Thursday needs jangle like Sunday needs a weekend extender. It’s something to brighten your just-past-midweek spirits, put a little sparkle in your step, and turn up the corners of those pursed lips.
The Maureens emerged from Utrech, Netherlands in 2015 with an amazing record, Bang the Drum, a album brimming with catchy tunes slathered in delicate harmonies. Last year the band teased fans with bimonthly single releases that promised even greater things. Now what is probably my most anticipated album of 2019 has arrived and it is nothing short of stupendous! Something In The Air kicks off with the three 2018 singles, definitely a solid start, with “4AM” and “Twenty Years for the Company” both vibing a strong Teenage Fanclub jangle. But I also hear an older set of influences on tracks like “Turn the Page” and “Something in the Air,” very Crosby Stills Nash and the Byrds respectively. Other highlights for me include the bittersweet “Valentine,” “Wake Up,” and the ear wormy “Can’t Stop.” But drop your needle anywhere on this record and you won’t go wrong. This is a band in full control of their ouvre.
From the moment I heard the fat jangle anchoring “Nervous Man” from the rather mysterious The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness I knew I was on to something special. Now that we know that TBWTPN is Andrew Taylor from Dropkick and Gonzalo Marcos of El Palacio de Linares the song’s quality really is no surprise. Dead Calm is their first full length release and it delivers on the promise of that first stellar single. Jangle permeates every inch of this record, perfectly showcasing some strong songwriting. This is evident right from the start with hooky, guitar-run heavy “TBWTPN,” which cleverly re-uses the song title from The Feelies that inspired this band’s own name. From there it’s one very pleasant tune after another: “Anything At All,” “Close the Doors,” and the more country-ish “Southern Words.” This album’s a let-it-run-through soundtrack of good times.
Jeff Shelton’s The Well Wishers have a new two-sided single out that contains a killer original song and an impressive cover. Check out the ringing guitar hooks on “Feelin Fine.” Folks, this is the Matthew Sweet single we’ve all been waiting for! Jeff’s spelling might be spotty, but his ear for candy-coated hooks is spot on. Meanwhile for the B side Jeff decided to cover Fleetwood Mac’s “Second Hand News.” Ouch! That is one tall order as Buckingham’s vocals alone are nearly impossible to match or replace in any listener’s sense of what the song should sound like. But Shelton manages to pull it off, mixing just enough ragged DIY charm with his professional chops to give his version its own identity. Is this a teaser for a fab new album? We can only hope so.
Chicago’s The Embyros lean heavily on a Teenage Fanclub/Byrds sound on their new extended singles project, Singles Club Volume 1, particularly “Wasting All Your Time.” The two other tracks here will also delight jangle ears. But why stop there? The band’s 2018 album Open the Kimono is chock full of indie pop rock treats. “Circleville” has an unpolished indie charm while “Wake Up Screaming” reminds me of that smooth California sound the Popravinas have going on their recent records. I love “Bad Old Days” with it’s country-ish Beatles crossover feel. And then the band delivers a nice melodic rock and roll ending with “Eleven Forty.” These guys are a real tuneful diamond in the rough.
Jangle is as much a state of mind as an actual character of sound. The Maureens, The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, The Well Wishers and The Embyros can all keep you in that state of musical non-suspended animation. Click on the band names and sign up for a direct hit today.
Three more women whose towering talent took them some way through the testosterone-fueled music scenes of the 1970s through 1990s and beyond. It was a time of a few break out female rock and rollers, like Blondie’s Debbie Harry or Patti Smith or The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde. But to read women’s stories about getting discovered, getting signed to a label, getting into the recording the studio and on the road, it’s quickly becomes pretty clear that gender remained a defining element of their experience, different than men. We can hope that their stellar accomplishments have helped shift things a bit.
I think I first heard Mary Lou Lord on a CMJ CD sampler that used to accompany the magazine back in the nineties and I was hooked. I was pretty broke that decade, working my way through grad school, but I decided to splurge on 1998’s Got No Shadow and it was worth every penny. So many should-be hits! From the sweet seductive ‘na, na, na’s and exquisite jangle of “His Latest Flame” to the acoustic swing of “Western Union Desperate” to the killer poprock rollout on “Lights Are Changing” – I was only three songs in and felt I’d gotten my money’s worth. And then I heard “The Lucky One,” “She Had You,” and “Some Jingle Jangle Morning,” and it was pretty clear that MLL was a major talent, both as a songwriter and performer. And the wistful mellow vibe on “Two Boats” was pretty special. Since then Lord has really only released two more albums proper (of completely new material), 2004’s Baby Blue and 2015’s Backstreet Angels. The former is worth it just for “Cold Kilburn Rain” while the latter rivals her debut for songwriting strengths and folk-cum-poprock charming delivery. Highlights for me include “You Can Count On Me” with Joni Mitchell-esqe opening jangle, “By The Time My Head Gets to Phoenix,” and the obvious single “My Buddy Valentine.” But the whole record delivers.
