Tag Archives: Herr Wade

A song at the five and dime

07 Saturday Sep 2024

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Time for another collection of 21 tunes populated from various sources over the past month. I think there’s something from every dark corner of the poprock-o-sphere here. And given the value for money, they’re all available for five and dime prices when you think about it.

Earlier this year Portland’s Blitzen Trapper brought out a monster of a new album 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions. It’s pretty impressive how quickly they rivet out attention on their opening single “Hello Hallelujah” with just a few strums of the guitar. From there they just build the hooky tension till there’s no turning away. You are gonna hit replay on this one. Shifting north to Toronto The Celestophones nail a very particular seam of the Beatles sound, namely their love of the Everly Brothers and Buck Owens. They conjure both elements expertly on their light and frothy single “You and I Know.” Every time I notice Milwaukee’s Newski he seems to be on the road somewhere so I don’t where he gets time to lay down all these tracks. “Banking on Never Breaking Down Again” definitely has that ‘live on the road’ vibe. He manages to make his acoustic guitar sound like the quintessential rock instrument, one part Springsteen, another part Tom Petty. Askim Norway duo Herr Wade produce a lot of material, much of which skates outside of the zones set for this blog. But their “Theme From Chief Inspector Wade” is a wacky, inventive piece of work, reminding me of the Penguin Café Orchestra in its creative juxtaposition of instruments. Poprock legend Graham Gouldman has a new album out entitled I Have Notes and it rises to his usual standard of intense listenability. The most immediate hit single-ish tune to my ears is “It’s Time For Me To Go” but I’m also drawn to the finely structured ditty “Play Me (The Ukulele Song)” if only because the song’s sentiment is just so apropos of the fate of former school instruments.

On “Dashboard Jesus” Glenn Erb navigates a dead man’s curve with an alt country vibe but doesn’t quite make the turn. The effect creates a scene of eerie, low key desperation, despite the apparent wreckage. You’re going to want to add this to your disaster song playlist. A very different atmosphere is conjured up on Loose Buttons’ new single “I Saw Jon Hamm at the Beach.” Terms like languid, breezy, sun-stoked, and shameless name-dropping all come to mind. I am feeling more relaxed already. Rich Chance works up a sophisticated pop extravaganza on  “Azalea Close.” The song has so many interesting melodic and lyrical twists and turns, where suburbia is pleasantly hooky but not all it seems. Rangiora, New Zealand’s Best Bets return in fine form on their new single “Spooky Signals.” Fuzzy hooky goodness is what this song provides in abundance, an advance release from their new album The Hollow Husk of Feeling. When he’s not donning a mask with his instrumental guitar super group Los Straitjackets Greg Townson flashes a Chet Atkins guitar gentleman pose for a host of great solo singles and albums. Just this week he’s got a a new double-sided single out and personally I’m loving the stylish classy-ness of the “Spinning Top” selection. You can’t fake this kind of cool ambience.

When he’s not hanging out with those cool dudes from The Half Cubes veteran poprocker Randy Klawon offers up the occasional jangly single. This time “She’s More Than I Want” comes on like the second coming of the second iteration of The Searchers. His somewhat plaintive vocal pairs nicely with the bright La’s-like lead guitar lick that defines the tune. Our next cut is a bit of a cheat because Jeff Gordon’s “Hard Promises” is a re-release from his 2021 album Local Boy. But man this song is just so good! The vocal hooks are utterly seductive, framed by striking lead and rhythm guitar work. Haunting is the word I’m looking for. This is a tune that stays with you long after the record ends. On “Kinda Lost” The Junior League have managed to mash together sonic hues from two different decades, combining a mid-1960s George Harrison guitar jangle with a lush 1970s soft rock vocal. The end product amounts to an exquisite synthesis. It’s one of three new tunes on their recent EP Nattering Nabobs. Sydney, Australia’s The Stormy Sea remind me of a host of 1980s folk rock revival acts, with a touch of Dionne Warwick style thrown in. “You Scare Me” would fit in nicely on a Lilac Time album given its light bouncy air. I’ve liked a number of Boston band The Fatal Flaw’s past releases but their new single is a co-write with Wyatt Funderburk and that gives it a bit more of a head-turning quality to my ears. The band expertly squeeze every melodic hook out of the song with chugging guitars and a sweet vocal treatment.

