Jangle Thursday: West Coast Music Club, Your Academy, The Boolevards, and Ducks Ltd.

25 Thursday Apr 2024

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Good thing jangle isn’t a limited resource. In fact, you could say it can be renewed every time someone picks up a guitar and chooses the appropriate effects-pedal/amp. To that end, today’s bands dial up the reverb to re-up our supply.

On Out of Reach northwest English band West Coast Music Club continue to develop their sonic palette. Things start out strongly jangle with “Sick and Tired,” a cutting political statement that musically conjures echoes of The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright” and The Byrds doing “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Then “Out of Reach” combines transcendent harmony vocals with arpeggiated guitar work in a style that is so REM. Songs like “The Only One” change things up, striking a more Jake Bugg kind of sombre intensity. The album also collects together various singles from the past year, like the ethereal “There She Goes Again” and the jaunty Lou Reed-ish “Nobody Likes You.”  The album turns more folk near the end with both “Home” and “Turning in Circles” opting for a more acoustic guitar staging.

Calling their new album #2 Record is one way Memphis power pop outfit Your Academy can signal they’re reviving a key local indie brand. And in so many ways this record does mark a strong resurrection of Big Star’s distinctive jangle vibe. “My Near Catastrophe” is a case in point it so resembles the original act in sound, tempo and hooks. But Your Academy are more than just Alex Chilton’s children. “Marilu” sounds like so many great contemporary bands working the harmony vocals/melodic rock and roll scene these days, like say The Maureens. At other points the Big Star style gets subtly modified, as when “Just a Little Out of Tune” appears to add a dose of Wings, or just harkens further back in time, as on the more Byrdsian “Wasting Time.” Personally, I hear more than little Moody Blues on this record, whether we’re talking the spot-on Justin Hayward vocal of “Miss Amphetamine,” the more power pop version of the Moodies on “(Not) Forever After All,” or that band’s over-the-top pastorally poetic inclinations on “B 612,” a tribute to the book The Little Prince. Other departures include the ambling Americana of “Greta” that features some snappy electric piano and distinctive harmony vocals. Then again, tracks like “When We Dream” just deliver the goods – relentless jangle.

Chicago’s The Boolevards have a sound that shifts between 1965 and 1978 on their new LP Real Pop Radio. Tracks like “On the Run” have that jaunty mid-sixties energy, still innocent of the heavier themes that would come later. “Last Night” even cheekily nicks the signature harmonica riff from “Love Me Do.” Then “If I Gave My Heart To You” and “Bittersweet” offer serious jangle from the Merseybeat playbook. But the other audio landscape marked out here is that poppy light rock that resurfaced in the mid-1970s as a precursor to various waves of indie to come. Here “It’s OK,” “Dance All Night,” and “Just Another Lousy Day” all have a compressed 1970s pre-New Wave sound. I really like how both “One More Chance” and “Out of Breath” use distinctive guitar tones to elevate the proceedings. “Get Out Tonight” even rocks things up a bit. With 16 tracks Real Pop Radio tirelessly barrels along song after song exuding positive poppy sentiments.

From the opening strums of “Hollowed Out,” the kick off track to the new Ducks Ltd. album Harm’s Way, you know you’ve dialed into something special. By the chorus you’ll be ready to get your fist-waving, pogo-dancing party shoes on. This is jangle pop with extra degree of intensity. Both “Cathedral City” and “The Main Thing” spit out lightening lead-guitar hooks with relentless precision. “Train Full of Gasoline” is a more even ride, though no less steely on impact. People compare this band to REM but I hear more of The Silencers or Grapes of Wrath, particular on cuts like “Deleted Scenes” and “Harm’s Way.” You’ll want to get out to see these boys live if they come to your town just so you can dance to the unstoppable beat of “On Our Way to the Rave.” The record does hit the brakes with its closing track “Heavy Bag,” giving acoustic guitar and mournful strings a look in. Harm’s Way is 28 minutes of quality jangle like no other, a 2024 must buy LP.

