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Tag Archives: Cupid’s Carnival

Make mine a single!

16 Sunday Oct 2022

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Anthony Newes, April March, Bird Streets, Cool Sounds, Cupid's Carnival, David Myles, Dust Star, Geoff Palmer, It's Karma It's Cool, Lawn, Odd Hope, Piano Movers, Rhett Miller, Rich and Marvin, Sad Girls, The Analogues Sideshow, The Buoys, The Muldoons, The Tryouts, The Walkdown, Yotam Ben Horin

‘Disk jockey, make mine a single!’ or words to that effect might be heard somewhere sometime on request night. But what kind of song makes the cut? Today’s post offers you 21 selections to choose from. So get ready – it’s playlist stocking time!

The delicious tension driving “Square One” from New Jersey’s Sad Girls involves casting melancholic vocals against a backdrop of bright churning rhythm guitar work. A captivating melodic alchemy is the result. The song is featured on the band’s recent EP Wild Creatures, just one of many winning contributions. I mean, it’s no accident this mini-album contains a cover of the Split Enz hit single “I Got You.” Haunting, atmospheric, sometimes mournful – that’s Sad Girls’ basic MO. Jangle is alive and well in Paisley, Scotland, thanks to The Muldoons. Their 2020 debut album Made for Each Other has that sprightly yet dispirited feel of so many late 1980s Manchester bands (and that’s a good thing). But check out the rippling jangle propelling “Lovely Things,” aided by a great horn section (I have it on good authority they’re real). What a standout track! Melbourne’s Cool Sounds take a different approach. “Sleepers” is so loping-rhythm cool, ornamented with fab electric piano motifs, crystalline clear guitar riffs, and breathy vocals. The overall effect is hypnotic, lulling, but still hooky. Halifax Nova Scotia tunesmith David Myles is a little bit soft rock crooner, a little bit jazz sophisticate. His new album It’s Only a Little Loneliness has shades of gospel, country, and urban-tinged pop. Kinda like what Leonard Cohen was doing with this last few records. Just listen to how he arranges the various hooky adornments on “Mystery,” the eerie lead guitar lines hovering in the background, the stately female back-up singers, the ear wormy keyboard lick shadowing the ‘mystery’ lyric. Classy, cloaked in a bit mystery, yet totally 1980s AM radio friendly. The follow up to Bird Streets much-lauded 2018 self-titled debut album is just about out. Lagoon promises more of the same winning, jangle-infused Americana-styled poprock. Here’s a taste of what is to come with “Go Free.” The guitar work and mesh of harmony vocals suggests those other Bryds with a hint of easygoing Tom Petty.

Bird Streets – Go Free

Beatle cover bands are no rare thing. Some are great but many require a few pints to hit their Mersey stride. Then there are the masters, acts like Apple Jam and The Analogues who receive praise from the likes of former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick and Beatles archivist Mark Lewisohn. But that happens when those players set aside the Fabs canon to do their own thing? The Analogues, now dubbed The Analogues Sideshow, demonstrate it doesn’t have to be phony Beatlemania. “Don’t Fade Away” is clearly sixties influenced but in a timeless post-1980s poprock way. Are relationships like labour saving devices? That’s the angle Newcastle Australia duo The Tryouts are laying on us with “Washer.” The spare sounding verses meet dialed up chorus reminds me of Mo Kenney or Darwin Deez. Can’t wait for more from these two. Really, anything. Yotam Ben Horin’s new longplayer Young Forever has so many highlights for but some reason “Leopard” leapt out at me. Maybe it was the splash of shimmery guitar, perhaps it was lines like ‘I wanna be your Johnny Marr.’ But something really works on this particular tune, I found myself returning to it again and again. New Orleans band Lawn have got an art rock feel going on with their recent album Bigger Sprout. The songs are just a bit discordant and unpredictable and definitely memorable. But their opening cut is so should-be hit single. “Down” has an addictive guitar hook anchoring everything, rolling out like a Blue Oyster Cult mega-riff. But then it’s the pulsing rhythm guitar that takes everything forward in the chorus. You gotta hand it to Geoff Palmer. Doing a complete cover of Dee Dee Ramone’s near-universally hated solo record Standing the Spotlight takes guts and some pretty serious inspiration. But Palmer delivers. Check out how he takes a melodic promise that is just hinted at in Dee Dee’s original version of “Baby Doll” and breaks it wide open, elevating the track from a noble failure to a retro classic.

