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Though it was released in May of 2015, is it really too late for Cheers Elephant’s “Airliner” to race up the charts? There have been slow building hits in the past. Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” did not take off on its initial release, only catching on with radio months later. “Airliner” is certainly deserving of such late recognition. The opening verse is delivered with a compressed vocal sound that channels 1970s AM radio and holds the listener in check until the chorus drops with a killer hook. As the band drops out momentarily, a rainbow-like harmony vocal sustains a chorus of longing for escape from the mundane ground in favour of the ease of flight on an airliner. As the chorus laments, “I walk around kicking trash up off the ground and I say I want my seat on an airliner …” The graphic for the single riffs off the 1960s ‘flight as party’ motif recently re-popularized in TV shows like Mad Men.
“Airliner” is one of three singles released by Cheers Elephant in 2015. They have three prior albums, 2008’s Cheers Elephant, 2011’s Man is Nature, and 2012’s Like Wind Blows, all with strong material. I like particularly “6th and Girard,” “Party On Darwin,” and “Thoughts and Commonsense.” But their three most recent singles showcase a band hardening their sound into something distinctive and original. “Airliner” really should be their breakout hit single.
Do your bit to make these boys stars by visiting their band’s webpage and/or Facebook page.
I was out for a run and this song came up on the playlist and I knew I had to post it. “Reason to Love” is a masterpiece of a single, a perfectly crafted piece of poprock. From the opening harmonica, to the killer organ, to the ever so slightly harmonic vocal, everything comes together in this late 1970s new wave remelding of so many elements of previous decades’ popular music.
It should have been a huge hit single, but it wasn’t. The band had one more major label release before disappearing into obscurity. A shame but the period between 1979 and 1983 produced an amazing array of great poprock performers – people like Marshall Crenshaw, Nick Lowe and bands like Rockpile, only some of whom made it into the charts. But you can rediscover the Laughing Dogs and their music 
I wanted to kick off this blog with a song that would capture the fun, joy, and exhilaration of poprock music. This recent song from Family of the Year does the job. In my alternate universe poprock world this song would be a giant hit, blaring out of AM radios across the continent. Family of the Year have made much pleasant pop music on previous releases, gaining some attention for their contribution to the Boyhood soundtrack (“Hero”) and with the lush Beach Boys-esque “Summer Girl” from their first release. But nothing that takes off quite like “Make You Mine”. The song kicks off with a simple piano riff, which is immediately echoed by the rhythm guitar, drawing you in with a classic poprock hook. The lyrics pay tribute to summer love, even if they are somewhat ambiguous about the singer’s intentions. For instance, when he says “All the boys and all the pretty girls, summer time I’m going to make you mine” is he suggesting he’s just not that fussy about which gender he ends up with? Such a sentiment would not be out of sync with today’s youth. The best of poprock makes you feel good and this song definitely delivers on that promise.Make You Mine
Poprock Record 