Tag Archives: Pseudonym

Fright night set list

29 Saturday Oct 2022

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Given the everyday horror of the past few years – war, pandemic, the political right – it’s getting hard for a humble, candy-fueled monster holiday to compete. Luckily we still have the music. This post celebrates fright night with a set list of seasonally appropriate tunes covering a good range of monster diversity.

Justin Roberts gets called a kids songster but I think his tunes are for everyone who’s not quite finished growing up. He’s fun and whimsical and not afraid to be silly. And his songs will get stuck in your head like that gum on the underside of your chair at assembly. His “Trick or Treat” captures all the action of the nighttime candy run from a kid’s point of view and thus is an appropriate opening to our proceedings. The Freddie Steady 5 also strike just the right seasonal mood with their spirited cover of P.F. Sloan’s “Halloween Mary.” They take the tune out its original folk rock register to deliver a more pub rock easy-going party feel. Let the party begin!

Justin Roberts – Trick or Treat
The Freddie Steady 5 – Halloween Mary

Alright kids, we know you’re mostly here for the candy but deep down you’re also up for a bit of fright. Time to bring in the monsters. Don’t worry, we’ll ease you in with the pleasant Byrdsian psychedelic  vibes of Pseudonym on “Before the Monsters Came.” Then the elusive and mysterious Clovis Roblaine sounds like he’s cooped up in his castle on a hill at the start of his “Monster Love.” But as he gets going we’re transported to what sounds like a 1970s riff on all those old cartoony drive-in movie monster encounters. Like Rocky Horror but without all the cross-dressing. Then there’s Timmy Sean’s “She’s a Monster” from his poprock musical A Tale From the Other Side where the creature sounds very 50 foot women-ish put through a serious ELO soundtrack filter. So far the monsters are pretty low on terror but come with popcorn.

Clovis Roblaine – Monster Love

One band reliably up for a holiday musical tribute is Vista Blue. “Boy Beast” is the flip side to their Halloween single release “Victor Crowley” and I liked this b-side just a bit more for its imagery and pulsing energy. The band also appear on Radiant Radish’s timely, pumpkin-approved collection Time of the Season. The whole album is great, it’s free, and it also includes a band called The John Carpenter’s The Things doing a mad rush of a song called “Here’s The Thing.” It’s poppy and punky with some great early 1980s synth background runs holding everything together. Aimee Mann’s “Frankenstein” is obviously on point for our theme. Do I really need much of an excuse to include anything by Mann? No. But listen to the sophisticated lyrics here amid a layering in of so many interesting musical adornments. Talent bleeds out of this gal like an open wound. Indie darlings Kiwi Jr. serve up some “Wicked Witches” because it can’t be All Hallow’s Eve without some serious sorcery.

Aimee Mann – Frankenstein

Now if we really want to move into more scary territory we’ve got to get to the zombie and vampire portion of our programming. Modern horror definitely leans on these two players to up the terror quotient. Sal Baglio uses his band The Amplifier Heads to bring The Band back from the dead with his spot-on Band-like reincarnation of their sound on “Zombie Moon.” Warning, things get a bit hairy near the end (as they should). During a zombie apocalypse it’s all too easy to forget your partner’s many co-dependent observations about your shortcomings. Luckily we have B.A. Johnston to keep us focused with “You Will Miss Me When the Zombies Come.” Not that you’ll remember. Ok, on to vampires with The Orion Experience’s disco poprock vamp of a tune “Vampire.” The ‘ooh ooh’s so remind of those creepy Tommy Lee Jones photo shoot scenes from The Eyes of Laura Mars. Tired of those impersonal representations of vampires? Italy’s Bee Bee Sea give them some personality on the rollicking “Vampire George.” I love the Together Pangea vibe on this performance, combining swing with hooks and just a touch of punky swagger.

Our last stop on the fright night scare tour is ghost city, just so the mood will linger. Copenhagen’s Surf School Dropouts are such a curious outfit. Are beaches in Denmark much like California? Because they’ve got the California beach sound down. And just how hard is surf school anyway? Whatever. “Attack of the Ghost Hot Rods!” takes us back into the fun zone of this holiday with goofy lyrics, sound effects, and killer guitar licks. By contrast, Look Park’s “I’m Going to Haunt This Place” is more mellow, a bit maudlin. Haunting really.

