Amanda Leigh, was more varied stylistically than the Jones record, with forays into country, pop, and what might best be described as ‘alternative’ American songbook. The Viola impact here was more subtle, perhaps stronger in the instrumentation than any song-writing stamp (despite co-writing nearly everything on the record). Opening cut “Merrimack River” is duet with Viola and does sound like something from one of his solo albums. “Love to Love Me Back” weaves classic Viola guitar sounds into a more country vein. But the unmistakeable mark of Viola is all over the should-have-been monster hit single, “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week.” Man, this one is a killer, practically a master class in how to write and produce an ear worm radio-ready single. The record helped solidify Moore as serious, mature artist, though curiously it’s rather hard to find these days. Things obviously went well as Moore brought Viola back to produce her 2022 release In Real Life.
Viola had less involvement with folk artist Lori McKenna’s 2013 record Massachusetts, other than co-writing and playing on a single track, the gorgeous “Love Can Put It Back Together.” The song has a classic Viola melodic arc, with sweeping highs and lows delivered in an intimate, almost 1970s soft rock sort of way. Listening to this song, I get now why Viola has participated in so many 1970s tribute albums. There’s a faint echo of the period in his work, suitably powered up for the 1990s and beyond.
Lori McKenna – Love Can Put It Back Together
You get it, I like Mike. If you can’t get enough Mike Viola you can live vicariously through the artists he collaborates with. Either these ones or the many, many other projects he’s worked on.
Summer’s dank days need some tunes to get that blood pumping. This turn around the dial has jangle, chamber pop, inspired cover-age, and some Brill Building noise pop. Start warming up the wireless.
Carried Away is both a sprawling 14 track introduction to Birmingham, Alabama’s Slack Timesand summation of their work to date, combining two previously released EPs with six new tunes. In reviews of the album, scribes have been quick to point out the band’s obvious links to the solid southern jangle lineage of REM, Guadalcanal Diary and Let’s Active. I hear that but I also think there’s something more. Title track “Carried Away” opens the album with the band’s signature distinctive lead guitar tone but the vocal is a surprise, delivered in an Americana style not unlike recent work from Sam Weber. “Look at You” gives us a more rush jangle feel while the noise pop vocal is reminiscent of Indoor Pets. Then “Leave Me Alone” really marks out this band’s range, departing from the standard jangle script to evoke a more sophisticated Rogue Wave vibe. Listening to tracks like “I’m Trying,” “Bad Move” and “My Time” it’s hard not to see the lead guitar work on this album as the real star. But the song-writing is giving it a run for that designation. Just get your ears around “Can’t Count on Anyone” – the track is guitar pop perfection, a should-be hit single for sure. The band even offer variety in their approach to jangle, with “Yips” striking a Manchester pose while “Let Down” captures that deep southern US sound. Personally, I’m also digging the short sombre guitar instrumental “Slack Times,” named for the band. It’s not like any other tune here but somehow still fits in.
Past Life Regressions is an album of mystery and imagination. Jason Quever’s seventh Papercutsouting is another oh-so precisely produced collection of chamber pop but one with a few surprises. You can find them in the myriad musical textures that give these songs shape – the sprightly guitar picking that launches “I Want My Jacket Back,” the strings backing “My Sympathies,” the mellotron-sounding keyboards anchoring “The Strange Boys,” and so on. Each one is a carefully painted pop miniature. And yet none of the musical settings seem to stay the same. Listen to how Quever twists the musical trajectory of “I Want My Jacket Back” from a jaunty Peter and Gordon aura into a late 60s neo-psychedelia Moody Blues direction. You don’t need to spin this record too many times to realize it’s a real aural treat. I love the freaky keyboard tones animating “Hypnotist.” Or the droney guitar look driving “Remarry.” But arguably it’s the songs that allow everything to shine here. “Lodger” is the obvious should-be chart-climbing single, a pretty sweet reinvention of paisley pop tarted up with a load of inventive keyboard shading. “Sinister Smile” is another strong singles contender, contrasting a rock solid pacing with a dreamy pop melody. “My Sympathies” and “Palm Sundays” are also pretty solid sixties-inspired, hooky tunes. Past Life Regressions may just be Papercuts best album yet.
Somehow I overlooked Bill Lloyd’s fabulous collection of covers from 2016, Lloyd-Ering. Now re-released by Spyderpop in concert with Big Stir Records, it’s definitely time to give it the love it deserves. The project gathers together 12 rare tracks Lloyd has recorded for various tribute albums since 1990, covering artists as disparate as The Lovin’ Spoonful and Wreckless Eric. Thematically, the record is an homage to classics of melody-rich rock and roll, a genre Lloyd has made a significant contribution to himself. In terms of covering style, Lloyd remains pretty faithful to the spirit of the originals, with a few twists. The opening take on Bobby Fuller’s “Let Her Dance” is just riveting fun while the shiver-inducing version of the Byrds’ “The World Turns All Around Her” could be easily mistaken for an alternate-take from the original sessions. Probably my favourite cut here is Lloyd’s reinvention of The Raspberries “Going Nowhere Tonight.” He adds the muscle the song was missing IMHO, taking it out its original soft rock register for a more guitar-ringing poprock style. Favourites? Who I am kidding. I’m favouring just about everything here, though if pressed the dBs, Let’s Active, and Badfinger covers would rank just a little higher. And then there’s Lloyd’s genius reworking of Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World.” Two chords never sounded so good. If you love classic poprock reinterpreted by a master, do yourself a favour, pick up a copy of Lloyd-Ering. You deserve it.
