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Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles for 2022

05 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 2 Comments

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*repeat repeat, Allan Kaplon, Andy Bell, Bats, Beachheads, Bill DeMain, Bill Lloyd, Bloody Norah, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Chris Castino, David Woodard, Dazy, Edward O'Connell, Fjord Mustang, Flipp, Frank Royster, Freddie Steady Krc, Freedy Johnston, Goodman, Grrrl Gang, Jane's Party, John Larson and the Silver Fields, Kevin Robertson, Kurt Lanham, Lawn, Limblifter, Linda XO, Lisa Mychols & Super 8, Marc Jonson, Martin Luther Lennon, Moonlight Parade, Murray Atkinson, Novelty Island, Phil Thornalley, Pictish Trail, Push Puppets, Ramirez Exposure, Richard Turgeon, Richard X. Heyman, RIcky Rochelle, Rogers and Butler, Sky Diving Penguins, Sloan, Stephen Schijns, Steve Robinson and Ed Woltil, Suburban HiFi, Superchunk, Tamar Berk, Teenage Tom Petties, Televisionaries, The Bleeding Idahos, The Demos, The Kryng, The Minders, The Proctors, The Rallies, The Rubs, The Stroppies, The Telmos, The Toms, The Wends, U.S. Highball

It was another busy year for melody-drenched rock and roll. Releases were coming fast and furious and frankly I could barely keep up. Still, I managed to get 82 posts up on the blog in 2022 and write over 64,000 words on the loosely-defined rock and roll sub-genre I call ‘poprock.’ I couldn’t write about everything that crossed my desk or what others may have necessarily thought was review-worthy, I just covered what caught my ear or worked itself into some kooky theme I cooked up. So let me be clear, what appears here is a completely arbitrary exercise in personal taste and discretion. I’m sure others may have a somewhat different set of worthy tunes that deserve more attention. And that is totally cool. The point is to celebrate the artists and perhaps give people another shot at checking them out.

So here it is, Poprock Record’s top 50 should-be hit singles from 2022:

1. Grrrl Gang “Pop Princess”
2. The Bleeding Idahos “The Beat Said”
3. Dazy “Rollercoaster Ride”
4. Bloody Norah “Shooting Star”
5. Allan Kaplon “Restless One”
6. Televisionaries “Over and Out”
7. John Larson and the Silver Fields “Reversible Heart”
8. Push Puppets “There’s No-one Else Like Lynette”
9. Tamar Berk “Your Permission”/“Tragic Endings”
10. Freddie Steady Krc “Bohemian Dandy”
11. The Toms “Atmosphere”
12. The Proctors “You and Me and the Sea”
13. The Minders “Home”
14. Richard Turgeon “Better With You”
15. Flipp “You Can Make It Happen”
16. Bill DeMain “Lone Ranger”
17. Limblifter “Haystack Rock”
18. Stephen Schijns “I Met Her Yesterday”
19. The Rubs “When I Dream About You”
20. Edward O’ Connell “Golden Light”
21. Superchunk “Endless Summer”
22. The Kryng “Get”
23. Freedy Johnston “There Goes a Brooklyn Girl”
24. Phil Thornalley “Fast Car”
25. Lawn “Down”
26. The Stroppies “The Perfect Crime”
27. Beachheads “Jupiter”
28. Martin Luther Lennon “jfkha”
29. David Woodard “Stupid Kid”
30. Linda XO “California Girl”
31. Richard X. Heyman “When the New Dawn Comes”
32. Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard “Break Right In”
33. Sloan “Magical Thinking”
34. Teenage Tom Petties “Boxroom Blues”
35. The Demos “Streetlight Glow”
36. Suburban HiFi “In Her Reverie”
37. Moonlight Parade “Amsterdam”
38. Ricky Rochelle “In a Dream With You”
39. The Telmos “What She Knows”
40. Marc Jonson and Ramirez Exposure “Tape Recording”
41. Sky Diving Penguins “Run Boy”
42. Novelty Island “Jangleheart”
43. Goodman “Au Pair”
44. Pictish Trail “Melody Something”
45. Kevin Robertson “Tough Times (Feel Like That)
46. U.S. Highball “(You’ve Got To) Activate a Carrot”
47. The Wends “What A Heart Is For”
48. The Rallies “Must Be Love”
49. Jane’s Party “It’s Been Years”
50. Frank Royster “Open Door”

