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March singles spectacular

05 Saturday Mar 2022

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Anxious, Armchair Oracles, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Commotion, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Francis Lung, Goodman, Jeremy and the Harlequins, John Fogerty, John Lennon, Michael Goodman, Oliver Tree, Persica 3, Pete Donnelly, Popdudes, Richard Turgeon, RIcky Rochelle, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Surge and the Swell, Tamar Berk, The Beatles, The Cactus Blossoms, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Orange Peels, The Summer Holidays, U.S. Highball, Yorktown Lads

As a month, March just feels so in between. Lacking any real ‘big event’ or holiday it can seem like we’re all just doing time waiting for spring to start. What we need is something big, something spectacular. So I’m offering a roundup of recent melody-drenched singles to help get you through.

San Francisco’s Richard Turgeon kicked off 2022 with a new career highlight, the infectious stand-alone single “Better With You.” Need a shot of feel good guitar oriented power pop? Turgeon adds a lot of Matthew Sweetener to this track but to my ears the mix is just right. The king of Dad rock is unstoppable! Shifting gears, French outfit Persica 3 takes us in a more ethereal direction with their dreamy “Water Lily,” the most straight-up radio friendly contribution on their new LP Tangerine. The song is like a museum of sonic trappings from years gone by, a bit 1980s keyboard ambience, some lilting 1970s acoustic guitar, and vocals that would be at home in any roomy medieval church. With Commotion Pop Garden Radio have released a tribute album to Creedence Clearwater Revival that pulls together 26 indie artists to remake the band’s canon. It’s a gutsy endeavor because trying to cover John Fogerty often begs the question, why bother? It is gonna be hard to top the master. All the bands make a stellar effort but the contributions from Popdudes and Yorktown Lads really stand out for me. Popdudes key up the jangle guitar and fatten the vocals on “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” in a way that really suits the song, adding something new to this classic. Yorktown Lads hilariously add an early Beatles rocking veneer to “Green River.” The mix could have been just a joke but the band ace melding the disparate styles with such a smoking dexterity you can’t help but be blown away. Michael Goodman’s musical project Goodman is reliably good. Every few years another album comes down the pike full of hooky poprock sketches, drawing from classic 1970s and 1980s indie motifs. His new album is How Close Are You to the Ground? and the whole thing is strong but the obvious candidate for should-be hit single is the punchy “Au Pair.” Goodman mixes up all the various elements with a creative genius: engaging guitar, hooky vocal lines, a staccato seductive lurch to the rhythm.

Like every other Beatlemaniac, I was thrilled to see the band put out some new songs in the 1990s. But somehow I just couldn’t get past the poor quality of John’s vocals on the two singles. Enter Francis Lung with his beautiful and Beatles-faithful rendering of “Real Love,” a version that offers us a more balanced treatment of the song. Now we can really hear how good it is. Sometimes there’s a band doing something that generally is not your thing but then there’s a deep cut that totally grabs you. Well that is Connecticut’s punky, sometime-screamers Anxious for me. Their uptempo material on Little Green House is fine but it was their out-of-character acoustic guitar ballad “Wayne” that really got into my head with its mellow backing and captivating vocal interplay. And looking at album’s cute cover design, it’s really the only song that you’d predict would be there. Let’s say you release an album of new tunes in the October, so what do you do in the new year? If you’re Ricky Rochelle you release a stand-alone single that branches out with a whole new style. 2021’s So Far So Good featured songs that straddled the pop punk and indie rock and roll sound but his new single “In a Dream With You” is something else again. Personally I like where he’s going. The song is a bit more light and buoyant than the previous efforts, with a dreamy hook in the chorus. Minneapolis subs for Memphis when The Cactus Blossoms come to town. Their new album is One Day and it delivers on what fans loved about their debut album Easy Way, an unerring feel for that Everly Brothers/Roy Orbison mode of playing and singing. The new record does branch out a bit into more contemporary song styles (e.g. “Everybody”) but tune in to “Hey Baby” to get your fix of the old magic. Another band living the 1960s musical dream to perfection is New York’s Jeremy and the Harlequins. On their new single “It Won’t Be Love” they reinvent the early 1960s tragic rock song style, adding some Springsteen-ish rocking muscle to proceedings.

A straightforward blast of poprocky goodness can be found The Summer Holiday’s “What Happens When You Lose.”  I hear a bit of the New Pornographers in the song’s poppy twists and turns. The band’s creative force Michael Collins is working on material for new album, according to I Don’t Hear a Single. So there’s that to look forward to. The Hoodoo Gurus are back after eleven years with a new album and winning, timely single, “Carry On.” Though written back in 2005, the song manages to give voice to healthcare workers struggling to keep going amidst this seemingly never-ending pandemic. The song has everything you’d expect from the HGs, big guitars, in-your-face vocals and solid rock and roll hooks. Another band with a big sound is Cardiff’s Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard. Their new album Backhand Deals is chock full of a 1970s sense of poprock abandon, all driving keyboards and different vocals playing off each other. But it’s “Break Right In” that will really knock you over. The lyrics are eccentric and the mood is a shot of seventies 10cc meets Queen in full-on pop mode. Seems it was just yesterday that The Orange Peels re-released their 1997 debut Square to serious reviewer accolades (it was 2019, actually). But the band is not living in the past. Their most recent album is Celebrate the Moments of Your Life and it’s full of perky song sketches, like “Indigo Hill” and “Human.”  I hear a real Shins vibe on the former but the latter reminds me of The Pixes, particularly the keyboard work. Former Figgs and NRBQ member Pete Donnelly moves in a more decidedly poprock direction his new EP Anthem of the Time. You can really hear it on the title track, a song that has some definite Beatlesque turns and benefits from a relentless dose of jangly lead guitar work.

