Mail comes in pretty regularly around here. Few come typed or neatly written but nevertheless I get a veritable load of missives pleading their poprock case. That’s today’s reality: artists have got to wield their creativity to sell as well produce fine music. So let’s get on with rewarding that initiative shall we?
Over the past quarter century the arc of Mark Bacino’s musical stylings have branched out from the focused power pop of 1998’s Pop Job .. The Long Player and 2003’s The Million Dollar Milkshake to the sophistico-pop sound of his latest LP Top of the World. Bacino’s got a McCartney-esque facility with song styles and the selections here range from the swinging AM pop of “Kaylee Hughes” to the breezy Linus of Hollywood-like “Not That Guy” to the music hall-ish “Why Does This Woman Love Me?” My fave though is the spot-on seventies soft rock ballad “Young Heart.” Brother Dynamite’s new single “The Girl’s In Love” is a luscious eighties FM radio throwback. It’s a great song but the vocal arrangement is positively hair-raising, in a good way. Can album number 2 be far off? Let’s hope not. Poppy Robbie returns with a cover of outsider/lofi pioneer Daniel Johnston’s “Mind Contorted.” Drawing on his folk rock predilections, Robbie delivers a touching performance of a song that reflects Johnston’s mental health struggles. Chatteris UK’s 65MPH is practically a singles machine, pumping out e-equivalents of 45s seemingly like clockwork. His latest “Gene” sounds like Billy Bragg joined a britpop band. The harmonica solo is just an extra special bonus!
I love the driving guitar sound Rob Moss gets on his new album with The Skin Tight, simply entitled Records. Kick-off track “We Just Don’t Know” sets the tone of what you can expect, chugging rhythm guitars and somewhat ethereal, voice-of-god talk-singing from Moss. Standout track for me here is “You and Time.” Love the soaring Steely Dan lead guitar lines and the album’s hookiest melodic twists and turns. Superior song-smith Ben Patton wrote me a while back about something, something called The Something Review. Patton’s unique cleverly structured song style is everywhere here, from the show opener “The Something Revue” to “I Hope My Therapist Likes Me.” Along the way he writes songs about bugs, the darkest part of the night, and a doctor’s routine procedure. Basically, nothing is off limits for a song with this guy. Think Randy Newman, but without all the darkness. I’d particularly recommend “Before I Fall In Love” as a pretty gorgeous tune. Randy Klawon has been on a bit of a singles tear lately but his new song “Tonight” is really something else. There’s a madcap, careening feel to the song that is so endearing. Stylistically, the track balances Merseybeat and Wings influences in an impressive way. You can dip in just about anywhere with Rich Restaino ’s catalogue and find yourself a real gem. His latest EP Mixtape has got a smoking instrumental called “Earworm.” Such wicked guitar tones on both the tasty lead licks and chugging rhythm work. Then “In My Dreams” cooks along with a honky-tonk meets rockabilly vibe. Or you can dial up a dose of Restaino’s signature ‘grown up folk’ sound on “The Back Nine” and “Nothing Add.” The former is an Arlo Guthrie-esque social commentary on getting old while the latter spends two folky minutes telling us he has nothing to say. From the catalogue check out the Replacements-ish “Don’t the Stars Look Big Tonight?” from his 2022 EP Lucky and “Civil War” from the 2016 LP It’s a Golden Age for Creeps.
Have you got a poprock song that needs some blog love? Get that stationary out, drop me a line, and tell me all about it.
Clinking glasses beneath a dusky summer sky. You need music for that. Definitely. Here’s a curated list of party-approved poppy rock numbers suitable for friends, fading sunshine and a night full of stars.
LA’s The Dreambots thread some 1980s jangly guitar throughout their debut single “Tightrope” but that’s almost a distraction compared to the subtle earworm this melody turns out to be. The song’s main guitar tone reminds me of Steve Addabbo’s distinctive sound on Suzanne Vega’s self-titled debut LP back in 1985 but here it serves a totally different kind of tune. Repeated listening will just lead to further repeated listenings. Strange Neighbors were one of my fave finds of 2023. Their single (“Hotline Psychic”) and EP (Party of None) were number one on both my year-end singles and EP charts. They were that good. Some might say there’s nowhere to go from there but one listen to the band’s new single “Tell All Your Friends” and you’d know that’s wrong. The striking guitar lines, the harmony vocals, the build-up to a great killer chorus: this is the stuff of greatness. The internet is allowing a lot of old bands that didn’t quite make it to relaunch, if not for the big time then at least a smidgeon of the attention economy. The Hollywood Starsgot a few record deals in the 1970s but never took off. Now fifty years later they’ve got a new album Starstruck. I’m really digging the Stonesy/Springsteen swagger of “Walking With an Angel.” Montreal’s The Wesleys also present as a contradiction. So much of their self-titled debut album almost leaps out of the speakers with high degree of rock and roll ferocity and menace. And then there’s “A Lot To Lose,” a gentle, almost languid jangle affair that floats a dreamy vocal over everything. Ever reliable guitar pop-meister 65MPH is back again with “Again.” This time the crashing guitars have a Bond-esque intrigue and Jam-worthy Paul Weller vocal attack.
