In our newsroom some news is more breaking than others. But we comfort ourselves with the knowledge that our message is always new to someone. Certainly this combination of musical headlines have never appeared together before and, as you will hear, that is something special.
The Wellingtons don’t rush things. Their first three albums came out fairly close to each other between 2005 and 2008 before things started to stretch out a bit more with releases in 2011, 2017 and now 2025. Yet new album Baby Moon doesn’t sound like a record from a band coming back from an extended hiatus. It sounds like a band very much approaching a new creative peak. Opening cut “Always Gonna Be That Girl” has that unmistakable hit single elan. It’s got a genius arrangement that builds so effectively. Then before you can catch your breath “She Still Loves Me Now” launches another melodic broadside that more than hits the mark. “The Things We Did Before” swaps out usual lead vocalist Zac Anthony for Kate Golby and the choice really works for the song. This is an LP that sounds deceptively familiar, drawing from the band’s past power pop and pop punk strengths, but pushed further into new melodic territory. Take “Deadbeat Dad.” It softens the punk pop vocal just a little, reminding me of work from bands like Farrah. Or there’s “Lola,” a great poprock ballad with some swing. “I Won’t Turn Away” throws in some ELO-ish ‘woo oohs’ before alternating pop punk verses with a truly spectacular power pop chorus. Ripe for hit single-age too. There’s shades of the Beatles (“Sad Today”), Elvis Costello (“End of the World”; “Not Ready to Give Up”) or even The Zombies (“Sound Asleep”) on various cuts here. “Not Ready to Give Up” particularly sounds like it could be monster radio hit. And for a taste of jangle there’s “Better Me.” Then for the album closer the “The Long Goodbye” harkens back to band’s earlier pop punk sound. Baby Moon is a stellar release. It might just be the best yet from a band that has never let us down.
By the time you get to solo album #10 what’s left to do? If you’re Greg Pope, you drill down into the 1970s to reinvent a host of great motifs that defined that decade’s chart hits. On The Roar of Silence Pope revives sounds so familiar yet puts them to brand new uses. Listen to how opening track “Worthy Son” bang-on takes up the seventies AM radio-friendly folk pop of artists like Gerry Rafferty or Al Stewart. Surefire should-be hit single “Fallen Star” is framed around that recognizably restrained rhythm guitar sound so popular with late 1970s new wave bands. Over the course of the LP the whole decade gets a look in. Song styles range from the early 1970s psychedelic feel of “It’s All Pretend,” to the mid-1970s starkly endearing faux-folk of “Hours, Days and Years,” to the late decade Blue Oyster Cult-like blast of title track “The Roar of Silence.” And it couldn’t be the 1970s without ELO, which I hear shades of on “The Trick of the Light” and “Road Less Traveled.” There’s even a touch of Queen on the raucous “Immovable Feast.” I often compared Pope to Matthew Sweet and there’s a few here (“Layers of an Onion”; “Softer Than a Whisper”) that match his dissonant sweetness. Make room on your annual ‘best of’ list for another winner from Greg Pope.
With song titles like “Please Don’t Murder Me,” “Never Be Good Enough,” and “When I Die” you’d be forgiven for supposing that Trash Man would be a big downer. I mean, they titled their previous EP Moment of Bleakness. But I’m going to stop you right there. Dipping into their back catalogue was actually grin-inducing on multiple occasions. From the songs listed above the first comes off like some kind of twisted Merseybeat, the second a jaunty pop single, while the last is pretty dour, actually. On the other hand, the Moment of Bleakness EP is sorta upbeat in sunny indie-pop kinda way. Ok, on to their brand new EP Cool Until It’s Not because this one turns a corner. A whole bunch of the dissonant pop elements bubbling under previous recordings come to the fore here with a dramatic Weezer-like punch. Opening track “Eventually” sounds like it was cut from The Blue Album. Title track “Cool Until It’s Not” dials down the dissonance in favour of melodic sweetness while “Hole in my Heart” is all strummy acoustic guitar whimsy. “Barely Living” turns the ennui back on with a vengeance. And then everything ends with the musically light but darkly existential ballad “Where Does It Go?” Clearly Trash Man is one smart outfit, combining big questions and challenging music with admirable aplomb.
Juan Pablo Mazzola and Muchas Hormigas are Juan La Hormiga and together they offer up a pop folk vibe that steers into a Beatlesque Americana on occasion. Case in point: early single “After the War.” This is a lush pop song with a rootsy feel, lifted by their symbiotic vocal interplay. It kicks off the duo’s new EP Valencia, named for the Spanish town where they reside. The additional six tracks that appear here really deliver on the promise of that first 45. There’s more of that sophistico-folk pop with “About Us” and “The Most Beautiful Bride.” Some tracks hint a genres in various ways. “Cupid’s Arrow” works the pedal steel guitar in every so delightfully while “One Way Ticket” exudes a light shading of Merseyside. When I hear “Stereo” I imagine folk duo Mitch and Mickey from the A Mighty Wind movie updating their sound with a dash of 1970s folk rock sensibility. And then there’s “Play This Game” which conjures forth a 1960s folk duo extraordinaire. I can recommend a visit to this Valencia, you may want to stay awhile.
You can’t believe everything you see these days but you can trust your ears with these music headlines. And do your own research by hitting the hyperlinks.
Nothing leads like a story that bleeds. Poster for the movie Picture Mommy Dead courtesy James Vaughn Flikr collection.
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