Category Archives: Artist Spotlight

Should-be stars: Superchunk, The Minders, Beachhead, and Cheap Star

27 Wednesday Apr 2022

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Today’s acts are indie for sure but their output is so consistently solid they seem like should-be stars to me. Particularly with these new releases. Think REM before Green or U2 before Joshua Tree. Hit play on these new albums and see if you don’t agree.

Superchunk is one of those bands that always seemed to be on the periphery of my musical consciousness. Liked by all the right people, running with all the right musical crowds. But a bit too punky or indie rawk for my tastes. But their new album Wild Loneliness is something else. From the opening track’s Verve-esque string section “City of the Dead” the record had my full attention. Album number 12 sees the band let the songs breathe a bit more than usual, loading them up with acoustic guitars and a pacing that’s not in any hurry. It’s apparent on “Endless Summer,” a single-ish number that is both highly listenable and a kind of environmental anthem. Or there’s the perky “On the Floor” with its piano-heavy arrangement and some background vocals help from REM’s Mike Mills. We can draw out comparisons, hearing a bit of U2 Joshua Tree on “Set It Aside,” or echoes of that Bacharach-like string section that Springsteen coated his 2019 Western Stars album with on “This Night,” or even a bit of Josh Rouse on “Wild Loneliness,” but really it’s all Superchunk. My personal fave and vote for should-be hit single is “Connection.” It starts off pretty Tom Petty-pensive before breaking out into a lush but lightly-jangled Byrdsian chorus. Man, those ‘ooh ooh ooh’s’ are chill-inducing! 33 years in and Superchunk have released their most accessible album. An adult-party, play-it-all-night sort of thing.

With their Elephant Six and Apples in Stereo connections it’s a wonder I’m only just a recent convert to the indie pop glory that is The Minders. I had run across their fabulous 1998 album Hooray for Tuesday and was digging that when I noticed they had a new record out, Psychedelic Blacktop. Shifting focus to the new record was a bit jarring as the sound is different. Sure, those crazy keyboard lines are still there but the vocal and guitar attack lean more toward folk rock than their previous more baroque and jaunty guitar pop, at least early on. “Home” opens things up and sets the scene with a Donovan-esque poppy folk number, loaded with great organ. Then “Let’s Go Driving” starts off sounding a bit like the Lovin’ Spoonful meets Jonathan Richman, but those ‘sha la la la la’s shift things into a more Turtles direction. Again, great organ solo. “It’s All the Same” sees the band slipping back towards their more baroque pop roots, definitely jaunty. “You Call to Me” offers up a very folk country vibe, like Ian and Sylvia circa 1966. I’m also really liking the outlier track, “Listen! The Bugle Calls,” which has an ominous Magnetic Fields 1960s revival sound. And so on. If I were you, I’d get comfy: with 13 tracks, there’s plenty of audio tarmac to tear up on Psychedelic Blacktop. Even the album closer “These Days” leaves me wanting more. It’s defined by great rhythm guitar hooks and madcap feel, particularly in seemingly unrelated coda.

Entitling their second album simply Beachheads II suggests this is not where these Norwegian poppy rockers decided to invest their creative energies. No, Beachheads put their effort into the songs. This outing still has the guitars-up-front style that caught everyone’s attention last time out but added in is a greater focus on the vocals, namely some sweet sweet harmonies. You can hear it all over the strong pre-release single “Jupiter.”  Much of the album does carry on from their earlier work, like opening cut “Break It Off,” “1000 Hurts,” and “Oh Joy.” But you can also hear a concerted effort to change things up songwriting and performance-wise.  “Change” is pitched a bit slower than their usual manic pace, with an anthemic chorus and some arresting, melodic guitar lead lines. “Down South” and “Shine” are also both departures, sometimes jaunty, sometimes smooth melodic pop. There are darker numbers here too, like the ominous “Nothing.” Or check out the striking turn the band pulls off in “Death of Nation,” breaking out from a drone-y verse into a seductive melodic chorus. This is band that knows what we like but is keen to surprise us too.

