Autumn midway mixtape I

01 Wednesday Nov 2023

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Autumn on the midway can conjure images of bright lights and romance or screaming kids and stale food. The same is true of midway music. To move your midway mixtape in the right direction we’ve selected 21 tunes that will survive an encounter with wildest rollercoaster ride. This is the first of two installments.

We kick things off with a reconstituted version of Gen 11’s “Month of Sundays,” a deep cut from their 2020 EP California Grown. This new version sounds fresher and more present than before, the rhythm guitar is louder and more to front of the mix. Definitely more ‘let’s party’ this time around. Next up Oklahoma City’s The Lunar Laugh and the advance single from their new album entitled “Born Weird.” The song combines so many traditions, a bit of pop punk with touches of more baroque pop influences, twin-fueled by chugging guitar work and a swirling mix of vocal styles. A new Rinehearts album is something to get excited about and Full Bloom does not disappoint. The record is full of that Perth-stamped poppy rock the town is so well known for. But for the moment, just sample “Falling Down” so you don’t get too over-excited. There are some classic FOW turns of melody and vocal phrasing here but so much more too. Now for something different, check out “Everyday I Find the Luck” from Carlisle UK’s Hardwicke Circus. It’s like Billy Bragg joined Haircut 100 and the results are fun, fun, fun. The vocal interplay is exquisite while the tune just charges along. Somerdale sounds like the name of some kind of American teen telenovella. But this band are a distilled dose of 1970s poppy guitar rock. “Come Enjoy” is from their first album in seven years, Let’s Get Started, and it vibes 1976 without even trying. It’s the guitar, it’s the tone on the lead vocal, it’s the wall of background vocals buffeting the tune. It’s the whole package.

It was a tough call between featuring SLD’s “A Perfect Day” or “Hiding.” The former has got a backbone of non-stop chilling background vocals anchoring the tune while the latter works a Lennon-esque combo of acoustic guitar and lonely vocal adding a surprising McCartney-ish twist one minute in. You can consult both for yourself from the band’s new LP Like Sunshine. I might be accused of choosing the off-brand tune from Dolph Chaney’s new record Mug with “Love Around You.” But the interplay between the tender vocal and heart-rending steel guitar lines is like a big hug and who doesn’t need that about now? Count me in. Chicago’s Bur have got an interesting mix of sounds going on their most recent LP We Are Bur, a combo of indie, punk, and Beatlesque elements all pulling in different directions. But it works. Like on the ear wormy “Kush Burns.” Smooth with wonderfully rough edges. With “All Your Heart Can Hold” Brooklyn’s Gerry Devine serves up poprock perfection. This is 80s hit radio good, so eminently listenable. And Devine is offering the whole LP In My Own Good Time for free. A slightly better known group from Liverpool are releasing their version of our next song “Now and Then” but give the indefatigable Super 8 his due, his version is pretty special. He fills out the tune and adds a few surprises along the way. Just one of 12 fab familiar reinventions from his free covers album Raindrops on Roses.

San Francisco’s The From have got a loose and friendly vibe. There’s a slacker indie rock and roll sheen to everything on their debut LP Tomorrow Was Better. With influences ranging from Cheap Trick to Any Trouble it’s all guitars and gas guzzling cars and rocking tunes. “Friend Collector” falls somewhere between 12 bar bluesing and a poppy boogie rock that Steve Miller Band invented. Late Bloomers mine a more early REM shoegaze jangle seam on “Bitter Pill.” The rest of their recent LP S/T is more of the good same. Another kind of rock throwback can be found the Mighty Dan Gerous record Everybody Needs a Hero. “Don’t Go” has got an early Cars new wave finesse combined with a more straightforward American heartland AOR FM radio sound. “Bitch I Love You” is pretty special too. Looking for a Merseybeat fix? The Newds have definitely got what you need on their one-off single “The Street Leads to the River.” It’s got jangly guitar and a lovely Billy J. Kramer breeziness. The mysterious Josh DC (from ‘England’ UK) puts a slight drone on the vocal of “Rip of the Rulebook” just like Beck might do. The song has got some interesting change ups and ear wormy quality.