The Analogues Sideshow – Don’t Fade Away
The Tryouts – Washer

On his new solo record The Misfits Old 97s frontman Rhett Miller is not just spinning his indie rock Americana wheels. The whole enterprise has a 1970s polished crossover country-meets-pop feel. Reviewers have suggested there’s a 1970s Fleetwood Mac twist on “Go Through You” but I hear a pub rock meets Andy Kim kind of pop smoothness. Brooklyn’s Piano Movers have a low profile on the ole interweb – I could find only 3 songs. But what a trio they are. Lofi, indie, with a Jonathan Richman kind of earnest yet still laid back intensity. “Your Girlfriend’s Lover” is an acoustic guitar-strummy proto-feminist delight, with some basic but alluring lead guitar interludes. The vocals have a meditative sonic delivery, so soothing. Another Fruits and Flowers record label band is Oakland’s Odd Hope. I’ll admit, it was Jesss Scott’s striking, colourful album artwork that caught my attention here. As with its cover, the album reflects a colourful range of musical styles like a kaleidoscope. But my stand out fave is the mildly discordant, garage-y “Your Ending.” In style it stands somewhere between The Clash and Petty’s Heartbreaks and could be pulled in either direction. Former Disney animator, Pussywillows member, and arch Francophile, April March does everything with style. Her new album is Cinerama and like the lost projection process its named after it is all retro. And yet it sounds so now too. I’m singling out “Born” as your taste-tester song. Everything starts very pleasant, acoustic guitar and some double-tracked vocals but check out that sweet trebly guitar intervention that arrives 39 seconds in. Now it’s a dreamy confection of mid-1960s British pop single themes. The trick that the very Beatlesque Cupid’s Carnival manage to pull off repeatedly is throwing in just enough familiar Merseybeat-meets-early pop psychedelic elements to make your head turn but then deliver a great original song. Their latest stand-alone single offering is “You Know” and all the necessary moving parts are there: Lennon-esque vocal, Sgt. Pepper-era background vocals, and slow-burn hooky melody.

April March – Born
Cupid’s Carnival – You Know

It’s hard to put a label on just what It’s Karma It’s Cool is doing stylistically. There seems to be bits of early 1980s prog pop, a dash of new wave, and a whole lot of straight up poppy rock and roll. On their recent stand-alone single “A Gentle Reminder” I hear a synthesis that reminds me of early Split Enz with perhaps a Hoodoo Gurus vibe on the vocals. The organ is the star here, stitching together an impressive array of hooks and musical asides. Last spring Minneapolis Minnesota native Anthony Newes put out a quiet record of songs with long titles. His Dark of the Sea EP will bathe you in melodic sweetness, the songs rolling over you with effortless effect. With a vocal landing somewhere between Rufus Wainwright and Elliott Smith, “Take It From You Now You Take It From Me” steals into your consciousness like a cool wind on a warm day. For de-stressing there something very Enya here but with guitars. Chicago’s The Walkdown want you to hold for the hooks on their recent single “Jane Doe.” The verses have that deadpan, almost talky punk feel. But when they break out the chorus they step on the melody pedal and things take off from there. The rest of their catalogue is pretty solid too. Rich and Marvin are Rich McCulley and Marvin Etzioni and “Apricot” is their first joint effort. Like the fruit, the song is refreshingly sweet, delivered in a light country folk style. We’ve heard bands like the BoDeans and Los Lobos give us these kinds of acoustic forays as album deep cuts. Interested to see where this duo take things next. On their recent EP Unsolicited Advice for Your DIY Disaster Sydney Australia punky poprockers The Buoys give the boys both barrels. The songs coat a whole load of post-teenage angst in slightly harsh melodic goodness. The whole record is a mosh pit dance party but “Lie To Me Again” slows the pace, temporarily, before going hook nuclear in the chorus. The song may end but you’ll be humming it all day.

