Tag Archives: Ron Sexsmith

Shopping for singles

02 Thursday Oct 2025

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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Back in the day the big decision was whether to pick up a 45 or go for the whole album. If you knew you were going to like it, the album was definitely the better deal financially. But in the era of physical product it was often hard to needle-drop across the full LP before ponying up the cash. Thankfully those days are over! Now you can sample these 21 new tunes with no commitment at all.

Brooklyn’s Cut Worms dial up the country vibe on their recent 45 “Evil Twin” in a very Wilco way, accent on acoustic guitars and tasty electric lead guitar licks. Game Theory are one of those legendary great lost bands whose fan base mostly consists of other musicians. Chris Richards and the Subtractions cover the band’s “Make Any Vows” with the loving care of real fans. The tune really suits their clashy guitar sound. Australian Gavin Bowles is not shy about sharing the details of his lady problems. This time his band Gavin Bowles and the Distractions lays it out on “She Hates My Guts.” Ouch. Plenty of ringing lead guitar lines and sad sack lyrics of the most enjoyable kind. The career of Daisy House is proof positive the charts are not just. Their ability to conjure up the best elements of the 1960s was unparalleled. Still, band leader Doug Hammond manages to find a few lost tracks here and there, like the striking ballad “The Seducer.” The aura is so Netflix Elizabethan-period drama love-scene. Check out the appetizing lead guitar work luring you in to Invisible Rays’ recent stand-alone single “I Don’t Dream of You.” The Boston combo are just so reliably good.

It was really hard to pick just one song to feature from Toronto’s The Young Novelists new album These Dark Canyons. At first I thought I’d go with the Americana-ish “All My Friends Are Leaving.” Then I was struck by the strong new wave hooks defining “Gimme Your Love.” But then I heard “Run Away” and that was it. The song kicks off very Golden Seals before settling into a sing-along chorus. You can always rely on Peter Yorn for something a bit different but still hooky. On “Ana Capri” you’ve got an AM radio chorus wrapped in verses that take up an inventive, intriguing soundscape. Have we got time for an oldie? If it’s Robert Ellis Oral the answer has to be yes. “Love’s On the Way” is from his 1986 album The War Between Us and it time-trips me back to a very special kind of poprock, one that could combine commercial chops with ear wormy hooks. Time to get back to the garage for some down and dirty rock that never loses grip on its magnetic melodic undercurrent. The Low Spirits “Can’t Love You Back” is a distilled drink of 1966. Another pull from the past is a song from Dave Paulson’s 2018 Tommy Boy themed album Sandusky, Ohio. “Don’t Let It Get You Down” sounds like a 1970s singer-songwriter romp, oscillating between different instruments and pacing while falling somewhere between Gilbert O’Sullivan and ELO.

Toronto’s Nicky Koro gets his jangle on with his recent summer 45 “Dreamin’.” Wow, this track has got ‘classic’ stamped all over its 2 minutes and 22 seconds. The shimmery guitars and seductive vocals meld together so pop perfectly. Not everyone in The Jerrys is named Jerry. The gal in their recent song “Kentucky Girl” may not even be from Kentucky. What we do know is the band combines an infectious hit of Merseybeat with the folk pop sensibility of bands like The Lilac Time. Nothing seems to be able arrest the creative energy of Power Pop Hall of Famers The Spongetones and that is a very good thing. Their most recent album is a 40th anniversary concert that also includes three newly recorded songs. They’re all so good it seems almost churlish to highlight one over another. Nevertheless, I’m leaning toward “Lulu’s In Love” as my current fave (but that could change by next week). More Toronto? Yes please. Ontario’s capital city gives us Octoberman and his indie folk rumination implicating “Harry Nilsson.” Things get a bit rocky in the middle but I’ve always like that kind of folkie flexibility from acts like Hayden and this one. Man has this band Pouts got the mid-sixties British Invasion sound down, with just a bit Britpop coating. “Stay Awhile” swings along, largely carried by its rhythm guitar with break out lead guitar lines adorning all the non-vocal spaces. Delightful!

Mark Ward’s new stand-alone track “I Don’t Care” launches hard with loud guitars before melting into a melody-drenched chorus. The overall feel is very early 1980s melodic rock while the sentiment is good old fashioned social critique. Grrrl Gang are an Indonesian force of nature. Their music is super-charged and danceable while their melodies are positively delectable. “O, My Love” is brimming with energy and insight – another winner, for sure. If we want to genre-shift to something a bit more homey and old time country-meets-rock and roll then The International Treasures fit the bill. “Last Regret” would have made a good number for the Everlys but this version is pretty sweet too. I’m getting my Canadian content in today, particularly from my own Toronto neighbourhood. Ron Sexsmith has a new album out and it is everything you’d expect: wistful, aching, and packed full of memorable melodies. I’m hitting replay on “It’s Been Awhile,” which captures my own longing for more Sexsmith material over the years. Another band with a new album are The Mommyheads. No Quietus is another installment of intelligent pop music, played with the pop sophistication of an XTC or Tally Hall. Check out “It’s Only Life” to get a taste of this superior pop product.

Ron Sexsmith “It’s Been Awhile”

One more time to the Toronto well for a wrap on our 21 single salute with Pony’s seismic song “Superglue.” This one has got the gloss, the shimmer, and the cheeky alluring hooks that just keep coming and coming. Surrender to the total sonic wash going on here.

Single shopping was never so easy as this. No salesman will call. Just hit on the hyperlinks and pile up your purchases from the comfort of your own couch.

