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Ready steady singles

23 Thursday Feb 2023

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The UK’s Ready Steady Go! was the sixties alternative to the more establishment Top of the Pops. Bands performed (mostly) live and the audience were the featured models and dancers, giving the show a more loose, spontaneous feel. I’d like to think our chosen singles are a modern embodiment of the show’s cool élan but hey, you be the judge.

Power pop legend Jamie Hoover is well known for his decades-long work with the Spongetones and collaborations with a variety of indie stalwarts. But his latest single sees him declaring his love for the recently-single mega-influencer “Kim Kardashian.” Co-written with power pop scribe and record producer Richard Rossi, the song is an amusing poke at social media and celebrity, delivered in an impeccable poprock style. Burnley and Todmorden’s The Goa Express have got a pop snarl that launches “Portrait” with a sonic 3-D impact. Comparisons to The Artic Monkeys, Oasis and the Strokes make sense, the sound here is so live and starkly authentic. Vocalist James Douglas Clark keeps the snarl neatly in check while the guitars crash in and out with an intoxicating intensity. So far it’s just singles from this band but a full album seems overdue. Leslie Rich knows political trouble, hailing from Northern Ireland. But now ensconced in Minneapolis Minnesota he’s seeing American issues from a whole new perspective. Leading Leslie Rich and the Rocket Soul Choir on “Revolt” he subtlety condemns the fake victim mentality of those with a knee on ‘some guy’s neck’. The track is so smooth, with a Fleetwood Mac mid-1970s precision of rhythm and mood. Fun but serious popsters The Happy Somethings kicked off 2023 with a collection of errant singles, bit and pieces of things set aside from the previous year. Like “Anglepoise,” a noise pop Bo Diddly remake if ever there was one. The band uncharacteristically turn up the amps this time. Hailsham’s Tim Izzard is everybody’s modern Mr. Glam, channeling a 1970s performance and song style for contemporary audiences. On his new EP Deepfake 99 you can hear him tapping a particularly Marc Bolan vein on “Walk the Walk” or a big ballad-mode Bowie on “Alice Pearl” and “Will the First to Believe Please Turn on the Lights?” But overall I’m charmed by the strut of the title track “Deepfake 99.”

Marc Valentine’s Futura Obscura is a solid album of power pop delights but few of the songs challenge the obvious power single, “Last Train Tonight.” The driving guitar-based melody is delivered with a mix of what sounds like Fountains of Wayne and Farrah influences, the latter particularly evident in the chorus. Rochester’s Katie Morey is a great post-folk artist. You can tell by skipping through her Friend of a Friend album that coffee houses and streel strings played a key part in its genesis. But then other instruments come in, adding to the aural splendour. Just listen to the mix on “Deep End” with its great contrast of rumbly guitar and deadpan vocals. A slightly more rock and roll Suzanne Vega or Jane Siberry I think. Thee Lonely Hearts have got a quartet of songs caught in the twilight between retro cool and modern indie panache. Last Fall’s “Glen Ponder” cooks with a clean 1980s take on sixties guitar poppy rock while b-side “I Came Back Again” channels The Smithereens. But the band’s should-be hit is undoubtedly “Treat Me Like You Just Don’t Care.” This 45 has the energy of an updated early Beatles number performed by Eugene Edwards. Schio Italy’s Freez sound like members of California’s slacker pop punk diaspora. Their 2019 album Always Friends alternated between rocking workouts and more subtle, alluring melodic numbers. Then late in 2022 they offered up something different again. “Nothing” is brief 90 seconds of relentless droney attack, somewhat hypnotic, ready for pogo-ing. The new millennium has witnessed the rebirth of a crowd of decades-dormant bands from days gone by. But few sound as fresh and in the swing of now as Finland’s The Bablers. Sure, there’s a retro feel to “Holding Me Tight Tonight” and yet the sound is so timeless too. Altogether the song has that smooth poprock sheen of the 1980s Moody Blues in comeback mode with a touch of 1974 McCartney in the bridge.