The Summer Holiday – What Happens When You Lose

Norway’s Armchair Oracles must be working up to a new album, what with the slew of singles they’ve released over the past three years. “Addicted to the Ride” is the latest and this time out I’m hearing a very Gerry Rafferty gloss on the vocals (and that’s a good thing!) while the tune is very Macca in mid-period Wings flight. Surge and the Swell is an Americana project from Minnesota’s Aaron Cabbage, working with the Honeydogs’ Adam Levy. I think you can really Levy’s impact on “Gravity Boots” with the electric guitar licks really adding some poppy hooks to the song. It just shows how a creative songwriter and producer can work together to blur genre boundaries, with good effect. I really got into Sarah Shook and the Disarmers on their 2017 Sidelong album, a wonderfully ramshackle bit of what Rolling Stone dubbed ‘agitated honky tonk.’ But that didn’t prepare me for their new single “I Got This.” The song defies genre. The playing reminds me of Darwin Deez in its economical roominess while the vocal is full of surprises. Gone is the surly country twang, replaced by a more direct delivery in the verses and disarming falsetto in the chorus. Altogether a delightful surprise. Another genre crosser is Oliver Tree. He describes his new album Cowboy Tears as ‘cowboy emo’ but on the earwormy single “Things We Used to Do” I get a more Front Bottoms or Grouplove vibe. This one will seduce you slowly, its shuffle beat and acoustic guitar anchor lulling you into hitting replay multiple times. One of the many delights of 2019 was the debut effort from Glasgow’s U.S. Highball. Great Record was indeed a great record. So the teaser release of a single from their upcoming new record A Parkhead Cross of the Mind is most welcome. “Double Dare” sounds a bit different off the start but once it gets going it’s not too different. There’s the jangle, there’s the poppy melody, there’s the distinctive vocal harmonies we’ve come to rely on from this duo. There’s even a cool keyboard solo halfway through.

Surge and the Swell – Gravity Boots
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers – I Got This
Oliver Tree – Things We Used to Do


Let’s wrap up this 21 song March spectacular with Tamar Berk’s new single “Your Permission.” Berk was one of the breakout indie stars of 2021 with her smart, stylish debut album The Restless Dreams of Youth and particularly the single “Socrates and Me.” But let the reinvention process begin because with “Your Permission” she offers up a striking change of direction, shifting from a guitar to keyboards focus to create a gorgeous pop setting for this tune. The song itself channels the sophisticated song-writing and performance of a Suzanne Vega or Aimee Mann. A new album can’t arrive fast enough.

Whew, what a cavalcade of should-be stars! With these tunes you can cast aside your winter doldrums and put a bit of spring in your step. Even if there’s still snow left to shovel.

Post photo courtesy Swizzle Gallery.

Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2021

08 Saturday Jan 2022

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Aaron Lee Tasjan, BPM Collective, Brent Seavers, Bruce Moody, Chris Church, Daryl Bean, Doublepluspop, Drew Beskin, Dropkick, Fishboy, Greg Townson, Henry Chadwick, James Henry, Ken Sharp, Lane Steinberg, Lo Talker, Lolas, Matthew Milia, Mike Browning, Nicholas Altobelli, Rich Arithmetic, Rich Mattson and the North Stars, Richard Turgeon, Richie Mayer, Robert Ellis Orrall, Ruen Brothers, Rumble Strip, Sorrows, Spygenius, Steve Robinson, Steve Rosenbaum, The Armoires, The Blendours, The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, The Brothers Steve, The Cudas, The Friends of Cesar Romero, The Speedways, The Unswept, Tommy Ray, Underwater Sunshine

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.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2021

03 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Aaron Lee Tasjan, Automatics, Benny Hayes, BPM Collective, Brent Seavers, Caddy, Chris Church, Daisy House, Daryl Bean, David Brookings, Deadlights, Ed Wotil, Friends of Cesar Romero, Geoff Palmer, Hyness, James Henry, James Holt, John Myrtle, Juliana Hatfield, Kurt Hagardorn, Lane Steinberg, Liz Phair, Lolas, Love Burns, Mike Browning, Pseudonym, Richard Turgeon, Richard X. Heyman, Robert Ellis Orrall, Robert Sherwood, Ruen Brothers, should be hit singles, Steve Robinson, Stoeckel and Pena, The Amplifier Heads, The Blendours, The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, The Coral, The Eisenhowers, The Jack Cades, The Kickstand Band, The Martial Arts, The Poppermost, The Red Locusts, The Vapour Trails, Tim Izzard, Tim Jackson, Timmy Sean, Tommy Scifres, Vanilla, White Fang

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.

Snowflake singles

27 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bird Mancini, Brad Peterson, Cupid's Carnival, Dave Sheinin, Evan Myall, Half Catholic, Jeff Roberts, L.A. Exes, Leadfinger, Mattiel, Middle Kids, Nah ..., Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang, Richard Turgeon, Silver Synthetic, Sloan, Stephen Schijns, The Brandy Alexanders, The Caternary wines, The Rockyts, Tristen

Tis the season for shovels and snowflakes … and singles! What better way to wrap up the year than a slew of new 45s. Here’s 21 songs to get you through your snow-shoveling workout.

Atlanta’s Mattiel’s have early-dropped a single from their forthcoming new LP, the aptly named Georgia Gothic. The song is titled “Jeff Goldblum” and this outing is a bit more pop, kinda like something 1978 bordering on new wave. I like where this is going. I’m sneaking in another holiday-themed tune, but only because it’s so subtlely done. Brad Peterson’s “Beautiful and Bright” is lovely low-key ode to peace and goodwill, and who really gets enough of that? Nobody, that’s who. A year ago it was political drama central but amid all the competing headlines I somehow missed Sloan’s fabulous on-point single, “Silence Trumps Lies.” No fake news here, just slick melodies and wise sentiments. I may be getting to it a bit late but it’s definitely worth a replay. With “Stranger” Evan Myall combines some classic rhythm guitar shimmer with a nice bit of Todd Rundgren-like pop songcraft. From his recent EP Snail. Sticking to America’s west coast L.A. Exes offer up a light jaunty neo-early 1960s romp on “Baby Let’s Pretend.”

Cupid’s Carnival are clearly working their way up to a new album release sometime soon, given the singles we’ve seen this year. “Thinking About You Girl” is what the boys do best, another catchy mid-period Beatlesque charmer. Boston’s Bird Mancini manage to sound both very familiar and highly original, all at the same time. From their recent album The One Delight, I’m loving the rollicking joy of “Space Between Two Worlds,” driven by Ruby Bird’s impressive vocals. Sydney Australia’s Middle Kids remind me of a certain kind of contemporary poppy rock sound, like Grouplove. The keyboard opening to “Stacking Chairs” is so magnetic, drawing you in, building to a calliope-like drive in the chorus that’s aided by some nice guitar work. The song is from their most recent long-player, the perhaps only slightly over-stated Today We’re the Greatest. Dave Sheinin takes his reliable power pop chops in a sometimes rockier, sometimes more mellow direction on his recent release The Measure of Things. “St. Paul” has got a hooky bar band rockin’ feel. Richard Turgeon turns on the mellow meter for “7 Stories,” lulling us with some nice guitar swing and vocal harmonies that vibe that distinctive Eagles shiver-inducing effect.

