Ah the glorious single! Sometimes one 45 is enough, but at the best of times it’s the gateway drug to a whole album of super tunes. Multiple plays of Marshall Crenshaw’s hooky masterpiece of a single “Whenever You’re on my Mind” had me ransacking the record bins for his Field Day album in the hopes that more of the same lurked within. Today’s crop of singles might have the same effect.
The Fieros are more than a tribute to a discontinued Pontiac product line. The Dallas-born, now Brooklyn-based band rock out with a melodic twist on the 1960s psychedelic sound on their new single, “Who’s To Say.” Smooth vocals, crunchy guitar and a hooky chorus – it’s the total package. Want more? Check out their solid 2012 self-titled EP for a slightly rougher (but no less appealing) sound on tracks like “Get Back,” “In My Veins” and “Songbird.” Coming off a stupendous triple play of albums in 2018, Super 8 might have been forgiven for resting on his laurels a bit in 2019. But no, he’s back with another great single, appropriately titled “Something New.” The track kicks off with a classic late 1960s rock and roll sound, combining both buzzing and chiming guitars before dropping out here and there for a Donovan-meets-The Kinks acoustic vibe. Missed Super 8’s shining moments from 2018? You can catch up on this new single and the best of his previous releases on a soon-to-be-released compilation album from Subjangle Records.
The Fieros – Who’s To Say?Super 8 – Something New
What I do I know about Carlisle? Only that there was once panic on the streets (according to the Smiths). Now I know it’s produced Sugarspun, a band that knows how to ring a chord and hook a tune with head bobbin’ predictability. The band hit the music pages hard when their 2018 single “Spaceman Dreams” was featured in Clash magazine. Now they’re back with another winner, the shimmery, hook-laden “Never Grow Old.” Plenty of jangle and harmony-loaded choruses for those of us who like that sort of thing. Mike Pace and the Child Actors tap a good time summer feeling on their latest stand-alone, mid-winter single release, “Hot, Hazy and Humid.” The record is three and half minutes of ear candy, full of finely-tuned sonic treats: ghostly, distant piano, 1970s doubled-up guitar parts, synth bits that sound like passing jet liners, and more! Underneath it all is a good, foot-tapping tune. Which brings us to our outlier single from Matthew Logan Vasquez. “Ghostwriters” has an indie poprock vibe not unlike Kevin Devine, which is to say it is nothing like Vasquez’s other bands, Delta Spirit or Middle Brother. It doesn’t even sound like much else on its accompanying album, Light’n Up, which has a more indie Americana feel. Talk about talent to spare! Master of multiple styles, loyal to none.
Drop the coin right into the slot, Chuck Berry once sang. That’s how you used to review the single file. Now you can check out The Fieros, Super 8, Sugarspun, Mike Pace and the Child Actors, and Matthew Logan Vasquez with a simple click.
I’m a notorious needle-dropper. I skip through albums like some people click through the ‘recently added’ section on Netflix. But every now and then an album grabs me and I find myself listening all the way through, taking more from each song with every listen, or sometimes just transfixed by the order of the tunes themselves. When I run across material like that it’s time to repair to the listening room and give the albums in question some serious attention. Today’s listening room selections are new releases from Mike Pace and Child Actors and Aaron Lee Tasjan.
Forget what you’ve heard from this performer – get ready for something new. With sound like a distilled retro 1980s poprock playlist, the energy on Mike Pace and the Child Actors’ new release Smooth Sailing is seemingly irrepressible, akin to Bleachers’ great debut Strange Desire in its ability to take sonic elements from decades past and make them into something new. This is well illustrated on the opening track, “Everyone Out of the Car” which squeezes just about every ounce of 1983-era indie into one propulsive number, or “Senior Statesman” which injects a little melodic 1980s Springsteen into the mix. This album has highlights galore. “Blaster” kicks off with hit single written all over it and never lets up. “Disconnected Heart” captures the tender acoustic Big Star sound while “Troubleshooting” swings like Joni Mitchell at full volume. Back catalogue honourable mention – don’t miss out on Mike Pace’s previous band, Oxford Collapse, particularly the infectious “In Your Volcano.” Actually, you can’t far wrong with anything stamped ‘Mike Pace’ somewhere.
Aaron Lee Tasjan makes it look so easy. His songs lope along, seemingly straightforward, and then – bang – some ever so simple change up reels you in. Karma for Cheap has a classic easygoing rock and roll combo sound, a bit of Beatles’ Abbey Road guitar here, some classic early 1980s poprock background vocals there. But it all comes down the songwriting. As I listened to the record I kept saying, ‘damn, this is best song!’ Until the next one came along. “If Not Now When” kicks things off with a great stretched guitar sound and pumping piano, “The Truth is So Hard to Believe” sounds like a great lost outtake from The White Album, while “The Rest is Yet to Come” has a super poppy blues feel. But nothing really prepares you for the subtle brilliance of “Heart Slows Down,” the obvious single. Oh, it starts ordinarily enough. But at the 35 second mark something starts happening that leads right to the killer chorus and before you know it you’ve hit replay five times. Those great back up vocals! So simple, so seductive. Then “End of the Day” (which could easily be mistaken for a Tom Petty single) does it again with an innocuous start that hits the fast lane in the chorus as the background vocals and driving lead guitar line combine into radio-friendly, hit single bliss. But Tasjan’s not done with us yet. On “Strange Shadows” he is the spot on reincarnation of Roy Orbison while “Set You Free” lets loose some fine jangle guitar and solid stadium-size poprock hooks. There are other songs I haven’t mentioned but I don’t want to seem obsessed.
Poprock Record 