Thee Lonely Hearts – Treat Me Like You Just Don’t Care

In the fading hours of 2022 there was a lot buzz about Michigan’s Popular Creeps. A lot of ‘R’ band references got thrown around, as in The Replacements, REM, and the Rolling Stones. Kicking back with the full album All This Will End in Tears there’s definitely a lot ‘R’ here, though I tend to agree with Add to Want List that the sound is perhaps closer to Peter Case and Paul Collins, particularly on tracks like “Gone By 45.” My vote for double A-sided single goes to the combo of “From the Past” and “Keep It To Myself,” just for exuding so much new wave joy and echoes of The Connection. On Ant Farm Pittsburg’s The Zells give voice to the harsh working class experience of contemporary America where living is from payday to payday and life is suffering and suffering truther uncles. But the record shifts back and forth between distorted punk anti-paeans to tracks that expose the band’s superior musical chops. Like on “Dummy,” a song that kicks off sounding like a speed version of “Dancing With Myself” only to switch to a Titus Andronicus vocal and guitar attack. The lead guitar line snaking throughout Kid Gulliver’s latest single “Kiss and Tell” is so captivating it just keep running through my head long after the song has ended. It’s got fun adornments, like riffs from the Batman theme, but really the backbone of the song is Simone Berk’s smooth vocal and that killer lead guitar work. Another guitar winning single comes from LA’s Billy Tibbals. Reviewers are noting the 1970s glam and pub rock influences but all I can hear is that addictive droney lead guitar on “Onwards and Upwards” that says new wave to me. So many potential influences here but I hear some Zombies in the vocals and even some Squeeze in the melodic twists. As a band The No Ones are full of someones: people like REM’s Peter Buck and Young Fresh Fellows alumnus Scott McCaughey. And on their soon-to-be-released new album My Best Evil Friend the list of guest stars is pretty gob-smacking, including contributions from Ben Gibbard, Debbi Peterson and Norman Blake. Of the two pre-release teaser singles I can’t decide which I like more, the dreamy, bucolic “Song for George” or the more Byrdsian “Phil Ochs is Dead.”

When Ottawa band The Rockyts burst on the scene in 2019 with their debut album Come and Dance reviewers were dumbfounded that three gangly teens could recreate the 1960s sound so authentically, both on originals and covers from the era. Now reduced to a one man band focused on lead guitarist, songwriter and singer Jeremy Abboud, their new single “I Get High” recasts the retro influences into a totally contemporary sound. Well, 1980s Cars-era contemporary anyway. The guitar work is now more stolid, the vocals enlivened by some otherworldly harmonies. By contrast Austin Texas troubadour Phil Dutra brings back his signature telenovela-style big emotional ballad on “I Feel Your Pain.” There’s something very Vicki Lawrence or 1970s Cher style-wise lingering over this tale of cheating and remorse while the hooks are big and bold and stuck in your head. I can already see the movie montage running behind this song. Scotland’s Dropkick are like your favourite hang-out spot, immediately familiar, comforting, but open to some surprise guests. The advance single from their upcoming album The Wireless Revolution is “Telephone” and it is everything fans of the band love: ringing guitars, a sweet feel-good vibe, and a strong Teenage Fanclub family resemblance. On his new album Alter Ego Irish singer/songwriter Paul McCann offers a mix of styles, both fast and slow, sounding at times 1970s lush or 1980s poppy rock. My current fave is “Lost in This Moment” with its slow build up and break out hooky chorus. Another lush poprock offering comes from Norway’s Armchair Oracles. Given the song’s focus, perhaps that’s not surprising. “Nilsson Wilson” observes how two great artists emerged from traumatic childhoods. The vibe is very Rogue Wave meets Al Stewart.

Rounding out our ready steady singles is another fab new song from mister poprock-reliable, Richard Turgeon. “I’ve Got You Now” features Turgeon’s now familiar formula of discordant guitars and poppy melodic hooks, delivered with a captivating vocal arrangement. Grunge definitely meets the beach on the this 45.

