Category Archives: Poprock Themepark

Riffing 1965 Ford Mustang

07 Tuesday Jun 2022

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When it comes to cars, give me a mid-1960s model every time. I love those clean lines, angular body shapes and a hefty dose of actual chrome on the bumpers. Case in point: the Ford Mustang. What a beauty! In red, of course. It was a car that peaked pretty much on launch IMHO, the iconic 1965 ‘fastback’ model still the main attraction fueling interest today. Like from today’s bands. In the spirit of ‘why the hell not,’ get ready for four different rock and roll outfits all cleverly riffing on the original Ford Mustang brand.

This theme post got started because I saw a Facebook ad for a band called Fjord Mustang touting an upcoming live show in Toronto. But I misread the band name as simply Ford Mustang so when I went looking for their music I found Greensboro North Carolina band Harrison Ford Mustang instead. Well from there I thought there had to be even more bands riffing the brand – and there was. The earliest example I stumbled across was Stoufville Ontario’s Bored Mustangs. They’re working a grungy punk vibe, not always this blog’s scene. But “Bear Handed” has got an endearingly perky, shambolic air about it, built around a nice hook. Harrison Ford Mustang are more indie rock and roll, with a bit of an old school Velvet Underground feel on tracks like “Water” and “Slasher.” And their name: so obvious and yet still amusing. Bamberg Germany’s Ford Mustang have a more indie pop sound with a light touch on the guitars and a slathered-on approach to background vocals. “Alle ist wahr” (“All is True”) puts these elements together magnificently but the whole album works this formula well. And then there’s the inspiration for this whole endeavour, Toronto band Fjord Mustang. One listen to their recent album Solitaire and you’ll know they’re not just a clever name. The record takes its dreamy indie vibe to creative extremes, seemingly combining Lord Huron with Jane Siberry. Had to give this record a few listens to pick out just one illustrative example of what this group is doing and settled on “Health Class Field Trip.” The song shimmers and shines, laden with reverby guitars and Vick Egan’s wonderfully ethereal vocals. I’m also really taken with “Lakes Inn” and “Ribbons” too.

When you get behind the wheel of these Ford Mustang funsters you’ll want to be on the highway, heading out nowhere in particular, just taking in the aural landscape and pumping the volume.

Treasure hunt: Tamar Berk, Freddie Steady KRC, Fur and My Idea

03 Friday Jun 2022

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Thing about treasure hunts, you know that a treasure’s been buried somewhere. So if you and other kids root around long enough, something buried is gonna be found by somebody. This treasure hunt is similar but even easier: the treasure is right out in the open. You just have to come and get it.

In what has been one of the most anticipated albums of 2022, Tamar Berk kicks off Start at the End with her heady pair of pre-release singles, “Your Permission” and “Tragic Endings.” The duo are a slick, carefully-calibrated dose of sophisticated songcraft in the best Suzanne Vega or Aimee Mann style. I mean, the arrangements themselves comprise half the beauty of the songs here. But the rest of this album is no slouch either. There’s an intimate, confessional quality to most of the songs, like Berk is beckoning you in, confiding something. “Hoping This Day Won’t Kill Us” starts so spare, building tension with some subtle 1980s synth and eerie background vocals. From there the tracks roll out like a shifting kaleidoscope of emotions, each one using a distinctive guitar, keyboard or vocal effect to speak to its raw feeling. “June Lake,” “You Already Knew,” “No Chair,” and “Wrong Information” – these songs are wistful and delicately shaded. Meanwhile “Just Be” gives off an air of self-liberation, its carefully stated acoustic guitar and piano lines circling, propelling us forward. The album has some more rocking moments too: the early Bangles-like “Real  Bad Day,” the Stonesy “Sweet Relief,” and the Harrisonian “Alone Tonight.” “Dandelions in my Flowerbed” has got rollicking, good-time single written all over it. And if you do decide to Start at the End the first thing you’ll hear is the album closer “This is Me Trying,” a song that captures the whole point of the record, a stark, raw testament to just putting one foot before the other. This really is an album to treasure, a wonderful, messy, emotional and joyous journey through song. And it is going directly to the ‘best of the year’ pile.

There is little more I can say about the many talents of Austin’s legendary Tex Mex troubadour Freddy Steady Krc that hasn’t already been said. From his fabulous 1980s recordings with his band The Explosives to his numerous turns as sideman to the stars the guy is a living rock and roll museum. And he’s still putting out great new music. Dandy sees his Freddie Steady Review knocking out new tunes as well as polishing up some older, previously released material. The album kicks off with the should-be hit single “Bohemian Dandy.” Driven on by rippling piano lines and irresistible melodic hooks, it’s a flawless slice of radio-friendly tune-age. Nothing else on the record is quite like it but that’s ok, the range of retro Americana material lends the record a party air. “Dear Delilah” has that great 1950s rockabilly guitar and a swing that says get your dancing shoes ready. “Muchacho Borracho” is an obvious fun Tex Mex workout. “Rustler’s Moon” reminds me of so much of the mid-period solo Nick Lowe material, though the vocal leans more to Ian Gomm. There are some departures, like “Girl Who Wore the Violent Crown” with its Elvis Costello feel to the songwriting. Or outliers like the jazzy cool talking-blues “I’ve Been Framed.” But overall this is an album that understands what Nick Lowe once called the ‘roll’ side of rock and roll, i.e. the key importance of tempo and timing to great performances. The Freddy Steady Review are the kind of band you know can dole it out all night, steady and highly entertaining.

