Mail comes in pretty regularly around here. Few come typed or neatly written but nevertheless I get a veritable load of missives pleading their poprock case. That’s today’s reality: artists have got to wield their creativity to sell as well produce fine music. So let’s get on with rewarding that initiative shall we?

Over the past quarter century the arc of Mark Bacino’s musical stylings have branched out from the focused power pop of 1998’s Pop Job .. The Long Player and 2003’s The Million Dollar Milkshake to the sophistico-pop sound of his latest LP Top of the World. Bacino’s got a McCartney-esque facility with song styles and the selections here range from the swinging AM pop of “Kaylee Hughes” to the breezy Linus of Hollywood-like “Not That Guy” to the music hall-ish “Why Does This Woman Love Me?” My fave though is the spot-on seventies soft rock ballad “Young Heart.” Brother Dynamite’s new single “The Girl’s In Love” is a luscious eighties FM radio throwback. It’s a great song but the vocal arrangement is positively hair-raising, in a good way. Can album number 2 be far off? Let’s hope not. Poppy Robbie returns with a cover of outsider/lofi pioneer Daniel Johnston’s “Mind Contorted.” Drawing on his folk rock predilections, Robbie delivers a touching performance of a song that reflects Johnston’s mental health struggles. Chatteris UK’s 65MPH is practically a singles machine, pumping out e-equivalents of 45s seemingly like clockwork. His latest “Gene” sounds like Billy Bragg joined a britpop band. The harmonica solo is just an extra special bonus!

I love the driving guitar sound Rob Moss gets on his new album with The Skin Tight, simply entitled Records. Kick-off track “We Just Don’t Know” sets the tone of what you can expect, chugging rhythm guitars and somewhat ethereal, voice-of-god talk-singing from Moss. Standout track for me here is “You and Time.” Love the soaring Steely Dan lead guitar lines and the album’s hookiest melodic twists and turns. Superior song-smith Ben Patton wrote me a while back about something, something called The Something Review. Patton’s unique cleverly structured song style is everywhere here, from the show opener “The Something Revue” to “I Hope My Therapist Likes Me.” Along the way he writes songs about bugs, the darkest part of the night, and a doctor’s routine procedure. Basically, nothing is off limits for a song with this guy. Think Randy Newman, but without all the darkness. I’d particularly recommend “Before I Fall In Love” as a pretty gorgeous tune. Randy Klawon has been on a bit of a singles tear lately but his new song “Tonight” is really something else. There’s a madcap, careening feel to the song that is so endearing. Stylistically, the track balances Merseybeat and Wings influences in an impressive way. You can dip in just about anywhere with Rich Restaino ’s catalogue and find yourself a real gem. His latest EP Mixtape has got a smoking instrumental called “Earworm.” Such wicked guitar tones on both the tasty lead licks and chugging rhythm work. Then “In My Dreams” cooks along with a honky-tonk meets rockabilly vibe. Or you can dial up a dose of Restaino’s signature ‘grown up folk’ sound on “The Back Nine” and “Nothing Add.” The former is an Arlo Guthrie-esque social commentary on getting old while the latter spends two folky minutes telling us he has nothing to say. From the catalogue check out the Replacements-ish “Don’t the Stars Look Big Tonight?” from his 2022 EP Lucky and “Civil War” from the 2016 LP It’s a Golden Age for Creeps.

Have you got a poprock song that needs some blog love? Get that stationary out, drop me a line, and tell me all about it.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr page.