Category Archives: Artist Spotlight

Singles slalom with Ski Lift

19 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Just five tracks, that’s all you get from Ski Lift on their debut EP Singles. The band is just one of many side projects for Welsh sometime folkie Benji Trantor, joined here by Ailsa Tully and Jovis Lane. Things get started with the 2019 release of single “Comfortable Here,” a mellow bit of pleasing guitar pop. Then the four other songs emerge sporadically throughout 2021, culminating in the EP’s release halfway though 2022. First up “Portal,” a track that gets the band’s engine running a bit faster and adds some fine vocal harmony detailing. Just two months later there a distinctive change in sound on “Moaning Again,” all fun experimental keyboards and poppy hooks. “Teenager” has a spare airy electric guitar feel, so like the poppy confectionary from Kevine Devine and *repeat repeat. “I Wanna Be You” wraps up the band’s singles run with a sometimes punchy, sometimes low key singalong. All in all, these five songs are fresh and buoyant and cool, thus the skiing imagery no doubt.

These five ‘fresh tracks’ (to use the ski lingo) are the band’s only tracks so far, as far as I can tell. Will there be more? Even if this is it I’d still say it’s a pretty good run.

You get on the Ski Lift here.

Lennon versus McCartney

30 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

Fans have long been divided on just who they love more, Lennon or McCartney. Smart versus lovable, political versus sentimental, rocky versus hooky – these are the classic (and somewhat misleading) lines of division drawn between a duo who arguably comprise the greatest song-writing team of all time. Such judgements also face another challenge: in the Beatles John and Paul wrote songs together but also apart despite sharing a co-writing credit on everything, making it hard sometimes to sort out who wrote what. To make an effective comparison you really have to turn to their solo work in the 1970s to establish what each could do beyond the influence of each other and the Beatles’ unique group dynamic. Now the point here isn’t to say who is better because that is obviously completely subjective. You can’t debate taste. What I propose to do is compare their solo work to the Beatles material and ask ourselves which one, John or Paul, more consistently met that standard, a standard defined by commercially innovative singles and highly listenable albums that contained little filler. Get ready for contention! I’m fairly certain my choices and observations will spark debate but hey, that’s half the fun of writing a blog. Please do join in with your own take on this classic, endless, ultimately irresolvable dispute.

Let’s start with singles. Personally, I think John’s got a leg up here and that is saying something considering what a hit single machine Paul has been as a solo artist. Don’t get me wrong, both John and Paul have crafted some amazing singles. My measure is, who has continued the commercial innovation that we associate with the Beatles the most as a solo artist? Here I think John has the advantage with songs like “Instant Karma,” “Imagine,” “Mind Games,” and “#9 Dream.” Each one exhibits the kind of musical creativity and ‘pushing of the pop song envelope’ that I associate with the Beatles work. I could imagine any one of them appearing on a 1970s Beatles album, if such a thing had come to pass. I’m not saying every John single was a winner. Paul certainly has a few Beatles-worthy singles moments as a solo artist – songs like “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and “Band on the Run” – but they don’t branch out much from similar previous efforts with the band. I would grant that “Jet” and “Live and Let Die” met the Beatles innovation standard. Stepping away from singles for a moment, both John and Paul have got a few really special deep cuts on their 1970s solo albums, like John’s “Jealous Guy” from Imagine and Paul’s “Magneto and Titanium Man” from Venus and Mars.

What about albums? Rock critics tend to rate a few of John’s albums as the best solo work from a former Beatle, particularly Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. I’ve got to disagree. In terms of total listenability and an absence of weak cuts the hands-down winner is Paul’s Band on the Run. The difference in opinion here comes down to how much credence you give the ‘cool’ factor. Critics loved John over Paul because they saw him as serious, deep, and political. It was all part of the conversion of the music press from cheer-leading, teeny-bopper coverage to more serious journalism in the late sixties and early 1970s. And hey, if you like that sort of thing, cool. But the Beatles were not some underground indie band, judged by how ‘cool’ they were. They were a commercial juggernaut whose music was accessible to anyone with ears. Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are great albums but they’re not up to Beatles standards, in my view. Not all the songs are equally strong or accessible. This became only more pronounced on John’s later albums where he tended to feature one outstanding single amid a bevy of weaker material. In the case of Some Time in New York City there wasn’t even a decent single. By contrast, Band on the Run has no filler. All the songs are either great or very good. It’s the closest any ex-Beatle came to putting out something comparable to a Beatles album IMHO. And, just to throw in a really controversial claim, I think John’s most Beatles-worthy album is actually Double Fantasy because it’s the only one where all the songs are actually pretty good, even the Yoko tracks. And I’m not saying that McCartney’s albums were uniformly good either. Indeed, they too mostly suffered from a surfeit of rather second rank tunes cast amidst the hits.