What a transformation can occur in a band in just a few short years. In 2017 I had Brighton’s Fur pegged as a pleasant early-1960s beat group revival band and I was happy with that. But 2021’s When You Walk Away marks a remarkable and dramatic expansion of the band’s musical palette. The record charges out from the start, a veritable onslaught of guitars relentless in their aural assault. But the guitar wash is all in the service of a host of irresistibly hooky tunes. Opening cut “When You Walk Away, Pt. 1” is the sort of song that has audiences leaping to their feet and belting out the chorus. “Anybody Else But Me” combines a distinctive lead guitar sound with a melody that shifts effortlessly from major to minor hues. The wall of acoustic guitars that floats “To Be Next to Her” allows the inventive melody to be just that much more alluring. “The Fine Line of a Quiet Life” exudes excitement with a relentless pumping piano that won’t let you not start dancing. There are few throwbacks to the band’s earlier, more manicured 1960s ballady sound, tunes like “No Good for You” and “What I Am” with its 1963 fairground feel. “Wild Heart” also stands out for its sparkly jangle lead guitar line. This is definitely a band to watch. They’ve got the thrilling quality and intensity of bands like The Strypes, The Strokes and The Vaccines but with a demeanor all their own. Just listen to the jazz notes threaded through “Love You All the Time” or the obvious hit single vibe all over “She’s the Warmest Colour in My Mind.” I think these guys may just be getting started.

Brooklyn duo My Idea have got a highly original sound. Bits of it may seem familiar but when it comes together the effect is something else. Their initial EP release That’s My Idea hinted at the madcap creativity that was to come with breezy pop tunes like “I Can’t Dance”  and more edgy stuff like “Stay Away Still.” Full album Cry Mfer delivers, kicking off with a Kate Bush in a Hounds of Love register on its title track, the effect both mesmerizing and hypnotic. Then “Crutch” breaks that spell with its jaunty guitar pop and breathy Mary Lou Lord vocal. “Baby I’m the Man” sounds simple but the audio keeps warping ever so slightly, like a cassette tape left in the rain. “Lily’s Phone” sounds tougher in a post 1970s new wave sort of way. The styles change up quickly, one minute vibing a pristine jangle on “Yr a Blue,” then offering up an off-kilter country-style sing-a-long on “Pretty You.” If pressed, I’d choose the collaboration with Thanks for Coming “One Tree Hell” as the single. But let’s face it, this band repels convention at every turn. Anything could be the single for them. Best to let the album flow over you and enjoy the ride.

Knowing there’s treasure doesn’t take away the thrill. Get out there and get yours from this seriously good quartet of new albums. Top photo courtesy Suhash Villuri.

Instrumentally yours

22 Sunday May 2022

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There aren’t enough superlatives in the thesaurus to really capture how great Grady Martin was. He played all those super rumbly rockabilly riffs that elevated songs by Johnny Horton, Pasty Cline, Marty Robbins, and many others. It is rumoured that he played the anchor lead line on Roy Orbison’s monster hit “Oh Pretty Woman.” You can hear a sampling of those riffs in the compilation video below. Sadly, Martin never released a solo album of instrumentals that really did justice to his genius for guitar technique. His 1965 album Instrumentally Yours (from which we’ve copped our post title) buries his guitar work under a cheesy torrent of strings. So as a tribute to this great performer we’re featuring a bevy of melody-rich, guitar-based instrumentals on today’s post.

Tuscon’s The Resonars are not known as an instrumentals band but they offer up a nice acoustic guitar ramble on their 2008 album That Evil Drone. “Yes Grosvenor” sounds more like something you might hear on a Bruce Cockburn album than the Ventures but it’s bright and sprightly, kicking off with a “Norwegian Wood “feel before heading in a more studied folk direction. Denmark’s Tremelo Beer Gut shift things to a more smoky night club scene and max out the rumble on their guitars with “Shabby Moscow Tremelo” from their 1999 album The Inebriated Sounds of … They make shabby the new cool. Next door in the Netherlands Bruut and Anton Goudsmit hit the surf with the aptly named LP Go Surfing. The sound is very Ventures but with a jazzy tinge, particularly on their swinging rendition of “Music to Watch Girls By.” Located in LA but named for an eastern European car, Trabants fall somewhere between Ennio Morricone and Herb Alpert on the spaghetti western guitar spectrum. Their 2018 release Nel Cuore Di Una Terra Selvaggia (In the Heart of a Wild Land) conjures desert landscapes and mad dashes toward moving trains on “Theme for Savage Land.”  Seriously, this recording must be haunted by The Man With No Name. Bellingham Washington might not seem like surf territory but Rich Arithmetic will change your mind with his languid, one-off surf single “Saving Sunset (Last Surf the Day).” The song plays up all the usual surf guitar motifs but also drifts into surprisingly melodic directions. Get your wet suit ready.

Brutt and Anton Goudsmit – Music to Watch Girls By

Chicagoan Joel Paterson looks more like a 1950s accountant than a guitar god. But man can he make that instrument sing! In 2019 and 2020 he brought out two albums of Beatles instrumentals Let It Be Guitar and Let It Be Acoustic Guitar that breathe new life into your fab faves. Both records are highly listenable, covering a broad range of the Beatles canon. But here I’ll just focus your attention on Paterson’s delightful treatment of “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” with its super-enriched Bakersfield sound. In 2021 the endlessly talented Graham Gouldman decided to bring out an album of instrumentals as a benefit to raise money for musicians hurt by the pandemic lockdown and break in touring. No Words Today is lovely collection of delicately rendered covers, except for one new original tune “Resonator Rock.” The guitar here almost sounds like a banjo and the slide guitar adds to the downhome southern feel. The Babalooneys hail from Quebec City, Quebec but you don’t need to parlez Francais to catch the drift on their mostly instrumental EP The Babalooneys Are Here! “Bikini Drag” combines killer surf riffs with that sense of 1950s drag race menace. Floridian Kurt Lanham has a light guitar touch on his instrumental covers, sketching out the bare elements of the melody line with an artful grace. Listen to how he transforms the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” damping down the exuberance to better feature jauntiness of the melody. We wrap things up in party mode with Toronto’s incredible surf guitar demons The Surfragettes. Their new album Roller Fink is a feel good trip around the roller track, with inspired covers (e.g. Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and the Beatles “She Loves You”) and strong originals. To help you ease on your skates I’ve chosen “Warm Up,” a track that oozes the melodious warmth and confidence of rock solid instrumentals bands like Los Straightjackets.