RSG! only ran on UK television for three years but it defined an era of mod music, hip fashion, and an almost DIY broadcast esthetic. And The Who managed to appear on the show 18 times! Our humble efforts pale by comparison but I like to think that the spark lives on in the music. Click on the hyperlinked band names to feel that surge.

Cold snap singles

01 Tuesday Feb 2022

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Winter has hit us hard here in the Great White North. Correction: it’s hit us harder in the parts that usually don’t get sub-zero temps and dumps of snow that won’t leave e.g. Toronto. Nothing to do but hunker down and check out the singles scene. This mix has got a wide variety of poppy rocky sounds, most pretty new, some left behind from 2021, and a few surprises too.

West Midlands’ jangle purveyors The Proctors offer up a killer B-side with “You Me and the Sea.” The guitar just drips with reverby jangle goodness and the vocals are breathy and ethereal in that 1990s English guitar band sort of way. And that’s a pretty groovy synth keyboard riff tucked in there too. Did I mention it’s on pink vinyl? Snuck in at the very end of 2021 was the release of The Boolevards’ new album PoPtastic. It’s a garage take on British Invasion guitar pop, wonderfully exemplified on “Master of Lies.” And many more of the 14 tunes on this LP. With a musical resume like Jason Narducy (Superchunk, Bob Mould Band) the polish and hooks on his recent Split Single album Amplificado should come as no surprise. The single “(Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love” is poprock perfection, charging in from the start only to take off melodically in the chorus. The melding of guitars and vocals reminds me of the always reliable mix from bands like the Well Wishers. Faster Than Light wield a wicked, straightforward brand of melody infused rock and roll. Their one-off single “Blacker” is a fist-pumping, highway-driving song loaded with tasty lead guitar licks. To mark what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday, Automatic Shoes decided to put out nice little tribute EP called Rising. I love what this guy does production-wise, the acoustic guitars are so crisp, the vocals are so 1970s-intimate in the best Bowie/Marc Bolan style. The cover of  “Andy Warhol” from Bowie’s 1971 Hunky Dory gets a more stripped down treatment here, which really allows the delicacy of the tune to surface.

Brighton UK’s Bloody Norah are bloody marvelous. From their Instagram page they self-describe as “your dad’s favourite rock band” with “[m]elodies tastier than your mom’s spaghetti and harmonies sweeter than your uncle’s crème brûlée.” This is not just presser bluster. “Shooting Star” is a delightful sixties-themed poprock confection, complete with addictive lead guitar lines and splendid harmony vocals. B-side “Joy” is a winner too, with its Abbey Road Beatles wavery guitar and minor key poignancy. More please! Brett Newski has just released the original version of “Dirt” recorded makeshift-style while living in Vietnam a decade or so ago. The song appeared on his 2014 album American Folksong Armageddon but this older version has a very different feel, rougher obviously, less slick, but also channeling a serious level of late 1960s Donovan. Retro but somehow also very contemporary at the same time. Stourbridge anyone? Yes, I had to look it up, a town in the West Midlands, UK – Birmingham is the most recognizable town to outsiders. Well that’s where you’ll find jangle masters Amoeba Teen. They’re putting together a new album and this month’s teaser single was, appropriately enough, entitled “January.” The song has the band shifting a bit into a country lane filled with the likes of The Byrds and Teenage Fanclub, on occasion. Airy, pedal steel-filled melodic goodness here. Seattle’s Green Pajamas have to be the best kept secret in indie rock and roll. Since 1984 the band has released something like 35 albums or so of original material! You can catch up on the first 15 years of singles on the compilation Indian Winter. But why just love the oldies? The band have got a brand new single that is so 1980s indie retro fabulous. “I Love the Way You Smile at Me” is a lovely midtempo pleaser, with catchy guitar licks and bits of pop psychedelia thrown in here and there. Heading over to the Dutch province of Limberg, we catch up with easygoing funsters Afterpartees whose mega-single The Bunn pays tribute to the band’s fave beer hangout. However, I’m more partial to the sub B-side offering “I Don’t Want the World to Stop.” The track has got a great loping rhythm and a steely lead guitar line that won’t give up while the hint of desperation in the vocals is strangely endearing.