New Jersey’s Sad About Girls is having a very productive 2024, releasing their third EP of the year Sad To Go in May. There’s some slow meditative material here and then there are songs that really cook. Like “Expect To Lose” with its ripping lead guitar lines and magnetically hooky chorus. “We Didn’t Do Anything Last Year” is another winner with its Everything But The Girl flavour. Another band with two really hot tracks on their most recent album is Melbourne’s Lava Fangs. From Sub Auroram “Photograph” really lands in the Jayhawks ballpark while “Lost For Words” motors along shifting its melodic attack in the most delightful ways. Nick Piunti delivers his signature refreshingly old-fashioned poppy rock and roll on his new one-off single with The Complicated Men, “Bottle It.” Attractively packaged and performed with a Bryan Adams easygoing feel. Most of The Twins of Franklin album This Life is a folky Americana excursion, delivered with a First Aid Kit freshness. But “Life By Design” is something else. The propulsive acoustic rhythm guitar keeps things thrumming on this song, only to be elevated by the electric shock vocal harmonies in the chorus. The title track from George Marinelli’s recent hybrid greatest hits/new material mega-album Except Always has to vie for attention with 25 other songs. But it’s got some notable features, like a Stones rhythm guitar sound and chorus hook that really delivers.
Papa Schmapa main man Joe DelVecchio put me on to a new project he’s got going and the vibe is so NRBQ it could be mistaken for those Louisville sloggers. The new band is SidePlayand the song I can’t get enough of is “Hit the Road Mac.” It’s got boogie and an old man kind of cool. Little Roger has got a ticklish question to put in his recent single “Does Susie Like Boys?” It’s the kind of query that could easily go wrong fast but Roger’s whole delivery seems supportive. The guitars here are so 1970s AM radio while the vocal reminds me of Billy Bremner in his more tender moments. Out of the blue former Irish band The Fireflys frontman Barry J. Walsh pops up with his first solo effort in decades “Rescue Me.” The song is a distillation of essential 1960s sounds: swinging London, Merseybeat, some pop psychedelia, and more. Let there be more is all I can say. Everything about Gary Kaluza’s single “On the Waterfront” says ‘classic’ – from the Silencers/Simple Minds guitar tone, to the stentorian singing from what sounds like the back of an empty echoey church, to the video with its Bogey and Bergman imagery. It’s not a new song but a very worthy re-release for sure. Perennial 1990s throwback Richard Turgeonswore he would take some time off from the last half decade’s punishing schedule of constantly writing and releasing new singles, albums and covers. But just seven months after this last album he’s back with a new single “This is the Last Song (I Write For You).” What can I say? It’s reliably Turgeon great! And I highly doubt it won’t be followed by more good tunes to come in the days ahead.
SidePlay – Hit the Road Mac
Jon Hyde’s new album The Sad Lights is solidly in Americana territory, neither poppy nor rocky for the most part. But title track “The Sad Lights” swerves a bit into our lane with a very hum-able melody that ambles along with a peculiar but captivating charm. I love the mood that The Chris Vandalay Projectstrike on their new single “Better Than Before.” The synth suggests late night, a bit of indirect lighting, and some serious introspecting going on. The overall sound really reminds me of Liverpool’s Black from the 1980s. Cal Rifkin return with a single named for every power pop fan’s fave commercially unsuccessful supergroup, “Big Star.” The song’s connection to that Memphis combo is both lyrical and sonic, popping up in the tune’s narrative and overall jangly sound. And the song’s arrangement is outasight. Kurt Hagardorn has an exciting new project that concentrates his poppy rocky tendencies even more than his exemplary solo efforts. His new band is The High Elves and their debut single “Thirsty and Blue” is full of 1970s Steve Miller guitar tone and a killer rhythm guitar swing. It’s impossible not to hip sway within listening distance of this song. More please! The latest outing from The Bret Tobias Set is positively mercurial in its instrumental choices. “Fait Accompli” has got shoe-gazey vocals, slashes of reverby guitar, and an organ timbre straight out of a Vincent Price horror movie. And that is a very good combo.
When they’re not busy turning out great tunes for Starbelly Dennis Schocket and Cliff Hillis also like to put out duo numbers. Their newest is a sweet walk down melody lane boasting a title that gives away its inspiration. “For Everly” could be a certain brothers act circa 1965 or something more modern, say a nice deep cut from one of those Don Dixon and Marti Jones albums.
