Two great talents have gotten back together, tripping the tunes fantastic one more time. This time out on their new LP Unfinished Monkee Business Trip and Lisa seem to be lingering in the early 1970s, offering us an immediately recognizable sonic palette. “Time Out” opens the show with a carnivalesque bit of show-starting aplomb. It’s a bit of this and a bit of that, signalling the variety to come. So get ready for quite a ride. One minute we’re all motor city hip-shaking on “Love Connection,” the next we’re breezing through California to a Carpenters-like beach destination with “California Road Trip.” The 1970s flavours keep on coming with the Jackson 5 keyboard-pumping that drives “Pop Radio CD” while a soft rock folkie vibe colours in the lines on “Falling for You.” Beyond the polyester suits and sun-dappled photo shoots, songs like “These Are the Days” and “Whenever You’re Gone” conjure comparisons to Neil Sedaka and the 5th Dimension. 1970s vocal group stylings also get a look in on “Honolulu” and “Eskimos,” though in very different ways. “House on the Hill” wraps things up in a slightly different Dylanesque register. The album is like a time trip to a warm and fuzzy early 1970s, without all the Watergate and Vietnam spoiling all the fun.
Nowhere does Unfinished Monkee Business actually promise to wrap things up on this duo’s collaboration. And that’s good, because when Super 8 and Lisa Mychols get together groovy things have a habit of happening. Get your copy of their further adventures direct from the source at bandcamp.
It’s pretty much consensus across the power-pop-osphere that The Lemon Twigs are the perfect distillation of all those elements that made melodic rock great in the 1960s and 1970s. They kinda sound like all sorts of things but not exactly like anyone you’ve heard before. But the much-deserved hype will not prepare you adequately for just how great their latest 45 is. It’s a double-sided tour de force. A-side “I’ve Got a Broken Heart” conjures so many possible comparisons. The opening guitar lick is so Beatles ’66 but when the vocals kick in it could be The Hollies. Then halfway through the bridge goes a bit wild, like Paul Revere and the Raiders, with an instrumental break that follows that is so early Monkees. This is power pop ambrosia! B-side “Friday (I’m Going to Love You)” is pretty cool too, with a slight country-ish tinge to the overall Monkees-meets-The Cyrkle poprock sound. Then just past the halfway mark things dip into a more Beatlesque psychedelic direction, only to pump up the lead guitar instrumental back into the main tune.
Just when you think this duo has really blown you away they come back with even more poppy hurricane force. Warm up your download finger because you’re going to want to hit repeat on this single over and over again. You can purchase it on bandcamp or other e-retailers right now.
If you grew up in Canada in the 1970s there was a strong chance that someone at your home lived for the weekly fall-through-winter broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada. With a two-four of Canadian brewed beer nearby, everyone in the house would know things were getting underway when they heard the distinctive instrumental lick that defines the show’s theme. Now Toronto instrumental guitar starlets The Surfragettes have immortalized the rather formal and staid original by giving it a reverb-drenched remake. The track opens giving us the traditional lead line, all guitared up. As they crank it up they take a few liberties, particularly as they head past the most recognizable parts of the tune. There’s some strong organ playing here too. And they even throw in some 1970s era play-by-play to end things off. In the liner notes they remind us that the show is the longest running, most popular broadcast in Canadian history. That certainly makes it worthy of such a grand treatment as this. This foursome are certainly this games’ four stars!
Check all the great guitar goodness of The Surfragettes at their website and bandcamp pages.
Here are two albums working a money motif but not in any direction you might expect. Whether it’s millions or billions they’re referring to the musical results are solid gold.
I can’t stop listening to Canadian Kathleen Edwards’ new album Billionaire. It’s a lush acoustic Americana affair offering plenty of variety within that genre. From the killer should-be hit single opener “Save Your Soul” to the spare vocal testimony of album closer “Pine” this is an LP that is just so easy to keep putting on. There’s not a weak song in the batch and the performances really showcase Edwards’ vocal flexibility. Songs like “Save Your Soul” and “Little Red Ranger” have the folk pop sheen of Suzanne Vega, the latter even featuring a Toronto Maple Leafs shout out. “Say Goodbye, Tell No One” feels more Natalie Merchant to me. Then there’s “FLA” and “Other People’s Bands” where I think Brandi Carlyle would be a more appropriate comparison. The band is also pretty fantastic, utilizing a Tom Petty slow swagger to showcase Edwards’ lyrical social commentary on “When The Truth Comes Out” and “Need a Ride.” Title track “Billionaire” is the album outlier, featuring a very different vocal and instrumental attack. Lighter, more airy, like being pulled in close when someone has something important to say just to you. When Edwards sings ‘if this feeling were a currency I would be a billionaire’ the emotional imagery is striking. Get a copy of Billionaire, it’s worth every dollar.
