Tag Archives: The McCharmlys

Song sung spring

30 Sunday Mar 2025

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Winter hasn’t quite got the memo. Time to move along. I’m ready for spring to be sprung, full stop. Perhaps a few singles could help signal a seasonal shift? Probably not. But hey, we’ll all feel a whole lot better.

NYC’s Strange Neighbors are building up to something with the slow drip of singles they’ve been putting out these past few months. I’m not sure a single LP is gonna be able to contain the excitement from jumping the grooves if their latest song  “Hate Me Less” is anything to go by. It’s a sometimes jarring, sometimes smooth slice of hooky pop single-age. With hardly any dust settling on their late 2024 EP release Butter Valley Malcontent The Bret Tobias Set return with a few new singles, like “It Begins With Lean.” This one is just the change of mood we need, so light and shimmery and uplifting in a 1980s English guitar band sort of way. Baby Scream’s Juan Pablo Mazzola has a new project with Muchas Hormigas called Juan La Hormiga. Wow, this is a change of pace. “After the War” has some of Mazzola’s signature Lennonisms buried in the mix but overall the song is a lovely hushed affair with a melody like a warm embrace. The lap steel guitar solo is just an added element of grace. Geoff Palmer keeps mining that stripped-back poppy rock and roll on his soon-to-be released EP Kodak Flash. Case in point – “Bye Bye Baby.” So straightforward, so simple really. Just driving guitar chords, swoon-worthy background vocals and a hook so big it won’t fit in the trunk of your car. Peter Baldrachi has a fabulous new long-player out (but more on that later – full review to come). Right now check out his killer single from that latest release entitled “Tomorrow.” It’s got overlapping hooky guitar lead lines, a seductive vocal mix, and a strongly positive vibe. Like the Jayhawks meet The Church.

Described in a presser as ‘[p]rolific, mysterious, heartbreaking, dumb’ or more simply as a ‘LA-based lo-fi stoner pop band’ I’d just add that The Memories are full-on fun. There’s nary a release from this band that doesn’t make me smile. Their latest single “Too Weak to be Strong” is no exception. It’s an ambling stroll of good-time low-key pop, equally at home near the campfire or indie coffee shop. Few bands can make ‘uhhhn’ sounds like pop heaven but that’s what you get on Wavves new single “So Long.” The song’s lineage is pop punk but with all the edges sculpted into something rocket smooth. The vocals here meld with the rest of the sonic attack in a wonderfully seamless way. Forgive me if I’m reaching back in time to feature a song from Lydia Loveless. I feel like I’m constantly catching up on this fabulous artist. Here I’m dipping into her 2023 album Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again for the electrically charged spirit of “Poor Boy.” It combines pop, country and sibilant-sounding guitars in a totally unique way. We had to get to Portland eventually and Borderlines fills our quota with their pop punk ode “Okay Socrates.” Accent on pop here with buzzy guitars. The song is about a fear of growing old but somehow doesn’t sound like a downer at all. Speaking of old, even tried and true geezers can still cut the melodic mustard, given the right project. On The Coward Brothers LP Elvis Costello and T. Bone Burnett revive their collaboration from the King of America sessions that produced the one-off single “The People’s Limousine.” Check out the interesting vocal interplay on “Always” or the more Americana “Smoke Ring Angel.”

Scoopski‘s Jim Lorino needed a vehicle that would allow him to rock out a bit more while maintaining his love of clever melodic hooks. Enter The DelCobras, where the amps go up to 11 but the melodies remain oh so sweet. You can really hear the fun they’re having cranking through “The Turnaround.” I have a feeling there’s gonna be more where that came from. Looking for a blast of 1963, perhaps a bit of folky pop simplicity? Thee Holy Brothers nail the era on their new single “Come Shine Love.” The harmonies are gorgeous and the lead guitar is so evocative of the period. Switch this on and drift into a 1960s musical diorama. Eclectic Music Lover put me on Secret Postal Society and their latest song “Autumn Leaves.” What an ambience going on here, reminiscent of 1970s folk pop or more recent lush vocally-focused folk bands like Fleet Foxes. Mooner main man Lee Ketch has an experimental EP out entitled Spiritual Milk for American Babes and it is wonderfully, creatively, ‘out there.’ As a single “Living Will” perhaps comes off a bit more mainstream as grungy, country workout. Caleb Nichols hit Valentine’s Day with the holiday timely “Love Lies.” It is wah-wah pedal drenched with a vocal wash so Elliott Smith good. Definitely a worthy song collection addition. But while there, check out the tasty “Little Red Peugot.” It’s like The Shins on a folk roll.