Afterpartees – I Don’t Want the World to Stop

Terms like ‘emo’ get thrown around in discussions of Pittsburg’s Short Fictions but I’m not even sure what it really means anymore. Sure, their 2019 album Fates Worth Than Death had a pretty serious undercurrent but also some pretty funny song titles like “I Don’t Want to Wait Out the Apocalypse With Anyone But You” and “Nothingness Lies Coiled at the Heart of Being (It’s Such a Good Feeling).” Besides “Really Like You” sounds pretty chipper. Ok, lyrically, very emo. Well they’re back with a new single, the very Front Bottoms vibing “Don’t Start a Band.” Can a new album be far off? Dubbed ‘America’s least known supergroup’ The Split Squad combine the talents of former members of The Fleshtones, The Plimsouls, Blondie and Cherry Twister. That experience is all over their new LP Another Cinderella, particularly the title track, which is an onslaught of hooky guitar pop. Dave Molter is another kind of music veteran, the poster boy late bloomer who only released his acclaimed debut EP Foolish Heart in 2019, despite a music career stretching back to sixties. Now his first full LP is about the released and the teaser title track is out now, “Approaching the End of Usable Life.” I’m liking where it suggests the album will be going, some good old fashioned meat and potatoes rock and roll in a Huey Lewis vein. Self-described ‘modern vintage rock band’ The Undecideds are a couple of teens stranded in the here and now, far from the 1980s where they obviously belong. Their understated but still rocking take on Tom Petty and Heartbreakers’ “Even the Losers” has got an authentic feel to it, a thrill all its own. I’m no fence-sitter here – these guys are great. Speedways main man Matt Speedway slipped an EP out at the end of 2021. On Only Trouble Is Gee Whiz he turns the amp down from 11 and dials the Speedways frenetic pace back a bit to showcase his pop side a bit more. Opening cut “She’s Got a Melted Heart and a Frozen Mind” is a mini-masterpiece from the Elliott Smith or Replacements low-key hooks department. The riff snaking throughout the song is pure magic.

Short Fictions – Don’t Start a Band

I’m liking everything about Ryan Allen’s new EP I’m Not Mean. I like the cover. I like the guitar sounds. I like the range of styles he crams into a release with just four tunes. These tunes are bit more poppy in execution in a 1960s British Invasion mold. Give all four a listen but if pressed for time go right to “Cut Your Teeth” which has a bit of 1990s Britpop going for it too. Another band that seldom lets me down is Freedom Fry. They have a Paul Simon knack of putting a little melodic twist into the simplest of songs to lodge in your head. “You Know the Way” is the first of a new ‘sing along’ series they’ve cooked up. The electric piano line is a sublime delight. Tim Izzard’s campaign to bring glam back into the poprock mainstream continues with a new EP, 21st Century Expose. Once again a decided 1970s Bowie/Bolan inspiration is in evidence but turned to totally contemporary concerns on opening cut “Empty My Head.” The track is a timely rumination on the often oppressive impact of social media, linking back to concerns and lyrics from Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” And it’s a catchy little number too. Indie music blogger Eclectic Music Lover put me on to Belfast band Unquiet Nights, specifically “In Spite of It All.” The track has a hypnotic quality, a bit Pink Floyd, a bit U2. Very nice fluid guitar work throughout. The song is the one new contribution to a greatest hits collection they’ve just released, First Ten 2012-2022. You can pick up one album and you’re all caught up! Kelowna BC indie rocker Stephen Schijns (pronounced ‘Skines’) so captures our collective desire to escape cold snaps and Covid with a surf-licious homage to sunny climes and rumbly guitar work on “Trans-Pacific Beach Bum.” And he works in some Dad-joke worthy turns of phrase. This would definitely go with rum, some coconut-flavoured mixer and a sun lamp.