Song number 21 is special departure from a brand new band that specializes in a rock and roll aural assault. Dust Star open their debut album Open Up That Heart with a full on rocking tidal wave on “Nothing in my Head.” You can practically see the sweaty crowd levitating on the dance floor to this one. But I want to draw your attention to the more restrained title track with its Weezer meets Sugar Ray melodic roll out. There’s even an early Beatles or Cheap Trick vibe going in the late instrumental break. So much to like here.

Albums are great but sometimes you just need a stack of singles to turn a good night great. Click on the links to hear even more from these should-be up and comers.

Snowflake singles

27 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bird Mancini, Brad Peterson, Cupid's Carnival, Dave Sheinin, Evan Myall, Half Catholic, Jeff Roberts, L.A. Exes, Leadfinger, Mattiel, Middle Kids, Nah ..., Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang, Richard Turgeon, Silver Synthetic, Sloan, Stephen Schijns, The Brandy Alexanders, The Caternary wines, The Rockyts, Tristen

Tis the season for shovels and snowflakes … and singles! What better way to wrap up the year than a slew of new 45s. Here’s 21 songs to get you through your snow-shoveling workout.

Atlanta’s Mattiel’s have early-dropped a single from their forthcoming new LP, the aptly named Georgia Gothic. The song is titled “Jeff Goldblum” and this outing is a bit more pop, kinda like something 1978 bordering on new wave. I like where this is going. I’m sneaking in another holiday-themed tune, but only because it’s so subtlely done. Brad Peterson’s “Beautiful and Bright” is lovely low-key ode to peace and goodwill, and who really gets enough of that? Nobody, that’s who. A year ago it was political drama central but amid all the competing headlines I somehow missed Sloan’s fabulous on-point single, “Silence Trumps Lies.” No fake news here, just slick melodies and wise sentiments. I may be getting to it a bit late but it’s definitely worth a replay. With “Stranger” Evan Myall combines some classic rhythm guitar shimmer with a nice bit of Todd Rundgren-like pop songcraft. From his recent EP Snail. Sticking to America’s west coast L.A. Exes offer up a light jaunty neo-early 1960s romp on “Baby Let’s Pretend.”

Cupid’s Carnival are clearly working their way up to a new album release sometime soon, given the singles we’ve seen this year. “Thinking About You Girl” is what the boys do best, another catchy mid-period Beatlesque charmer. Boston’s Bird Mancini manage to sound both very familiar and highly original, all at the same time. From their recent album The One Delight, I’m loving the rollicking joy of “Space Between Two Worlds,” driven by Ruby Bird’s impressive vocals. Sydney Australia’s Middle Kids remind me of a certain kind of contemporary poppy rock sound, like Grouplove. The keyboard opening to “Stacking Chairs” is so magnetic, drawing you in, building to a calliope-like drive in the chorus that’s aided by some nice guitar work. The song is from their most recent long-player, the perhaps only slightly over-stated Today We’re the Greatest. Dave Sheinin takes his reliable power pop chops in a sometimes rockier, sometimes more mellow direction on his recent release The Measure of Things. “St. Paul” has got a hooky bar band rockin’ feel. Richard Turgeon turns on the mellow meter for “7 Stories,” lulling us with some nice guitar swing and vocal harmonies that vibe that distinctive Eagles shiver-inducing effect.

Cupid’s Carnival – Thinking About You Girl

It’s been a while since we’ve heard an album from Wollongong, South Australia band Leadfinger but a few new singles have come out this last year. I’m currently attached to “The Fall of Rome” with its addictive lead guitar runs and ominous melodic undercurrent. I’m guessing a new album is not far off. Ottawa’s teen sixties retro band The Rockyts are clearly between albums so they released “It’s a Dirty Shame” to tide us over this year. The track plays to their melodic rock and roll strengths while adding just a bit of contemporary polish. Jeff Roberts is a mysterious guy from Charlottesville, Virginia who likes to just give his songs away. That’s right, just click on ‘free’ on Bandcamp! And you’re gonna want to with tracks like “Bones,” a shuffle-demon of a track that’s a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. Half Catholic is another band on its way to a new album, for sure, if the spate of recent singles is any indication. “What Good is Gone” has his trademark jangly lead guitar and expressive vocal delivery. It’s mournful and peppy in the same moment. For a change in direction, we head to Munster, Germany where Nah … get their twee baroque pop going on with a new single “The Useless Model.” It’s very theCatherines with some Everything but the Girl thrown in.