Jangle is both a tone and vibration and these bands have locked in on to both. Fill out your collection with the hyperlinked LPs above.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

The (almost) hit career of Bas Muys

21 Sunday Apr 2024

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You’ve probably never heard of him but you have heard him countless times if you had an AM radio in the early 1980s. He comes in at the 1:30 mark of the “Stars on 45” hit single as the voice of John Lennon, a song that topped charts around the world when it was released in 1981. He’s Bas Muys – Dutch singer, songwriter, guitarist and famously unknown guy. Though that’s not for lack of trying.

His first break came when his 1970s band Smyle climbed the Dutch charts with the Beatlesque single “It’s Gonna Be Alright” in 1972. Listeners heard echoes of the mid-1960s Nederbeat (Dutch Merseybeat) sound on the track so the record company deliberately obscured the band’s identity in a pre-Klattu bit of Fab Four misdirection. Smyle sputtered after just a few singles and Muys spend the rest of the seventies doing studio work. Of course that paid off big time when the Stars on 45 project took off. Hoping to cash in on that success he got to release a single under his own name in 1981 called “Oh Terry.” The song is so eerily spot-on Lennon vocally, nailing his falsetto and the more tender side of his delivery while the tune has a melodic bass line reminiscent of “Help.” With better promotion it might have caught on, given the strong appetite for Lennon-esque material in the wake of his death. Muys recorded a whole album to go with the song but his record company failed to release it at the time. Still, he did manage to put out a different LP a year later entitled Lennon and McCartney (Never Issued), later retitled Lennon and McCartney: Secret Songs. The album features Muys doing very Beatles versions of a host of songs Lennon and McCartney had written for other acts in the early 1960s. Sometimes the results hardly differ from the originals, like the cover of “Bad To Me” (a hit for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas). But others like “From a Window” and “I’m In Love” really polish up nicely.

Smyle – It’s Gonna Be Alright
Bas Muys – Oh Terry
Bas Muys – From a Window

Muys’ long lost 1981 album Hold On finally got a release date in 2022, complete with live concert and some media attention in his native Holland. But it really deserves a wider audience. The record alternates between Lennon’s 1970s soft rock vibe and a strong Beatles 65 flavour. The ‘guitar’ version of “Lovely Single Angel” really captures the latter.

Bas Muys – Lovely Single Angel (Guitar Version)

Bas Muys is the anonymous guy with an immediately recognizable voice. He could stand to get more attention for his work on its own terms. You can visit basmuys.com to help get that started.

Should be a hit single: Peter Baldrachi “You’re Gonna Miss Me Someday”

16 Tuesday Apr 2024

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With just three albums released since 2006 Peter Baldrachi is not going to win any productivity awards. But drop in anywhere on his catalogue and prepare for a jolt of pure pop excitement. These are epic recordings, melding a Replacements kind of great rock and roll flair with an ear for melody worthy of Matthew Sweet. And to be fair on the output markers, there are a few stand-alone singles and EPs in the mix. I got wind of his work when someone tipped me to Change, his fabulous 2019 collection of singles. But I ended up buying everything he’s put out. So – no surprise – I’m pretty sure I’ll be featuring a lot of Baldrachi in the days to come. But my initial needle-drop through these all these releases had one track really leap out as clear hit-single material, “You’re Gonna Miss Me Someday.”

The first version of the song appears on Baldrachi’s 2006 solo debut Solid Ground. The track opens with a sweet solo lead guitar line before easing into its acoustic guitar-centric rhythm pop sway. The melodic lead guitar riffs that pop up again and again are delightful while the harmony vocals build as things go on. Background vocalist Alice Austin adds a Go Go’s element to the mix with her contribution. All in all it is a fabulous album deep cut. But wait, there’s more. Baldrachi released a second version in 2015, remixed by power pop legend Ed Stasium. The new version is so subtly different yet the impact elevates the track to should-be hit-single status, it’s hidden charms now not so hidden. The opening lead guitar line is excised letting Baldrachi launch directly into the tune. Stasium then gives the track a bit more bite, lifting the faders on various guitar and drum tracks to increase the impact. Frankly, in my head I hear a third version produced by Steve Lillywhite that could slip on to Crenshaw’s Field Day but perhaps that’s just being greedy.

Peter Baldrachi is your unheralded star-of-the-day discovery. Or maybe you know his stuff? In which case, isn’t it great to hear it again? Either way, you too can buy all his releases at one convenient online stop.

