Tags
Brand New Day, Bring on the Beats, Get Hip Records, Motor!, Stars Align, Take a Stand, The Ugly Beats
Looking for a new fave 1960s-influenced band? Your search ends here. Today’s post is all about the beauty of Austin, Texas retro poprock should-be hit-makers The Ugly Beats. Often referred to as ‘garage rock,’ the band definitely has one foot in the car port but a dip into any one of their five LPs shows they have are so much more to offer.
Take the band’s most recent 2019 release, Stars Align. Sure, track three, “Count to Ten” is arguably garage-y, but it’s the tidiest one on the block. Meanwhile tracks one (“All In”) and four (“Heidi”) are vibing R.E.M. big time. The rest of album ranges across various sixties influences, from the Monkees-ish “In Her Orbit” to the early Kinks guitar squawk kicking off “She Come Alive.” What I love about this band is that the influences are obvious but never overbearing. “What Was One” combines an indie-fied British dollybird vocal with alternating jangle and power chord guitar – brilliant! And seldom have I heard a band use an organ to such good effect – check out the pulsating Farfisa in “Boy You’re in Love.” Meanwhile, few solely garage outfits can produce the nuanced Rubber Soul acoustic/electric guitar blend backing on “One Down.”
More good news: if you like the latest record, you’re going to love the band’s back catalogue. The 2005 debut Bring On the Beats established the group’s strong garage rock cred with some pretty sweet 1960s touches, particularly on tracks like “I’ll Walk Away” and “I’ll Make You Happy.” Think of what The Molochs have been doing recently and you’ve got the groove. 2007’s Take a Stand broadened the sound, upping the melody quotient (“Million Dollar Man”) and even throwing in a ballad (“Get in Line”). Of course, there’s more great 1960s garage numbers and few really unique departures, like vocal harmony-laden “Last Stop” with its great Rickenbacker guitar accents and organ shots.
2010’s Motor! put the organ even more front and centre on tracks like the Plimsouls-ish “Things I Need to Know” and “Through You.” While featuring the fabulous garage juggernaut instrumental “Motor,” most of the album sees the band flexing their musical chops across a number of styles. A bit of the Bakersfield sound on “Harm’s Way,” Blue Rodeo country tinges on “You’ll Forget Me,” some Merseybeat on “Please Don’t Go,” and classic mid-1960s American poprock with “Funny Girl.” 2014’s Brand New Day is more of the good same, from the manic garage intensity of “Up on the Sun” to the groovy jangle on “All of the Things.”
You just know from these records that The Ugly Beats would be an amazing live experience. Help fund that tour trip to your town by stocking up on their party-approved LPs from Get Hip Records (a label with a pretty impressive roster of other 1960s and punk-inspired bands!).
When people think “Bryan Adams” it’s easy to visualize the rock swagger or call to mind the many, many power ballads that have dominated wedding receptions from the mid-1980s on. But Adams is also a master of the polished poprock gem. The list of infectious hook-laden tunes is so long we couldn’t possibly recount them all here. His most recent album, 2015’s Get Up, is more proof he’s still got the knack for pumping out catchy songs. Producer Jeff Lynne does an amazing job of tweaking and sweetening the pop tinge with his signature suite of production techniques. There’s more than a little ELO flavour to tracks like “That’s Rock and Roll,” “Do What You Gotta Do,” and “Don’t Even Try,” the latter featuring a great Beatlesque guitar sound circa Beatles for Sale. Adams also gets back to his 1980s poprock roots on tracks “You Belong to Me,” “Go Down Rockin’” and “Yesterday Was Just a Dream.” But the standout track is “Brand New Day” with its driving, propulsive rhythm guitar that recaptures some of the excitement of his early to mid-1980s poprock glory days.
I had discovered Adams on a bus going downtown in Vancouver sometime in 1981. I was listening to CFOX on some strange FM-only portable radio when “Lonely Nights” came on: I was floored. I loved the shimmery lead guitar, what would become Adam’s signature crunchy rhythm guitar, and the tune. I immediately went downtown and picked up You Want It, You Got It. Side One of the album still blows me away: “Lonely Nights,” “One Good Reason,” “Don’t Look Now,” “Coming Home,” and “Fits Ya Good” – I could (and did) play it over and over. It remains my favourite Adam’s album (and my 16-year-old self did find Adam’s cover shot pretty cute). Cuts Like a Knife also had so many great tunes, though I would single out “This Time” as a pretty perfect poprock single. Reckless would be Adams’ masterpiece with nary a false move. Its key single, “Run to You,” is as good as poprock gets, a remarkable bit of songwriting, production, and arrangement. The atmospheric keyboard backdrop and ringing guitar lines alone are worth the price of the album.
Poprock Record 