Cupid’s Carnival – Thinking About You Girl

It’s been a while since we’ve heard an album from Wollongong, South Australia band Leadfinger but a few new singles have come out this last year. I’m currently attached to “The Fall of Rome” with its addictive lead guitar runs and ominous melodic undercurrent. I’m guessing a new album is not far off. Ottawa’s teen sixties retro band The Rockyts are clearly between albums so they released “It’s a Dirty Shame” to tide us over this year. The track plays to their melodic rock and roll strengths while adding just a bit of contemporary polish. Jeff Roberts is a mysterious guy from Charlottesville, Virginia who likes to just give his songs away. That’s right, just click on ‘free’ on Bandcamp! And you’re gonna want to with tracks like “Bones,” a shuffle-demon of a track that’s a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. Half Catholic is another band on its way to a new album, for sure, if the spate of recent singles is any indication. “What Good is Gone” has his trademark jangly lead guitar and expressive vocal delivery. It’s mournful and peppy in the same moment. For a change in direction, we head to Munster, Germany where Nah … get their twee baroque pop going on with a new single “The Useless Model.” It’s very theCatherines with some Everything but the Girl thrown in.

The Rockyts – It’s a Dirty Shame

DIY poprocker Stephen Schijns has a load of one-off singles on his Bandcamp page and they’re all pretty good. Indeed, some are pretty great even. Like the alluring charm of “I Met Her Yesterday” with its Byrdsian overtones and Al Stewart inflections. “What Do I Know About Love” is also pretty sweet. The Brandy Alexanders’ “Conventional Lie” starts off very George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” but quickly segues down its own distinctive path, combining winning vocals with some cool guitar and keyboard lines. Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang give their single a super-charged lick familiar to any early 1960s pop fan but it works on “Lucky in Love,” adding rather than overwhelming the tune. They’re a group with a limited resume that I’d love to see more from. New Orleans band Silver Synthetic have got a classic Americana thang going on. You can’t go wrong dropping your needle anywhere on their self-titled debut album but if I were calculating special moments I’d put my money on “In the Beginning.” The Caternary Wines have an otherworldly aura about them. There something Moody Blues/Jethro Tull spooky here. I’m hard pressed to choose one song from that their fab record Birling Gap but I’m going with the Enya-esque “Face on the Rail Line.”

The Brandy Alexanders – Conventional Lie

I can’t recall who put me on to Nashville songstress Tristen but whoever you were, thank you. Thank you!  She has an amazing ability to reach inside you and find some feeling you barely knew was there. At some point I’ll pay tribute to her great catalogue but for now let’s attend to her latest LP Aquatic Flowers. This is a very listenable album, with so many great cuts. I was going to recommend “I Need Your Love” and it is a great song but if I can only feature one tune then it has to be “Athena” with its dissonant lurch and melodic purity. It’s pretty special, but then Tristen is no ordinary songmaker.

No snowflake is exactly the same – ditto our singles. Celebrate the icy cool of our snow-inspired single selections. And drop a few bucks over at Bandcamp for these stellar artists.

Bah humbug, yeah yeah yeah

10 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Braden Blake and the Oh Wells, Brent Seavers, Charly Bliss, John Dunbar, Joseph Bradshaw, Kris Rogers and the Dirty Gems, Michael M, Nicholas Altobelli, Richard Turgeon, Slow Club, The Mixtapes, Trixie Mattel

Every year I laud the holiday spirit in tunes. But what about all those people who can’t stand the holidays, or, more specifically, holiday music? Don’t they deserve a special post celebrating their anti-celebration sentiments? If you’re still reading you’ve probably worked out that this year the answer is ‘yes’. Here’s what I’ve discovered so far. Turns out this whole anti-holidays thing has its own genre of music. Yup, they’re a pretty creative bunch of misanthropes too. And just cuz they’re cranky about Christmas doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a downer. So get ready to rock the ‘down with yuletide’ vibe!

I’ve got to start this themed post with Nicholas Altobelli, whose brand new “I Hate Christmas Without U” got me started down this track. He’s giving maximum mellow on this low key Christmas complaint tune. It starts punchy with a great weird organ sound before turning more intimate, ornamented with some nice guitar runs and heavenly background vocals. It’s not in-your-face fist-pumping stuff but there’s a subtle hypnotic allure that keeps me hitting replay.

Altobelli’s contribution is actually emblematic of a distinct sub-genre of holiday complaint music, the ‘I hate holidays because I’m lonely’ song. With these tunes it’s pretty clear that the real issue is not so much the holidays as it is facing them alone. Charly Bliss get to this point rather directly on their thoroughly power pop “It’s Christmas and I Fucking Miss You.” Kris Rogers and the Dirty Gems take a more Americana poprock approach to a similar sentiment on “Can’t Spend Another Christmas (Without You).” Now nobody does holiday ennui better than country artists and drag artist Trixie Mattel captures those mixed feelings on the wonderfully understated, occasionally comic “Christmas Without You.” Braden Blake and the Oh Wells so nail the Grinch musical backdrop in kicking off their “Bittersweet Noel” before shifting to a more Fountains of Wayne hooky ode to loneliness. It’s from a consistently sad sack brand new seasonal EP called Satin Bows (and Arrows) where feeling bad never sounded so good. And then there’s The Mixtapes who don’t seem anti-holidays at all as much as looking for anything to blot out the heartache that is only obliquely referenced on “Broken Hearted Christmas.” So, sure, they sound like they’re really into the season but it’s pretty clear that’s just a dodge.

Trixie Mattel – Christmas Without You

Now we turn to the serious Grinches on the anti-holiday front. These guys have a ‘tude’ and hooks to spare. Starting with Richard Turgeon,“Skippin’ Christmas” gives voice to those exhausted by all the forced festive bonhomie. The track is both hilarious and jangly-melodic in a addictive Brydsian sort of way. I ran across Slow Club when I noticed the multitude of covers of their song “Christmas TV.” But that’s not even the highlight for me from their anti-holidays EP of tunes, appropriately entitled Christmas, Thanks for Nothing. The collection covers off Christmas lonliness, a spirited cover of Darlene Love’s “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home,” a raucous, decidedly unsilent “Silent Night,” and my personal fave “It’s Christmas and You’re Boring Me.” Probably the most unique deferred break-up song in a Christmas setting – and that’s an award category if ever there was one. John Sally Ride member John Dunbar has put together a holiday song from a point of view that seldom gets attention, that of the empty nester with no one left around to buy for. “He Has No One To Buy Gifts For Anymore” has a rather sad theme but is delivered in peppy style, with some cool organ and a very Michael Penn vocal delivery. Brent Seavers has got the holiday blues and just can’t get any Christmas inspiration going. Sure, he’s missing some special someone but it’s more than that. On “It’s Christmas” Seaver works a Lennon-esque tune and sentiment that leaves us wondering where he’s ended up by the end of the song. Maybe he’s found his “blessings all around” but I’m leaving him in the holiday-agnostic camp for now. Joseph Bradshaw draws on a classic American Songbook style for “Santa Claus Can Keep His Bag.” It’s another ‘you ain’t here so I’m pouting about Christmas’ song but Bradshaw does it with such class, it’s worthy of your seasonal appreciation. From his brief but punchy EP Xmas.