Spanish power poppers The Feedbacks jack into the zeitgeist of our times with the sadly timely “Hate Is All Around.” The song has a Elvis Costello surf vibe and that is one killer combo. The McCharmlys charmed me right out the gate with their self-titled debut long-player. So my breath was definitely baited for their new single “You’ll Be Fine.” It does not disappoint, combining old school sixties songwriting with some garage-y lead guitar work. B-side “Break My Heart” is pretty chanteuse perfect too. Oslo Norway’s Death By Unga Bunga unleash the party vibe on “I’m Really Old” from their recent LP Raw Muscular Power. The AM radio pinched vocal treatment perfectly offsets the slashing electric chords. Wonderfully seventies manic. It is so hard to pick just one song from Eric van Dijsseldonk’s recent album Half Time. There’s the laconic Freedy Johnson-ish “Best Kept Secret.” Or the more rumbly, slow-moving “Maybe Not Today” with its constant bursts of jangly guitar. But I’ve decided to settle on the poppy title-track “Half Time.” Seems full of good sentiments for this moment in time. Somehow I missed Pete Donnelly’s late 2024 release Never Gonna Worry, notably produced by Mike Viola. Dip into it with “Dancing Daydream” for a bit jaunty, uplifting popcraft.

It’s a wrap on this singles shindig with something a bit more serious from music veteran Jim Basnight. He’s got a pair of singles that put America’s current political plight cleverly on display. And they’re great songs to boot.

Nazis Over There
So F*cked Up

It’s been a long lonely winter of discontent this year. I suspect the discontent is going to continue for a while but hey, maybe a song in our heart will warm things up.

Photo ‘Charles Sheeler Bucks Country Barn’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2023

05 Friday Jan 2024

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The traditional rock and roll album ain’t dead, not by a long shot. Usurped for sure by new commercial formats and changing consumer listening patterns but the album – as a distinct collection of songs (sometimes forming a coherent whole) – remains the default mode of delivery for a wide swathe of guitar-based popular music. Proof? There was simply no shortage of fabulous, super-charged, pop-rocking long-players and extended plays to spend time with throughout 2023. From this embarrassment of musical riches we’ve whittled down a few different lists of LPs and EPs we feel rank as having ‘must have’ status. There’s something for every taste that falls somewhere across the broad, rather idiosyncratic category of ‘poprock’ we employ here. So dive in, see what you think, and do let us know about whatever egregious oversight you think we’ve undoubtedly committed. The hotlinks take you to the original reviews.

Cue drumroll – here we have it, Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs from 2023:

1. The Decibels When the Red Lights Flash
2. The McCharmlys The McCharmlys
3. The Parlophonics Dying of the Light
4. Miss Chain and the Broken Heels Storms
5. Buddie Agitator
6. Taking Meds Dial M for Meds
7. Good Shade Think Spring
8. Talking Kind It Did Bring Me Down
9. Caleb Nichols Let’s Look Back
10. Thomas Walsh The Rest is History
11. Steve Marino Too Late to Start Again
12. The Summertimes The Summertimes
13. Nite Sobs Fade Out
14. Bory Who’s a Good Boy
15. Richard Turgeon Life of the Party
16. The Small Square Ours and Others
17. Dave Kuchler Love and Glory
18. Classic Traffic You Want It? We Got It!
19. The Blusterfields The Blusterfields II
20. The Tubs Meat Factory
21. The Roves Needle Factory
22. Best Bets On an Unhistoric Night
23. The Blips Again
24. Erik Voeks and The Ghosters It Means Nothing Now
25. Rachel Angel Midnite Heart Attack

This year’s list tipped more toward some classic genre distinctions. The Decibels are beat group heaven for me and When the Red Lights Flash just proves their mastery of this form and seemingly bottomless creativity with it. By contrast, The McCharmlys conjure the ghost of 1950s west Texas rock and roll (even though they’re from California), effectively reinventing it for today. For a different slice, we’ve got the highly sophistico-pop of The Parlophonics. Such great songs, delivered so smoothly. And so on. Our list has got jangle (Buddie, Bory), new wave revival (The Blips, The Blusterfields), country tinges (The Tubs, Rachel Angel), and straight up melodic rock (Richard Turgeon, Dave Kuchler). Long may the LP reign in what’s left of the rock and roll universe.