Well there you have it, I rate John as the solo Beatle with the most commercially-innovative, Beatles-worthy singles and Paul as producing the album that comes closest to reproducing the Beatles trade-mark listenability. Controversial views, I know. Now whether you agree with these judgements or not, I do think there are some patterns here that are undeniable. Clearly, looking at his solo work, John just wasn’t an album man. Self-admittedly somewhat lazy, John was good for bringing in three or four really great tunes to every Beatles album session. His friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) competitiveness with Paul heightened his productivity within the group. But as a solo artist John lacked the drive to fill annual albums with top-quality Lennon material. By contrast, Paul could crank out tunes and albums with a Beatlesque eye to overall listenability and commercial success. But as a solo artist Paul never worked with anyone that challenged him the way John did and that limited his innovative creativity compared to his Beatles-era work. Compare that to John, collaborating with the likes of David Bowie and Elton John and getting some pretty impressive results (e.g. the Lennon/Bowie co-write “Fame”), and you get a glimmer of what might have been possible.

Pitting John against Paul was never gonna produce any clearcut ‘winner.’ Even their somewhat less Beatlesy solo work still contained some pretty stellar stuff from both. And, in the end, you don’t have to choose or play favourites. You can love them both. I know I do.

Top photo by Tom Murray from the Beatles ‘mad day out’ 1968.

Poprock self-starter kit: Orchidales and Where Is Your Dog Now?

15 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

The DIY force is strong with these two acts, conjuring band albums out of largely solo efforts recorded on Tascams at home. But the results are anything but amateur, proving that bedrooms are good for a variety of excitements.

North Carolina’s Orchidales is John O’Donahue over three albums released between 2012 and 2018. The sound is a shoegazey Velvet Underground homage that gets crisper and less gazey and VU over time. The self-titled debut sounds like some dark underground club somewhere, the guitar tones shifting between Velvets rocking rudimentary (“Junky”) and exquisite innovation (“Lushes”). “Everyone’s Girl” sounds like a 60s garage classic. The sound on this record also remind me Patrick Boutwell’s work from the same time period. A year later things sound a bit less VU on An American Album of Familiar Music but still pretty garagey rough and ready. I love the relentless drive of tracks like “Electro,” “Seventeen” and “Emily.” But the record is also marked by some more mid-temp material like “No Name #7” and “Above the Clouds.” Five years passed before Mysterious Skin and Other Favorites came out in 2018 and the production sound was markedly different, cleaner and with vocals more present in the mix. Just listen to the guitar and vocal seem to pop out of the speakers on “Mysterious Skin.” Or there’s the fabulously layered arrangement of “Mira Sorvino // Lisa Kudrow.” “No Name #9” strips everything down to acoustic guitar and a vocal to reveal something so magnificent and honest. But 60s garagey goodness still prevails here in strength on tracks like “Nightcrawler” and “The DEA Took My Baby Away.” Too many years have passed since this last installment of O’Donahue’s fuzzy musical vision.

Andrew Haworth writes a lot songs. He’s put out 9 albums under his own name and two more as his one-man band Where Is Your Dog Now? since 2017. And that’s not the whole of it. By his own account he dramatically overwrites for each album. He wrote 114 songs for 2020’s Songs from the Second Wave and 130 for 2021’s Country Songs for People Who Hate This Country. Holy over-productivity Batman – both records only ended up with 14 cuts each. So what are the results? His nine solo records are full of clever wordplay and fun absurdity, delivered with a Frank Zappa-like deadpan. But his more recent Where Is Your Dog Now? releases have a fuller sound, the hooks are more polished, delivered with an almost McCartney-esque sonic diversity. Hard to believe these are home recordings! The lyrics are still super-smart, cleverisms around every corner, but the tunes are earworm worthy. Case in point from Songs from the Second Wave: “How to Not Go Insane.” So many subtle shifts of hooky melody here. I’m also partial to the driving “Some Things Never Change” and handclap happy “Rewriting Your Narrative.” A year later Country Songs for People Who Hate This Country continued in the same vein, still madcap lyrically and musically full of popped out rock. You could sample the vibe with tracks like “Coffee Table Crooks” and “Claire’s Ween Playlist” but, frankly, just needle-dropping anywhere would work too. “New York Intellectual” reminds me of Momus’s “A Maoist Intellectual” not because they sound similar but because they exude a similar righteous disdain for pseudo-intellectuals. Should-be hit single? Check out “A Little Invested” for your earworm winner. Haworth is busy at work on album #3 for this project, to be entitled The First Songs in the World, and with four preview singles up it’s clear it’s gonna be another winner. My current fave is “Cave” and its cleverly crafted video.