Jeff Gordon “Hard Promises”

The Newds drop singles now and then, focusing our attention on one song at a time, each one a carefully concentrated blast of melody. “God of Small Things” is no exception, a recent offering that has so many subtle sonic elements going on. The song builds and builds without ever really blowing up. It’s almost meditative. If ever there was a band whose name jarred with their musical output it would Young Scum. The moniker surely denotes screaming punk or hardcore will result from hitting play? But this Richmond Virginia combo have a 1980s Manchester jangle sound that is relentlessly smiley on their new single “Peach Ice Cream.” Part of a whole album experience dubbed Lighter Blue due out soon. Chicago native Kenny Michaels is on to something with his new single “Must Be This Love of Mine.” Buoyant and sunny in both melodic and lyrical content, the song has a unmistakable early 1970s pop vibe, with some Turtles shading on the ‘ba ba ba’s. Another time trip single comes from Dragon Inn 3 with the recently released “Clock Machine.”  The intro guitar work is so jazzy 1970s, a period when it seemed every song had to feature some serious lead guitar motif. But then these sometime members of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin do their indie creative thing and add vocals that push everything in a different direction, with a wonderful effect. I love the organized cacophony on Shiverlane’s new song “Little English Pleasures.” The competing vocals particularly have a shambolic quality until they come together with a dynamic precision.

Kenny Michaels “Must Be This Love of Mine”

Last up on our five and dime specials, a pop-enriched summer stinger from The Glad Machine, “So High.” There’s Beatles name-dropping, laconic acoustic guitar swing, and a concentrated blast of sing-along melodic energy in the chorus. This will have you whistling as you leave the store.

The five and dime had it all and then some. Those bargains may be gone but great value on songs is even more true today. Click the hyperlinks to fill your basket before the checkout.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Fall folk explosion: The Manana People, Merrym’n, Bats, Herr Wade, and Maestro Collage

09 Sunday Oct 2022

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Autumn sends us running for those cozy coffee houses, full of crazed beatniks and their guitars. Folk music is the price we pay for civilization after all (and caffeine served at reasonable prices). Fair warning: today’s post takes a rather broad swipe at the folk idiom. Some here may not even know their membership is paid up.

What do former capital cities do? One day you’re where the political action is and then it’s all about Berlin (again). That’s Bonn Germany’s crisis. Perhaps that explains The Manana People.  Their two albums tend to veer all over with no fixed address genre-wise. Of course, that makes for a special variety of tunes. 2019’s Princess Diana is a marvelous collection of freak folk oddities: a bit of Bombadil, some sixties country-folk, and a whole lot ironic detachment. The record is a celebration of horror, cinematic or otherwise. “Anthropophagus” riffs on a 1980 Italian horror film (featuring some German tourist victims, of course) while “A Silly Horror Song,” “People Don’t Know They’re Dead,” and “The Manana People Fight the Undead” develop the theme further. The songs are great, both fun and hummable, combining folk rock with the occasional 1950s space movie sounds. Opening cuts “Remember I Was Movies” and “We’re Seagulls” are representative of the twin foci, full of nice folky vocal harmonies and banjos on the former and country-folk plus spacey effects defining the latter. “Matchstick” offers something a bit different, vibing a cross fertilization between Jethro Tull and You Won’t. This year’s long player Song Cycle, Or Music For The End Of Our Times makes the horror more everyday but the songs remain the same, reliably good. “Amputated Memory” is a brilliant folk-plus journey, so warm and familiar, except when it isn’t. Outlier alert: “It’s All Really Messed Up.” This one sounds very 10cc.