But there’s more. The ongoing revival of the extended play record format has led to this list, Poprock Record’s must-have EPs from 2023:

1. Strange Neighbors Party of None
2. Joe Dillilo Superhero Star
3. Super 8 The Plus 4 EP #1
4. Dolour Sun on my Brain
5. Hearts Apart Bang! Wrong Again
6. Jose’s Bad Day Hi! Let’s Eat
7. Cal Rifkin Better Luck Next Year

The Strange Neighbors EP was hands down my favourite thing about 2023. It brought back a familiar teenage rush of excitement that used to accompany the discovery of something so cool and earworm addictive it just had to be played over and over. Also cool was Joe Dillilo’s oh-so smooth collection of songs, which saw him transitioning from behind the mixing board to the spotlight with ease. And what about Super 8’s alter ego project The Plus 4? An absolute jangle blast. EPs can be such a concentrated blast of melodic goodness, leaving you wanting more.

Before you go there’s one more album we’ve got to highlight. It’s a record so good we had to give it the special award of awesome poprock merit for 2023:

The Flashcubes Pop Masters

As I wrote in the original review, Pop Masters gives you “12 new wave era should-have-been hits, stylishly re-energized” and “celebrates what might-have-been with selections from bands that should have broken big but didn’t.” But the band don’t just celebrate the great songs of bands like The Pezband, The Spongetones, The Paley Brothers and The Shoes, they share the spotlight with them in what amounts to a series of power pop band duets. Let’s face it, this project could have gone very wrong. But again, from the original review, the “results are a pumped up, adrenaline-fueled romp through a host of power pop classics … where every cut is a highlight …” Believe the hype. The Flashcubes are, indeed, pop[rock] masters.

Spend some time with these LPs and EPs and I think you’ll agree, melodic rock and roll is in good health if not wealth. But you can help change that for the price of triple shot latte from your favourite beverage store. Go on, skip the coffee queue and click the links to these artists.

Photo courtesy Chris Friese Flikr collection.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles for 2023

01 Monday Jan 2024

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2023 was another banner year for melodic rock and roll. Here at Poprock Record we could spotlight only a small portion of what was go on. Still, we kept busy, writing 58,000 words over 77 posts about literally hundreds of artists. And we liked them all – that’s why we wrote about them. But some tunes had real staying power for our team of singles inspectors. So today we single out 50 should-be hit singles from 2023, songs that deserve another listen and a shot at chart glory. Click on the hyperlinks to hear each song and read the original write ups.

Getting to the main event, here are Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles from 2023:

1. Strange Neighbors “Hotline Psychic”
2. Taking Meds “Memory Lane
3. The Decibels “Why Bother With Us”
4. Good Shade “When Will You See”
5. The Goa Express “Portrait”
6. Billy Tibbals “Onwards and Upwards”
7. Strange Neighbors “Whoa! Is Me”
8. Ransom and the Subset “Perfect Crime”
9. The Tubs “I Don’t Know How It Works”
10. Buddie “Class Warfare”
11. Dignan Porch “Electric Threads”
12. The Tearaways “Easier Done Than Said”
13. Chris Church “One More Change to Get Over You”
14. The McCharmlys “Love Me Too”
15. Eyelids “That I Can See You Better”
16. The No Ones “Phil Ochs is Dead”
17. Canadian Invasion “Catch a Falling Knife”
18. Thomas Charlie Pederson “Yesterdays and Silly Ways”
19. Kevin Bowe “Put Me Out of Your Misery”
20. The Summertimes “Inside”
21. Gosh Diggity “Blast Off”
22. The Midnight Callers “Girl On the Run”
23. Parallax Project “Mary Houdini”
24. Dan Kibler “Don’t Go for the Money”
25. The Kind Hills “Let Youth Take Over”
26. Cal Rifkin “Break My Heart”
27. Ratboys “Morning Zoo”
28. Hurry “Like I Loved You”
29. Thomas Walsh “A Good Day For Me”
30. The Newds “The Street Leads to the River”
31. Dave Kuchler “She’s Rather Be With Me”
32. Hardwicke Circus “Everyday I Find Luck”
33. Worriers “Trust My Gut”
34. Tony Marsico “Rocket Girl”
35. Jean Caffeine “I Don’t Want to Kill You Anymore”
36. The Exbats “Like It Like I Do”
37. Dazy “Forced Perspective”
38. Miss Chain and the Broken Heels “Storms”
39. Bill Lloyd “Keep the Place Clean”
40. Kurt Hagardorn “Tractor Beam”
41. Nite Sobs “Julie Ann”
42. Turn Turn Turn “Power”
43. The Rockyts “I Get High”
44. The Blusterfields “Fear of Depths”
45. Dropkick “Telephone”
46. The Scarlet Goodbye “Angel Dust”
47. The Amplifier Heads “When We Go Home Again”
48. Steve Marino “Satisfy You”
49. Justin Levinson “I Need Somebody Now”
50. Moon Mates “Not Today”