Well kids I hope the candy was worth it. Because soon the frights won’t end when the monsters take off the mask. They’ll just be starting.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2021

03 Monday Jan 2022

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Welcome to our sixth annual collection of should-be hit singles gathered from the artists, albums and tunes featured on Poprock Record in the previous year. You’d think after five tries I would have come up with some kind of rock solid science to make these choices. But, no. Still winging it, going with whatever takes my fancy. I mean, I think you’ll see a pattern: catchy guitar hooks, soaring melodies, earwormy compositions, all accomplished in three minutes or less usually. Putting this list together was particularly challenging this year – positively spoilt for choices! My initial list of possible songs had over 200 selections. The hyperlinks below will take you to the original post about each artist as they first appeared on the blog.

So let’s get to it, Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles for 2021:

1. The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness “I Don’t Mind”
2. White Fang “Never Give Up”
3. The Vapour Trails “That’ll Do It”
4. James Holt “Mystery Girl”
5. Brent Seavers “More Than A Friend”
6. Timmy Sean “The College Year”
7. Aaron Lee Tasjan “Another Lonely Day”
8. Ruen Brothers “Cookies and Cream”
9. The Martial Arts “Bethany”
10. Daisy House “Last Wave Home”
11. The Coral “Vacancy”
12. Robert Ellis Orrall “Sunshine”
13. Deadlights “Breaking Down”
14. Love, Burns “Wired Eyes”
15. The Blendours “Tell Me The Truth”
16. Daryl Bean “Keeping Me Alive”
17. Stoeckel & Pena “Why”
18. Richard X. Heyman “Ransom”
19. Automatics “Black Velvet Elvis”
20. John Myrtle “How Can You Tell If You Love Her”
21. The Red Locusts “Another Bad Day For Cupid”
22. James Henry “So Many Times Before”
23. Lane Steinberg “The Invisible Monster”
24. Geoff Palmer “The Apartment Song”
25. Mike Browning “The Little Black Egg”
26. The Eisenhowers “Suffer”
27. The Jack Cades “What Am I Going To Do?”
28. Friends of Cesar Romero “Thinkin’ About Leavin’”
29. The Kickstand Band “Hey Julianne”
30. Pseudonym “Before the Monsters Came”
31. David Brookings “Mania At The Talent Show”
32. Lolas “Pain In My Heart”
33. Tommy Scifres “Thought You Knew”
34. Vanilla “I Shall Be Re-Released”
35. Hyness “Cruelty”
36. Tim Jackson “How Do You Mend A Broken Heart”
37. Caddy “Cost of Love”
38. Chris Church “Know”
39. Tim Izzard “Breaking Me Down”
40. BPM Collective “Catastrophe Girl”
41. Benny Hayes “Don’t Make Me Go”
42. Steve Robinson “Mr Empty Head”
43. The Poppermost “Laziest Fella In The Realm”
44. Liz Phair “Hey Lou”
45. Juliana Hatfield “Gorgon”
46. Robert Sherwood “Blue All Over”
47. Kurt Hagardorn “You Are My Girl”
48. Richard Turgeon “Goodbye to Summer”
49. Ed Woltil “Paper Boat”
50. The Amplifier Heads “The House of Young Dolls”

This year’s list privileges strong, strong hooks. I’m talking the jangleliscious guitar work from the ever reliable Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness on “I Don’t Mind,” the relentless driving guitar riffs animating White Fang’s “Never Give Up,” or the delicious 1960s roll out kicking off The Vapour Trails’ “That’ll Do It.” Or the pumping, plinky piano and organ cocktail that undergirds James Holt’s killer single “Mystery Girl.” Then there’s the more traditional poprock Brent Seavers, springing the earworm in the chorus of “More Than a Friend.” Still, there’s room for variety on this list, from the tender acoustic Aaron Lee Tasjan ballad “Another Lonely Day,” to the Beach Boys homage in Daisy House’s “Last Wave Home,” to a folk rock duet from Steve Stoeckel and Irene Pena on “Why,” to the striking sonic heartbreak embodied in Richard X. Heyman’s touching “Ransom.”

