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Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2021

08 Saturday Jan 2022

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In our social media-saturated universe it seems that your 15 minutes of fame has been reduced to just 15 seconds. Who going to give up the time to listen to a whole album, let alone gaze longingly at the cover (like we used to do) while it plays? That means today’s albums have really got to have something special going on, like great tunes, engaging styles, and hooks that seem to improve with repeated listenings. Those are the standards we applied to the 2021 album releases we encountered this past year, resulting in a list of 25 must-have LPs we think you should get to know. But wait, that’s not all. We’ve also helpfully culled the racks for top EPs, covers albums, and long lost albums that finally saw the light of day in 2021. Forget the Columbia House Record Club, we’ve got all the long-players you need and then some. Hyperlinks take you to the original review.

So let’s get the show rolling with Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2021:

1. James Henry Pluck
2. Brent Seavers BS Stands For
3. The Boys with The Perpetual Nervousness Songs from Another Life
4. Lane Steinberg The Invisible Monster
5. Ruen Brothers Ultramodern
6. Aaron Lee Tasjan Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!
7. Greg Townson Off and Running
8. Rich Arithmetic Shiftingears
9. Richie Mayer The Inn of Temporary Happiness
10. Drew Beskin Problematic for the People
11. Rob Ellis Orrall 467 Surf and Gun Club
12. Nicholas Altobelli Technicolor Hearts
13. The Friends of Cesar Romero War Party Favors
14. Steve Robinson Swallowing the Sun
15. The Brothers Steve Dose
16. Lolas All Rise
17. Lo Talker A Comedy of Errors
18. The Armoires Incognito
19. Tommy Ray! Handful of Hits
20. Chris Church Game Dirt
21. Matthew Milia Keego Harbor
22. Henry Chadwick We All Start Again
23. Rich Mattson and the Northstars Skylights
24. Ken Sharp Miniatures
25. Fishboy Waitsgiving

Putting James Henry as my number 1 album choice for 2021 might surprise a few blog watchers but frankly I don’t know why Pluck isn’t topping all the indie charts. Maybe it’s the subdued cover art or perhaps the album just falls between the genre cracks, I don’t know. But if you love those highly listenable 1980s Squeeze or Crowded House albums, this guy is for you. Each song should be stamped ‘earworm warning’ as a positive public health measure. Take it from me, Pluck is a relentless hook machine. 5 stars for sure. Other choices – Brent Seavers, The Brothers Steve, Lolas, Chris Church – are perhaps more predictable. Hey, they’ve delivered before and here they deliver again. Genre-wise, Lane Steinberg and Fishboy undoubtedly raise boundary issues but damn they are fine albums with subtly hooky tunes. And the rest? Well they’re all defined by content that is mucho killer, nada filler.

Next up, Poprock Record’s top five EPs for 2021:

1. Daryl Bean Mr. Strangelove
2. The Blendours Go On Vacation
3. BPM Collective Catastrophe Girl
4. The Cudas Alien Vacation
5. Rumble Strip Let’s Roll

Can’t spare the time for a full album experience? These extended play releases will meet your need for more than a single but not quite a long-player. But fair warning, these concentrated blasts of melodic goodness may leave you wanting for more. They’re that good.

Then, there’s Poprock Record’s top five covers albums for 2021:

1. Richard Turgeon 10 Covers Volume Two
2. Mike Browning Class Act
3. The Speedways Borrowed and Blue
4. The Unswept Power Pop for all the People
5. Spygenius Blow Their Covers

The pandemic moved just about everyone to put out an album of covers. But they’re actually pretty hard to nail, ranging in quality from elevated karoke to the unrecognizable. The trick is to rework the unique creative spark in the song, making it both recognizable and different at the same time. Turgeon’s a master of song reinvention, taking up tunes others wouldn’t dare to try (from the likes of The Monkees, The Mamas and Papas, and the Bryds, among others) and succeeding. Browning applies his own distinctive poprock chops to material from the sixties to the eighties that lets you fall for the classics all over again. Ditto 3, 4, and 5 – they love the songs and it shows.

And finally, Poprock Record’s 5 best long lost albums of 2021:

1. Sorrows Love Too Late … the real album
2. Steve Rosenbaum Have a Cool Summer
3. Bruce Moody Forever Fresh!
4. Doublepluspop Too Loud, Too Fast, Too Much
5. Underwater Sunshine Suckertree

The idea that a band could put all the work into writing, playing and recording an album and then not have it released almost seems like a crime in my book. Numbers 4 and 5 had their work ‘misplaced,’ only to accidently resurface recently and get released. Numbers 2 and 3 were indie artists whose various DIY and professional recordings never got gathered together for a proper release, until the rise of recent niche music markets made it viable. And number 1 is a remarkable story of a band that wouldn’t let their record company/producer’s mangled version of their album stand. So instead they rerecorded it, this time getting it right. That the Sorrows could make their rerecording of Love Too Late sound so 1981 is a testament to their talent and sheer doggedness.