Canadian band The Killjoys enjoyed some time in the sun with recordings spanning the mid to late 1990s. But solo the band’s main singer and songwriter Mike Trebilcock is mostly known for cranking out quality b-movie horror film soundtracks. But we do have his criminally overlooked 2001 longplayer Shield Millions for some sense of where stardom might have taken him. The record is an amazing repository of reverb, jangle and outrageously good hooks, delivered in both power pop and country hues. This kicks off with the obvious radio-ready single, “Stark Raving Glad.” This takes me back to the 1990s poprock feel of the Northern Pikes or Eugene Edwards. “Sale of the Century” turns things toward an Americana vein that features strongly on the album. Sometimes it’s light and jaunty (“Snow Angel Blues”) or acoustic singer/songwriter (“Box of Failures”) or even drawing on a New Orleans elan (“Dog Hill”). “Stacked Back to the Wishing Well” adds a few more Nashville notes to the country vibe. I hear a dark Elvis Costello echo across both “Today’s Crossword” and “This Side of Human.” Shaking us out of the Americana ambience, “Shut Us Up (and Make Us Smile)” has a grungier pop sound. “Pretty Girl Bruise” wraps things up by gearing down into an introspective Bruce Cockburn-like tune. Love the horns on this song! We really could use more Mike Trebilcock like this.
Money is super helpful is living is your aim. While every artist does a bit of starving to get to their creative destination, these recordings suggest these two have arrived and are ready to meet your cash contribution. Just visit the hyperlinks above.
Photo ‘A boy and his tunnel’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.
Some artists just keep coming back around with intriguing new work that continues to develop their oeuvre. Today’s artists couldn’t be farther apart stylistically but man do they reliably deliver their goods.
Don’t tell my husband but I think I’m in a relationship with Tamar Berk. Maybe we’re just gal pals. Thing is, five albums in and Tamar is still sidling up to me, whispering secrets, sharing the darkest parts of her emotional universe. Always against a musical backdrop that makes everything feel like I’m caught in an 1980s John Hughes movie. Not that I’m looking to get out – I am loving it here. As Berk says in her presser, ocd is a ‘fuzzed-out, reverb-heavy swirl’ all about ‘anxiety, obsessions, fears, memories, dreams’ that falls ‘somewhere between indie pop-rock and a fever dream.’ Dream on Tamar, I say. Opening cut “stay close by” sets the scene with its buzzy drone, overlaid with Berk’s ethereal vocal. Title track “ocd” lightens the tone sonically, letting a variety of keyboards lull the mood before launching a striking chorus. Then comes the first of the many should-be hit singles from the album, “you ruined this city for me.” This is the kind of song Berk excels at, a flowing rush of melody that gathers you up in its release of energy. Another hit-maker is “there are benefits to mixed emotions” with its hypnotic spooky vibe. “i had a dream i was lost in an auditorium” also sounds like chart material to me with its reworked girl group feel. This one’s an auditorium sing-along number, for sure. Of course, “indiesleaze 2005” sounds like radio pleaser too. It can’t be a Tamar Berk album without a few gut-wrenching ballads and ocd doesn’t disappoint. “any given weeknight” and “my turn will come” fit the bill, the latter offering up an REM “Night Swimming” emotional gut punch. Personal fave? “i’m in the day after” is so 1980s-pop gorgeous with its killer, larger-than-life synth shots. I’ve spent years comparing Berk to the likes of Debbie Harry, Aimee Mann or Suzanne Vega but on ocd Berk drills down into her own unique sound. It’s also probably the most consistent sounding record she’s made, capturing a specific vibe that resonates out of all the songs despite their differences. ocd is definitely another winner for Berk. But don’t tell my husband.