We wrap things up with a folkie turn, though screened through a late 1970s commercial folk filter. Recall those smooth, folkie singer-songwriter singles from the likes of Al Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, and Dan Fogleberg and you get a sense of where we’re going. “Either Way” is the opening track of Steve Noonan’s new album Dreamland and it kicks things off with striking effect. In this song it’s the rhythm guitar that really establishes the hook, offset by an almost staccato delivery on the vocals. This stuff was a staple of early 1980s AM radio and for good reason, it has a very broad possible appeal.

This cold snap’s not going anywhere just yet so grab your sweater and pull up to your Mp3 player to review these super cool singles. The hyperlinked names take you to the artists, their music, or some kind of internet real estate you can hang out on.

The header art above is a fragment from Rob Elliott’s Pandemic Diary page 38.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2021

03 Monday Jan 2022

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Welcome to our sixth annual collection of should-be hit singles gathered from the artists, albums and tunes featured on Poprock Record in the previous year. You’d think after five tries I would have come up with some kind of rock solid science to make these choices. But, no. Still winging it, going with whatever takes my fancy. I mean, I think you’ll see a pattern: catchy guitar hooks, soaring melodies, earwormy compositions, all accomplished in three minutes or less usually. Putting this list together was particularly challenging this year – positively spoilt for choices! My initial list of possible songs had over 200 selections. The hyperlinks below will take you to the original post about each artist as they first appeared on the blog.

So let’s get to it, Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles for 2021:

1. The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness “I Don’t Mind”
2. White Fang “Never Give Up”
3. The Vapour Trails “That’ll Do It”
4. James Holt “Mystery Girl”
5. Brent Seavers “More Than A Friend”
6. Timmy Sean “The College Year”
7. Aaron Lee Tasjan “Another Lonely Day”
8. Ruen Brothers “Cookies and Cream”
9. The Martial Arts “Bethany”
10. Daisy House “Last Wave Home”
11. The Coral “Vacancy”
12. Robert Ellis Orrall “Sunshine”
13. Deadlights “Breaking Down”
14. Love, Burns “Wired Eyes”
15. The Blendours “Tell Me The Truth”
16. Daryl Bean “Keeping Me Alive”
17. Stoeckel & Pena “Why”
18. Richard X. Heyman “Ransom”
19. Automatics “Black Velvet Elvis”
20. John Myrtle “How Can You Tell If You Love Her”
21. The Red Locusts “Another Bad Day For Cupid”
22. James Henry “So Many Times Before”
23. Lane Steinberg “The Invisible Monster”
24. Geoff Palmer “The Apartment Song”
25. Mike Browning “The Little Black Egg”
26. The Eisenhowers “Suffer”
27. The Jack Cades “What Am I Going To Do?”
28. Friends of Cesar Romero “Thinkin’ About Leavin’”
29. The Kickstand Band “Hey Julianne”
30. Pseudonym “Before the Monsters Came”
31. David Brookings “Mania At The Talent Show”
32. Lolas “Pain In My Heart”
33. Tommy Scifres “Thought You Knew”
34. Vanilla “I Shall Be Re-Released”
35. Hyness “Cruelty”
36. Tim Jackson “How Do You Mend A Broken Heart”
37. Caddy “Cost of Love”
38. Chris Church “Know”
39. Tim Izzard “Breaking Me Down”
40. BPM Collective “Catastrophe Girl”
41. Benny Hayes “Don’t Make Me Go”
42. Steve Robinson “Mr Empty Head”
43. The Poppermost “Laziest Fella In The Realm”
44. Liz Phair “Hey Lou”
45. Juliana Hatfield “Gorgon”
46. Robert Sherwood “Blue All Over”
47. Kurt Hagardorn “You Are My Girl”
48. Richard Turgeon “Goodbye to Summer”
49. Ed Woltil “Paper Boat”
50. The Amplifier Heads “The House of Young Dolls”