I often refer to The Front Bottoms in talking about other bands, their sound is that distinctive to me. It’s a curious meld of dissonant indie rock with occasional folk flourishes. New album You Are Who You Hang Out With is no different.  “Outlook” kicks off all earnest vocals and acoustic guitar only to break out in the second third with a heavy guitar attack and a swell of harmony vocals. Vancouver band Autogramm entitle their soon-to-be-released new album Music That Humans Can Play and that fits the ambience of the first single “WannaBe.” It’s got a Thomas Dolby meets The Fixx feel, with slightly more ominous rhythm guitar work. The Half-Cubes continue to dazzle listeners with their ongoing reinvention of nearly forgotten power pop classics of yesteryear. This time the boys take on the Ducks Deluxe/Searchers seventies tune “Love’s Melody” and lay bare the track’s melodic genius. Swedish electro-pop merchant The School Book Depository continues to drop interesting singles, this time vibing Owl City on “I’m Done.” As with previous releases, the song is a glorious wash of keyboards and an arresting vocal interplay. Charleston, South Carolina group Band of Jays offer up a smooth pop sound, punctuated by clean organ/lead guitar lines and a vocal mix that is stunning. “He Never Does the Right Thing” could be mistaken for soft rock but there’s some grit mixed in too.

The School Book Depository – I’m Done

We call a wrap on this installment of midway mixtape suggestions with Detroit’s The High Strung from their recent long-player Address Unknown. “In The Lines” will leave you wondering, is it folk? Or Merseybeat? Mannered baroque pop? Does it even matter? No. You can enjoy this tune and 11 others on the album without playing name that genre.

The High Strung – In The Lines

With all these tunes you can hit the midway with an extra spring in your step this fall. And there’s even more to come shortly.

Photo ‘Learning How To Smile’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr Collection.

Scary monsters and super treats

26 Thursday Oct 2023

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The annual march of mini monsters is nearly upon us. It’s a wonderfully spooky time where their voracious appetite for candy and mischief are on full display. Here at Poprock Record we dispense ear candy, of course. No tricks, just sweet sweet melodic treats.

Let’s get things started with that classic declaration from imaginative kid games: “You’re Dead.” The tune from Filipino-Panamanian-American folk singer Norma Tanega was initially recorded in the mid-1960s but recently experienced a resurrection as the theme song for Taika Waititi’s hilarious vampire movie and TV comedy What We Do In The Shadows. While originally written as an indictment of NYC’s competitive music scene the track seems perfectly suited for the show. I find its unusual folky tuning and metre absolutely captivating. Well, now that you’re dead, where do you hang? Sonny Falls’ exquisitely drone-y “Cemeteries” gives us clue. Falls provides a nice acoustic guitar-plus-synth kind of musical crypt to climb within. And who knows, you might meet some interesting people there. After all, Jersey City native Jonny Couch turns on a Simon Le Bon-worthy croon to announce he “Found Out You’re a Zombie.” That’s a bit of a date shocker.

Norma Tanega – You’re Dead

Well the monsters have been let loose so we might as well meet a few. Hi Tide Recordings specialise in the very coolest retro sounds, like Asbury Park’s Black Flamingos. Check out the wild instrumental guitar action all over the seasonally appropriate “Tales from the Crypt.” These surf guitar masters definitely stay true to their ghoul here. The Jack Rubies are a 1980s east London outfit back from the grave with their recent single “Poltergeist,” their latest in a series of recent releases after a break of three decades. The results are spooky and atmospheric and monstrously good.  Cheeky poprock outfit Scoopski opted for a whole EP of scary tunes on Halloween with Scoopski. I was torn between featuring  the poppy “Pumpkin Smile” or the more goof-rock “Monster in the Mirror.” What the hell, I’ll let you decide. NYC’s Dr. Ex and the Break-Ups have got the central-casting organ sound for Halloween tracks locked up on “Bye Bye Bizarro.” So groovy. I thought it was going an instrumental until the vocals burst in at the one minute mark. Ok, the song is not really festively ‘all hallows eve’ or anything being about Superman and all but the Bizarro villain focus seemed ‘Halloween-adjacent’ to me.

This year’s ‘ghoul-of-the-month’ are ghosts. Meddling ghosts, loitering ghosts, ghosts in the crosshairs. Big Stir Records have a great big Halloween holiday LP that has just arrived entitled Stir The Cauldron featuring 20 seasonally approved songs. I’m singling out Plasticsoul’s guitar pop delight “The Ghost In Between Us” for your special attention. There’s something so fresh sounding about this track. The guitars sparkle while the song structure falls somewhere between Squeeze and the Cure. Victoria, BC’s The Origin sound like they practically tip toe into the theatre before breaking out the electric guitars and letting loose on “The Ghosts,” featuring some great organ back up. Last year Atlanta-based Four Eyes came out with the freak folk festive The Freaky EP. So seasonally in tune with songs about vampires and the unresting dead. But we’re not going to talk about that now. Instead let’s feature the lofi fab “I’d Rather Be Ghost Hunting” from her 2019 album of the same name. Plucky, seemingly self-propulsive, with a ghostly vocal sheen.

It’s a holiday and oh, what’s that? A new Vista Blue release? Well that wasn’t unexpected. Everybody’s favourite pop culture-riffing pop punk band are back with another seasonal set of songs, this time dubbed Even Dracula Will Be There. Our featured tune is “I Gotta Rock,” a double entendre of culture quips, quoting Charlie Brown and the ever present punk need to just rock. Vista Blue, they’re holiday reliable.