Overlord therapy session

12 Friday Apr 2024

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Sometimes you don’t realize how much you’ve been missing something until it suddenly re-appears. Like a good bit of musical relationship therapy from Overlord. Brooklyn’s fave curio popsters finally return after a two and half year absence with a pair of songs that anticipate a whole new album to come (tentatively entitled Tragedy Gold). Get ready for some seriously clever lyrical sophistication and hooky tunes! In the meantime we’ve got two songs to hold us over and they certainly bode well for what is to come.

Repeated listens so far fail to reveal an A side/B side divide to me. Both tunes sound like the main event. And while they seem like they might be related to each other with the ‘ex-girlfriends’ and ‘crying boyfriend’ themes a closer inspection reveals quite different lyrical foci. “The Boy Who Cried Goodbye” ponders whether the boy in question is really suffering or just a drama queen, played out over a music bed that vibes Magnetic Fields or They Might Be Giants. But “The City of Ex-Girlfriends” shifts focus, lifting its lyrical narrative directly from the pages of DC Superman comics and the flying hero’s adventures with his sometime girlfriend, the aquatically-constrained Lori Lamaris. Musically there’s a subtle bit of what sounds like a The The keyboard progression added to the generally Stephen Merritt-ish mix. These two songs signal Overlord is back poppier than ever, just when we need them most.

Isn’t it time you had a session with Overlord? That was a rhetorical question. Hit the hyperlinks to perform your proper fealty now.

Breaking news: The Trafalgars, Aaron Pinto, Bloody Norah, and Phil Thornalley

06 Saturday Apr 2024

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Today’s headlines are attention grabbing indeed. These four stories are so packed with juicy details you won’t dare give up the remote lest someone try to click over to the shopping channel.

It’s been nearly two decades since Adelaide, Australia’s The Trafalgars put out two snappy guitar popping EPs and at least one supremely sublime single, “Second Hand Shop Girl.” But their new album, the aptly named About Time, is something else again, a record that manages to transcend their prior work with a new level of sophistication. Opening cut “Come On” makes the link to the older version of band with its crisp clean guitar rocking sound. But “Company Time” signals a whole new sonic vista opening up, with tight overlapping guitar lines and strong melodic twists. Then “Girl” turns on a mysterious hooky magnetism that draws you in with a deft use of minor keys. I love the jangle launch of “Start Again,” a song that really vibes the band’s Canadian heroes Sloan. Good songs so are in abundance here, like “Davey Parker” and “I’ve Gotta Know.” And I could totally hear Matthew Sweet covering “Get You Back Again,” which is not to say the original here isn’t delightful.  About Time is a keenly listenable album, the kind you used to play through without a second thought.

Aaron Pinto’s self-titled debut disc is a sprawling 30 song statement of artistic intent, a musical manifesto of sorts that vibes punk, sixties throwbacks, and DIY power pop. The record oscillates between a rough and ready Merseybeat groove and a more polished indie pop sound, though sometimes Pinto isn’t afraid to let the needle bleed into the red. Case in point, opening cut “1st” launches with a blistering, messy rendition of the tune that gives away the album’s secret from the start. This is an LP largely driven by heart, fumes and all. From there Pinto just keeps revving the engine, peeling out into multiple musical directions. There’s the distinct new millennium take on the early Beatles energy on tracks like “Yo Girls” and “Leave Your Man,” though “Over U” moves things into the Fabs psychedelic period. Other sixties triggers register on “The Grass and I were Greener” (somewhat Kinks-ian to my ears), “Corrine (I’m Sorry I Let You Go),” and “Oh, Come On,” while “The Obstacle Course” takes us into early seventies Bowie territory. If there’s a spectre haunting this enterprise it’s Elvis Costello. Sometimes it’s very My Aim is True (“Little Luck”) or Hi Fidelity (“Left On Read”) or Blood and Chocolate (“Hey Little Blonde Girl”). But variation is the default state of play here. Listen to the paired duo of tunes comprising “You’re My New Routine” and “You’re My Old Routine” for proof. The first is polished Costello while the latter vibes Lou Reed. Pinto can also just rock things up with a bar band confidence, as evident on “Now I’m in a Dream” and “I Hate Your Boyfriend.” Still, for me, it’s Pinto’s pop hook instincts I marvel at. He tosses off great hooks with a Mo Troper sense of carefree abandon all over the record, particularly on “The Pilots,” “Tired of Chasing You ‘Round,” “Few and Far Between,” and the exquisite “Your Party.” You’re gonna want to run –not walk – to your local music retailer to get a copy of Aaron Pinto, it’s that exciting.