Your summer soiree is practically ready for guests with a song list like this on standby. You just have to strike up the bands.
Nothing fixes the mind on travel quite like winter. Particularly those last lingering months where you can feel the season ebb but not quite subside. But getting somewhere ‘not winter’ is an effort for those of us north of 40 degrees latitude. That’s why we’ve assembled some musical accompaniment for soon-to-be weary travellers.
Ottawa’s The Rockyts have evolved from an amazing 60s sound-alike beat group on their 2020 debut album to a sleek 1980s new wave machine with singles that have come out over the past year. “Without You” creeps into view with a Cars-like muted electric guitar and vocals, only to break out in the chorus with full band impact. Crowded House may not climb the singles charts like they did in their 1980s heyday but that doesn’t mean they can’t still craft a killer tune. Their new single “Oh Hi” has all the classic Neil Finn song markers. There’s lilting slow-build hooks around every corner and Finn’s ear for unusual instrumentation remains undiminished. Hard to find out much about Escape Artists except a Go Fund Me page from a Tennessee duo suggesting an album is on the way. So far I’ve found three singles – basically, a maxi-single. From those choices I think “Around the Block” is a delightful bit of Tom Petty name-checking poprock. ‘What would Tom Petty do?’ they ask with a driving sense of Petty-ish aplomb and his special mix of guitars and organ. The mysterious band 65MPH hail from Chatteris UK, a small market town near Cambridge. I can’t imagine that’s the speed limit there. Sonically, the band sound like they’ve been stamped from a Paul Weller-meets-Billy Bragg mould, and that’s no bad thing. Their recent single “Small Miracles” casts a plaintive vocal against a mostly solo guitar backdrop to good effect. I love the striking effect Spencer Segelov and Great Paintingsget on “The Contender.” The lead guitar line carries the tune but the overlapping vocals gives the tune lift, with a choir-like transcendence. Very 1980s American college radio.
Crowded House – Oh HiEscape Artists – Around the Block
Ottawa’s (as in Canada folks) Robby Miller rides a fine line between good old boy rock and roller and smooth poppy rock. His recent single “Everything Is Nothing” combines a bit of both, with up front jangly guitars and a low key vocal carrying the melody. Reminds me a bit of some of the mellow hits from The Fixx. Last year mellow popsters The Kind Hills made my top 25 singles list with their uplifting song “Let Youth Take Over.” Now they’re back in a new guise as Seasonal Falls. Still mellow, but drawing from a different sonic palate this time out. The hush vocals and standout guitar tone on “Used To Be Fun” are both exquisite while the tune is amble-along-in-the-sunshine good. The Shop Window manage to combine 1980s indie guitar pop with a folkie vibe on “I Run.” The vocals hit me as a little bit Outfield while the guitar has a shimmer and ring reminiscent of The Silencers. Legendary Canadian band The Kings are primarily known for an FM radio staple (“Switching to Glide/This Beat Goes On”) that has been in near constant rotation since its release in 1980. And then, not much. They did have other great material but just couldn’t match that early success. Now if you’ve missing that signature Kings sound there’s good news – the band have a brand new album out called Longest Story Ever Told. It is uncanny how much it sounds like no time has passed at all. Check out “Always Off the Deep End” and see for yourself. Faraways are a completion story. Active in the 1990s they split early in the new millennium. But as Covid swept the planet all that down-time had former band members drifting back to their unfinished songs. The result is the aptly named EP Decades of Dormancy. The standout track for me is the psychedelic “Ruby Ring of Love” with its Sgt. Pepper droney vocals, sitars, and killer organ fills.
Faraways – Ruby Ring of Love
Since his standout solo debut album Class ActMike Browning has been drip releasing engaging new singles. “Just One Day” has a western Texas Buddy Holly groove. This song sounds so freshly pressed out of a 1961 rockabilly scene or Everly’s Cadence records release. More Texas can be found on Get Set Go’s fabulous LP Outworlder, particularly on the intoxicating single “Your Boy.” The song seems so early 1960s simple and endearing but an increasing sophistication emerges and intensifies as it plays on. Drunk Dial Records promise to get their artists loaded and then have them record an original tune and a cover. Gentleman Jesse’s original “Where Time Stands Still” has a wildness about it, maybe one drink over the line, but still maintaining its energetic focus. Another act drip releasing a load of interesting songs is Scoopski. “Nocturnally Yours” brings together heavy dollops of nerd rock a la Weezer and straight up FM radio rock bombast. And the results are a freakin’ fun, hummable good time. Slaughter Beach, Dog put out a fab new record last September entitled Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling but didn’t have room for one last song. “I’m In Love” is a country-ish soft rock Valentines tune of a different order. Catchy and disturbing at the same time.