This year’s list privileges strong, strong hooks. I’m talking the jangleliscious guitar work from the ever reliable Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness on “I Don’t Mind,” the relentless driving guitar riffs animating White Fang’s “Never Give Up,” or the delicious 1960s roll out kicking off The Vapour Trails’ “That’ll Do It.” Or the pumping, plinky piano and organ cocktail that undergirds James Holt’s killer single “Mystery Girl.” Then there’s the more traditional poprock Brent Seavers, springing the earworm in the chorus of “More Than a Friend.” Still, there’s room for variety on this list, from the tender acoustic Aaron Lee Tasjan ballad “Another Lonely Day,” to the Beach Boys homage in Daisy House’s “Last Wave Home,” to a folk rock duet from Steve Stoeckel and Irene Pena on “Why,” to the striking sonic heartbreak embodied in Richard X. Heyman’s touching “Ransom.”

Truly, this list is just a bit a fun, one more chance for me to shine a light on the artists whose work had me hitting replay in 2021. But I’m sure you might make different choices. Feel free to tell me all about them! Either way, don’t forget to find some way – buying music, attending live shows (when it’s safe!), or taking up those opportunities to interact with them online – to support their bottom line. They may not only be in it for the money, but money does allow them to stay in it.

March Music Express

11 Thursday Mar 2021

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Pick up this fantasy compilation I’ve entitled March Music Express and here’s what you get: twenty should-hits, all original artists, and melody for days. It’s a collection that rocks when it wants to, throws in some jangle to make your heart sing, and even goes mellow when the moment calls for it. I’m telling you, K-Tel never treated you this good. March Music Express has all the hooks and none of the groove cramming. Just hit play and let it ride!

Let’s start side one with some sophisticated pop. Dolour offer up a very smooth ambience on “Televangelist,” a keyboard-heavy single wrapped in breathy background vocals with some swing in the beat. There’s something I find so captivating about Brian Bringelson’s vocal treatment on “Losing Train of Thought” from his recent album, Desperate Days. Shades of Gerry Rafferty and Paul Kelly covering a long lost 1970s AM radio pop song. Brooklyn’s The Suns kick off “When You’re Not Around” sounding like some wayward Mersey cover band though the song quickly develops its own distinctive feel. The Mersey vibe’s still there, but now its cast in a more 1968 mold. The song is from the band’s recent EP Big Break, a brief excursion into the 1960s-infused rocky pop numbers. I love the urgency established early in William M. Michael breakneck, rollicking “Miles Away” from his EP Modern Sounds in Pop Music. The feel is very 1980s western Rank and File or True West. Detroit’s Dave Caruso creates such pretty pop songs on his recent album Radiophonic Supersonic, reminding me of 10cc mixed with more than a little Macca. “The Drop” perfectly captures his careful attention to song arrangements, juxtaposing some crunchy rhythm guitar with low key sweet vocals.

Oslo, Norway’s Death By Unga Bunga offer a striking a mix of influences, a bit of metal ‘tude, a dash of 1970s glam, and lurking behind their in-your-face guitars is usually an ear-worm quality set of hooks. Take their new release Heavy Male Insecurity. The first singles – “Egocentric” and “Faster Than Light” – are slow burn hook machines. But I find myself drawn to album deep cut “Trouble” with its subtle, alluring chorus. Looking for something completely original? Scotland’s Pictish Trail has an endearing, inventive indie sound that is something else. Just check all the elements at work on “Bad Algebra,” from the ping pong speaker effect on the opening guitar, to the softly understated vocals, to the explosive outbreak in the chorus. And the guy’s website is pretty hilarious too. Tampa Bay’s The Easy Button claim a musical lineage to Weezer but I hear more Fountains of Wayne on their new single, “Waiting Room.” Great edgy lead guitar here, tempered by some pretty smooth vocals. With a name like Cult Stars from Mars you know you’re in for some fun. I was totally grooving on the band’s fab recent cover of the Springsteen-written, Manfred Mann hit “Blinded by the Light” when I stumbled on “Can’t Wait to See You.” What a song! The performance kicks off like some mid-1980s pop hair band (and I’m liking that a bit more than I should) when suddenly the track transforms into a slice of poprock heaven. Something very Cheap Trick going on here, at their most melodic. Tamar Berk’s new album explores the restless dreams of youth but as a politics guy I was immediately drawn to the song “Socrates and Me.” It’s a cool bit of understated guitar pop, kinda like a new wave Suzanne Vega.