Wrapping things up (not literally, we’re against gifts in this post), the record that definitely inspired me to get keep this anti-holidays theme going, Michael M’s brilliant and hilarious EP A Digital Christmas Gift For You. With songs titles like “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Which Directly Contravenes All Social Distancing Guidelines)” and “Baby I’ll Zoom You This Christmas” it would be easy to see the whole affair as just a timely send up. But this record is no joke. The songwriting is strong and hooky, with sudden punky interludes interspersed here and there. Opening cut “Humans Are Not Worth Saving (Merry Christmas)” is a delightful slice of Futureheads discordant pop with a sly dose of stinging social commentary mixed in (click back from track 2 below using the reverse arrow). And the genius bonus cut is the note perfect cover of McCartney’s holiday song, reduced to a single line of its lyrics. Hilarious and oh so cutting.

Well there you have it. Proof you can whistle a merry tune about hating the holidays. It’s your time to shine bah-humbuggers! Support the artists not supporting mandatory holiday cheer by visiting them online (no gifts required, just $).

The ‘Bah Humbug’ banner-post graphic above was designed by Aled Lewis. It can be purchased as Christmas card here.

Life at 45 rpm II

21 Saturday Aug 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 4 Comments

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65MPH, Barenaked Ladies, Dave Strong, Emma Swift, Freedom Fry, Full Power Happy Hour, Geoff Palmer, Harkness, Kerosene Stars, Kimon Kirk, Los Lobos, Richard Turgeon, Stacey, The Blips, The Connection, The Easy Button, The Eisenhowers, The Kickstand Band

For The Smiths guitar slinger Johnny Marr the 45 is a “short burst [that] is going to explain where we’re at, right here and right now” from “artists who are taking that three, four minute moment really seriously.” Forget the album as artist statement – for Marr, the single is where an artist can really say something. He also makes an interesting observation about the class dimensions of the form, arguing that in the sixties and seventies (when 45s were at their peak popularity in the UK) their brightly coloured sleeves and concise musical content served as a kind of working class art for the “young women who were working in Woolworths, and young men who were working in shops and warehouses and bus stations.” It’s in that spirit of love for the 45 that we continue with our second post of fab new late-summer singles.

Franco-American duo Freedom Fry just can’t help themselves. They’d barely gotten their French-language album L’Invitation out the door last April when two EPs of covers followed just one month later and now this summer three more original songs have hit their Bandcamp page. Productive much? Not that I’m complaining. There is always something so fresh and positive about a new Freedom Fry record. Like “Colors,” with its saucy keyboard lick opening and buoyant melody. Let this light and breezy single colour your listening time with a hit of audio sunshine. Another bit of fun pressed into 3 minutes or so comes from the Barenaked Ladies new album, Detour de Force. “Bylaw” is a goofy yet still melodious mediation on a topic I’m fairly certain has largely evaded musical attention up to now. But leave it to BNL to make it sing! The rest of the album is pretty catchy too, particularly the topical “New Disaster.” Indie power pop supergroup The Legal Matters are back with their third album, entitled Chapter Three. On the whole, its another reliably hooky installment in their ongoing musical saga but the song that leaps out at me is “Please Make a Sound.” I love the low-key jangle and the lighter-than-air harmony vocals. Stylistically it really stands out from the rest of the album, underlining how these guys can pull off just about anything. Have you been missing that tight, almost chrome-coated seventies rock and roll sound perfected by Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds across a series of great albums, both solo and with Rockpile? Well relax, you can get your fix with Geoff Palmer’s new record, Charts and Graphs. Hey, this shouldn’t be news. Palmer’s been acing the Lowe/Edmunds sound for years with his band The Connection. I’m just letting you know he’s done it again. I’m singling out two tracks as my preferred double A-sided 45, “Tomorrow” and “The Apartment Song.” The former comes off like new wave as if the Beach Boys had gone that route in 1979 (instead of doing that disco album) while the latter is a rollicking, hooky stomper (and, as Ralph points out in the comments, a Tom Petty cover). I’ve been on a bit of Los Lobos bender for the past month, really getting to know their Spanish language recordings (e.g. Del Este de Los Angeles and La Pistola y el Corazon). You don’t need to speak Spanish to understand these records are telling you to kick up your heels! For 2021 the party continues on Native Sons with the band covering a host of their favourite radio hits, songs like Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” and the Beach Boys “Sail On, Sailor.” But I’m keen on the album’s only original cut, the title track. It’s a lovely Americana slow dance supported with a beautiful horn section that is all about the band themselves and their relationship to their home town.

The Barenaked Ladies – Bylaw

Is it wrong to like a band’s cast-offs album more than the main release? I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I think Scottish band The Eisenhowers’ third album Judge a Man by the Company He Keeps is a bonny collection of sophisticated tunes. But somehow I’m more drawn to the tracks that didn’t quite make the official album but did get released a few months later on the aptly named Too Much Music. For instance, “Suffer” is lovely lilting poppy tune, a little bit Crowded House, a smattering of Barenaked Ladies. And that’s just the first of many winners that got cut from the main LP but manage to appear here. Dave Strong tries to hide his classic sixties melodic instincts behind a punky veneer but “Little Girl” can’t be denied. This single is a blasting two and half minutes of gloriously amped up poppy fun. B-side “I Would” is pretty cool too. Detroit’s basement pop exemplars The Kickstand Band have been holding out on us. Just one single since 2017 and nary an LP or EP since 2016! Well the wait is over because a double A-sided single is out, “Cube” and “Hey Julianne.” The former is a neat if somewhat ominous low-key number that breaks out melodically briefly – but spectacularly – in the chorus. The latter is a killer should-be hit, in the mould of the band’s amazing synthesis of early 1960s and late 1970s AM radio hits. Those harmonies! Let’s have a new TKB album please. From the northern US to the deep south, The Blips hail from Birmingham Alabama and they deliver that wonderfully messy country rock sound we might associate with Titus Andronicus or the Band. “Inside Out” is the featured single from their self-titled debut LP and I’m loving it. If this style is your thing, I think you will too. Tampa Florida’s The Easy Button have an astonishing collection of 22 tunes out right now for the price for a regular album. The record is Lost On Purpose and it runs the gamut of clever poprock: a bit of Beach Boys, a lot of Fountains of Wayne, and plenty of fun. There are just so many great tunes here but I’ll draw your attention to the playful, generationally-focused “ReRun.” Though I’m more a seventies television guy I know a lot of the name-checked references here.

