Let’s break with the usual news cycle for something a bit more uplifting. Whether it’s folk rock or punk pop or just melodious rock and roll, trust me, these are the top stories we need right now.
Like Paul Simon or Al Stewart Steve Robinson drifts back and forth between folk and poprock motifs, effortlessly amplifying or stripping down his melodies. Over the 11 tracks on his new album Window Seat you’ll hear echoes of the Beatles, solo McCartney, Neil Finn and, of course, XTC. “Unnecessary War” opens the record as the obvious single. The message and swagger is very John Lennon but the melody combines elements reminiscent of XTC and Crowded House song structures. Robinson is often tagged with XTC comparisons but it can hardly be avoided when Dave Gregory is playing lead guitar on “The King of Scatterbrain.” I also get a very Andy Partridge in dour folk mode from “Hollow Man.” By contrast, “Are We There Yet?” evokes Neil Finn’s distinctive melodic turns with guitar work that reminds me of Band on the Run era Wings. A number of tracks also have a strong Beatles ’66 feel, like “Hesitation Blues” (though the keyboards are more ’69 Preston good). On the folk front there’s real variety too. “Room With a View” strikes me as very much in the Suzanne Vega’s brand of sophistico-pop. There’s a more discordant English folk ambience to “Word to the Wise” while “Who Knew” is sunny folk pop all the way through. Robinson then wraps with a pastoral, Mummer-worthy folk mediation with “Treasure.”
From the small Scottish town of Forres four-piece ensemble Be Like Pablo spring like a blast of pure energy on their first new album in a decade, A World Apart. Their sound is a curious amalgam of nineties dissonant poprock and new millenium indie rock, sprinkled with a variety of 1960s and 1970s adornments. People compare them to Weezer and Fountains of Wayne – and perhaps it’s just the Scottish angle – but I hear Spook School. Sure “There Goes the Sunshine” vibes FOW pretty hard but there’s so much more going on here. I mean, check out those super-charged, chorused guitars fueling “Find a Way to You.” They are just so 1974. Or get your sixties fix on “Amy” or “I’ll Never Be Your Man” where old song forms come up against a wall of rhythm guitar distortion. This is an LP that maintains an impressive intensity throughout its 12 songs and 33 minutes. “There She Is” will grab you with its seductive background vocals, alluring keyboard lines and a main vocal so electrically insistent and present. “Crazy Without You” is just a great pop song, nicely punched up with stylized organ shots, tasty lead guitar, and what sounds like a violin instrumental solo. “My Kind of Girl” sounds like the unstoppable single to me, so relentless in its mixed aural assault, while “Do You Want to Go Surfin’?” delivers punky pop with some killer retro guitar solos. The band can gear down effectively too, as evident on the lovely acoustic guitar-led “I Don’t Know What I Do Without Your Love.” They even tease us on “Do It All Over Again,” leading with spot-on Beach Boys keyboard licks only to duck into a Cars new wave guitar crunchiness moments later.
The new Scoopski album Time Is a Thief is a real family affair, with hubby, wife and even baby Scoopski taking vocal turns. You’ll need to get yourself ready for a highly melodic outing, accent on fun. Album opener “Everyone’s Guessing” will definitely let everyone get their ya ya’s out. I love the guitar sound kicking off this tune, like an engine about to roar to life. Parenting and growing up define a lot of material here. “Little Ball of Energy” and “Babble” capture the joy of having a small new being in your life while “Dad Bod” makes light of every male’s inevitable physical decline in a boppy rocking time. But the secret star of this record is undoubtedly the keyboard work. I tend to think of Scoopski as a guitar band but check out the artful keyboard contributions to “I Agree, Marie,” “Seasonal,” and “Nocturnally Yours,” the latter an ace bit 1970s rock and roll melodrama. Serious radio-ready singles include “Pinata” and “Double,” both offering hooks for days. Modern comparisons abound but I’m really getting an early Squeeze feel from this record, like a Cool for Cats kind of madcap fun, particularly on “Double” and “The Inattentive Twist.”
On solo album #6 Along for the Ride veteran indie rock and roller Ed Ryan ruminates on a life lived amid great American musical inspirations. The lyrical themes here are literally experience-talking on “Fine Art to Letting It Go,” “Along for the Ride,” and “Imperfect Life.” Musically Ryan’s long career means he continues to churn out well-crafted hooky tunes from a Tom Petty meets Greg Kihn playbook, with a few intriguing departures. First off “Fine Art to Letting It Go” lays down a low-key Bo Diddley beat but before you know it you’ll be joining in on the ‘oh oh’s’ in the chorus. “Along for the Ride” pushes off with an early Wings lead guitar tone but check the subtle vocal harmony work here that really elevates the tune. Petty-isms litter the record, tucked into tunes like “Better Than That,” “Looking for Something” and “Make It Happen.” Other tracks amp up a harder 1980s poprock edge, like “It’s Alright With You” and “Find Me a Girl.” I love how “Solitary Man” changes up the tempo and leans on the piano to add some great melodic shading to the chorus. And then there’s outlier tracks like “Unspoken” and “Follow You Down” that are more in the style of song storytellers like John Hiatt or the bluegrassy “Poppees Garden.”
Finally some breaking news where the byline is in musical notation. You can follow up on these stories with hyperlinked ease – just click and go.
Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.
With records that are all hot off the digital presses, this is definitely a timely episode of breaking news. And the anticipation is high for these five artists because they regularly hit it out of the poprock park. Have they done it again? Spoiler – get ready for some jangling good times.
Thirteen original artists! Twenty featured songs! Springtime 2020 is witnessing an explosion of sounds, curated here specifically to ease your pandemic-induced isolation. It’s not K-Tel, but it’s the next best thing. And the best part? No groove-cramming or adverts for a bogus, non-working record selector. So get ready to add some hooks to your springtime playlists.
Sometimes you run across a band’s new song and then discover a whole fabulous back catalogue of musical adventures. Just seems greedy to keep that hook-filled past under wraps. So today we celebrate the present and the past musical accomplishments of this crew of poprockers.
Ok, truth be told I didn’t actually run across any brand new material for Ed Ryan. It’s just that I realized he had been in the ‘should write about’ pile for too long. Ryan goes way back – to the 1970s and 1980s with various power pop bands. That must be why his two recent solo records sound so accomplished. From the blistering guitar opening of “Everything is Going to be Alright” to the achingly sweet vocal on “Heartbreak in Disguise” you know you’re in good hands on 2016’s Roadmap. This is an eminently playable record, and you don’t even have to turn it over! I’m particularly fond of the mid-1960s British beat group vibe all over “Bridges are Burning” and the way a basic rock and roll sensibility is art-rocked up on “Elvis’s World,” with its wonderfully kooky instrumental break. Then 2017’s Furious Mind is even more blistering out of the gate with “You’re My Kind of Fun,” and even more achingly sweet on “Lullaby.” If there’s a difference, I get the sense that Ryan really pushed up the Beatles’ crossfader on these recordings. “Here I Am” has some lovely late-period Beatles’ touches on the instrumentation, while “Drifting” has such an early period Beatles song structure, particularly in the verses. Other highlights for me would include “Rocket Ship,” which sounds very Ramones-fun to me, while “So Hard to Know” offers a nice acoustic country-ish turn. But my fave is the melodic rocker “Can’t Drag Me Down.” Can’t wait to see what Ryan comes up with for 2018!
Brad Peterson has described his style as ‘garden shed rock and roll.’ Well he has some pretty complex and impressive results coming out his backwoods Chicago DIY garden recording studio. I mean, I love DIY but it usually sounds a bit more rudimentary than the polished stuff Peterson is offering up. Case in point: his new record Ellipsis sounds like any number of major label indie offerings with songs like “What the Heart Will Allow” and “Unbroken.” But it’s the more poprock hooks that really get me. I’m currently addicted to the ear worm stamped “Clap Your Hands.” This one is so simple but still simply irresistible. “Far Off Places” and “Just In Time” also showcase Peterson’s melodic chops while “See You on the Other Side” exudes a Springsteen-esque weariness, complete with aching harmonica solo. It always feels good to feel this bad. And if you like this, there’s more in the back catalogue. 2009’s The Ductape Album has a song that is so Steve Miller I could have easily mistaken “More” for the master, though the Beatlesque bridge might have given the game away. And then there’s “Beat Myself Up” from 2006’s The Red Album, a pretty special single featuring some subtle Everly Brothers’ hooks and harmonies.
Joe Adragna’s work with The Junior League is an exquisite composite of 1960s to 1980s poprock motifs. His recordings are full of hidden treasures, subtle homages to all sorts of great artists and recordings. His new album Eventually is Now showcases this nicely with its opening track, “Teenage Bigstar,” which delivers just what the name implies. Or dig the very subtle Mamas and Papas background vocals on the album’s single, the infectious “I Only Want to Begin Again.” Another radio-friendly, hook-filled single would be the country-rock-ish “Someday.” But the whole record is a pleaser. Digging into the band’s catalogue there are just so many great songs to highlight. The debut, Catchy, from 2006, is loaded with should be hits: “The Beautiful Room is Empty,” “Hear My Voice,” and the hooky tour de force “I Don’t Believe in Love.” Or the melodic rootsy feel of “Keep it Home” from 2013’s You Should Be Happy, which also features the heartbreaking duet, “I Don’t Think I’m Kidding This Time.” “Also Rans” from 2015’s Also Rans has a sweet country rocking feel. And this just scratches the surface of this band’s great back catalogue.
I get mail! Jeff Litman wrote last week to let me know about his new record Crowded Hour so I gave it a listen. “Only You” grabbed me as the obvious single, with its 1980s melodic torch rocker vocals and sweet lead guitar lines. I also really liked “Disappear,” a nice spare acoustic ballad. Wasn’t long before I was digging through Litman’s past recordings – holy cow! Some great stuff on all his previous releases. “Primetime” from 2015’s Primetime has a very early Elvis Costello sheen. 2012’s Outside has a host of poprock shades, bit of John Hiatt on “Don’t Do That,” Tom Petty on “Don’t Want to Talk About It,” and more touching acoustic balladry with “What Hasn’t Happened Yet.” Litman’s 2009 debut Postscript sounds very Michael Penn to me, particularly on tracks like “Anna” and “Everything You’re Not.” But then things break out in a cool late 1970s rock mode with “Detroit Lawyer” and “Knock Me Down.”
Poprock Record 