I can get wild. Sometimes. Ok, let’s face it, any genre boundary-crossing I’m doing still involves a lot hookyness, even if there’s some guitar distortion, yelly vocals, or an amp cranked past 11. Cases in point – today’s featured acts. They’ve got dialed up guitars and discordant singing or some cool stylistic weirdness going for them. And it works!
San Diego’s premier postmodern pop band is TV Girl. With three EPs and four albums released since 2010, this is a group that knows how to get wonderfully weird and stay there. I’m impressed with their ability to pastiche up and over a host of influences, riffing on great hooks (sometimes) borrowed with ease from multiple pop culture sources. Take the oh-so-soul sounding familiarity of “Benny and the Jetts” or the winter skating-rink party ambience of “Baby You Were There.” It’s a winning formula on these early EPs: TV Girl build original pop songs from bits and pieces of old time sixties and seventies sampled hits, like the blast of Todd Rungdren’s “Hello It’s Me” that kicks off and then haunts their own “If You Want It.” You can really hear the Burroughs cut up production style all over the first TV Girls longplayer, The Wild, The Innocent, The TV Shuffle released in 2012. Check out the brilliant melding of early 1960s girl singer Linda Scott’s classic “I Told Every Little Star” into the band’s original song, “Misery,” or the threading of the Beatles’ version of Arthur Alexander’s “Anna” throughout “On the Fence.”
By the release of 2014’s French Exit the band’s songwriting really comes on stream with catchy numbers like “Pantyhose,” “Birds Don’t Sing,” and “Angela.” Since then TV Girl have explored more dance and hip hop grooves on 2014’s Who Really Cares and 2018’s Maddie Acid’s Purple Hearts Club Band and some chilly dream pop on Death of a Party Girl from later that same year. But personally I’m really digging the just released 2020 collection of outtakes from French Exit, dubbed The Night in Question. Think The Shortwave Set with a dash of Simple Kid and Tally Hall and you’re in the ballpark.
Boston’s Wakes evokes the holy spirit of rock and roll with spooky sounding guitars and somber world-weary vocals. But embedded in most tunes is that subtle melody-ness I associate with Buddy Holly and Bruce Springsteen. It jumps out in the jaunty guitar lines carrying “Headlines” from Wakes 2014’s album Feral Youth. The overlay of crackling, haunting vocals just seals the deal. Actually, the guitars on this album keep things shifting back and forth from an edgy rock and roll dance party to a car-driving radio-relay-tower passing ambience. From there Wakes dials down the productivity, offering just a covers EP and final mini-album in 2017 before calling a halt to music altogether. The swan song collection of unreleased stuff is gold, ranging from an industrial 1950s vibe to sweet fairground attractions to stark acoustic folk-iness. Entitled Ends, it kicks off with “I Don’t Want to See You Anymore,” an off-kilter bit of Eddie Cochrane-infused psycho-billy brought to life by a furious, driving guitar hook. I also love the stroll-down-the-fairway vibe on “Year After Year,” guided by a mellifluous Del Shannon organ. One can only hope that Wakes’ Tim Oxton’s design/art career goes gangbusters and he can return to a bit of music on the side.
I’m not afraid of a bit of avant garde, genre-blending indie music, as long as a load of hooks are buried somewhere in the mix. That’s what you get with TV Girl and Wakes. Take a walk on their wild side right now.
The self-titled debut album from Juniper is a blast of girl power circa 1963, complete with roller coasters, badly behaving boys, and crushes galore. There’s a spooky kinship here with the distinctive girl singers sound of Linda Scott’s “(I Told) Every Little Star,” the Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back,” Skeeter Davis’ “Gonna Get Along Without You Now,” and just about any track from Lesley Gore’s Golden Hits. Tracks like “Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys! Boys!” “Girls Just Want a Boy To Rest Their Head Upon,” and “Gotta Draw the Line” could easily slip onto any 1960s Connie Francis or Brenda Lee LP. But the album also takes those influences in a more contemporary direction, sounding very early Go Go’s on “Kids on the Corner” or vibing a low key 1980s pop psychedelia with “I Don’t Want to Dream About You.” “Punk Rock Boy” and “Everybody has a Crush on Chad” even veer into well-behaved rock and roll (with a touch of glam on the latter). Single? I’d go with “Best Kept Secret,” a hooky poprock delight with just hint of off-kilter indie charm, evoking more recent artists like Jeanines or Lisa Mychols. But then again I’m pretty partial to “Sticking with Henry,” a retro workout that somehow sounds so fresh and now. Credit here has to go the album’s producer and musical director, Michael Shelley, who wrote or co-wrote eight of the record’s twelve songs, and assembled a dream team of players from bands like the Mekons, the Smithereens, Los Straightjackets, Look Park, and many others.