You might be tempted to empty that candy bowl but you know better. Dip into all this ear candy instead – it’ll fill you up without rotting your teeth.

Photo from 1960 movie Village of the Damned courtesy James Vaughn Flikr collection.

Love + Glory and Dave Kuchler

21 Saturday Oct 2023

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If there’s a guy who deserves a bit more love and glory, it’s Dave Kuchler. As a member of the Soul Engines he played a major part in crafting the power pop perfect sound of their 2001 release Closer Still, taking lead vocal on the should-have-been hit “Just Another Day.” Then in 2020 he returned with a dynamite solo album entitled It’s Pronounced … that splashed jangle guitar and heavy doses of Hammond B3 organ over a solid collection to tunes. The record ranked #11 on our Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2020 list while the single “Slave to Katy” clocked in at #3 out of the 50 Poprock Record should-be hit singles of 2020. In our review we declared It’s Pronounced … “… has the sound of a timeless classic, a paean to poprock songcraft and performance. It deserves a wide hearing.” But the likes of Rolling Stone and Billboard fail to heed our good advice.

Now Kuchler is back with Love + Glory and it’s another dynamite package of New Jersey’s special brand of janglicious, Americana-infused rock and roll. From the killer lick introducing opening cut “In It With You” you know you’re in for some no nonsense melodic rock along the lines of Fastball, Don Dixon, John Hiatt and Marshall Crenshaw. Developed from an unreleased Soul Engines song, the track has a distinctive lead guitar hook that keeps coming back in between Kuchler’s strong vocals. Then “Labor of Love” shows how Kuchler’s talent for seeding a melodic hook right from the start of a tune is no fluke. Stylistically Love + Glory has a more consistent sound than It’s Pronounced …, meeting at the crossroads of Americana and Merseybeat. Basically less Springsteen, more Rockpile this time around. “She’d Rather Be With You” is very Mersey, updated with a bit of Nick Lowe cheekiness. “All I Need” takes its jaunty electric guitar into Beatles-country-meets-early-Eagles territory. But with “Fine Wine” and “Slow Day” you can practically hear a John Hiatt growl coming in somewhere, the latter also reminiscent of Lowe’s Rose of England material. As with Hiatt, the organ work on these tunes adds a transcendent quality. Other songs showcase different variations of the Americana theme. There’s a sweet organ and mandolin charm to “This Old Car,” a Chuck Berry-fueled romp through “Lover’s Talk,” and storytelling about Maggie May before she met Rod on “Prequel (Maggie).” The record ends with a bit of blistering heartland jangle on “Chasing Glory,” a return to a more Jersey Springsteen aura.

They just don’t make records like Love + Glory anymore. Unless you’re Dave Kuchler. You can show him a bit of love at his bandcamp site, Kool Kat Musik record distribution page, or FB locale.

Gregory Pepper’s Estate Sale

18 Wednesday Oct 2023

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It must be hard times at Camp Pepper these days. The band’s last album No Thanks was described on bandcamp as ‘[t]he seventh and final album by Gregory Pepper & His Problems.’ Now Pepper offers up an Estate Sale, described as a grab bag of ‘B-sides, compilation tracks, covers, and alternate versions from the Camp Pepper Archives (2008-2023).’ So, like, what gives? Is this the end of Gregory Pepper and his Problems as a creative vehicle? Will they be replaced by something else? Or is Pepper forgoing music to finally commit to that snowplow job in his northern Ontario small town? You could tune in next week but I’m not confident we’d have any news.

What we do have is devilishly good serving of Pepper wit and whimsy over the 26 tracks of Estate Sale. Now let’s be clear, some of his estate items already went out in previous sales. A gander over at Camp Pepper reveals a host of b-sides, alternative versions, and demos appeared on expanded versions of previous releases of S/T, With Trumpets Flaring, Escape from Skull Mountain, and Demos! Demos! Demos! But there’s definitely still value for money here. There are covers of The Postal Service (“Natural Anthem”) and Ween (“Gabrielle”). There’s a rare teaser track from the Dad Year Recordings that didn’t make the final 52 song cut (“Back to the USA”). Other contributions will stand as repeats if you kept up with the flow of Pepper EPs over the years. For instance, the whole of the Ghost Town EP is included here as is “Secret Satan” from the ツ​ン​デ​レ (Tsundere) EP, and I don’t hear anything different about them. Personally I don’t begrudge Pepper a bit of double dipping. I mean, he’s not young anymore and probably needs the money. And, repetition or no, you’re still getting a nice retrospective of Pepper’s curio pop career.

