• About Me

Poprock Record

~ Songs with a hook

Poprock Record

Tag Archives: Asylums

Pandemic poprock

20 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alien Human Emotions, Asylums, Chris Church, Graveyard Tourism, It Only Hurts When I Breathe, It's Good to be Alive, Michael Carpenter, Michael Oliver, Pandemic Diary, Richard Turgeon, Rob Elliott, Still Not Ready to Die, They Might Be Giants, Whateverly Brothers, wr fkd

Pandemic-Diary---ball-and-chain-and-scientistWe tend to be inspired by the world we live in so it’s not surprising that some artists are ruminating musically about our present pandemic. While the artists featured below are all over the map in terms of their responses to the situation, the results are all music to my ears!

Kicking things off, prolific poprocker Michael Carpenter teams up Michael Oliver for the slightly country, melodious, and oh so apropos “It Only Hurts When I Breathe.” Thankfully Michael-squared only seem to be suffering from heartbreak rather than lung dysfunction. Whew! Tilting the mood somewhat, the one-off single “wr fkd” is from the Whateverly Brothers, aka Chris Church, and its churning grind of delicious jangle definitely captures how a lot of people are feeling right now. Again, it might be love problems motivating these musical sentiments but, hey, if it fits the bigger picture why not use it? Another deliberately displaced tune comes from Asylums’ last album, Alien Human Emotions, but here too I think the song speaks to our present moment. As some lobby for a quick return to economic normalcy, one has to wonder if the results won’t be a kind of “Graveyard Tourism.” Dead rich, that’s what they’re really aiming to be. Planning to defy that end game is LA’s powerpop grunge-meister Richard Turgeon on “Still Not Ready to Die.” It’s a brand new song that is definitely about what is happening now and it rocks, in his reliably hooky way. Let’s end on an up note with America’s most cheery musical iconoclasts, They Might Be Giants, and their eminently pleasant, uplifting and predictably quirky “It’s Good to be Alive.” Maybe play this one a few times, just to up your dose of good feelingness. And don’t forget to click on all the artist names to give them some money-coloured love.

Today’s feature graphic is courtesy Toronto pop artist Rob Elliott. If pointed laughter is your thing, head over to his Pandemic Diary pages and laugh until you cry.

Around the dial: Asylums, Heyrocco, and Grouplove

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Around the Dial

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Asylums, Grouplove, Heyrocco

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

Blogroll

  • Absolute Powerpop
  • I Don't Hear a Single
  • Power Pop News
  • PowerPop
  • Powerpopaholic
  • PowerPopSquare
  • Powerpopulist
  • Sweet Sweet Music

Recent Posts

  • Should be a hit single – The Summertimes “Inside”
  • Catching up with Hidden Pictures, Liquid Mike and Frank Bango
  • Hey Buddie
  • Recycled rock stars: Those Pretty Wrongs, The Tearaways, Anyway Gang, and The No Ones
  • Melody miscellany

Recent Comments

EclecticMusicLover on Catching up with Hidden Pictur…
Glenn on Hey Buddie
Joe DelVecchio on Extended play-time: Joe Dilill…
EclecticMusicLover on Springing for singles I
Dennis Pilon on Yesterday is today: The Bings,…

Archives

  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015

Categories

  • Around the Dial
  • Artist Spotlight
  • Breaking News
  • Poprock Themepark
  • Should be a Hit Single
  • Spotlight Single
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • Should be a hit single – The Summertimes “Inside”
  • Catching up with Hidden Pictures, Liquid Mike and Frank Bango
  • Hey Buddie
  • Recycled rock stars: Those Pretty Wrongs, The Tearaways, Anyway Gang, and The No Ones
  • Melody miscellany

Recent Comments

EclecticMusicLover on Catching up with Hidden Pictur…
Glenn on Hey Buddie
Joe DelVecchio on Extended play-time: Joe Dilill…
EclecticMusicLover on Springing for singles I
Dennis Pilon on Yesterday is today: The Bings,…

Archives

  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015

Categories

  • Around the Dial
  • Artist Spotlight
  • Breaking News
  • Poprock Themepark
  • Should be a Hit Single
  • Spotlight Single
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Poprock Record
    • Join 163 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Poprock Record
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...