Is Kids on a Crime Spree just the best band name ever? You can debate that in the comments section but my take is that it really does captures the reckless fun demeanor of this group, at least as it is captured on their decennial recordings. The band rocketed onto the indie music scene in 2011, fueled by an uber cool lofi Phil Spector sound on their debut EP We Love You So Bad. Critics put a run on the superlatives bank praising it so much. And then – nothing. Now more than ten years later they’re back with Fall In Love Not In Line and the wait has been worth it. If the first record channeled a Ramones punky charm then the new one is more Magnetic Fields. The Brill Building song popcraft is still here but now delivered with more polish and hooky finesse. “Karl Kardel Building” signals this shift effectively. The opening is so Crystals but quickly goes quirky in a pop boheme style. “When Can I See You Again” has its rumbly guitar lead track the vocal, nicely merging a punk and pop sensibility. “Vital Points” chunks up the rhythm guitar but without surrendering its melodic vitality. “All Things Fade” is another genre-mixer, coming on with a punk guitar ferocity only to seduce us with a heavenly mix of harmony vocals. I could go on. There isn’t a bum track on the album. There’s first album nostalgia cuts (“Goods Get Gone”), Who guitar chord wonders (“Overtaken by the Soil”), noise pop Shangri Las reinventions (“Steve, Why Are You Such a Liar”), and just plain good old guitar pop fun (“Boomdoom”). This album is a ‘must get’ LP for 2022. But be careful. I’d vote Fall In Love Not In Line as the dance platter most likely to be stolen from the party.
Sometimes you leave the radio on and discover something unexpected. But mostly these days you come to a place like this. You can still pretend you’re fiddling the dial.
Two women named O. There’s a bit of a Tristan overlap between them on occasion but otherwise they’re doing their own thing and their things involve clever, sometimes moving lyrics and ever so subtle hooks. Get ready to file these new album acquisitions under ‘O.’
From the opening bars of Jenny O’s “God Knows Why” you know you are about to be immersed in something pretty cool. The subtle shuffle that drives the song along becomes utterly seductive with the added hook in the chorus. Check that constant undercurrent of synth holding everything together or the floating, competing, overlapping vocals in the bridge. What a tune! And that’s just the opener of Jenny O’s stunning 2020 album New Truth. From there the album shifts and shimmers through a rich variety of sonic hues. “I Don’t Want To Live Alone Anymore” sounds like Rilo Kiley fed through a Jon Brion filter. “Colour Love” has got a bit of Tristan meets Lana Del Rey. “What About That Day” has a country-folk Susan Jacks feel that appears to draw songwriting inspiration from Bill Withers in the chorus. “Not My Guy” stars off sounding like an early 1960s Crystals reinvention before breaking out into Go Go’s/Bangles territory in the chorus. I can hear echoes of Mary Lou Lord on the sprightly “Even If I Tried” and the folksy charm of Jane Siberry on “Seek Peace.” New Truth is an album of immense variety but one where the differences are cast more as subtle shading rather than distinct genre changes, leaving Jennifer Ognibene’s own unique contributions intact. Personal fave: “A Different Kind of Life.” Hard to beat to the finely structured melodic arc embedded here, even if it only runs about a minute long.
What is Amy Oelsner doing with her Amy O project? Is it freak folk? Highly-caffeinated singer songwriter? Rogue pop? Listening through her 2019 release Shell is like turning the pages of mixed up photo album, events and people and moods shift unpredictably. But oh so delightfully. “Shell” ushers us into Oelsner’s unique pop maelstrom, with hooks bouncing off curious instruments while the lyrics and delivery are reminiscent of Suzanne Vega. Then “Synethesia” has a spartan bounce, with alluring, occasional snatches of banjo, stripped-back lead guitar, and contrasting crunchy electric guitar chords. “Good Routines” starts all folky mellow but then picks up some nice chunky electric guitar chords and a load of smooth vocal melody lines. Comparisons come to mind as the songs go by: maybe Mo Kenny on “Planet Blue,” a bit of Tristan on “Zero,” and you can hear some of what Tamar Berk has been doing lately on “Loose Cassettes.” Then there’s work that sounds like nothing else, like the art-rock musical-ish “Shrinking” or the carefully crafted pop bliss of “Blueberries.” But my fave cut on the album is definitely “Later On.” Love the build on this track, the precise placement of various instrumental riffs, and the Vega and Jane Siberry feel to the vocals. Shell is great ride, musically adventurous and with lyrics that are oh so well written.
It looks like the O’s have it. Talent that is. And there’s even more new O material on the way. Visit Jenny O and Amy O online to further fill out the ‘O’ section of your music library.
Chicago’s Sunshine Boys are going out on a high note with their brand new two song EP 2×3. Yes, they are calling it quits after playing and recording together for six years and here’s the heartbreaking thing, this double shot of songs is probably their peak performance (and that is saying something). The song-writing and playing here is simply masterful. “Underwater” is a gorgeous tune, lifted by great melodic guitar lead lines and wonderful overlapping vocal parts. There’s a very Crowded House or Neil Finn solo feel to the song. “The Beginning” maintains a different kind of harmonic tension, reminding me of some of the material on Marshall Crenshaw’s mid-period albums (e.g. Mary Jean and Nine Others). Both tracks conjure up a very distinct kind of atmosphere, reflective, sometimes a bit tense, but ultimately positive. And check out the cool cover artwork by Caroline Murphy.
So long Sunshine Boys, it’s been good to know you.
You can check out these tunes and Sunshine Boys’ fabulous back catalogue at their Bandcamp page or just drop them a line at their website or Facebook.
Poprock Record 