New York’s Strange Neighbors grabbed me early in 2023 with their killer 45 “Hotline Psychic” and never really let go. The lyrics are so spot on, the chorus is mesmerizing, while the instrumental break threatens to break out into Blondie’s “Rapture.” The band is so good they placed another tune in my top 10, the delightful jangler “Whoa! Is Me.” Then Taking Meds and Good Shade seemed like two sides of a very good coin with songs that featured surging insistent hooks that simply demanded replay. The Goa Express tipped toward punk but without sacrificing melodic depth. And The Decibels returned with the modern beat group sound they own. There’s variety in this list, proving genre is no barrier to delivering poprock hooks.

Moving on, here are Poprock Record’s most inventive covers from 2023:

1. Juliana Hatfield “Don’t Bring Me Down” (Electric Light Orchestra)
2. Mo Troper “Citgo Sign” (Jon Brion)
3. Arthur Alexander “It’s Not Love Anymore #2” (The Sorrows)
4. The Jangles “Here Without You” (The Byrds)
5. The Flashcubes “Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?” (The Spongetones)

Covers remained fertile ground for music veterans and indie new-comers alike this past year. Juliana Hatfield delivered a whole album of ELO songs, mixing things up with a nicely curated collection of chart hits and deep cuts. Mo Troper introduced a new generation to the genius of Jon Brion with his album tribute, Troper sings Brion. Arthur Alexander covers himself, sort of, with his ace reinvention of the Sorrows’ “It’s Not Love Anymore #2.” And both The Jangles and The Flashcubes covers really revive some great songs for the here and now.

Rounding out our lists, here are Poprock Record’s top 5 folk pop singles from 2023:

1. Rachel Angel “I Can’t Win”
2. Talking Kind “Trouble”
3. Hovdy “Jean”
4. Benji Tranter “Speed Camera”
5. J. Matthews “Wanderlust”

While most of our coverage is pretty poppy we do shift into the folk lane from time to time where the melodies are strong or I just have a particular interest.

Another year, another slew of great songs. Click on the links to remind yourself how good a year it really was and make sure to let the artists know what you think in cash and/or commentary.

Photo courtesy of Raymond Clarke Images on Flikr.

Record round up II

29 Friday Dec 2023

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Back with our second record round up in as many days in a bid to clear out the review pile before year’s end. Today’s ten just show how strong the independent music scene is at the moment. These are ten big ones, unequivocally.

The Jangles have been dropping singles all year long, mixing up fifties and sixties-themed musical offerings each time. Now for your listening ease they’ve gathered them all together on one fabulous long player entitled Just a Second. The fifties are well represented here with the Eddie Cochrane rockabilly stomper “Daddy’s Gone Batty” and the more Buddy Holly-ish “My Love Is Gone.” Then “Pea Island” segues into the early 1960s with a plaintive lead guitar led instrumental. From the 1960s there’s jangly folk rock (“Helping Hands”), singer-songwriter folk (“Take Two Steps”), and a dose of that distinctive mid-decade American guitar pop sound (“Do I Love You”). But the record’s standout track is undoubtedly the heartfelt cover of the Byrds classic “Here Without You.” Now for something somewhat different you could order up Toledo Ohio’s Equipment. This is a pop punk adjacent product, with a difference. The songs on Alt. Account don’t stick to any labeling, offering clever lyrics and unexpected turns. “Hot, Young Doctors” gets things started with lead guitar lines spinning out in all directions and lyrics that ooze relationship insecurity. Then “LO/FO” sounds like a more manic FOW. By contrast, “Jewelry” is low-key seductive, easing in on just a vocal and acoustic guitar before adding more and more captivating elements. “Username” is a kind of controlled guitar/keyboard chaos offset by a calibrated melodic theme. “Perfect Temperature Coffee” is a barely contained dose of rocking pop tuneage.

