Tags
Crossword Smiles, ELO, Mo Troper, MTV, Now That I Have Your Attention, Phil Thornalley, Pressed and Ironed, The Happy Fits, Tom Petty, Travelling WIlburys, Under the Shade of Green
As fall settles in the headline news is full regal passings and rightwing populist posturing. Definitely time to check in with the poprock desk.
New Jersey’s The Happy Fits are back with their third album Under the Shade of Green and it is pretty amazing. If you could bottle up the intensity and explosive joy of youth it might sound like this. The band still seem like the late night love child of the Violent Femmes and the Killers to me but perhaps with a more consistent sonic palate this time around. The album kicks off dance-party style with a trio of stompers: “Around and Around,” “Dance Alone” and “Changes.” If you’ve seen any pictures of their concerts then you know ‘party’ is operative word. The band and the audience are serious about having fun and these songs deliver. There’s more of the same on the rest of the album but as we sojourn into the deep cuts you really start to appreciate the instrumental tension that binds these players into a singular musical force, how the cello and guitar and drums (with an occasional dose of keyboards) hold together and stretch apart as if by elastic. Check out the fantastic keyboard and cello interplay on “Little One” and “Another Try,” how they drive up the intensity of melody. Or there’s just the breathtaking 10cc-like melody that breaks out of the chorus of “Cold Turkey.” Hints of other influences are peppered throughout – the subtle dab of ABBA lurking in “Sweet Things” or the Cure-like kick off to “Place in the World.” Album closer “Do Your Worst” really showcases the band’s incredible musical tightrope act, contrasting opposing sounds like dramatic shades of colour, green or otherwise. Seriously, you could recapture a bit of your youth just by purchasing this LP.
Since the release of his pristine pop album Natural Beauty in 2020 Mo Troper appears to have been pedalling back to the rougher parts of his musical youth. 2021’s Dilettante wasn’t afraid to let its sound get a bit blare-y at times, an effective counterpoint to the reliably hooky melodies. Now his new MTV takes things even further, messing with tape speeds and offering up an indie-garage-like mix. The effect is like a cheesecloth-covered dream-return to one’s old apartment: it’s gonna be one part nostalgia and mega parts pure invention. As always, the tunes here are brilliant, testimony to Troper’s mastery of the pop song form. “Waste Away,” “Play Dumb” and “Under My Skin” are all Brill Building/Lennon-McCartney good. But their performance is curiously and sometimes challengingly brittle and cutting. Here Troper appears to be pushing against the grain of ‘authentic’ neo-1960s music that characterizes much melodic rock and roll of late. I love that sort of thing but Troper eschews laurel-resting and good on him for not sitting still. Ironically he goes forward by reaching back to a sound reminiscent of his own earlier band Your Rival, sort of. This time around there’s a greater diversity in sound and style, from the shoe-gazey Beatlesque aura of “Across the USA” to the transistor radio at full blast “I’m the King of Rock and Roll” to sunshine pop on “No More Happy Songs.” Though personally I’d buy the whole record just to get the exquisite should-be hit single “I Fall Into Her Arms.” That lead guitar line – so simple but so wow.
With Pressed and Ironed indie music veterans Tom Curless and Chip Saam establish their new act Crossword Smiles as the best lost 1980s band the new millennium has to offer. But we’re not talking simple retro here. The duo have cooked up a sound full of alluring cognitive dissonance. Steely Dan and Crowded House? On the same record? Yes. Things sound familiar but the genius is in the synthesis. Take the title track “Parallel Lines.” It’s got some jazzy Steely Dan, a dash of John Lennon psychedelic keyboard, a distinctly early Joe Jackson lurch, and vocal harmonies that are late sixties country rock. I wouldn’t believe it would work if I didn’t find myself hitting repeat repeatedly. On the rest of the album the influences abound like a cavalcade of poprock stars. There’s shades of Difford and Tilbrook on “This Little Town,” particularly in the chorus. Man, the violin and viola really work here. You can discern a bit of post-Rockpile Nick Lowe on “Where’s the Sense in That,” some Crowded House vibe on “October Leaves,” and a Grapes of Wrath Treehouse feel to “Walk Softly.” Not everything reminds me of yesterday’s heroes. “Feet on the Ground” could be Jeff Shelton’s Well Wishers, just mellowing out. Saving the best for the last the album rounds things out with three should-be hits: “Girl with a Penchant for Yellow” has a wonderful Tim Finn weirdness, “Second Guesser” is a lush jangle-infused delight, while “Take It On the Chin” combines snappy rhythm guitar work with an addictive wash of overlapping vocals lines. To really get the total effect you’ll want to set your player on repeat for this album. I think you’ll find that Pressed and Ironed allows you to love the past in the present tense.
