As we twist the dial for today’s post it’s pretty clear we’re not quite finished with 2020 yet. Well, musically at least. Still quite a few great releases to draw your attention to.
Producer, record label founder Steven Bradley decided to put his own musical creativity under the microscope on his debut solo record Summer Bliss and Autumn Tears and the results are definitely positive. Hints of Costello’s Punch the Clock with its inventive keyboard touches and clever wordplay show up here and there but cast in a 1990s discordant poprock vein, tempered with an ace feel for a hooky dose of background vocals. It’s all there on the obvious should-be hit single “Pre-Emptive Strike” with its addictive, driving lead guitar lines, subtle organ shots and vocal ear candy. Bradley leans on some jangle for “Hiding Place” but not in an obvious manner, burying the payoff in a surprising and delightful way. “You Walk By” kicks off with a nice smattering of paisley before riffing on some Beatles lyrics. And so goes the rest of this highly listenable album. So many great tunes here, from the opening track “Love Tumbles into Obsession” to the very Squeeze-like “Calendar Girl.” The record also has a number of great acoustic turns, like “The Bargain.”
DIY workaholics Jim Shorts have called it quits. After releasing 47 records over the past decade, a combination of both long players and EPs, the band’s musical force David Haynes has said that their 2020 release will be their last. Well, that’s the bad news. The good news is that Late to the Feast is undeniably their best, most polished and fully realized creative work. The songwriting is strong and playing is shorn of the DIY abandon that characterized most of the band’s back catalogue. Right from the kick ass opening bars of “Out on the Patio” you know this is band taking itself a bit more seriously. The hooks are prominently on display, sounding like Fountains of Wayne got together for a songwriting session with Pavement or Weezer. The crunchy lurch of “Max’s Front Porch” is head-bobbingly good. Or there’s the slow burn hookiness of the title track. “Angel Songs” says alternative radio hit single. Album closer “Balto” confidently rocks out over the credits. This is the Jim Shorts album you gotta have.
Musical chameleon Daniel Romano flooded 2020 with new material. I find myself particularly partial to the late release, White Flag, with its Beatlesque and late 1960s folk rock touches. Album opener “Bleu Heron” is a masterpiece of musical synthesis, from the horn arrangement to the poetic feel of the lyrics. Very Crosby, Stills and Nash in places. From there the album vibes a greatest hits of sixties song stylings, like the Rubber Soul folk rock feel to “Garden of the Heart” or the early McCartney solo sound on “Appolpourre.” The songwriting here is as strong as ever, with every tune sounding both familiar and unusual. And then there’s a few exceptions, like the more new wave pop flavour to “New Milk.” There really is nothing that Romano can’t do musically.
I can’t believe I somehow missed the release of Gary Ritchie’s Head on a Swivel early in 2020. This record is maximum fun in a meat and potatoes poprock sort of way. Ritchie has all the chops, from Merseybeat to 1980s American indie rock and roll, delivering an album that is as listenable as any Greg Kihn or Tom Petty release. And yet there is something distinctively English about the overall sound to me. So many of the songs have that 1965 beat group feel, passed through an ELO sonic retro filter. Just hit play on the title track or “Lean On You” or “Four Letter Word” to get what I’m banging on about here. Or for a more American 1980s poprock elan check out “Maybe It’ll Be Tonight” or “Arms Around a Memory.” Personally I love the roll out to “Tunnel of Love” with its ringing guitar and handclaps – and the rest of the song is pretty great too. Rounding this out, “Record Store” is a hilarious closer. So, all in all, for retro melodic rock fans, Head on a Swivel is a can’t-go-wrong purchase.
John Sally Ride member John Dunbar has dropped a fabulous solo record that channels a perfect mix of mid-1960s pop songwriting and a 1980s indie rock feel. Despite the COVID-enforced DIY one-man-band effort here Oh Wellness sounds like much more. The launch track “Born To Bore” has a cool Lou Reed hooky lurch going on. “The Problem with Being on Time” radiates a sunny swing and some cool 1967 moog organ. “The Girl Whose Heard It All Before” reminds me of Squeeze’s great country songs. I could go on about each track here. Pushed I’d single out “A Sentimental Heart and a Skeptical Mind” and “She Doesn’t Now” as pretty single worthy. Having said that I love the Rubber Soul-veneer and clever word play on “Maybe May Be My Favorite Word.” With Oh Wellness, Dunbar has created a collection of light, fresh sounding tunes, leavened with interesting instrumental choices and timely sentiments. Paraphrasing Seth Myers, this is just the sort of record we need right now!
