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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
2019 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:
- The Golden Seals “Something Isn’t Happening”
- Juliana Hatfield “Sugar”
- The Well Wishers “Feeling Fine”
- Bombadil “The Man Who Loves You”
- Matthew Milia “Abruptly Old and Caffeinated”
- The Brothers Steve “She”
- The Maple State “Germany”
- Aaron Lee Tasjan “Songbird”
- Johnny Stanec “Secret World”
- The Maureens “Can’t Stop”
- Telekinesis “Like Nothing”
- Omicrom J Trauma “Leave You Alone”
- Matthew Logan Vasquez “Ghostwriters”
- Hollerado “Straight to Hell”
- *repeat repeat “Pressure”
- Space Dingus “Parchment Squire, Paper Knight”
- Taylor Knox “City at Night”
- Fruit Bats “Ocean”
- Berwanger “Bad Vibrations”
- The Cerny Brothers “American Whore”
- Pernice Brothers “Skinny Jeanne”
- Wyatt Blair “I’ll Keep Searching for You”
- Mike Adams at his Honest Weight “Do You One Better”
- U.S. Highball “Summer Boy”
- The Rallies “All Over Town”
- Richard Turgeon “Loneliness”
- Perspective, A Lovely Hand to Hold “One Wrong Turn”
- Deadbeat Beat “Baphomet”
- Bryan Estepa “Another Kind of Madness”
- Ezra Furman “In America”
- Nick Lowe “Blue on Blue”
- Lucille Furs “Paint Euphrosyne Blue”
- Brett “Wisdom Tooth”
- Martha “Heart is Healing”
- The Dave Anderson Project “Welcome”
- Drew Neely and the Heroes “Chasing Danielle”
- Dave Molter “Tell Me That You Love Me”
- The Boolevards “Take Me to the Top”
- Army Navy “Seismic”
- Trolley “I’ll Never Tell”
- Ducks Unlimited “Anhedonia”
- The Needs “I Regret It”
- The Cudas “The Kids Want Hits”
- Propeller “There Goes a Day”
- Dead Rituals “Run”
- David Woodard “Nine Hundred Ninety Nine”
- Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts “Feels Like Falling in Love”
- Big Nothing “Waste My Time”
- The Mommyheads “Wake Up a Scientist”
- 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.
Some definite hot properties in this newscast with new releases from Poprock Record faves Richard Turgeon, The Rallies, Dan Israel and Aaron Lee Tasjan!
Richard Turgeon just keeps on getting better and better. His debut (In Between Spaces) and sophomore (Lost Angeles) albums were solid slabs of 1990s-inflected poprock, layered with hooks and slathered with a grungy alienated demeanor. Now he’s back with Go Deep and this time he’s upped the melodic quotient. This is the record Matthew Sweet should be putting out! There’s plenty of solid hooks, a bit of crunch, and those slightly dark melodic twists that sink deep in your sonic consciousness and stay there. It’s all there in the great opening track, “The One Who Got Away,” with its driving guitar and lovely background vocals. Or “Next to Me” with its strong guitar lead line hook. Then Turgeon shakes things up with an early Police ska rhythm guitar anchoring “Beware of God” accompanied by some REM-worthy background/foreground vocal interplay. The REM comparisons continue with “Loneliness,” a spot-on could-be outtake from Document. Two different versions of “Lost and Found” both capture the aching beauty at heart of the song. And then Turgeon shows his songwriting depth and range with the country/folk tune, the winsome “Cowboy Life.” Ultimately Go Deep is a great album experience, worthy of repeated listenings.
Seattle Washington’s The Rallies are back with their sophomore LP Upside Down and it’s a reverb-charged dose of sunny hooks and bittersweet sentiment. If you enjoyed their harmony-drenched debut Serve you’re going to love this new record. The solid acoustic guitar rhythm backing is still there. The distinctive mix of harmony background vocals combined with lead singer Steve Davis’ heart-tugging delivery remains front and centre. But the songs have a bit more muscle this time out. Somebody stepped on the jangle pedal because its ringing tone threads its way throughout the album, from the single-worthy opener “All Over Town” to the soaring closer “You’re the One.” The album opens on an extremely strong note. Really, in a properly poprock world “All Over the Town” would be zooming up the charts with its Beatles-esque background vocals, hypnotic guitar hooks, and earwormy melody. Overall, the influences alternate on this album, from the Tom Petty-ish “Brand New” and “Up To You” to the more Crowded House vibe of “It’s OK” and “Alive.” The hooky lead line opener to “If You Do” comes off like a lost cut from the That Thing You Do soundtrack. And I also love the lilting, more slow-paced melodic charm of “In Everything.” But make no mistake, the band have their own distinctive sound and style, as in evidence on the moving “All of Us,” a song that highlights this group’s overall uplifting positivity. 2017’s Serve landed on a host of ‘best of ‘ album lists and I predict Upside Down will heading to the same places for 2019.