Kurt Lanham – I Want to Hold Your Hand

My favourite lead guitar players know how to ‘serve the song’ with their playing. For them, it’s more about melody than some ferocious onslaught of notes. Grady Martin influenced generations of players without ever really taking the spotlight for himself. In that he was, indeed, instrumentally yours.

Cover Me! Tommy Tutone “867-5309 Jenny”

11 Wednesday May 2022

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In the realm of perfect poprock songs there are few rivals for Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309.” The opening lead guitar hook reels you in, the slashing guitar chords send you straight to the dance floor, that dynamic bridge takes it all up a notch … It’s a song that literally never hits a wrong note. Its secret is the tension it manages to create at every turn, with multiple guitar lines and vocals pulling in different directions – then resolving – then pulling apart again. In terms of performance the guitar work is simple and straightforward but oh so addictive while the vocals are heartland rock and roll at its best. Undoubtedly this song ranks in my top 20 all-time great poprock singles. Indeed, it’s so good it unfairly cast everything else the band ever did in shadow. They were even reduced to reworking it into a Christmas song 28 years later.

Given the songs obvious strengths, the lack of cover versions in the first two decades after it was released might seem surprising. But then again, maybe not. Frankly, I imagine it was hard for bands to think how the song might be done differently, so iconic were the song’s signature riffs and arrangement. Early on, only punk and heavy metal bands dared to mess with it, with results that predictably tended to quash the tune’s hooks and more subtle melodic charms. As more conventional rock and roll covers emerged in the new millennium they didn’t stray far from the original Tutone formula, perhaps changing up the instrumentation or vocals only slightly. Case in point: Mark Allen and Company. This 2007 version is pretty Tutone, limiting its innovations to the vocal delivery, power chord and the lead guitar tones. It’s credited Mark Allen & Company & Tommy Tutone but what went down here is hard to get any info on. On 2008’s Rollerball Candy The Chevelles stretch the song’s lead guitar line intro and amp up the bar chords but swap the Americana vocals for a more new wave sound. In the same year The Outliers decided to slow the tune down, adding a special allure to the vocals and giving the melody a more Johnny Rivers feel. Or, for something more different, Pamploma Spain’s Innerve switch to a more acoustic but still rocking sound on their 2011 version.

Mark Allen and Company
The Chevelles
The Outliers

It would take the dawning of a new century to shake off established practice when it came Jenny. Just ahead of the curve a cappella group Amazin’ Blue offered up a rich cacophony of voices to populate the song. They’re not alone – I found five other a cappella versions – but their take is definitely the most dynamic. Lisa Breslin gave the song an understated, hushed performance but felt the need to point out she was not into women, she just liked the tune. Really? Where’s the mystery? Contrast this with Mark Weigle’s brave remake “867-5309 Jimmy” from 2003. Yes, he’s singing about a guy and he’s not bothered, and he takes creative chances with the arrangement that really pay off: an acoustic guitar lead line, some inventive rhythm guitar work, and some hilarious spoken-word telephone messages. Weigle’s album Different and the Same has some other surprises too, like a cover of Pete Townshend’s sexuality-ambiguous “And I Moved” from Empty Glass and a rewrite of the Jackson Five’s “ABC” as a critique of a controversial AIDS drug in “AZT.” And then there’s the banjolicious romp that appears on the Pickin’ On Series 2008’s collection Pickin’ and Singin’ the Biggest Hits of the 1980’s, Volume 1. Seriously, solid banjo propulsion and a fiddle solo break is clearly what this song needed all along.

Mark Weigle
Pickin’ On

As we turn to more recent covers the range goes from the exquisite and carefully crafted to inspired DIY love. Kurt Lanham is amazing musician and his mostly acoustic guitar instrumental version is a form of audio art, the arrangement is so precise and delicate, vibing a bit of Kenny Burrell guitar tone and low key Latin feel. By contrast, what Flopsweat lacks in musical precision he makes up for in DIY enthusiasm and intensity, his vocals and guitar work exude such love for the tune the listener can’t help but be drawn in, captivated. But my most favourite recent version is Mike Browning‘s from his 2021 album Class Act. Clear, sharp, haunting in parts, Browning strips things down to essentials, reminding us again just why we love this song so much.

Kurt Lanham

Well there you have it, eleven creative covers of a certified poprock classic. And yet I can’t help but feel there’s plenty room on the “867-5309 Jenny” cover-train for more. Personally, I’d love to hear the likes of Tim Finn, Pictish Trail, The Martial Arts, Richard Turgeon, and host of other artists I’ve featured on this blog take a crack at this tune. Perhaps there’ll be a part two?

Top graphic courtesy Kurt Lanham’s 45 design for his single “867-5309 Jenny.”

May Day Reveille

01 Sunday May 2022

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May Day is an annual wake up call for the working class, a day celebrated in more than 160 countries around the world. What better way to get on-message than through music? Today’s post honours May Day aka International Workers’ Day with songs about class, identity, and solidarity. It’s definitely time to work out which side you are on.

New York City’s Jeremy and the Harlequins put out a killer album in 2019, Remember This, a solid slab of Americana rock and roll in the Fallon, Mellencamp and Springsteen mold. But the standout song for our purposes is “American Gold,” a highly listenable hooky tune with lyrics that slay the American dream with a clarity seldom matched in popular music:

Brothers and sisters if you wanna be saved
Listen close to a story about how the streets get paved
Not by men selling greatness or hope
But on the backs of the working class folks
Well they sell you a dream that you don’t really need
Cut you up by colour or creed
Then they’ll give somebody to blame
It’s the same old story but they change the name

There’s a lot of talk about outlaw country but the usual examples are anything but. Most just mix dominant ideology with a few y’alls and call it a day. And then there’s Will Hoge. His 2018 album My American Dream takes aim at Republican politicians, the NRA and the conservative undercurrent to the country music establishment. Given how the latter dominate that scene, Hoge is clearly the real outlaw here. On “Stupid Kids” he rages in favour of kids making a difference, with a Steve Earle snarl and a driving Blue Oyster cult guitar riff:

Oh stupid kids don’t listen to what the old folks say
You’re the only ones that are ever gonna make things change
Keep your feet marching
Raise up your voice don’t quit
Keep doin’ what you’re doin’
Keep being stupid kids