Brighton, UK’s Bloody Norah have taken their time getting an LP out after first popping up our radar more  than two years ago with the addictive, earwormy single “Shooting Star.” But the results are more than worth the wait. Fun While It Lasted collects the band’s two singles and b-sides, adding six more winning tunes in the bargain. The sound here varies from a poppy sixties beat-group revival to shades of folk pop. Things kick off with “When It’s Gone,” a song that harbours what sounds like a dark Hollies feel. “Susan” lightens the mood, combining Beach Boys harmonies with Beatles Abbey Road guitar tones. “Take It Easy” then takes a surprising turn into 1970 pop soul. So clearly variety is the name of the game here. I love the mannered pop style of “The Clown” compared to the looser rock meandering of “Microwave.” “Tell Me” feels very much in the Beatles ’66 register while “Something New” is all breathy low-key neo-folk rock. Overall this record is all over the musical map, in the very best way. Fun While It Lasted is definitely fun while it lasts, and then some.

With Holly Would Phil Thornalley proves once again how much he’s a worthy inheritor to Jeff Lynne’s brand of symphonic pop. His opening song “Holly Would Love (Suite)” could be plucked anywhere from the ELO canon with its sweeping strings and colourfully tweaked vocal lines. Those same recognizable strings and vocals dominate “How to Marry a Millionaire” and “Shipwrecked Love” too. And the album’s single can’t get any more Lynnesque. “Mr. Moonlight” is practically a sequel to “Mr. Blue Sky.” But hold up, song #2 on the track listing “When the Riots Start” sounds so like a Travelling Wilbury’s deep cut it’s hard not to do a double take. Strong Tom Petty vibes here, both vocally and rhythm guitar-wise. I hear Petty on “Falling Upwards” and “Heaven Help Me” likewise. By contrast “We Could Be Starting Something” sounds more like the song-writing work Thornalley’s been doing for Bryan Adams of late. Then for pure pop whimsy there’s “The Golden Age,” a shuffling pop ditty touting the end of the rock and roll age with a light touch on piano and some attractive whistling. Thornalley’s been in the music-making game for a long time (stretching back to 1978) but Holly Would signals there’s been no ebbing of his creative genius.

Headlines don’t get any more ‘breaking’ than with these headliners. Get more on these stories by following the conveniently emplaced hyperlinks above.

The pre-Fabs faux: Pickle Darling, The Rebutles, Escape Artists, and The Robinsons

01 Monday Apr 2024

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Knowing you have a problem is the first step to really enjoying it. Like Beatlemania. I’ve got it bad and that means I can’t help serving up any Fabs-adjacent musical act I run across. Today’s acts are afflicted too. Such sweet suffering …

Let’s kick things off with a straight-up cover album. Or is it? From Christchurch New Zealand Pickle Darling amble through five mid-period Beatles tunes on Oh Golly Gosh, It’s the Beatles, accent on ambling. These are very acoustic-guitar pleasant renderings of famous selections, slowed down and coloured in with original instrumentation. I mean, I never really realized how much “Hello Goodbye” needed a melodica accompaniment until now. Or check out the transformation of “We Can Work It Out” which now comes off like some Donovan hippy-era folk tune.

The year’s going-meta award has to go to Nick Frater for imagining a convincing album/song arc for everybody’s fave imaginary band, The Rutles. His first foray into this territory was spent imagining what a solo career might have sounded like from each of The Rutles’ four members. Now he goes backward to provide a ‘blue’ album of could-have-been hits on The Rebutles 1967​-​1970. The songs are all original works but they don’t hide their inspiration. I’m not going to spoil the fun of ‘spot the Beatles original’ but take “One Lump or Two” as an illustrative example. The pumping piano is clearly vibing “Lady Madonna” while the melody goes elsewhere.