There were so many great songs put out this past year, I was spoiled for choice. And choosing wasn’t easy. Sometimes I cheated a little. Grrrl Gang’s “Pop Princess” technically came out before 2022 but I only got around to writing about it this last year. What a tune! It’s a perfect example of the kind of excitement a great single can generate and, really, why I write this blog. People need to hear it! Or there’s the fresh indie hooks driving The Bleeding Idahos’ “The Beat Said” and Bloody Norah’s “Shooting Star.” Dazy had a knock out AM radio earworm with “Rollercoaster Ride.” And then there was veteran songster Allan Kaplon coming on like The Highwaymen at first only to let loose the Rockpile hooks in the chorus of “Restless Ones.” There were new faces and old favourites and surprises aplenty. Click on the links to go to the original posts featuring each song.

I had to create a few new categories this year, just to capture all that was good and groovy about 2022. The post-Covid covers album phenomenon continued and most were great fun. But some were particularly inspired. And then there were a lot of acoustic guitar-dominant tunes out this past year that I felt really needed to be singled out in a category I’ve dubbed folk pop.

So, without further ado, here are Poprock Record’s most inventive covers from 2022:

1. Kurt Lanham “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles)
2. Lisa Mychols and Super 8 “I Can’t Explain” (The Who)
3. Bill Lloyd “The World Turns Around Her” (The Byrds)
4. Andy Bell “Light Flight” (Pentangle)
5. Murray Atkinson “Bus Stop” (The Hollies)

And here are Poprock Record’s top folk pop singles from 2022:

1. Fjord Mustang “Health Class Field Trip”
2. Rogers and Butler “Oh Romeo”
3. Bats “Golden Spoon”
4. *repeat repeat “Hm Feels Like”
5. Steve Robinson and Ed Woltil “Make Amends”
6. Chris Castino “Chinese Whispers”

I do love making lists but the choices do not amount to any big heavy pronouncement on anything – just my bit of fun and chance to celebrate these artists a little bit more. Check them out and see if you don’t agree, they’re seriously good!

Photo courtesy Fred Rockwood.

Breaking news: Afterpartees, U.S. Highball, Fastball and Young Guv

04 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Breaking News

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Afterpartees, Fastball, U.S. Highball, Young Guv

This edition of the news contains a superstar quartet, with material literally hot off the presses. These very new releases are headliners all, teeming with should-be chart-climbing tunes. Set your mood ring to maximum joy.

Self-described ‘bleeding hearts power pop band’ Afterpartees mix an earnest yearning with blasts of quirky youthful fun on album number three Family Names. The opening cut and title track showcases a lot of what follows: an engaging, playful melody, some almost jazzy guitar riffs, and a cramped, endearing 1980s vocal intimacy. Then “Melatonia” rocks things up a bit more with some New Order-worthy guitar lines and chord strumming. The band cite Parquet Courts and Jonathan Richman as influences as you can definitely hear a bit of that going on when “I Don’t Want the World to Stop” plays. But at other times the band channels a laconic Lou Reed wild side vibe on tracks like “The Bunn.” This tension between a rockier sensibility and a more contemplative jazzy pop mood defines the album. “The Parade” and “Running Around” get rockier, with some great organ and catchy lead guitar lines carrying the tunes. Then “Every Cowboy is a Winner” and “Poolside, Midnight” revel in their quirky pop lack of convention and bouncy punch. “Some People Are Talking” is a real treat, like Jonathan Richman meets the Rolling Stones in midtempo single mode. Family Names is really something different but still oh-so relatable.