But the coup de grace lyric comes in the bridge when Hoge sings:

Turn your music up
Sing to your own damn song
You know you got it right
When all the old white men don’t sing along

Crossing the pond This Circus Life take a break from their usual smooth poprock sound for something more Beautiful South or Chumbawumba (in a mellow mood) on “Where Are the Working Classes?” From 2021’s The Vast and Endless Sea, the tune calls into question the superficial and mostly unattainable middle class aspirations of the post Thatcher era in the UK, reminiscent of critiques from the likes of filmmaker Mike Leigh in his movie High Hopes. As Charlie Mear sings “Didn’t we see them pulling the wool down over our eyes?” Indeed. Another UK band that reliably banged on and on about class were McCarthy. I can’t believe I didn’t notice this band during their heyday circa 1987-88. They were essentially a twee version of The Smiths but with super-sized politics. For these guys, everything was political. Lyricist Malcolm Eden is like that guy at the party that won’t stop droning on about capitalism. My kind of guy obviously. There are so many possible songs to choose from here but “In the Dark Times” remains relevant and has some nice Johnny Marr-like guitar work. Wrapping things up this May Day we have the ever relevant Billy Bragg. His recent album The Million Things That Never Happened is another Americana folk tour-de-force, both sing-a-long good and highly topical. On “Freedom Doesn’t Come for Free” Bragg shreds the libertarian right, pointing out the glaring flaws in their unrealistic utopian plans that should be the obvious to everyone.

McCarthy – In the Dark Times

So listen for the bugles’ call this May Day. Whether your reveille be “The International” or “This Land is Your Land” the sentiments are basically the same. As my grandmother used to say, ‘working people gotta stick together!’

Top image is Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo’s 1901 painting The Fourth Estate.

Spring singles countdown

19 Tuesday Apr 2022

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This is a countdown to both warmer temps and hotter tunes: our spring singles countdown! I find my incoming new singles pile never really shrinks but that’s not really a problem is it? So here goes with another 21 songs just pining for your attention.

The Stranglers were one of those bands I was vaguely aware of in my youth but I was too distracted by the melodic heft of The Jam and Squeeze to take notice of their more subtle charms. In fact it was only in the past few years I heard the band’s exquisite “Golden Brown” from their 1981 album Le Folie. Fast forward to last year and the band’s 18th album Dark Matters is full of winning tunes. The tribute to late longtime band member Dave Greenfield “And If You See Dave …” is touching while “The Last Men on the Moon” has a hooky futuristic vibe a la 1980s Moodies meets Blue Oyster Cult. Another band doing the coming-back-strong thing are The Lovetones. After a decade gone they returned in 2020 with Myriad and the must hear song for me is “Rescue.” Ok, this is not a breaking single but it should have been, it’s got that magical mid-1960s sparkle tune-wise. Tamar Berk is building up to something pretty extraordinary, if her drip drip of confident pre-album singles is anything to go by. “Tragic Endings” opens with alluring simplicity, just a single electric guitar and Berk’s clear voice, before adding layer after layer of sonic hooks. The song is masterful arrangement of push and pull melodic effects and the vibe is like Pat Benatar meets Blondie, with a touch of Laurie Anderson thrown in. The upcoming album is Start at the End but you’re gonna want in at the beginning. Ottawa’s Robby Millar turns up the 1970s bubblegum/glam guitars on “All We’ve Got” with a chorus that is very The Cure. It’s a creative combination that is oh so obvious once you hear it. Incipient spring brings a new double A sided single from Nashville artists *repeat repeat and they certainly paint a picture, “Soft” a dreamy, shoe-gazey float along the water, “Hmm Feels Like” a punchier Kevin Devine-ish acoustic bit of hooky shuffle.

The Stranglers – The Last Men on the Moon
Robby Millar – All We’ve Got

Houston’s enigmatic poprocker K. Campbell layers his recent single “Breaking Glass” with an intoxicatingly compressed sound, like a classic 45 blasting from a transistor radio. But listen a little more closely to hear all the subtle shifts in sonic texture that elevate the tune. Another textured mini-masterpiece comes from L.A.’s A. Michael Collins. “In Other Climes” initially sounds like it’s a member of the Bryds family tree with its jangly guitars and harmony vocals. But it quickly turns into something more contemporary, not unlike the retro reinventions from the likes of Richard X. Heyman. Bryan Adams albums typically alternate between effing-eh truck-driving stadium-rawk and more radio-friendly poprock earworms. Album 15 So Happy It Hurts delivers on both but I’m drawn more to the latter, which just happen to be all the songs he wrote here with his traditional hit-songwriting partner Jim Vallance. “I’ve Been Looking For You” is textbook poprock goodness: so simple, nothing ground-breaking here, but man does Adams know how to put it together. Now for something a bit different, Classic Pat takes on Trisha Yearwood’s “She’s In Love With the Boy” stripping out all its ‘easy listening’ country elan and replacing that with a fabulous 1980s Canadian indie vibe e.g. The Northern Pikes or The Grapes of Wrath. The song is just one of many commercial country make-overs appearing on a worthwhile album split with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard entitled Country Buffet. Austin duo Hovvdy wowed critics with their self-described ‘pillow core’ album True Love last fall. Now they’re back with a new single “Everything.” The acoustic guitar sets the tone and hook for the song, building from a stark and spare backdrop only to drop in a bit banjo on its way to veritable wall of sound as the tune builds. It is somehow both a bit manic and oh-so-smooth at the same time.