Most of us learn by example. Looking to self-start your own DIY poprock recording career? You won’t get much better teachers than these two indefatigable acts. Click on the links to start your lessons today.

Record round-up III

31 Saturday Dec 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

This is it, round three of our year-end record round-up, our final one for the year. And it is definitely a strong finish. If round one was rocking and round two was retro then round three is a tad more out there and experimental. But oh-so listenable.

Everyone Stop is *repeat repeat’s sprawling new 27-cut double-plus album. Just released at year’s end, you can enjoy it as an uninterrupted 91 minute experience or skip all over its many different contributions, needle-dropping your way through its musical depths. With so much material here the record lacks the laser-like stylistic focus of the band’s magisterial 2019 release Glazed. But the expanse gives them a chance to hang out in so many different sonic playrooms. The results are a rocking good-time funk dancing acoustic emotional ballad roller coaster. You’re gonna need to hang on tight to hang in here. The first three cuts are a good introduction to the textured genius of this band: “Everyone Stop,” “Dearly Departed,” and “Arrangements” hit you with such cool guitar tones, a solid dance bass/drum combo, and airy-light vocals. The whole album could have just stayed in this lane. But suddenly “Adult Friend Finder” flips the script, taking us into alt-folk territory not unlike the likes of You Won’t and Bombadil. Just looking for earworms? Let’s cut to the hits chase: “Hmm Feels Like,” “Diamonds,” and “Tripping (I Know I Will)” are all should-be hit singles. What hooks! What sonic artistry! There’s so much to love here and I can only scrape the surface of what the band accomplish on this LP. Right now I’ll just draw attention to the wistful “I Was Happy” which lays its dreamy pop over a musical bed that sounds so Portugal the Man. Or there’s my today-fave cut (it may change tomorrow) “Burn Another Layer.” My recommendation: you’re going to need to set aside some time to fall in love with Everyone Stop. But you will.

I fell hard for The Stroppies killer 2019 single “First Time Favourites” with its harpsichordian keyboard riffs and folk rock vocals. So my first hit of their new album Levity was more than a bit jarring. But I loved it. What an interesting shift of musical emphasis from this band on this record, to a more daring, somewhat techno-experimental sound laid over solid rock and roll tunes. You can feel the creative tension of this mixture rippling throughout opening cut “The Perfect Crime,” with the guitar and keyboard parts pulling in different directions. Then “Smilers Strange Politely” floats a pleasant melody over a relentless guitar riff that gets seared into your consciousness. The record is really all about letting the electric lead guitar drive the songs – songs like “Up To My Elbows,” “I’m In the Water” and “Figure Eights” all let the guitar work cut loose in exciting ways. And yet there’s still a folk rock feel to so many tracks here, like “Material Conditions” and “Butchering the Punchline.” Seriously, Levity is a great new direction from a very good band.

Philadelphia’s 2nd Grade always give a little bit more. 2020’s Hit to Hit had 24 songs. 2021’s Wish You Were Here Tour Revisited had 23. Now in 2022 they’ve scaled back – to 16 cuts. But new LP Easy Listening does not skimp on quality. This is one fine crew of melodic tunes, accent on poppy. Opening cut “Cover of the Rolling Stone” hits all the classic powerpop marks, vibing Mo Troper pretty strongly for me. But then “Strung Out On You” throws some 70s rock jauntiness into the mix. “Hung Up” is all 1980s guitar pop. “Me and My Blue Angels” works in a few more minor chords while “Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Let It Be” lets a big room rumble guitar fill the space in another otherwise airy lowkey number. For variety check out the Stones rhythmic slouch all over “Poet in Residence” or the bubblegum Ramones feel to “Beat of the Drum.” This record is like some K-tel super hits collection, there’s so much diversity here (and I’m not even half through the album). Personal faves: “Teenage Overpopulation” and “Hands Down” – such exhibit A perfect poprock singles. “Planetarium” is pretty sweet too. Easy Listening is not just truth in advertising, it’s 100% fun.

I feel like I’ve been trying to write about The Rubs all year. Ever since I ran across their Stonesy “I Want You” last March and found their album (dust) in August it’s been on the shortlist. But for one reason or another the record didn’t fit into this to that post. Not for lack of trying. So now let me say, this album is phenomenal piece of work. It’s like a great lost record from the 1979 to 1982 period, it so nails the guitars and poppy rock and roll songwriting and sound of the records in that era. Songwriter and one-man band Joey Rubbish (not his real name?) takes a host of classic rock motifs and pops them up, front-loading some great melodies. Opening cut “I Want You” is an attention grabber, so classic rock and roll but those candy coated vocals make it irresistible. But then things shift with “Dana” and its kooky fun spacey keyboards. From there variety comes in many forms, from the folk rock “Here In My Dreams” to the keyboard punchy “I Don’t Wanna Wait” to Thin Lizzy-ish “Hang On To Me.” Rubbish so nails the everyman rock and roll vocals of the late 1970s on tracks like “Waste of Time” or the propulsive Plimsouls guitar drive on tunes like “The Same Thing to Me.” But my vote for outstanding track here is “When I Dream About You,” a genuine poprock tour-de-force. What a majestic melody! Don’t waste time, just place (dust) directly into your ‘best of the year’ pile.