Cheap Star’s recent album Wish I Could See is not just a product of should-be stars. The performers read like a roll call of indie power pop royalty with members of The Posies, Fountains of Wayne, The Raconteurs, Jellyfish, Nada Surf and others pitching in. Bona fide indie superstar artist/producer Mitch Easter even drops by with a guitar solo. The results are spectacular, an enticing, guitar-laden slice of power pop. Tracks like “Flower Girl” and “Wish I Could See” remind me of Nada Surf while “Lifetime” and “Move Away” strike a more Michael Penn chord. There’s a lighter touch on “You Don’t Want to Change” and “Slow Down” where the acoustic guitar sets the pace, the latter with an additional country Byrds flavour. Or listen to how the band combine Rubber Soul era guitars with an Echo and Bunnymen vibe on “What’s It Like.” For should-be hit singles, there are so many choices. “Flower Girl” obviously but I’d also cast a vote for “Holding On” with its great lead guitar roll-out kicking off and then anchoring the tune. It’s got a very Matthew Sweet melody and feel. Altogether Wish I Could See has got the sound of a classic vinyl era power pop record (the physical product can be found at Kool Kat Musik), one you’ll want to add to your collection.

The should-be stars are out tonight. Don’t miss their sparkle and shine.

Top photo: Trevor Dobson “Star trails over an abandoned farmhouse – Boddington, Western Australia”

I’m just gonna Glenn Case the joint

13 Wednesday Apr 2022

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Who is Glenn Case and how does he manage to put out so much music? His bandcamp page features 30 albums, the oldest going back to 2004 but 25 have come out just since 2015! Wow. I mean, even with my completist tendencies I tend to shrink from tackling such a challenge. Even he admits it might be problem. “I probably release too many albums,” he quips in his bandcamp bio. This whole ‘checking out the Glenn Case catalogue’ thing started for me when I searched ‘Andy Partridge’ looking for songs that paid tribute to everyone’s fave grumpy melody-meister – and Case’s song popped up. Not only did Case nail Partridge’s singing and song-writing style but the accompanying album had a load of other cool tunes.

I could tell you that I listened intently to all 30 albums and the few EPs and then carefully curated the tunes that appear below but let’s face it, I just cased the joint. I needle dropped my way through the bandcamp material looking for the most immediate ear-grabbing hooky stuff and this is what you get. Now, I do think these selected cuts are pretty special. Case is a musical chameleon, throwing a bit of everything at the listener depending on his mood: poprock, jazz pop, country, fake metal, even some hip hop. His vocal and song-writing styles makes his material distinctive, even as it vibes a bit of Chris Collingwood (Fountains of Wayne, Look Park), Jaret Reddick (Bowling for Soup) or Kasim Sulton (Utopia) sometimes. There’s even a hint of Macca here and there. I’ll start you with “Prime Time” from 2008’s So, Be Yourself EP. It’s a tight acoustic guitar-based poppy number that showcases Case’s clever lyrics and smart delivery. Then we can head to “The End of It” from another EP from that year, Waterfall of Consciousness. This one fills out the sound a bit more, vibing XTC, particularly in the hooky chorus. But it’s 2013’s Throw Money album where Case’s talent really raises its wattage with brilliant songs like “Glutton,” “Georgia’s Hand” and the masterful collaboration with The Odds’ Craig Northey, “Pencil Me In.” The latter’s got should-be hit single written all over it.

The flurry of material from 2015 on sees Case drawing inspiration from his many loves and obsessions: his wife, gaming, popular culture and the corporate control of music. He can be alternatively endearing and hilarious. I love “The Woman I Love” from his lovingly crafted 2015 tribute Songs for my Wonderful Wife. 2016’s The One That Ended His Career has so many great tunes, like songs from the ‘more listenable than you might think it would be given its title’ category e.g. “D&D at the Public Library,” or the addictively hooky “Don’t Go To …” and the ‘it’s so funny it hurts’ tune “I’m the President of the Sony Entertainment Corp. Ltd.” As we move forward time-wise songwriting craft and ingenuity come to the fore on tracks like “Rare” (from 2019’s Fighter #6), “High and Higher” (from 2020’s A Year of Mondays), and “Our Plans Are On Hold” (from 2021’s Kiss Me Again). Then 2022 happens and what does Glen Case do? He releases a whole album of songs about soup. It sounds like a gag but hey Case makes it work. The first single “Everybody Loves Chowder” is a winner with a delivery that really reminds me of Timmy Sean.