Bryan Adams – I’ve Been Looking For You

Everything about Isle-of-Eigg dweller Johnny Lynch is original. His recordings as Pictish Trail defy easy categorization. Me, I’m drawn to the melody central cuts, which really comprise only some small part of his musical vision. As Guardian writer Jude Rogers reveals, his latest album Island Family is an oblique love letter to his island home and community. My choice for your listening pleasure is “Melody Something” but the rest of the album is worth some dedicated listening. Lincoln UK’s The Rills are something a bit different again, offering up a lot of story detail on “Skint Eastwood.” The verses have a driving, almost relentless attack but when the chorus kicks in, wow, it’s like melodic crack. Staten Island’s Goin’ Places have shifted the intensity of their punk delivery over their twenty years together, edging slightly into more pop punk territory on their most recent album, Save the World. It’s a strong album but personally I’m digging the Mersey-ish “Recover.” Sure, there’s a still a strong punky feel to the proceedings but the boys add some very melodic guitar lines and sweet background vocals. Veteran protest songster Billy Bragg came out with a new album The Million Things That Never Happened last fall and it had more than a few of his signature hooky folk rock numbers. The highlight for me was album closer “Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained” with its rollicking tempo and razor sharp social commentary. Kelowna’s Stephen Schijns has a curious new single that combines an eerie Gordon Lightfoot-reminiscent vocal with a chugging yet propulsive bit of poprock performance, and a tasty bit of 1970s guitar solo. It really works.

North Carolina’s Tracy Shedd ambles onto centre stage with her single “Going Somewhere,” its laid back feel gaining more urgency in the chorus. Definitely a bit of car-driving, windows-open on a summer day sort of music. The Telmos’ “What She Knows” actually first appeared on the band’s 2019 EP How Quick It Goes Away but it has now been re-released by Aldora Britain Records. It definitely deserves a second chance, given its sunny 1960s pop psychedelic feel. Kinda like The Zombies jamming with The Hollies. Back into the pop punk field, Boston’s Invisible Rays pump out what sounds like a somewhat more socially adjusted Weezer on “Landline.” This one is jump-up-and-down dance good. Another late find for me is smiles “Gone For Good.” This 2019 release oozes Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and Matthew Sweet vibes. Turn it up loud and get lost in the melodic haze. Chicago’s Kerosene Stars continue their English 1980s band revival kick with “Purpose of Friend,” a song that sounds like something from Manchester 1988. A bit confessional folkie, a bit swing poprock.

We’ll wrap things up with a double blast from prolific Cambridgeshire indie artist 65MPH. The recent singles “Real Life” and “Don’t Walk Away” cap a series of releases from this guy, so an album proper cannot be far off (can it?). I love the rough and ready vibe on these songs, reminding me of work from the likes of The Jam and Cast.

Twenty-one singles crammed into one post is like finding a variety box of quality chocolates on your Easter egg hunt. There’s definitely going to be some you really like. Time to start indulging.

Radio ready: Televisionaries, Ex-Vöid, Goodman, and Papa Schmapa

09 Saturday Apr 2022

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Radio was the aural wallpaper of my youth. Always on somewhere and playing plenty of things I could dig, if not all the artists I was into. Today’s post focuses on radio-ready sounds that could have fit into yesteryear as well as today.

I thought I knew what I was getting when I picked up a copy of Televisionaries new album Mad About You. I’d heard the recent singles and needle-dropped my way through their back catalogue. I’d loved band member Trevor Lake’s solo album Bunker Stew, as well all his involvement in other retro music projects. And the band’s traditional focus on 1960s-inspired retro rock is certainly still there, with splashes of surf, Merseybeat and a Stonesy take on R&B. But there’s much more here too, with a strikingly modern flavour to a number of the tunes. The album kicks off with the smoking, highly danceable “Mad About You,” a track that meets in the rock and roll no man’s land separating the Beatles and Rolling Stones circa 1964.  Then “Girls” captures that urgent pop feel reminiscent of so many of those early Beatles album deep cuts. Other songs recall different distinct moments of rock and roll’s glorious guitar past, like classic 1950s rockabilly instrumentals (“Curmudgeon”), or signature Chuck Berry guitar work (Quarter Past Eight”) , or lush surf ballads (“Satisfaction”). But get ready for something different when you get to “Over and Out.” This should-be hit single represents a whole new vista for this group stylistically, exuding a fresh contemporary sound. “Ultimatum” is another surprising departure, vibing more modern bands like The Strypes. I’m loving this new twist on the band’s influences. Also in the ‘more modern’ category would be “Annie” and “Yesterday.” Here I hear bands like The Connection. Meanwhile “Too Much Time” has a seventies pop feel, kinda like bands like King Harvest. Look out world, Televisionaries are broadcasting on some new frequencies.

It’s hard to figure out just what Ex-Vöid is. An angrier Teenage Fanclub? An indie rock remaking of Richard and Linda Thompson? The 2018’s teaser maxi-single that gave us a taste of their brilliance with early takes on “Boyfriend” and “(Angry) At You Baby” certainly signalled something special was on the way. And it’s finally here, debut album Bigger Than Before. The album practically launches out of the speakers with the urgent guitar bash of “Churchyard.” “Chemical Reaction” fakes out a punk opening before settling into jangly swirl of guitars and a unique of blend of male and female vocals. “Angry at You Baby” really brings to mind the updated Richard and Linda Thompson comparisons with the discordant tension between the two vocalists riding a wave of chunky rhythm guitar. “Boyfriend” remains the obvious single, cast in a more muscular setting this time around. Then again, “Weekend” takes the jangle in a more pop direction, reminding me of Mary Lou Lord’s wonderful guitar pop numbers. This is what aids the mystery around this band. One minute they’re rocking out on numbers like “So Neurotic” and “Lying To You.” Then they effortlessly shift gears into more melodically poppy moods on tracks like “I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face” and “No Other Way.”  The album ending offers further surprises with “My Only One,” a lovely harmony-laden acoustic ballad. Bigger Than Before is an exhilarating mix of exciting guitar and beguiling harmony vocals, definitely not to be missed.

