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Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2019

09 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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*repeat repeat, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Army Navy, Berwanger, Big Nothing, Bombadil, Brett, Bryan Estepa, Dave Molter, David Woodard, Dead Rituals, Deadbeat Beat, Drew Neely and the Essentials, Ducks Unlimited, Ezra Furman, Fruit Bats, Hollerado, Johnny Stanec, Juliana Hatfield, Lucille Furs, Martha, Matthew Logan Vasquez, Matthew Milia, Mike Adams at his Natural Weight, Nick Lowe, Omicrom J Trauma, Pernice Brothers, Perspective A Lovely Hand to Hold, Propeller, Richard Turgeon, Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts, Space Dingus, Taylor Knox, Telekinesis, The Boolevards, The Brothers Steve, The Cerny Brothers, The Cudas, The Dave Anderson Project, The Golden Seals, The Maple State, The Maureens, The Mommyheads, The Needs, The Rallies, The SmartHearts, The Well Wishers, Trolley, U.S. Highball, Wyatt Blair

Screen Shot 2020-01-09 at 11.14.44 AM2019 had plenty of jangle, hooks, harmonies and melody to spare. From an initial list of over 200 songs I’ve managed to whittle my should-be hit single list to just 50 chart toppers for this year. Man, it was hard. Because I only post music I like this whole exercise is a bit like choosing your favourite child. Well, IMHO, the 50 songs featured here all have a strong earwormy quality to them. But let me know if you agree or disagree! Hit the links below to find each artist as featured in my original blog post this past year.

So, without further ado (drum roll please!), here is Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles for 2019:

  1. The Golden Seals “Something Isn’t Happening”
  2. Juliana Hatfield “Sugar”
  3. The Well Wishers “Feeling Fine”
  4. Bombadil “The Man Who Loves You”
  5. Matthew Milia “Abruptly Old and Caffeinated”
  6. The Brothers Steve “She”
  7. The Maple State “Germany”
  8. Aaron Lee Tasjan “Songbird”
  9. Johnny Stanec “Secret World”
  10. The Maureens “Can’t Stop”
  11. Telekinesis “Like Nothing”
  12. Omicrom J Trauma “Leave You Alone”
  13. Matthew Logan Vasquez “Ghostwriters”
  14. Hollerado “Straight to Hell”
  15. *repeat repeat “Pressure”
  16. Space Dingus “Parchment Squire, Paper Knight”
  17. Taylor Knox “City at Night”
  18. Fruit Bats “Ocean”
  19. Berwanger “Bad Vibrations”
  20. The Cerny Brothers “American Whore”
  21. Pernice Brothers “Skinny Jeanne”
  22. Wyatt Blair “I’ll Keep Searching for You”
  23. Mike Adams at his Honest Weight “Do You One Better”
  24. U.S. Highball “Summer Boy”
  25. The Rallies “All Over Town”
  26. Richard Turgeon “Loneliness”
  27. Perspective, A Lovely Hand to Hold “One Wrong Turn”
  28. Deadbeat Beat “Baphomet”
  29. Bryan Estepa “Another Kind of Madness”
  30. Ezra Furman “In America”
  31. Nick Lowe “Blue on Blue”
  32. Lucille Furs “Paint Euphrosyne Blue”
  33. Brett “Wisdom Tooth”
  34. Martha “Heart is Healing”
  35. The Dave Anderson Project “Welcome”
  36. Drew Neely and the Heroes “Chasing Danielle”
  37. Dave Molter “Tell Me That You Love Me”
  38. The Boolevards “Take Me to the Top”
  39. Army Navy “Seismic”
  40. Trolley “I’ll Never Tell”
  41. Ducks Unlimited “Anhedonia”
  42. The Needs “I Regret It”
  43. The Cudas “The Kids Want Hits”
  44. Propeller “There Goes a Day”
  45. Dead Rituals “Run”
  46. David Woodard “Nine Hundred Ninety Nine”
  47. Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts “Feels Like Falling in Love”
  48. Big Nothing “Waste My Time”
  49. The Mommyheads “Wake Up a Scientist”
  50. The Smarthearts “The Man from the Company”