NYC’s Cherry Slide are a slice of acoustic guitar pop, dropped from the Family of the Year mold. It’s all strummy strummy strummy against a wash of harmony vocals. Except when it’s not. “Not Fair” captures the basic sound: acoustic guitar front and centre, light and airy vocals, all in the service of a poppy tune. “I Took a Number” adds some variation to this with its nice lead guitar accents. But then we have “Generate This!” It’s a wonderful single that just cooks along, riding a strong acoustic rhythm guitar and dropping in bits of electric guitar amid a captivating mix of vocals. Picked straight from the ‘hits’ tree. The band also offer up a souped-up cover His Name Is Alive’s rather spare “Wall of Speed” adding a soft-rock Spector Wall of Sound effect. Moving north Halifax Nova Scotia’s Municipality also ride the lowkey guitar pop train, sounding a bit more Elephant 6 though. On their debut Sunroom they really do sound sometimes like Apples in Stereo just popped into the Beatles Let It Be sessions. “First and Last” and “Let It Go” have really got that late period Abbey Road feel. But the material itself is more 90s indie poprock e.g. there’s a bit of Elliot Smith on “Without You.” On the other hand, “All in My Mind” sounds like the single to me with its hooky guitar shots.
It’s been an odyssey, getting through this end-of-the-year record round-up. But so worth it – so many great acts, so many great tunes. And dropped in just in time for 2022.

Photo fragment of 57 Chevy ad courtesy James Vaughn.

Record round-up II

30 Friday Dec 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

On episode 2 of our year-end record round-up we’re going seriously retro. These acts know their influences and lean into them, heavily. But not without some creative licence.

What happens when you bring a bona fide 1970s indie legend into contact with a Spanish sunshine-pop hipster? Magic my friends, that’s what. Marc Jonson and Ramírez Exposure’s debut collaboration Turning On The Century, Volume 1 is a love letter to California’s sunny pop traditions, a bit baroque a times with a whole lot of sixties rock and roll heart. Opening track “Tape Recorder” brings a masterful Beach Boy-like vocal interplay to a song that goes Dion and on and on. Or just listen to how the acoustic lead guitar bounces along carrying “The Real Sound of the World.” “Sour Lemonade Sour” sounds bit more mid-1970s sweet pop while “Appears” is a great tune where the vocals seem to float over a very late seventies McCartney-like backing. “I Don’t Know Your World” adds some Neil Diamond-ish musical change-ups to a song that I could hear the Everly Brothers doing. Then the duo wrap things up with a more modern 1980s sound on “The Anchorite.” Seems like Turning On The Century, Volume 1 is just begging for a volume 2.

Once upon a time I looked to artists like Matthew Sweet to deliver album after album of reliably poprocky hooks. Now I turn to Greg Pope. Over the course of now eight solo albums he just never lets me down, turning out absolutely fabulous hook-filled long-players. This year’s Rise of the Mythical Creatures is no exception. Album opener “As You Love” sounds very Sweet, very much like the should-be hit single. Then “Words No One Can Say” has an intensity and occasional vocal presence that has me imagine a new wave John Lennon. But what is striking about this record, and perhaps a bit of a departure for Pope, is how the acoustic rhythm guitar is pushed to the top of the mix in so many of the songs here, in a very seventies way. It’s obvious in the absolutely dynamite single-ish “Sorry I Wrote This Song.” But you can really hear it on “Holding on to a Sunny Day” and “Looking Down.” I’m also partial to “Backwards Through a Door” which echoes the best of the poppy efforts from bands like Blue Oyster Cult. Sometimes myths are true – this record proves you can believe in Greg Pope.

Somewhere Sideways Same As You is the first album for Drew Beskin with his new band The Sunshine, gathering together a bunch of things he’s been working over the past year or so. Tracks like “Lisa Simpson Fangs” and “Horror Movie Plot” came out a while back. Others are more recent, like “Spoilers,” a buoyant, lighthearted keyboard romp from this past summer. What all this means is that while the record contains a mix of styles it still somehow establishes a constant mood. I hear the refined Americana pop sound of Sam Weber on tracks like “Not If But When.” But then cuts like “Pear Plum Blues” add some grit to the guitar, establishing a heavier, almost punky sound. My personal fave is “The Mystery of Being a Boy.” The song is just a great straight-up poprock tune, breezing along with the abandon of a deep cut from Rank and File or the Grapes of Wrath. “Sun Cancer” reverts to a Weber-like pop sophistication, dropping in some clever hooks.

