When people find out I write a music blog they routinely ask where I find all this new stuff. Early days I would scour a load indie music sites and other blogs but over time I’ve found that most of what I end up writing about just falls into my lap, via a variety of sources. Record labels send stuff, artists contact me directly, and folks just tell me about what they are listening to. Today’s post is door number three. Ava is a twenty-something music fan who likes soundtracks and poppy material that stretches from emotive folk to elevated power pop and she has put me on to three fabulous, supremely talented acts.
Djo wins the award for novelty origins, being the work of Stranger Things actor Joe Keery. Fame may get you onto a playlist but usually some talent is required to stay there. A tour through his third LP The Crux answers the talent question in the affirmative. Opening cut “Lonesome is a State of Mind” comes on like a Mark Everett’s solo project ‘E’ with its stylish, curt melodic twists and turns, adding a jaunty element in the chorus. Early release singles “Basic Being Basic” and “Delete Ya” have that cheeky Bleachers combo of 1980s-meets-contemporary sonic motifs. “Link” hits the Hall and Oates marks hard, bringing the duo’s trademark vibe up to date for now. The guitar playing on this record is sometimes light and ethereal, as on “Potion.” Here the Hall and Oates influences marry nicely with early 1970s McCartney. “Charlie’s Garden” moves into more demonstratively Beatles territory. Things do get a bit more rock edgy on tracks like “Gap Tooth Smile” and “Back On You,” harkening back to Keery’s former band Post Animal. I’m also partial to the more reflective, winsome contributions here too. Both “Golden Line” and “Crux” lean on melancholy piano to good effect.
Though he started his musical career working the rap side of the street Role Model now offers pretty catchy guitar-based bedroom pop. With the re-release of an expanded version of 2024’s Kansas Anymore, now rechristened Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye), he can squeeze his recent hit single “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” onto the collection, along with a few others gems. The track is earworm good with its warm, acoustic guitar pop country swing, definitely an ‘immediate repeat’ selection. What is striking about this album is its airiness, the roomy separation between Tucker Pillsbury’s clean vocals and his often rather spartan approach to instrumentation. I mean, a track like “Oh Gemini” could easily slip onto a record by Joshua Radin or Calexio. In fact, the album is basically divided between a load of these gorgeous low-key folk numbers and a number of more energetic pop workouts. “Writing’s on the Wall,” “Deeply Still in Love” and “Scumbag” all pick up the pace while “Look At That Woman” falls somewhere in between. Standout tracks: “Superglue” with its ear-catching ‘whoo hoo hoo’s and closing number “The Longest Goodbye,” a Lyle Lovett winking tribute to country formalism.
Sometimes a record is a feast for the ears. Japanese Breakfast’s latest LP For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women) is on that menu. The sonic impact of each of the individual tunes is deliciously distinct. Every instrument so carefully placed in the mix they emerge like landscape portrait details you notice as your eye sweeps across the picture. Feel how the timbre of the stringed instrument carrying “Orlando in Love” lets the vocal float somewhere above it. Or check out how the wavery keyboard effect on “Mega Circuit” gives the song a forward propulsion. Another aural standout is the sonic melange created on “Picture Window” with its melodic hints of light and dark. This might seem off brand but I hear a stong Jill Sobule kind of vocal intimacy from songwriter and lead vocalist Michelle Zauner. In the places the album alternates between a kind of orchestral complexity (“Honey Water”) and embroidered folk simplicity (“Little Girl”). Gorgeous doesn’t begin to really capture the beauty here.
I like think I’m eminently teachable. I’ll take direction from anyone if it leads me to great melodic tunes. So thanks Ava! And all the other Ava’s past and future who continue to give me great suggestions.
Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.
So far, the end of world sounds more like “The Sounds of Silence” than the rumble and destruction of a Simpsons-esque apocalyptic crowd waving torches. But if this is the end of the world, what should our soundtrack sound like? Not the obvious choices, obviously (yes R.E.M., I mean you). At the very least the end of times should give struggling indie artists the spotlight for once.
Don’t get me started on superhero movies. Sometimes it seems like Hollywood makes little else. But songs about superheroes can be great. That’s probably because songwriters can’t simply rely on a green screen or endless explosive pyrotechnics. So let’s let it rip with these superhero song stylings!