The Rockyts – It’s a Dirty Shame

DIY poprocker Stephen Schijns has a load of one-off singles on his Bandcamp page and they’re all pretty good. Indeed, some are pretty great even. Like the alluring charm of “I Met Her Yesterday” with its Byrdsian overtones and Al Stewart inflections. “What Do I Know About Love” is also pretty sweet. The Brandy Alexanders’ “Conventional Lie” starts off very George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” but quickly segues down its own distinctive path, combining winning vocals with some cool guitar and keyboard lines. Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang give their single a super-charged lick familiar to any early 1960s pop fan but it works on “Lucky in Love,” adding rather than overwhelming the tune. They’re a group with a limited resume that I’d love to see more from. New Orleans band Silver Synthetic have got a classic Americana thang going on. You can’t go wrong dropping your needle anywhere on their self-titled debut album but if I were calculating special moments I’d put my money on “In the Beginning.” The Caternary Wines have an otherworldly aura about them. There something Moody Blues/Jethro Tull spooky here. I’m hard pressed to choose one song from that their fab record Birling Gap but I’m going with the Enya-esque “Face on the Rail Line.”

The Brandy Alexanders – Conventional Lie

I can’t recall who put me on to Nashville songstress Tristen but whoever you were, thank you. Thank you!  She has an amazing ability to reach inside you and find some feeling you barely knew was there. At some point I’ll pay tribute to her great catalogue but for now let’s attend to her latest LP Aquatic Flowers. This is a very listenable album, with so many great cuts. I was going to recommend “I Need Your Love” and it is a great song but if I can only feature one tune then it has to be “Athena” with its dissonant lurch and melodic purity. It’s pretty special, but then Tristen is no ordinary songmaker.

No snowflake is exactly the same – ditto our singles. Celebrate the icy cool of our snow-inspired single selections. And drop a few bucks over at Bandcamp for these stellar artists.

Saturday Club: The Poppermost, The Unswept, Cupid’s Carnival, and The Meatles!

13 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Cupid's Carnival, Gary Ritchie, The Meatles, The Poppermost, The Unswept

The Beatles’ first live appearance on BBC radio occurred on Brian Matthews’ Saturday Club January 26, 1963. Today we create our own version of the club, chock full of more recent Merseybeats from bands both far and near the Lime Street Station.

The Poppermost hail from Glasgow, Scotland and their releases are very 1963-64 era fab four fantastic. Ok, the ‘they’ here is actually just him, one guy, Joe Kane, but what a beautiful noise this guy manages to pull off playing and singing everything. The feel is the breezy pop perhaps a bit more associated with some of the songs The Beatles gave away in their early days, to groups like The Fourmost, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Peter and Gordon. The band’s debut single “Can’t Take That Away” has a definite “Bad to Me” swing while its b-side is the Beatles brand of American R&B reinvention. The pop carries over on the just released EP A Piece of the Poppermost with “Laziest Fella in the Realm” and “In and Out” while “Get It Down” nails an “I’ll Follow the Sun” vibe. But the EP does rock out a bit with the opening cut “Well I Will,” in a very gear 1964 sort of way, of course.

The Unswept are originally from Sheffield but now reside in Chicago and their brand of Merseyfied poprock leans heavily on Harrisonian jangle. His distinctive Rickenbacker sound is all over the fun cover of Marshall Crenshaw’s “Cynical Girl” that appears on their brand new EP Power Pop for All the People. Well, sort of brand new – three of the four songs were previously available on their self-titled 2014 release. But hey, who doesn’t want to hear a jangly romp through The Rutles “I Must Be In Love” and Nick Lowe’s “So It Goes” again? I definitely do. And add to the mix another magical Liverpool contribution, the La’s “I Can’t Sleep,” and you’ve really got something special. The La’s don’t get covered much because, frankly, their songs are hard to do. But The Unswept ace the energy, vocal interplay, and dynamic guitar work the track demands. If this EP doesn’t send you packing to pick up a copy of their recent EP of original stuff, The Codependent, then it’s time to make a hearing appointment.