Minnesota’s Dan Israel is like the money in the bank, turning out reliably great poprock records year in and out. This time he’s back with the timely-titled Social Media Anxiety Disorder and it is another winning collection of poprock ruminations on life and surviving the modern world. The album opens with “Be My Girl,” the obvious single with its endearing horn section, hooky bass guitar work, and hit single aura. But the whole record is quality stuff, alternating between Dylanesque observations and a Cat Stevens kind of confident delivery. Check out the hooky wordy attack of “Another Day” or the Tom Petty-ish country demeanor of “Tired.” Or how about the “Strawberry Fields Forever” organ quality adding something to the already winning “125” – killer! Personally, I’m smitten with the intimate acoustic revelations of “Still I’m Lost” and the almost church-like gospel hints embedded in “Out of My Hands” and “Out of My Hands Reprised.” Dan Israel is leading the singer/songwriter poprock revival, one you should be signing on to.
Aaron Lee Tasjan’s Karma for Cheap was my number 1 album for 2018. I just couldn’t get enough of it. The songwriting was exquisite, the musical performances – amazing. Now Tasjan has returned with a stripped down version of the album, Karma for Cheap: Reincarnated, and it’s a revelation. It’s like Karma unplugged, and stripped bare the songs really stand up. In this re-ordered version of the album, former album closer “Songbird” is now the opener and in its more naked form it exudes all the acoustic majesty of McCartney’s “Blackbird” or “Mother Nature’s Son.” And so it is true for all the other songs. These more spare recordings reveal new depths in songs like “Strange Shadows” and “End of the Day.” Reincarnated does make one major change in the set list of Karma for Cheap, swapping out the Orbison-esque “Dream Dreamer” for the delighful “My Whole Life is Over (All Over Again).” Tasjan’s a major talent, as revealed by his ability here to bring even more new life to some pretty great material.
What were the biggest hits that weren’t in 2017? Who were the biggest should-be stars? In our alternate universe here at Poprock Record, these guys were all over the charts, the chat shows, the scandal sheets, as well as memed all over Facebook, Snapchatted by the kids, and Instragrammed into oblivion. Jesus, they were so popular you are well and truly sick of them by now. But sadly for our poprock heroes, the universe is not just ours to define. In the world beyond our little blog, they could all use another plug.
Daisy House dominated my playlist this year, both their current record and their back catalogue. They channel the 1960s but never let it wholly define them. They have two amazing singers and one fabulously talented songwriter. They deserve all the accolades the internet can hand out. If this were 1970 they’d probably be headlining The Flip Wilson Show tonight. The Rallies were an accidental discovery that turned into an obsession. Their whole album is great but “Don’t Give Up” makes my heart twinge every time. Aimee Mann and Fastball ably demonstrated this year that veterans can still turn out fantastic, career-defining albums. And I got to see both of them live! Los Straightjackets did Nick Lowe proud, producing a phenomenal tribute to his body of work. “Rollers Show” was my go-to summertime happy tune.
I won’t review every selection from the two-four, but I will say that I think the mix of poprock I feature on the blog is evident here. There’s fast and slow, country and rock, guitars and keyboards, etc. And then there’s always the hooks. Case in point: check out the 42 second mark on Greg Kihn’s “The Life I Got.” If you don’t feel the excitement he creates with some classic poprock guitar arpeggiation and the subtle vocal hook you’re kinda missing what we’re doing here. Here’s hoping 2018 is as hit single worthy as this past year has been!
I am going to sneak in an honourable mention for what I consider the compilation of year: 
When Neko Case sang about Tacoma in “Thrice All American” you’d never think the town would serve up a something quite like The Rallies. The band’s debut effort, the cheesily titled Serve, is a soundtrack to a sunny day. The wash of acoustic guitars, jangly lead lines, great vocal harmonies and strong songwriting will put a smile on your face and keep it there. The Rallies claim such stalwart poprockers as Tom Petty and Crowded House as influences and you can hear them on these recordings but the final result is something original. Comparing them to more contemporary artists, there is more than a little kinship with Philadelphia’s acoustic poprock outfit Good Old War to my ears.
Now here is where I usually pick out one or two songs as the album highlights but Serve is a solid ten tracks of poprock goodness, there really isn’t a weak track here. Just buy the whole thing. Single? “Still Gonna Want You” has the hooky development of a radio hit. The opening acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies of “Don’t Give Up” made my hair stand on end – very moving. “So Right” has a super Petty vibe going. Check out the nice trebly guitar on “These are the Words” with its hooky melody. “On My Mind” also sounds like a single to me with its strong guitar lines and vocal harmonies.