Who is Peter Astor? I don’t know. But after hearing “New Religion” from his recent Time On Earth album I feel like I should have. Turns out, he goes way back, to the late 1970s break out new wave/punk scene, to the moody 1980s English band scene, to plenty of solo records. Man, have I got a lot of homework to do with his back catalogue. But for now, let’s take on Time On Earth, an album that meanders through a variety of styles. There’s the wonderfully mannered, mellow ruminations that remind me of Black e.g. “English Weather” (what horns!). Or the obvious should-be hit-single “New Religion” with its great combo of distinctive synth work and a vocal melody reminiscent of Boo Hewerdine’s work. And what about that Steve Nieve-worthy keyboard work on “Time on Earth”? Killer stuff. “Miracle on the High Street” is just a lovely folk tune. On “Undertaker” Astor goes all Nick Lowe elder statesman, the guitar warbles just so, the vocal harmonies shiver on cue. Then “Fine and Dandy” calls a wrap on the record by actually turning up the amps and knocking off a few tasty guitar solos. I’ve listened to this record more than few times and each time I’m impressed by Astor’s effortless mastery of whatever he’s putting out.

Given the surprising death of Dallas Good earlier this year Colder Streams marks the final release from The Sadies classic line-up featuring Good family brothers Dallas and Travis. It’s a shame for many reasons, not least of which is that the quality of the band’s recent musical output has shown no signs of fading. Depending on how you count their records Colder Streams is their 20 LP and it is undeniably rip-roaringly good. What we have here is a wonderful synthesis of garage, psych and jangle, sometimes tipping more rock, sometimes leaning country. Opening cut “Stop and Start” even sounds like The Smithereens-meets-The The, put through a psychedelic filter. I’d divide the album into three thematic realms. There’s a western Morricone feel to “More Alone” and certainly the deliberately cinematic “End Credits” which throws in some Bond elements too. I love the Gregorian chant vibe infused into the otherwise spaghetti western-ish “Cut Up High and Dry.” Then there’s garage rock and psych influences defining “No One’s Listening” and “Better Yet,” the latter evoking such seminal acts of the genre as the Chocolate Watch Band. I also hear a very REM gloss on a few tunes, such as “So Far for So Few” and “Ginger Moon.” On the outlier front, there’s country banjo lurch of “All the Good.”

People familiar with Marco Busato’s previous band More Kicks will need to adjust their expectations. On Night of My Times, Busato’s solo debut, the power pop intensity is dialed down in favour of a more subtle sonic shading and impact. The songs here are light pop confections, elevated with a variety of delicious guitar tones. Feel the gentle swing of opening cut “Sunken Ships” to fully get the brief here. The overlapping lead guitar lines are often short, simple and utterly seductive, tied together with some heavenly vocal ‘ahhs’ wallpapering the background. In another way, the record is a bit disorienting. The different musical elements sounds so familiar – there’s bits of 60s psychedelia, 70s AM pop, surf guitar, etc. – but nothing here is really retro. Instead this palette is used to add colour to these oh-so pleasant songs. Check out how the lead guitar and offbeat rhythm brighten “I Don’t Know Why” and particularly the surf-ish instrumental “Tropical Downtime.” At other times the feel is so 1970s AM radio melodious, as on “Find the Way” and “Night of My Times.”

Rounding up records can be like herding sheep, there’s a lot of noise and you’re not really sure where things are going. But that’s half the fun. More to come!

Photo courtesy of James Vaughn.

Record round-up I

28 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

It happens every time. Year-end rolls around and the ‘to-be-reviewed’ pile is groaning under the weight of the thus-far neglected, could-be super hits. To give everyone some airtime in their year of release this is the first of three record round-ups before the new year. I may accent brevity here but know this, the love is as fulsome as ever.

I just discovered that Farewell Horizontal is not just the name of a Melbourne noisy pop outfit but also Pavement’s last album. I don’t really hear a connection. Farewell Horizontal, the band, get noisy here and there, like on “Nosy Parker.” But most of their fourth album Tales of Woah has a killer poppy undercurrent on the rock and roll, like the best of Matthew Sweet. Opening cut “Brighton’s Full Of Arseholes” catches your attention for its title alone, but the song cooks, the vocal melody carrying us along. “Summer of Disease” is a bit more acoustic guitar pop in a Guster style. I love the oscillation between menacing and dreamy themes sustaining “The Answer is No.” Things lean in a Pixies direction on a number of cuts, like “Uh Oh (No)” and “The System Works.” Love the lead guitar opening and recurring throughout “Never Give Up (Unless You’re Shit).” On the whole, Tales of Woah is a ‘don’t hold back’ kind of album purchase.