Another Eytan Mirsky album, another chance to track his every false move emotionally. He’s a guy seemingly always falling in love but somehow mostly falling flat. The confessions here are typically draped in self-deprecation but a few exhibit a strikingly tender sincerity. Stylistically All Over the Map definitely is. This record’s got soul and country, plenty of horns and cool organ runs, and oh so much heart. Things kick off with “Did What I Came to Do” with its low-key Motown vibe. I can practically see those Solid Gold dancers swaying throughout. Then come some signature Mirsky tougue-in-cheek self-critique tunes. “Apologize in Advance” puts some rockabilly guitar up front on a track that would not be out of place on a Buck Owens or Nick Lowe LP. “Inside Job” combines a Springsteen-worthy horn/organ section with a song seemingly haunted by Graham Parker. But then things get serious on “Almost Didn’t Cry,” a real straight-up country tear-jerker. The LP features a few out-of-the-ordinary efforts like “If I Could Only Draw” and “My Little Tricycle.” “Fooling Exactly Nobody” dials in a bit of New Jersey soul vamp while “If You’re So Smart” offers up a country romp critique. “Two Piece Puzzle” has the drama and cleverisms I’d associate with Elvis Costello. I was totally disarmed by the sweet accordion colouring the Nick Lowe-ish “The Satisfaction.” The album also has a should-be hit single in the stylistic outlier “Lost You in the Jet Stream,” a track that is more straight-up poprock than anything else here, definitely the AM radio ready single with some killer organ work. The album closes with “Give Me a Sign,” a moving paean to loss, where the organ and horn adornment add something special. Trust me, you’re definitely gonna want to follow Eytan All Over the Map with this release.
Who says emotional problems can’t be entertaining? Not these artists. Say hello to Tamar Berk and Eytan Mirsky at their hotlinked internet locales to keep this conversation going.
Photo ‘Found Kodachome slide’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.
Jean Caffeine is an American indie treasure. Over her long career she’s hit all the alternative scenes: punk in seventies San Francisco, no wave in New York City, Americana in Austin, and a decidedly more poprock feel on recent albums (Love. What Is It?) and singles (“I Don’t Want To Kill You Anymore”). She’s a clear manifestation of the positive dialectic between artist and scene. Now she’s got a new LP Jean Caffeine Generation ready and it is a heady mix of social commentary, heartbreak and hooks to spare. Following recent music distribution trends, she’s drip released most of these songs already as singles but somehow they still manage to cohere together as an album. I’ve reviewed most of the material already over the past year or so, comparing her to the likes of Patti Smith, Mary Lou Lord, Amy Rigby, Robin Lane, Marti Jones, and Chrissie Hynde. And I stand by those assessments. But listening to the songs as an LP Caffeine’s own distinctive voice really comes through, one part all rock and roll heft, the other emotional pop vulnerability.
Album opener song “Love What Is It?” is a poppy saunter in the park, adorned with melodic asides that seem thrown in but land perfectly. At various points it really reminds me of Marti Jones or Aimee Mann. Then comes “Big Picture,” a track that hasn’t appeared anywhere and it’s a hooky winner. “I Always Cry on Thursday” starts so nondescript but the chorus breaks out with a melodic intensity that is irresistible. Crying also features on “Another Crying Christmas,” a track that avoids the seasonal saccharine by dialing into some emotional depth and rock and roll edginess. “I Know You Know I Know” uses verbal repetition and a 1980s computer game keyboard tone to draw you right in. What I hear on “Circuitous Routes” is a cool strut, so Chrissie Hynde. I also appreciate Caffeine’s deft ability to weave political themes into her work without sacrificing their ear-worminess. “I Don’t Want To Kill You Anymore” is so brilliantly understated, a slow-groove girl-group homage that’s a far cry from “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss).” And it takes a rare talent to make “Mammogram” a winning tune. Caffeine’s cover of The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright” is just ramshackle fun. A bit of performance art closes things out on “You’re Fine.” You don’t spend time in NYC’s 1980s art ghettos and not catch the bug.
Jean Caffeine is a product of her era, from youthful punk to senior songstress. But generating Jean didn’t just happen. Spend some time with Jean Caffeine Generation to get a sense of her genius at work.
