Like it or not friends, our voyage to brave new worlds is already underway and it’s not clear return tickets will be honoured. That’s Ok. There’s always something exciting lurking on the musical horizon, songs and performances that will push the boundaries of something new but somehow also feel familiar. That covers the acts in today’s post, explorers and adventurers with a twist of the familiar about them.
Vices is the new album from Brighton retro guitar duo Peggy Sue and, for me, it’s the very best thing they’ve released. Past records exhibit a range of talents with songs and performances that range from experimental to borderline punk to performance art folk. The collection of covers included on 2012’s Play the Songs of Scorpio Rising kinda pointed where the band was going to go and ultimately arrive with Vices. I mean, the reinvention of “My Boyfriend’s Back” was sheer genius. But Vices is, to my ears, a new level of accomplishment for the band. The album kicks off uber cool with “I Wanna Be Your Girl,” its Velvet Underground chords drawing you in, that is until the vocals arrive and clinch the deal. You hear it again on the ethereal “In Dreams” with its twisted David Lynch early 1960s aura. There are going to be those who hear a spooky Lana Del Ray vibe here but duo’s otherworldly, sibilant harmonies remind me of other amazing vocal bands like Everything But the Girl, First Aid Kit, Jack and Eliza, and The Kickstand Band. The guitars on this record are also pretty special, like the ghost of Link Wray is haunting the proceedings. And the songs! I’m loving “Motorcade,” “Validate Me,” and “Souvenirs” just to get started but, really, the whole record is a listener. Tune in to Peggy Sue. They really demonstrate that everything old can be new again.
It starts out a bit harsh but then the acoustic guitar kicks in and you hear the sweet melody and hooks that are soldering “Grow Your Garden” into your brain. So begins Brett Newski’s latest long-player, Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down. It’s a record with an edge, like that bite of tequila after the salt, but one that ultimately rewards the listener with loads winning, melody-tinted tunes. The first three tracks say radio singles to me, particularly the spare but hooky charm of “What’d Ya Got to Lose,” while “Do It Again” sounds like a great lost Tom Petty song. I love the little details on the songs, the subtle organ backing on “Do It Again,” the plinky piano on “Buy Me a Soul,” and the addictive swing and killer chorus carrying “Pure Garbage.” Longtime Newski fans will applaud the folk notes here on tracks like “Lousy T-Shirt” and “Fight Song, while Petty loyalists will approve the strong Tom Petty vibes radiating from “Last Dance” and “Evervescent.” Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down is a masterpiece of understated melodic rock and roll. The songs are punchy but Newski’s performance is nuanced, sometimes spare, leaving room for their subtle charms to shine.
For a lot of people Grouplove amount to “Tongue Tied” but frankly I came to them on the strength of “Naked Kids” from that same 2011 debut album Never Trust a Happy Song and “Sit Still” from their 2013 EP Spreading Rumours. I love the loose group feel to the performances, like a crowd of friends just singing their hearts out. But such as sound actually takes a lot of precision and talent. Well, that talent is all over the band’s just released fourth album, Healer. The sound has that peppy contemporary pop feel of bands like The Mowgli’s and Portugal. The Man with just a bit of Fun thrown in. And let me note, this record sonically sounds amazing! Put on your headphones and just take in the exquisite mix on tracks like “Expectations,” “Youth” and the lovely acoustic “Places.” In terms of singles, “Deleter” got the nod for first release and it’s a worthy choice, but “Promises” is a subtle ear worm while “Hail to the Queen” doesn’t hide its winning hooky chorus. But the hands down winner here for me is “The Great Unknown.” I really like its slow burn approach, with a melodic kick that sneaks up on the listener in a shout-out-loud chorus. And Grouplove make it look so easy. This is one for your summer soundtrack, when the convertible top’s down and you want to look cool.
Peggy Sue, Brett Newski, and Grouplove have delivered some pretty exciting records. Embrace the adventure and buy these up. There’s no turning back now.
