A blockbuster release has heft. These are records that storm the turntable, letting up only to allow the shift from side one to side two. This specific blockbuster pack contains bands old and new, with some returning from a long break while others seem to pump out product every few months. Either way, get ready to be wowed.
It’s a comeback of epic proportions. The Greenberry Woods have returned after three decades with a long-player full of sparkling new material, aptly dubbed It’s All Good, Sugar … Truthfully, the potential hits just keep coming on this album. Opening cut “Summer Song” kicks things off in dynamic style, reminding us why the original band toured with the likes of Squeeze. Then things shift to the manic pop rush guiding “Waiting ‘Round For Something to Go Wrong.” And before you can catch your breath we’re on to very Matthew Sweet-ish “Whenever You Want Me Too.” This is an album where decades of influences come together, channeled through some very fine songwriting. Take “Very Good Year.” The track has a grinding Odds-like guitar pop groove but there are unmistakeable Beatles references too. “All I Want Is You” could be the Bay City Rollers, properly power-punked up. “That Girl” is very Elvis Costello circa 1980, right down the Steve Nieve organ runs and staccato back-up vocals. On “December Boy” the band extend the Big Star story from “September Gurls.” Personally, I’m digging “That Won’t Make You Love Me,” a song the album presser calls a ‘jangle heartbreaker.’ But the undoubted radio-ready should-be hit is the hard-hitting but still popalicious “The One That Makes You Happy.” What a soaring, sonorous slab of hit single-age! You know something is good when it gets covered mere weeks after it comes out (by the inimitable Grand Lindberg – listen here). I won’t be the only scribe telling you to make room on your record shelf for the triumphant return of The Greenberry Woods.
After the Lemon Twigs put out their tight rocking single “I’ve Got a Broken Heart” paired with the poppy garage-rock number “Friday (I’m Going To Love You)” in late 2025 I thought I knew what would be coming on their upcoming 2026 long-player. The songs seemed to signal a move away from their more baroque pop tastes toward 1960s power pop. The new LP Look For Your Mind! jams such easy expectations, not that that amounts to disappointment – far from it. But the boys just can’t resist showcasing multiple styles across the 14 tracks that appear here. Things started pretty much as I had expected. Opening cut “Look For Your Mind” offered up a lush Byrdsian power-pop work out. Yet just as quickly things harkened back to the baroque on “2 or 3” and “Gather Round.” Ok, so the shape of this record appears to be going in multiple directions, stretching across 1960s and into the 1970s. We can see this on “Nothin’ But You,” classic 1970s guitar pop. Another 1970s influence appears to be from Todd Rundgren’s Utopia on cuts like “Fire and Gold” and “Your True Enemy.” The two decades converge in the obvious single “I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You” with its poppy jangle and Beach Boys harmonies. The 1960s beach influences continue on “Mean To Me” and “Bring You Down,” the latter vibing Brian Wilson’s Chuck Berryisms. Stand out songs here for me include the great guitar pop tune “You’re Still My Girl” and the more operatic pop “My Heart Is In Your Hands Tonight.” Look For Your Mind! confirms it’s good to have your expectations challenged.
There you have it, two bona fide blockbuster releases that do not disappoint. The hyperlinks take you to your local blockbuster dispensary.
Photo courtesy Carbon Arc Flikr collection.
Poprock Record 