Sometimes you’re spinning the radio dial (or whatever is your modern equivalent) and something new pops out that you just can’t turn away from. Today’s crowd of artists offer up just those sorts of oh-so-pleasant surprises. Get ready to get stuck in.
True Green’s Hail Disaster is a journey through many moods. Opening cut “Italian Lightening” is all shades of autumn light, so many flickering guitar and keyboard lines dapple your senses. Sunny and bright got right, that’s this song. It also stands out as the most hit singley track on the album. From there things veer down many intriguing paths. “How To Draw Hands” talk-sings against echoey guitar chords and mellifluous keyboard runs. “Beatlemania” is a stark indie rock intervention, nothing like Beatlemania sonically (though it does ask all the right questions about that social hoopla). Then “Consider the Priesthood” brings banjo into a track that pushes the echo fader to the max. Folk figures strongly across many contributions here. “Hamlet and Juliet” has a unique folk ennui, a bit like Hayden. “Bindi Sue” and “Falconry” both give off acoustic folk vibes, the latter adding some Bruce Cockburn guitar artistry. Meanwhile “Jonathan” combines a folk feel with some comforting 1970s electric keyboard. But cuts like “Hail Disaster” and “Terry’s Parrot” lean closer to performance art. The guitar textures defining “Bodysurfing” are mesmerizing in a low key way. Moody poprock makes an appearance with “Texas Instrument” while “Sparrows + Lillies” is all jazzy rumination. Hail Disaster may be a shifting mood buffet but it works on many levels.
On Outlandish Stances Brian Jones and His Elevator Music offer up that highly literate melodic rock and roll that made careers for bands like Squeeze and Fountains of Wayne and I can’t get enough. Record opener “Flowers” has a new wave freshness from its opening guitar chords, building to a triumphant, memorable chorus. Then “New Adventures” shifts gears into a rollicking poprock romp. “Some Men” opens with some distinctive jangle guitar, layering it up to good effect on this story song. It’s so easy to toss off possible comparisons to the styles that appear here. “The Last to Know” is so Squeeze, “Mexico” exudes an FOW ballad feel, while “Blessed and Highly Favored” reminds me of Freedy Johnston. “Sunday Best” is a personal fave – I love the liberal deployment of seventh chords. “When The Music’s Over” is something different again, closing things out with tender piano ballad.
Smug Brothers album #11 Pinhole to Vortex is a supremely great guitar record. What I mean is that the guitars are central to everything that is going on here, carrying the songs forward, adding depth where needed, and jumping out of the mix with various melodic and textural surprises. “Bolt Through the Blackout” is a great example of what I’m talking about with alternating guitar parts that keep grabbing our attention. “I’ve Seen Them Patch the Same Hole Trying to Get It Right” is another striking example where the hypnotic rhythm guitar attack lulls you just ahead of dynamic lead guitar breakouts. “Blitz Meridian” is something a bit different with its clockwork-meets-new wave rhythm guitar pacing. And I’m particularly keen on “Picasso Waltzes.” The song is a wonderful arrangements of pieces, from the lead guitar lines to the chorused vocals to the striking trumpet shots. Or listen to how “Extra All the Time” uses great lead guitar runs to lead us through the song. There is a some solid Beatles DNA threaded through countless songs here, from “Eureka Minor” to “From Crack to Shatter” to “Back at Earth.” There is stylistic variety here too, with “Speeding By the Way Things Used to Look” and “Wake Up (Be Your Own Planet)” holding a softer pop pose while “Chisel Would Say” showcases a harsher guitar attack. Personal faves include “The Other Wedge was Better” with its up-front guitar hooks and the full-on power pop of “Drive Open in the Delicate Streams.” Fair warning: with Pinhole Vortex you better get ready to notch your amp up to 11.
It’s been a month of regularly imbibing Pope’s new LP BFM and I’m still not done with it. I find myself fascinated with how the band manages to inhabit so many styles but never lose a sense of their own musical personality. Reviewers don’t skimp on comparisons, linking the overall aura to the 1990s alternative scene. My own take is that the potential influences go even further back (and forward). For instance, both “Song Two” and “Point of View” conjure the Dandy Warhols for me. Some suggest “Newboi” is vibing Teenage Fanclub but all I hear is REM. Obviously there are many ways to dissect Pope’s musical DNA, the point is indicate possible stylistic affinities. Case in point, “Town” has a SWMRS feel for me while “Good Enough” embodies a spot-on Kevin Devine demeanor. Another striking aspect of this LP is the seamless fluidity of the song order, despite the deployment of different lead vocalists. Ratboys singer Julia Steiner guests on “Sick Minute” and “Nothing for Nothing” and her appearances are both highly distinctive and very much in tune with the album’s overall tone. Overall BFM is a hard-to-pin-down album. Tracks like “Back to Centre” and “Underdawg” exude a folksy charm without going full-on folk. “Make You Feel” has a harsher guitar attack that is set off somewhat by vocals that seem to float over the backing. Then you have a song like “John Thomas” where a lowkey delivery in no way subdues the impact. After nine years without a release, BFM definitely marks Pope’s triumphant return.
Tuning in to these four acts will definitely enrich your listening pleasure. You can find more dedicated programming about them on their branded internet real estate.
Photo courtesy Joe Haupt Flikr collection.
