Tags
Doug Tuttle, Dream Road, Family Values, See You in the Next World, The Vapour Trails, Time Stands Still
Set your phasers to ‘reverb’ for this edition of Jangle Thursday as it’s a ‘celebration of sibilance’ of the ringing guitar sort.
The major news here is a whole album of jangle fun poprock from The Vapour Trails. Their new record is See You in the Next World and it is delightful stroll down quality street. While containing a few tracks from the EP Godspeed It released earlier this year (“Godspeed It,” “The Inner Truth”), this album is mostly chock full of fresh 1960s-influened jangle. Drop the needle anywhere across this record and hit a great song, from the Tom Petty-ish opener “Sonic Wave” to the 1960s sunshine vibe on “Drag It Around” to the more swinging rock-pop sound of “You, With Love” and the title track “See You in the Next World.”
Shifting to singles, Norway’s Family Values wowed us with the 1980s British jangle sound on their 2016 EP Time Stands Still, particularly the song “The Paris Syndrome.” Now they’re back with “Sayonara Eyes” and it’s another winner, this time with the vocals really reminding me of so many great Grapes of Wrath cuts.
Rounding out this edition of Jangle Thursday is Doug Tuttle whose fat acoustic rhythm guitar wash forms the perfect backdrop for “Long Day to Your Home” a choice melodic treat from his latest LP Dream Road. Imagine a Dire Straits/Bryrds collaboration and you’re in the zone.
Reverb’s great but it’s not free. Check out The Vapour Trails, Family Values and Doug Tuttle to keep the signal flowing.
It’s a new year – time to break out some brand new 2019 material. This collection of hooky poprock gems are fresh and date-stamped with the new year!
Manchester’s The Maple State formed in 2004, gigged until 2008, and then took a break before releasing a stellar comeback album in 2018, Things I Heard at the Party. Keeping up the momentum, they’re back this month with a double-A sided single release, “Germany” / “A Notion.” On first listen, the band sounds a bit post-punk until you hit the chorus on “Germany” and some pretty glorious power pop kicks in. Meanwhile, “A Notion” is more low key but still swinging, achieving an almost campfire sing-along sense of atmospheric fun. By contrast, Juliana Hatfield has never really gone away (and that’s a good thing!). Year after year she puts out pretty amazing albums, like last year’s phenomenal tribute to Olivia Newton John (check out Hatfield’s take on “Magic” – wow!). Her new, just released album is Weird and it is wonderfully so with another 11 strong tracks, though I’m presently hitting replay on “Sugar.” Somehow Hatfield makes her conflicted feelings about it clever, catchy and hilarious.
Scotland’s seeming bottomless pit of quality jangle gains more depth with Aberdeen’s The Vapour Trails. Their new extended 3 song single is named for one of the songs, “Godspeed It” but I’m more drawn the Rickenbacker-anchored jangle driving “The Inner Truth.” The vibe is a perfect distillation of late 1960s Byrdsian sibilant ringing guitar and nice harmonies. And the demo of their previously released “Golden Sunshine” is pretty special too. Though hailing from Pennsylvania and largely known for his distinctive guitar work, Steve Gunn has nailed a pretty ace Crowded House vibe on “Vagabond” from his new album The Unseen in Between. I mean, the guitar works here is still fantastic but it rightly remains secondary to his evocative melody and vocals. Rounding things out is some super-charged California pop from The Popravinas with their new single, “Sofia (CMU).” I love the candy-coated vocals on this track. Very late 1970s power pop, a vein mined by a host a great bands like The Connection and Tommy and Rockets. Looking forward to the band’s soon-to-released new album!