For side two, let’s hit southern Europe. Italy has got a pretty impressive underground rock and roll scene, with an accent on Ramones-inspired acts. Milan’s Radio Days up the melodic quotient on a straight rocking sound with “I Got Love” from last year’s EP of the same name. Crashing chords with soaring harmony vocals equals one appealing single. Another band mining a classic rock and roll sound are The Rubs. The new single “I Want You” kicks off oh so Stonesy but into the main body of the tune there’s a bit more Steve Miller Band attention to melody. Love the space synth! Tim Izzard wrote me about his Bowie-influenced album, Starlight Rendezvous, and boy has this guy got Ziggy nailed. But I found myself drawn more to the less Bowie-fied numbers, like the wonderfully hooky “Breaking Me Down.” The main riff is sensational, effectively threaded throughout the song and nicely offset with some pumping piano. Portland punk-noise meisters White Fang tune up the acoustic guitars on their new album Don’t Want to Hear It. The party dude sentiment is still there (on tracks like “Drunk with my Friends”) but check out the easygoing feel of “Never Give Up.” The song opens with a relentless hook that comes back again and again, effectively haunting the song. Then the track shifts to an acoustic guitar heavy sound that reminds me of Eels or Guster. Overall, it’s a concentrated dose of poprock goodness, a delightful departure from these party rockers. Melbourne, Australia’s Farewell Horizontal offer up a dreamy, reverb-drenched testament to the times we are in with “I Never Know What Time It Is.” I love the musical ornamentation here, from the jangle and psych lead guitar, to the subtle, atmospheric keyboard touches, to the soothing harmony vocals. And that’s not the only highlight from their new record, An Argument with an Idiot – definitely worth checking out.

The irony of Mt. Misery’s single “The Dreaming Days Are Over” is just how dream-like the roll out to the tune is. The song sounds like a skip through a spring garden, all pleasant acoustic guitar and keyboard embellishments, carried forward in a distinctive folk pop style. It’s been ten years since Irene Peña’s fabulous debut album Nothing To Do With You came out, with just an EP and a handful of singles released since then. But what killer singles! Like last year’s shimmering “Ridiculous,” a track on par with anything from Juliana Hatfield and Liz Phair. Such a great crisp guitar sound counterbalanced with a candy-coated vocal shine. Somehow I missed Purling Hiss’ 2019 EP, Interstellar Blue, and that’s a shame because “Useful Information” is song that screams classic 1960s rock and roll. The driving guitar hook is so 1968. And yet the song has a very subtle melody snaking throughout the song. Another band known for noise and screaming guitars that has turned over a more melodic leaf of late is Terry Malts. “Distracted” lays a folkie vocal harmony over a bed of grinding guitars in an effective hooky counterpoint. Last up, The Menzingers’ reworking of their 2019 Hello Exile went from punky to four on the floor folk with 2020’s From Exile. From what I can hear “America Pt. 2” is a slight reworking of the “America, You’re Freaking Me Out” that appears on the album. It’s topical and has got a winning sing-along chorus.

With any great compilation album, someone else has done all the work. All you have to do is let the music play. Though hitting the hyperlinked artist names and checking out their musical wares wouldn’t hurt.