Whoa, I’ve given you a whole lotta Case to take in. And it’s only a start. Check out his bandcamp and Facebook pages for yourself. He seems like an approachable guy.

The world of Say Hi

12 Saturday Mar 2022

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In my resurrected Decca/London records ‘World of …’ series I dip into the entire oeuvre of an artist to bring you a sampling from each of their many recordings. Today’s focus in on Seattle mellow-core artist Say Hi. What we’ve got here is basically a one man band effort, created and performed by Eric Elbogen. The records are deceptively stark, stripped-down affairs, with striking keyboard and guitar tones while literally littered with witty lyrical cleverisms. Warning: these are not often straightforward tunes. Elbogen makes you work to get the meaning and the hooks. But patience is rewarded with some subtle turns of phrase and melody.

2002’s debut Discosadness comprises the basic formula you’re pretty much going to find on the subsequent 11 Say Hi releases: carefully curated sounds and social observations, packaged in attractively minimalist arty design. From this first record, I was taken with “Laundry,” given its lovely whispery Velvet Underground vocal and guitar shuffle. It seemed a perfect way to kick off side one of our World of Say Hi faux release. From 2004’s Number and Mumbles I’ve gone with “A Hit in Sweden” for its electric guitar shots and breathy Momus-like vocals. 2005’s Ferocious Mopes has a vocal vibe that is a bit more Bernard Sumner to my ears, particularly “Recurring Motifs in Historical Flirtings.” On 2006’s Impeccable Blahs I just love the keyboard lead line snaking through “Not As Goth As They Say We Are,” the song is so Casio-licious! There’s more of the intriguing keyboard work, but in overdrive, on “Back Before We Were Brittle” from 2008’s The Wishes and the Glitch. It has got a Bleachers kind of sonic intensity. 2009’s Oohs and Aahs even offers up a hit single of sorts with “Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh,” which was also featured in the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. Though, I have to say, “One, Two … One” and “The Stars Just Blink For Us” from the same album sounds pretty radio friendly too.

Kicking off side 2 of our World of Say Hi imagined album, the pretty precision of “All the Pretty Ones” from 2011’s Um Uh Oh. I love the ever-so-careful arrangement of instruments, how they sound organized just to better let each one enter and exit the song without being bumped or overshadowed. However if you prefer an acoustic country strummer, “Trees Are A Swayin’” is a departure for this artist and delightfully so. 2013’s Free Samples is largely a collection of instrumentals, animating all the classic flavours of ice cream. Yes, of course, that is what a banana split would sound like, wouldn’t it? Personally, I love the 1970s electric keyboard vibe on “Chocolate.” Keyboards figure prominently on “Love Love Love,” my selection from 2014’s Endless Wonder. Love is back in the spotlight on “Lover’s Lane (Smitten With Doom)” from 2015’s Bleeders Digest with its ELO drum intro and Robert Smith-like intimacy on the vocals. Elbogen digs into his pop bag of tricks on 2018’s Caterpillar Centipede, particularly on the album ending “Dreaming the Day Away,” an alt radio should-be hit single to me. Then it’s back to his syth roots on 2020’s Diamonds and Dohnuts. There were times this record took me back to my Yaz and Erasure days. But again I hear a bit Bleachers in the overlapping mix of keyboards and earnest vocals on tracks like “Grey as a Ghost.” And the hooks, of course.

The World of Say Hi is a fictitious album but the music and the talent are real. Check out the catalogue and put together your own mix from all this inventive, musical-ennui master.

Return engagement: Eytan Mirsky and Love, Burns

01 Tuesday Mar 2022

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There’s nothing better than a return engagement with a favourite artist. This double bill features performers who routinely win the ‘never let me down’ award from me and today is no exception. If they’re your thing, get ready for maximum enjoyment.