The great thing about Michael Goodman’s material is that whether instrumentally tarted up or stripped down to just an acoustic guitar the songs work. His Goodman project’s latest album How Close Are You To The Ground? is full of solid songs, delightfully played. Goodman’s style? Timeless. He takes the basic poprock songwriting style that gelled in 1960s and performs them in a way that defies an easy identification with any particular era. “One Thousand Channels” opens with a guitar/organ blast that is vaguely 1979 Springsteen but then resolves into a more stripped-down guitar-pop number. “Mis’rable” uses call and response vocals to add intensity to its basic pop hooks – to my ears – in a classically 1980 AM radio way. Despite the strong rhythm guitar sheen to most tracks here the keyboards are the hidden star on this record. Listen to how they lend an earworm quality to “how to tie your shoe.” Title track “How Close Are You to the Ground?” is one of those winsome deep cuts you enjoy getting to when you let the album play through. “Weekend Cruise” updates a basic early 1960s vamp style into something sounding fresh and now. And, as noted in a previous review, “Au Pair” is the obvious single, a genius bit of poprock production. Or, if you’re into a more slowburn bit of hooky songwriting, “Desk W/ A View” will definitely sneak up on you. Give How Close Are You To The Ground? a few spins and see if you don’t agree, it’s another high quality installment of the Goodman musical saga.

In the early 1980s there were a host of bands that put out smooth AM radio-friendly poprock that got a lot of airplay. Think of all those clearly Beatles-influenced hit singles from The Alan Parsons Project or the revived Moody Blues. That sound is back with a vengeance on Papa Schmapa’s Where Are You Now? You can definitely hear it on various tracks from the band’s earlier 2019 album, songs like “I Don’t Mind” and “In the End,” but the effect seems more solidified on the new record. Album opener “Warm” surges to a start with guitars reminiscent of those Gerry Rafferty hit singles and a tune that is so SoCal 1981. Then “It’s All Over Tonight” starts slow before transforming into a kind a pop version of a Blue Oyster Cult single. “Keep This All in Mind” offers up a striking mix of jangle guitar and  change ups in the vocal style, particularly in the chorus. The guitar work is very mid-period Beatles while the vocals from Elysia Cristantello sound a bit early 1980s Carlene Carter. Most of the vocals on the album are handled by Joe DelVecchio who has a great everyman rock and roll timbre, though together with Elysia something magic happens, as on the propulsively poppy “What You Gonna Do.” Elsewhere the record vibes the mellow pop feel of 1970s Wings on cuts like “Come Bad Days” and “Fly Away.” But the bands also rocks things up a bit on “Love is on the Line” and serves up a soaring melodic chorus in “Where Are You Now?” So whether it’s 1981 or the here and now, I’m pretty confident Where Are You Now? should meet your approval as a very pleasant car-driving, cassette tape-decking playing good time.

Warm
Keep This All In Mind
What You Gonna Do

Even if radio isn’t the be all and end all for music exposure today it still haunts our collective imagination, defining a kind of sound and success (for better and worse). My gut says today’s artists are radio ready even if radio isn’t really up to the challenge anymore.

Top photo: exclusive Poprock Record model Rob Elliott tunes into radio in an undisclosed eastern European location. Courtesy Swizzle Gallery.

The republic of Mersey

31 Thursday Mar 2022

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The Beatles are such a touchstone for the melodic rock and roll genre that it’s not surprising that artists keep going back to the source again and again. At the same time, covering the Beatles is pretty much an impossible task. I mean, how do you improve on anything JPGR did? In one sense, you don’t – they’ll always be the definitive version. The trick is to reinvent their material in an unexpected but still recognizable direction. Today we visit acts taking the Beatles’ material to all sorts of new places while still remaining within the borders of the republic of Mersey.

Staten Island’s Goin’ Places is a pop punk group in the Ramones/Green Day mode, so not exactly the boys we’d expect to find hanging out at Lime Street Station. Yet it actually makes them the perfect outfit to punkify the Beatles’ catalogue. The lion’s share of the 18 cuts featured on their Fingerboard Road draw from the early to mid-period Fabs records. Some of what they put together is genius – all of it is fun. Fun like those Me First and Gimme Gimme’s albums of sixties covers! “I Saw Her Standing There” so works with a wall of punky guitars, the song being halfway there to begin with. Other songs that easily lend themselves to punking up include “She Loves You,” “Eight Days a Week,” and “Ticket to Ride,” the latter really only requiring hitting the lead guitar distortion pedal. Other tunes go punk simply because they were ballads that are now being played a triple speed: e.g. “Yesterday,” Something,” and “Hey Jude.” They sound jarring but remain melodically cool. “Norwegian Wood” and “I Will” get extra marks for inventiveness as the band add new musical interludes to spice things up. “A Day in the Life” is particularly special with its very Green Day treatment. But at other times punk gives way to just a rocking good time. Both “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Help” are simply exuberant rocking love letters to the originals. The Clash may have hated phony Beatlemania but Goin’ Places deliver the real ‘pop-meets-punk’ thing.

Stephen Krilanovich and Donny Newenhouse are the Wind-Up Beatles Chronicles, which they describe on their bandcamp page as a ‘pandemic music project.’ Whatever the impetus, man do these two nail the Beatles’ mid period sound (think Beatles for Sale to Revolver, with a few outliers). Sometimes they sail pretty close to the originals, which makes noting the small differences all that more interesting for Beatlemaniacs. For instance, “She Said She Said” is pretty Beatles note perfect. In other instances, they lean into various elements a bit more than the Fabs. “Wait” has a got an interesting and different guitar sound even while the timing is spot on and so familiar. “What You’re Doing” has got a bit more sparkle on the jangly guitar. “Rain” is probably the most different treatment here: less psychedelic and droney, more Brydsian. At other times the basic difference is simply that these two guys have got different voices than JPGR and no matter how clever the musical backing the overall effect is gonna be unavoidably different. “Paperback Writer” illustrates this well. The music sounds so much like the original single but the voices are pretty different (though pleasantly so). Probably my fave cut here is “I’m Looking Through You.” It’s delivered in a Rubber Soul approved light breeziness and sounds like an alternate take to the original. It’s fair to say that a splendid time is virtually guaranteed for all with this record.  It’s definitely for Beatles fans who ever thought ‘hey, I like to hear those songs done differently but not too differently done.’