As you can see, the list is a bit all over the map. There’s hints of country and folk and a lot of rock and roll. Because I’m working a broad poprock vein (as opposed to a more narrow power pop) my list crosses lines that other melodic rock blogs might not. That means the pop folky Bombadil and Fruitbats can sidle up to the more edgy melodic punk of Ezra Furman or country rock of The Cerny Brothers. But most of the entries fall neatly into my definition of ‘poprock’ – as in, melodic rock and roll characterized by plenty of hooks and harmony vocals. It’s all there in my number one song from The Golden Seals “Something Isn’t Happening” with its swinging acoustic guitar base, various hooky lead guitar lines, and catchy vocal melody. Or you can hear it in the addictive guitar drone driving Juliana Hatfield’s great single, “Sugar.” Same goes for The Well Wishers’ fantastic poprock reinvention of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 sound on “Feeling Fine.” And I could just go on dropping superlatives on every entry on this list. Instead, click on the links and check out my original posts about all these artist.

All these artists have instruments to keep in tune and studio time to pay for, not to mention all the time they take away from paying work to write the songs and practice performing them – all in aid of getting this exciting music out there for us to enjoy. Help them thrive by getting out to see them live and buying their music.

It’s Mersey time! With The Retreads, The Pleasers, The Kryng and The Boolevards

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

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The Boolevards, The Kryng, The Pleasers, The Retreads

Screen Shot 2019-12-10 at 7.17.28 PMThe 1963-4 Beatles’ sound has become its own distinctive musical oeuvre, influencing bands around the world and across time. In the Merseybeat era, one could hear it from English bands like Gerry and Pacemakers and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas or Americans like the Bobby Fuller Four, and many others. The late 1970s saw the sound revived by mocksters like The Rutles or in note-perfect tributes from Utopia on their Deface the Music. Then a host of new wave bands dug out their skinny ties and rediscovered the sound as the 1970s gave way to the eighties. Now it’s just a thing music-literate bands might do to show off their stylistic chops! Today’s post attends to that melodic Mersey sound, both old and new.

First up, a time trip back to 1981 for what appears to be the only single released by Rushden UK’s The Retreads – but what a single! “Would You Listen Girl” has the With the Beatles sound down pat, particularly on those killer background vocals that really nail the feel of those early Beatles’ records. The songwriting is pretty strong too, sounding so Mersey without being simply derivative. Another historic Mersey revival group was London’s The Pleasers. Emerging amidst the UK’s punk outbreak in the late 1970s the band’s polished Beatlesque sound didn’t quite fit in. That’s tragic. Check out the oh so pleasing fab quality of “Breaking My Heart” or the jangle-longing undergirding “Who Are You.” The band did eventually see the release of an album’s worth of their great 1970s songs in the 1990s with Thamesbeat.

https://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/would-you-listen-girl.mp3The Retreads – Would You Listen Girlhttps://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/09-breaking-my-heart.m4aThe Pleasers – Breaking My Hearthttps://poprockrecord.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/16-who-are-you.m4aThe Pleasers – Who Are You

The Netherlands’ The Kryng are much more than Mersey, with a sound that ranges across a garage/psych 1960s sound to a 1980s indie vibe. But sometimes, they really get their Beatles on. It’s there in all sorts of places on their just released new album, So Many Girls 2 – on tracks like “Still I Know” and “Take You by the Hand.” They do push the limits of the sound (in a good way). “Be Your Guy” sounds like Ray Davies sat in on a Beatles writing session while “She’s Black” perhaps has the band pushing into Beatles for Sale territory. Another band that takes up the Beatles’ influences but doesn’t stop there is The Boolevards. The twenty tracks comprising their new compilation album Real Pop Remix have a distinctive stylistic stamp, combining the Beatles’ Mersey sound with early Beach Boys and late 1970s Mersey revival sound of bands like The Searchers. You want jangle? Check out the infectious riffs on “Again and Again,” “It’s Great” and “She Shines.” Or click on my personal faves, the should-be hit single “Take Me to the Top” or the raucus, jaunty “Find a Star Make a Wish.” But really, dip in anywhere on this fab collection and find something to love.

Click on the links for The Retreads, The Pleasers, The Kryng and The Boolevards and contribute to keeping the Beatlemania from ever being cured.

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  • Around the dial: Nuevos Hobbies, The Lodger, The Stan Laurels, and Mason Summit
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