Tag Archives: Scoopski

Reindeer Games

17 Saturday Dec 2022

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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Things got a bit out of hand for Santa this year at the Reindeer Games. It started with too much rum and eggnog at breakfast and, well, you get the picture. Still, this year’s annual musical celebration of the season is back, vibing all the key warm and fuzzies of the holiday: anticipation, desire, tradition and joy. Let’s take up each, in song.

That holiday music machine Make Like Monkeys are now my go-to source for any and every kind of seasonal single. Need a Mersey-drenched bit of poprock to bring your holiday and dating into focus? Can do. “Please Don’t Let Christmas Come Without You Girl” sounds so Beatles-derivative beat-group circa 1964. And I love it. The Essex Green offer up an Everly Brothers-worthy slice of late sixties country rock, making peace with a “Green Christmas.” The heavenly guitars and layered background vocals on this track are all I need under the tree. Seasonal songsters Christmas Aguilera sound like they’re auditioning for a ‘I hate the holidays’ telethon what with all the disaster accompanying their yuletide plans in “All Wrapped Up.” But the subtext to all the apparent chaos seems to be a grudging, recognizable family kind of love. And the tune is a real winner too, chock full of hooks and harmony vocals. Proceeds from this help the campaign to end homelessness and poor housing in the UK. Daryl Bean delivers an eerie XTC-ish paean to the anticipation of the season on “Holidaze.” You’d swear there’s a Partridge in his pear tree.

Turning to desire Toronto’s Jane’s Party capture the youthful sense of really wanting to get that specific something at Xmas with “I Want It Bad.” And they deliver it with it a bit Motown swing. The Decibels’ Brent Seavers delivers a retro sounding classic holiday tune with “I Want You for Xmas,” complete with addictive ‘fa la la la la’s’ to really reel you in. I can’t decide if Frank Royster sounds more like Fastball or The Smithereens on his fab holiday track “Christmas is Fun.” Whichever, the song sounds like a slick bit of 1980s poprock magic. Turning to tradition, rock and roll traditionalists Jeremy and the Harlequins add a heflt of solid rock backing to “White  Christmas” to shake things up. I don’t know how much Superchunk owe to Dylan Thomas but their “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” is hooky and jangly and the that’s good enough for me. It’s hard to add much to that holiday rock and roll classic “Jingle Bell Rock” but premiere guitar instrumentalist Joel Paterson manages to inject some of his special, unique playing style into the song. Old dogs, new tricks indeed!

Feeling swamped by the crass commercialism of capitalist Christmas? This year don’t puzzle till your puzzler is sore about it. As the Grinch said, “Christmas, perhaps, is a little bit more.” Like hope, and peace, and joy. Berlin’s Shybits accent the hope on “Hope This Christmas,” a chaotic swirl of Futureheads meets The Spook School indie-pop seasonal goodnesss. The pop incomparable Orion Experience wield a serious joy stick on their seasonally-appropriate, all-you-need-is-love ode “Rich Man’s Holiday.”  As they sing it, you don’t need money when ‘your love is the greatest gift in the world.’ Then there’s the peaceful easy feeling that flows from Scoopski’s new Christmas classic “Your First Christmas.” The husband and wife duo sing about their actual recent baby, a stand in for the joy that every baby anywhere can bring to a hopefully peaceful world.

And yet is wouldn’t be the holidays without mixed feelings. It’s a tough season for so many. Some with or without family, with or without faith. Anthony D’Amato captures that holiday ennui on “Merry Christmas, I Guess.” Not sad, exactly. More lonely. All wrapped up in a musical pretty paper that sounds like the pedal-steel country blues. By contrast, The Surf School Dropouts won’t suffer in silence. They utilize their Beach Boys-vocals to call out to the jolly plus-size guy himself on “Help Me Santa.” Vancouver’s Odds have got a clever plan to deal with all the garbage this season produces, both emotional and physical. While the mall marketing people say ‘more! more!’ they have Santa telling voters to share the gift of love with ‘neighbour and your honey.’ We lost the legendary girl group pioneer Ronnie Spector this past year. Right to the end she was radiating joy and goodwill to all. In terms of her long career “Best Christmas Ever” is a fairly recent release but one that captures everything great about her enduring talent and style.

It’s almost a wrap here at this annual Reindeer Games. Let’s go out looking for that star that will help lead us where we need to go in the days ahead. My new favourite one-stop-shopping seasonal music provider Make Like Monkeys can provide the accompaniment with “Star.”

Merry ho ho to all and to all a goodnight!

Top photo courtesy Kevin Dooley.