People have been writing a lot about Washington D.C. rock and roll stalwarts Dot Dash and their new release Madman in the Rain. And why not? It’s so listenable. There is something early 1980s poprock with a jazzy tinge about this record, sorta like what the Style Council and Everything but the Girl were doing back then. Just hit play on “Space Junk, Satellites” to get the feel. Other tracks are more straight up 1980s guitar pop, with cool extra vocal adornments. Like the ‘ooh oohs’ sprinkled throughout “Forever Far Out.” I hear a lot of Roddy Frame influence here, on “Madman in the Rain” particularly but also more generally in terms of the album’s overriding ambience. The keyboards steal the show on the single-worthy “Tense and Nervous” along with all those new wave band/song shout-outs. Or one might recall The Grapes of Wrath listening to “Saints/Pharaohs.” Where is my sideways button-up shirt?

Turn on In Deed member Richard Öhrn’s new solo album Sounds in English and you are immediately transported to a pop-psychedelia English summer garden circa 1967. It’s in the jangle, the mock flute solos, and the emotional ennui soaking all the songs. “Seal Your Move” is practically a musical poster child for the era, shaded with touches of the Hollies and the Turtles here and there. Then “5th Month Announcement” sounds like a cross between Simon and Garfunkel and Moody Blues. And who but an expert on the late 1960s folk pop era could drive along “Someone to Forgive You” with something that sounds like Greek balalaika lead lines and a subtle organ undercurrent. “Take This Bottle” comes back to the Hollies, but with a bit of the Searchers thrown in for good effect. And then there’s the utterly delightful piano lines defining “Love and Friendship.” What an album! Öhrn’s magic touch is in making the musical past fully present again.

Album number 13 is still lucky for Canadian east coast power pop institution Sloan. How do they keep turning it out? Could be their democratic creative ethos – all members sing and write songs. There’s no ‘front man’ here. Right from the break-out guitar driving album opener “Magical Thinking” Steady is in your head – to stay. This record is all highlights: “Spend the Day,” “Scratch the Surface,” “Keep Your Name Alive” – all are glorious guitar-heavy, chord-bashing wonders. They’re songs that will have you asking in exasperation ‘Just where is 11 on this crummy amp?!’ Of course, I do especially love the really melody-heavy numbers, like “She Put Up with What She Put Down,” “I Dream of Sleep,” and  “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” the latter with a decidedly Revolver-ish panache. No need for hard judgement here, just file this in the ‘best of the year’ pile.

And now for a bit of baroque pop. A whole lotta baroque, actually. How Birmingham, Alabama’s The Mellons come off sounding like a pitch perfect Beach Boys on their debut Introducing … The Mellons is just one of those mysteries of life. A definitely delightful mystery! Just hit play on “So Much to Say” and see if Beach Boys doesn’t register immediately, with a hefty dose of sunshine pop adornments. From there its beachscape all the way. You can practically hear the waves lapping up on “Devil’s Advocate” and “What a Time to Be Alive.” Though to be fair, there’s a strong psych pop feel to what is happening here, apparent strongly on “It’s Just a Phase” and “Salad Made of Butterflies.” Introducing … The Mellons is like time travel. A band that plays this good is a ‘happening’ for sure.

Another solid album is this year’s release from Ian M. Bailey, You Paint the Pictures. The sound is so sixties reminiscent but fresh and now at the same time. Title track and opening cut “Paint the Pictures” is a case in point. The jangle is clearly Brydsian through a Tom Petty filter but still timeless in its execution. If anything it reminds me of the AM radio-friendly work from McGuinn, Clark and Hillman in the late 1970s. “I Wanted the Sun to Shine” adds a slight country undercurrent to the rippling jangle while “I Don’t Want to Start Again” takes a more folk rock turn. “Life Without You” moves things into more Al Stewart/Gerry Rafferty territory while “Hey Little Girl” offers up a country pop vibe. For breezy should-be AM radio single I’d vote for “Change is Easy.” Song by song, this is a strong outing by any measure, for jangle-heads You Paint the Pictures is a real treat. Available from Kool Kat records here.

Paint the Pictures
I Wanted the Sun to Shine

Our record round-up is now well underway. I’m not saying we’ve left the best for last in these posts but we’ve clearly got some stuff left that is pretty good. Stay tuned.

Photo 1974 Spokane Expo World’s Fair postcard courtesy Joe Haupt.