You might not know it but Phil Thornalley probably got your attention a long time ago. Over the decades he’s played with and written hits for a host of stars, all the while keeping to the shadows himself. Recently he braved the spotlight under the guise of his fabulous retro 1970s-styled vehicle Astral Drive. Now he’s back, this time just as himself with his first solo album Now That I Have Your Attention. The record is a sonic love letter to a slightly different register of 1970s styles than before, emoting a whole lot of ELO, the Travelling Willburys and Tom Petty. “Heaven in a Hash Pipe” leans into the early 1970s ELO strings-plus-1950s vamp formula. By contrast, “One Night in America” seems to draw more from the Time/Balance of Power period. Then there’s “Fast Car,” the early release single. What a homage to ELO’s New World Record era! And while these tunes sound oh so familiar they’re not merely sound-alikes. Thornalley clearly knows how to write winning hooks all on his own. “Hellbent on Compromise” and “High on Your Supply” evoke the Travelling Willburys, the latter even sounding a bit Dylan early on. Those missing Tom Petty (and who isn’t?) will be floored by “Big Plans” and “Stand By Love.” Both sound like lost classics from the Wildflowers sessions. Is your fun meter running low? Give your attention to this long overdue solo outing from Phil Thornalley and let the good times roll.
That’s your poprock news headlines for now. Film at 11.
Breaking waves photo courtesy Larry Gordon.
No pandemic is gonna stop us twisting that radio dial to find out just what is out there music wise! Today’s featured acts take ‘moody’ and ‘strange’ in all sorts of melodic and unexpected directions.
All my favourite poprock artists are growing up. Here with another 30-something pre-midlife crisis album is Mo Troper and his wrenching pain and discomfort adds up to 34 minutes of sweet sweet listening pleasure for us on his latest, Natural Beauty. Similar to Gregory Pepper (whose recent I Know Why You Cry is another winning sonic rendering of 30-something issues), Troper is toting up his 20s shortcomings with a bevy of frank, focused, but still melodious tunes. And like Pepper, Troper’s latest may be his most mature, fully realized work to date. “I Eat” kicks things off and sets the tone for the album, with its serious theme and carefully manicured production. Natural Beauty is just full of wonderfully layered sounds, strikingly varied keyboard flourishes, and an often naked honesty on the vocals front. Then again, “Your Boy” is the other side of this record, a textbook poprock masterpiece, anchored by a brilliant La’s-like jangle guitar hook at the start which just keeps mutating across piano, electric guitar and a slew of melodic vocals. This song is the soundtrack to a 1960s montage sequence where the boy meets a girl and joins a band and then a host of happy stuff happens. More serious themes emerge on “Potential,” “Lucky Devils” and “Better Than Nothing” but still they remain perky, poppy numbers. Possible influences abound here, with perhaps a bit indie 10cc or McCartney-meets-Morrissey on “In Love With Everyone” or a McCartney/Shins combo on “Your New Friend,” while “Everything” really reminds me of Apples in Stereo’s “Seems So” period. Personal fave: the new wave-ish “Almost Full Control” with its hypnotic bass work. For me, Natural Beauty is heading straight to the ‘best of 2020’ list, a must-have-the-whole-album release.
