Tag Archives: Tamar Berk

Hello again: Tamar Berk and Eytan Mirsky

14 Sunday Sep 2025

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Some artists just keep coming back around with intriguing new work that continues to develop their oeuvre. Today’s artists couldn’t be farther apart stylistically but man do they reliably deliver their goods.

Don’t tell my husband but I think I’m in a relationship with Tamar Berk. Maybe we’re just gal pals. Thing is, five albums in and Tamar is still sidling up to me, whispering secrets, sharing the darkest parts of her emotional universe. Always against a musical backdrop that makes everything feel like I’m caught in an 1980s John Hughes movie. Not that I’m looking to get out – I am loving it here. As Berk says in her presser, ocd is a ‘fuzzed-out, reverb-heavy swirl’ all about ‘anxiety, obsessions, fears, memories, dreams’ that falls ‘somewhere between indie pop-rock and a fever dream.’ Dream on Tamar, I say. Opening cut “stay close by” sets the scene with its buzzy drone, overlaid with Berk’s ethereal vocal. Title track “ocd” lightens the tone sonically, letting a variety of keyboards lull the mood before launching a striking chorus. Then comes the first of the many should-be hit singles from the album, “you ruined this city for me.” This is the kind of song Berk excels at, a flowing rush of melody that gathers you up in its release of energy. Another hit-maker is “there are benefits to mixed emotions” with its hypnotic spooky vibe. “i had a dream i was lost in an auditorium” also sounds like chart material to me with its reworked girl group feel. This one’s an auditorium sing-along number, for sure. Of course, “indiesleaze 2005” sounds like radio pleaser too. It can’t be a Tamar Berk album without a few gut-wrenching ballads and ocd doesn’t disappoint. “any given weeknight” and “my turn will come” fit the bill, the latter offering up an REM “Night Swimming” emotional gut punch. Personal fave?  “i’m in the day after” is so 1980s-pop gorgeous with its killer, larger-than-life synth shots. I’ve spent years comparing Berk to the likes of Debbie Harry, Aimee Mann or Suzanne Vega but on ocd Berk drills down into her own unique sound. It’s also probably the most consistent sounding record she’s made, capturing a specific vibe that resonates out of all the songs despite their differences. ocd is definitely another winner for Berk. But don’t tell my husband.

Another Eytan Mirsky album, another chance to track his every false move emotionally. He’s a guy seemingly always falling in love but somehow mostly falling flat. The confessions here are typically draped in self-deprecation but a few exhibit a strikingly tender sincerity. Stylistically All Over the Map definitely is. This record’s got soul and country, plenty of horns and cool organ runs, and oh so much heart. Things kick off with “Did What I Came to Do” with its low-key Motown vibe. I can practically see those Solid Gold dancers swaying throughout. Then come some signature Mirsky tougue-in-cheek self-critique tunes. “Apologize in Advance” puts some rockabilly guitar up front on a track that would not be out of place on a Buck Owens or Nick Lowe LP. “Inside Job” combines a Springsteen-worthy horn/organ section with a song seemingly haunted by Graham Parker. But then things get serious on “Almost Didn’t Cry,” a real straight-up country tear-jerker. The LP features a few out-of-the-ordinary efforts like “If I Could Only Draw” and “My Little Tricycle.” “Fooling Exactly Nobody” dials in a bit of New Jersey soul vamp while “If You’re So Smart” offers up a country romp critique. “Two Piece Puzzle” has the drama and cleverisms I’d associate with Elvis Costello. I was totally disarmed by the sweet accordion colouring the Nick Lowe-ish “The Satisfaction.” The album also has a should-be hit single in the stylistic outlier “Lost You in the Jet Stream,” a track that is more straight-up poprock than anything else here, definitely the AM radio ready single with some killer organ work. The album closes with “Give Me a Sign,” a moving paean to loss, where the organ and horn adornment add something special. Trust me, you’re definitely gonna want to follow Eytan All Over the Map with this release.

Who says emotional problems can’t be entertaining? Not these artists. Say hello to Tamar Berk and Eytan Mirsky at their hotlinked internet locales to keep this conversation going.

Photo ‘Found Kodachome slide’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2024

09 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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Another year, another load of really good albums. Creativity was off the charts in 2024, in both senses unfortunately. But banish despair, here at Poprock Record we make up our own charts, shining light on a deserving collection of should-be stars. Here’s our list of 25 must-have albums from the past year and, trust me, you’ll find plenty of variety within our self-imposed parameters of poppy rock. You’ve got jangle (Ducks Ltd.), gender (Day Dreams) and heartbreak (Tamar Berk). There’s retro (Terry Anderson), metro (Super 8) and fun (Scoopski). We’ve got artists singing in Spanish (Star Trip) and wide variety of accents from the British Isles (the list would be too long). And so much more.

The envelope please, here are Poprock Record’s 25 must have LPs from 2024:

1. Day Dreems Day Dreems
2. Tamar Berk Good Times For a Change
3. Brent Seavers Exhibit B
4. Wesley Fuller All Fuller, No Filler
5. Ducks Ltd. Harm’s Way
6. Aaron Pinto Aaron Pinto
7. Chris Milam Orchid South
8. The Martial Arts In There Like Swimwear
9. The Armoires Octoberland
10. Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kicking Team Got To Be Strong
11. Star Trip Velocidad
12. Bull Engines of Honey
13. Real Estate Daniel
14. Phil Thornalley Holly Would
15. The Trafalgars About Time
16. Super 8 Retro Metro
17. Be Like Pablo A World Apart
18. Nick Piunti and the Complicated Men Up and Out of It
19. Rich Arithmetic Pushbutton Romance
20. Owen Adamcik Owen Adamcik’s Power Pop Paradise
21. Steve Robinson Window Seat
22. Sergio Ceccanti Mysterious Journey
23. John Larson and the Silver Fields Constellation Prize
24. Scoopski Time is a Thief
25. David Woodard Get It Good

Day Ricardo’s Day Dreems project was groundbreaking in so many ways, lyrically touching on gender, the body, ADHD, oppressive nostalgia and more, while musically mashing up hints of Squeeze, Crowded House and the Beatles into their own distinctive voice. It’s a most worthy choice to sit at #1. But close behind Tamar Berk wowed us with yet another winning collection of introspective yet downright hooky numbers. Brent Seavers, now there’s a guy who knows how to pack an LP full of highly listenable tunes. I mean, he does it again and again. I could go on … and do in the original posts hyperlinked above.