I came upon Kimon Kirk via a link to a duet he did with Aimee Mann in 2017. So I thought, ok, I’ll bite, let’s check out this guy. There’s wasn’t a lot to find, just a handful of releases since 2009. But what an interesting range of material! Like Mann, there’s a great American songbook feel to some of his stuff, like the cabaret feel to “The Road to No Regret” from 2011’s Songs for Society. Other releases are crazy good guitar poprock like stand alone 2017 single “Powerstroke.” His new record is Altitude and the song I’d single out is “The Girl I Used to Know” which cooks along like a Lindsay Buckingham track with just a tad more enthusiasm in the chorus. Richard Turgeon is back with a seasonally appropriate new EP of cool tunes, Campfire Songs. Once again he mixes a slightly discordant element into otherwise reliably poppy rock tunes. The timely “Goodbye to Summer” has the feel of an uber cool summer single, its cinematic potential fueled by classic sounding guitar embellishments and Turgeon’s own minor key vocal. But I also really like the easygoing rock and roll songbook feel to “Never Good Enough” and “Promised Land.” Chicago’s Kerosene Stars often sound like some 1980s English guitar band (and I like that!) but their new batch of singles seems to mark a new direction for the outfit. Ok, maybe there’s still an English feel to “Where Have You Been?” with its wordy but eloquent lyric delivery, but I like it, and it clips along with a somehow both reserved but still manic tempo. Recently I wrote about Pearl Charles’ eerie 1970s throwback material and that moved someone dropped me a line about Toronto-based Stacey. Wow. Also very 1970s. Like a Tardis time-travel good recreation. Check out “Strange (But I Like It)” from her latest LP Saturn Return. It’s got a minor key feel in places that reminds me of Sniff ‘n’ the Tears “Driver’s Seat” or any mid-period Little River Band. At this point it’s hard to believe that anyone could do anything new with Bob Dylan material, it’s all been covered by so many people and in so many ways. But Australian Emma Swift manages to add a new twist to the Dylan’s classic “Queen Jane Approximately.” With its light jangle and Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac rhythm section feel, the song sounds more like a radio hit than ever. It can be found with a host of other Dylan songs on her just released Blonde on the Tracks album.

Continuing in Dylanesque vein, Brisbane Australia’s Full Power Happy Hour give us a fresh dose of melodious folky-country guitar noodling on “Old Mind of Mind.” The song is the opening cut on their self-titled debut long-player and it combines keen guitar work with an inspired vocal. Heading back to the UK 65MPH anchor their sound with a striking mix of acoustic and electric guitars and tunes that mine a new neo-folk rock sound that I associate with acts like The Fronteers. “Cruel World” is just one of a host of peppy, winning singles the band has put out over the past few months. Rounding things out on this singles extravaganza, a deep cut from the latest album by Toronto band Harkness. The songs on The Occasion run a gamut of styles, featuring unusual instrumental choices and some complicated vocal arrangements. Personally I’m taken with “Tornado” and its solid mid-1980s Brit band mix of moody guitars and vocals.

Well, there it is, another colossal mix of singles, all mini musical manifestos from a wide array of acts. Think of them as ever so brief introductions to people with much more to say. Click the hyperlinks to continue the conversation.

Carefully crafted poprock: Ken Sharp, The Armoires, and Richard Turgeon

19 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Ken Sharp, Richard Turgeon, The Armoires

Some artists just belt it out. Others treat a song like sculpture, carefully teasing out the song’s essential elements with a perfectionist’s sense of sonic finesse. Today’s post features the latter, some very carefully crafted poprock to delight and entertain you.

Ken Sharp is an uber talented guy. Author of 18 non-fiction books, liner-notes writer to the stars, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and the guy’s got a great sense of style. I mean, his albums and singles always look amazing, wonderfully illustrated and featuring great sixties and seventies fonts and images. His just released record, Miniatures, breaks even more new ground, delivering 32 songs in just 41 minutes. They are miniatures in the sense of being short in length but also in terms of their execution. Each track is a carefully crafted sonic landscape, evoking different musical eras, songwriting styles, and moods. Album opener “Me and My Big Fat Mouth” sets the tone, establishing a Bacharachian precision in terms of song arranging while the tune exudes a Dionne Warwick or Neil Sedaka melodic sensibility. There are so many highlights here, I can’t possibly go into them all (though for an excellent deep dive into the album’s songs and inspirations, check out Keith Womack’s amazing coverage in Salon) so I’ll just riff on a few of my faves. On the whole, the record vibes an early 1970s pop sound, that intimate, glossy, compressed effect I associate with Partridge Family records, the Carpenters, folk pop artists of era like Cat Stevens, and the theme from the TV show Love, American Style. Having said that tracks like “Susannah Silently Shining” remind me a bit of Apples in Stereo while “Stack O’ Records” has a Big Star in acoustic mode feel. From there the album has so many jaunty, ambling-away-the-summer-days pop numbers, like “This Kiss,” “Every Day is Holly Day,” and “My Lullaby.” Sharp does occasionally let loose, upping the tempo on numbers like “Down the Drain” and the Costello-ish “Something’s Happening.” Baroque is a term often thrown around for this project and it sticks to songs like “Dollhouse,” “We’re Moving On,” album closer “Miniatures,” and the delightfully inventive and mannered “Black Coffee Cigarettes and Bach’s Minuet.” You can basically jump in anywhere on Miniatures and feel the delight, the whimsy, and a load of positive vibes. It’s all so nicely captured on what is probably my favourite tune from the record, the Cat Steven-ish sing-along “Count On Me.” Sharp definitely delivers a much-needed seasonal mood improver with this tuneful trove.