As charter members of the Caledonian jangle mafia, Glasgow’s U.S. Highball do not disappoint on album number three A Parkhead Cross of Mind. The sparkling guitars jump out all over this place on this record. Not that there aren’t surprises. Gone are the lingering folky affectations that were a key element of the duo’s debut Great Record in favour of a more consistent loud pop sound. The record opens with the distinctive punchy guitar of “Mental Munchies” but when the vocals kick in it’s all ‘welcome back boys.’ “Double Dare” also starts in a new register, the programmed drums and keyboards a departure but, really, the tune and vocal performance are so reliably familiar (in a good way). So despite what appears to have been a concerted effort to give this record a new sound the results really just build on of the band’s two great strengths, solid guitar-based tunes and uplifting vocals. The experimentation is sometimes exquisite, like the effective Johnny Marr guitar resonance that opens “By the Clydeside.” But I’m a sucker for a great hooky guitar chord-led song like “(You’ve Got To) Activate a Carrot” and “Jump to the Left.” “Down in Timperley” kicks off with a vibe that is very Squeeze “Another Nail in My Heart” before blooming into its own perfect pop confection. “Almost Cut My Hair” owes more to Crowded House than Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (this is, in fact, a totally different song from the CSNY tune of the same name). Then there’s the big vocal numbers like “Grease the Wheel” and “Bleatings from Yorkshire” with their uplifting harmony singing. You might notice A Parkhead Cross of Mind for its stylish colourful cover but it’s what inside that will capture your heart.

Ever since Fastball charged back into the limelight in 2017 with their fantastic Step Into Light album (after an eight year absence) they’ve been regularly releasing strong material. Their new EP is Soundtrack and while just four tunes long they’re all a treat, worthy of a band with a reputation for solid indie Beatles-inspired hooks. I mean, just listen to the roll out to opening cut and title track “Soundtrack” – perfection! The guitar lead line locks into the song like a long lost puzzle piece. It’s a time trip to the best 1981 hit-oriented FM radio of Tom Petty or Greg Kihn. “Chump Change” goes from zero to serious rocking pretty much instantly, with an almost CCR-like intensity. “House on the Edge of the World” is a bit more wistful, with a SoCal feel and a very cinematic lead guitar line that haunts that last third of the song. “Electric Cool-Aide” is just great poprock that I could hear Marshall Crenshaw or The Smithereens covering. Gentlemen, more please!

Fastball – Soundtrack
Fastball – Electric Cool-Aide

The indie music media are all over Young Guv’s new album Guv III and why not? It’s a non-stop jangle fest, crammed with hooky tunes that spill out into adjacent genres. “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried” opens the album with a very Matthew Sweet guitar feel but then quickly takes Brydsian flight. So far, no surprises. But with “It’s Only Dancing” the mood shifts to a decidedly late 1970s vibe, still jangle but now more pop. Kinda like what Daniel Romano’s been putting out for years. “Lo Lo Lonely” is different again, with a bit of glam impact accompanying the Marc Bolan wash on the vocals. The rhythm guitar opening “Only Wanna See U Tonight” sounds almost naked, there’s so little sibilance, at least until it gets going. The song has a very 1970s AM pop feel, some Big Star in the vocals, with a Harrison lead guitar solo slipped in the middle. “Good Time” trades Tom Petty Americana influences with a Partridge Family pop polish in the chorus. “Same Old Fool” is a straightforward jangle wonder. And check out the roll-out lead guitar line kicking off “She Don’t Cry For Anyone” – wow! Is it an homage to late 1960s British garage rock or late 1970s American new wave? Either way, get your skinny tie on. The album ends with another surprising turn, hitting the tempo brakes on “April of My Life,” sounding very Beatles 1967 psychedelic pop. Apparently Guv IV is due out later this year. Hard to imagine what the band can deliver to top this.

You’re going to want to stop the presses to catch your breath given these fabulous releases but do not touch that dial. Just let it all wash over you. Good news like this can’t be held back.

March singles spectacular

05 Saturday Mar 2022

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Anxious, Armchair Oracles, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Commotion, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Francis Lung, Goodman, Jeremy and the Harlequins, John Fogerty, John Lennon, Michael Goodman, Oliver Tree, Persica 3, Pete Donnelly, Popdudes, Richard Turgeon, RIcky Rochelle, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Surge and the Swell, Tamar Berk, The Beatles, The Cactus Blossoms, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Orange Peels, The Summer Holidays, U.S. Highball, Yorktown Lads

As a month, March just feels so in between. Lacking any real ‘big event’ or holiday it can seem like we’re all just doing time waiting for spring to start. What we need is something big, something spectacular. So I’m offering a roundup of recent melody-drenched singles to help get you through.