Rounding things out on our faux pre-Fabs contributions are two tunes that name drop Beatle-isms shamelessly. And oh-so effectively I might add. Escape Artists hardly dent the internet. Who are they?  Maybe we’ll never know. At least we’ve got a great song with “Beatles For Sale.” The tune has an Alan Parson Project soft rock melodic charm while endlessly dropping Beatles song references. The concept should amount to an unlistenable hot mess but it works somehow. Meanwhile on “She Likes the Beatles (Party)” Radiant Radish Records house band The Robinsons bemoan how a punk rock girlfriend just keeps stealing song ideas from the singer’s Beatles, Beach Boys and Weezer tapes. Performed in a spot-on Beach Boys’ Party fake live style.

Escape Artists – Beatles For Sale

Image of the American Beetles courtesy Bill Ande. You can read more about this actual pre-fabbed fake Beatles that toured Latin America in 1964 here.

Marc my words: Marc Jonson and Marc Valentine

26 Tuesday Mar 2024

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I grew up with a lot of Marks. Generally speaking, if your name was Mark you were second string on the basketball team and a get-along-with-everybody kind of guy. But if your name was spelled ‘Marc’ a whole new level of cool was involved. Today’s two Marcs show you why that is so.

We’ve reviewed two great albums Marc Jonson recorded recently with Ramirez Exposure but left his solo work untouched. Partly that results from the challenge of coming to grips with his unwieldy career. Things kicked off in 1972 with a baroque folk album for Vanguard (Years) but from there it’s hit and miss with rare album outings in 1992 (12 in a Room), 2000 (Last Night on the Rollercoaster), and 2017 (Marc Jonson and the Wild Alligators). But now we have an album that attempts to fill in the blanks – Groova Tismo. The record pulls together a dynamic collection of demos recorded in his NYC Cordelia Street apartment between 1979 and 2012. No surprise the tunes effortlessly evoke a Phil Spector early 1960s pop atmosphere. Things kick off so Roy Orbison-fine on the endearing “Honey Boy.” The Beach Boys also haunt these proceedings on tracks like “The Man Who Walks On Air” and “I’d Cry.” Other 1960s artists reflected here might include The Four Seasons (“Turn It On), Buck Owens (“I Don’t Have You”), and The Searchers (“The Moon”). But the 1970s get a look in too with shades of Eric Carmen (“Never Gonna Fall in Love Again”) and Gordon Lightfoot (“Lonesome”). Personal fave: love the lurching hooks colouring “November Paintbrush.” More than a collection of leftovers, Groova Tismo sounds like the coherent artistic statement of a should-be star.

On his new album Basement Sparks Marc Valentine continues a delightful reinvention of 1990s power pop that falls somewhere between Fountains of Wayne and Bowling for Soup. There’s a slight punk snarl on tracks like “Tyrannical Wrecks” and a groove that says the dance floor will see some body contact. But for the most part the songs here mine a sweet poppy guitar grind familiar to fans of Farrah and FOW. Exhibit A could be “Eve of Distraction” or “I Wanna Be Alone.” Album opener “Complicated Sometimes” sets the tone with a sophisticated rocky pop tune that says should-be hit, though early release single “Skeleton Key” is another strong ‘hit’ contender. “Strange Weather” is more a pop stomper, relentlessly driving home its hooks. Then “You Are One of Us Now” shifts things into more 1980 Cars territory. I’m also partial to “Repeat Offender” with guitars-to-the-front melodic presence. This is a record with a strong sense of fun, as apparent on “Opening Chase Theme,” though tender moments slip in too, as can be heard on the Farrah-ish “Ballad of Watt.”

Looking to get cool? You can purchase it from these guys in popular song form from various poprock music purveyors. Just tell them ‘Marc’ sent you.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Marching into melody: Brent Seavers, Hanemoon, Wesley Fuller, and Svenssen

22 Friday Mar 2024

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Melodies don’t just happen, they require a setting, an introduction, a prelude before they are unleashed on the unsuspecting listener. Today we march into solid melody territory with four acts that know how to throw out a hook.