The EP format continues to offer artists a creative outlet that falls somewhere between the noble single and a more herculean long-playing effort. True for some it may amount to little more than a glorified single with additional alternative versions, demos and live cuts (not that I’m complaining). But for others it’s a carefully curated musical statement in its own right. I think our cast of 6 must-have EPs from 2024 lean more in the latter direction:

1. Lo Fi Ho Hum Garage Pop
2. Cliff Hillis and Dennis Schocket Pop, Girls, Etc.
3. Sunken Planes Intersections
4. Shake Some Action! Trip to Yesterday / Chase the Light
5. The Genuine Fakes Extended Play Vol. 1
6. The High Elves Early Works

I deliberately leave legacy artists – i.e. those that gained conventional chart success and still benefit from that or have a major label sponsor – off my yearly lists. They don’t really need any push from me. But I do love a lot of those acts and it is great to see them still putting out solid creative works. So here’s a legacy artist shout out to some notable releases in 2024:

1. JD McPherson Nite Owls
2. The Decemberists As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
3. Fastball Sonic Ranch
4. Cast Love is the Call
5. Crowded House Gravity Stairs
6. Nick Lowe and Los  Straitjackets Indoor Safari

I’m a non-recovering Beatlemaniac, it’s true. I’m always on the lookout for some fun and creative riffs on the Fabs. This year Nick Frater blew away the competition with the further development of his Rutles project, a riff on a riff on the Beatles. So meta! Thus our best riff on the Beatles this year is:

Nick Frater Nick Frater presents The Rebutles 1967-70

Last year I singled out The Flashcubes for their amazing Pop Masters album. It was one where they covered a host of new wave era classics with members of the original bands. This year their spin-off band The Half Cubes produced their own version of that project with equally impressive results. You see where this is going. This year’s special award of awesome poprock merit goes to:

The Half-Cubes Pop Treasures

As I wrote in the original review, “Pop Treasures is a monster of a collection” that is ‘lovingly relentless’ in its coverage of 1970s and 1980s hit-makers and indie darlings. It’s a hits package worthy of K-Tel, and that is high praise coming from someone who lived through the seventies. So many great songs here, including our #1 most inventive cover for 2024 “Make You Cry.” Treat yourself, this is a guaranteed good time.

Album fans, the form is in safe hands if the releases from this past year are anything to go by. Sure the kids may not be into them the way their 1960s through 1990s peers were but they’ll have something to dip into when they get older.

Photo of John Baldessari’s art piece ‘Record Collector’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles for 2024

04 Saturday Jan 2025

Posted by in Should be a Hit Single

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Time to rev up our annual Poprock Record should-be hit singles list of songs we’ve featured at some point during 2024. Let’s be honest up front, we barely scratched the surface of all that was going on out there music-wise, even within the confines of our own narrowly defined genre (what I’ve been calling poppy rock). As I peek at the lists of other melodic rock taste-makers I see loads of great acts I somehow missed out on. Oh well. There’s only so much needle-dropping your scribe can do. From what we did manage to cover I just want to take this space to remind you of some stand-out tracks. So today we single out 50 should-be hit singles from 2024, songs that deserve another shot at chart glory. Click on the hyperlinks to hear each of the songs and read the original write ups.

Drumroll please, here are Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles from 2024:

1. Wons Phreely “The Faithful Heart”
2. Real Estate “Water Underground”
3. Used “Morning Sun”
4. Lo Fi Ho Hum “Never Been in Love”
5. Tamar Berk “Good Impression”
6. Frank Royster “Someday”
7. Wifey “Mary Ann Leaves the Band”
8. Peter Freebairn “I Got Lucky (I Got You)”
9. Mo Troper “A Piece of You Broken Through My Heart”
10. The Well Wishers “Good Side”
11. Blitzen Trapper “Hello Hallelujah”
12. Chime School “Wandering Song”
13. Strange Neighbors “Tell All Your Friends”
14. Steven Wright-Mark “Summer Sky”
15. Brent Seavers “Till It’s Over”
16. Ducks Ltd. “The Main Thing”
17. HOA “Push Man”
18. Dom Mariani “Jangleland”
19. Randy Klawon “She’s More Than I Want”
20. Kenny Michaels “Must Be This New Love of Mine”
21. Laughing “Bruised”
22. Cal Rifkin “Big Star”
23. Stephen Schijns “Carry On (The Way It Has To Be)”
24. 2nd Grade “Live From Missile Command”
25. Love Burns “What To Do About Us”
26. The Fatal Flaw “Stop Pushing Me Away”
27. Marc Jonson “November Paintbrush”
28. Sunken Planes “There’s a World”
29. Pale Lights “Twisting the Knife”
30. Paul Collins “In Another World”
31. The Rockyts “Without You”
32. Ward White “Our Town”
33. The Cynz “Crow Haired Boys”
34. Sad About Girls “She’s Not Here”
35. David Woodard “The Last of the Full Grown Men”
36. The Reflectors “Supernova”
37. Mark Alan Lofgren “Ne’er Do Wells”
38. The Dreambots “Tightrope”
39. Ethan Beck and the Charlie Browns “Does This Bus Stop at Douglas Street”
40. The Newds “God of Small Things”
41. Motorists “Phone Booth in the Desert of the Mind”
42. Neon Bone “Don’t Fall in Love With Her”
43. SidePlay “Hit the Road Mac”
44. Caddy “In a Heartbeat”
45. Glenn Erb “Dashboard Jesus”
46. Brother Dynamite “The Girl’s in Love”
47. Pony “Freezer”
48. Jupiter Motel “Playing with Ghosts”
49. Newski “Banking On Never Breaking Down Again”
50. Teenage Tom Petties “She Kissed Me in Seattle”

Music blogger extraordinaire Eclectic Music Lover put me on to Won Phreely’s captivating single and I was hooked. Both Real Estate and Used struck me as mining that elegant Shins brand of manicured poprock. Lo Fi Ho Hum grabbed my attention with his quirky, amusing video but his melody lingered long after. Tamar Berk just goes from strength to strength in her songwriting and you can hear it here. I could go on. This is a list bursting with jangle and heartbreak – and hooks, of course.