Things have slowed down for power pop legend Marshall Crenshaw with time. There were six albums of original material in his first decade as a professional musician, two in each of the subsequent decades, and then none over the last decade and half. But that doesn’t mean he’s been idle. Tired of the major label rat race, he decided to release a series of six EPs offering fans a new song, a cover song, and re-recording of an older song, eventually pulling the new material and few covers together on an album entitled #392: The EP Collection on indie label Red River Records. Since then Crenshaw has focused a lot of attention on curating definitive releases of his catalogue and now it appears that project has led him back to the EP material, repackaging them in album form as From the Hellhole.
Content-wise 11 of the 14 songs here appear on both collections so if you bought the EPs or #392: The EP Collection you may not want or need to buy them again, though the versions here have been remixed. From the Hellhole is also available on vinyl, unlike #392: The EP Collection. The three different tracks included on the new release include a demo of “Walkin’ Around,” a song that appeared on 1991’s Life’s Too Short, and covers of Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate” and Todd Rundgren’s “Couldn’t I Just Tell You.” For collectors, completists, or those who missed the EPs as they came out From the Hellhole is the missing album covering Crenshaw’s last decade and half. And it goes without saying, the songs are great, both original and covers. “Move Now” and “Grab the Next Train” both sound like classic Crenshaw should-be hits, with his signature economical lead guitar work and Everlys vocal vibe. “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” has a folk rock kick, both the 12 string guitar and vocals hitting all the marks. And the demo of “Walkin’ Around” comes off lighter and more spontaneous. On the covers front, his take on The Carpenters “(They Long to be) Close to You” was a surprise to me when I first heard it and it surprises me still. Let’s just say, Karen Carpenter and Marshall Crenshaw come at singing in very different ways. But Crenshaw’s understated approach really does the song justice. Meanwhile, the cover of Bobby Fuller’s “Never To Be Forgotten” is now the definitive version.
There are MC fans who are going to celebrate any new release, regardless of how much new it really offers. For many, From the Hellhole will fill a real gap for a lot of fans. For those who want more new material, I suspect there’s stuff in the vaults that could see the light day at some point in the future. There are songs he wrote for others that never got the Marshall treatment and a variety of one-off contributions to soundtracks and tribute albums that deserve to gathered together. So here’s hoping for more Crenshaw down the line.
You can spend time with Marshall at his internet bolt hole or Bandcamp page.
Canadian character-sketch songwriter Gregory Pepper has given up a lot for Lent this year. His new album No More Skulls says goodbye to said craniums and his old band The Problems. But his unerring knack for highly tuneful, incredibly short songs remains in place.
What we have here is 10 songs running just shy of 16 minutes, helpfully stitched together in some places into a seemingly seamless wall of song that shifts and undulates with striking tempo changes and creative choices when it comes to instruments. Album opener “No More Skulls” slinks in, slow and broody with somebody’s hand clearly dragging the tape speed intermittently. But half way through things blow up in a variety of ways, all good. The instrumental “Gopnik Prelude” that follows shifts the mood like a Wes Anderson film soundtrack before the vaudeville-esque “God Made You Weak” pumps up the energy. Four songs in “Cardinal Song” gets us closer to Pepper’s signature sophistico-pop sound and the sheen practically glistens. But steady yourself for the should-be single “Baby Tooth.” This is a compositionally rich piece of work with a seductive keyboard line and a dark tint to the melodic tone that colours the song. The rest of the album shifts gears like a premium automatic drive. “Lean On” has a new wave Cars elan, the guitars and handclaps so conjure the period. “Get Well Soon” is pop-folkie, acoustic-guitar simplicity itself. “We Don’t Have to Talk” evokes Jon Brion’s distinctive sonic mood for me. Then there’s “Bloodmobile.” At just 18 seconds of cartoon-worthy tune-age, it does an impressive job of establishing its many melodic themes so quickly. The record wraps with “Happy Days Theme Song,” a song that is pleasantness itself, just ambling along until a notable shift at the two-thirds mark increases the sense of urgency. It’s a genius move that draws the listener back from the lulling going on earlier.
My advice? Grab the popcorn and settle in somewhere to really enjoy Gregory Pepper’s No More Skulls. It’s got the pacing and colourful characters of a late night flick at the all-nite movie house. But don’t look away, things move fast at Camp Pepper. Undoubtedly you’ll probably miss something hella clever.