Feel the insurgent drive of Softjaw’s recent single “Pleased With Me.” It’s got 1970s group singalong vocals, Keith Richard guitar licks, and strong party vibe. There’s a looseness that is so tightly performed here. By contrast, Kevin Nichols keeps striking a discordant tone throughout “Looking at the Ocean” butting up against melodic hooks that just won’t quit. One part grunge, another part Swervedriver. Sixties holdovers Tall Poppy Syndrome get 2024 started with a song that draws from multiple decades on “This Time Tomorrow.” There’s a touch of psychedelia of course but also mannered Moody Blues vocals, pumping organ shots, and insistently strong hooks throughout. Of a particular time but also seemingly timeless. The Stanford Family Band are a wonderful throwback to that early 1970s dreamy pop on “Love Me a Bit.” It was an era where piano moved up into the spotlight on AM radio singles and Beach Boys stopped having hits but influenced everybody and everything on the charts. This group have got a heavenly arsenal of background vocals riding a solid bed of piano chords. Luke of Ulysses carry on our Cars revival tour on their single “Car Trouble.” Though I also hear Nick Gilder coming through their clipped vocal style. And then there’s guitar god moment in the middle. This is a great synthesis of styles.
Tall Poppy Syndrome – This Time Tomorrow
Wrapping up our 21 song support playlist for weary travellers is something I can’t quite put my finger on. Described as a mysterious Norwegian duo, Ivar and Tommy Go To Hollywood certainly get top marks for an inventive name. But what they represent musically on “Bore Me to the Moon” is less clear. Things start off very English guitar band or Front Bottoms but listen to what comes up in the background. The band put together a veritable tapestry of vocal interplay that buffets the indie rock guitar drone and deadpan vocal that is fronting the tune. I don’t know what it is but I like it.
You can get on the bus Gus and needle-drop your way through this audio travelogue. I don’t know where you’re going but I think you’ll enjoy getting there more with miles of melody to choose from.
The sun is finally here and it needs a playlist. What you want is something strummy with a bit of jangle and hooks that linger over those long walks on the beach. To that end, here are 21 singles for your beach playlist consideration. It’s summer music fun made easy.
Our first track so fits the bill of summertime songs – very strummy with a touch of pop psychedelia. 65MPH soften their usual monster mod attack on “Another Time” to a more dreamy vibe. The Paul Weller Jam inflections are still there but now they’re cast in a slightly different register. Sweden’s Råttanson take us back into a very 1970s mode with their new single “Fighting the Good Fight.” The compressed poppy AM sound reminds of seventies releases from Nick Lowe in his Jesus of Cool guise. Then again there’s something 1980s indie about the band sound here too. The most recent EP from The Happy Somethings is Kickin’ The Balls and it works a soccer/football theme into its first cut “Ruddy Vile.” The rhythm guitar drives this song along while the vocal melody is all sweetness and light. The song’s message is more oblique. As Ruddy is a player both on the field and in love his life game appears to be denial. On “Where We Go Home Again” The Amplifier Heads manage that ever so tricky balance, blending nostalgia for one’s past with a reckoning of loss. Of course, you can’t ever really go home again to what existed before in your past. But you can want to. This song is sweet and wistful with a Jonathan Richman sense of wonder and longing. Another new EP just out comes from Chicago’s Gosh Diggity under the plain title of EP 3. All four songs are the usual electro-pop fun that are the band’s trademark sound but “Blast Off” is the obvious stand-out track. The hooky lead guitar work is seductive and hypnotic while the group vocals are sing-along good.
Fort Wayne, Indiana is where you can find Shawn Browning. Veteran of the local music scene and multiple bands over the past three decades, he’s now throwing us the occasional single when the mood strikes him. Like “Let Go, Hold On,” a tasty bit of tuneage in the late seventies melodic rock and roll mode. Very new wave with a touch of Americana. By contrast Quinton Flynn draws from the Mersey side of things on his one-off single “Hey Girl.” The song has a rollicking tempo, up front jumping guitar work and smooth harmonies reminiscent of that 1965 British beat group sound, though perhaps with a cleaner mix, particularly on the vocal. More singles like this would definitely not go amiss. One scribe described Germany’s Moon Mates as channeling Fleetwood Mac and I can sort of see/hear the point listening to their new song “Not Today” but you’d have to imagine the Macs absorbing a lot of other seventies influences to make it stick. Certainly this track represents a dynamic shift from the material on their debut EP Random Dad Barbeque Music with this version of the band vibing a strong Grouplove or Portugal the Man party style. The Well Wishers are back with a single that reminds us how much we miss that grinding guitar Matthew Sweet-defined version of power pop. Main man Jeff Shelton eases us into “So Important” with a pretty low key intro verse before really letting loose the hooks in the chorus. The song just builds from there, adding more and more mad guitar goodness. The B-side is a pretty fine too, a cover of Husker Du’s “Flip Your Wig.” Chicago’s Crickle rounded out 2022 with the release of their long-player Have You Heard the Word? The record has a distinctive 1970s power pop feel. My song choice for maximum rotation radio play is “Nothing in Your Eyes.” This one really reminds me of a load of great Canadian melodic rock bands from seventies like April Wine and Chilliwack. The guitar hooks and tender vocals are so the period.