Photo ‘Bruntsfield at night’ courtesy Bryonv2 Flikr collection.

Nick Lowe’s Abominable Showmen Revue

13 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

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Nick Lowe definitely likes having a crew to hang with. His many solo records often feature the same names popping up again and again, some from former bands like Brinsley Schwarz and Rockpile, or just people he’s picked up along the way like Paul Carrack and Bill Kirchen. Now if only we could bring them all together in a huge Nick Lowe ‘abominable showmen’ revue …  What a show that would be! Well, given the present pandemic state-of-the-world and myriad contractual conflicts and obligations that such an undertaking might bring up, my dream show seems unlikely. But nothing is stopping us from showcasing all that talent right here.

We kick off the show with Nick, of course. He’s got a fantastic new single, a cover of Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters’ 1963 tune, “A Quiet Place.” It’s another example of Nick’s amazing ability to breathe new life into rare oldies, backed once again by his recent stellar backers, Los Straightjackets. Compared to the original, Nick takes the song out of its original Sam Cooke-soul register, pushing a more Arthur Alexander country-soul feel. It’s a delightfully mellow and melodic rendition, highlighting Lowe’s masterly of the ‘roll’ side of rock and roll.

Career-wise, it’s clear that Nick’s a joiner. He’d just got a look in on the pop psychedelia of Kippington Lodge and wrote their only decent single of original material, “I Can See Her Face,” before the band morphed into Brinsley Schwarz. Fairly quickly, Lowe became their main singer and songwriter. But listen to their cover of The Hollies “Now’s the Time” from 1974’s New Favourites of Brinsely Schwarz to hear him working closely on the vocals with Ian Gomm, the band’s other main singer/songwriter (who famously cowrote Nick’s biggest solo hit, “Cruel to be Kind”). Nick’s next band was Rockpile, a group that recorded either one or six albums, depending on how you count them. Basically, contractual difficulties meant that most ‘Rockpile’ albums were credited to either Lowe or Dave Edmunds as solo artists with only 1980’s Seconds of Pleasure an official release. From the 1976 Edmunds release Get It Nick and Dave nail an updated 1960s-meets-new wave sound on “Here Comes the Weekend,” a song they co-wrote. Nick’s last stab at joining a group involved John Hiatt and Ry Cooder in the ill-fated Little Village project. The high hopes for a band with this combined talent failed to materialize, record-sales-wise. Too bad – Nick’s “Take Another Look” definitely showcases the band’s considerable talents.

Kippington Lodge – I Can See Her Face
Brinsley Schwarz – Now’s The Time
Little Village – Take Another Look

Outside of joining bands, Nick loves duets and guest appearances. He’s played on countless records by other people and they’ve returned the favour. He produced, performed on, and co-wrote a number of songs for Paul Carrack’s super solo album, Suburban Voodoo and Paul appeared in Nick’s backing band throughout most of the 1980s. I love their duet on “Wish You Were Here” from Nick’s 1983 record The Abominable Showman. Another artist Nick has spent a lot of time with over the years is Elvis Costello, producing his first five albums and one more later on. The two do a lovely cover of The Shirelles/Beatles song “Baby It’s You.” Old Brinsley Schwarz friends like guitar player Martin Belmont also reappear on Nick’s solo records. In return, Nick does the vocals on a somewhat different version of “A Man in Love” (a song from Nick’s 2007 At My Age record) on Belmont’s 2009 album, The Guest List. And then there’s people like Bill Kirchen, former member of Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen and early Americana performer. His collaborations with Nick stretch from the 1970s to the present. “Shelly’s Winter Love” is a trio performance featuring Kirchen, Lowe and Carrack on vocals. The title sounds like classic Nick wordplay but it’s actually a cover of a Merle Haggard song from 1971.

Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello – Baby It’s You
Martin Belmont and Nick Lowe – A Man in Love
Bill Kirchen, Nick Lowe and Paul Carrack – Shelly’s Winter Love

Our show will need opening acts, of course, and here’s a chance to showcase artists that may not have worked with Nick officially but have either joined him live or delivered great covers of his songs. Two Nick Lowe tribute albums give us some direction here. Christie McWilson and Rick Shea offer up a lovely country-fied performance of “Never Been in Love” from 2005’s Lowe Profile: A Tribute to Nick Lowe while Ron Sexsmith puts his distinctive stamp on “Where’s My Everything” from the 2012 collection, Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe. Of course, if we’re aiming big, we could try to get Wilco to show with their 2011 take on Nick’s “I Love My Label.” More recently Esther Rose offers up an inspired reworking of one of Nick’s more recent songs, “Blue on Blue” from his 2019 EP Love Starvation/Trombone. Of course, if such an event as this could be pulled off the most appropriate opening act would be Los Straightjackets. Their 2017 album of guitar instrumental versions of choice cuts from Lowe’s catalogue, (What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding, is outa-sight.

Christie McWilson and Rick Shea – Never Been in Love
Ron Sexsmith – Where’s My Everything
Esther Rose – Blue on Blue
Los Straightjackets – (What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding

I got to see Nick Lowe live in each of the past three decades, on the Impossible Bird tour, playing solo with Geraint Watkins, and more recently with Los Straightjackets, and every time was special. My ‘abominable showmen’ review is unlikely to ever ‘tread the boards’ as Nick might say, but I’ll always have the records and the memories of those great shows. In the meantime, visit the above mentioned artists and don’t forget to drop in on Nick too.