For balladeer Bob Moston performing under the name the Merrym’n is all about Stoke-on-Trent, working class life, and endearing small town sentiment. Over the course of four albums and few EPs and singles he’s sung about “Cow Tipping,” “Brown Sauce,” “The Blue Rinse Brigade,” “Forgotten Railway Stations,” and more. The brief was evident on his 2015 debut album Black Over Bill’s Mother featuring “I Was Born in Stoke-On-Trent.” His home town loyalty reappeared on 2017’s Life, On VHS with “Ay Up, Ow At, Orate?” (local slang for ‘hello, how are you, are you OK?’). His musical approach ranges from ‘traditional’ to ‘going-electric’ kinds of folk – think Donovan or a less angry Jake Bugg. There’s plenty of the trad feel on the early and most recent albums, with a few in between. 2018’s Post-Industrial Apocalypse embellishes the classic folk ballad style of “The Night the Canal Collapsed” with some gritty organ and rumbly guitar, while the vocal style reminiscent of Australian balladeer Darren Hanlon. By contrast, “Working Class Area” sounds a bit more Billy Bragg. For the more electric ‘new folk’ sound “Anna of the Five Towns” and “North Wales Expressway” turn up the electric guitar amplifiers. But for something different again, 2021’s More from Merrym’n moves into pop folk territory with the lilting, hooky “Statue of Josiah.” With his focus on class and home and writing memorable tunes Merrym’n is working all sides of the Stoke-on-Trent folk street.

Growing up is hard to do. That’s the message on Blue Cabinet, the new album from Nashville band Bats. Teen alienation appeals mostly to those going through it but sometimes a writer can draw the not-so-innocent bystanders in. Bats’ creative force Jess Awh is that kind of writer. The images here are oh-so relatable, regardless of age. Sonically the record has an assured Mary Lou Lord pop folk style with some country shading here and there. “New Job” sets the tonal scene, effectively capturing the heartbreak of teen friend separation. “We All Miss the Football Season” is a bit poppier while maintaining a dark lyrical demeanor. Keyboards are the star on this track, adding a droll undercurrent. Some tracks here are straight up folk country ballads, e.g. “Violets” and “Spinnerbait.” Others like “Cooking with Sarah” and “Quonset Hut” glow with a more buoyant poppy folk feel. Then “Signal Ridge” breaks all the rules with a melody that is equal parts country and jazz tinges. Radio ready single vote goes to “Golden Spoon.” Such smooth vocals offset by some sweet fiddle work.

Herr Wade is a duo comprised of Germany‘s Sebastian Voss (Nah…, The Fisherman and his Soul, Cinema Engines) and Norway’s Jørn O. Åleskjær (The Loch Ness Mouse, Monobird, Sapphire & Steel) and together they’ve created Dreht am Kabel, a record that defies easy sorting by genre. Folk seemed as good as any other possible description. What I love here is the anarchic mix of styles and instruments. Opening cut and title track “Dreht am Kabel” sounds so 1970s folk underlaid with ominous keyboards and what sounds like a helicopter flying near the studio. “Lass sie an” clips along, more 1960s upbeat yet mellow pop. “Bitte sag nicht” has a more mannered 1960s cinematic pop vibe. Then “Askim” gives off the rippling air of an A-ha single. Bossa nova makes an appearance on “Nur Ketchup” cut with some jazzy horns. The record is mostly sung in German, which sounds cool in English and just clear and straightforward to Germans. For a spot of Norwegian, check out “Altenberge.” Overall I’d say Dreht am Kabel is a mad happy collection of sonic treats, one the whole extended family will enjoy.

Imagine They Might Be Giants on a turn down day and you might have a Maestro Collage record. The band sometimes sound bubbly and winsome but their lyrical content is more akin to Fountain of Wayne’s troubled suburbia. Magnetic Fields are probably a better comparitor on their 2020 debut album Otter. Just check out the twin surge of acoustic guitars and homoerotic imagery. 2021 EP Studio 54 dials up the not-so-subtle social critique of ‘socialite excess’ in a jaunty Elephant 6 style, particularly on the almost title track “Wine at Studio 54.” Then late in 2021 the band released their magnus opus LP New York, a sprawling love letter (or restraining order?) aimed at their home state. Like Stephen Merritt’s 69 Love Songs this release is crammed with diverging musical styles and pointed social commentary. The original release had 20 songs, the re-release 25. “B-B-Barricade” is one part folk dirge, one part of church hymn. “Montagues and Capulets” is an alluring spoken word folk drone. “Float Over D’arcy” brings a bit of guitar distortion to an Apples in Stereo feel. The extended LP version even caps its NYC cred with mean covers of the Velvet Underground. But my fave track amid all this goodness is “State of Sugar Maple,” a rather out-of-character straight-up poprock single.

Dig out that wool overcoat and scarf now or all the best seats will be gone. Folk, creatively defined, is breaking out all over this fall. Get your curated collection started here.

Photo courtesy Alex Streif.