Legends of poprock: Teenage Fanclub

04 Friday Dec 2015

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MI0000138765It is hard to believe that Teenage Fanclub were swimming against the tide of grunge throughout the 1990s. Their songs have a wonderful Byrdsian quality, without sounding retro or derivative. Every TF album features at least one real gem of a poprock song, but some are more gemmy than others. Their third album, Bandwagonesque, has the band hitting its stride with the classic “What You Do to Me.” From there things only intensify, arguably peaking with their magisterial Songs from Northern Britain in 1997 – there really isn’t a weak cut on the whole record. Not that subsequent releases weren’t great: both Howdy! and Man-Made contained a host of great songs. Their last release, Shadows, appeared in 2010 but the band’s Facebook page reports them mixing a new album in late September 2015.

Picking out just a few songs to highlight from TF’s career is a daunting task. “I Don’t Want to Control You” and “Start Again” from Songs from Northern Britain sound like the Bryds meets the early 1980s new wave era, while “It’s a Bad World” from the same record is built on a great riff.

Start Again

Teenage Fanclub also have some great acoustic songs, like “If I Never See You Again” from Howdy!

“Dumb Dumb Dumb” from the same album bounces the intro electric guitar strum from speaker to speaker to hypnotic effect. 

Finally “Only With You” from Man-Made opens with a lovely solo piano to build to into a great song with shimmery vocals. Only With You

Teenage Fanclub website and Facebook page

Together Pangea – Badillac

22 Sunday Nov 2015

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Much of Together Pangea’s music sounds like a garage rock soundtrack to some 1960s monster movie, or a 1980s ironic send-up of a 1960s B movie. Sometimes they sound garage rock sloppy, other times punky and screamy in an early 1980s sort of way. But the tracks I like are bit more polished and melodic. “Offer,” the first single from their 2014 release Badillac, opens with acoustic guitar and the lyric “I’m haunted …” and slowly some fuzzy electric guitar sneaks into the background, building up to sweet hook in the chorus on the line “if you have a kiss” before the whole band crashes in behind with the return to “I’m haunted …” A great, classic rock and roll build up which also has a dynamite bridge and some very cool organ fills late in the song.

Also featured here is the album’s title track, Badillac. Again, a great 1960s/indie 1980s vibe here, catchy chorus and killer harmonica solo at 1:49 of the song.

The band released a new EP last month, The Phage, which continues in the same vein, with a strong single, “Blue Mirror.” 

The band appears in Toronto Wednesday, November 25, at the Smiling Buddha, for what will be an intimate and explosive show. In the meantime, check out Zach Gayne’s 18 minute documentary on the band’s last trip to Toronto. Keep on top of Together Pangea at their website.

Around the dial: Asylums, Heyrocco, and Grouplove

15 Sunday Nov 2015

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maxresdefaultAsylums “Joy in a Small Wage” Perhaps a bit more rock than pop with this entry, Asylums are a wonderfully weird, politically astute new band out of southern England. Nobody can seem to agree just how to describe their sound – ‘indie fuzz pop’, ‘Britpop meets punk’ – but one commentator added The Monkees as a possible reference point, which might be more apt than is sonically apparent. Asylums do seem to channel the televised spontaneity of the latter group but, of course, the difference is that they are doing it for real. Unwilling to wait for record deals, they just went out and recorded things themselves, created their own label (Cool Things Records), and somehow got their DIY singles into steady rotation on BBC1. I find some of their stuff a bit too punky for my tastes but the single “Joy in a Small Wage” is driven by a strong electric guitar hook and a cool vocal, drenched in reverb.

 Asylums webpage

Heyrocco “First Song” Heyrocco are a group of post-teenagers from South Carolina who channel an Eighties indie sound like old pros. “First Song” features a lurching vocal over a rock solid backing that drops in and out between verses and chorus. The song is taken from the band’s debut album, Teenage Movie Soundtrack. Heyrocco Tumblr

Grouplove “No Drama Queen” Meanwhile, Grouplove’s “No Drama Queen” is actually taken from a real teenage movie soundtrack, Paper Towns. Grouplove broke out on the charts with their 2011 album Never Trust a Happy Song but have struggled to match their early success, despite releasing consistently good material. This soundtrack contribution is no exception. The song kicks off in low gear but quickly builds into a fist-waving anthemic chorus. The song begins after a brief movie montage plugging the film. Grouplove website

Should be a hit single: Fountains of Wayne “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart”

08 Sunday Nov 2015

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FOW SGBYHFountains of Wayne were a late discovery for me. I was long past my own initial period of finding new music (roughly from 1978 to 1992), too busy with academic pursuits to hit the record bins. Luckily a friend (thanks Tony Lee!) turned me on to their debut album and it blew my mind – I was hooked. To me, FOW were what great poprock singles were made of. The debut album Fountains of Wayne had “Radiation Vibe,” Utopia Parkway had “Red Dragon Tattoo,” while Welcome Interstate Managers, their masterpiece, had the flawless and commercially successful “Stacey’s Mom” (which reached 21 on Billboard’s Hot 100). But on 2007’s Traffic and Weather FOW seemed to lose their way, failing to capitalize on their previous success. 2011’s Sky Full of Holes offered a serious course correction, full of great songs showcasing the band’s great range in songwriting and performance.