Ok, one last category, Poprock Record’s best ‘best of’ album of 2021:

Dropkick The Best of Dropkick

Sometimes greatest hits collections really hit the mark. The Best of Dropkick is one of them. It’s a comprehensive overview of this great band’s career, packaged with attractive artwork, and at a very nice price.

Well we stretched the 25 album limit but it really was the only way to be fair to all these super LPs and EPs. I think this post demonstrates that while classic era of the album may be over, there’s still lots of tremendous long-playing records out there. If you love them, support them, whether its live or Memorex.

Lego records graphic courtesy art/design student _Regn.

Let’s get rich! With Rich McCulley, Rich Arithmetic, and Rich Mattson and the North Stars

18 Thursday Mar 2021

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This is no get rich quick infomercial, just the straight goods about some boys trying to make an honest living. With music. Today we showcase three Riches that have some fine singles and long players that will definitely pay dividends, if great hooks and solid melodies are your currency.

Attention to Rich McCulley on this blog has been a long time coming. Across seven LPs and a handful of stand-alone singles McCulley has carved out a distinct brand of Americana-infused poprock containing rock, country and indie flourishes. “All I Can Do” from his 2000 debut After the Moment has Past is a lovely lilting roots pop tune, with some striking slide guitar. Two years later he got a rocking backing band together for “Unwound,” a Costello-ish uptempo number from If Faith Doesn’t Matter (check out “Bend For No One” from the same album for a solid jangle entry). McCulley stayed in the poprock zone for his next few releases – you can hear it on the Odds-like “Forget It All Again” from 2007’s Cerro Gordo and the power pop “Falling Apart” from 2010’s Starting All Over Again. Things get a little bit country into Rich’s second decade of recording, as you can hear on 2013’s The Grand Design and 2017’s Out Along the Edges. I love the George Harrison-like lead guitar work on “The Most Beautiful Thing” and that killer organ. Or check out the rootsy acoustic guitar adorning the should-be hit single, “Hey Trouble,” a song reminds me a bit of Ron Sexsmith with its sophisticated hooks and unexpected melodic turns. Or just go for the more straight ahead country feel on the 2016 stand-alone single “Summer Storm.” McCulley’s most recent release, his 2020 single “Your Heart Said,” continues to meld country and rock and roll influences, combining sweet pedal steel guitar with just a touch of Tom Petty in the tune. And all this just skates across the surface of McCulley’s great catalogue. Seriously, drop the needle anywhere on his records and get ready to enjoy some high quality tuneage from a journeyman songwriter/performer.

Despite vibing just about every great artist from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s Rich Arithmetic’s Shifting Gears is undeniably a highly original piece of work. His ability to combine so many influences in interesting and unpredictable ways makes this album a constant source of surprise and delight. Album opener “In Our Time” alternates between touches of XTC and 1967 era Beatles, with a slightly baroque feel. “Do You Remember” has a bit of 10cc and the non-psychedelic Pink Floyd about it. “One Thing,” featuring Maura Kennedy on vocals, alternatively reminds me of Crowded House and the Go Go’s with its moody, atmospheric verses and punchy hooky choruses. There’s an effortless quality to the shifts between styles and influences, from the sultry pop jazz of “A Girl’s Reply” (featuring Diane Leigh’s alluring vocals) or the neo-1950s vamp “Haley” (again, so 10cc here), to the early Yardbirds feel of “She Moves Me” and the uptempo Alan Parsons Project sound on “Always.” And plenty more Beatles nods, like the Fab’s brand of pop psychedelia on “Waiting for the Isaac” or the Penny Lane-ish “He’s a Good Man” or that unmistakably Beatlesy descending chord progression in “Book of Lamentations.” And then there’s the quietly epic quality of “Before the First Slice (Wedding For The Disenchanted)” with its very Joe Jackson piano style. While Shifting Gears has a lot of moving parts, it still comes together as a coherent and highly entertaining musical statement. My recommendation – definitely add some Arithmetic to your current playlist.

Skylights is album number 5 for Rich Mattson and the North Stars and it carries on the band’s tradition of badlands rock and roll, a style that exudes authenticity with its gritty, sometimes edgy, stripped-down sound. “Death Valley” opens the album and sets the tone for what’s coming: the song has a striking, eerie aura, with a bit of menace in the vocals that are nicely offset by the restrained instrumental backing. Vocals are really one of the most distinctive elements on this record, with Rich Mattson and Germaine Gemberling trading lead duties and working up some amazing harmonies. Though the results vary, from the almost jazzy quality of “Against the Wall” to the alt country of “Short Lived.” Influences abound, from the John Prine feel on “Iowa” (and “Short Lived” frankly) to the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” electric guitar sound on “How Can It Be.” And there are a few poppy rock numbers like “Processing” and “In Flight.” I love the guitar shots driving the latter tune and its eerie harmony vocals. When Skylights end with “King by Now,” a lovely plaintive ballad, it’s like the curtain has come down on a great show and you can’t wait for the encore. In this case the record is over but you could just move on to check out the band’s solid back catalogue.

Money can’t buy you love. But if great music makes you happy, we’ve got you covered. Get Rich quick by clicking on the hyperlinks above and visiting these artists’ musical e-venues.