Next up, Poprock Record’s most inventive covers from 2023:

1. The Half-Cubes “Make You Cry”
2. Mattiel & Troy Stains “Somebody’s Knocking”
3. Super Ratones “Troubled Times”

The covers just keep on coming and I’m fine with that. Poprock veterans The Half Cubes gave us a double album of carefully curated pop hits from the past but it was their cover of The Sighs’ signature song that really floored me. Georgia’s Mattiel could sing the phone book and keep most people happy but her cover of Terri Gibbs’ 1981 hit is nothing short of transformative. Then there’s Super Ratones doing Fountains of Wayne. Lovely and timely.

It’s been a tough year. It’s been a year full of great songs. We’ll certainly need more of the latter in the days ahead and Poprock Record with be there to bring you more should-be hits. So click on the links above to remind yourself how good 2024 was and make sure to visit the artists and wave a little cash in their direction.

Photo courtesy of Sunsju Flikr collection.

Around the dial: The Half-Cubes, Tamar Berk, The Martial Arts, and Teenage Tom Petties

20 Tuesday Aug 2024

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We tune our radio dial today to throwback seventies pop, tuneful tableaus, melodic melodrama and hooky guitar noise. And with no need to change the station.

The Half-Cubes new album Pop Treasures is a monster of a collection, featuring 24 tunes that draw from 1970s and 1980s hit-makers and indie darlings in a lovingly relentless manner. At the risk of going all K-Tel on you, the hits just keep on coming here. Opening cut “Love’s Melody” sets the stage, barreling into the spotlight with an unstoppable 1970s pop punch. I can definitely hear The Searchers lurking in the arrangement of this Motors tune but the performance is classic Half-Cubes in its hooky intensity. But when the band switch to less well-known material like “Weakest Shade of Blue” from The Pernice Brothers they make that sound like a great lost hit single too. They’re just that good. Clearly I can’t touch on every tune here so let me point out some surprises and personal faves. Like their version of 10cc’s “The Dean and I.” This was the song that turned me on to that band and it’s not an easy cover, with its complex melodic turns and vocal arrangement. But the ever reliable Half-Cubes pull it off. Doing Phil Seymour’s “Precious To Me” was an obvious but no less delicious choice. Offering up a guitar-centric take on OMD’s “Souvenir” was a more bold move. You can hear a lot of thought went into the choice cuts included here, from Del Amitri’s still striking “Not Where It’s At” to the crashing guitar goodness of Cheap Trick’s “Heaven’s Falling” to 20/20’s understated guitar pop masterpiece “Jet Lag.” As an added bonus, The Half Cubes regularly share their spotlight with a number of the original artists. For instance, The Sighs entire band show up to join them on the re-make of their nineties hit “Make You Cry.” Pop Treasures really is an aptly-named assemblage of should-be hits in the best spirit of K-Tel party albums.

The title of Tamar Berk’s latest LP Good Times for a Change appears to drop a Smiths’ lyric on us with similar ironic intention. Good times don’t make for inspired art. So on solo album #4 Berk continues her journey into emotional and melodic complexity and where we end up is predictably impressive. Berk opens the record with a solid, should-be hit single. “Good Impression” flashes some Cars rhythm guitar shots so effectively I’d swear I was tuned to a 1981 car radio. This is some fabulous neo-new wave poprock. “That’s Not a Lie” is another single contender with its great vocal work. The rest of the record switches up tempo and moods, shifting through dance-able numbers like “You Trigger Me” to more contemplative efforts like “Chicago” which expertly builds its intensity throughout the performance, laying on more and more pop sheen. I’ve often compared Berk’s work to other smart and inventive female artists like Suzanne Vega and Aimee Mann and hear more that here, with the former echoing throughout “Book of Change” and “Millenium Park” or the latter on “I’ll Come to the Rescue.” There’s a playful feel so many tunes here, like the catchy ‘oh oh oh oh’s’ of “Be My Friend” or the languid shuffle on “I Don’t Mind” or the horns adorning “Artful Dodger.” Good times might be over-rated but Good Times for a Change can’t be rated high enough.

In the 1970s there was a fifties music revival that combined cartoonish hooks with a zany compressed sound that felt like it might go off the rails at any moment. You can hear it in the glam and Abba from the period and a host of deep cuts from 10cc. Add a strong dose of James Mercer’s clever pop sheen and things might add up to Glasgow’s The Martial Arts. The band’s new album In There Like Swimwear could be a time capsule from that era, except that it is much too smart and self-aware for those simple times. Opening song “Hold On Full Of Hope” gives you the flavour, riding its in-your-face melody with a bit of Elton John boogie in the background. “Empty Out There” keeps up the energy, sustained by some killer organ work. “The Attractions” strikes an Elvis Costello Armed Forces note, perhaps not surprisingly. “No Victory” was an early release single and it still sounds to me like an ice skating rink soundtrack number (and that is a very good thing). There’s so much to discover on this album, the songs are so complex and continue to reveal themselves on repeated listening. Songs like “Something in the Water” and “Exploding Crushing Inevitable” are so creatively put together, in totally different ways. Should be hit single? Definitely “Friends For Fools.” Those rhythm guitar shots are so alluring, only to break out into a beautiful melodic arc that just keeps stretching along new paths. It’s a perfect slice of melodic melodrama. There’s surprises here too. Like “Not Coming Down” which opens with a The The single synth note, only to move into a more Erasure-ish march. Then “Closing Number” offers a delightful sonic salad of varied sounds, ending with a banjo no less. Forget your bathing cap, In There Like Swimwear is actually gala entertainment.