Truly, this list is just a bit a fun, one more chance for me to shine a light on the artists whose work had me hitting replay in 2021. But I’m sure you might make different choices. Feel free to tell me all about them! Either way, don’t forget to find some way – buying music, attending live shows (when it’s safe!), or taking up those opportunities to interact with them online – to support their bottom line. They may not only be in it for the money, but money does allow them to stay in it.

Around the dial: Eggs on Mars, pseudonym, The Embryos, and Pet Symmetry

08 Monday Nov 2021

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Radio play used to be the main arbiter of who went where on the charts. While some people would spin the dial constantly in the car searching for the perfect tune, I tended to stick to one station, loyal to Raccoon Carney’s afternoon drive show on LG73. I like to think that the Raccoon would dig some of these brand new should be hits. I like to think that …

They’re the Kansas City band that’s not from Kansas. And that’s not the limit to the confusion as Eggs on Mars actually sound more like they’re from Glasgow than Missouri. Here I’m alluding to the band’s sonic affinity with such lofi jangle wonders like U.S. Highball and Dropkick. So, Glasgow Scotland, not Glasgow Kentucky. It’s all there on the opening cut and obvious single, “Fingers and Lips,” with its engaging rhythm guitar work, re-invented Brydsian vocals, and inspired lead guitar solos. Brighter Now contains seven songs but running at just 16 minutes it’s more like an EP than a full-on long-player. But what a delightful seven-pack! Most of the songs have an uplifting feel, driven by some creative lead guitar adornments on tracks like “More” and “All That I See” and some subtle yet catchy 1960s organ work on “Hand Tools.” The guitar on some tracks even gives off a slight Smiths-ian feel, e.g. “Oil Spill Rainbow.”  Things do mellow on tracks like “Feels Like Always” but, on the whole, Brighter Now is a chipper, aptly-named collection.

San Francisco band pseudonym come by their psychedelia honestly, given that town’s 1960s musical heritage. But the purple haze on this record is cut with a serious dose of dream pop and the combo is both luxurious and captivating. Case in point, title track “Before the Monsters.” Just check out the amazing bass line on this song, how it just keeps reeling you in long enough to land a load of guitar hooks, a seductive vocal melody, and some exquisite horn shots. I feel like there’s a bit of The Primitives on this song and the next, the more minimalist “Anonymous Sources.” Despite the overall psych pop vibe, there’s plenty of variety on this record. Sometimes thing go enjoyably shoe-gazey, like on “As You Well Know” and “Stare Down.” But at other points a punchy poprock sound comes to the fore (as on “Photograph”) or even a more urgently rocky demeanor (e.g. “Tell Me”). My personal fave is “Astronaut” with its rollicking bass and lead guitar interplay threading through the song supporting a very Lolas-style vocal and tune. “Maybe” is another winner, alternating a low-key build up in the verses with a strong chorus. And so on. Before the Monsters is eleven quality psych-pop tunes. It’s a trip man, and you can enjoy it without leaving the house.

After teasing us earlier this year with their killer Britpop-reminiscent “Rattlesnakes” Chicago’s The Embryos now return with a full album of surprises on National Absurdatory. Oh there’s plenty here that rings familiar, from the Byrdsian country rock of “You Can Be a Mystery” to the distinctive jangle of “Rolling Wheels.” But there’s also a live rock and roll party vibe on a host of tunes that conjure of a very rooftop Let It Be vibe. Here’s I’m thinking of “Spend Tonight” particularly. Or check out the Philly soul undercurrent carrying album opener “Morning Birds.” Love those strings and cloud-light background vocals. The soul train continues on “Someone to Hold Me.” Of course, The Church influences get a look in on the country-ish “Catching Fire” and “Twisted in my Game.” There’s even folk rock here on “Smoldering Remains” with just a touch of 10cc in the chorus. With so much variety, National Absurdatory has captured a band that can seemingly take on any style with no loss of substance.

Still in Chicago, Pet Symmetry don their Future Suits for their latest release, a creative riffing on pop punk tradition and more straight up FOW-infused poprock. Forget Robert Palmer, “Simply Irresponsible” kicks things off with a performance right out of the punk-influenced rock and roll playbook. More again on “Objective Objectives.” But things start to change with the more sonically sophisticated “Cat and Mouse” with its alternation of rhythm guitar shots and hooky lead guitar work. This is pop punk perfection with a melodic sensibility akin to a latter day Green Day. And then things get even more interesting. “Pet Sympathy” has a latin flavor and some knock out background singing. With “2021: A Personal Space Odyssey” the band really start to lean on some impressive melodic counterpoint in the background vocals. It’s there again in “Portland to Portland,” a song that strikes a more FOW feel, songwriting-wise. “Bootlicker” changes things up again with its easygoing, almost languid pacing and subtle hooks. “Awesome Kingdom” ends things on pretty solid poprock footing with a Sugar Ray swing and ambience. On Future Suits, first impressions of this band can be deceiving. So get the full album, just to be sure. Actual Future Suits apparel sold separately.