It all started with deceit. A group releases a series of singles under different band names, pretending to be separate acts with different styles. But when the ruse is revealed April 1st (naturally) it quickly becomes apparent that what began as a lark has turned into a serious musical accomplishment. Incognito reveals The Armoires as a much more ambitious, dynamic outfit than we ever imagined. The record’s focus splits three ways, between covers, country and an updated new wave sound (with some overlap). You’re exposed to the ambition behind the LP right away with the opening cut, the band’s inspired cover of John Cale’s “Paris 1919.”  Their interpretation effectively delivers on a poprock promise only implied in Cale’s original.  Other hooky contributions defy a singular style, vibing a nouveau Kirsty MacColl feel on “I Just Can’t See the Attraction” or a bit of the New Pornographers on “I Say We take Off and Nuke the Site from Orbit” or a Teenage Fanclub sensibility with the 2020 cover “The Night I Heard a Scream.” The country-ish contributions are equally affecting, from the old timey feel of “Bagfoot Country” to the more bluesy country of “Homebound” to the shot-glass soaked duet that is “Shame and Bourbon.” My own vote for should-be hit single is the breezy, rollicking “Great Distances” with its light touch of jangle and homey harmonies. And these are just the highlights for me – I could on. To sum, despite its variety in song and styles Incognito is definitely the work of one band, one that is discovering there really are few limits to what it can be and do.

Richard Turgeon has done it again. Defying the sequels curse, his second album of covers is a summer car-driving mix-tape champion. 10 Covers Volume 2 applies his Turgeon-izer (a distinctive dissonant hooky stamp) to classic songs from the 1960s, indie faves from the eighties and nineties, as well as songs that are barely a few years old. You’ve got to admire the cheek of trying to cover such classics as The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” or The Mamas and Papas’ “California Dream’” but Turgeon pulls it off. The trick to effectively covering well known material is to offer up the familiar hooks but colour in some new melodic shading in unexpected ways or in different parts of the tune. Turgeon’s “I’m a Believer” is a little less manic than the original, a bit more indie-casual with some entertaining lead guitar embellishments. His “California Dreamin’” sounds a bit more believably desperate and stark. The cover of the Bryds’ “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” dials down the jangle, offering a more straight up rocking feel. Turning more recent material, I love the version of Potty Mouth’s “22” here. Turgeon turns an already great fun stomper into a power pop classic, with spot on vocals and great guitar lines. But his greatest reinvention on this album is a reworking of Hole’s “Malibu.” The guitar approach better anchors the melodic hooks of song while Turgeon’s vocals add an emotional depth that was missing from the original. Another song Turgeon improves on is Bobby Fuller’s “A New Shade of Blue” where, again, his singing adds something new. You really believe he’s got the blues! And there’s more – I haven’t even mentioned the nice Tom Petty, Oasis, and Cure covers. Suffice it to say, no drive to the beach is really gonna be complete without blasting this through the speakers this summer.

Craft like this deserves your monetary attention. You can click on Ken Sharp, The Armoires and Richard Turgeon right here and go directly to the source.

Poprock Records’ 25 must-have LPs for 2020

18 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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Bad Moves, Blitzen Trapper, Chris Church, Dave Kuchler, Ed Ryan, El Goodo, Gary Ritchie, Geoff Palmer and Lucy Ellis, Gregory Pepper and his Problems, Jim Shorts, John Dunbar, Juniper, Mo Troper, Mom, Nick Pipitone, Nite Sobs, Peggy Sue, Richard Turgeon, The August Teens, The Happy Fits, The Rockyts, The Speedways, The Vapour Trails, The Yum Yums, Vanilla

I know, you’re too busy to scour the racks for great singles. If only you could find some great albums to kick back with? Something to slip on the old record player and enjoy with a cool drink. Well here at Poprock Record we feel your pain. So we’ve assembled the crack team you see above to vet the very best LPs from throughout the year that was 2020. The kids may be a tad young for martinis but do not doubt their vinyl erudition and exquisite taste. From more than a hundred possibilities they’ve whittled things down to an essential 25 albums that you must possess to say you’ve really experienced the past twelve months of melodic music. Fill your K-Tel Record Selector with these super fantastic long players!

So, let’s get to it – Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2020:

1. Gregory Pepper and His Problems I Know Why You Cry
2. The Happy Fits What Could Be Better
3. Nite Sobs Do the Sob!
4. Mo Troper Natural Beauty
5. Mom Pleasure Island
6. The Rockyts Come On and Dance
7. Peggy Sue Vices
8. Chris Church Backwards Compatible
9. Richard Turgeon Sea Change
10. Juniper Juniper
11. Dave Kuchler It’s Pronounced …
12. The Vapour Trails Golden Sunshine
13. El Goodo Zombie
14. Geoff Palmer and Lucy Ellis Your Face is Weird
15. Vanilla Limerance
16. Bad Moves Untenable
17. Blitzen Trapper Holy Smokes Future Jokes
18. The August Teens I’m Selfish and So Is My Cat
19. Jim Shorts Late to the Feast
20. John Dunbar Oh Wellness
21. Gary Ritchie Head on a Swivel
22. Ed Ryan Even Time
23. The Yum Yums For Those About to Pop!
24. Nick Pipitone Thiensville
25. The Speedways Radio Days

Gregory Pepper dominated my listening for 2020 with his outrageously good I Know Why You Cry. The album was his own specially curated re-recordings of tracks originally composed during his year long Song-of-the-Week extravaganza. There’s whimsy, there’s pathos, there’s references to Enya. It’s the kind of poprock that makes my heart burst, a never-fail mood improver. Coming up second this year was the kick-ass second album from The Happy Fits, What Could Be Better. Other than Pepper, I’m hard pressed to suggest anything. This whole album is a killer production that puts the cello at the centre of melodic rock and roll (where it belongs). Here are songs and performances that inspire descriptions like ‘thrilling’ and ‘exciting’. And then there’s the extreme hooky pleasantness of Nite Sobs throughout Do The Sob! An impressive head-bopping good time. And so on. All the records here really pay dividends via repeated listens so carve out some time to enjoy them. The great lost art of an album-long musical vision lives on with these 25 selections.

Next up, Poprock Record’s top five EPs for 2020:

1. Gregory Pepper Under a Heather Moon
2. David Woodard Grand Scheme of Things
3. Danny McDonald Modern Architecture
4. Brad Marino False Alarm
5. Aaron Lee Tasjan Found Songs Vol. 1

What?! Another Pepper selection topping the chart. Fear not dear reader, our completely unscientific selection process has not erred here. Hey, I just really like Pepper’s stuff. And he is crazy talented, as is obvious from this stylistically varied and pumped up collection of song snippets, 10 in all amounting to just 15 minutes of music. But what a ride. I mean, just check out the brilliant 17 second track, “Do Sports.” I want more! These other EPs are pretty special too and fabulous for those times when you can barely sit down and squeeze in a quick sherry.