Vancouver calling: Limblifter, Dead Soft, and Mounties

22 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, ,

The music scene in my old westcoast Canadian hometown has been definitely filling its quota of quality poprock of late. Today three bands you-could-stand-to-get-acquainted-with are hailing you from way out west. You really need to take this call.

Limblifter go back to the 1990s in one form or another. I came across them in their Pacific Milk period circa 2015. Wow. Sounds like Zolas, the Shins, and nothing you’re ever heard before. “The Fauves” and “Mood of Mechanics” are the stand out tracks for me. Their recent album Little Payne takes the sonorous guitar and keyboard licks in totally new directions on a host of cuts. But the monster should-be hit single here is “Haystack Rock.” What an earworm! This is a perfectly produced bit of poprock songcraft. So many interesting twists and turns, from the chugging rhythm guitars to the synthy keyboard wash to the delicious candy-coated vocals. Altogether, a pretty magical three minutes.

If you’re looking for a bit more dread and distortion in your melodic rock Dead Soft may be more on your wavelength. Combing through their Bandcamp back pages I might have gone with shoe-gazey or Swervedriver-ish as a descriptor. But their most recent single brightens their heavy pop sound quite a bit, in a fab Matthew Sweet sort of way. “Glimpse” has harmony vocals and super-charged lead guitar runs that will give you chills in all sorts of places. For the full treatment, check out their long-playing record Big Blue. Then there’s Mounties, a supergroup of sorts that delivers yet another flavour of westcoast poprock. I discovered the band quite by accident stumbling over their spot-on 1980s-riffing song “Hall and Oates.” Though if I’m being honest the sound is more Alan Parson Project with just a few Oatesian vocals interjections. “Pretty Respectable” from the same 2014’s Thrash Rock Legacy is also seriously good. Their more recent Heavy Meta is also loaded with killer cuts like “De-Evolve Again” and “Burning Money.” Personally I hear shades of Brendon Benson tucked in here and there.

Vancouver doesn’t call as often as it should. But when it does, with bands like these, you just gotta answer.

Late breaking debuts: Dave Woodard and Stephen Schijns

15 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

Some people save their debut for when they’re really good and ready. Like today’s artists – they’ve been treading the boards for years but are only just now getting around to slipping us a bona-fide long-playing album. But trust me, it’s been worth the wait.

Over the past few years David Woodard has produced a full album of material and then some. Thus far though he’s been more of an EP than LP kind of guy. Five EPs in fact. Now on Stupid Kid he stretches out a bit, presenting 12 tunes cast in a variety of power pop hues. Things start off strong with the magnificent title track “Stupid Kid,” a song for anyone whose teen self ever fantasized playing before adoring fans or just an adolescent crush. This song has new-wave throwback hit written all over it, a poppy rock delight in a solo Paul Collins or John Faye vein. “Literally Probably Maybe” keeps the 1980s guitar pop sheen shining brightly while “Right Through Me” takes this formula but adds a sweetness to the melody and vocal harmonies, courtesy the incomparable Lisa Mychols. If you really want to divine the magic behind what Woodard’s doing on this album just give a close listen to songs like “She Believes” and “More Than Happiness.”  They’re chock full of interesting melodic turns and creative vocal arrangements that allow them to really stand out. And then there’s the hooky guitar work. I love the guitar lick opening of “You’re Not Alone” but I’ll stay for the fabulous harmony vocals. With Stupid Kid David Woodard is all grown up and making power pop you really do want to hear.

Kelowna BC native Stephen Schijns (pronounced ‘Skines’) has been posting singles on Bandcamp for half a decade or so, whenever he cooked up something new. Now he’s gathered together some of those songs with a load of new material for his debut album Where Do We Go? The result is a jam-packed collection of melody-rich tunes, 18 in fact. Schijns’ style is a kind of everyman rock and roll, clearly informed by the sixties but with that smooth feel of the 1980s. Think Greg Kihn, Huey Lewis, Paul Collins, perhaps a splash of Jonathan Richman – that sort of thing. But what stands out here is the range and quality of song-writing, from the rollicking, freewheeling 1980s radio vibe of “What? Why?” and “MAP” to the sixties-infused “Friday Saturday Sunday O’ Clock” and “Round We Go,” the latter clearly an homage to those early 1960s dance numbers, complete with honking sax. There’s even a fun beach guitar workout on “Trans-Pacific Beach Bum.” But Schijns can also shift the mood dramatically with cuts like “1000 Miles From Nowhere” and “Take Your Life and Run,” both exuding a very Gordon Lightfoot feel and vocal phrasing. “Hard Edged World” even weaves a bit of old fashioned social commentary into the mix. For should-be hit singles adjust your set to play the light boppy “What Do I Know About Love?” and spot-on Brydsian re-creation “I Met Her Yesterday.” Where Do We Go? is that kind of record you can just play right through. And then maybe play again.