Toronto singer-songwriter Jonathan Davies performs in parallel worlds, one recognizably song structured, the other breaking its rules in unpredictable ways. Songs like “Parallel Elton” and “Beethoven Girl” wear the cleverness gene like a They Might Be Giants deep cut. They’re based on fun concepts with music that makes us stretch beyond the ordinary but still, we can easily follow along. But others like “Runalong Sue” make us work a little harder, morphing halfway through from a Randy Newman kind of story song to something else completely. Needle-dropping across Davies’ bandcamp pages one is tempted to paste a musical theatre label across his ouvre, given its penchant for story exposition and social commentary. “When Larry Jon Played” has a very Lyle Lovett country storytelling style while “Devil’s Cleft” casts its story with a more acoustic folk guitar feel. You definitely get a Broadway sense of musical tension on “Venus, Our Neighbour.”
But the theatre angle doesn’t quite capture everything Davies is offering up. Songs like “Wilson Siding,” “Give a Penny, Take and Penny,” and “Lipstick Smears” all reach for a more commercial folk pop sheen we might associate with Paul Simon or Harry Nilsson or Suzanne Vega. They’re hooky, lingering, sonically sophisticated. By contrast “Incorrigible Germany” leans on the smarts, like Randy Newman but without the cheek. Others like “Until I’ve Heard You Sing” and “Those Eyes: A Coming-Of-Age Novelty Ballad” are touching in their confessional directness and musical simplicity. Davies also writes, sings and records in French. I don’t what he’s on about in “Ton histoire reste a raconteur” but I love the sonic groove he’s got going.
Back in 2015 Davies claimed (in song) that he’d “Already Written All My Good Songs.” But given what we’ve heard here it’s apparent that wasn’t true. Here’s hoping he’ll continue to prove himself wrong.
Check out his worlds of music at his website and bandcamp locations.
Canadian folk popster Jeremy Fisher has been getting back to his earlier material lately. Let It Shine Redux is his latest installment of re-recording his earlier material, this time an acoustic reworking of his first major label LP. A lot of artists have been drawn to the redux path in the last two decades, mostly to squeeze a bit more on the royalty side away from record companies. The first instance I recall was Squeeze’s Spot the Difference LP from 2010. The band’s reasoning was pretty straight up. With boomer nostalgia fueling the use of 1980s music in movies and TV the band wanted their re-recorded versions to be licensed for use instead of the ones owned by their former record company. And who can blame them. In Fisher’s case though, as he never really broke that big commercially, the reasoning might be different. This time out is a bit different from his 2022 reworking of Goodbye Blue Monday, retitled Hello Blue Monday. That record completely retooled the musical approach, different instruments, sometimes different tempos. But Let It Shine Redux is more of an acoustic treatment, reducing the earlier record’s pop complexity to just acoustic guitars (rhythm and lead) and vocals (background and lead). And these are not even the first acoustic takes as a number of tunes from the record have already appeared in stripped down form on Fisher’s Acoustic Songbook I and II. Still, the versions here are different from all others and definitely worth the return visit.
The album features the same tracks as the original in the same running order. Opener “Lemon Meringue Pie” sets the all-acoustic tone and I’ll confess I worried as it got going that things might be too stripped down here. But when the chorus kicked in that Fisher magic simply could not be contained. Other songs like “Suckerpunch” and “High School” gain a fresh punch with these new arrangements while should-have-been hits like “Singing on the Sidewalk” sound no less AM radio fabulous. A number of songs from the original album were already pretty folky (e.g. “Fall For Anything,” “Drunk on Your Tears”) so Redux gives Fisher a chance to strike a different folk pose. And he does, drawing out new melodic possibilities from his material. That’s the thing about Fisher, he makes it all sound so simple, obscuring his songwriting prowess. Always more Paul Simon than Bob Dylan, Fisher’s material is usually hummable, often sing-along-able, sometimes just reverently moving. What I loved about Let It Shine was Fisher’s knack for getting just the right balance of quirky instrumentation and reliable hooks. Let It Shine Redux alters that balance for sure but the results are fresh and lively and no less compelling.
On his website Fisher muses about getting material together for an album of new material. That can’t happen soon enough. Stock up on your Fisher catalogue at Bandcamp or his own retail space to help make that a reality.
Poprock Record 