And let’s not forget, Poprock Record’s best compilations for 2020:

1. Garden of Earthly Delights: An XTC Celebration
2. Wild Honey Records: The Benefit of Things to Come
3. John Wicks: For the Record

2020 tried our patience but, glass half full, it did provide a bit of downtime. That allowed for a lot more album listening than normal and what a treat that turned out to be. And given the impact of 2020 on live music, artists need albums sales more than ever. So let the rewards flow freely from your e-wallet to theirs.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2020

09 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Should be a Hit Single

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Blitzen Trapper, Brandi Ediss, Brett Newski, Brian Jay Cline, Bye Bye Blackbirds, Chris Church, Danny McDonald, Dave Kuchler, Dave Rave and the Governors, David Myles, David Woodard, Ed Woltil, El Goodo, Emperor Penguin, Esther Rose, Geoff Palmer and Lucy Ellis, Greg Pope, Gregory Pepper and his Problems, Hanemoon, Honeywagen, Honeywagon, Irene Pena, Lisa Mychols & Super 8, Lolas, Mo Troper, Mom, Mothboxer, Nicholas Altobelli, Nick Pipitone, Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men, Nite Sobs, Nuevos Hobbies, Papills, Peggy Sue, Peralta, Richard Turgeon, Searching for Sylvia, Steven Bradley, Steven Wright-Mark, Talk Show, The Amplifier Heads, The August Teens, The Click Beetles, The Feels, The Happy Fits, The Memories, The Rockyts, The Top Boost, The Vapour Trails, The Well Wishers, Tom Curless and the 46%

2020 was weird like no weirdness we’d experienced before. Thank goodness the music didn’t let us down. Paraphrasing some 1970s disk jockey, the should-be hits just kept on coming! My top 50 singles for 2020 covers the usual range of styles I jam into the poprock category, from Buddy Holly 1950s to Buck Owens country to various shades of jangle and new wave. I’m not saying these are the 50 best songs of the year, I’m saying these 50 had the hooks to keep me hitting repeat again and again. If Poprock Record were a radio station these tunes would have been in heavy rotation all this past year. 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 should-be hit singles for 2020:

1. Mo Troper “Your Boy”
2. Gregory Pepper and his Problems “Unsolved Mystery”
3. Dave Kuchler “Slave to Katy”
4. Emperor Penguin “You’ll Be the Death of Me”
5. Brian Jay Cline “Two Left Feet”
6. Hanemoon “Sunday Afternoon”
7. Danny McDonald “Cordyline”
8. Chris Church “Something’s Coming Fast”
9. Peralta “In Your Mind”
10. Steven Wright-Mark “Underground”
11. Brett Newski “Grow Your Garden”
12. Lolas “Wrecking Yard”
13. Peggy Sue “Motorcade”
14. Searching for Sylvia “SEMA (Sunday Evening Misery Attack)”
15. The Vapor Trails “Behind You”
16. The Well Wishers “We Grow Up”
17. The Top Boost “Tell Me That You’re Mine”
18. The Click Beetles “Don’t You Call My Name”
19. The Memories “Second Try”
20. The Bye Bye Blackbirds “Watch Them Chime”
21. Lisa Mycols and Super 8 “Honey Bee”
22. Nite Sobs “I Could Tell You”
23. Nick Pipitone “Hear Me Out Thienville”
24. David Myles “Loving You is Easy”
25. El Goodo “Home”
26. Steven Bradley “Pre-Emptive Strike”
27. The Happy Fits “No Instructions”
28. Greg Pope “Jump Back from the Light”
29. Mom “I Want You to Feel What I Feel”
30. The Amplifier Heads “Man on the Edge of a Ledge Contemplating a Jump”
31. Blitzen Trapper “Masonic Temple Microdose #1”
32. Dave Rave and the Governors “I Don’t Think So”
33. The Rockyts “Break My Heart Again”
34. The Feels “She’s Probably Not Thinking of Me”
35. Nuevos Hobbies “No Puedo Esperar”
36. David Woodard “Grand Scheme of Things”
37. Esther Rose “Keeps Me Running”
38. Talk Show “This Monologue”
39. Geoff Palmer and Lucy Ellis “Swim”
40. Irene Pena “Own Sweet Time”
41. Ed Woltil “When We Fall in Love”
42. Papills “What to Call It”
43. The August Teens “Crestfallen”
44. Richard Turgeon “Higher”
45. Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men “Bright Light”
46. Tom Curless and the 46% “Just Wanna Talk”
47. Brandi Ediss “Bees and Bees and Bees”
48. Mothboxer “Accelerator”
49. Honeywagen “For Love”
50. Nicholas Altobelli “Ghost”

So many great songs! So hard to make distinctions amongst them … But this year’s chart topper Mo Troper has got something really special going on with “Your Boy.” The track is a case study in should-be hit single construction and execution, from the opening guitar hooks to the silky smooth pop vocal to the exquisite synthesis of musical elements, like the plinky piano, the dash of distorted guitar here and there. The song is the earworm equivalent of a Dutch masters miniature painting. A very close second this year came from the boundlessly talented Canuck Gregory Pepper and his Problems with “Unsolved Mystery.” I can’t get enough of Pepper’s creative songwriting and unique approach to instrumentation. The song is a hook cocktail, a nonstop aural assault of vocal and instrumental melody. Former Soul Engines member Dave Kuchler slots into number 3 with an amazing comeback single, “Slave to Katy,” a song that ripples with Springsteen organ and hooky guitar leads. This is melodic heartland rock and roll at its best. Releasing an album and three EPs in 2020, Emperor Penguin definitely win the productivity award. But I’d have been happy if they’d just released one song, the Byrdsian “You’ll Be the Death of Me.” Rounding out the top 5 Brian Jay Cline “Two Left Feet” gives the harmonica a work out on a great driving poprock number. And I could go on about the remaining 45 should-be hits but for more on the rest of the list hit the hyperlinks for my original write-ups on each.

This year’s special mention award goes to Mondello for his wonderfully quirky one-off single “My Girl Goes By.” After taking 20 years putting together his debut album one year later there’s no sign of a sophomore slump with this follow up single. From the Tijuana horns to the unique guitar work to the way the hooky swinging chorus emerges out the discordant and offbeat body of the song, it’s magic. More? Yes please!

2020 has been devastating for artists that rely on live performances to make ends meet. Now more than ever it’s crucial that we all pull together to support music and the music-makers financially. Give what you can, buy directly from artists whenever you can, and share links for the music you discover with your friends and acquaintances.