There’s too much on Estate Sale to give a track by track breakdown. And that’s tough because, given that I love just about everything by Pepper, it’s hard for me to choose favourites. But if I were to draw attention to just a few things from this release I might highlight his manic 1950s reinventions like “LUV U 2 DETH” and “BFF,” or the driving macabre pop of “This Town” and “Home Alone,” or his hilarious self-deprecation on “Time For Plugs.” But Pepper can be serious and touching too, as can be heard on the holiday-themed “A Nice Thought” and “No Funeral.” Or I’d recommend hitting repeat on the 1970s hooky pop goodness of “It Gets Worse.” There’s a Mungo Jerry meets 1974 Wings thing going on here that I can really get behind. But hey, results may vary. Consult your doctor.

Like the rest of the world we live in, the fate of Gregory Pepper and his Problems remains uncertain. But you can quell your nervous mind with a few spins of this Estate Sale. Get thee over to Camp Pepper to check it out and all his other fabulous releases.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Drive time regulars: Steve Marino, Taylor Young Band, Classic Traffic, and Rolling Numbers

13 Friday Oct 2023

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Whether you’re driving or just enjoying the ride there are tunes that help while away the time getting from here to there. The term ‘drive time’ used to refer to that special captive-in-cars radio audience that could nonetheless shift stations. So DJs needed to serve up some pretty solid stuff, kinda like the four acts we feature here.

Steve Marino’s Too Late to Start Again has been my go-to ‘heading home from work’ album this fall. From the dreamy pop confection “Satisfy You” opener to the sweet DIY acoustic cover of Teenage Fanclub’s “I Don’t Want to Control You” that wraps things up, you won’t find a much more perfectly put together guitar pop album than this. The tunes vary but the track order makes the whole group gel as an album. Take the transition from the sunny pop feel on “Satisfy You” to the slightly more Beck-like dirge pop groove animating “Comedown.” You hardly notice the shift, so effortless is the change. Then the mood lightens appreciably with the “Got You (In My World Now)” Sugar Ray vibe and the basking-in-the-sunshine, smile-inducing “Kingdom.” The subtle background vocals on the latter really lift the song. Not that the record shies away from a bit of rocking out. “Tune You Out” sounds like bouncy, tuned-down version of a classic punk pop song. “Love You More Than Before” borrows distinctive psych pop elements, married with some languid Marshall Crenshaw lead guitar lines. “Blue” builds a buzz of sound around a great lead guitar hook, slipping into Swervedriver territory here and there. Other influences include Elliott Smith on “Leaning Off the Sun” and Teenage Fanclub on “Pins and Needles.” Trust me on this one, you’ll be starting Too Late to Start Again again and again and again …

I’m a bit late to the Taylor Young Band scene but 2020’s Mercury Transit just fell across my radar and I’m loving it’s relentless positivity and evocation of 1980s indie sounds. The album presser describes band leader Taylor Young as ‘Ted Lasso with a Telecaster’ and there is indeed something irrepressibly smile-inducing about this collection of songs. There’s jangly lead guitar, hushed candy-coated vocals, and hooks to spare. Dip into album opener “Get Around” and all the basic pieces that make this album great are there. And there’s something else, a faint echo of The Smithereens here and there, particularly Pat DiNizio’s distinctive vocal phrasing. I hear it on “Make You Want to Stay” and “Five Cents,” the latter pulling in some Nick Lowe-isms with the rumbly lead guitar intro. Bands like The Popravinas and Grapes of Wrath also come to mind. Or there’s a Blue Rodeo freewheeling rootsy pop feel to “Blue Eyed,” especially that great guitar lick that ties everything together, and a Sam Roberts finish all over “Out of My Mind.” Stylistically there’s loads of variety here: some soul pop vamp on “Shine on Me,” a 1980s FM melodic sheen to “Rattled,” and plenty of kick up your heels poppy country rock with “Daze of the Week” and “Drinkin.” And yet TYB marks everything with its own distinctive band sound. Should be hit single here, “Wrong Place, Wrong Time” for sure. Some seriously jaunty jangle that gets into your head – in a good way.