It’s a man’s, man’s, man’s, man’s world they tell us and nowhere is that more true than in rock and roll. The omniscient perspective in a rock song is usually male, with a few exceptions. But to the music scene’s credit, more women have been making inroads over the past two decades or so. The first woman I recall identifying not simply as a ‘female vocalist’ but as a universal rock voice was Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. Since then the indie scene has provided us with a number of examples of larger than life female artists (they have to be to crowd out the men) with great songs and powerful performances.
Jill Sobule has had an amazing career doing, apparently, pretty much whatever she has wanted to do. After a false start at Geffen in 1990, 1995’s self-titled Jill Sobule set the frame for what would follow: a quirky, often folky, sometimes hilarious, always introspective and keenly observational singer-songwriter that has consistently produced great albums. Kinda like a rock and roll Suzanne Vega, but with more ‘tude. Threaded throughout her work is a strong set of political and feminist commitments, ranging from the satirical “Supermodel” to the more recent “Women of Industry.” Sobule’s catalogue is an embarrassment of riches so here’s an almost random selection. “Supermodel” showcases the uptempo hit songwriter, “Bitter” from 1997’s Happy Town rides a perfect hook, “Rock Me to Sleep” from 2000’s Pink Pearl exemplifies her tender side, while the banjo-driven “Old Kentucky” from 2014’s Dottie’s Charms is just a bit of rollicking fun. Sobule is working on a new album now and you check out her Soundcloud 
There are times when Amy Rigby seems so country. It’s there in her voice, that weary 1960s sound of oppressed Nashville womenhood. But then the angle shifts and the rock and roll dynamo shows through, giving voice to a whole lot of gendered working class experience from a lifetime of surviving the independent music scene. Her 1996 solo debut Diary of a Mod Housewife was a masterpiece of melodic social commentary but it didn’t lead to explosive sales. Since then, Rigby has continued to release solid records with songs that draw on all manner of classic rock and roll motifs, while giving voice to issues of class, relationships, gender and aging. A good place to start would be her 2002 compilation 18 Again. There you can check out the perfect 1960s elan of “All I Want” or the new wave vibe to “The Good Girls” or the masterful turns of phrase on the acoustic “Magicians.” Of course, I would add a few songs from 2003’s Til the Wheels Fall Off like the age-conscious “Shopping Around” or “Last Request” as well as 2005’s Little Fugitive,which contains a host of beautiful song scenarios like “The Trouble with Jeanie” and “Dancing with Joey Ramone.” She is back this year with Old Guys, where I’m digging “Are We Still There Yet.”
So much has been written about Juliana Hatfield and her many impressive accomplishments, all the great bands she has been part of, there’s really not much I could add. So I’ll just focus my attention on her continuing strength as a songwriter and recording artist. After a break of 22 years, her reunited Juliana Hatfield Three released a killer album in 2015, Whatever, My Love, with radio-friendly single material like “Invisible” and “If I Could.” Deep cut fave – “Parking Lots” with it’s sunny subtle hooks. Then in 2017 she released the dynamite, politically-charged solo album, Pussycat, a reaction to the election of Donald Trump. Here I would single out the jaunty “You’re Breaking my Heart” and “Kellyanne.” Then, as a reaction to the previous election year’s constant negativity, Hatfield decided to release an album of Olivia Newton-John covers. Here she works a creative tension between mirroring and reinventing the originals, with particular success on the Xanadu sountrack numbers, in my view. “Magic” amps up the early 1980s keyboard sound and adds Hatfield’s own distinctive vocal approach. Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John is better than cover albums are allowed to be, a real treat.
For non-Canadian readers, July 1 is our national holiday. Does it mark a revolutionary outburst? A decisive break with past political practice? A victory for the people over the oligarchs? Nope. It was basically a bankers’ renegotiation of how best to exploit a whole lot of land and its abundant raw materials, something that had already been going on for some time. Now it would go on better. The people? They wouldn’t get a look in for some time. Nonetheless, Canadians politely take this day off, crack a beer or two, set off some fireworks, and give the day’s historic relevance not one fleeting thought. Imagine America’s July 4thbut without all the pomp, patriotism, and political chest-thumping. And with stronger beer.
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