Brent Seavers enters Exhibit B into evidence of his poprock genius. And with songs like these, selecting a jury for this case won’t be a problem. Things kick off with two tracks that marry Beatlesque specs with a youthful performance worthy of The Strypes. Check the break-out lead guitar work on “Rollercoaster Ride” that vibes an “I Saw Her Standing There” intensity. Or note the nice jangle interlude and very Beatles bridge centring “Of Poetry.” Early Elvis Costello fans are going to love the cool organ work all over this record.  “Push Me Down” works the organ hard for a serious dance party tune. “The Noble Cause” reminds me of Mark Everitt the way the words seems to chase the tune all over the song, buffeted by a subtle bed of cool organ. “Stumbling” has a jamming strut, again supported by more great organ work. A keen ear can hear a load of other disparate poprock influences on this album, like Squeeze (“The Universe and I”), Plimsouls (“No Perfect Way”), Oasis (“Fuzz Off”), and yes The Decibels (“Raining In My Head”). Stand-out tracks for me include the lush 1960s ballad “Lullaby” and the should-be single “Till It’s Over.” The latter rides a lurching set of seductive hooks that will pull you in like a planetary gravity well. Exhibit B is all the evidence you really need that Seavers is guilty of turning out criminally hooky tunes. And he’ll probably do it again.

On Rain or Shine Berlin’s Hanemoon strike a balance between elements of jangle, rough edge folk, and indie rock. It’s a record all about sonic shading, where sounds become like different hues of colour. From the outset “My Circle Line” links the album’s lineage to bands like Teenage Fanclub, Dropkick, and more distantly the Byrds. “Why Don’t You Walk Away” has sibilant guitars up front, though the overall effect is more sombre than your typical guitar band. “When I Look Around” verges on poppy rock with a breathy Elliot Smith vocal. And are those jazz guitar chords I hear shading “Deeper Than Down”? Honestly the mood on Rain or Shine is more wet than dry. One imagines songs like “Old From New” soundtracking endlessly dreary rainy days, helping make things more bearable. But there are lighter moments too. “Let’s Do the Magic Thing Again” has a brighter tone, accented by gently rippling lead guitar, while “Got a Date Tomorrow” has a driving hypnotic quality. I love the subtle keyboard adds to the REM-ish, seasonal love-letter “Is It Summer.” Then record closer “Comets” comes on like a late-breaking should-be single. Sometimes a record captures or creates a mood, like David Sylvian’s Brilliant Trees. This is one of those LPs.

The opening cut of Wesley Fuller’s bold new long-player All Fuller, No Filler knows how to build tension. “Back to Square One” doles out keyboard lines like an outtake from Who’s Next, only to suddenly segue to a slow glam march into its main melody. It’s Fuller’s mastery of many different genres and eras of popular music that is so striking on this LP. There’s 1970s folk pop on “Jacaranda,” a definite Wings vibe to “Everything is Strange” and “All of My Dreams,” and even bit of disco kick on “The Velvet Affair.” But there’s never just one influence. The latter track synthesizes so many 1970s sonic elements: slick AM pop, dance, and a killer hook lodged deep in the chorus. Or listen to how Fuller expertly steers a straight-up AM pop feel into the emerging 1979 new wave challenge on cuts like “Alamein Line” and “Inside and Out.” On the broader song line-up, the record see Fuller alternate between perfectly crafted pop gems like “Pacific Coast Highway” and his penchant for hooky, dance-able stompers like “Trade War” and “House of Love.” I love how he borrows that Beach Boys echo-chambered organ to set the mood for a 10cc/Beatles pop workout on “Look No Further.” You get the picture – All Fuller, No Filler is a very special album, a testament to an emerging pop master.

Norwegian band Svenssen hail from the small seaside town of Bryne, about an 8 hour drive from the nation’s capital Oslo. But there’s nothing provincial about their brand of melodic rock and roll. On Svenssen Sings Falling Out of Fashion the band deliver four finely crafted pop tunes that harken back to Kinksian themes of societal disruption but the sonic vibe is more early 1980s to my ears. The opening cut and title track “Falling Out of Fashion” has a Madness/Split Enz pop intensity that exudes maximum fun. “Dutch Courage” slows the tempo, brightening the jangle somewhat. “We Are Animals” has a shuffle groove that is a bit more seventies. Then on the wrap-up song “Hair of the Dog” the atmosphere is more Man Called E to me. And then we’re done, all too soon. Come back Svenssen, bring more songs!