Another late-find band for me is New Jersey’s Classic Traffic. I was just about to start raving over their 2022 self-titled debut when I discovered they’ve got a newer release available and it is just as good. There’s a tension at the heart of this project that creates a groovy kind of alchemy, combining blistering guitars and hushed, soothing vocals. The ‘tude is very Twin Peaks or Parquet Courts though the sound is more Bob Mould. From the debut make sure to check out the opening cut “Solo Show.” Now that’s how you anchor a song in a killer hook. “Ten Minute Window” is pretty special too, like Teenage Fanclub with Marshall stacks. The new album is You Want It? We Got It! and boy do they ever. “Morbid Obit” launches this record on it’s rocking yet subdued trajectory. You know this would be live treat. Then “Crash Test Buddy” ups the melodic current in an addictive head boppin’ manner. “Paranoid Perfectionist” slows things down a bit with a solid rhythm guitar lurch. Then “High Wire Guy” again sounds like a cranked up Teenage Fanclub. The band do slow things down on occasion, like on the brooding “Return to Sender.” Singles? Definitely the breezy yet punchy “Lonely Palm Reader” and the almost pop punky “Out To Me.” You’ve got two solid slabs of noisy power pop album-age to enjoy here. But my hunch is that these tunes would really come alive in person. A Toronto tour stop can’t come soon enough for yours truly.

Chicago’s Rolling Numbers are a bit of an enigma. There’s stark 1980s lead guitar work tempered by a variety of subtle synth keyboard interventions, all in support of tunes full of mellow yet engaging melodies. “Figure It Out” kicks things off and here the solid rhythm guitar is very Moody Blues 2.0 or even The Shins. The contrasts really come out next with “Shimmering Eyes,” a song defined by intriguing yet restrained keyboard and guitar work as well as a subtle, sneak-up-on-you, Macca-worthy melodic hook. I hear a bit of McCartney circa 1970s Wings on “Underwater” too. Other tracks have faintly reminiscent vibes, like the Men at Work reggae feel to “The Lonely Night,” the Big Country-ish lead guitar flourishes on “I Don’t Mind,” or the Fleetwood Mac-like vocal hit of “Home Again.” Then there’s “It Takes Me Back,” your basic full-on country workout. And yet I’m struck by how the band nails a 1980s melodic melancholia that marked the soft rock of that decade on tracks like “Best of Luck” and “Be With You Tonight.” The former has an aching quality that ebbs and flows, vocally mournful then uplifted by the sometimes searing lead guitar work. The latter is a brilliant mix of 1980s synth keyboards, stark lead guitar lines, and oh-so melancholy vocals. This kind of stuff used to own AM radio once upon a time. I used to miss its exquisite polish – now I don’t have to.

Here are four new regulars for your drive time playlist. Click on the hotlinks above to pick your favourites.

You can’t escape Chris Stamey

07 Saturday Oct 2023

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Let’s pretend you don’t know who Chris Stamey is and you’ve stumbled across his new album The Great Escape. Title track and opening cut “The Great Escape” sounds pretty laid back 1970s California country rock. But then “Realize” vibes a more poppy rock style with guitars carrying more of the song. Then Stamey lets loose the jangle with a Big Star take on Alex Chilton’s song “She Might Look My Way” before going full-on country with “Here’s How We Start Again.” If you can set aside how much the latter track reminds you of Eddie Arnold’s “You Don’t Know Me” you might be asking yourself, just who is this guy stylistically? Well, he’s Chris Stamey. Really you have to know a bit about his musical DNA to get what he’s doing here. What makes The Great Escape such a fabulous record is how it draws creatively on Stamey’s considerable musical legacy. “I Will Try” effortlessly reinvents Brydsian motifs, “Greensboro Days” does folky country like REM used to do, while “Back in New York” has a great American songbook feel. There’s not-so-serious, fun hero worship on “The One and Only (Van Dyke Parks)” and tender love for a friend on “Dear Friend.” “The Sweetheart of the Video” plays with a cinematic country ennui, you can practically see the montage. Stamey even provides his “Album Credits” over a music bed of the title track. You can love this record without knowing a thing about Stamey but digging a bit into his past helps you appreciate it even more.

Of course, Chris Stamey is best known as a key founding member of the legendary power pop band the dBs. Now I’m not going to assign any homework but if you did want to get caught up on his dBs origins, you can check out his recent album with the other key dBs member Peter Holsapple. The duo have played acoustic concerts over the years and honed very different takes on their original more rocking tunes. In 2021 they decided to commit these remakes to tape for an album entitled Our Back Pages. Not all early 1980s indie rock can survive turning down the amplifiers but the craft and sophistication of the Holsapple/Stamey songwriting thrives in this new, more acoustic milieu. From the fiddle-infused romp that is “Today Could Be the Day” to the folk-rock menace colouring “Happenstance” the ambience is very Peter Case from his first solo album. Other versions of the songs sound more poprock contemporary. “From a Window to a Screen” reminds me of Porter Block while “Dynamite” is a timeless juxtaposition of ear-catching lead guitar and swoon-worthy harmony vocals. I could go on as the whole record is solid but I’d have to single out “Picture Sleeve.” The duo cook up such amazing harmonies here that the results are poprock bliss.