San Francisco’s Richard Turgeon kicked off 2022 with a new career highlight, the infectious stand-alone single “Better With You.” Need a shot of feel good guitar oriented power pop? Turgeon adds a lot of Matthew Sweetener to this track but to my ears the mix is just right. The king of Dad rock is unstoppable! Shifting gears, French outfit Persica 3 takes us in a more ethereal direction with their dreamy “Water Lily,” the most straight-up radio friendly contribution on their new LP Tangerine. The song is like a museum of sonic trappings from years gone by, a bit 1980s keyboard ambience, some lilting 1970s acoustic guitar, and vocals that would be at home in any roomy medieval church. With Commotion Pop Garden Radio have released a tribute album to Creedence Clearwater Revival that pulls together 26 indie artists to remake the band’s canon. It’s a gutsy endeavor because trying to cover John Fogerty often begs the question, why bother? It is gonna be hard to top the master. All the bands make a stellar effort but the contributions from Popdudes and Yorktown Lads really stand out for me. Popdudes key up the jangle guitar and fatten the vocals on “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” in a way that really suits the song, adding something new to this classic. Yorktown Lads hilariously add an early Beatles rocking veneer to “Green River.” The mix could have been just a joke but the band ace melding the disparate styles with such a smoking dexterity you can’t help but be blown away. Michael Goodman’s musical project Goodman is reliably good. Every few years another album comes down the pike full of hooky poprock sketches, drawing from classic 1970s and 1980s indie motifs. His new album is How Close Are You to the Ground? and the whole thing is strong but the obvious candidate for should-be hit single is the punchy “Au Pair.” Goodman mixes up all the various elements with a creative genius: engaging guitar, hooky vocal lines, a staccato seductive lurch to the rhythm.

Like every other Beatlemaniac, I was thrilled to see the band put out some new songs in the 1990s. But somehow I just couldn’t get past the poor quality of John’s vocals on the two singles. Enter Francis Lung with his beautiful and Beatles-faithful rendering of “Real Love,” a version that offers us a more balanced treatment of the song. Now we can really hear how good it is. Sometimes there’s a band doing something that generally is not your thing but then there’s a deep cut that totally grabs you. Well that is Connecticut’s punky, sometime-screamers Anxious for me. Their uptempo material on Little Green House is fine but it was their out-of-character acoustic guitar ballad “Wayne” that really got into my head with its mellow backing and captivating vocal interplay. And looking at album’s cute cover design, it’s really the only song that you’d predict would be there. Let’s say you release an album of new tunes in the October, so what do you do in the new year? If you’re Ricky Rochelle you release a stand-alone single that branches out with a whole new style. 2021’s So Far So Good featured songs that straddled the pop punk and indie rock and roll sound but his new single “In a Dream With You” is something else again. Personally I like where he’s going. The song is a bit more light and buoyant than the previous efforts, with a dreamy hook in the chorus. Minneapolis subs for Memphis when The Cactus Blossoms come to town. Their new album is One Day and it delivers on what fans loved about their debut album Easy Way, an unerring feel for that Everly Brothers/Roy Orbison mode of playing and singing. The new record does branch out a bit into more contemporary song styles (e.g. “Everybody”) but tune in to “Hey Baby” to get your fix of the old magic. Another band living the 1960s musical dream to perfection is New York’s Jeremy and the Harlequins. On their new single “It Won’t Be Love” they reinvent the early 1960s tragic rock song style, adding some Springsteen-ish rocking muscle to proceedings.