He’s the lord of deadpan cool. He’s Ben Vaughn meets Chuck Prophet. He’s Eytan Mirsky and he’s back with a fabulous new LP, Lord, Have Mirsky. The ten new tunes here resurrect familiar Mirsky personas: loveable loser, overconfident pleaser, half-serious life sage. “I Don’t Wanna Brag” opens the show with a kind of MexTex slow dance, Mirsky’s lyrics perfectly floating over the spartan guitar and organ accompaniment. No one does this sort of overconfident desperation quite like Eytan. Female trouble, as usual, defines the album, informing the pleading (“Halfhearted”), the complaints (“What Took You So Long”), and the emotional conflict (“You’re Getting It On Me”) that populate the songs. Clever wordplay? It’s back on “Smart to be Stupid,” a track that is kin to the pithy song stylings of John Hiatt and Richard Thompson. But Mirsky can also be serious, as in evidence on the somber soul vamp “It’s All Right to Be Alone.” The song is so obviously, eminently cover-able, it should be heading for a status Nick Lowe once described as an ‘earner.’ Overall, I’d say the album is perhaps a bit more laid back that previous efforts, pushing back the stylistic frontiers from prior new wave and 1980s indie vibes to a more post-pub rock 1970s feel. That’s illustrated nicely on the gently swinging “The Waiting is the Easiest Part.” Then “Don’t Be Afraid” breaks out the pedal steel guitar to good effect while “Watching from the Balcony” takes things in a more Rockpile direction. The verdict? Lord, Have Mirsky delivers what we need right now: some wry wit, a bit of earnest self-reflection, and melodies that will make you smile.

With the release of It Should Have Been Tomorrow Pale Lights leading man Phil Sutton is finally ready to prime time his new project Love, Burns. Some tracks here were rusticly previewed on 2020’s Fiftieth and Marlborough but now it’s like somebody turned on the lights, they’ve been given a fine new shape and sonic sparkle. “Dear Claire” opens the record with a giddy intensity, the combo of organ and electric guitar seemingly relentless in their aural assault. From the instrumental break the vibe is so Lord Huron while vocally I can’t help but hear a bit of Lloyd Cole or Roddy Frame. “Gate and the Ghost” and “Stormy Waters” are jangle heavy numbers cut with some seductive organ work. “It’s a Shame” takes a turn into an early, jazzy Everything but the Girl direction while both “In a Long Time” and “Oh, My Beloved” have a pastoral 1960s folk rock vibe. “Wired Eyes” is the unrivaled choice for hit single in this collection, combining the sixties pop psychedelia of The Strawberry Alarm Clock with the indie cool of The Velvet Underground. Country gets a look in on “Come in the Spring” and “Drive Down to D.C.” And then everything wraps up with the glorious Bond-esque “Something Good,” a rumbly guitar workout that should inspire a whole new generation of go go dancers.

You better snap up the tickets if Eytan Mirsky and Love, Burns do a return engagement in your town. These new albums are a preview of what you might see. Things are looking very good indeed.

sElf conscious

25 Friday Feb 2022

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On my journey of poprock discovery I’m constantly running across amazing talents that have been working away for decades that somehow I’ve never heard of. Lately I’ve become sElf conscious. The band is largely the project of its creative force, Matt Mahaffey, a talent so large it keeps spilling out over a wide range of solo work, one-off projects and insta-bands. sElf emerged in the 1990s, one of slew of poppy rock bands that defied categorization. Sometimes sounding like Rooney or Weezer, only to segue without warning into Queen or Fountains of Wayne territory. Record labels were not investing in artists in that decade and I can imagine sElf had more than one label rep throwing up their hands in frustration trying to pitch the band to radio and promoters. But that’s what makes them so great.

sElf’s 1995 debut album Subliminal Plastic Motives aces that dire sounding pop vibe we associate with the likes of Weezer and Rooney, though as you can hear on “Stewardess” Mahaffey adds some distinct melodic motifs of his own to the formula. 1997’s The Half-Baked Serenade carries on in a similar vein, though here I’m drawn to the languidly-paced acoustic outlier “Microchip Girl.” Here is the fun playful side of Mahaffey – think ELO or Bleu – that will only intensify as time goes on. 1999’s Breakfast With Girls was the band’s major label debut and here the Queen influence can really be heard on tracks like “Better Than Aliens.” Though here I find myself drawn to deep cuts like “Uno Song.” In 2000 sElf released Gizmodgery, an album of tunes performed entirely on children’s toy instruments. “Dead Man” is as good as anything coming out from grungy poprock acts in the late 1990s. “Ordinaire” has a manic SciFi feel, again, very Rooney. The cover of The Doobies ‘“What a Fool Believes” is an absolutely brilliant deconstruction of the synth work on the song, stripping back the original’s overwrought production and leaving just the bones of its seductive hooks.