On album number three (and second self-titled release) Teenage Tom Petties fade back from full band form to mostly just main man Tom Brown in his bedroom. But the results are still pretty rocking. The goal this time, says Brown, was to make an ‘alt-rock 90’s powerpop record’ combining influences from Fountains Of Wayne, Superdrag and Weezer with some ‘attempted Beach Boys harmonies.’ Tall order much? Yet Brown delivers and then some. “I Got Previous” has got a rough and ready DIY nineties vibe going. “Hawaiian Air” floats oh-so smooth vocals over bed of distorted guitars. Then “Kissed Me In Seattle” really is a pretty spectacular love child of all those aforementioned bands. Some songs lean more in one direction than another, with “Dumb Enough” very Weezer while “This Autumn Body” is so FOW. “Night Nurse” has got the urgency, crashing guitars, and pop hooks to be the single here. I could go on about every single song here (“Handstands for your Love” is sooo good!) but you’re getting the point. Give in to your longing for grungy 90s power pop and buy Teenage Tom Petties right now.

We’re your all-in radio station, serving up seventies retro, neo-new wave, tuneful melodrama and nineties power pop in one post. Convenient hyperlinks take you directly to the source.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr Collection.

Breaking news: Tamar Berk, Hurry, Arthur Alexander, and Movie Movie

01 Sunday Oct 2023

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The news desk here at Poprock Record won’t win any awards for being on the scene when stories break. But we live in hope our headlines are the hooks you’ve been looking for.

A new album from Tamar Berk isn’t just a release, it’s an event. Tiny Injuries is the third installment of a trilogy of albums exploring love, loss and surviving. It’s also a love letter to all the musical influences she holds dear. Berk’s finely tuned ear reliably turns classic poprock sounds into something new. From the opening bars of album opener “if u know, u know” the feel is new wave 1979, until some insistent synth hooks blur the focus, leaching into the 1980s. Berk knows how to build a song and by continually adding subtle elements the track becomes timeless, unmoored from its initial influences. Some cuts here really draw out a gut level retro response. “drop in the bucket” is a genius 1980s reinvention, balancing a melodic menace with the rhythm guitar’s magnetic pull carrying the listener forward. The organ run kicking off “walking hurricane” knocked me off my chair but that was nothing compared to the song’s irrepressible Go Go’s rhythmic intensity. Dance party approved, indeed. “gonna call it” uses over-the-top 1980s synth drama to frame a rocking classic. By contrast, other songs bring to life a tender, almost Suzanne Vega-like combination of lyrical-musical introspection. It’s there on “what’s become of me, my friend,” “cash out,” and “i was saved by the beauty in the world.” Berk is also mindful of sonic texture. Just listen to how she develops “permanent vacation” starting with rugged acoustic guitar, slowly adding idiosyncratic synth and horns, and topping everything with ethereal background vocals. Should-be hit-single here, definitely “Sunday Driving.” Things get rocking with a load of tasty lead guitar hooks. At then the album ends with “if i could fix one thing,” a stark, striking, emotional closer. Tiny Injuries is Berk firing on all creative cylinders and the ride is more than fine.

Philadelphia’s Hurry seem aptly named on their most recent album Don’t Look Back. The pace of this record is relentless, a seemingly impenetrable wall of jangly guitars and sonorous reverbed-out vocals that just keeps coming at you. Not that I’m complaining. This is the bounciest, brightest break-up album I’ve ever heard. The song titles give the lyrical game away: “Didn’t Have to Try,” “Like I Loved You,” “Beggin’ For You,” etc. This guy is clearly hurting and more than a bit desperate. But you’d never know it from the sunny disposition of the music, drawing on equal parts Big Star, Teenage Fanclub and Matthew Sweet (though perhaps a bit more tightly wound than those acts). “Begging For You” does strike a somewhat unique note, vibing more Fountains of Wayne-reminiscent melodic turns and vocal phrasing. Another departure of sorts can be found on “For Us To Find Love” which slows the pace, sounding a bit more 1970s guitar pop. Don’t Look Back is a totally listenable full-album experience but on the stand-out tracks front both “Didn’t Have to Try” and “Like I Loved You” exude a hit single confidence, deftly balancing alluring, carrying-the-melody vocals with mirroring lead guitar work. Break up albums seldom leave their listeners feeling this buoyant.

On … Stepping Out! Arthur Alexander works his formidable array of influences into 12 new songs (and one cover) and the results are predictably spectacular. The ease with which he can work a 1960s motif into any tune and make it better is impressive. Case in point, the fab remake of The Sorrows song “It’s Not Love Anymore #2.” The rumbly guitar is so 1964 but it’s the melodic turns that nail such a subtlely, Mersey-inflected tune. The harmonica solo is just the icing on top. Or listen to how Alexander effortlessly weaves a James Bond-like theme into fabric of “She’s a Red Hot Lover.” The LP does have a bit of split personality, one part leaning heavily on sixties influences while another group of songs strongly vibe the pop elan of the 1980s. There’s “I’ll Miss You” for a solid 1965 poppy rock sound. The lead guitar sparkle and vocal harmonies so nail the period. But tracks like “A Little Too Much” put that distinctive 1980s synth to forefront just like Golden Earring did in the same decade. Along the same lines “Ashes” and “Silver Cloud” remind me of that sophisticated Alan Parsons Project pop sound while “Fly Away” could be a 1980s take on the Bryds. “Why Can’t You Come” is, again, pretty 1980s Golden Earing to my ears. Then there are the outliers, the 1920s swinging “Oh Lulu, Won’t Be My Girl” and hum-fabulous “Humming Blues in Four.” … Stepping Out! is a very good time: familiar and fun with more than a few delightful surprises.