With just ten million people, Sweden definitely punches above its weight in international popular culture. I mean, sometimes it seems like every second person there must be a 
First up: 
Next, a band created to provide a soundtrack to a book about a fictional 1965 band. In 1995 one half of Swedish duo Roxette agreed to put together a group and songs for Swedish author Mats Olsson’s 1995 novel The Lonely Boys. The results are 1965 fabulous! Per Gessle and his ragtag band of veterans from the Swedish music scene essentially become 
With sunshine and a hint of spring heat in the air, people are starting to think about summer. And just what is summer going to be like with face masks and gloves and social distancing? It’s going to look like a very polite zombie apocalypse, that’s what. Acerbic Toronto-based pop artist Rob Elliott colourfully captures our likely regimented future in the above graphic (check out his hilarious, biting 
The thing about news is that it’s always coming from some point of view. You think corporations own media empires and don’t influence what they produce? But that doesn’t mean everything is fake. You have to ask questions about where your news is coming from and what it is saying. For instance, this station is obviously biased towards covering melodic rock and roll. Sorry death metal fans! But today’s headline acts are loaded up with hooks – that’s a fact!
Digging through my vinyl collection I came upon a 1974 Deram/London (Decca in the UK) Records release entitled Hard Up Heroes, a compilation focused mostly on lesser known tracks from British artists from the ‘beat’ era (roughly 1963 to 1967). It’s got some cool stuff on it but the real find was a track called “So Much in Love” recorded by The Mighty Avengers. What a tune! So subtle in its earwormy effects. Now imagine my surprise to discover it was a Jagger/Richards cast off from a period when they were trying to mimic the Beatles’ songwriting largesse by giving away their excess material to other artists. And what makes the story even more intriguing is just how many acts tried to make this a hit – unsuccessfully! Most of the versions came out in the mid-1960s period, with a few in the 1970s, one in the 1990s, and then one last version in 2018. And, of course, there may be other versions I’ve yet to find. I won’t feature them all here, just the ones that take the song in slightly different directions.
What’s not to like about compilation albums? They’re like a load of presents crammed onto one or two pieces of vinyl, or they’re akin to a kind of melody buffet tempting to you to gorge on each one. This post runs the gamut of definitive compendiums on a theme (XTC) to compilations based on style (sunshine psychpop) to diverse collections serving other purposes altogether (the Wild Honey and Lame-O collections). Let’s dig in!
It’s hard to believe how much Graham Gouldman has given us. Back in the 1960s he wrote such iconic hits as “For Your Love” for the Yardbirds and “Bus Stop” for The Hollies and a host of other great songs. Then in the 1970s he was one of the four talented guys that made up 10cc, contributing to hits like “I’m Not in Love” and “The Things We Do For Love.” I remember being so blown away by “For Your Love” when first heard it on Vancouver FM radio station CFMI’s annual ‘BC 500’ marathon of the top rock and roll songs in 1980 that I immediately hopped a bus to Kootenay Loop to visit a used record shop that specialized in re-issued oldies 45s. I’d barely gotten home with the single when CFMI played “Heart Full of Soul” and I was back on the bus! Over the decades Gouldman has accumulated an impressive catalogue of material, covered expertly by himself and others.
I have an unerring knack of discovering artists or bands at the very point their career is about to implode, call it quits, or forget how to write songs. So it was with The Jam. Living in my parents’ basement in godforsaken North Burnaby I somehow got wind of “A Town Called Malice” in grade 11 and I was hooked. I was an instant Jam-o-phile! The band’s tight Who-meets-Beatles sort-of new wave sound was right up my alley. From then I only got to enjoy the two extended singles (“The Bitterest Pill” and “Beat Surrender”) before they disbanded in 1982. Sure, I signed on to The Style Council and their first few records were nice but it just wasn’t the same. Not even close. But after the Style Council split I thought perhaps Weller would get back to some Jam-like stuff as a solo artist. For the most part I’m still waiting.
Today’s single file is bulging with digital 45s just itching for an e-spin. There’s a bit blues and rock and roll and, of course, strummy poprock in the rotation.
He’s got regular gigs already, serenading the ladies who win K-EARTH 101’s daily ‘Office of the Day’ contest in Yuma, Arizona and laying down hot licks with Dwight Yoakam’s back up band. So that might explain why there’s been no follow up to Eugene Edwards’ amazing 2004 debut album, My Favorite Revolution. But that’s a shame because the record seemed like just the first of many inventive, career-spanning releases (along the lines of an Elvis Costello or Tom Petty). I mean, listening to just this one album, man can this guy write songs!
Poprock Record 