In 2013 Canada’s Bullseye Records decided to put out a three volume tribute to the Beatles entitled It Was 50 Years Ago Today: A Tribute to The Beatles. So many great tracks but two particularly stood out for me, The Lolas’ rendition of “Good Morning, Good Morning” and Eytan Mirsky’s take on Harrison’s first song-write “Don’t Bother Me.” The Lolas balance some guitar grind with a lighter take on the vocals than in Lennon’s original. They also straighten out the tempo, less off kilter that what we’re used to. The song gets a bit lost amid the chaos of Sgt. Pepper but here it gets a chance to stand out on its own. As for “Don’t Bother Me,” I’ve always had a soft spot for a tune routinely dismissed by Beatles experts as lightweight and rudimentary in terms of Harrison’s eventual song-writing prowess. Yet I always thought it had an original melodic twist. Eytan Mirsky works the song over, adding distinctive lead guitar tones and some nice call and response vocals. At times he sounds like The Zombies’ lead singer in full-on, white boy blues whine (and that’s a good thing). Sisters Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles of Dog Party offer up a double A sided single of Beatles tunes. Nothing ground shaking in these reworkings of early Beatles’ hits but their harmonies do manage to add to the magic allure of “I Feel Fine,” bending the melody here and there in new and exciting directions, while their vocal take on “All I’ve Got To Do” adds mystery and a bit of mischief to the proceedings.

Now for a project that is more than a bit out there: Fabs songs converted into Avengers exposition. Insane Ian is a comedian that sidelines as a modern day Weird Al, though needle dropping through his voluminous catalogue his ouvre is more about the immediate gag rather than something you might listen to more than once. But his Meet the Avengers album is a musical superhero riff of a different colour. The musicianship is pretty impressive, hitting the Beatles marks where they need to. And the writing is pretty funny too. So “Nowhere Man” becomes “Iron Man,” “Help” transforms into “Hulk,” “Lady Madonna” becomes “Lady Natasha,” and so on. Sometimes the new lyrical detail overwhelms the old tune, as when “Thor’s Big Silver Hammer” leaves “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” in a bit of disarray. By contrast “Hawkeye” nails the cadence and lyrical spacing of “Blackbird.” Personal fave: the rocking reworking of “Day Tripper” as “Steve Rogers.” The chorus even shifts melody slightly. As a rule, comedy projects don’t have a long shelf life but Insane Ian’s clever writing, surprisingly good musical performances, and creative artwork give this effort legs. Meet the Avengers might be funny but it’s no joke.

Lover of all things 1970s Nick Frater takes us in a decidedly different direction with his Mersey-influenced outing, focusing on The Rutles rather than the Fabs directly. The point of his Nick Frater Presents The Rebutles: Ron, Dirk, Stig and Barry The Solo Years, Vol​.​1 effort was to imagine what The Rutles might have sounded like if they’d broken up like the Beatles and then gone on to release (send-up) solo singles. The whole thing is pretty meta but, as with all things Frater, ultimately pretty clever, highly accomplished, and very listenable. The songs go from a late Beatles rooftop motif (“Struck in a Rut”) to early solo sort-of Fabs (“Baby I’m Amazing”) to mock Bond (“You Only Live Once”) to later solo Fabs recycled nostalgia (“When We Were Eighteen”) to morbid pastiche reunions (“The Last Laugh”). You’ve got to be pretty far down the Beatles/Rutles rabbit hole to get all the jokes and references but the beauty of Frater’s work is you can just enjoy the songs for what they are: pretty decent songs, well played. The fact that Frater can toss projects like this in as a free insert with his more serious album releases is a testament to his prodigious talent.

The republic of Mersey is a groovy place, surely the ultimate green and pleasant land. You don’t need a passport to go there. All you need is love, an open mind, and a thirst for the evolving musical influence of the Beatles.

This is a modern world: Waaves, Big Nothing, Semprini, and Said the Whale

26 Saturday Mar 2022

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This site is pretty retro mostly. We work the 1960s-through-1980s melodic rock side of the street and we’re happy with that. But every now and then we get into something a bit more contemporary. Like post 2000. Today’s post embraces the modern hooky taste-makers that cross our radar because, after all, melody is timeless.

Waaves is one of those bands with a legendary reputation rooted in a certain kind of ‘tude,’ generally a post-punk indie snarl. But with Hideaway the band drops the pretence of cool indifference to openly seduce us with catchy tunes and inventive musical arrangements. Album opener “Thru Hell” vibes a bit of The Vaccines for me. Then “Hideaway” delivers on the band brand of pop punk, delivered oh-so smooth. But with “Help Is On The Way” things branch out. The big vocal hooks, the up-front rhythm guitar remind me of Vancouver’s The Zolas. In fact, I hear a bit of that band on the mid-tempo pleaser “Planting a Garden,” though punched up here and there. “Sinking Feeling” is the showcase single and it shows, with a killer roll-out featuring  cool competing guitar lines. The song itself has a mesmerizing effect, a hypnotic tension created between the drumming and rumbly versus jangle guitar counterpoint. The country influences are probably the most surprising addition to the mix here. “The Blame” is great rollicking country pop number, perhaps my fave cut on the album. There’s a subtle John Lennon/Beatles melodic intensity at work in here somewhere. “Marine Life” is another track with just a bit of a country veneer pulling focus from the overall punk feel. I’m also partial to “Honeycomb,” a nice, bit spacey, mid-tempo pop rock number. Overall Hideaway banishes the genre tags that have dominated Waaves’ career to just let the music speak.