But the highlight was the album’s first single “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart,” a perfect distillation of all the great elements of a poprock hit. Pumping piano kicks off the song, giving way to the opening lyrics that eventually swell into a mix of background vocals. Nearly everything drops out to just piano as the vocals ask “Should we take this town, do we want to, tear this whole thing down …” while the band comes back in. And so on. Great poprock hits have a dreamy quality and FOW nail it with a song that should have climbed the charts.

Going commercial with Tim Myers

01 Sunday Nov 2015

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marcus-walters-talkie-walkie-MW-TM-GoodLifeThe thing about poprock is it is not afraid of being shamelessly commercial. It is not a hipster genre that loses its élan once the soccer moms recognize the tunes. Of course, a great deal of poprock has languished unappreciated by the masses, but it was seldom by active design. Tim Myers embodies that populist sentiment. His songs are cleverly crafted, perfectly calibrated poprock, designed to reach all those centres of the brain that make you want to hit re-play. While hardly a household name (his only Billboard Hot 100 chart entry – “Under Control” – peaked at 32), nevertheless millions of people know his music having heard snatches in commercials, TV shows and movies.

 On Your Side

300x300Despite putting out two albums, Myers is really a singles guy, regularly releasing songs as singles or EPs, many of them duets with a variety of female vocalists. “On Your Side” is a solo performance from his strong EP The Good Life, which also features “A Beautiful World,” “The Good Life” and “Magic.” Then follows two really catchy duets, the acoustically-driven “Brand New Day” with Lindsey Ray, and “Each Other Brother” with the band Mozella.

Brand New Day with Lindsey Ray

Each Other Brother with Mozella

Tim Myers Myspace

Built By Snow

25 Sunday Oct 2015

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built_by_snow1With robot imagery, old video game sounds, and plenty of synthesizers, Built By Snow conjure up a period in the 1980s when the future really was now. For instance, the keyboard opening of “Invaders” is pure space travel soundtrack. Blogger NobodySeemsToBeAShip decided to mash the song with Patrick Jean’s award winning short film Pixels and, as you can see, the lyrics eerily fit the images almost perfectly.

               Patrick Jean website

The band self-released just one EP and one album before disbanding. The 2007 EP Noise had a punky vibe but the full-length album MEGA in 2008 delivered a more polished pop rock sound for about the half the record, with the rest branching off into more experimental themes. “All the Weird Kids Know” channels early period Cars as if the band had gone 1980s alternative instead of FM commercial while “Something in 3D,” with its whoo hoo’s and staccato drums, would not sound out of place on any playlist today.  While they have reunited for the occasional live show (most recently earlier this year) there does not appear to be any new material forthcoming, though their lead singer has released two albums as Oh Look Out.

Built By Snow webpage, bandcamp and YouTube page.

Around the dial: Stornaway, Stella Ella Ola, and The Format

20 Tuesday Oct 2015

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30_c_w_450_h_450Stornoway – “I Saw You Blink”  What does this band and the official residence of Canada’s Loyal Opposition leader have in common? They are both named for a small fishing village on a remote Scottish island. And what does that have to do with this English’s band’s music? Not much, apparently. At first listen, this song seems very folky – harmony vocals, acoustic guitars, etc. – but the catchy bass line signals it is something else and as the song goes it becomes less and less folk, particularly with great organ and synthesizer riffs that appear about half way through. The song is from their 2010 debut album, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, which also features “Zorbing” and “Here Comes the Blackout.”

Stornoway website

a3273832733_10Stella Ella Ola – “Summerette”  Stella Ella Ola opened for Ezra Furman at his recent Toronto show and performed a killer set. The whole band sings at different points in most songs and the performance says we’re here to have some fun. This song is from their recent album I Think We Should Hang Out All the Time and oozes a great B52’s party vibe. A must see live band!

 Stella Ella Ola Facebook

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The Format – “Wait, Wait, Wait”  Before Fun broke out as major act with songs like “We Are Young” and “Some Nights” lead singer Nate Ruess had belonged to a different band that had a minor brush with success, The Format. Just as poppy as Fun but with a more restrained performance style from Ruess, The Format released just two albums before calling it quits in 2008. “Wait, Wait, Wait” has all the classic poprock elements: propulsive four piece rock and roll sound with strong hooks. The chorus sounds like the song should be called ‘Don’t, Don’t’ and really delivers on its last line: “I’ll be the last sound that you hear as your eyes close.” The whole first album, Interventions and Lullabies, is worth looking up.

