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

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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

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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.

New ladies of the canyon: Rachel Angel and Jaimee Harris

13 Wednesday Sep 2023

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Today’s artists don’t necessarily sound like Joni Mitchell or her much-heralded third album Ladies of the Canyon. But like Joni (and that record) their contributions here herald the arrival of a distinctive voice and vision. These are LPs with impact – get ready to love the blow.

From her opening cut “Midnite Heart Attack” Rachel Angel serves notice she is coming at us with a blistering array of guitars, organ runs and a vocal presence that is both kick-ass and tender. What an electric start to her debut album of the same name. From there the album oscillates between shades of hip country, indie rock and curio pop. The record’s second song “I Can’t Win” highlights these contrasts, shifting gears to a sophisticated country sound not unlike First Aid Kit. Then track three “Closer to Myself” changes again, this time to a modern country diva number sung like Jenny Lewis, with just a hint of Abba lurking somewhere in the mix. I hear a lot of Jenny Lewis or, more accurately, Rilo Kiley on this record actually, on tracks like “Daddy” and “Candle.” But then the beautiful, lilting ballad “Baby Can I Come To You” reminds me of Melanie while “I Need Love” gets me back in a First Aid Kit state of mind. For an album highlight, I love the organ and emotional vocal intensity of “Freedom Fighter.” Angel turns out an marquis performance. Then again, I could totally hear Dolly Parton doing this, differently but equally brilliantly. Mark my words, Midnite Heart Attack is just the beginning of something big.

There’s an interstice between country and folk where Jaimee Harris lives. Her new album Boomerang Town has all the dark menace of folk and exquisite heartbreak of country in ten desperate tunes. What can I say? Sometimes it just feels good to feel this bad. Album opener and title track “Boomerang Town” is a small-town working-class testimonial to disappointment. You can practically feel the weight of circumstances crushing hope as the song wends it 7 minute way. But what delicious guitar and organ work at the halfway point – I almost feel guilty enjoying it. Then Harris strips everything down to guitar and strings on “Sam’s” but it’s her voice that is the striking instrument here, with a timbre that could break a thousand hearts. From there it’s all downhill (socially, that is), with songs about grief and loss (“How Could You Be Gone”), intergenerational addiction (“The Fair and Dark Lad”), and political divisions (“On the Surface”). Harris is clearly a talented and sensitive story-teller but I’m astonished by her ability to turn a phrase into a solid hook, as she does on tracks “Like You” and “Missing Someone.” Boomerang Town is a record with the emotional heft of Tracey Chapman’s debut LP or Lee Ann Womack’s The Way I’m Livin’. But it’s also its own thing too.

Joni Mitchell ran through a lot of styles in her career but there was always something solidly Joni in everything. These artists remind me of her in that way. You can grab a ticket to their canyon by hitting the hotlinks.

Photo courtesy Larry Gordon.

Poprock masters: Dwight Twilley, Graham Parker, and The Flashcubes

09 Saturday Sep 2023

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There are artists whose work displays a mastery of form. I mean, they don’t just write a good tune or two, they really know how to craft the elements together in predictably hooky ways. Our trio of acts here have achieved legend status for doing just that – reliably delivering the goods.

Everyone knows a little about Dwight Twilley, if you run in power pop circles long enough. You might know how he and Phil Seymour were tipped for stardom in the late seventies as the creative force driving The Dwight Twilley Band and their hit single “Fire.” Or you might be familiar with his early 1980s solo work when he seemed on the verge of breaking big with his chart hit “Girls,” aided by a little help from Tom Petty. But for most people Twilley’s fate has been a mystery. Despite putting out plenty of solid material he has suffered from endless label problems and just plain bad luck. What didn’t suffer was the quality of the output. So if you’ve ever wondered ‘what ever happened to that Twilley guy?’ there’s good news. Now you can catch up on his unfairly overlooked career with the release of The Best of Dwight Twilley: The Tulsa Years 1999-2016 Vol. 1. There’s twenty tracks here and really no filler. Twilley 2.0 carries on the song-writing and performance style of his earlier work with remarkable consistency. Comparisons to Tom Petty, Walter Egan and Paul Collins would not be out of order. Personally I’m loving “Runnin,” “A Little Less Love,” “Oh Carrie” and “No Place Like Home” but you’ll have your own favourites.