Melbourne’s Danny McDonald is a veteran of the Aussie indie music scene, playing on over 70 different projects since the early oughts. But one listen to his latest EP Modern Architecture and you’re going to be wondering where has he been? How has a guy this talented kept such a low international profile? Right out the gate, McDonald grabs the listener full force on the supercharged power pop should-be hit single, “Cordyline,” with its Big Star hooks and Brydsian background vocals. Then things rumble-guitar along nicely on the touching, rootsy duet with Anna Burley, “The Suburb I Grew Up In.” The 58 seconds of “Judge Me for my Art, Not Where I Live” sounds a lot like a punked up treatment of a great lost Plimsouls track. “Commuters Lament” vibes just a little Jayhawks while “Keeping the Dogs at Bay” is in the same vein as Richard Turgeon’s stolid stripped-down rocked-up pop. My only complaint about Modern Architecture is that is all ends too soon!
Another winning act from Melbourne is Adam Madric’s latest project, Pure Moods. On their debut album, Upward Spirals, there’s a fleeting Teenage Fanclub vibe at times, but on the whole this record is marked by a distinct sound – the rhythm guitar. More than is typical, it’s up front in the mix, anchoring the sonic portrait of the band. I love what sounds like an envelope of sound, the jangle drone, that opens the record on “Tide” and remains on “Backwards World.” Things shift gears with the title track which grooves along with a very 1970s soft rock rhythm guitar – that is until the Kraftwerk keyboards kick in and the whole thing slides in a different direction. There’s a tempo uptick on “Sideways Glance” and the jaunty “Sparkle” and both tunes shine melodically. Pure Moods’ Upward Spirals makes for intriguing, ultimately enjoyable listening with catchy songs that ride the tension between their lively musical performance and Madric’s somewhat low key, alienated vocals.
Taking a spin through Strange Passage’s Shouldn’t Be Too Long makes you realize just how good all those Morrissey solo albums could have been if they’d just sounded like this. And these guys are not even from some dreary northern British former industrial town but they’ve nailed the jangle alienation of the Mopster and his guitar pals. Seriously though, the songs here bubble with Smithian fun, like the energetic “Cloying Melody” with its rush of guitars and R.E.M.-meets-The The vocals. From the opening cut, “Idle Time,” it’s clear this is a really strong outing song-wise. Frankly, I can’t find a single track I wouldn’t hit replay on. Ok, maybe “Shouldn’t Be Too Long” seems special for cranking the sparkle on the guitars or “Ode” for being so Paul Simon doing Morrissey. Despite the comparisons, Strange Passage are not some wannabe something else band. They work this sound into something quite their own and it’s a pleasure to hear.
Who needs black Friday and interminably long line-ups when you can just hit ‘buy track’ from the comfort of your own electronic device? Doing some e-music shopping today instead would be my advice. And, luckily for you, Day 5 of our solid-week-of-singles event ends today with a strong set of poprock suggestions to go musically shopping for. Swiss producer David Langhard is the force behind Howlong Wolf and our featured song “You Made It (Into This Song)” from their latest album Norwegians Can’t Refuse. I love the muscular slickness of the production here. Back when AM radio used to both reflect and influence popular tastes, this is just the sort of polished poprock that ruled (and rightly so). New Jersey’s Joe Normal and the Anytown’rs are slick too, but in a different way. Their killer single “Don’t Hurt Me” exudes classic rock and roll radio, with a nice melodic undercurrent. In that brief time when the FM dial was the new rock trendsetter in the 1980s, this baby is just the sort of thing that blasted out of cars all over town. Jordan Jones’ album is titled Self-Titled and it’s being written up across the powerpop blogosphere but what is interesting to me is how everybody seems to choose different tunes to focus on. Personally, I’m loving “Waiting” with its 1960s-meets-1980s hooky sound and distinctive guitar ring. We here at Poprock Record loved Propeller’s 2017 LP Don’t Ever Let This Let You Down. Now they’re back with a neat EP entitled Three Steps to Better Listening and it’s not false advertising. “There Goes a Day” has a big shimmery guitar sound and layered vocals reminiscent of The Mighty Lemon Drops or Matthew Sweet or The Primitives. Is this a prelude to a new album? Yes please! Another highly anticipated release for this blog is anything by Portland’s wonderful music eccentric Mo Troper. We gushed over his stunning 2017 LP Exposure and Response and gasped when the Bond franchise didn’t snap up his should-be Bond theme “Never Dream of Dying.” Now he’s back with a pre-release single from his forthcoming 2020 album Natural Beauty and it’s another winner. “Jas from Australia” is a sneaky piece of pop goodness, slightly jarring but ultimately ear-wormy in its effects upon repeated listenings.