Ever since they hit the scene Cupid’s Carnival have reliably serviced the mid-period Beatlemaniacs. These guys really know how to throw out a slightly psychedelic, harmony-vocaled set of hooks. As we wait for a follow up album to 2020’s Colour Blind, the boys have got a fab new single “You’re So Cool” and it’s the injection of Mersey poprock you need right now. Our last featured act on this rogue episode of Saturday Club are The Meatles, from their Beat the Meatles release. Now, I thought it was just National Lampoon that went in for these sort of gags but apparently there’s a New Zealand Beatles cover band that has a predictably over-the-top lewd take on the idea. That’s not what we’re featuring here. What we’ve got is uber talented Gary Ritchie’s strictly classy 2000 tribute to the Fabs, twenty-two lovingly crafted note-perfect covers of the early to mid-period Beatles catalogue. Personally, I think Ritchie adds some distinctive elements to “Little Child,” “I’ll Cry Instead,” and “I’ll Get You.” But the whole record is a dance party booster. Get it on the turntable and then get it on!

Cupid’s Carnival – You’re So Cool

The Beatles are not coming back but their influence keeps returning in new releases, showing up in both predictable and innovative ways. Make sure to tune in to these acts at your local e-music retailer.

Beatle me this! The Szuters, Rob Clarke and the Wooltones, Apple Jam, Cupid’s Carnival, and more!

14 Monday Sep 2020

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Apple Jam, Cupid's Carnival, Liverpool Echo, Rob Clarke and the Wooltones, The Beatles, The Singles, The Szuters

While there is little in the post-Beatles era that is not somehow touched by their influence, some bands wear that influence a bit more obviously than others. Today’s crew are veritable Beatlemaniacs, long suffering and uninterested in any cure. At times, they almost are The Beatles, they come so close to the masters in song structure and/or performance. Yet they all add some magic of their own, some original element that elevates their efforts beyond mere imitation. Get ready for some old and new Beatlers!

One of the earliest post-Beatles bands working the Mersey side of street was Liverpool Echo. Their self-titled 1973 album was a refreshing reworking of the 1964 Beatles sound for the seventies with strong songwriting from Martin Briley (later of “Salt in my Tears” fame) and Brian Engel. Countless songs start out like a Beatles’ classic, only to veer into something else, e.g. “You Know It Feels Alright” kicks off with a “Love Me Do” harmonica, or “Don’t You Know I’ve Been Lying” sounds very “I Call Your Name” at the start. But the record sports more than a few really original cuts, like “Gone, Gone, Gone” and the hooky “Girl on a Train.” Former hard rockers The Szuters have a broader take on The Beatles’ sonic legacy on their new album Sugar, filtering their efforts through a Todd Rungdren/Utopia Deface the Music set of influences (particularly on “If You Only Knew”) or a Cheap Trick (on “She’s Coming Home With Me”) or even early Squeeze (“Good Thing”). But “I Don’t Wanna Cry” and “Two We Will Always Be” nail The Beatles circa ’64.

Liverpool Echo – Gone, Gone, Gone
Liverpool Echo – Girl on the Train
The Szuters – Two We Will Always Be
The Szuters – I Don’t Want To Cry

With Putting the L in Wooltones Rob Clarke and the Wooltones move a bit beyond their usual Mersey predilections to explore some other 1960s sounds. But there’s still one classic moptop number with “It’s Only You,” a lovely track that could easily live in the Beatles For Sale universe. And then there are actual cover bands, though few stand out like Apple Jam. As one commentator once said, “Apple Jam are possibly the most arcane Beatles tribute band in the world.” Why? Because they only record the songs The Beatles never officially recorded. Their 2009 Off the Beatle Track album reworks 15 early Lennon-McCartney tunes (and one Harrison song), their 2018 Off the White Album takes up all those songs that didn’t make the White Album cut, while other singles and EPs give a Beatles treatment to various solo material from the fabs. The results are pretty spectacular. Imagine all those songs the Beatles gave away in the 1963-4 period but now informed by the polished sound they gave on their official releases. “I’m In Love” and “From a Window” get upgraded to an obvious should-have-been Beatles release. “Goodbye” as performed here seems to merit inclusion on the White Album. And their Beatles 1964-style interpretation of McCartney’s “On the Wings of a Nightingale” is pretty special. The band’s most recent single is a version of Harrison’s unreleased “Window Window” from the Let It Be-era.