Since 1975 Graham Parker has released more than 25 albums of original material and shows no signs of stopping. His new album with The Goldtops Last Chance to Learn the Twist mines so many seams of his past work but still sounds fresh. Opening cut “The Music of the Devil” sets the tone with a killer groove and some tasty organ work. The song seem to say ‘this party is just getting started.’ Then “The Grand Scheme of Things” has got a more pub rock feel, that unique English blend of soul and country and old school rock and roll. Geraint Watkins’ organ work is so stellar here. “Sun Valley” takes the soul groove forward, sprinkled with great keyboard shots and surprising melodic hooks. I’d mark this out as potential hit single material. Overall this is an album where so many songs here lean into the ‘roll’ side of rock and roll. Tracks like “It Mattered to Me,” “Cannabis” and “Wicked Wit” feature seriously good swing. It’s easy to credit Parker’s song-writing for all this but his performances bear the mark of a master’s touch. He can effortlessly dial up reggae inflections for “Them Bugs” or a blues vamp for “Since You Left Me Baby.” I even hear a bit of 1970s Van Morrison on tracks like “Last Stretch of Road.” And it wouldn’t be a Parker album without some withering political commentary, supplied by the incisive “We Did Nothing.” Last Chance to Learn the Twist is like a delightful stroll with an old friend, familiar but still open to discovering new things.

Cover albums are an ubiquitous part of the modern music scene. Seems everyone is putting out their versions of modern music’s greatest hits. But imagine a cover album that celebrates what might-have-been with selections from bands that should have broken big but didn’t. Enter power pop legends The Flashcubes with their amazing new album Pop Masters. You get 12 new wave era should-have-been hits, stylishly re-energized. And the band don’t just share the music, they share the stage with the original artists, inviting them to appear alongside them on the recordings. The results are a pumped up, adrenaline-fueled romp through a host of power pop classics. How do you begin to review a record where every cut is a highlight? Look, you’re all going to have your own favourites so I’ll just focus on a few that have really hit me in the melody solar plexus (in a good way). Album opener “Baby It’s Cold Outside” gets things off to a blistering start, featuring co-vocals from The Pezband’s singer Mimi Betinis. On The Paley Brothers’ “Come Out and Play” the duo join the band to add even more charm to their original. The keyboard work and harmony vocals here are positively seductive. Putting The Flashcubes together with The Spongetones to cover the latter’s “Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?” produces a predictably explosive mix. The track is a rollicking rush of power pop goodness. When the band turn their hand to covering The Motors’ classic “Forget About You” you’d swear it’s 1978 on Top of the Pops, they so nail the vibe. But undoubtedly the standout track for me on this collection is the collaboration with the Shoes on that band’s 1979 song “Tomorrow Night.” This track bristles with raw rocking excitement, leaving you swooning from the addictive guitar hooks and heavenly harmony vocals. This gets to very DNA of power pop. On this record you can really believe the hype, The Flashcubes and their friends truly are Pop Masters.

Join a master class in poprock performance by clicking on the hot links. Getting schooled was never so appealing as this.

Photo courtesy Swizzle Studios.

Should be a hit single: Good Shade “When Will You See”

04 Monday Sep 2023

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Some songs just gather you up and whisk you along wherever they might be going. There’s no getting off, if the artist knows what they’re doing. Ohio’s Good Shade have arrived at that level of song mastery with “When Will You See” from their recent LP Think Spring. The song bounds into action from the start, all guitars-to-the-front of the mix – that grabbed me. Then the chorused vocals come in with a magnetism I find irresistible. But the real magic happens 30 seconds along with the shift to the chorus – what a hook! Good Shade are primarily Shane Natalie’s one man band, working the pop punk scene hard over the course of now five albums. But what is interesting is how the sound has slowly tipped from the punk to pop side of that spectrum over time. Early albums are hard rocking affairs where the melodies get a bit buried. Now they’re up front, as you can hear on “When Will You See.” Even as the song is fading out under a heavenly bit of background vocals I’m already hitting replay. I think you might be too.

Tune in to the whole Good Shade catalogue on bandcamp. You can check out all the other tunes on their new album or just bask in the glow of this great single.

Around the dial: The Summertimes, Odds, Ratboys, and Cut Worms

01 Friday Sep 2023

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With autumn just around the corner it’s time to twist that radio dial for new music. Luckily there’s plenty of fab new releases to tune into.