A straightforward blast of poprocky goodness can be found The Summer Holiday’s “What Happens When You Lose.”  I hear a bit of the New Pornographers in the song’s poppy twists and turns. The band’s creative force Michael Collins is working on material for new album, according to I Don’t Hear a Single. So there’s that to look forward to. The Hoodoo Gurus are back after eleven years with a new album and winning, timely single, “Carry On.” Though written back in 2005, the song manages to give voice to healthcare workers struggling to keep going amidst this seemingly never-ending pandemic. The song has everything you’d expect from the HGs, big guitars, in-your-face vocals and solid rock and roll hooks. Another band with a big sound is Cardiff’s Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard. Their new album Backhand Deals is chock full of a 1970s sense of poprock abandon, all driving keyboards and different vocals playing off each other. But it’s “Break Right In” that will really knock you over. The lyrics are eccentric and the mood is a shot of seventies 10cc meets Queen in full-on pop mode. Seems it was just yesterday that The Orange Peels re-released their 1997 debut Square to serious reviewer accolades (it was 2019, actually). But the band is not living in the past. Their most recent album is Celebrate the Moments of Your Life and it’s full of perky song sketches, like “Indigo Hill” and “Human.”  I hear a real Shins vibe on the former but the latter reminds me of The Pixes, particularly the keyboard work. Former Figgs and NRBQ member Pete Donnelly moves in a more decidedly poprock direction his new EP Anthem of the Time. You can really hear it on the title track, a song that has some definite Beatlesque turns and benefits from a relentless dose of jangly lead guitar work.

The Summer Holiday – What Happens When You Lose

Norway’s Armchair Oracles must be working up to a new album, what with the slew of singles they’ve released over the past three years. “Addicted to the Ride” is the latest and this time out I’m hearing a very Gerry Rafferty gloss on the vocals (and that’s a good thing!) while the tune is very Macca in mid-period Wings flight. Surge and the Swell is an Americana project from Minnesota’s Aaron Cabbage, working with the Honeydogs’ Adam Levy. I think you can really Levy’s impact on “Gravity Boots” with the electric guitar licks really adding some poppy hooks to the song. It just shows how a creative songwriter and producer can work together to blur genre boundaries, with good effect. I really got into Sarah Shook and the Disarmers on their 2017 Sidelong album, a wonderfully ramshackle bit of what Rolling Stone dubbed ‘agitated honky tonk.’ But that didn’t prepare me for their new single “I Got This.” The song defies genre. The playing reminds me of Darwin Deez in its economical roominess while the vocal is full of surprises. Gone is the surly country twang, replaced by a more direct delivery in the verses and disarming falsetto in the chorus. Altogether a delightful surprise. Another genre crosser is Oliver Tree. He describes his new album Cowboy Tears as ‘cowboy emo’ but on the earwormy single “Things We Used to Do” I get a more Front Bottoms or Grouplove vibe. This one will seduce you slowly, its shuffle beat and acoustic guitar anchor lulling you into hitting replay multiple times. One of the many delights of 2019 was the debut effort from Glasgow’s U.S. Highball. Great Record was indeed a great record. So the teaser release of a single from their upcoming new record A Parkhead Cross of the Mind is most welcome. “Double Dare” sounds a bit different off the start but once it gets going it’s not too different. There’s the jangle, there’s the poppy melody, there’s the distinctive vocal harmonies we’ve come to rely on from this duo. There’s even a cool keyboard solo halfway through.

Surge and the Swell – Gravity Boots
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers – I Got This
Oliver Tree – Things We Used to Do


Let’s wrap up this 21 song March spectacular with Tamar Berk’s new single “Your Permission.” Berk was one of the breakout indie stars of 2021 with her smart, stylish debut album The Restless Dreams of Youth and particularly the single “Socrates and Me.” But let the reinvention process begin because with “Your Permission” she offers up a striking change of direction, shifting from a guitar to keyboards focus to create a gorgeous pop setting for this tune. The song itself channels the sophisticated song-writing and performance of a Suzanne Vega or Aimee Mann. A new album can’t arrive fast enough.

Whew, what a cavalcade of should-be stars! With these tunes you can cast aside your winter doldrums and put a bit of spring in your step. Even if there’s still snow left to shovel.

Post photo courtesy Swizzle Gallery.

Hits for All Hallow’s Eve

29 Friday Oct 2021

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 2 Comments

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Allah-Las, Amplifier Heads, Drew Beskin, Freedom Fry, Gerard Way, Greg Pope, Ken Sharp, Kickstand Band, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Easy Button, The Embrooks, The Lag Mags, U.S. Highball, Vista Blue

Welcome to Poprock Record’s first-ever hook-filled Halloween special post! I mean, why should some 2000+ year old’s birthday get all the holiday music attention? To rectify that unhappy state of affairs we’ve assembled a guitar-wielding crew of scary monsters and super freaks to haunt your All Hallow’s Eve with some seasonally appropriate tune-age. Get ready to mash!