Apple Jam – I’m In Love
Apple Jam – From a Window

Unlike our other Beatle-vibing bands Cupid’s Carnival solidly occupy the mid-period Beatles zone, stretching perhaps from Help! to Yellow Submarine. They load their songs with uber cool Beatles references but the songwriting stands on its own. Their recent 2020 release Colour Blind kicks off strong with “Working All Day,” acing those familiar Beatles harmonies. The hooky “I Got It Wrong” and “Happiness” are Beatles poprock bliss! “Clapham Junction – Platform 9” uses a “Strawberry Fields” mellotron to good effect. And the record includes their masterful should-be hit “She Don’t Care” from their 2018 EP Clapham Junction. Detroit’s The Singles are all over the Meet the Beatles sound on their 2003 debut Better Than Before. The title track is simultaneously pure 1964 and yet timeless in execution, absolute dance party killer. “She’s Got a Hold” works that special Beatles jangle into a lovely melodic number with great harmonies. Since then the band has released a number of solid poprocking albums, albeit ones that beat the Beatles drum a bit more lightly.

Cupid’s Carnival – Working All Day
Cupid’s Carnival – She Don’t Care
The Singles – Better Than Before
The Singles – She’s Got A Hold

55 years ago “Help!” was heading for number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Today we’re still living in the shadow of that influence. Help keep the flame alive by clicking the hyperlinked band names above.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2018

03 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Should be a Hit Single

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Aaron Lee Tasjan, Arthur Alexander, Astral Drive, Ben Talmi, Bill Lloyd, Billy & Dolly, Bird Streets, Brad Peterson, Caddy, Cape Cartel, Car City, Cupid's Carnival, Daisy House, Daniel Romano, Danny Wilkerson, David James Situation, Dot Dash, Even, Extra Arms, Freedom Fry, Gentle Hen, Glen Robinson, Greg Pope, Henry Chadwick, Hurry, J. Eastman and the Drunk Uncles, Jeremy Messersmith, Jim Shorts, Michael Simmons, Michael Slawter, Modern Space, Nick Piunti, Oberon Rose, Richard Turgeon, Rob Bonfiglio, Ruler, Sofa City Sweetheart, Starbelly, Summer Magic, Super 8, The Connection, The Essex Green, The Maureens, The Spindles, The Tearaways, The Wellgreen, Vegas with Randolph, William Duke, Wiretree, Wyatt Blair

screen shot 2019-01-03 at 12.43.02 pm2018 was a freakin’ fantastic year for poprock! How do I know? Every year-end I put together a playlist of tunes released that year. In 2016 it consisted of 58 songs clocking in at just over 3 hours. By 2017 that list expanded to 98 songs running over 5 hours. This year the list exploded to 175 songs going on for over 9 hours! My list of should-be hit singles had to expand to a top 50 just to accommodate all this talent. Hit the links below to find each artist as featured in my original blog post this past year or to go to their bandcamp or Facebook page if I didn’t write them up.

So, without further ado, here is Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles for 2018:

  1. Daisy House “Open Your Eyes”
  2. Oberon Rose “No Stranger”
  3. Ruler “Unhindered Pace”
  4. William Duke “Carole and the Silver Screen”
  5. Aaron Lee Tasjan “End of the Day”
  6. Car City “(Don’t) Give Up On Love”
  7. Greg Pope “Forget About You”
  8. Modern Space “Flip for It”
  9. Summer Magic “Attraction Corridors”
  10. Bill Lloyd “Satellite”
  11. Arthur Alexander “I’ll Get Your Love Someday”
  12. The Spindles “I Want My Baby Back”
  13. Starbelly “Lay Low”
  14. The Essex Green “Sloane Ranger”
  15. Michael Simmons “No More Girls”
  16. Astral Drive “Summer of ‘76”
  17. Caddy “Miracle Turn”
  18. Danny Wilkerson “How She Lost Heart”
  19. Bird Streets “Betting on the Sun”
  20. David James Situation “I Should Know”
  21. Ben Talmi “Chances”
  22. Nick Piunti “No Return”
  23. Michael Slawter “Summer’s Kind”
  24. Henry Chadwick “I Can Stick Around”
  25. Cupid’s Carnival “She Don’t Care”
  26. Super 8 “Your Love is my Blanket”
  27. Jeremy Messersmith “Monday, You’re Not So Bad”
  28. Freedom Fry “Past Lives”
  29. Cape Cartel “More”
  30. Gentle Hen “She’s Got It”
  31. Daniel Romano “Anyone’s Arms”
  32. Hurry “Waiting for You”
  33. J. Eastman and the Drunk Uncles “No Political Agenda”
  34. The Connection “The Girl is Trouble”
  35. Even “Out of the Woods”
  36. The Tearaways “I Could Love You Forever”
  37. Richard Turgeon “Look Away”
  38. Dot Dash “Unfair Weather”
  39. Brad Peterson “Whispering”
  40. Rob Bonfiglio “Passenger Seat”
  41. The Maureens “20 years for the Company”
  42. Extra Arms “Why I Run”
  43. Wiretree “Rainy Corner”
  44. Jim Shorts “James Tailored”
  45. Vegas with Randolph “Women in Airports”
  46. Billy & Dolly “Everything is Off”
  47. The Wellgreen “Take What You Get”
  48. Glen Robinson “Get You Down”
  49. Sofa City Sweetheart “Stop the Thinking”
  50. Wyatt Blair “Gotta Get Away”

For the second year running Daisy House tops my list of should-be hit singles. I have simply run out of superlatives to describe the musical genius of this band. Great songwriting, a killer 1960s vibe, flawless production and performance – it just doesn’t get any better than this. Do yourself a favour and head over to Bandcamp to download their whole catalogue. Oberon Rose came a close second with what must be one of the coolest singles rolled out this year. Ruler ruled my playlist for a good part of 2018, with “Unhindered Place” just one of the great songs on his album. I love the way William Duke’s guitar sounds like a jangle waterfall on his hooky masterpiece “Carole and Silver Screen.” And Aaron Lee Tasjan is a real find – so many possible selections – but more on that with my upcoming ‘20 must-have LPs for 2018’ post. I could go on … (but click on the links to get the full story).

I hope you enjoy these fifty songs enough to click on over to some of the artists’ web real estate and help them along career-wise. 2019 promises to be another hungry year for many of these mostly struggling artists – so do your part: buy their music and go see them live when they come to your town.

Beatlemania! Without the Beatles

11 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Addison Love, B52s, Cupid's Carnival, Rob Clarke and the Wooltones, The Beatles

Bealtes 2This blog is really one long testimonial to the Beatles’ influence on all sorts of popular music, past and definitely present. Indeed, my shorthand for describing what I do here to any random person is to say the blog features new music that builds on the legacy of the Fab Four. Today we attend to that influence more directly with bands that wear their Beatles love on their sleeves. Sometimes it’s the sound, other times it’s the subject matter, or it can just be an inspired cover.

On sound, Rob Clarke and the Wooltones nail the distinctive elements of the Merseyside scene circa 1963. “Brown Paper Bag” is strongly reminiscent of the Liverpool’s Big Three, a band briefly thought to be able to rival the Beatles (until 1964 came along), particularly their version of “Some Other Guy.” Cupid’s Carnival also mine the early Beatles sound on two different versions of their most recent single “She Don’t Care” (from their new EP Clapham Junction), one a straight up rock and roll treatment, the other featuring a more flamenco-style rhythm. But unlike a host of more derivative Beatles copy-cat acts, this homage works because the songwriting and performance are so strong. Addison Love also has the 1960s sound down but his contribution is more notable for its lyrical content. With a focus similar to Ken Sharp’s “She Hates the Beatles” (featured recently on this blog here), Love’s “Like the Beatles” suggests he just can’t sustain a relationship with someone who doesn’t relate to John, Paul, George and Ringo. Poor kid. Lucky for him, the Beatles’ popularity shows no sign of diminishing!  Rounding out our Beatles love is a cover of “Paperback Writer” from the B52s. There is no shortage of Beatle’s covers but this one caught my ear because while it remains fairly true to the original there is a fresh sense of fun about it, as one would expect from this group. Recorded in 2004 for use in a car commercial when the band didn’t even have a record contract, the song remains officially unreleased and unavailable for purchase.