An Analog Man in a Digital World is Kurt Hagardorn’s first proper album of new material since 2009’s Leaves and he’s making a statement of sorts. The record reads like a love letter to a variety of styles from the 1970s, touched up in a completely contemporary way. Album opener “Tractor Beam” is simply marvelous. Reworked from a rougher earlier take that appeared on his 2021 EP Exile in Babylon, the song now commands attention, expertly juggling its enticing ELO keyboards and rumble guitar elements. Should-be hit single – absolutely. I almost didn’t get to the rest of the LP, I was hitting replay so often. From there it’s a tug a war between early 1970s boogie rock and roll motifs and late decade new wave/punk influences. Both “Caveat Emptor” and “Hard Back Train” sound like Hagardorn somehow got The Band back together. “Evangeline Hop,” “High in the Shadows” and “Natural Fact” channel some southern fried boogie rock, but with a stronger sense of melody. Then “767” and “Tina Tina!” vibe The Romantics and something a bit more punky respectively. Moving in a more 1960s psychedelic direction, Cupid’s Carnival appear to have hit the jackpot, gaining a major label release with Sony Records – in Japan. To be ‘big in Japan’ is a bit of rock and roll punch line but given how rabid fans are there it’s really no joke. Rainbow Child collects a number of singles and new material in a collection that showcases the band’s mastery of the late 1960s pop psychedelic sound to good effect. As always, the Beatles inflections are unmistakable on tracks like 1967-certifiable “Flower Power Revolution” or the more lush Rubber Soul acoustic guitar vibe on “Thinking About You Girl” and “Every Single Day.” Previously released singles “You’re So Cool” and “You Know” make an appearance and still sound like hit radio circa 1966. Stand out new material – definitely the hooky Hard Day’s Night-era-ish “Everything You Do.”

Cupid’s Carnival – Everything You Do

The Talking Kind LP It Did Bring Me Down kinda snuck up on me. I gave it a play on my way home from work one day, thinking ‘hey, this is OK.’ But then I was playing again. There was something about Pat Graham’s mournful vocal and fluid ‘we’ve been playing together forever’ backing band sound. You can get a sense of the whole package from the opening cut “Trouble,” with its ambling-along gait and oh-so subtle earwormy melodic turns. Then “Under Appreciated” comes on like some dreamy montage music. “Damn Shame” starts so mellow only to kick things up in the chorus. I hear a  bit Guster here, but seriously alienated (not that there’s anything wrong with that). “Never Bored” dresses up a basic folkie lament with some nice pedal steel guitar. Not everything is subdued here. Both “Brand New Face” and “My Truck” press the accelerator, the latter even veering into the punk lane. On the whole though, songs like “Trader” and “Small” confirm this LP as some kind of new cosmopolitan folk experience. And anyone who can squeeze a wolf howl out of an eclectic guitar (on “Small”) gets my ‘you’re so cool’ vote. After stepping away from music over a decade ago Paul Hughes aka The Candy Strypers has returned and then some. Just this year he’s posted 6 albums, an EP and a few singles of new and unreleased older material. So I’m just putting a pin in somewhere and calling the first 14 cuts of the 25 song album Now and Then ‘the’ new release. Others bloggers may differ. What you get here is a solid DIY, mostly acoustic collection of sixties-inspired tunes. Accent on poppy with a Beatles or Herman’s Hermits bounce. “Gonzo” opens the set with a Bo Diddley meets psych-rock shuffle. Then “We’re Gonna Win” rings with a more Brydsian acoustic jangle. “Supermarket Whiskey” hits a more sombre Ray Davies note. Folkies definitely get a look in on tracks like “Blue Is The Colour” and “Early Morning Train.” Personally I’m loving “Magic,” a track that springs along with a sprightly energy.