If the Raccoon were here no doubt it would be time for news and weather by now. As we cut to other programming, don’t waste time on commercials, check out these fine artists directly and cut out the middle man.

Breaking news: Monomyth, The Foreign Films, The Red Button, and Pseudonym

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

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cassetteForgive your intrepid musical reporter if some of the headlines aren’t exactly ‘breaking’ time-wise. Our foreign bureau is understaffed. And we have to make our own coffee. But I’m pretty confident that some of these artists will be breaking news to someone …

HPFHalifax combo Monomyth sound like a nice 1960s beat group whose record has been messed with by some discordant indie interlopers. The effect is delightfully jarring, often surprising, and essentially disarming. Things start out sounding familiar but end up somewhere different. “Falling in Love” sounds like a hit single put into low gear, not quite taking off conventionally but really doing its own thing. Or “High on Sunshine” has a chorus worthy of all those great 1960s country-rock classics, set in a mess of fun melodic distractions. Some tracks are cast in more familiar registers, like the band’s eerie reincarnation of The Replacement’s on “Re: lease Life (Places to Go)” or the catchy, jangly “Drinking in Bed in E.” I love the vocal harmonies on “Cool Blue Hello” with its occasional conjuring of a Bernard Sumner/New Order vocal at times. Other tracks seem to contain a tension between straight up guitar pop and a discordant indie sound, particularly “Go Somewhere” and “Palpitations.” “New Year’s Review” has a great punked up 1970s pop feel. This is one of those fun, ‘out there’ records: hooks aplenty but not quite delivered how you might expect them.

the-foreign-films-e1515176018440Hamilton’s The Foreign Films have a major triple album project – The Record Collector –  they have been getting out over the course of a number of years. The records appear under a number of names, in a manner that is bit confusing. No matter. The material is fantastic. Check out the crisp pop rock elegance of “Broken Dreamers” or the swinging hookiness of “Land of the 1000 Goodbyes.” Reaching back in their catalogue I love the Bowie-esque “Lucky Streak” with its killer lead line or chugging rhythm guitar-centric “Yesterday’s Girl,” both from 2011’s Fire from Spark. Or note the snaky lead guitar hook that stiches together the melodic “Another World Behind the Sun” from 2007, chock full of Magical Mystery Tour motifs.

the-red-button-now-its-all-this-cover-minTechnically The Red Button’s recent Now It’s All This is a compilation/re-release, combining the duo’s two previous albums but adding an EP’s worth of new material. These guys have their Beatles’ chops down but they’re also talented and original songwriters, so the obvious John/Paul influences are worked up into exciting new material. If you missed the original releases, this is a fantastic collection. If you’ve got them already, there’s still some great new tunes here, like the collection’s title track “Now It’s All This.” Personally, from the whole collection I love the Costello-ish “Hopes Up,” “I Could Get Used to You,” and the wonderful “She About to Cross My Mind Again.” Now It’s All ThisHopes Up

PseudonymSan Francisco’s Pseudonym have a dreamy pop sound, a pleasant melodic drone that seeps into your brain with indelible effect. They remind me a bit of a more lofi version of The Mighty Lemon Drops, accent on a more acoustic vibe. Exhibit A: album opener “I’m Fine,” a slow burn, ear worm song if ever there was one. Things pick up tempo-wise with a more insistent, surging feel to the hooky “All the Little Things.” Other highlights include the very catchy “Victimless Crime” and the more spare, acoustic numbers like “Don’t Leave Me This Way” and “We Had a Deal.” Altogether Pack of Lies is a solid collection.

Money has not gone out of style in 2018. Monomyth, The Foreign Films, The Red Button and Pseudonym would all love take your denominated paper featuring politicians or royalty. Though I’m sure they’d settle for e-dollars too.