https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/01-she-dont-care-1.m4aCupid’s Carnival – She Don’t Carehttps://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/04-she-dont-care-flamenco-version-1.m4aCupid’s Carnival – She Don’t Care (Flamenco Version)https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/10-like-the-beatles.mp3Addison Love – Like the Beatles

Besides these tracks, there’s plenty to love about Rob Clarke and the Wooltones, Cupid’s Carnival, Addison Love and the B52s. Click the links and find out more.

I get mail! The Pinecones, Butch Young, CLIFFS, Cupid’s Carnival

11 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Butch Young, CLIFFS, Cupid's Carnival, The Pinecones

Not the paper-through-the-letterbox kind of course – more like email, messenger, Facebook, etc.  Still, the point is: people write and let me know about new releases they think would work for the blog.  It tells you something about the state of the music biz that sometimes it is the artist themselves pitching their wares.  Oh well.  Not all the suggestions work for this site, but I’m pleased to report that most do.  So today’s post focuses on what has come to the Poprock Record mailbag recently.

a3977225149_16The good people at Soundscapes in Toronto alerted me to hometown pop melodians, The Pinecones, who describe themselves on their Bandcamp page as “makers of jingle jangle and sha la la harmony rock.”  Ya, that pretty much captures it.  “Gloomy Monday” reminded me of some super mid-1980s poprock indie bands: a catchy tune performed in a raspy, loose, completely at ease sort of way – too clear to be garage rock but with a great laid back feel.  Check out the hilarious video featuring school kids grappling with their own gloomy classroom rituals.  Other highlights for me from their 2015 outing, Ooh!, include sha la la ememplar “That’s the Way I Want to Do It” and the XTC-ish “Kimberly Keeps.”

a0025790022_10Butch Young joins a long list of performers transformed by the Beatles and their influence.  There is hardly a note of his recent Mercury Man that does not bear the mark of the Fabs.  But where he takes that influence is not merely homage – there are some great songs here.  The title track has a very 1970s Beatle-influenced sound, a time when so many bands like Badfinger and ELO continued updating the style of the masters.   “One Foot In” expands the musical footprint, adding a bit of Beach Boys and a host of other vocally-oriented 1960s bands.  “Dime Store Jesus” sounds a bit 10cc to me, in a good way.  But my favourite track is, hands down, “Asteroid,” with its whimsical loping pace and great organ, piano and vocal parts.

cliifsI love performers with a great range of performance styles.  The ‘all caps’ band, the CLIFFS, come from a number of prior musical commitments – The Blurries, Apples in Stereo, Deathray Davies, and more – but none sound like this new venture.  The CLIFFS’ new album, Bill, You’re Only Human, is a stripped down punky poprock effort.  “Volcano” goes along in an understated way until you get to the chorus, which winds up a great hook through the repetition of the title.  Both “Jimmy Monet” and “Future Tense” seem to channel a low key Fountains of Wayne influence to my ears.  “Crash” has that distinctive 1970s punky take on early 1960s disaster poprock.  Probably my favourite track on the album is “I’m in Love with Tonight.” The title of the song is all the lyrics you get, but it still draws you in with its wonderful arrangement, adding a subtracting layers to good effect.

cupidscarnivalRounding things out is Cupid’s Carnival from their recent Everything is Love release.  This is a band that wears their Beatles’ influences on both sleeves.  A lot of the material here has been released by the same musicians under other names (Cherrystone, Roland Skilton) but not in these versions.  This recording really ups the complexity of their Beatles vibe.  “Girl” is a perfect example.  The opening guitar slide sounds like it was lifted right off George Harrison’s early solo records but the vocal arrangement is more Meet the Beatles or Something New.  Wow.  These guys know their Beatle motifs and combine and rearrange them in original ways.https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/01-girl.m4aGirl

Visit Cupid’s Carnival, CLIFFS, Butch Young, and The Pinecones online and tell’em Poprock Record sent you.

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