Normally I’d say Detroit’s Kickstand Band offer up heavenly vocal harmonies but this time they’re drawing from their darker angels for a Halloween Special double-sided single. “Under a Bad Sign” sets the tone for our horror-accented musical proceedings with its eerie, otherworldly ambience. It’s a song that wouldn’t be out of place in a Russ Meyer film circa Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Then we get right into substance of fright night with Freedom Fry’s wonderfully eccentric “Monster,” complete with distant church bells and a xylophone right out of B-movie sound-effects central-casting. Did you know things get scary in Edmonton? They do, if The Lad Mags’ “Dig My Grave” is anything to go by. It’s a 45 where festive moaning and groaning gives way to a groovy go go dance beat that will have you snapping your fingers and shaking your groove thing. Nashville’s fave pop punkers Vista Blue go all out for this holiday with a new EP New Nightmares that celebrates all that slasher movie mayhem. The four contributions are maximum fun but just a bit more maximum-er for me is “Where Do You Want to Sleep?” with its Beach Boys-meets-The Ramones vibe. Ok, these next two numbers come completely out of left field. Drew Beskin’s double-barreled contribution to the season is the swinging poppy “Lisa Simpson Fangs” backed with the more mellow “Horror Movie Plot.” The two sides blow hot and cold, one boppy and catchy, the other languid and serene. Former My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way strips things back to their hooky essentials on “Baby You’re a Haunted House.” Besides providing our ever-so-appropriate mast graphic, his ‘skeleton’ crew really deliver the goods with a great noisy – yet still melodic – wonder.

Now that we’re in the mood, it’s time to turn to the creatures of the night, the real stars of this holiday. They’re probably coming to your door right now, eager for candy, itching to unleash some tricks. Ken Sharp welcomes a “Hellcat” to the usual menagerie of Halloween’s ghoulish guest stars. Ok, maybe his use is more metaphoric than literal but I couldn’t help adding it to the playlist with its captivating bubblegum-glam shuffle sound and Sharp’s beguiling vocals. The Embrooks welcome one of the evening’s usual suspects, a 1960s garage-psych “Human Living Vampire.” Think Christopher Lee as the mod, mod prince of darkness put in charge of the Hi-Fi. Boston’s Amplifier Heads have got a thing about ghosts, with three different songs titled for those otherworldly apparitions. “Ghost Song” from Music for Abandoned Amusement Parks invokes October’s chill and a night so still over a hooky “Needles and Pins” ish set of chords. LA’s Allah-Las have got that spooky desert vibe going strong with their killer instrumental “No Werewolf” from 2014’s Worship the Sun. This is definitely music to not ‘open that door’ or ‘go down into the basement’ to. Glaswegians U.S. Highball do a jangle makeover on a classic holiday monster with “My Frankenstein” and you won’t recognize the results. Can you say well-adjusted much? This time the brutish creation is a happy go lucky tune that will have you humming with contented delight. Pop iconoclasts Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin round out the cast of scary characters with “All Hail Dracula.” It’s a pro-vampire kind of take on demon/non-demon relationships, delivered with a slew of cool indie hooks.

And now for something not quite completely different, one of our fave poprockers has expanded into filmmaking. If you’re looking for something seasonally appropriate in terms of scary things to watch, check out the original popmonster Greg Pope’s new movie, There’s Something in the Lake. He did the music (duh!) but also wrote and directed it. It’s scary how talented that guy is. You can watch the short film it was based on and rent the full feature here.

Hey, thanks for making this Hallo-scene, our inaugural celebration of the candy-laden dark holiday. Now it wouldn’t be complete without a closing anthem of sorts and Tampa’s The Easy Button have conveniently supplied one, a ringing chordy number appropriately titled “Happy Halloscene.”  Click on the band hyperlinks to complete your Halloween hits collection or just check out these bands’ many other musical treats on offer.