Around the dial: Lund Brothers, Grant Lindberg, The Orion Experience, and Scoopski

06 Friday May 2022

Posted by in Around the Dial

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I was tuning in to my own late night dial when I ran across this crew of creative tune-sters. No anesthetized feelings here. Just some of the melodic magic they deliver regularly.

Imagine being a band rejected by a major label for sounding ‘too Beatles.” What?! But that was Geffen’s excuse for not signing The Lund Bros. after initially financing some recordings in 1990s. Well the late Beatles influences remain despite the years, plastered all over their newest recording Across State Lines. The album puts acoustic guitar and blood harmonies at the forefront of the songs, while still delivering the band’s distinctive ‘heavy pop’ sound. This combo is most striking on the lovely and haunting “The Front Lines.” Or check out how “Living is Easy” opens with stripped down acoustic guitar and vocals only to break out a bigger sound in the chorus and instrumental break. “Love U” delivers some solo Lennonesque twists in the song structure and melody while “Killin’ Me” is more Lennon in White Album mode. The songs sometimes feel very Ten Years After with their combination of live sounding vocals and acoustic guitar intros and interludes e.g. “Harder They Fall” and “Red, Blue and Gold.” There’s a country rock vibe on “Want Your Money” and it’s also got a hit-it-out-the-park chorus. Turning to should-be hits, the two obvious singles for me are “Bender” and “Flyin’,” the latter combining some Cars-like guitar shots and a Beatles-worthy chorus. Across State Lines marks a triumphant return for The Lund Bros. Definitely worth that trip to the border.

By the looks of things over Bandcamp Grant Lindberg has released an awful lot of music over the past two decades. Where have I been all his career? I’m just joining the Lindberg train with his most recent long-player Function Over Form but man, it seems as good a place as anywhere to start. There’s quality melodic rock and roll right off the start with opening cut “Things Have Been Strange.” It’s got a touch of that droning power pop vibe I associate with Jeff Shelton’s Well Wishers. Or there’s a bit of Weezer in “Your First Mistake,” a Chris Collingwood in Look Park mode vibe on “Nothing I Can Do,” and echoes of Cheap Trick all over “Shame On You.” But then I also love how Lindberg lightens things up with the lilting acoustic-guitar heavy “Your Heart is my Light” and “The Words” (even if the latter has something of an ominous atmosphere). “She’s a Mystery” opens with a great 1970s melodic guitar blast before settling on 1990s hooky grunge vibe. “Things We Do” is bit pop gungy too. But the clear should-be hit for me is “Always Been A Lie” with its lovely swinging melodic chorus and early FOW sound. Here’s a music veteran whose sound is still post-teenage fresh and exciting. Function Over Form definitely deserves some of your precious new music time.

Seems I’d just finished raving about The Orion Experience last fall only to overlook the release of their latest album Fever Dream. Well there’s no stale dating this release because the sounds are all timeless. Warning: this record is much more pop than rock, but it’s still great. Things open with “All Dolled Up,” a dance-y number vibing bits of Bony M, Blondie, and Queen. Then “Digital Affection” reminds me of ELO’s disco interventions circa 1978. “Night Eyes” keeps the disco party going, this time with a smooth Abba feel. “Cosmicandy Girl” is all pop while “Honeysuckle Kisses” combines both rock and dance elements. But the track I can’t stop hitting replay on is “I Can Read Your Mind.” I love the song’s swing and the percussion is so toe-tapping good. Fever Dream is a feel-good party platter, with melodies and grooves to help you sing and dance the night away.

On See You Soon Philadephia PA’s Scoopski harken back to an era of fun 1990s poppy rock tunes, flavoured with a bit of a Weezer or FOW discordant edge. The band’s original take on these themes can be heard on album opener “Living in Key” which combines kicking-up-your-heels pop-country verses with more rocky choruses and instrumental interludes. Need a state song update? “Pennsylvania” brings on the state love with Weezer keyboards and some They Might Be Giants lyrical twists. The Weezer influences carry on into “Hoodie Weather” which nails a very Cuomo vocal delivery. “While We Wait” and “See You Soon” are just great AM radio poprock songs. But the really striking tunes here are “Contrarian” and “Elon Send Me to Mars.” Both are carefully crafted, finely textured sonic treats, with lyrics that really do sing. I love the lead guitar and other-worldly keyboards that launch “Elon Send Me to Mars” as well as the chunky power chords that carry the tune. The chorus hook seals it, helped by the hilarious, over-the-top lyrics. See You Soon is a solid highly listenable 44 minutes of tune-age. And there’s a back catalogue for those that want more.

Yes, radio was a sound salvation. Now we gotta do it for ourselves. Pretend this post is your radio selection for the evening. And the best part, you don’t even have to leave to house to rush to the e-record store after.