Quinton Flynn – Hey Girl
I really know next to nothing about Turkish band Palmiyelerexcept that they’ve got a number of albums available on the various streaming and download services. But I know what I like in a single. “Yaz Bittiğinde” (translated “When Summer’s Over”) has got the enigmatic allure that any great single has, from the slightly ominous surf guitar hooks the open the tune and snake through the whole thing to the ghostly group vocals that seem to hover just out of the spotlight. I loved Corvair’s moody, atmospheric self-titled debut album. It managed to ride the line between urgent poppiness and more uneasy, quiet introspection. So I was intrigued to see where their new, soon-to-be released follow up Bound To Be would go. If “Right Hook” is any indication, it’ll be more of the good same. This song’s got it all: spooky keyboards, an enduring melody, and a vocal arrangement that reminds me of Django and Django and Everything Everything. A while back we touted James Holt’s single “Mystery Girl” as a ‘a masterful bit of production disguised as a breezy pop confection’ worthy of comparison to Crowded House and Gilbert O’Sullivan. His new single proves our enthusiasm was not misplaced. “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” has a deceptively easygoing, almost breezy demeanor that masks quite a sophisticated piece of song-writing. Just check out the subtle melodic hook that wraps around the chorus. Meanwhile everything else in the song artfully builds the tension to get back there. An album of songs in this vein would surely find itself stuck on repeat play. Prolific Glaswegian janglers U.S. Highball return with a new record very soon. No Thievery, Just Cool promises lots of special guests and a few covers but right now I’m digging early-release single “Irresponsible Holiday.” The keyboard work is delightful and adds so much character to the song. Ok, I’m also loving “Paris 2019” with its spot-on 1980 English Beat sax solos! There’s a Boston in the UK and it’s where jangle poppers Fine. hail from. On their most recent LP love, death, dreams, and the sleep between there is song – “Forgive Me” – that runs a mellifluous cacophony of voices together in the most artful way. It makes my brain buzz with pleasant after effects. Very Elephant 6.
Late 2022 Drain County released a very short EP entitled Sucked Out full of dissonant poppy tunes like “Hard to Hide” and “Buoys.” But I found myself drawn to the slow march chord belting “Stay Where You Are.” At just 51 seconds it starts and stops pretty quickly but what happens in between is some grungy pop bliss. Another album full of brief bits of pop brilliance can be found on LMNOP’s third album LMNO3. So many great choices here but “Wanna Write You a Letter” will give you a super snapshot of what to expect from this bargain 22 song package. Indie eighties stripped down poppy rock with fab organ fills. The Radio Field is a side project of Lars Schmidt from German band Subterfuge. The sound is bit more jangly and boldly pop on “The Version” with a killer horn section. On the other hand, you could definitely hear where this project originated by listening to Subterfuge’s 29 second song “The Teenage Fanclub Appreciation Society” from 2021. Belfast’s Jet Black Tulips have got a brand new song out and it’s a rocker. “Car in a Box” kicks like an arena rock Who number but quickly segues into something more Oasisy. While there’s plenty of blistering guitar work the song’s melodic hook keeps everything in check. Michael Maloney is artist who defies categorization. One minute it’s piano-based pop, another it’s an Irish-ish sort of shanty. His 2021 album January Hopeful features 21 songs covering this gamut and more. But he returns now with a one-off single to celebrate Paul McCartney’s birthday that is something altogether different. “Rock and Roll” is big and bold in a stadium chant sort of way. It sounds classic in a 1970s rocking register.
Jet Black Tulips – Car In A BoxMichael Maloney – Rock and Roll
It’s a wrap this time with a selection from Jenny O’s fabulous recent LP Spectra. There are so many possible fab choices here for your playlist: the seductive “Prism,” the sweeping grandeur of “The Big Cheese,” the rocking lurch propelling “Solitary Girl,” or the lush pop hooks of “Make It A Plan.” But I’m settling on the psych pop delight that is “You Are Loved Eternally,” a song that easily fit on a Magnetic Fields or Primitives album.
These days you don’t even have to worry about getting sand in your portable record player, your devices have no moving parts! Just hit play and let your summer soundtrack work its magic.
This is a countdown to both warmer temps and hotter tunes: our spring singles countdown! I find my incoming new singles pile never really shrinks but that’s not really a problem is it? So here goes with another 21 songs just pining for your attention.