Breaking news: The Vapour Trails, Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men, Bill Lloyd, Richard Turgeon and Ed Ryan

22 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Breaking News

≈ 4 Comments

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Bill Lloyd, Don't Kill the Messenger, Downtime, Ed Ryan, Even Time, Golden Sunshine, Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men, Richard Turgeon, Sea Change, The Vapour Trails

Screen Shot 2020-06-22 at 3.21.25 PMWith records that are all hot off the digital presses, this is definitely a timely episode of breaking news. And the anticipation is high for these five artists because they regularly hit it out of the poprock park. Have they done it again? Spoiler – get ready for some jangling good times.

Scottish jangle stalwarts The Vapour Trails wrap their new album Golden Sunshine in sixties pop psychedelia and the results are out of this world. The opening title track rides that fine line between melodic tripping and more free-form musical extemporization. The sound is a new sonic frontier for the band, melding sixties influences with 1980s reinventions of those themes from bands like The Stone Roses and even mid-period Grapes of Wrath. This carries on with “Dr. Barnes” which offers up a hooky sitar-like rumination on the traditional psychedelic sound. But the band doesn’t push the theme too far, returning to more familiar jangle pop on “Lonely Man” and “Why Wonder Why?” Then there’s the magnificent “Behind You” with its stunning “Day Tripper” like lead line. Nobody throws down 1965 lead guitar work quite like this band – I mean, just wait for the sprightly lead guitar instrumental break – heaven! This song alone is worth the price of admission. Other ear candy moments include acoustic guitar-driven “This May Be the Time,” with its distinctive drum feel and lovely harmonies, and beautiful, understated “Seabird.” With The Vapour Trails you might come for the jangle but you’ll stay because they offer so much more. This is a band that has yet to reach its musical summit and I’m loving the ride.

You only need to hear about ten seconds of the guitar hook kicking off album opener “Upper Hand” to know you are in for something special with Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men’s new record. Piunti’s been at this a long time and he knows where he fits into the power pop pantheon so Downtime delivers the taut melodic rockers we’ve come to expect. Needle-dropping this record, I sometimes hear the Beatles or early period Bryan Adams, Mike Viola, or the under-appreciated Odds. But really this record has a timeless, classic poprock sound all its own. All the songs on this release are pretty strong but click on “Bright Light” for a masterclass in melody-drenched rock and roll, featuring some heavenly background vocals. As for the rest, well how do you pick out highlights when everything is so good? You won’t go wrong with the Bryan Adam-ish “Every High” and “Never Belong to Me” while “Contract” has a great blast of guitar driving it along and a very Odds-like chorus. My personal fave is the Squeeze-meets-Tom Petty “Gonna Be Good” with its hypnotic occasional keyboard backdrop. And just to show he can slow things down, “Good Intentions” offers up a lovely acoustic guitar and piano number. All the hip indie bloggers are talking up Downtime. Don’t be left out.

With a career like Bill Lloyd’s you might expect him to kick back and take it easy. He’s played with so many cool artists, put out a great body of work as one-half of Foster and Lloyd, and has countless killer solo albums to his name. But Lloyd’s got more music to share and the message from his new Don’t Kill the Messenger is definitely positive. Why? It’s the songwriting. Lloyd keeps churning out listenable tunes, delivered in his comfortable poprock style. Put your ear next to “I’ll Take It From Here,” particularly when Lloyd leans on ‘Amanda’ in the chorus, and tell you me you haven’t caught something you can’t get out of your head. Similar hooks can be found in songs like “Not This Time ‘Round” and “Sorry, But I’ve Got to Take This.” I did do a double-take on a few tracks, mistaking them for cuts from some new Marshall Crenshaw album (like “Don’t Kill the Messenger,” “Undone,” and “The Girls of Sylvan Park”). At other times, the songs reminded me a little of Ben Vaughn (“I’ve Had Enough of Your Love”) or some good old pub rock (e.g. “Kake’ n’ 8 it” and “You Got Me”). And Lloyd cooked up a few surprises, like the Talking Heads-ish “Etch-A-Sketch” and the breezy, instant standard “Kiss of the Summer Wind.” So you don’t need to hesitate over this album. Paraphrasing Merle Travis, a record from Bill Lloyd is like money in the bank – guaranteed!

Richard Turgeon kicks off his new album Sea Change with some ominous chords ringing out over “Never Leaving California,” perfectly capturing the enduring sense of dread that defines out times. The song’s chilling POV is the rumination of a mythical Charles Manson follower, drawn into the myth and mayhem of a particular moment of time for the Golden State. From there Turgeon grinds out his distinctive Matthew Sweet-meets-grunge sound on winning, timely tracks like “Still Not Ready to Die” and  “Running for Your Life.” Sea Change confirms Turgeon as a veritable hook machine as the songs here are all just brimming with catchy melodies. I mean, check out the ear worm choruses of “Car Crash” and “Cull the Herd” for a quick confirmation. And then there’s the real treat, the bliss-inducing, obvious should-be hit single “Higher” – power pop perfection! This record also features a few nice departures from the usual, like the Weezer-vibing “Jolene,” the low-key dreamy “Sunset,” and the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young-like vocalizing on the “The Journey,” with its cool sparse finger-picking opener. This record just confirms why Turgeon keeps showing up on so many ‘best of’ lists each year.

On Even Time Ed Ryan returns to his roots, re-recording some tunes from previous bands The Rudies and Jupiter Jets, as well some new material. Having noted that, opening and title track “Even Time” marks a bit of a departure for the normally guitar-oriented Ryan with a reliance on keyboards to anchor the tune that adds just a bit of dramatic tension. There’s also some refreshing naked acoustic guitar here on “I’ve Got the Smile” and the rollicking “I Want to Go.” But worry not, power pop Ed is here full force on should-be singles like “Say What You Will” and “Let It Out,” with some catchy neo-1950s background vocals elevating “Never Lied to You.” “Here and Now” kicks off with a blast of Springsteen-like energy before settling into a solid rocker. I really like the nice change of pace with the piano-based “Everywhere,” a delightful tune with shades of Styx in places (and that’s not a bad thing, in this case). Ryan then wraps things up with  a return to tradition on “Make It Through the Night,” a track that really captures the classic power pop sound of late 1970s sound, complete with punchy chorus. All in all, Even Time marks a welcome return to the studio for this music veteran.

For digital access, click on the artist names above. For compact disc or vinyl, visit Futureman/Big Stir records for The Vapour Trails and Kool Kat Musik for Nick Piunti, Bill Lloyd, and Richard Turgeon. With so much news breaking, it’s hard to keep up with all the new releases. That’s what we’re here for. These releases are all Poprock Record Grade A-approved long-players. Imbibe with confidence.

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