Glee Crime Scene grab the wheel of their debut DIY juggernaut and don’t let go. As an album Pickle Boi is a lofi blast, oozing personality and sincerity. Opener “Cigarette” drags the album into the spotlight and then takes flight. “Regrets” floats a sad sounding synth line over a bed of acoustic guitars, in a mellow MGMT sort of way. “Coming Home” is the hooky should-be hit-single for me. The influences here are many but muted. A bit of the new romantic scene’s science fixation in “Space Cowboy” with those unrelenting keyboards. Or there’s a light Weezer veneer on “Goth Girls.” For range check out the sombre, acoustic “Winona” next to “Perfume” which conjures a rock band out of nowhere late in the LP. The man behind John Sally Ride, Elvis Eno, and a previous solo release returned this fall with a new contribution in the latter category. With What a Difference Indifference Makes I can welcome you to John Dunbar’s piano years. Or maybe keyboard years would be more accurate. No guitars anyway. Instead Dunbar drapes his tunes with all sorts of interesting synth lines, some horns, and few things that sound like flutes. Take “I Wonder If She Colors Her Hair Now” as an example. Is that a Zombies 1968 era flute opening the song? Or just a clever keyboard substitute? No matter, the song is a masterful exercise in subtle pop sophistication. “You Really Got Meh” has got an early 1980s Joe Jackson piano feel, with Dunbar’s usual flair for clever wordplay. “What No One Is Saying” shows what kind of impact you can have with a keyboard-heavy approach, in a 10cc kind of pop tune. “They Leave In So Many Ways” layers the piano, keyboard and organ parts in a mesmerizing balance while “The Do Gooder” rocks the piano with a Ben Folds drive. Personal fave: “Isn’t It Great.” Love those horns.

A new Nite Sobs album is nothing to cry about. Their 2020 release Do the Sob! made #3 on our annual ‘must have’ album list that year for its spot-on neo-1960s beat group sound. The new album Fade Out is literally just out and I can report that their distinctive ‘contemporary retro’ sound remains intact, though I feel the ghost of Buddy Holly is more present this time around. Really it’s a toss-up between the 1950s Buddy inflections and the early 1980s reinvention of those influences. Both are on display in the opening track “Do You Wanna Be In Love,” complete with handclaps and plenty of ‘ooh ooh’s’ in the background. Then “Scar On My Heart” digs a bit more into a rootsy rock and roll sound. For solid Holly-isms check “Never Knew” and “Easy to Love,” the latter leaning toward Buddy’s country side. The early 1980s are more present in songs like “No Romance” and “I Just Don’t See That Happening,” the former reminiscent of Joe Jackson’s early spiv rock sound, with organ fills worthy of Steve Nieve’s work on Elvis Costello LPs from the same period. Should-be hit-single: definitely “Julie Ann.” The hypnotic guitar work effectively reinvents an early 1960s American song style. “Hold On To Me” is another strong single contender. Another solid slab of 1950s inflected rock and roll comes from Santa Ana sensation The McCharmlys. Right from the outset of their self-titled debut LP they own those retro influences and wield them like precision craftsmen. “Crying” paints an aural picture with tremelo heavy guitar and a generous wash of ‘wah-wah-wah-ooh’ background vocals. This album is actually a cornucopia of sounds from 1957 to 1963 but deployed in a way that just sounds so now. The brilliance of what they’re mixing together is captured on “Die,” a song where the clipped guitar lines and ‘ooh wah ooh’s’ suddenly transform in the chorus into something that sounds like Blondie circa 1979. There’s so much to like here, from the Texas Buddy Holly flavour on “LUV” to the reverb heavy melodic allure of “Miss Me” to the gritty menace behind “Strange Honey.” “Love Me Too” is undeniably the stand-out should-be hit-single. It is a rollicking bullet of a song, propelled by pert guitar work and a dynamic interplay of gorgeous background vocals and a strong Chrissie Hynde-like lead. And if there was any doubt what a killer live band this outfit would be, the “McCharmly Stomp!” dispels it. This record is monstrously good, a ‘must have’ album for 2023.