The Stranglers were one of those bands I was vaguely aware of in my youth but I was too distracted by the melodic heft of The Jam and Squeeze to take notice of their more subtle charms. In fact it was only in the past few years I heard the band’s exquisite “Golden Brown” from their 1981 album Le Folie. Fast forward to last year and the band’s 18th album Dark Matters is full of winning tunes. The tribute to late longtime band member Dave Greenfield “And If You See Dave …” is touching while “The Last Men on the Moon” has a hooky futuristic vibe a la 1980s Moodies meets Blue Oyster Cult. Another band doing the coming-back-strong thing are The Lovetones. After a decade gone they returned in 2020 with Myriad and the must hear song for me is “Rescue.” Ok, this is not a breaking single but it should have been, it’s got that magical mid-1960s sparkle tune-wise. Tamar Berk is building up to something pretty extraordinary, if her drip drip of confident pre-album singles is anything to go by. “Tragic Endings” opens with alluring simplicity, just a single electric guitar and Berk’s clear voice, before adding layer after layer of sonic hooks. The song is masterful arrangement of push and pull melodic effects and the vibe is like Pat Benatar meets Blondie, with a touch of Laurie Anderson thrown in. The upcoming album is Start at the End but you’re gonna want in at the beginning. Ottawa’s Robby Millar turns up the 1970s bubblegum/glam guitars on “All We’ve Got” with a chorus that is very The Cure. It’s a creative combination that is oh so obvious once you hear it. Incipient spring brings a new double A sided single from Nashville artists *repeat repeat and they certainly paint a picture, “Soft” a dreamy, shoe-gazey float along the water, “Hmm Feels Like” a punchier Kevin Devine-ish acoustic bit of hooky shuffle.
The Stranglers – The Last Men on the MoonRobby Millar – All We’ve Got
Houston’s enigmatic poprocker K. Campbell layers his recent single “Breaking Glass” with an intoxicatingly compressed sound, like a classic 45 blasting from a transistor radio. But listen a little more closely to hear all the subtle shifts in sonic texture that elevate the tune. Another textured mini-masterpiece comes from L.A.’s A. Michael Collins. “In Other Climes” initially sounds like it’s a member of the Bryds family tree with its jangly guitars and harmony vocals. But it quickly turns into something more contemporary, not unlike the retro reinventions from the likes of Richard X. Heyman. Bryan Adams albums typically alternate between effing-eh truck-driving stadium-rawk and more radio-friendly poprock earworms. Album 15 So Happy It Hurts delivers on both but I’m drawn more to the latter, which just happen to be all the songs he wrote here with his traditional hit-songwriting partner Jim Vallance. “I’ve Been Looking For You” is textbook poprock goodness: so simple, nothing ground-breaking here, but man does Adams know how to put it together. Now for something a bit different, Classic Pat takes on Trisha Yearwood’s “She’s In Love With the Boy” stripping out all its ‘easy listening’ country elan and replacing that with a fabulous 1980s Canadian indie vibe e.g. The Northern Pikes or The Grapes of Wrath. The song is just one of many commercial country make-overs appearing on a worthwhile album split with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard entitled Country Buffet. Austin duo Hovvdy wowed critics with their self-described ‘pillow core’ album True Love last fall. Now they’re back with a new single “Everything.” The acoustic guitar sets the tone and hook for the song, building from a stark and spare backdrop only to drop in a bit banjo on its way to veritable wall of sound as the tune builds. It is somehow both a bit manic and oh-so-smooth at the same time.
Bryan Adams – I’ve Been Looking For You
Everything about Isle-of-Eigg dweller Johnny Lynch is original. His recordings as Pictish Trail defy easy categorization. Me, I’m drawn to the melody central cuts, which really comprise only some small part of his musical vision. As Guardian writer Jude Rogers reveals, his latest album Island Family is an oblique love letter to his island home and community. My choice for your listening pleasure is “Melody Something” but the rest of the album is worth some dedicated listening. Lincoln UK’s The Rills are something a bit different again, offering up a lot of story detail on “Skint Eastwood.” The verses have a driving, almost relentless attack but when the chorus kicks in, wow, it’s like melodic crack. Staten Island’s Goin’ Places have shifted the intensity of their punk delivery over their twenty years together, edging slightly into more pop punk territory on their most recent album, Save the World. It’s a strong album but personally I’m digging the Mersey-ish “Recover.” Sure, there’s a still a strong punky feel to the proceedings but the boys add some very melodic guitar lines and sweet background vocals. Veteran protest songster Billy Bragg came out with a new album The Million Things That Never Happened last fall and it had more than a few of his signature hooky folk rock numbers. The highlight for me was album closer “Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained” with its rollicking tempo and razor sharp social commentary. Kelowna’s Stephen Schijns has a curious new single that combines an eerie Gordon Lightfoot-reminiscent vocal with a chugging yet propulsive bit of poprock performance, and a tasty bit of 1970s guitar solo. It really works.