Microchip Girl
Uno Song
Dead Man
What a Fool Believes

From here navigating sElf and Matt Mahaffey’s career gets a bit hazy. Self-released sElf internet-only albums come and go while Mahaffey’s solo work nowhere appears in one tidy review-able location. Thus I was not prepared for the knock-out, should-be hit single goodness of the one-off 2010 single “Could You Love Me Now?” The craftmanship behind this tune is striking, the way it cradles its delicate melody, adorning it with all manner of subtle instrumentation. The band did return in 2014 with the EP Super Fake Nice sounding like no time had passed. Still doing a slightly discordant poppy rock thing, you can really hear a bit of Brendon Benson on tracks like “Splitting Atoms.”

Could You Love Me Now?
Splitting Atoms

Apart from sElf  Matt Mahaffey has shifted focus to producing music for movies and television like Shrek and Henry Hugglemonster. However, Mahaffey did find time to launch a new duo, The Gherms, who appear to exist only to laud to Brooklyn’s fave funsters They Might Be Giants. Songs About They Might Be Giants is a double-sided single that showcases everything Mahaffey does well: a great concept, larger than life production and big hooks. Meanwhile, his cartoon theme song work for Nicklelodeon is some of the best 30 second poprock you’re gonna hear while spending quality time with toddlers.

The Gherms – Acquired Taste
Matt Mahaffey – Henry Hugglemonster Main Theme

You know what I wish? That somebody with access to Mahaffey’s complete body of work would curate a release that bring us all up to speed on this great talent. Between the unreleased and unofficially released sElf work to his many and varied contributions to TV and movies it’s just too hard to bring his genius into focus. And that’s a shame because, in my view, everyone could stand a bit of sElf improvement.

Falling in Love with Trevor Blendour

14 Monday Feb 2022

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I’m not much of a Valentine’s Day guy. It’s all too gushy and sweet and more than a bit forced. But I’m not ashamed to admit I’m totally smitten with Trevor Blendour’s new long player, the holiday appropriately-titled Falling in Love. Take Buddy Holly, tweak it with those early 1960s American pop vocal motifs, add a bit of millennial indie sheen, and you’ve got a completely addictive collection of earwormy tunes, each clocking in at just 2-3minutes max. Appearing as The Blendours on previous albums the sound was bit more punky but in this new guise as a solo artist Trevor Treiber (now aka Blendour) simply embraces his love all things 1950s/early 1960s. And the results are a magical mix of retro lead guitar runs, swooping overlapping vocal lines, and melodic hooks galore.

For the most part the formula here is alternative-universe American Graffiti. In the movie the leftover 1950s themes bleed into the early 1960s, as cultural referents are wont to do, and that’s the broad landscape hovering in the background of this record. Sometimes it’s a straight up fifties time trip, as on “A Paradise,” a track that hybridizes classic Elvis and Buddy Holly vocal phrasing and song styles. It’s there again on album opener “Don’t Mean Maybe” with a combo of rockabilly and doo wop elements. With “Falling in Love” the frame of reference shifts a bit to all those early 1960s teen idols. There there’s the post-Holly Crickets reeling and rocking sound all over “Carly Please.” Another classic early sixties style can be found on “Win Back That Girl,” this time the tragic feel reminiscent of ‘disaster’ rock. Things move a bit more into the mid-1960s on “Tough Guy” with its Beach Boys falsetto vocals and “Rena” which has a Beatles “Things We Said Today” rhythm guitar swing. Not that everything here is retro. Treiber’s pop punk instincts come more to the fore on tracks like “Lost The Girl,” “Gloria” and “Another Guy,” though with the rough edges smoothed out a bit. “Cold Heart” sounds very 1979 rock and roll revival in a Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds sort of way. But for me, Blendour saves the best for last with the should-be hit single “Him Instead of Me.” This track reminds me of the way the Beatles put a bit of rock and roll muscle into all the fifties rock and girl group covers they sprinkled throughout their first few albums.