Another recent Stamey effort worthy of attention is his collaboration with The Salt Collective. He and Peter Holsapple appear on a number of tracks from The Salt Collective LP Life but the standout choice for me is “Nursery Rhyme.” There something very 1960s baroque pop here, but updated with an indie rock intensity.

If you know Chris Stamey, you know escape is neither likely nor desirable. If you’re just discovering him, get ready for a truly great poprock escape. You can get caught up in his world on at his website and music pages.

Breaking news: Tamar Berk, Hurry, Arthur Alexander, and Movie Movie

01 Sunday Oct 2023

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The news desk here at Poprock Record won’t win any awards for being on the scene when stories break. But we live in hope our headlines are the hooks you’ve been looking for.

A new album from Tamar Berk isn’t just a release, it’s an event. Tiny Injuries is the third installment of a trilogy of albums exploring love, loss and surviving. It’s also a love letter to all the musical influences she holds dear. Berk’s finely tuned ear reliably turns classic poprock sounds into something new. From the opening bars of album opener “if u know, u know” the feel is new wave 1979, until some insistent synth hooks blur the focus, leaching into the 1980s. Berk knows how to build a song and by continually adding subtle elements the track becomes timeless, unmoored from its initial influences. Some cuts here really draw out a gut level retro response. “drop in the bucket” is a genius 1980s reinvention, balancing a melodic menace with the rhythm guitar’s magnetic pull carrying the listener forward. The organ run kicking off “walking hurricane” knocked me off my chair but that was nothing compared to the song’s irrepressible Go Go’s rhythmic intensity. Dance party approved, indeed. “gonna call it” uses over-the-top 1980s synth drama to frame a rocking classic. By contrast, other songs bring to life a tender, almost Suzanne Vega-like combination of lyrical-musical introspection. It’s there on “what’s become of me, my friend,” “cash out,” and “i was saved by the beauty in the world.” Berk is also mindful of sonic texture. Just listen to how she develops “permanent vacation” starting with rugged acoustic guitar, slowly adding idiosyncratic synth and horns, and topping everything with ethereal background vocals. Should-be hit-single here, definitely “Sunday Driving.” Things get rocking with a load of tasty lead guitar hooks. At then the album ends with “if i could fix one thing,” a stark, striking, emotional closer. Tiny Injuries is Berk firing on all creative cylinders and the ride is more than fine.

Philadelphia’s Hurry seem aptly named on their most recent album Don’t Look Back. The pace of this record is relentless, a seemingly impenetrable wall of jangly guitars and sonorous reverbed-out vocals that just keeps coming at you. Not that I’m complaining. This is the bounciest, brightest break-up album I’ve ever heard. The song titles give the lyrical game away: “Didn’t Have to Try,” “Like I Loved You,” “Beggin’ For You,” etc. This guy is clearly hurting and more than a bit desperate. But you’d never know it from the sunny disposition of the music, drawing on equal parts Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and Matthew Sweet (though perhaps a bit more tightly wound than those acts). “Begging For You” does strike a somewhat unique note, vibing more Fountains of Wayne-reminiscent melodic turns and vocal phrasing. Another departure of sorts can be found on “For Us To Find Love” which slows the pace, sounding a bit more 1970s guitar pop. Don’t Look Back is a totally listenable full-album experience but on the stand-out tracks front both “Didn’t Have to Try” and “Like I Loved You” exude a hit single confidence, deftly balancing alluring, carrying-the-melody vocals with mirroring lead guitar work. Break up albums seldom leave their listeners feeling this buoyant.

On … Stepping Out! Arthur Alexander works his formidable array of influences into 12 new songs (and one cover) and the results are predictably spectacular. The ease with which he can work a 1960s motif into any tune and make it better is impressive. Case in point, the fab remake of The Sorrows song “It’s Not Love Anymore #2.” The rumbly guitar is so 1964 but it’s the melodic turns that nail such a subtlely, Mersey-inflected tune. The harmonica solo is just the icing on top. Or listen to how Alexander effortlessly weaves a James Bond-like theme into fabric of “She’s a Red Hot Lover.” The LP does have a bit of split personality, one part leaning heavily on sixties influences while another group of songs strongly vibe the pop elan of the 1980s. There’s “I’ll Miss You” for a solid 1965 poppy rock sound. The lead guitar sparkle and vocal harmonies so nail the period. But tracks like “A Little Too Much” put that distinctive 1980s synth to forefront just like Golden Earring did in the same decade. Along the same lines “Ashes” and “Silver Cloud” remind me of that sophisticated Alan Parsons Project pop sound while “Fly Away” could be a 1980s take on the Bryds. “Why Can’t You Come” is, again, pretty 1980s Golden Earing to my ears. Then there are the outliers, the 1920s swinging “Oh Lulu, Won’t Be My Girl” and hum-fabulous “Humming Blues in Four.” … Stepping Out! is a very good time: familiar and fun with more than a few delightful surprises.