North Carolina’s Tracy Shedd ambles onto centre stage with her single “Going Somewhere,” its laid back feel gaining more urgency in the chorus. Definitely a bit of car-driving, windows-open on a summer day sort of music. The Telmos’ “What She Knows” actually first appeared on the band’s 2019 EP How Quick It Goes Away but it has now been re-released by Aldora Britain Records. It definitely deserves a second chance, given its sunny 1960s pop psychedelic feel. Kinda like The Zombies jamming with The Hollies. Back into the pop punk field, Boston’s Invisible Rays pump out what sounds like a somewhat more socially adjusted Weezer on “Landline.” This one is jump-up-and-down dance good. Another late find for me is smiles “Gone For Good.” This 2019 release oozes Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and Matthew Sweet vibes. Turn it up loud and get lost in the melodic haze. Chicago’s Kerosene Stars continue their English 1980s band revival kick with “Purpose of Friend,” a song that sounds like something from Manchester 1988. A bit confessional folkie, a bit swing poprock.
We’ll wrap things up with a double blast from prolific Cambridgeshire indie artist 65MPH. The recent singles “Real Life” and “Don’t Walk Away” cap a series of releases from this guy, so an album proper cannot be far off (can it?). I love the rough and ready vibe on these songs, reminding me of work from the likes of The Jam and Cast.
Twenty-one singles crammed into one post is like finding a variety box of quality chocolates on your Easter egg hunt. There’s definitely going to be some you really like. Time to start indulging.
For The Smiths guitar slinger Johnny Marr the 45 is a “short burst [that] is going to explain where we’re at, right here and right now” from “artists who are taking that three, four minute moment really seriously.” Forget the album as artist statement – for Marr, the single is where an artist can really say something. He also makes an interesting observation about the class dimensions of the form, arguing that in the sixties and seventies (when 45s were at their peak popularity in the UK) their brightly coloured sleeves and concise musical content served as a kind of working class art for the “young women who were working in Woolworths, and young men who were working in shops and warehouses and bus stations.” It’s in that spirit of love for the 45 that we continue with our second post of fab new late-summer singles.
Franco-American duo Freedom Fry just can’t help themselves. They’d barely gotten their French-language album L’Invitation out the door last April when two EPs of covers followed just one month later and now this summer three more original songs have hit their Bandcamp page. Productive much? Not that I’m complaining. There is always something so fresh and positive about a new Freedom Fry record. Like “Colors,” with its saucy keyboard lick opening and buoyant melody. Let this light and breezy single colour your listening time with a hit of audio sunshine. Another bit of fun pressed into 3 minutes or so comes from the Barenaked Ladiesnew album, Detour de Force. “Bylaw” is a goofy yet still melodious mediation on a topic I’m fairly certain has largely evaded musical attention up to now. But leave it to BNL to make it sing! The rest of the album is pretty catchy too, particularly the topical “New Disaster.” Indie power pop supergroup The Legal Matters are back with their third album, entitled Chapter Three. On the whole, its another reliably hooky installment in their ongoing musical saga but the song that leaps out at me is “Please Make a Sound.” I love the low-key jangle and the lighter-than-air harmony vocals. Stylistically it really stands out from the rest of the album, underlining how these guys can pull off just about anything. Have you been missing that tight, almost chrome-coated seventies rock and roll sound perfected by Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds across a series of great albums, both solo and with Rockpile? Well relax, you can get your fix with Geoff Palmer’s new record, Charts and Graphs. Hey, this shouldn’t be news. Palmer’s been acing the Lowe/Edmunds sound for years with his band The Connection. I’m just letting you know he’s done it again. I’m singling out two tracks as my preferred double A-sided 45, “Tomorrow” and “The Apartment Song.” The former comes off like new wave as if the Beach Boys had gone that route in 1979 (instead of doing that disco album) while the latter is a rollicking, hooky stomper (and, as Ralph points out in the comments, a Tom Petty cover). I’ve been on a bit of Los Lobos bender for the past month, really getting to know their Spanish language recordings (e.g. Del Este de Los Angeles and La Pistola y el Corazon). You don’t need to speak Spanish to understand these records are telling you to kick up your heels! For 2021 the party continues on Native Sons with the band covering a host of their favourite radio hits, songs like Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” and the Beach Boys “Sail On, Sailor.” But I’m keen on the album’s only original cut, the title track. It’s a lovely Americana slow dance supported with a beautiful horn section that is all about the band themselves and their relationship to their home town.