Unlike romantic love a great record will never let you down. This year, make a date with Trevor Blendour’s Falling in Love for Valentine’s Day. It’s cheaper than a dinner out, has a timeless quality that will never age, and is guaranteed to greet you with buoyant enthusiasm every time you turn it on.

Reinventing Marshall Crenshaw

12 Saturday Feb 2022

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With the re-release of Marshall Crenshaw’s fantastic 1999 album #447 fans can dig into an LP full of undervalued gems like “Television Light,” “T.M.D.” and “Right There in Front of Me.” The new re-issue also includes Crenshaw’s most recent new recording, a double A-sided single of “Santa Fe” and “Will of the Wind.” Just listen to the smooth hookyness and ace guitar playing on the latter tune. Damn, Marshall has still got it!

Marshall Crenshaw – Will of the Wind

Revisiting Crenshaw’s work from the 1990s got me wondering just why others have not mined his catalogue for covers in the way we’ve seen people do with other comparable acts from his era. I mean, Nick Lowe has got FOUR separate tribute albums and an LP of Los Straightjackets’ instrumental versions. Where’s the Crenshaw love? So far, it seems mostly focused on his early work and by early I mean his pre-major label singles and the self-titled debut album. So in honour of the deluxe re-release of #447 I decided to work up my own tribute album by gathering together what covers I could find, avoiding the really obvious ones (sorry Bette!) in favour of less well known versions. It’s basically a ‘taking liberties’ version of that first album I’ve dubbed Reinventing Marshall Crenshaw.

We kick things off with sometime Beach Boy pinch-hitter Jeffrey Foskett. He’s just the guy with the vocal chops to cover “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time.” The results are a slightly tighter updating of Marshall’s own great take on the tune. Ronnie Spector sings the hell out Marshall’s perfect paean to the early 1960s girl group groove “Something’s Gonna Happen.” And she would, wouldn’t she? Sweden’s Mom takes the opening cut from Marshall’s debut in a new direction, amping up the guitar slashes and bass guitar lines on “There She Goes Again.” Musically it’s very Cars at times. Next up we head to Argentina for Gatos Pandilleros‘ spirited version of “Someday Someway.” It’s got a charming stripped-down feel that lets the song’s joy shine through. Red Hot take “The Usual Thing” into a more rockabilly and country direction vocally while retaining Marshall’s distinctive guitar aura. The Unswept step on the jangle pedal for their reworking of “Cynical Girl” and it works, adding something special to a song already pretty dear to the hearts of Crenshaw fans. Though ultimately featured on Field Day, demos of “Whenever You’re on my Mind” also come from the same period as the debut album. Thus I think we can sneak it into this tribute. As it is my fave MC tune I’ve got two covers. One is a wonderfully shambolic DIY take from Michael Fiore that comes off like a deep cut from a Replacements live album. The other is a more spartan guitar pop treatment from The Kavanaghs. Both manage to coax the magic out of this irrepressible classic.

Jeffrey Foskett – You’re My Favorite Waste of Time
Ronnie Spector – Something’s Gonna Happen
Red Hot – The Usual Thing

There are other covers of Marshall’s songs. Sometimes they come from co-writers like Don Dixon and Bill DeMain, or from big name acts like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, or country artists like Lou Ann Barton and Kelly Willis. But come on people, this hardly scratches the surface of Crenshaw’s amazing catalogue! We are long overdue for an MC tribute album, one that draws from the full breadth of his impressive recorded output. Let’s see someone take the lead on this project … now.

You can order your new, refurbished and expanded copy of #447 online and keep up with the latest Marshall news here.