Am I caught up? Sort of. I’m already seeing ‘best of’ lists for 2023 from like-minded blogs containing acts I’ve never heard of, let alone simply failed to get through the review pile. Such is the state of the indie music world – so much quality stuff out there – but that’s a good problem to have.

Photo courtesy Nan Palmero Flikr collection.

Springing for singles I

23 Sunday Apr 2023

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Sunshine and blooming buds can no longer be contained. Time to spring a new load poppy rock and roll singles on you. Whether you’re clearing the garden or chasing new love right now, you’ll need some tunes. Here’s your first instalment of 21 seasonally-approved spring singles.

Let’s get started with what one wag called the ‘savage pop’ of North Carolina’s Paint Fumes on “Starting Over.” It’s got a rough and ready veneer hiding more than a glimmer of pop goodness. These are rock and roll hooks par excellence. And there’s more of the good same all over the band’s just released fourth album Real Romancer. From the delightful surprise file, a new single from Vancouver’s Odds. The band broke out big in the 1990s, then went on hiatus for a while, returning post-2007 with a series of unjustly over-looked new releases. The latest single “Crash the Time Machine” sounds like vintage Odds, all striking lead guitar lines and deadpan Northey vocals. Time to let your Odds flag fly, the band website promises a whole new album soon. It’s funny how labels stick. Scranton’s The Menzingers are regularly described as a punk band but you’d be hard pressed to single out the punk element of their new single “Bad Actors.” Ok, maybe it’s there in the vocal delivery but, on the whole, this new single is just solid poprock, the melody guiding the rocking backdrop into solid potential audience sing-along territory. How does one capture what Eytan Mirsky is? Is he just a magisterial vocalist? Seriously, I could listen to this guy sing the New York Times crossword. Lately he’s proven to be a crack song-writing collaborator too, taking lyrics from friends and acquaintances and cooking up up dynamite material like “Lost in the Jet Stream.” In some ways it’s signature Mirksy – those organ trills! But the guitar work is pretty special too. Vienna’s Good Wilson offer us some very jazzy guitar vibes on “Undecided Changes.” Think Steely Dan in space mode. Or a bit like The School Book Depository and The Golden Seals.

My blogging friend Eclectic Music Lover introduced me to Copenhagen’s Thomas Charlie Pederson, specifically “Yesterdays and Silly Ways” from his latest LP Employees Must Wash Hands. He describes the sound as chamber pop (read EML’s detailed breakdown of the album here) and that nails it, the song is very like The Zombies on tracks like “Care of Cell 44” from Odyssey and Oracle. Philadelphia’s Canadian Invasion are hiding in plain sight, releasing music with seeming impunity. Perhaps they hope to seduce the American empire from within with song? Their latest Your Favorite Lies EP might just do that with killer tracks like “Catch a Falling Knife.” Who marries an addictive violin solo and echoes of FOW’s song-writing? Geniuses, that’s who. Speaking of genius marriages, everybody’s fave Beatlemaniac TexMex combo The Krayolas have a bit of old and new out on their new EP King of Pop. There’s a great cover of The Monkees (“Pleasant Valley Sunday”), some totally new material, and a remix of “Catherine,” originally featured on 2008’s La Conquistadora. The latter is pretty stunning, a perfect distillation of all that this great band can do and has done over its decades-long history. Just catching “In Flames” from Roller Disco Combo on my phone shuffle I had to stop short, thinking it was a new single from Farrah. No joy on the Farrah reunion but plenty of smiles for RDC’s new EP The Sun After the Rain. Cleveland music legend Randy Klawon has cooked up a magic bit of 45rpm popcraft on “Marlo Maybe,” with help from former Raspberries drummer Jim Bonfanti. The style reminds me of tracks like Paul Davis’ early 1980s hit “65 Love Affair” in that it reinvents nostalgic pop motifs for a new era.