 The Format website

Up in smoke: Jeremy Fisher and Darwin Deez

14 Wednesday Oct 2015

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Jeremy_Fisher_-_Goodbye_Blue_MondayAlong with drugs, hard liquor and sex, cigarettes are a staple motif of the rock and roll imaginary. But poprock has typically taken a lighter approach to vice. Cigarettes appear as metaphors for both desire and dysfunctional relationships, sometimes in the same song. Jeremy Fisher’s amazing 2007 album, Goodbye Blue Monday, features a great cigarette song where the protagonist likens himself to a cigarette for his intended love: “Light me up and get on with it; I’ll be hard to forget; good or bad I’m just a habit.” Hardly seems like a strong way to sell yourself but Jeremy seems to be privileging results here at any cost. The video below became widely popular, even if the single and its album did not race up the charts the way they should have.

        Jeremy Fisher website

darwin-deezOn “Last Cigarette” Darwin Deez’s lead singer strikes a different pose, alternating between telling himself he’s quitting but then opting for ‘one last cigarette,’ with shifts in focus illustrated with clever wordplay. But is the song about breaking up with somebody or just something, e.g. his cigarettes? I’m not sure – the ambiguity is part of the song’s charm.  In any event, this is a standout track from an already impressive new album, Double Down. The band comes to Toronto December 12 for a show at The Drake Hotel.

Darwin Deez website

Welcome to Tally Hall

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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14Some music takes a little bit more effort to get into. Tally Hall may be that kind of music for a lot of people. Any given song may go off in multiple directions, often with different sections seemingly just stitched together like a musical patchwork quilt. But coming to Tally Hall is worth the effort. Their two albums contain unusual yet infectious material that really defies categorization. Does the within-song style changes featured in “Good Day” remind me of Queen? Sure, sort of. But that doesn’t really do it justice. The closest band I can think of to compare them to is The Residents, but only because they too were quirky in a ‘performance art’ sort of way.

 

You get the picture from the start of “Good Day,” a song from their 2005 debut album Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum: the robot-like harmony vocals float over a propulsive piano hook, only to resolve into a dream-like interlude that is then interrupted by yet another stylistic change, and so on. To their credit, Tally Hall manage to make shifting musical gears not sound abrupt.

Sacred Beast

H8FPo2011’s Good and Evil (now on a major label – Atlantic), features more of the same quirkiness in songs like “&,” “Turn the Lights Off” and “Fate of the Stars,” but also includes a number of more straight-up pop rock songs like “You and Me,” and “Cannibal.” Somewhere in between are two particularly strong tracks, the 1960s-ish “Sacred Beast” and the story song “Misery Fell.” Tally Hall are a bit off the beaten path but worth the trip. They also produced 10 episodes of a hilarious internet show, all available for viewing on the Tally Hall website.

Six months with Daveit Ferris

05 Monday Oct 2015

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11145022_878301928909756_5567766338535809537_oOne of the reasons I was keen to start this blog was to be able to feature immensely talented people like Northern Ireland’s Daveit Ferris. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Ferris set himself the task of releasing a song a day for the entire year of 2015. To put this into perspective, even the highly productive Beatles only penned 250 songs over an eight-year period! The back story to this project is that a few years ago Ferris was struck with a life threatening illness.  Upon recovery he vowed to waste no more time and dedicate himself to his creative arts, which includes music and poetry. His 365 Sparks project – presently up to song 214 – is the result.

This is the Turning PointBlues for Blue EyesCounting Sheep

This post draws from the first six months of the project, focusing on songs that are strong on catchy melody and surprising arrangements. As sole producer, writer and performer, Ferris has to be inventive and he delivers with interesting vocal arrangements, surprising instrument choices, and unconventional song structures. A lot of the songs rely on a strong acoustic guitar backing; indeed, most could survive a solo acoustic treatment with none of their charm diminished. The acoustic guitar anchors “This is the Turning Point” and provides the pock rock swing to “Blues for Blue Eyes,” “Counting Sheep,” and “Your Teeth.” Meanwhile “Don’t” is a beautiful acoustic guitar ballad. “White Lies” channels a 1950s vibe with a toy-sounding piano riff while “Immeasurable” utilizes a magnetic banjo drone in the chorus to completely alter the mood of the song (and the listener).

Your TeethDon’tWhite Lies

The songs are available from iTunes, Bandcamp, and Ferris’s own site (the latter at a great package rate) or Facebook page.  I’ve enjoyed checking in regularly with Ferris’ site this summer to see what his most recent effort is like: Daveit Ferris website.

Immeasurable