With Storyboards Movie Movie offer a broader take on the band’s sonic palate, resting the 12-string electric guitar occasionally to dig a bit deeper into their Americana rock and roll roots. The previous Now Playing EP was a solid slab of jangle but on this LP it’s like they’ve been given permission to dabble a bit. The anthemic opener “Born to Win” signals a more muscular rocking posture, like an American Jam. From there the musical touchstones are mostly heartland America, with a shade of indie. “Only Time Will Tell” sounds like a very tight version of The Replacements, “Working From Home” reminds me of Wall of Voodoo, while “Time to Say Goodnight” feels very BoDeans. In “The Light That Shines in Her Eyes” I hear hints of Tom Petty, X, and The Violent Femmes. I love the kick-up-your-heels Tex-Mex party swing on “The Two Loneliest People in the World.” There are a few significant departures here too. “The Girl With the Wandering Eye” could have been recorded in airport hangar with The The’s Matt Johnston in the producer chair. “Lone Warrior” has almost a jazzy pop feel. “A Real Good High” is defined by the severe rhythm guitar sound of the late seventies Kinks. Then, in a direct contrast, the album ends with the jaunty “Better Off Friends” sounding like Lou Reed in pop mode. Storyboards reveals a complex, ambitious band destined for a long run at the box office.

You’ve got the headlines, now dig into those back stories via the hyperlinks above. There’s still more to find out about these newsworthy acts.

Photo ‘Radio on the Television’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2022

10 Tuesday Jan 2023

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Once again I’ve assembled a crack team of ace reviewers to whittle our towering pile of albums from 2022 down to an essential must-have list of just 25 choices. How could these stuffed suits know what’s hip, you might say? It’s kinda like how album covers can be deceiving – the dullest dust jacket may obscure a real gem. So I’ve had these guys working overtime to bring you the very best of 2022, as featured in the annals of this here blog over the past calendar year. They’ve combed through countless long-players, extended plays and concept albums to put together multiple ‘must have’ lists. Tough work but you can tell by quality of their tailoring that they were up for it.

Cue drumroll – here we have it, Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs from 2022:

1. Tamar Berk Start at End
2. Trevor Blendour Falling in Love
3. Televisionairies Mad About You
4. Kids on a Crime Spree Fall in Love Not in Line
5. The Kryng Twelve Hymns to Syng Along
6. The Minders Psychedelic Blacktop
7. Eytan Mirsky Lord, Have Mirsky!
8. Edward O’Connell Feel Some Love
9. Phil Thornalley Now That I Have Your Attention
10. Kate Clover Bleed Your Heart Out
11. Push Puppets Allegory Grey
12. The Rubs (dust)
13. Afterpartees Family Names
14. Sloan Steady
15. 2nd Grade Easy Listening
16. Greg Pope Rise of Mythical Creatures
17. Papercuts Past Life Regression
18. Young Guv Guv III
19. Freedy Johnston Back on the Road to You
20. Pete Astor Time on Earth
21. The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness The Third Wave of …
22. Superchunk Wild Loneliness
23. The Happy Fits Under the Shade of Green
24. Tony Molina In the Fade
25. Chris Lund Indian Summer

Tamar Berk’s outstanding album Start at End tops our list for 2022. Melodic, poppy, inventive, and with a smooth AM radio sheen that encourages repeated listening. And then it’s hard not to fall for the manic, almost gleeful energy of Trevor Blendour’s Falling in Love. The Televisionaries’ Mad About You is just a wonderful mixture of retro rock and roll and hooky modern melodic riffing. I could go on (and I have – click on the hot links to go to the original posts). The list has got old faves (Freedy Johnston, Edward O’Connell, Eytan Mirsky), power pop stalwarts (Sloan, Greg Pope, Chris Lund), and a whole lot that was entirely new to me (Kate Clover, Push Puppets, Pete Astor). And there’s jangle to spare (The Kryng, Young Guv, The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness). The list is proof that, contra claims we are solely a sample culture, the long-playing album is alive and well in the new millennium.

And there’s more. The ongoing revival of the extended play record format has led to this list, Poprock Record’s must-have EPs from 2022:

1. The Happy Somethings Ego Test
2. Movie Movie Movie Movie
3. Sad About Girls Wild Creatures
4. Friends of Cesar Romero In the Cold Cruel Eyes of a Millions Stars
5. Ryan Allen I’m Not Mean
6. Love, Burns Fade in the Sun
7. Richard Turgeon Rough Around the Edges
8. The Genuine Fakes Extended Play Vol. 3

The Happy Somethings make me happy, about a lot of things. They say important things, they give me hope. And their tunes are swell. The rest of the list is pretty winning too. Great tunes in smaller packages. That leaves no excuses not to check them out.

Sometimes an album is bigger than its constituent parts. Sometimes it’s just big. So I had to carve out a special category for Ken Sharp’s latest homage to the 1970s, Poprock Record’s must-have concept album from 2022:

Ken Sharp I’ll Remember the Laughter

Our last category recognizes an artist of prodigious talent and shocking productivity. By my reckoning over the past year alone he has turned out 2 albums of completely new material, 8 EPs of new material, 3 double-sided singles, 3 greatest hits albums, a b-sides album, an EP of remakes, and a holiday EP. Sleep is apparently not for this guy. Thus we bestow the Poprock Record special award of awesome poprock merit to:

The Photocopies

Another year, another avalanche of great tunes. Melodic rock and roll lives and here is the proof. Click on the links and find your new faves. The guys in suits are done here (for now).