The Barenaked Ladies – Bylaw
Is it wrong to like a band’s cast-offs album more than the main release? I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I think Scottish band The Eisenhowers’ third album Judge a Man by the Company He Keeps is a bonny collection of sophisticated tunes. But somehow I’m more drawn to the tracks that didn’t quite make the official album but did get released a few months later on the aptly named Too Much Music. For instance, “Suffer” is lovely lilting poppy tune, a little bit Crowded House, a smattering of Barenaked Ladies. And that’s just the first of many winners that got cut from the main LP but manage to appear here. Dave Strongtries to hide his classic sixties melodic instincts behind a punky veneer but “Little Girl” can’t be denied. This single is a blasting two and half minutes of gloriously amped up poppy fun. B-side “I Would” is pretty cool too. Detroit’s basement pop exemplars The Kickstand Band have been holding out on us. Just one single since 2017 and nary an LP or EP since 2016! Well the wait is over because a double A-sided single is out, “Cube” and “Hey Julianne.” The former is a neat if somewhat ominous low-key number that breaks out melodically briefly – but spectacularly – in the chorus. The latter is a killer should-be hit, in the mould of the band’s amazing synthesis of early 1960s and late 1970s AM radio hits. Those harmonies! Let’s have a new TKB album please. From the northern US to the deep south, The Blips hail from Birmingham Alabama and they deliver that wonderfully messy country rock sound we might associate with Titus Andronicus or the Band. “Inside Out” is the featured single from their self-titled debut LP and I’m loving it. If this style is your thing, I think you will too. Tampa Florida’s The Easy Button have an astonishing collection of 22 tunes out right now for the price for a regular album. The record is Lost On Purpose and it runs the gamut of clever poprock: a bit of Beach Boys, a lot of Fountains of Wayne, and plenty of fun. There are just so many great tunes here but I’ll draw your attention to the playful, generationally-focused “ReRun.” Though I’m more a seventies television guy I know a lot of the name-checked references here.
I came upon Kimon Kirk via a link to a duet he did with Aimee Mann in 2017. So I thought, ok, I’ll bite, let’s check out this guy. There’s wasn’t a lot to find, just a handful of releases since 2009. But what an interesting range of material! Like Mann, there’s a great American songbook feel to some of his stuff, like the cabaret feel to “The Road to No Regret” from 2011’s Songs for Society. Other releases are crazy good guitar poprock like stand alone 2017 single “Powerstroke.” His new record is Altitude and the song I’d single out is “The Girl I Used to Know” which cooks along like a Lindsay Buckingham track with just a tad more enthusiasm in the chorus. Richard Turgeon is back with a seasonally appropriate new EP of cool tunes, Campfire Songs. Once again he mixes a slightly discordant element into otherwise reliably poppy rock tunes. The timely “Goodbye to Summer” has the feel of an uber cool summer single, its cinematic potential fueled by classic sounding guitar embellishments and Turgeon’s own minor key vocal. But I also really like the easygoing rock and roll songbook feel to “Never Good Enough” and “Promised Land.” Chicago’s Kerosene Stars often sound like some 1980s English guitar band (and I like that!) but their new batch of singles seems to mark a new direction for the outfit. Ok, maybe there’s still an English feel to “Where Have You Been?” with its wordy but eloquent lyric delivery, but I like it, and it clips along with a somehow both reserved but still manic tempo. Recently I wrote about Pearl Charles’ eerie 1970s throwback material and that moved someone dropped me a line about Toronto-based Stacey. Wow. Also very 1970s. Like a Tardis time-travel good recreation. Check out “Strange (But I Like It)” from her latest LP Saturn Return. It’s got a minor key feel in places that reminds me of Sniff ‘n’ the Tears “Driver’s Seat” or any mid-period Little River Band. At this point it’s hard to believe that anyone could do anything new with Bob Dylan material, it’s all been covered by so many people and in so many ways. But Australian Emma Swift manages to add a new twist to the Dylan’s classic “Queen Jane Approximately.” With its light jangle and Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac rhythm section feel, the song sounds more like a radio hit than ever. It can be found with a host of other Dylan songs on her just released Blonde on the Tracks album.
Continuing in Dylanesque vein, Brisbane Australia’s Full Power Happy Hour give us a fresh dose of melodious folky-country guitar noodling on “Old Mind of Mind.” The song is the opening cut on their self-titled debut long-player and it combines keen guitar work with an inspired vocal. Heading back to the UK 65MPH anchor their sound with a striking mix of acoustic and electric guitars and tunes that mine a new neo-folk rock sound that I associate with acts like The Fronteers. “Cruel World” is just one of a host of peppy, winning singles the band has put out over the past few months. Rounding things out on this singles extravaganza, a deep cut from the latest album by Toronto band Harkness. The songs on The Occasion run a gamut of styles, featuring unusual instrumental choices and some complicated vocal arrangements. Personally I’m taken with “Tornado” and its solid mid-1980s Brit band mix of moody guitars and vocals.
Well, there it is, another colossal mix of singles, all mini musical manifestos from a wide array of acts. Think of them as ever so brief introductions to people with much more to say. Click the hyperlinks to continue the conversation.
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