2017’s Exposure and Response heralded the arrival of Portland’s Mo Troper. All the punker, outsider ferocity of his previous recordings found themselves melded into shiny perfect poprock here, albeit still coated with a heavy of dose of hipster alienation, particularly on the vocals. As we await a follow up, Mo decided to throw this at us: “Never Dream of Dying,” a pretty stellar, spot-on rogue James Bond theme. Things start out so Bond circa 1970s with full on orchestrated tension before dissolving into a deceptive ballad (you can just see the silhouetted girls with guns float by). But wait, he’s not done, Troper’s got a Macca-worthy Bond bridge and an orchestral big finish! “Never Dream of Dying” is a delightful bit of fun from a guy who has the pop culture chops down.
I get by with a little help from my friends. Because I can’t possibly keep up with all the great new music coming out every day, other blogs are a reliable source of new material. And I’m proud to say that I think my blogroll is a finely curated list of sites that really deliver on content. In fact, they’re so good I can’t visit them too much or I’ll just want to write about all the things they’ve already posted! But sometimes cruising through the blogs reminds me of hitting the record shops when I was younger. Vancouver in the early 1980s had a plethora of new and used record stores: Kelly’s, A&A Records, Track Records, Neptune Records, and, of course, the main new records shop, A&B Sound. A&B focused mostly on selling stereo components (I bought my first tape deck there on layaway!) but used albums as a loss leader to get people into the store. Their signature ‘featured bargain’ bins (where they stacked records flat on top of each other) crowded the front of the store and usually sold for $4:99 when the going price for an album was typically anywhere from $6:99 to $10:99. I would buy records I had no clue about, just because they looked cool and were cheap. Such bargains included New Order’s Power Corruption and Lies, Men at Work’s Business as Usual, and OMD’s Dazzle Ships. Well, the record stores, like the book stores of my youth, are largely gone. But the excitement of finding new music lingers on, now re-platformed to the blogosphere!
Absolute Powerpop may not generate the volume of blog posts he once did, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t paying attention. His best of lists for 2017 were colossal: a top 100 singles, top 20 EPs, top 10 Americana and top 100 albums list. I snagged eight new artists that really caught my ear. But I want to draw your attention to 
Powerpopaholic is the godfather of power pop blogs. Given the range and depth of his coverage and sheer volume of posts, if a band or song is somewhere on the power pop spectrum it will eventually appear here. I snagged five new bands from his Top 30 list this year but have chosen to showcase 
I only picked one new artist from I Don’t Hear a Single’s many ‘best of’ lists but that’s because I’ve been nicking great stuff from him all year! Berwanger, Mothboxer, Daisy House and many, many more. IDHAS is an early finder – bands show up here that inevitably show up everywhere else, but a few months later. And he has a particularly good handle on the British and European scene. Having said that, my find from IDHAS is 
Powerpopulist seems like a machine that scours the internet for freely offered up tunes from great indie bands you’ve yet to hear of. I am constantly blown away by his industry – so many bands! So many tunes! His tastes typically run a bit harder than mine but he does love his jangle. His ‘best of’ list ran to 109 songs, from which I scored five acts that are real keepers. 
Poprock Record 