Your radio dial is just anachronistic technology but as a metaphor for access to possibly great music it lives on! Click on these artists to go directly the source.
Canadian content or ‘Cancon’ rules place a quota on radio programming in Canada requiring that a certain percentage of the music played must be from Canadian artists. While decried by market libertarians, there’s a reason the Canadian music scene exploded in the 1970s – the rule worked. Before its introduction, worthy Canadian acts could not get onto playlists, crowded out by high profile American and British artists. For Canadians, success in Canada would only follow making it in the United States, a path successfully taken by group like the Guess Who but few others. But from the 1970s on, thanks to Cancon, a host of homegrown acts could make a living just being stars in Canada. This Canada Day (yes, international audience, today is Canada’s national holiday), let’s focus on just two great Canadian acts made possible (at least in part) by the legacy of Cancon.
2018 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.
What were the biggest hits that weren’t in 2017? Who were the biggest should-be stars? In our alternate universe here at Poprock Record, these guys were all over the charts, the chat shows, the scandal sheets, as well as memed all over Facebook, Snapchatted by the kids, and Instragrammed into oblivion. Jesus, they were so popular you are well and truly sick of them by now. But sadly for our poprock heroes, the universe is not just ours to define. In the world beyond our little blog, they could all use another plug.
Daisy House dominated my playlist this year, both their current record and their back catalogue. They channel the 1960s but never let it wholly define them. They have two amazing singers and one fabulously talented songwriter. They deserve all the accolades the internet can hand out. If this were 1970 they’d probably be headlining The Flip Wilson Show tonight. The Rallies were an accidental discovery that turned into an obsession. Their whole album is great but “Don’t Give Up” makes my heart twinge every time. Aimee Mann and Fastball ably demonstrated this year that veterans can still turn out fantastic, career-defining albums. And I got to see both of them live! Los Straightjackets did Nick Lowe proud, producing a phenomenal tribute to his body of work. “Rollers Show” was my go-to summertime happy tune.
I won’t review every selection from the two-four, but I will say that I think the mix of poprock I feature on the blog is evident here. There’s fast and slow, country and rock, guitars and keyboards, etc. And then there’s always the hooks. Case in point: check out the 42 second mark on Greg Kihn’s “The Life I Got.” If you don’t feel the excitement he creates with some classic poprock guitar arpeggiation and the subtle vocal hook you’re kinda missing what we’re doing here. Here’s hoping 2018 is as hit single worthy as this past year has been!
I am going to sneak in an honourable mention for what I consider the compilation of year: 
Canadian Daniel Romano serves up a winning musical hand with the surprising release of not one but two new albums to kick off this new year. The records showcase two strong sides of his eclectic songwriting personality: country-folk and poprock.
Nerveless starts out strong with it’s title track, the spare and roomy arrangement recalling a classic 1970s sound. From there it’s pretty hard to choose highlights – there are just so many great songs here! “Anyone’s Arms” hits all the poprock marks with its great pumping piano and hooky acoustic guitar – very 1970s power pop. “Good Will” and the “Devil’s Handshake” exhibit Romano’s great talent to embed no end of catchy elements to sweeten the basic song hooks. “I’ve Never Tried to Understand” has a lovely grand and sweeping pop song structure. “Bored Enough to Love” starts out like it’s almost going to launch into “I Got You Babe” before turning into a creative pastiche of different styles.
By contrast, Human Touch is a more muted folk and country effort, the title perhaps a nod to some other guy’s paired album release from the early 1990s. The album kicks off with the very subtle built up on “Bring Me to the War.” “An Earthly Stretch of Colour” is a nice folky number with strong acoustic lead lines and slow burning hooks. “Don’t Fool Me” has that aching country ballad sound. But my favourite track is undoubtedly the understated title track, which sounds to me like a great lost 1970s country rock classic.
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“When I Learned Your Name” is the second teaser single from Romano’s soon-to-be released new album, Modern Pressure, and it represents a serious change-up from his previous solo releases – sort of. 2016’s Mosey certainly laid the groundwork for this new direction, steering away from country to a more decidedly poprock sound with tracks like “Valerie Leon” and “Maybe Remember Me.” But taking his musical output as a whole, Romano is a musical chameleon, channeling 1960s traditional country on most of his solo records while covering edgier material on a number of side projects. In terms of his broader artistic vision, he reminds me of the super talented Gregory Pepper, who also combines great songwriting and performance, witty but incisive social commentary, and pretty stunning visual arts chops.
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