You can take these melodies to go. Just click on the links to package them up.

Photo of ‘Found Kodachrome Slide – Plant City’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Spotlight single: Frank Royster “Someday”

17 Sunday Mar 2024

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The reliably good Frank Royster returns with a retro-drenched mellow melody that locates Liverpool somewhere in 1960s southern California. The opening rhythm guitar gives off a strong Texas Bobby Fuller Four vibe, only to shift sonic templates with the addition of some bright 12 string electric guitar. When the track finally settles into its own groove the distinct Beach Boys and Beatles elements meld together effortlessly, producing something eminently listenable over and over again. Not surprisingly, the video features sun, sand and wistful Royster playing his acoustic guitar on a boardwalk as pictures of a couple I assume are his parents flash on the screen as well as footage of a couple more Royster’s age walk a beach hand in hand. The lyrics pitch the singer as hopeful (‘someday, I’m gonna make you happy’) while the images show successful couples growing old together. “Someday” is Royster’s third stand-alone single to be released in the last two years, preceded by “Miss Information” and “Open Door.” What is interesting is how all three land in slightly different musical registers, which bodes well for his upcoming album still in preparation. In the meantime, if you haven’t followed Royster’s past work you are in for a treat. Both 2007’s Through the Years and 2010’s Innocence is Bliss are solid efforts that fans of Don Dixon or Bill Lloyd will love.

You can preview Royster’s material on Soundcloud and YouTube (including a creative re-interpretation of Elvis Costello’s “Only Flame in Town”) or just hang with him at his website and Facebook locales.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr page.

Songs for weary travellers

14 Thursday Mar 2024

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Nothing fixes the mind on travel quite like winter. Particularly those last lingering months where you can feel the season ebb but not quite subside. But getting somewhere ‘not winter’ is an effort for those of us north of 40 degrees latitude. That’s why we’ve assembled some musical accompaniment for soon-to-be weary travellers.

Ottawa’s The Rockyts have evolved from an amazing 60s sound-alike beat group on their 2020 debut album to a sleek 1980s new wave machine with singles that have come out over the past year. “Without You” creeps into view with a Cars-like muted electric guitar and vocals, only to break out in the chorus with full band impact. Crowded House may not climb the singles charts like they did in their 1980s heyday but that doesn’t mean they can’t still craft a killer tune. Their new single “Oh Hi” has all the classic Neil Finn song markers. There’s lilting slow-build hooks around every corner and Finn’s ear for unusual instrumentation remains undiminished. Hard to find out much about Escape Artists except a Go Fund Me page from a Tennessee duo suggesting an album is on the way. So far I’ve found three singles – basically, a maxi-single. From those choices I think “Around the Block” is a delightful bit of Tom Petty name-checking poprock. ‘What would Tom Petty do?’ they ask with a driving sense of Petty-ish aplomb and his special mix of guitars and organ. The mysterious band 65MPH hail from Chatteris UK, a small market town near Cambridge. I can’t imagine that’s the speed limit there. Sonically, the band sound like they’ve been stamped from a Paul Weller-meets-Billy Bragg mould, and that’s no bad thing. Their recent single “Small Miracles” casts a plaintive vocal against a mostly solo guitar backdrop to good effect. I love the striking effect Spencer Segelov and Great Paintings get on “The Contender.” The lead guitar line carries the tune but the overlapping vocals gives the tune lift, with a choir-like transcendence. Very 1980s American college radio.