It’s never too late to make your debut. Some people just save what’s better for later.

It must be The Rallies!

28 Monday Nov 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

Tacoma’s favourite sons are a back with a teaser single from a whole new album that will be coming in the new year. For me, it can’t come soon enough. The Rallies burst on the indie music scene with their strong debut album Serve in 2017 and followed that up with the terrific Upside Down two years later. Their main strength was in combining memorable tunes with some straightforward, just slightly Americana-meets-jangle playing. A quick listen to their new song suggests album number three is going to be just as good. “Must Be Love” establishes itself quickly with the band’s signature rhythm guitar hooks and uplifting harmony vocals, adorned with jangling lead guitar runs in all the right places. The tune sounds deceptively simple but the genius is the band’s careful arrangement of all the elements. You can hear a bit of Wilco here, some late solo John Lennon, and a host of those 1980s jangle bands.

What makes The Rallies so special? Sure, other bands have got jangle. And there’s plenty of new tunes coming out all the time. But The Rallies play with a unique kind of heart. There’s some distinctive alchemy that goes on in their songs that set them apart.

Get on over the bandcamp to collect this new single and get the early word on the next album.

Shaming the shameless: Squeeze “Food for Thought”

17 Thursday Nov 2022

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

,

Squeeze are famous for being cheery blokes. Friendly, affable, seemingly always up for laugh. Definitely guys to head down to the pub with. When I finally got to see them live in Manchester in 1988 the show was everything I’d hoped for and more. The band and the fans interacted like long lost pals. I even got to meet them after the show and they chatted with me like a neighbour in the street. What more could I ask for? Well, as a political scientist by trade, I’m always impressed when popular culture icons use their fame to draw attention to politics. And that’s what Squeeze does with their brand new single and EP of the same name Food for Thought.

Now, this is not the first time the band have gone political. In 2016 the band amended the lyrics to their song “Cradle to Grave” to defend public housing and embarrass the Conservative Prime Minister when he rubbished the welfare state on a BBC chat show they were both appearing on. And the band’s early work was notable for its ‘kitchen sink drama’ themes that focused on the plight on the working class, most notably on tracks like “Up the Junction” from Cool for Cats (which took its name from Neil Dunn’s 1963 novel) or “Separate Beds” from Argybargy. But as band member Glenn Tilbrook relates, “I had my head up my arse for a good deal of time as far as politics was concerned. I was blissfully unaware of the impact of stuff on people, I was in my own little bubble of success.” Now the band returns to social commentary, giving voice to the growing sense of anger with the state of economic inequality in present day Britain. In interviews accompanying the new EP Tilbrook is pretty clear where he stands.  “[Politicians] just look the other way. I’m fed up with it. I think a lot of people are. Most of us have more empathy than that. But we’re driven by a hard-right ideological government that can’t see that, which makes me very fearful.” The EP will raise funds for food banks but the lyrics to “Food for Thought” suggest that Squeeze’s political critique goes far beyond charity.

As an EP Food for Thought is basically a glorified single, showcasing a new song and then offering new recordings of older songs and a few live recordings. The dour “The Very First Dance” from 1982’s Sweets From a Stranger gets an uptempo reinvention while “Electric Trains” from 2008’s Ridiculous is given a breezy redo. Live tracks include “Slap and Tickle” from Cool For Cats, “In Qintessence” from East Side Story, and “The Day I Get Home” from 1991’s Play. And these are great. But what about the new song? People, it’s up to the band’s very highest standards. Musically “Food for Thought” harkens back to the band’s late 1980s poprock sound on records like 1987’s Babylon and On, perhaps a bit less new wavey than their early records, less rootsy than post 1990s material. The track is deceptively peppy but lyrically moving in naming the struggles so many are going through and relentless in its critique of those responsible.

These four lines really capture this dual focus:

Pay less taxes ditch red tape
Cosy contracts for their mates
Cutting help right to the bone
Empty stomachs freezing homes

In speaking to the motivation behind the song Tilbrook eloquently captures what is and isn’t going on: “The social security system was set up to save people who didn’t have work, and now people are earning wages and it’s still not enough. More and more people are being pushed into a position they have no control over. With more austerity on the way and interest rate rises, it’s going to get worse.”

I’ve loved Squeeze for more than three decades, ever since I heard “Another Nail in My Heart” on Vancouver’s CKLG back in 1980. But I’ve never been more proud of them, turning their talents on this new song to rally listeners to attend to the great political crises of our time. Do your part, get your copy of Food for Thought now and go see the band if you’re lucky enough to live where they’re taking the tour.