1954 ‘Speaking of Pictures’ ad courtesy James Vaughn.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles for 2022

05 Thursday Jan 2023

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It was another busy year for melody-drenched rock and roll. Releases were coming fast and furious and frankly I could barely keep up. Still, I managed to get 82 posts up on the blog in 2022 and write over 64,000 words on the loosely-defined rock and roll sub-genre I call ‘poprock.’ I couldn’t write about everything that crossed my desk or what others may have necessarily thought was review-worthy, I just covered what caught my ear or worked itself into some kooky theme I cooked up. So let me be clear, what appears here is a completely arbitrary exercise in personal taste and discretion. I’m sure others may have a somewhat different set of worthy tunes that deserve more attention. And that is totally cool. The point is to celebrate the artists and perhaps give people another shot at checking them out.

So here it is, Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles from 2022:

1. Grrrl Gang “Pop Princess”
2. The Bleeding Idahos “The Beat Said”
3. Dazy “Rollercoaster Ride”
4. Bloody Norah “Shooting Star”
5. Allan Kaplon “Restless One”
6. Televisionaries “Over and Out”
7. John Larson and the Silver Fields “Reversible Heart”
8. Push Puppets “There’s No-one Else Like Lynette”
9. Tamar Berk “Your Permission”/“Tragic Endings”
10. Freddie Steady Krc “Bohemian Dandy”
11. The Toms “Atmosphere”
12. The Proctors “You and Me and the Sea”
13. The Minders “Home”
14. Richard Turgeon “Better With You”
15. Flipp “You Can Make It Happen”
16. Bill DeMain “Lone Ranger”
17. Limblifter “Haystack Rock”
18. Stephen Schijns “I Met Her Yesterday”
19. The Rubs “When I Dream About You”
20. Edward O’ Connell “Golden Light”
21. Superchunk “Endless Summer”
22. The Kryng “Get”
23. Freedy Johnston “There Goes a Brooklyn Girl”
24. Phil Thornalley “Fast Car”
25. Lawn “Down”
26. The Stroppies “The Perfect Crime”
27. Beachheads “Jupiter”
28. Martin Luther Lennon “jfkha”
29. David Woodard “Stupid Kid”
30. Linda XO “California Girl”
31. Richard X. Heyman “When the New Dawn Comes”
32. Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard “Break Right In”
33. Sloan “Magical Thinking”
34. Teenage Tom Petties “Boxroom Blues”
35. The Demos “Streetlight Glow”
36. Suburban HiFi “In Her Reverie”
37. Moonlight Parade “Amsterdam”
38. Ricky Rochelle “In a Dream With You”
39. The Telmos “What She Knows”
40. Marc Jonson and Ramirez Exposure “Tape Recording”
41. Sky Diving Penguins “Run Boy”
42. Novelty Island “Jangleheart”
43. Goodman “Au Pair”
44. Pictish Trail “Melody Something”
45. Kevin Robertson “Tough Times (Feel Like That)
46. U.S. Highball “(You’ve Got To) Activate a Carrot”
47. The Wends “What A Heart Is For”
48. The Rallies “Must Be Love”
49. Jane’s Party “It’s Been Years”
50. Frank Royster “Open Door”

There were so many great songs put out this past year, I was spoiled for choice. And choosing wasn’t easy. Sometimes I cheated a little. Grrrl Gang’s “Pop Princess” technically came out before 2022 but I only got around to writing about it this last year. What a tune! It’s a perfect example of the kind of excitement a great single can generate and, really, why I write this blog. People need to hear it! Or there’s the fresh indie hooks driving The Bleeding Idahos’ “The Beat Said” and Bloody Norah’s “Shooting Star.” Dazy had a knock out AM radio earworm with “Rollercoaster Ride.” And then there was veteran songster Allan Kaplon coming on like The Highwaymen at first only to let loose the Rockpile hooks in the chorus of “Restless Ones.” There were new faces and old favourites and surprises aplenty. Click on the links to go to the original posts featuring each song.

I had to create a few new categories this year, just to capture all that was good and groovy about 2022. The post-Covid covers album phenomenon continued and most were great fun. But some were particularly inspired. And then there were a lot of acoustic guitar-dominant tunes out this past year that I felt really needed to be singled out in a category I’ve dubbed folk pop.

So, without further ado, here are Poprock Record’s most inventive covers from 2022:

1. Kurt Lanham “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles)
2. Lisa Mychols and Super 8 “I Can’t Explain” (The Who)
3. Bill Lloyd “The World Turns Around Her” (The Byrds)
4. Andy Bell “Light Flight” (Pentangle)
5. Murray Atkinson “Bus Stop” (The Hollies)

And here are Poprock Record’s top folk pop singles from 2022:

1. Fjord Mustang “Health Class Field Trip”
2. Rogers and Butler “Oh Romeo”
3. Bats “Golden Spoon”
4. *repeat repeat “Hm Feels Like”
5. Steve Robinson and Ed Woltil “Make Amends”
6. Chris Castino “Chinese Whispers”

I do love making lists but the choices do not amount to any big heavy pronouncement on anything – just my bit of fun and chance to celebrate these artists a little bit more. Check them out and see if you don’t agree, they’re seriously good!

Photo courtesy Fred Rockwood.

Treasure hunt: Tamar Berk, Freddie Steady KRC, Fur and My Idea

03 Friday Jun 2022

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Thing about treasure hunts, you know that a treasure’s been buried somewhere. So if you and other kids root around long enough, something buried is gonna be found by somebody. This treasure hunt is similar but even easier: the treasure is right out in the open. You just have to come and get it.