In the 1990s Fountains of Wayne had a huge impact on me. A Beatles, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, and Squeeze kind of impact. I loved the quirky, alienated melodic should-be hits of the debut, couldn’t stop bopping to the hooks on Utopia Parkway, and marveled at the Sgt. Pepper-esque stature of Welcome Interstate Managers. Sure, Traffic and Weather seemed a bit of a holding pattern but then Sky Full of Holes had them back in fine form. I just assumed there’d be many more great albums to come. The recent passing of one half of the band’s creative force, Adam Schlesinger, has put the coda on that amazing body of work. Well, we’ll always have the songs. Indeed, now we’ll have to make do with how others take up the catalogue.
And here I am delighted to report that a fantastic new chapter of FOW life begins now with a great new collection of covers from Radiant Radish Records. If you love the band, there’s no doubt in my mind you’re gonna want to check out Can’t Shake That Tune: A Tribute to Fountains of Wayne. RR’s Mike Patton has put together a splendid stable of indie artist covering FOW material, with selections from each of the band’s albums. And for a collection put together in about a month – from conception to recording to release – the quality is impressive. Some artists hue pretty close to the originals (American Wood “Denise”; The Easy Button “The Summer Place”) while others attempt to jar our sense of the familiar with new tempos and styles (Jonathan Pushkar “Stacy’s Mom”). There’s punked-up energy (Vista Blue “The Senator’s Daughter”), folkie stripped-down restraint (Christian Migilorese “Troubled Times”), and plenty of ukulele too (The Soft Spots “Sink to the Bottom”).
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.
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 
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.
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!
Head Sounds is another super-Cali-fantastic release from Paul Ryan aka Super 8! Imagine Ray Davies joining the Beach Boys sometime in 1968 for a one-off album outing and you kinda get the picture. Ryan aces that late 1960s California poprock sound on tracks like “Dragonfly,” with its sometimes dreamy, sometimes swinging groove and timely sentiments about ‘what if you could only live for a day’? And things just get more groovy from there. Five of Head Sounds numbers already appeared on an EP of the same name but the expansion really fills out the original sunny, sand-flecked ambiance. Dig the happy township jive animating “BoNes,” or the addictive rhythmic hook undergirding “BeBopALuLa,” as well as inspired covers of both the Beatles (“Across the Universe”) and Beach Boys (“In My Room”). There a Roddy Frame/Aztec Camera quality to “Love Like Ours,” a skipping-on-a-sunny-day feel to “Millionaire,” and a laid-back let it be vibe to “Keep the Home Fires Burning.” If sunshine had a soundtrack, it might sound like Head Sounds. Drop the needle anywhere on this disc and groove your cares away.
Once upon a time jangle guitar player/singer/songwriter Dave Kuchler joined an already established New Jersey band to help deliver one of the most criminally overlooked poprock masterpieces of the early 1990s, the Soul Engines’
A toy piano kicks off “Good Call,” the opening track of I Know Why You Cry. The song also features a pretty wicked violin solo. It’s all part of the unpredictable whimsy we’ve come to expect from Guelph, Ontario’s favourite son, Gregory Pepper. But the song also touches on aging, life struggles, and questions of identity, themes that appear throughout the record. I Know Why You Cry is actually a curated selection from Pepper’s mammoth “Song of the Week” exercise from 2017-18, a “long, cheeky, confessional mixtape” says Pepper that produced 52 tracks of sometimes undisciplined, often manic melody. Amid the chaos of delivering a new song each week Pepper also grappled with classic transitional life events like losing a parent, having a baby, and rebuilding a kitchen. Now, almost two years later, Pepper offers up a precisely crafted distillation of the experience. And the results are good. Very good indeed.
The album’s ‘dark’ side opens rather sprightly with “Good Call,” despite a melody and march-like feel that belies its serious themes. “Bottle of Ink” is basic biography. Pepper is also an accomplished graphic artist that uses his bottle of ink to capture things that are ‘funny and sad when life is a drag.’ Then its full on into darkness, with songs exploring worry (“Worrier Spirit”), loss (“Maybe I’ll See You”), identity (“Unsolved Mystery”) and coping (“Bogus Journey”). But darkness Pepper-style is not really a downer at all. The tuba and Monty Norman Bond coda on “Worrier Spirit” cuts the dread down the size pretty effectively. Things do occasionally get somber, as on “Bogus Journey” when Pepper channels Yann Tierson in his Amélie and Goodbye, Lenin! phase. But never for too long. Case in point: the lovely situational sketch drawn out in “Sublime Sun Tattoo” where a shop song query segues into surreal speculation about Enya’s lonely castle and stalkers so obsessed they stab themselves. It takes a certain kind of wonderfully twisted creativity to deliver this stuff.
Poprock Record 