Searching for Jake Bugg

05 Saturday Feb 2022

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Call me cynical, but original
Tryin’ to fit into a world that’s so digital
Came to let you know
I left the pigeon hole
Now I gotta find an edge, won’t let it go
Jake Bugg, “All I Need”

Poor Jake Bugg. It seems whatever choice he makes upsets somebody. His most recent long-player Saturday Night, Sunday Morning got some rave reviews as well as its share of detractors. But more than any other Bugg album, barring his self-titled debut, the record exudes a coherent style, a commitment to pursue a more contemporary sound come what may, combining classic Bugg vocals and guitar with dance beats and a radio-friendly sheen. I can certainly imagine a dance-mix of “Rabbit Hole” or “Lost” thumping out of some poorly lit night club. But as with most things Bugg, the songs have a substance that lend themselves to varying treatments. Compare the album version of “All I Need” to the ‘Mahogany Sessions’ version to really appreciate the jazzy elements in the guitar and piano riffs.

All I Need (album version)
All I Need (Mahogany Sessions)

I really enjoy both versions of the song and the fact that Bugg is trying to have his genre cake and eat it too, operating as he is under the pull of different factions of his audience. Basically he’s got a younger contemporary group with broad tastes (like Bugg himself) and an older group that would prefer he just re-issue a remake of his debut album again and again. And I get it (as a member of the older group, at least age-wise), his first record was not just another album, it was an experience. It spoke to a generation of young people who felt left behind economically and broader group of working class people regardless of age who had seldom heard their working class experience reflected in popular culture. To see an ocean of fans at various festivals in the 2012-14 period belt out his lyrics was both shiver-inducing and very moving. The temptation to simply redo his debut must have been strong. But as Bugg said shortly after making it big, he was no longer living the life that had inspired the songs on the first album. It’s hard to sing about the travails of the working class when you’re jetting around the world and modelling for Burberry. Now, in fairness, when you’re brought up in the working class it stays with you, even if you change class positions. But it often means you’re not this or that. And that’s what we see on Bugg’s post debut albums, the struggle to please his fans and find his own voice amidst the trappings of fame. Albums 2, 3 and 4 try to juggle these competing demands with varying levels of success.

This is where Saturday Night, Sunday Morning marks a significant departure. Stylistically it commits to what it’s doing. Set aside your bias for roots/folkie Jake Bugg and listen to this record on its own terms and it’s a winner. Put your headphones on to appreciate the guitar magic Bugg is working on “Kiss Like a Sun” and the chorus that has a wonderful dreamy quality. The album has a number of indie rock tracks like “Screaming” and “Lonely Hours” that feature Bugg’s signature electric guitar and a great setting for his more rock and roll vocals. “About Last Night” sounds like the should-be radio hit. “Lost” rides that fine line between club and pop hit, with a hypnotic combination of hooky bass lines and piano riffs. “Scene” was the song that initially caught my attention on this album. I like Bugg’s phrasing on the song and the production effects. A slow burn bit of ear candy. “Maybe It’s Today” has an early 1960s stroll-on-the-boardwalk feel, a bit of Spector, a bit of Springsteen, while “Downtown” is the lovely kind of piano ballad Bugg excels at. Hey there’s even a roots/folkie contribution with the acoustic guitar throwback “Hold Tight.”

Maybe It’s Today

The lyrics to “All I Need” album are the first words you hear on this album and they lay out Jake Bugg’s dilemma pretty clearly. With Saturday Night, Sunday Morning he tries to leave behind the pigeon hole both fans and critics would put him in. And he does – sort of. You see Bugg is sneaky bloke and in addition to this album he’s also released rootsy/folky versions of a number of the album songs. Best of both worlds? You bet. Check out the wicked stripped-down versions of “Kiss Like the Sun” and “Lost.” Or there’s the hypnotic acoustic-dance mix of the non-album single with CamelPhat, “Be Someone.”

Lost (acoustic version)
CamelPhat and Jake Bugg – Be Someone

I feel like the search is over. The Jake Bugg that appears on this album sounds like he knows who he is and what he’s doing. Hopefully everyone else will catch on.

A boy named Elvis

21 Friday Jan 2022

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On album number 32 The Boy Named If Elvis Costello and his Imposters come rocketing out of gate with a manic ferocity. Opening cut “Farewell, OK” kinda sounds like the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” if Lennon and McCartney had been in the Clash. The message is clear: fans impatient for Costello to return to his This Year’s Model roots, the wait is over. Elvis may be 67 years old but he’s not too old to rock and roll. And lay on all his usual clever lyrical and melodic turns too.