In what has been one of the most anticipated albums of 2022, Tamar Berk kicks off Start at the End with her heady pair of pre-release singles, “Your Permission” and “Tragic Endings.” The duo are a slick, carefully-calibrated dose of sophisticated songcraft in the best Suzanne Vega or Aimee Mann style. I mean, the arrangements themselves comprise half the beauty of the songs here. But the rest of this album is no slouch either. There’s an intimate, confessional quality to most of the songs, like Berk is beckoning you in, confiding something. “Hoping This Day Won’t Kill Us” starts so spare, building tension with some subtle 1980s synth and eerie background vocals. From there the tracks roll out like a shifting kaleidoscope of emotions, each one using a distinctive guitar, keyboard or vocal effect to speak to its raw feeling. “June Lake,” “You Already Knew,” “No Chair,” and “Wrong Information” – these songs are wistful and delicately shaded. Meanwhile “Just Be” gives off an air of self-liberation, its carefully stated acoustic guitar and piano lines circling, propelling us forward. The album has some more rocking moments too: the early Bangles-like “Real  Bad Day,” the Stonesy “Sweet Relief,” and the Harrisonian “Alone Tonight.” “Dandelions in my Flowerbed” has got rollicking, good-time single written all over it. And if you do decide to Start at the End the first thing you’ll hear is the album closer “This is Me Trying,” a song that captures the whole point of the record, a stark, raw testament to just putting one foot before the other. This really is an album to treasure, a wonderful, messy, emotional and joyous journey through song. And it is going directly to the ‘best of the year’ pile.

There is little more I can say about the many talents of Austin’s legendary Tex Mex troubadour Freddy Steady Krc that hasn’t already been said. From his fabulous 1980s recordings with his band The Explosives to his numerous turns as sideman to the stars the guy is a living rock and roll museum. And he’s still putting out great new music. Dandy sees his Freddie Steady Review knocking out new tunes as well as polishing up some older, previously released material. The album kicks off with the should-be hit single “Bohemian Dandy.” Driven on by rippling piano lines and irresistible melodic hooks, it’s a flawless slice of radio-friendly tune-age. Nothing else on the record is quite like it but that’s ok, the range of retro Americana material lends the record a party air. “Dear Delilah” has that great 1950s rockabilly guitar and a swing that says get your dancing shoes ready. “Muchacho Borracho” is an obvious fun Tex Mex workout. “Rustler’s Moon” reminds me of so much of the mid-period solo Nick Lowe material, though the vocal leans more to Ian Gomm. There are some departures, like “Girl Who Wore the Violent Crown” with its Elvis Costello feel to the songwriting. Or outliers like the jazzy cool talking-blues “I’ve Been Framed.” But overall this is an album that understands what Nick Lowe once called the ‘roll’ side of rock and roll, i.e. the key importance of tempo and timing to great performances. The Freddy Steady Review are the kind of band you know can dole it out all night, steady and highly entertaining.

What a transformation can occur in a band in just a few short years. In 2017 I had Brighton’s Fur pegged as a pleasant early-1960s beat group revival band and I was happy with that. But 2021’s When You Walk Away marks a remarkable and dramatic expansion of the band’s musical palette. The record charges out from the start, a veritable onslaught of guitars relentless in their aural assault. But the guitar wash is all in the service of a host of irresistibly hooky tunes. Opening cut “When You Walk Away, Pt. 1” is the sort of song that has audiences leaping to their feet and belting out the chorus. “Anybody Else But Me” combines a distinctive lead guitar sound with a melody that shifts effortlessly from major to minor hues. The wall of acoustic guitars that floats “To Be Next to Her” allows the inventive melody to be just that much more alluring. “The Fine Line of a Quiet Life” exudes excitement with a relentless pumping piano that won’t let you not start dancing. There are few throwbacks to the band’s earlier, more manicured 1960s ballady sound, tunes like “No Good for You” and “What I Am” with its 1963 fairground feel. “Wild Heart” also stands out for its sparkly jangle lead guitar line. This is definitely a band to watch. They’ve got the thrilling quality and intensity of bands like The Strypes, The Strokes and The Vaccines but with a demeanor all their own. Just listen to the jazz notes threaded through “Love You All the Time” or the obvious hit single vibe all over “She’s the Warmest Colour in My Mind.” I think these guys may just be getting started.

Brooklyn duo My Idea have got a highly original sound. Bits of it may seem familiar but when it comes together the effect is something else. Their initial EP release That’s My Idea hinted at the madcap creativity that was to come with breezy pop tunes like “I Can’t Dance”  and more edgy stuff like “Stay Away Still.” Full album Cry Mfer delivers, kicking off with a Kate Bush in a Hounds of Love register on its title track, the effect both mesmerizing and hypnotic. Then “Crutch” breaks that spell with its jaunty guitar pop and breathy Mary Lou Lord vocal. “Baby I’m the Man” sounds simple but the audio keeps warping ever so slightly, like a cassette tape left in the rain. “Lily’s Phone” sounds tougher in a post 1970s new wave sort of way. The styles change up quickly, one minute vibing a pristine jangle on “Yr a Blue,” then offering up an off-kilter country-style sing-a-long on “Pretty You.” If pressed, I’d choose the collaboration with Thanks for Coming “One Tree Hell” as the single. But let’s face it, this band repels convention at every turn. Anything could be the single for them. Best to let the album flow over you and enjoy the ride.

Knowing there’s treasure doesn’t take away the thrill. Get out there and get yours from this seriously good quartet of new albums. Top photo courtesy Suhash Villuri.

Spring singles countdown

19 Tuesday Apr 2022

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This is a countdown to both warmer temps and hotter tunes: our spring singles countdown! I find my incoming new singles pile never really shrinks but that’s not really a problem is it? So here goes with another 21 songs just pining for your attention.