Western Union DesperateShe Had YouCold Kilburn Rain
Her staggering debut Exile in Guyville put a run on the superlative bank. It seemed hipster reviewers just couldn’t praise Liz Phair hard enough. And she deserved it. Personally I love “Help Me Mary” and “Johnny Sunshine.” Follow up records Whip Smart and Whitechocolatespaceegg got more hipster love, though perhaps at a lower volume, and more great songs like “Perfect World” and Johnny Feelgood.” But when Phair shifted gears into a more polished poprock direction on her self-titled Liz Phair album, the hipsters turned nasty. But I love it! It showcases her amazing range of talent and depth as a songwriter and performer. If this is being commercial, then more artists should aspire to it. Of course the song-factory record-company production-assembly-lines wish they could write songs this good. Opening track “Extraordinary” is, well, really really good. “Why Can’t I” is an obvious should-be hit single. But the rest of album has so many highlights: “Little Digger,” the naughty “H.W.C.,” “Friend of Mine,” and “Good Love Never Dies.” Since then Phair has released just two albums, 2005’s Somebody’s Miracle and 2010’s Funstyle, both chock full of great tunes like “Stars and Planets” and “Satisfied.” Hopefully an album of new material is somewhere in our near future.Johnny SunshineJohnny Feelgood
Filed under great lost gems is the entire catalogue of Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. Just three albums but they are pretty pure rock and roll bliss. There is something about what came together musically in the period between 1978 and 1981. Clearly spurred on by punk’s challenge to a vapid mainstream, rock and roll bands remade their sound, adding urgency, relevance, and tighter, guitar-centric sound. Robin Lane had already been working the rock and roll scene for more than a decade but what came together on her two Warner Brothers records was distinctive, original and could go toe to toe with any of the other women-led rock and roll bands of the period. The 1980 self-titled debut has so many great tracks: “When Things Go Wrong,” “Don’t Cry,” and “I Don’t Want to Know.” A year later Imitation Life kept the winning sound alive on tracks like “Pretty Mala” and “Idiot” (the latter featuring killer handclaps and jangly lead guitar). Then, nothing. For all the usual reasons the band broke up. But the 2003 reunion album Piece of Mind was perhaps their best yet with a surfeit of great tunes like “The Last One to Know,” “She Wants You Back,” and “In My World.” Lane’s singing here is stronger than ever. If you missed (like I did) the first time around, fear not. The band has a new hits album to get you caught up: Many Years Ago: The Complete Robin Lane and the Chartbusters Collection.
It’s been snowing all day. Pretty, from my vantage point looking out the living room window. But not pleasant when the inevitable shoveling shift must begin. Winter has seriously got its hooks in us up here in North America’s more northern nation and so it seemed only fitting to feature the most winterish hooks on the blog!
Back in the eighties my day off usually involved doing a circuit of downtown Vancouver record stores, new and used. Ah, the excitement of new finds! Fast forward to the new millennium and the blogs on my blogroll have largely replaced physical record stores as the places to discover great new tunes. Their year-end, best-of lists are particularly helpful in filling in any great artists I’ve missed (and I miss a lot!). This year I got a lot of great tips from one of the leading powerpop blogs: Absolute Powerpop. He’s not the most prolific blogger – posts tend to come in quarterly installments these days – but what goes up is pretty pure on the quality side of things. Thus today’s tribute, my Absolute Poprock distillation of his site’s influence.
America’s The Cyrkle are often reduced to just one song, the earwormy uber-hit “Red Rubber Ball,” and perhaps “Turn Down Day” if you were really paying attention. Neither of the hits were written by the band, contributing to the view that they were a bit of a record company creation. But they were a real band. They opened live shows for Simon and Garfunkel and the Beatles. They were managed by the Beatles’ Brian Epstein. And they wrote most of their own material, as evident on two stellar albums, Red Rubber Ball and the tragically under-rated Neon, both released in 1966. They also had a sound that was unique. The Cyrkle reflected a distinctly American take on the British invasion influences, particularly with their vocal mix. It’s an influence I think you can hear across a range of great poprock acts today.
