Tags
Balance the Light, Bird Dog, Dropkick, Hollywood, Honduras, Out od Love Again, Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces, Squirrel vs. Snake, The Jayhawks, The Ocean and the Sea, The Posies
We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog postings to bring you these breaking recent releases that run the gamut of indie/alt rock, alt country, powerpop and nouveau folk.
Honduras easily get marked off as garage rock punky. Could be the guitars on a few tracks exude that but to my ears there is lot more range to this band than such a label might suggest. Early single “Ace” has a killer clean, hypnotic intro riff that is too smooth to be punk while more recent album tracks like “Off White” show off a band with great instrumental chops. “Hollywood,” their latest single, builds nicely from interesting interplay amongst the guitars into a great tuneful alt-rock sound and song.
Bird Dog take us into a mournful, slightly-discordant harmony vocals direction with “The Ocean and the Sea.” It begins all folky but rocks out just past the middle into the end. The song is catchy but it is the vocal harmonies, reminiscent of Jack and Eliza or the Fleet Foxes, that burn it into your brain.
The Jayhawks are back with a new album and tour. From the band that has produced such standout tracks as “Save It For a Rainy Day,” “Over My Shoulder,” and “Real Light” there appears to be more gas left in the tank. The new single, “Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces,” has all the magic qualities the Jayhawks are known for: sparkling acoustic guitars, smooth harmony vocals, and a devastatingly hooky chorus.
Scotland’s Dropkick have released a lot of material over the past decade, mining an acoustically grounded poprock sound akin to Teenage Fanclub. Six years back they released a fantastic holiday EP of original tunes. Now they’re back with a new album, Balance the Light, which features some of their strongest material. “Out of Love Again” feints with an acoustic opening, only to lurch quickly into poprock mode with great swirling guitars, ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ background vocals, and plenty of hooks.
Rounding things out is the fantastic new single from The Posies, “Squirrel vs. Snake.” A lush opening gives way to acoustic guitars and vocal phrasing that reminds me of Squeeze in their heyday, only to shift again in the chorus to a more shimmery powerpop sound. And the song even has something to say.
Honduras will be bringing their guitar sound to Toronto’s Adelaide Hall May 4th, while the Jayhawks appear at the Horseshoe Tavern June 11. More information about the touring and recording exploits of Honduras, Bird Dog, The Jayhawks, Dropkick and The Posies can be found on their webpages and Facebook accounts.
Public Access TV is a band in the process of coming into its own. Released less than a year ago, their first EP, Public Access, was great, featuring strong tracks like “Patti Peru,” “Metropolis,” and “Loose Ends” (with its great loopy piano solo). But starting with last November’s single “In Love and I’m Alone” the band really began to carve out a distinctive sound, which is reinforced with the first single from their forthcoming album: “On Location.” Public Access TV come to Toronto May 6 to play the 
Twin Peaks looks like a band of stoner dudes, ready to party anywhere. But their music is not the spaced-out stoner jams of yesteryear. This is a rock and roll outfit whose material stretches from the buzzed out vocals of “Baby Blue” to the garage rock vibe of “In the Morning (In the Evening)” to the dirty power pop of “Flavor” to the crisp poprock production of “Telephone.” But they have outdone themselves on their new single “Walk to the One You Love.” This song is sonically more sophisticated and professional than anything they have ever done. The band owns this tune, riding a catchy guitar riff, mixing in great vocals, horns and piano. All this bodes well for their soon-to-be-released new album, Down in Heaven.
There are a lot of bands named Swerve. This one is a California band that channels the great poprock sound of those mid-1980s Athens, Georgia, post-new wave acts. Even their smoldering cover boy above exudes 1980s angst, or is that just a chill in the air? It was hard to choose just one song from the Swerve’s recently released self-titled EP. “Aw Hell,” “You’re Wild,” and “Baby Blue” all have single written all over them but this time I’m going with “Remedy” which kicks off with a great wall of guitar before going a bit quiet and then coming back in strong on the chorus.
John Faye is no newcomer to the music scene. He was for many years the creative force behind IKE, which had a number of hits. But if you’re familiar with his past work, you will hardly recognize him from this new solo album, Meddling Kid. On this new effort, he has traded in the FM radio rock sound for a more poprock palette. Highlights for me include “Meddling Kids,” “Into Philadelphia,” and our featured track, “Keep On Hanging Around.” The song builds masterfully from a simple acoustic guitar opening verse to then fatten up the vocals and introduce more of the band and electric guitar in a way that hooks the listener in. A ‘how to’ of great poprock production.