The Stranglers were one of those bands I was vaguely aware of in my youth but I was too distracted by the melodic heft of The Jam and Squeeze to take notice of their more subtle charms. In fact it was only in the past few years I heard the band’s exquisite “Golden Brown” from their 1981 album Le Folie. Fast forward to last year and the band’s 18th album Dark Matters is full of winning tunes. The tribute to late longtime band member Dave Greenfield “And If You See Dave …” is touching while “The Last Men on the Moon” has a hooky futuristic vibe a la 1980s Moodies meets Blue Oyster Cult. Another band doing the coming-back-strong thing are The Lovetones. After a decade gone they returned in 2020 with Myriad and the must hear song for me is “Rescue.” Ok, this is not a breaking single but it should have been, it’s got that magical mid-1960s sparkle tune-wise. Tamar Berk is building up to something pretty extraordinary, if her drip drip of confident pre-album singles is anything to go by. “Tragic Endings” opens with alluring simplicity, just a single electric guitar and Berk’s clear voice, before adding layer after layer of sonic hooks. The song is masterful arrangement of push and pull melodic effects and the vibe is like Pat Benatar meets Blondie, with a touch of Laurie Anderson thrown in. The upcoming album is Start at the End but you’re gonna want in at the beginning. Ottawa’s Robby Millar turns up the 1970s bubblegum/glam guitars on “All We’ve Got” with a chorus that is very The Cure. It’s a creative combination that is oh so obvious once you hear it. Incipient spring brings a new double A sided single from Nashville artists *repeat repeat and they certainly paint a picture, “Soft” a dreamy, shoe-gazey float along the water, “Hmm Feels Like” a punchier Kevin Devine-ish acoustic bit of hooky shuffle.

The Stranglers – The Last Men on the Moon
Robby Millar – All We’ve Got

Houston’s enigmatic poprocker K. Campbell layers his recent single “Breaking Glass” with an intoxicatingly compressed sound, like a classic 45 blasting from a transistor radio. But listen a little more closely to hear all the subtle shifts in sonic texture that elevate the tune. Another textured mini-masterpiece comes from L.A.’s A. Michael Collins. “In Other Climes” initially sounds like it’s a member of the Bryds family tree with its jangly guitars and harmony vocals. But it quickly turns into something more contemporary, not unlike the retro reinventions from the likes of Richard X. Heyman. Bryan Adams albums typically alternate between effing-eh truck-driving stadium-rawk and more radio-friendly poprock earworms. Album 15 So Happy It Hurts delivers on both but I’m drawn more to the latter, which just happen to be all the songs he wrote here with his traditional hit-songwriting partner Jim Vallance. “I’ve Been Looking For You” is textbook poprock goodness: so simple, nothing ground-breaking here, but man does Adams know how to put it together. Now for something a bit different, Classic Pat takes on Trisha Yearwood’s “She’s In Love With the Boy” stripping out all its ‘easy listening’ country elan and replacing that with a fabulous 1980s Canadian indie vibe e.g. The Northern Pikes or The Grapes of Wrath. The song is just one of many commercial country make-overs appearing on a worthwhile album split with Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard entitled Country Buffet. Austin duo Hovvdy wowed critics with their self-described ‘pillow core’ album True Love last fall. Now they’re back with a new single “Everything.” The acoustic guitar sets the tone and hook for the song, building from a stark and spare backdrop only to drop in a bit banjo on its way to veritable wall of sound as the tune builds. It is somehow both a bit manic and oh-so-smooth at the same time.

Bryan Adams – I’ve Been Looking For You

Everything about Isle-of-Eigg dweller Johnny Lynch is original. His recordings as Pictish Trail defy easy categorization. Me, I’m drawn to the melody central cuts, which really comprise only some small part of his musical vision. As Guardian writer Jude Rogers reveals, his latest album Island Family is an oblique love letter to his island home and community. My choice for your listening pleasure is “Melody Something” but the rest of the album is worth some dedicated listening. Lincoln UK’s The Rills are something a bit different again, offering up a lot of story detail on “Skint Eastwood.” The verses have a driving, almost relentless attack but when the chorus kicks in, wow, it’s like melodic crack. Staten Island’s Goin’ Places have shifted the intensity of their punk delivery over their twenty years together, edging slightly into more pop punk territory on their most recent album, Save the World. It’s a strong album but personally I’m digging the Mersey-ish “Recover.” Sure, there’s a still a strong punky feel to the proceedings but the boys add some very melodic guitar lines and sweet background vocals. Veteran protest songster Billy Bragg came out with a new album The Million Things That Never Happened last fall and it had more than a few of his signature hooky folk rock numbers. The highlight for me was album closer “Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained” with its rollicking tempo and razor sharp social commentary. Kelowna’s Stephen Schijns has a curious new single that combines an eerie Gordon Lightfoot-reminiscent vocal with a chugging yet propulsive bit of poprock performance, and a tasty bit of 1970s guitar solo. It really works.

North Carolina’s Tracy Shedd ambles onto centre stage with her single “Going Somewhere,” its laid back feel gaining more urgency in the chorus. Definitely a bit of car-driving, windows-open on a summer day sort of music. The Telmos’ “What She Knows” actually first appeared on the band’s 2019 EP How Quick It Goes Away but it has now been re-released by Aldora Britain Records. It definitely deserves a second chance, given its sunny 1960s pop psychedelic feel. Kinda like The Zombies jamming with The Hollies. Back into the pop punk field, Boston’s Invisible Rays pump out what sounds like a somewhat more socially adjusted Weezer on “Landline.” This one is jump-up-and-down dance good. Another late find for me is smiles “Gone For Good.” This 2019 release oozes Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and Matthew Sweet vibes. Turn it up loud and get lost in the melodic haze. Chicago’s Kerosene Stars continue their English 1980s band revival kick with “Purpose of Friend,” a song that sounds like something from Manchester 1988. A bit confessional folkie, a bit swing poprock.

We’ll wrap things up with a double blast from prolific Cambridgeshire indie artist 65MPH. The recent singles “Real Life” and “Don’t Walk Away” cap a series of releases from this guy, so an album proper cannot be far off (can it?). I love the rough and ready vibe on these songs, reminding me of work from the likes of The Jam and Cast.

Twenty-one singles crammed into one post is like finding a variety box of quality chocolates on your Easter egg hunt. There’s definitely going to be some you really like. Time to start indulging.

March singles spectacular

05 Saturday Mar 2022

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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.