The mail does pile up and people often write again, now to find out what has happened to their melodic missive. All I can promise is that I get to everything … eventually. But exactly when ‘eventually’ may arrive is always a bit unclear. Turns out eventually is today.

When Jim Allen declares that his new album Maybe Things Will Be Alright contains ‘two shakes of power pop, a jigger of roots rock, a splash of folk, and a sprig of alt country’ you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s going to careen all over the stylistic map. But the record has a consistent sheen, despite its genre-hopping. That must be due to the crack team of players he’s assembled, which aside from his regular bandmates includes former members of the Mekons, the dBs, the Bongos, and Suzanne Vega’s backing band, among others. Not everything here fits our stylistic brief but most comes close. Opening cut and title “Maybe Things Will be Alright” has a great pub rock vibe. “Panic Button” then switches gears with jaunty piano pop number. “Let My People Sleep” appeals to me in both sentiment and jolly delivery. And make sure to tune into Allen’s Leonard Cohen-esque “For Byron.”

If you take a stroll through Scott Roberts’ back catalogue, particularly his Lost Weekend and GrandDad band recordings, there is a strong REM/Byrdsian ring to most things. As things take a solo turn the mood tends to be more spare, stripped down, and DIY, revealing more layers to Roberts’ musical persona. On this latest LP Fake Fakebook he does a kind of remake of Yo La Tengo’s Fakebook, which was itself mostly an album of covers. So meta. The results are intimate and often tender, particularly on his coverage of the Yo La Tengo material like “Can’t Forget,” “What Comes Next,” and “Did I Tell You.” Cat Stevens’ “Here Comes My Baby” is a sprightly acoustic romp. The Flamin’ Groovies “You Tore Me Down” is recast as the Byrds circa 1968. Then we have a spellbinding take on Daniel Johnston’s “Speeding Motorcycle.” But my favourite track here is his moody rumination over the Kinks’ “Oklahoma, USA.”

Seconds is the second album from Atlanta-based Middlebees. I note the location because when you start spinning this record you are going to swear its coming somewhere from 1960s England. The sheer range of sixties-derived styles here is staggering. And highly listenable. “Ticking” kicks things off with an early 1960s halting demeanor, only to break out a more 1980s pop feel in the chorus. Then “Make It Back” introduces a real strength of this outing, strong guitar riffage, aided in this case by a soaring melody. Similarly, both “Watch Out!” and “I Gotta Go” immediately grab your attention with their strong lead guitar hooks. By contrast, sometimes the melody leads the way, as on the 1960s poppy “When Will the Light Shine” or the Herman’s Hermits-ish “Ashby.” The record sometimes veers into more soft rock, singer songwriter material, though more of the sixties than seventies variant, particularly on tracks like “And Then You’ll See the Sun,” “This Time (Is Mine),” and “I Know You Know I Do” (the latter even successfully resurrecting the sax solo). A few songs cut in a more rootsy feel. “Rip Her Apart” reminds of the mid-1980s cowpunk vibe of bands like Rank and File while “Save Me” reminds me of the Ruen Brothers, kinda new wave and western at the same time. Seconds really is a striking sophomore helping of what Middlebees excels at.

Acts and their promoters aren’t the only ones dropping me a line about new music. Sometime fans or just a friendly stranger sends me a prompt about some new release. That was the case with Guelph, Ontario’s Geordie Gordon. He’s put out three LPs over the past six years and each continues to develop his thoughtful folk demeanor, both lyrically and sonically. The elements are there on his 2021 debut The Tower. “4-Track” really stands out for me from this collection, the creative guitar work and distinct drum-machine depth a perfect backdrop for the love song lyrics. Two years later Tambourine is a revelation, going deeper emotionally and in musical complexity. Title track “Tambourine” kicks off very Joni Mitchell before shifting to a more contemporary pop folk feel. I also really like “Life Line” here with its jaunty pop vibe. Now most recently 2026’s River Round completes the trilogy and again the artistic leaps are impressive. The guitar playing is exquisite, whether going for acoustic folk touching on “Endless Line” or more innovative textures on “River House.” The songs range from the intimate folky “All the Fires” to AM ready poppy tunes like “On My Way.”

I’ve been meaning to write about Rob and Ellen’s fabulous EP In On It ever since R.E. Seraphin put me on to it. You get the vibe right away with the intro track “So Many Californias.” There’s jangle but it’s allowed to land in a spacey, garage rock kind of way.  Then “Penny Fountain” shakes things up with strings and a syncopated guitar strumming that is utterly captivating. “Cupcake Store” whips up a more languid strummy atmosphere while “Edge of Spring” lets the acoustic guitar sparkle behind an engaging tune. There are a few break-out rock moments on this release. You can hear it on “Second Hand” and “Scene Report,” both of which add some rock heft to the jangle. It’s also there on the album closer “Cosmic Error” where the distortion pedal adds the gravity necessary for a cosmic level of mistake, and in doing so shifts the EP’s mood into something more dissonant and shoe-gazey. Clocking in at just 20 minutes, this is a ‘play and hit replay’ kind of release for sure.

It’s a wrap for this mailbag with just a teaser from Anglo-Japanese instrumentals band The Routes. Their new EP Play contains 6 covers of the Velvet Underground and they are all super sweet, particularly “Femme Fatale” and “There She Goes Again.” But all the preview available now is their version of “I’m Waiting For The Man.” It’s great and will have you itching for more.

I might say ‘mailman bring me no more tunes’ but I love getting mail. Responses are often quick, delivery of promised coverage must less so. But I’m more reliable than your Congress-person that’s for sure.

Photo ‘Post Office Lunch Break’ courtesy Thomas Hawk’s Flikr account.