Poprock Record’s should-be hit singles of 2019

09 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Poprock Themepark

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

*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

Screen Shot 2020-01-09 at 11.14.44 AM2019 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:

  1. The Golden Seals “Something Isn’t Happening”
  2. Juliana Hatfield “Sugar”
  3. The Well Wishers “Feeling Fine”
  4. Bombadil “The Man Who Loves You”
  5. Matthew Milia “Abruptly Old and Caffeinated”
  6. The Brothers Steve “She”
  7. The Maple State “Germany”
  8. Aaron Lee Tasjan “Songbird”
  9. Johnny Stanec “Secret World”
  10. The Maureens “Can’t Stop”
  11. Telekinesis “Like Nothing”
  12. Omicrom J Trauma “Leave You Alone”
  13. Matthew Logan Vasquez “Ghostwriters”
  14. Hollerado “Straight to Hell”
  15. *repeat repeat “Pressure”
  16. Space Dingus “Parchment Squire, Paper Knight”
  17. Taylor Knox “City at Night”
  18. Fruit Bats “Ocean”
  19. Berwanger “Bad Vibrations”
  20. The Cerny Brothers “American Whore”
  21. Pernice Brothers “Skinny Jeanne”
  22. Wyatt Blair “I’ll Keep Searching for You”
  23. Mike Adams at his Honest Weight “Do You One Better”
  24. U.S. Highball “Summer Boy”
  25. The Rallies “All Over Town”
  26. Richard Turgeon “Loneliness”
  27. Perspective, A Lovely Hand to Hold “One Wrong Turn”
  28. Deadbeat Beat “Baphomet”
  29. Bryan Estepa “Another Kind of Madness”
  30. Ezra Furman “In America”
  31. Nick Lowe “Blue on Blue”
  32. Lucille Furs “Paint Euphrosyne Blue”
  33. Brett “Wisdom Tooth”
  34. Martha “Heart is Healing”
  35. The Dave Anderson Project “Welcome”
  36. Drew Neely and the Heroes “Chasing Danielle”
  37. Dave Molter “Tell Me That You Love Me”
  38. The Boolevards “Take Me to the Top”
  39. Army Navy “Seismic”
  40. Trolley “I’ll Never Tell”
  41. Ducks Unlimited “Anhedonia”
  42. The Needs “I Regret It”
  43. The Cudas “The Kids Want Hits”
  44. Propeller “There Goes a Day”
  45. Dead Rituals “Run”
  46. David Woodard “Nine Hundred Ninety Nine”
  47. Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts “Feels Like Falling in Love”
  48. Big Nothing “Waste My Time”
  49. The Mommyheads “Wake Up a Scientist”
  50. 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.

A Great Record from U.S Highball

13 Tuesday Aug 2019

Posted by Dennis Pilon in Artist Spotlight

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Great Record, Scotland, Think Again, U.S. Highball

Screen Shot 2019-08-13 at 11.51.15 AMRight out of the gate U.S. Highball join the renaissance of great Scottish jangle poprock with their debut, the aptly named Great Record. The 14 songs included here immediately draw comparisons with the best of Teenage Fanclub, Dropkick, and The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness. Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising as Calvin Halliday and James Hindle have long played together in the delightfully whimsical group, The Pooches. Yet U.S. Highball is not merely a rebranding of their previous efforts, but a logical development of those influences. Great Record leans more heavily on a Brydsian jangle and a complex use of the duo’s voices on songs that alternate effortlessly between hooky popcraft and hints of highland folk. Case in point – these twin influences meld beautifully on “Summer Boy” with its distinctive jangle lead line opener. Or another candidate for lead single might be “My Frankenstein” with its swinging chorus. Then again, I love the mid-period Simon and Garfunkel vibe of “Old Place.” But then hear how the duo change things up with the rock-pop groove on “Where’d the Century Go?” Overall, you can get a clear sense of what U.S. Highball is doing by checking out how the band bookend the album. They open and close the record with their distinctive folk poprock sound on “Kelvinhall” and “Old Dumbarton Road,” leaning a bit more on the folk side of the equation.

Great Record is 28 minutes of jangle-folkish poprock good times. And don’t miss their 2018 EP Think Again, which contains three more highly listenable tunes. Just click on the Bandcamp link above to complete your collection.

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