The Everly Brothers are part of the DNA of poprock. They didn’t rock like Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry. They were just nice country boys whose vocal harmonies made the world swoon. The Everlys’ influence is all over everything that comes after them, from the Beatles and Crosby, Stills & Nash to Rockpile and the Proclaimers. And it remains a powerful influence on poprock today, as exhibited by today’s selections.
The Cactus Blossoms are brothers Page and Jack who hail from Minneapolis, Minnesota but sound more like Memphis with their eerie, almost reincarnated Everly/Louvin brothers sound. Close your eyes and listen to “You’re Dreaming” and it’s 1958 all over again. This is pure shiver city. “Clown Collector” captures the rollicking ‘party time’ vibe of so many uptempo Everly numbers while “If I Can’t Win” has the aching feel of the Everly’s slower material. Meanwhile “Mississippi” and “Stoplight Kisses” wouldn’t have gone amiss in Patsy Cline’s catalogue. The brothers have a new record on the horizon, Easy Way, featuring a more new wave, Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds retro sound, sample-able right now on the preview single, “Please Don’t Call Me Crazy.”
I would not have picked Green Day lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong or Norah Jones as Everly-philes, but their Everlys tribute album, Foreverly, is full of delightful surprises. The record essentially rerecords the Everly Brothers’ 1958 album, Songs Our Daddy Taught Us and the modern duo manage to add new energy and a bit more swing to the material. The opening cut, “Roving Gambler” is a case in point: a bit more bright on the delivery compared with the Everlys’ more dirge-like performance. Moving to Memphis proper, Motel Mirrors have got a broad set of retro sounds to showcase on their new record. From the Johnny Horton rockabilly of title track “Gotta Lotta Rhythm” to the Elvis-ey quality of “Ooh Las Vegas” the band is firing on some pretty original rock and roll cylinders. But “Meet Me on the Corner” has the jaunty guitar work and hooks reminiscent of the Everly’s early Warner Brothers records.
There’s no immediate election on the horizon but that doesn’t mean we can’t mount the hustings in search of ever greater popular support for poprock! Over the years, our promises have remained the same and we’ve delivered: chiming guitars, heavenly harmonies, seductive melodies, and irresistible hooks. I promise you this: today’s post sees our poprockers taking up political themes but never at the expense of a great song.
I’m not really an album guy. Particularly now in our ‘download-any-song-you-want-era’. I grew up on compilation albums and AM radio. It was all singles, singles singles: a new sound every three minutes. A whole album is just a vinyl horizon for my needle dropping. But I have to say this year I got hooked on more than a few long players. What grabbed me? I could say it was the songwriting, a coherent sonic palette, the performative ingenuity, etc. But hey, who am I kidding? It was mostly the hooks. Fair warning: there is considerable overlap of artists here with my should-be hit singles list (duh) but not entirely. Bottom line: you won’t go wrong putting your cash down on these LPs in toto.
Edging out Daisy House’s fantastic Bon Voyage by a hair, my number one album for 2018 is Aaron Lee Tasjan’s Karma for Cheap. The more I listened to this record, the more I loved the songs and the performances. There is something extraordinary in just how Tasjan combines his elements. He’s got rumbly guitar, he’s got jangly guitar. His vocals run the gamut from Tom Petty-solid to Roy Orbison-aching tenderness. There’s not a weak cut here, but pay special attention to subtle hooky vocal interplay on “Heart Slows Down,” or the driving guitar hook behind “End of the Day,” or the touching “Dream Dreamer.” You won’t steer wrong with his back catalogue either, particularly 2016’s Silver Tears! There is so much I could say about all 20 albums but frankly the music speaks for itself. Click the links to go directly to the band’s bandcamp, Facebook or webpages.
One final word: I had to single out Super 8’s stupendous triple album accomplishment this year for special attention. After a two-decade career in rock and roll that can only be described as cinematic in its litany of seeming breakthroughs, bad luck, record company shenanigans and some bandmate’s bad faith, these albums are a vindication of his resolve to stick with music. Each record is finely crafted portrait of late 1960s summertime sunshine poprock. Your time machine back to 1968 is ready for boarding! Just hit play.
What awaits us in 2019? Well, if 2018 is anything to go by it’s gonna be a year full jangly guitars, blissed out harmony vocals, rocking rhythm sections, and hooks, hooks, hooks. Fads change but these essential elements combined together will always have an audience – thank goodness! On to the business at hand: I love timely themes so today is all about new year’s – in song, of course.