With Storyboards Movie Movie offer a broader take on the band’s sonic palate, resting the 12-string electric guitar occasionally to dig a bit deeper into their Americana rock and roll roots. The previous Now Playing EP was a solid slab of jangle but on this LP it’s like they’ve been given permission to dabble a bit. The anthemic opener “Born to Win” signals a more muscular rocking posture, like an American Jam. From there the musical touchstones are mostly heartland America, with a shade of indie. “Only Time Will Tell” sounds like a very tight version of The Replacements, “Working From Home” reminds me of Wall of Voodoo, while “Time to Say Goodnight” feels very BoDeans. In “The Light That Shines in Her Eyes” I hear hints of Tom Petty, X, and The Violent Femmes. I love the kick-up-your-heels Tex-Mex party swing on “The Two Loneliest People in the World.” There are a few significant departures here too. “The Girl With the Wandering Eye” could have been recorded in airport hangar with The The’s Matt Johnston in the producer chair. “Lone Warrior” has almost a jazzy pop feel. “A Real Good High” is defined by the severe rhythm guitar sound of the late seventies Kinks. Then, in a direct contrast, the album ends with the jaunty “Better Off Friends” sounding like Lou Reed in pop mode. Storyboards reveals a complex, ambitious band destined for a long run at the box office.

You’ve got the headlines, now dig into those back stories via the hyperlinks above. There’s still more to find out about these newsworthy acts.

Photo ‘Radio on the Television’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Celebrating Jose’s Bad Day

27 Wednesday Sep 2023

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There is something so wonderfully 1983 about Jose’s Bad Day. The clean guitar sound, the understated vocals, the everyman lyrical sentiment, occasionally punched up with a layer of winning vocal harmonies – it all comes rushing back to me. The great jangly guitar and snaky organ work just help to bring it all home. Hi! Let’s Eat is an EP with five fabulous cuts that re-animate the sound of that great year in poprock, for me anyway. Opening track “Just Good Friends” has the studied nonchalance of Don Dixon’s recordings, obscuring the complexity of the song’s arrangement to bring the hooks to the surface. “How Will You Know?” is a lovely bit of light poprock, with subtle Merseyside turnarounds. Then “So Pretty I Lie” dials back the 1980s to maybe the late seventies to hit some new wave marks – those rhythm guitar shots are really working overtime here.  By contrast “Where Were You?” gives us a John Hiatt-style neo-1950s update, connecting with band leader Tim Reece’s other music project 40 Proof and its more Americana vibe. Yet when we hit the EP closer “Rushing In On Fool’s Day” the sound has shifted again, this time more reminiscent of Mark Everett’s A Man Called E project.

You can celebrate Jose’s Bad Day at their bandcamp page. Bad times never sounded so good.

Photo entitled ‘Knife’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Thrilling wonders: Taking Meds, Gizmo, Good Shade, and The Dumbanimals

22 Friday Sep 2023

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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Let’s face it, we tune-blogging types got into this writing racket because, on occasion, there’s something we find thrilling about the music. It may be different for every listener but we know when we’ve heard it – something clicks. And, for some reason, we just have to tell somebody about it. So brace yourself for thrills dead ahead.

One listen to Taking Meds pre-release single for Dial M for Meds had me hooked – that’s all it took. “Memory Lane” is a serious endorphin releaser, full of relentless groovy guitar work with just a bit of edge and an oh-so-smooth vocal melody. So what can you expect from a full album Taking Meds experience? In some ways the record has a 1990s guitars-to-the-front, college-indie vibe. Songs like “Outside” and “Aftertaste” are noisy fun, casting straightforward lead guitar hooks against a wall of discordant rhythm guitars with vocals that play touch and go with punk pop. “Life Support” weaves smart lead guitar hooks throughout a song with a Sam Roberts tunefulness while “Long Tooth” works a more discordant seam. Then there are songs that go in a different direction, like “Wading Out” with its Beck-in-hit-mode style or “The Other End” which sounds like it combines a very poppy grunge sound with a bit of the Front Bottoms. For something really different album closer “See the Clowns” launches a great barrage of guitars, only to let things drop down into whisper cool vocals when the vocals start. This album sees Taking Meds fine-tuning their previous pop-punk bluster into a lean melodic rocking outfit worthy of repeated prescription renewals. Warning: repeated listening of Dial M for Meds may bring on feelings of irrepressible joy.

