Rock and roll was more loins than literary at the start. Beat over beatnik. Then Bob Dylan came along and made smart cool. The Beatles took notice and let loose a barrage of working class smarts, particularly from Rubber Soul on. Since then popular music has thrown up a whole raft of smarty-pants popsters then and again. Today’s post features a trio of brainy melodians, ready to wow you with music and words.

Day Dreems is here to denaturalize your world. Musically and lyrically that is. San Francisco and Portland music veteran Day Ricardo pulls together a brilliant rumination on gender, bodies, oppressive nostalgia, intolerance, ADHD, and more on this self-titled debut album. Musically the LP falls somewhere in between the exquisite melodies of Squeeze and Crowded House. “F Natural” creeps into being like a cut from that Difford and Tilbrook solo record, wending its way toward a big reveal that ‘natural’ isn’t always right or good. As Ricardo sings, “Silly humans sometimes get things right, like music and electric light.” The vocals on this album are so eerily Glenn Tilbrook at times, as on “Easy” and “Fountain of Truth.” Then “The Bad Old Days” takes an uber cool organ line to shift into the compressed pop territory of acts like Linus of Hollywood. Things can be wistful, like “Let’s Be Lonely” which evokes those early 1960s angst ballads. The record also has some real rocking turns, like the ADHD-exploring “Brain Drain.” At other points Lennon’s Walrus haunts “Lady Beetle” in quite an inventive way. By the end “There’s a Light” teases us with a lilting, beautiful tune whose vocal sounds like a cross between Neil Finn and Glenn Tilbrook. Day Dreems is a lush sonic treat, heavy with hooks, and something inspiring to say.

I’m not saying Lord Esme offer a treatise on analytical philosophy or anything but there’s something sophisticated lurking behind their smart LP design and endearing, mellow guitar pop. Take a good look at the cover of A Nice Sit Down. It’s eye-catching, radiating bright colours and a sense of fun. Introducing the record, both “Shane Warne” and “Cold Canberra Nights” have a folky dissonance lurking in their electric guitar combo style. But then “Succulent City” drew me in with seductive saxophone. So cool-jazz in an Everything but the Girl or Sade way. “Number in my Pocket” shifts things into a more shimmery guitar pop mode, though some great organ pops up pleasantly here too. “Alison Rhodes” rides an organ swell like a merry go round ride while “Booking a Flight” sets a mystery tone with a minor key. The sax returns strongly in the cool album closer “Lots of Money.” Maybe you never hung out at those hip coffee houses but put this on the spinner and people might think you did. In a good way.

I fell hard for Phil Sutton’s early 2020s band Love, Burns. I had an inkling he had earlier vehicles but never really followed up … until now. Waverly Place allows me to catch up on the 2000 and teens timeline of releases from Sutton’s previous project Pale Lights. Get ready for tunes oozing breezy pop goodness, peppered with striking lead guitar-led melodies. “Fourteen Stories Tall” captures this perfectly, seeming like a cross between sixties pop-folk and confessional eighties indie rock. Title track “Waverly Place” gives this formula a 1980s English vibe, kinda like Lloyd Cole or Roddy Frame. The guitar tones on so many songs here are remarkable. “Twisting the Knife” has a lead guitar chirp like a siren luring all jangle guitar fans to keep hitting repeat while the vocal comes off like a well-adjusted Lou Reed. The organ work here is pretty special too. “Dearest Virginia” sounds like a single to me with its insurgent quality, adding just a hint of Morricone to the background vocals. With 13 tracks on this career-covering compilation there’s a lot to enjoy – jump in anywhere. Personally “You and I” is my hands down fave. The chord changes so remind me of The Crickets’ “Don’t Every Change” (particularly as covered by The Beatles).

You don’t need a PhD in poprock to spot some smart tunes when you hear them – like these. It’s not homework or anything but a click on the links above will be its own reward.

Photo courtesy Marcu Ioachim Flikr collection.