In many ways The Summertimes self-titled debut LP has been the album of the summer. Reviewed positively everywhere, this is a record spilling over with good-time rock and roll tunes taking us back to that heyday of Ozzie indie chart magic you might associate with acts like the Hoodoo Gurus. It’s there in the loose party vibe of the opening cut and early release single “Inside” or the vocal snarl and rollicking hooks on “Password.” Then “White Pointer” is something a bit different, with a Lou Reed vocal directness amid carefully placed but somehow insistent guitar riffs. Things go jangle good on “Love (It’s the Word)” with its relentless lead guitar lines while “Athens, GA” is more REM, not surprisingly. But the album’s rocking flavour is tempered by lighter moments too: a Paul Kelly feel to “When the Lights Hit the Square,” some Crowded House style in  “Sky and the Sea,” and a hint of Teenage Fanclub lingering on “Wakes Up Shadows.” My favourite cut? Undoubtedly “My Beautiful Girl Harbour” with its faint echoes of Modern English’s “I Melt With You” in places. And don’t miss album closer, “The Perfect Wave.” Rarely can a band combine elements of the Yardbirds, the Monkees, and classic surf motifs and still come up with something new. The Summertimes is not just for summer, it’s one of this year’s must-have albums.

The return of legendary Vancouver band Odds is definitely an event worth marking with cake and fireworks. Central to the celebration – Crash the Time Machine, the third full album release from the band since they reunited with a new line-up in the early aughts. What we have here is more of that west coast cool sound Odds is known for. Opening cut and title track “Crash the Time Machine” assembles all the right poppy rock components. This song says ‘I’m the hit’ for sure. Runner-up should-be single would be “My Mind’s On Other Things” with its alluring guitar lead lines and captivating harmony vocals. Then there’s “Walk Among the Stars,” a track embodying a pop ennui that is unmistakeably Odds. The FM radio deep cuts would be “Staring at a Blank Page,” “Fairytale of Heaven,” or “Fall Guy,” the latter replete with secret agent guitar and more psychedelic chorus. For sonic departures, check out the more dire sound sketches featured in “The Traveling Light” or “Winning Is Everything,” the last a light ditty about how getting what you want may not be what you need. Personally, I’m loving the ELO-tinged “Revolution Singing” as well as the soulful album closer “Somehow in a Dream.” Listening to Crash the Time Machine a few times it’s clear, this is a band that knows its own playbook. But they still know how to throw a curve. Welcome back Odds, you’ve been missed.

I don’t know what I was thinking. Somewhere I picked up a copy of Ratboys 2020 album Printer’s Devil but I never wrote about it. I did review their poppy single “Down the River” but somehow that doesn’t cut it. Redemption time now that their brand new LP The Window is out. As a band that usually straddles folk pop and indie rock, opening cut “Making Noise for the Ones You Love” is a noisy, celebratory, yet fun outlier. “Morning Zoo” puts us right back into the melodic pop swing that band so aces. Very Weepies on caffeine. Should be the hit single. From there the album moves in multiple directions but without losing its thematic centre. “Crossed That Line” chugs along with a rocking inflection. This is where comparisons to Kississippi and Soccer Mommy come in. “It’s Alive” kicks off with a dramatic sonic build-out that has a particular grandeur. Vocally I hear Tristan but with a rocking backing band. Meanwhile the bending lead guitar tone is just exquisite. Another possible single is title track “The Window” with its subtle guitar hooks. For variety, “Black Earth, WI” sounds country-ish, almost Rilo Kiley in its alt-indie temperament while the folk side of the band covered with “Bad Reaction.” My deep cut fave is “Empty.” I love the perky drive and winning melody of this song. It’s got a Grouplove loose tightness.

A Cut Worms recording is often a snapshot of a particular corner of the history of popular music. Late 1960s folkie pop on Hollow Ground, more 1970s country rock on his 2020 single “Unnatural Disaster,” and so on. Now on the new self-titled Cut Worms I’m hearing that crafted pop sound I associate with the mid-1970s, with a few notable exceptions. From the first tantalizing spate of piano notes of opening cut “Don’t Fade Out” there’s a Captain and Tennille or Neil Sedaka or Gilbert O’Sullivan breezy swing in play. “Take It and Smile” has a more seventies singer/songwriter feel. “Living Inside” also has that intimate seventies pop feel. But just as you’re settling in “I’ll Never Make It” harkens back to a Patsy Cline ballad in more rockabilly days or “Is It Magic” utilizes a 1950s sparsely-arranged harmony group style. “Let’s Go Out on the Town” moves back into the sixties with its Cyrkle or The Young Veins vibe. “Too Bad” finishes the record with another strong nod to 1970s confessional pop, particularly the electric piano.

It’s a real mix of tune-age on this radio relay race. Click on the hot links to get more of the good same.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.