Sleepy Prince Edward Island has cranked the amps for homegrown poppy noise band Gizmo. Their debut EP Buddy System is a giddy rush of loud guitars and droney hypnotic vocals. The kick-off opening track “Producer and Virtual” vibes Weezer with its surging rhythm guitars and slightly discordant melodic turns. There’s something satisfyingly sad and ominous going on here. “Luanne” lightens the mood, sort of, in a Fountains of Wayne unreliable narrator manner. Tune-wise the song also sounds like FOW lost kin, with a touch of 1973 McCartney in there somewhere. “Deepest Skin” is a more brashly poppy moment, approaching a cleaner power pop sound that reminds of a few choice deep cuts from the likes of Odds, Sugar Ray, and Fastball. Then “Prisoner Functionary” launches directly into Weezer territory but quickly breaks out a slightly broader poppy palette, an almost adrenaline-fueled Beach Boys romp. If you like noisy hook-laden guitar records, you’re gonna love Buddy System. My only beef is that its four songs are over in just eight minutes. An album’s worth of Gizmo really needs to be PEI’s next priority export.

On Think Spring Columbus Ohio’s Good Shade are a melody juggernaut, offering a seemingly unstoppable assault of guitars and shouty pop punk vocals so infectiously earwormy it’ll leave you panting. Things start at maximum speed with “I Can’t Imagine,” a riotous party tune with just a hint of darkness. There’s a spy motif lurking in the instrumental break that is just so alluring. Then should-be hit single “When Will You See” rolls over your melodic consciousness and, frankly, nothing much matters for the remaining 3 and half minutes. This is glow basking stuff guaranteed. Yet, barely pausing, the band launches another marquis-worthy number with “Hovel.” The melodic tension here is taut between the dire-sounding verses and the grin-inducing ‘I’m not hurting anyone’ choruses. A number of songs like “Rinse Repeat,” “Too Little, Too Late,” and “That’s a Shame” tease a slower tempo beginning, only to launch cyclonically somewhere in the song. “Mountain” switches things up, going slow, going fast, with a particularly punchy chorus. Generally Good Shade are hard to box in as they’ve got a sound all their own, though “Take Another Day” has a certain Weezer-ish demeanor. The departure moment on the LP can be found with the title track “Think Spring,” a lovely slower-tempo poprock tune. My gut says Good Shade would be an amazing live act, given the excitement overload they deliver on this long-player. Definitely ‘record of the year’ contender.

There’s something refreshingly old school lurking in The Dumbanimals songcraft. Tracks like “Lollygagger” have a timeless song structure (could be sixties, could be eighties) overlaid with a very now indie bash-and-groove performance. The band’s debut LP Thrift Pop is stocked full of similar song workouts. “Hook In Our Jaw” comes on guitar strong with some very tasty nice lead lines but softens things up for the vocals. By contrast, “Doorknob” sounds new wave with grungy guitars. The 1990s get a strong look in on this album with “Futz” offering a rollicking Britpop party vibe while “1995” (not surprisingly) mines that decade’s more discordant poppy rock vein. Then there’s something different again with “In My Car,” an anytime rock ballad that could deep cut an album from any of the last six decades. My personal fave is the loud, mesmerizing “Lullaby for Jack” that manages to combine grinding guitar with heavenly harmony vocals (stay tuned for the fun hidden add-on to this track). The album cover’s baby model may not be digging all this but fans of timeless melodies will.

Go on, feel the thrill of top rank poprock temptation. You’re just a click away from a whole lot of aural excitement.

Top photo fragment from Thrilling Wonder Stories, volume 34 number 3 (August 1949.)

Spotlight single: Mickey Dolenz “Shiny Happy People”

15 Friday Sep 2023

Posted by in Spotlight Single

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What a birthday surprise! As I complete my 58th circuit of the sun an absolutely delightful surprise landed in my inbox, the world’s last remaining Monkee Mickey Dolenz covering R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People.” Now a lot of old duffs can be found trodding the boards, slinging sloppy collections of other people’s tunes. But Dolenz really sounds good here. In fact, his vocals sound Monkees era fresh. The song’s arrangement doesn’t stray far from the original but contains a host of original inflections and interesting instrumental choices. And did I mention Dolenz sounds good? I mean, let’s face it, when rock stars start hitting their late seventies the old vocal chords tend to give way (McCartney III anyone?). Yet Dolenz is sounding like he can go another decade at least. “Shiny Happy People” is the first of four R.E.M. songs to be featured on a soon-to-be released EP tagged with the suitably sixties title Dolenz sings R.E.M. Other cuts to be included on the full EP include  “Radio Free Europe,” “Man on the Moon,” and the single from 2004’s Around the Sun “Leaving New York.” Wow, I can’t wait to hear what Dolenz does with those songs, particularly in light of his stellar take on “Shiny Happy People.”

Sometimes wishes come true that you didn’t even wish for. Like a fantastic Monkees-related bit of new music. Check out more deets about this fabulous song and extended play on Mickey’s site or the record company behind the record, 7A Records.