Crowded House – Oh Hi
Escape Artists – Around the Block

Ottawa’s (as in Canada folks) Robby Miller rides a fine line between good old boy rock and roller and smooth poppy rock. His recent single “Everything Is Nothing” combines a bit of both, with up front jangly guitars and a low key vocal carrying the melody. Reminds me a bit of some of the mellow hits from The Fixx. Last year mellow popsters The Kind Hills made my top 25 singles list with their uplifting song “Let Youth Take Over.” Now they’re back in a new guise as Seasonal Falls. Still mellow, but drawing from a different sonic palate this time out. The hush vocals and standout guitar tone on “Used To Be Fun” are both exquisite while the tune is amble-along-in-the-sunshine good. The Shop Window manage to combine 1980s indie guitar pop with a folkie vibe on “I Run.” The vocals hit me as a little bit Outfield while the guitar has a shimmer and ring reminiscent of The Silencers. Legendary Canadian band The Kings are primarily known for an FM radio staple (“Switching to Glide/This Beat Goes On”) that has been in near constant rotation since its release in 1980. And then, not much. They did have other great material but just couldn’t match that early success. Now if you’ve missing that signature Kings sound there’s good news – the band have a brand new album out called Longest Story Ever Told. It is uncanny how much it sounds like no time has passed at all. Check out “Always Off the Deep End” and see for yourself. Faraways are a completion story. Active in the 1990s they split early in the new millennium. But as Covid swept the planet all that down-time had former band members drifting back to their unfinished songs. The result is the aptly named EP Decades of Dormancy. The standout track for me is the psychedelic “Ruby Ring of Love” with its Sgt. Pepper droney vocals, sitars, and killer organ fills.

Faraways – Ruby Ring of Love

Since his standout solo debut album Class Act Mike Browning has been drip releasing engaging new singles. “Just One Day” has a western Texas Buddy Holly groove. This song sounds so freshly pressed out of a 1961 rockabilly scene or Everly’s Cadence records release. More Texas can be found on Get Set Go’s fabulous LP Outworlder, particularly on the intoxicating single “Your Boy.” The song seems so early 1960s simple and endearing but an increasing sophistication emerges and intensifies as it plays on. Drunk Dial Records promise to get their artists loaded and then have them record an original tune and a cover. Gentleman Jesse’s original “Where Time Stands Still” has a wildness about it, maybe one drink over the line, but still maintaining its energetic focus. Another act drip releasing a load of interesting songs is Scoopski. “Nocturnally Yours” brings together heavy dollops of nerd rock a la Weezer and straight up FM radio rock bombast. And the results are a freakin’ fun, hummable good time. Slaughter Beach, Dog put out a fab new record last September entitled Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling but didn’t have room for one last song. “I’m In Love” is a country-ish soft rock Valentines tune of a different order. Catchy and disturbing at the same time.

Feel the insurgent drive of Softjaw’s recent single “Pleased With Me.” It’s got 1970s group singalong vocals, Keith Richard guitar licks, and strong party vibe. There’s a looseness that is so tightly performed here. By contrast, Kevin Nichols keeps striking a discordant tone throughout “Looking at the Ocean” butting up against melodic hooks that just won’t quit. One part grunge, another part Swervedriver. Sixties holdovers Tall Poppy Syndrome get 2024 started with a song that draws from multiple decades on “This Time Tomorrow.” There’s a touch of psychedelia of course but also mannered Moody Blues vocals, pumping organ shots, and insistently strong hooks throughout. Of a particular time but also seemingly timeless. The Stanford Family Band are a wonderful throwback to that early 1970s dreamy pop on “Love Me a Bit.” It was an era where piano moved up into the spotlight on AM radio singles and Beach Boys stopped having hits but influenced everybody and everything on the charts. This group have got a heavenly arsenal of background vocals riding a solid bed of piano chords. Luke of Ulysses carry on our Cars revival tour on their single “Car Trouble.” Though I also hear Nick Gilder coming through their clipped vocal style. And then there’s guitar god moment in the middle. This is a great synthesis of styles.

Tall Poppy Syndrome – This Time Tomorrow

Wrapping up our 21 song support playlist for weary travellers is something I can’t quite put my finger on. Described as a mysterious Norwegian duo, Ivar and Tommy Go To Hollywood certainly get top marks for an inventive name. But what they represent musically on “Bore Me to the Moon” is less clear. Things start off very English guitar band or Front Bottoms but listen to what comes up in the background. The band put together a veritable tapestry of vocal interplay that buffets the indie rock guitar drone and deadpan vocal that is fronting the tune. I don’t know what it is but I like it.

You can get on the bus Gus and needle-drop your way through this audio travelogue. I don’t know where you’re going but I think you’ll enjoy getting there more with miles of melody to choose from.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr page.