Now when I say this record marks a return to This Year’s Model that’s only part of what’s going on. Drummer Pete Thomas is playing on the original kit from that record and you can definitely hear it at the start of tracks like “Penelope Halfpenny” and “What If I Can’t Give You Anything But Love?” But the songs simply refuse to be limited to influences from just one album. “Penelope Halfpenny” is really the lyrical and melodic cousin of “Veronica” from Costello’s 1989 Warner Brothers debut Spike, though the organ riffs would be right at home on Armed Forces. “What If I Can’t Give You Anything But Love?” also balances This Year’s Model drumming with an Armed Forces melodic vibe. At times it’s the sound and combination of instruments that harkens back to a particular time. “Magnificent Hurt” aces the early records formula of distinctive bass and organ runs. “Mistook Me For A Friend” and “The Man You Love To Hate” echo the gripping tension that the Attractions could sustain on a variety of cuts from the first few albums. Then again “My Most Beautiful Mistake” reminds me of the pop soul sound EC worked up on his mid-period release Mighty Like a Rose.

And then there’s the ballads. “Paint the Red Rose Blue” is that exquisitely mannered song style Elvis really got into from Trust onwards that pops up again and again over the rest of his career. I sometimes think he must crank a few of these out every day before breakfast, so effortlessly do they flow across his many releases. You want it darker? Both “Trick Out the Truth” and “Mr. Crescent” are those seemingly nice EC ballads that hint at a deeper menace the longer you keep listening to them. But the highlight on this album for me is “The Difference” with its keyboard dominated chorus. I’ve always had a soft spot for Goodbye Cruel World and the mix of elements here really remind of where Costello landed on that record.

Paint the Red Rose Blue
The Difference

Rock and roll Elvis is back. Though, in fairness, he never really went away. What nostalgic fans often want is a return to Elvis circa 1979, all snarl, pounding drums and relentless organ riffs. Well EC has seldom been keen to simply stand still creatively or retread old ground. He’s constantly pushed the limits of his rock and roll horizons. But on The Boy Named If Costello indulges the yearning for past glory, sprinkling hints of musical yesteryear all over the album. And the result, far from a retread, is a distinctively new Elvis synthesis.

Elvis Costello lives online here, at least some of the time.

Something happened here: Ronnie Spector and Marshall Crenshaw

14 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

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The death of the legendary, incomparable Ronnie Spector is a shock. Did a singer ever seem more alive? From her ground-breaking singles with the Ronettes throughout the 1960s to various efforts to jump start her solo career from the 1970s on, Spector gave it her all. And while she never managed to pull off a Tina Turner kind of comeback in her solo phase she did produce some fine singles and albums, particularly those backed by Springsteen’s E Street Band. However, hands down, my favourite post-Ronettes release from Ronnie Spector is her collaboration with Marshall Crenshaw.

Recorded in 1989, Something’s Gonna Happen was only finally released in 2003. The EP is a dynamic blast of everything that made Spector special: gutsy vocals, Ronettes-quality background singing, and a crack musical backing from Crenshaw’s amazing mid-1980s band. And the tunes really work for her too. The EP focuses on material from Crenshaw’s first two albums, two from each and a rare cut that he never released, with the whole thing produced by Crenshaw’s early producer Alan Betrock. From 1983’s Field Day, Spector adds a tenderness to the vocal on “For His Love” and puts her own stamp on “Whenever You’re On My Mind.” But it’s the material from Crenshaw’s self-titled 1982 debut that really allows Spector to shine, adding a new spark to “Favorite Waste of Time” and turning “Something’s Gonna Happen” into a should-be hit single. The unreleased Crenshaw track “Communication” is another highlight, a solid tune that Spector really makes her own. In a better world, the release of this EP would have marked Spector’s triumphant return to the spotlight.

As the lights dim on the stage, Ronnie Spector is gone. But everybody in listening range knows something happened here. Thankfully we can relive the magic again and again with these great recordings. Visit her website here or check out her recent super holiday EP on bandcamp.