The gorgeous cover of Big Nothing’s new album Dog Hours deserves vinyl proportions to really be appreciated. The pastoral cover painting also gives clear visual clues to what’s inside, a veritable wrestling match with melancholia, with sadness pulling at the edges of all the sonic sketches included here. If sometimes it feels good to feel bad, get ready to feel very good indeed. The album begins with “Always On My Mind” setting the scene with its shoe-gazey, Teenage Fanclub sombre sensibility. This one sounds like the radio-ready single release. “A Lot of Finding Out” follows with something a bit more up-tempo, a straight-up indie rock number with a touch of country going on. Liz Parsons takes over vocals on “Still Sorta Healing” giving the band a very different sound, almost The Carnations-like. But with “Don’t Tell Me” the album’s basic mood gets established. Building off an acoustic guitar base, the song has a 1980s crossover country/indie sound in REM mode. “Curiosity” uses subdued piano and guitar flourishes to create a low-key backdrop, only to lift us up with harmony vocals in the chorus. Even the rippling lead guitar lines buffeting title track “Dog Hours” can’t obscure the downbeat feel of the song. “Make Believe” is a bit more cheery, a bit of that crossover country/indie vibe laden with killer lead guitar lines. “Back the Way” also works its hooky lead guitar line into every available space in the song. “Accents” has jumpy acoustic guitars driving the song, sounding very very 1980s English guitar band. And then the album ends with its basic ennui intact using an acoustic guitar-picking colouring to define “What I Wanna Say.” Dog Hours is an album for a wistful walk at twilight or sound-tracking some late-night lamp-lit apartment. By combining melancholy with melody, it’s ultimately a feel good record.

Semprini is one of those brand new bands of old guys that I just love. Veterans of numerous 90s grunge and indie bands they’ve now come out with self-titled debut album that sounds as fresh as anything their younger selves might have put together. The flavour of the first few songs is very Bob Mould in his immediate post-Sugar phase. Listen to “Words You Say” and “Puts Hands in Last” along with “Eastbound” a bit further into the album and you might come away with singular view of what the band is doing. But there’s some striking variety on this album. “Soft Focus” has a very new wave Byrds feel and “Understand Anything” continues in the same vein, with a slight country tweak. “The Front Door” adds an Americana dimension to what is going on while “Best Of You” sets it hooky guitar breaks against an almost Band-like piano background. “Wish We Had Kissed” sounds like the single with its jangle guitar and earwormy constant invocation of the title line. And then the record ends with another surprise, “When the Lights Go Out,” a lovely, almost meditative tune where the bass guitar line really hooks you in, only to build to a bit of structured chaos in the latter half. Give Semprini a listen to hear some old dogs doing new tricks.

Vancouver’s Said the Whale are really saying something with their seventh long-player, Dandelion. Like ‘we’re ready to be big stars’ with this winning collection of killer tunes. The confidence in the execution of these songs rings out on tracks like “The Ocean” and “Sweetheart.” There’s no filler here. Every inch of album space is an opportunity to demonstrate all the amazing things this group can do. Just listen to how the band shift effortlessly from the extremely danceable “Honey Lungs” to the somber instrumental piano ballad “February 15.” The record is really a kaleidoscope of shifting musical motifs. There’s the earnest, relentless poppiness of “99 to the Moon,” a head-bopping Portugal the Man-esque turn on “Return to Me,” and the touching, stark ballad effort with “Dandelion.” The voice-over and sound effects on “Everything She Touches is Gold to Me” give a cinematic launch to a tune that is both subtly alluring in the verses and wonderfully  bombastic at the chorus. Meanwhile, “Show Me Everything” sounds like it’s going to be a big vocal ballad before twisting in the chorus to something more melodically sinister – brilliant! Dandelion is an album bursting with sonic surprises and melodic goodness from a band clearly ready for the big time.

Just because something’s modern doesn’t mean it has to leave old men shouting ‘get off my lawn’ in its wake. It can be relatable. Today’s acts know how wrap good old fashioned hooks in the most modern of fancy paper.

Cinematic powerpop: Super (2010)

16 Wednesday Mar 2022

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James Gunn’s soundtrack for Marvel’s Guardians of Galaxy got almost as much commentary as the film itself. The hooky selection of tunes probably had a lot of powerpop connoisseurs attributing the choices to some nameless musical supervisor. But a scan of Gunn’s movie resume suggests he doesn’t leave such decisions to just anybody. In fact, you get a feel for Gunn’s powerpop instincts with the choice of Tsar’s “Calling All Destroyers,” which he featured prominently in an earlier vehicle, his 2010 black comedy Super. While the movie got mixed reviews the soundtrack deserves a definite thumbs up, at least when it comes to hitting the powerpop marks. I’m not saying every song in the film fits the genre but with tracks from Tsar, Eric Carmen, Cheap Trick and The Nomads there’s clearly some kind of theme to the whole thing. I mean, just check out how Gunn uses “Calling All Destroyers” to open the movie with its animated title sequence. Talk about setting the scene – this is pure fun!

Another nod to the powerpop canon on the Super soundtrack is the inclusion of Eric Carmen. You don’t get much closer to the genre’s royalty than his early 1970s band The Raspberries, even if his solo career is largely defined by easy listening and power ballads. “It Hurts Too Much” is an exception, a welcome throwback to The Raspberries big hooks and Spector-ish production. Seeing Cheap Trick here also set off the powerpop alarms big time. “If You Want My Love” is from the band’s 1982 album One On One and it’s dripping with a late period Beatles vibe. Another track fitting the genre is the pop punky “I Do” from the mysterious Lo Def Dollz.

Eric Carmen – It Hurts Too Much
Cheap Trick – If You Want My Love

From there the soundtrack goes in a number of mostly complimentary directions. A surprising number of Swedish artists make the cut. Moneybrother offer up some pop reggae on “God Knows My Name ‘11” and “Born Under a Bad Sign” in a style reminiscent of The Specials. The Ark offer a more 1980s pop dance number with “Let Your Body Decide.” Last on the Nordic front is The Nomads doing punk honour to The Standells “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White.” Then Gunn adds in back-to-back country and hip hop selections with cuts from Terra Naomi and Acevalone, just to throw in some grit. Tyler Bates provides seven of the seventeen tracks on the soundtrack, mostly incidental music, except for the striking “Two Perfect Moments” which is a song proper.

The Nomads – Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White
Tyler Bates – Two Perfect Moments

The music on the Super soundtrack really works with the movie, effectively framing Rainn Wilson and his girl sidekick’s wonderfully demented performances as heroes/anti-heroes. The critics may have been divided but I thought the movie rocked, blowing up the superhero genre and defying easy identification with its themes or characters. Of course, the inspired soundtrack just made it that much better. To my eyes and ears, Super really is super.