Thomas Charlie Pederson – Yesterdays and Silly Ways

Every since J.D. McPherson relaunched the neo-1950s sound for a new millennium a host of acts have been trying to tread the same boards. But few nail the atmosphere quite like The McCharmlys. “Love Me Too” breaks out of the speaker like the soundtrack to a classic 1950s movie montage sequence. The fine balance between rapier-quick lead guitar lines and the band’s commanding lead vocalist gives this tune its particular charge of excitement. This is doo wop on steroids, with a dab of Debbie Harry and Amy Macdonald thrown in. We’ve featured Floridian guitar virtuoso Kurt Lanham and his inventive covers of classic pop hits a few times (“I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Jenny 867-5309”) but he also writes and sings on his own original material. Like “Pallas” from last year’s LP Lanham. The song has got a languid bit of swing in the playing, buffeting the melodic vocal lines and varied guitar tones. Mellow but definitely ear-wormy. Back to Denmark for a moment, it was such a hard choice to decide on a cut from Mansfield’s repertoire. Both “Tell It Like It Is” and “Please, Shine a Light” from their 2020 debut album Star Crossed Lovers are a special blend of Merseybeat and Oasis influences but “Chasing After You” from their new EP Come Rain or Shine brings a decidedly Jake Bugg swagger into the mix. How about a dose of both? Today’s artists like to spread themselves over multiple projects, undoubtedly to satisfy their creativity and increase the chances that something will land with the public. See Benji Tranter’s resume for exhibit A. He’s a member of psych-folk group The All Night Chemist and power pop trio Ski Lift while also a collaborator with Show Boy. His recent solo effort Songs to Make You Happy is a definite departure from his group work, going for a more full-on folk effect. I really get a sense of Elliott Smith déjà vu from “Speed Camera.” Husband and wife duo Skoopski add to their continuing inventory of inventive stand-alone singles with “Double.” The song shifts from a stark, stripped-down, almost off-Broadway feel to a more full blown indie workout. I love the lead guitar tone that threads its way through the tune.

The McCharmlys – Love Me Too
Kurt Lanham – Pallas

Live fast, die young might sound romantic to aspiring artists but the reality is just loss, for a whole lot of people. What might have been won’t be. Zev was an up-and-coming indie artist still finding his own unique sound when he died in a car accident earlier this year at just 16. But just listen to his promise. On “Parachute” he owns a Velvet Underground groove like he’s camped out at Lexington Avenue and 125th Street. It’s got a touch of psychedelia in the chorus and some prophetic lyrics:

‘that young boy with no parachute looks a lot like me’
‘that young boy’s gonna die’
‘someone save him’

Still, my fave from his handful of songs is “4th of July.” What a neat slice of cool guitar pop. It’s hard not hear a Ben Kweller influence here. Vicenza, Italy’s Hearts Apart shift between spare verses and a combustable poprock sound in the choruses of “You’re All Around.” They’re clearly building up to something, an album perchance? There is something going on in Rochester, New York these days. The range of bands putting out amazing sixties inspired new material is incredible. The Low Spirits have got the garage angle covered. It’s like the Leaves or the Troggs time-travelled and got into a modern studio to cut a few tunes. “Outta Sight” is so the 1966 garage rock brief. What a party band these guys must be. Speaking of partying, the Teenage Tom Petties are back with a great double-sided single. A-side is “Posters” and I like it. But I like the B-side more, “My First Beer.” It’s strummy and, as the band say “95 seconds of pure first-beer-buzz, all climaxing in a messy-as-hell solo before passing out in the garden.” Really, couldn’t have summed it better. Heading now to the American Pacific northwest we pull a few tracks from Patty and Oh’s debut album Out of Everything. The record’s first single “Useless Love” is pretty cool. Like Jonathan Richman if he’d focused on getting a hit single. But I’m skipping over that for “Heard Some Kind of Light.” I love the computer-ish keyboard work. It’s got a sprightly pop feel, yet with some eclectic David Byrne notes. B-side? I’d choose “New Flavor of Gum.” It’s great guitar pop elevated with endearing keyboard tones and layered background vocals.

https://safesuburbanhomerecords.bandcamp.com/track/my-first-beer

I was going to call a wrap on this instalment of spring singles sampling with K. Campbell’s recent song “Smoke.” And it is a great track. But then I stumbled across Campbell’s even more recent release “Neil and Joni” and I had to shift gears. Two iconic Canadian songsters celebrated in one song? What’s not to love? And the additional accent vocals here from Mandy Kim Clinton really add something consequential.

Spring singles are a thing and this is just phase one. Return here for more seasonally-attuned songs soon.

Top image courtesy Mark Amsterdam Flikr collection: ‘Citroen car dealer brochure 1963’