Tags
Bill Lloyd, Billy J. Kramer, Brian Dunne, Carl Perkins, Dave Rave and the Governors, Grand Drifter, Guppy, HOA, I Was a King, John Dunbar, John Sally Ride, Kurt Hagardorn, Log Flume, Los Andes, No Jersey, Remember Sports, RIcky Rochelle, Secret Postal Society, the dts, The Elbow Patches, The Well Wishers, Tommy Sistak, Vaughn Trapp, Yorick van Norden
We’re deep into December and snow is coming and going in my part of the world. All the more reason to find shovelling inspiration wherever we can. Here’s another 21 songs to put some heft into your snow relocation efforts.
I’m a bit late picking up on this song from Dave Rave and the Governors from their 2023 LP Seven. “Distractions” has got a Blue Oyster Cult classic rock pop feel. Cool, mysterious, with a host of great inventive changes. Yorick van Norden highlights “Better Days” ahead on his recent single, full of sunny sentiment and a quality dose of jangle. Just one of many similar contributions on his new album Do It Now. The ever surprising Kurt Hagardorn goes a bit more Americana than usual on his recent single “Float Away with Me.” Very much sounding like an early 1970s-era Band deep cut. South Korea’s HOA are fab in so many ways. Open your ears to “Don’t Be A Loser” and tell me you don’t hear the Fabs at every melodic turn. It vibes Meet the Beatles with a dash of “Drive My Car.” Back in the early 1990s poprock master Bill Lloyd got the chance to work with rockabilly legend Carl Perkins on a set of session that ultimately never got released … until now. Here’s the title track to the fantastic 10 song album, Some Things Never Change. Perkins sounds like a million dollar player for sure and the song has the elan of timeless classic.
John Sally Ride main man John Dunbar works up a new alias for his most recent project. The Elbow Patches exude a psychadelic pop feeling on “The Day Got Away From Me.” Just one of ten great pop numbers on their full length record Achingly Familiar. Tommy Sistak pushes the Everlys faders up full on the “Long Goodbye.” Really, the Everly tone here is eerie but oh so pleasant. Wow, Log Flume offer up a Joni Mitchell “Clouds” bit of jangle-age on “Get The Picture.” Just great guitar work, period. Egersund, Norway’s I Was A King have a sound that’s warm and just a bit spooky on their new LP Until the End. Title track “Until the End” even has a splash of folkish charm pop up in the instrumental break. Jeff Shelton gets political on the most recent Well Wishers single. “littleorangemagaman” has some rough edges, solids hooks and a point of view, just what we’d expect of him.
On 2022’s Backgammonesque Los Andes gave us a killer South America-flavoured Teenage Fanclub vibe. Their new single “Facil” (or “Easy” in English) is just as delightful, swimming with lush guitars and beautiful vocal harmonies, in both full band and acoustic versions. Doug Hammond’s Daisy House was an early fave on this blog. His recent releases as Vaughn Trapp revive that magic, drawing from his remarkable, 1960s-infused songwriting skills. “What’s On Your Mind” has a particular pop sheen, so classy and smooth in its execution. Remember Sports are a band that sound live and lively. “Across the Line” rolls out with a steady emphasis, alternating between a laconic and deliberate kind of impact. The contrast between the spacey guitar tones and the folk-friendly vocals gives Guppy’s new song “Back to the Thing” a really unique charm. My head just starts doing the Peanuts head-bop dancing thing without much prompting here. Andrea Calvo is Grand Drifter, a sophisticated folkster of Italian persuasion who is long overdue for a new long-player. In the interim we can enjoy is hot-off-the-45-stamper “Any Second Now.” It’s a song about ‘finding traces of love hidden in the small, ordinary moments of everyday life,’ cocooned in a soft, Lennon-as-homemaker style.
Brian Dunne knows how to strum a guitar up into a catchy song. But he’s also got something to say. His most recent LP Clam Casino runneth over with plenty of hooks and homilies, none more so than the should-be hit-single “Fake Version of the Real Thing.” A poppier Bruce Springsteen, for sure. On Mondo Cool Brooklyn’s No Jersey lay it all out, how the system works and for whom, in a winning Americana-tinged pop-punk style. It was a toss-up between “You and Me and the Means of the Production” and “How To Make It In America” but I think the latter just has more hooks. Right next door New Jersey’s the dt’s revive a particularly groovy 1980s popping rock sound on “Sorry Not Sorry.” While crashing a party might be a real dilemma, it’s fodder for a great song here. Secret Postal Society have a new single and its dreamy, strummy good. “Heather” has a lilting soft intensity that builds as it goes on. Great synth runs too! Ricky Rochelle rides the line between punky rock abandon and sweet sweet melodic hooks. His recent long-player Second Layer runs the same play over and over again (and I love it), starting out every song with a starkly plain or rough-edged attack only to seduce us in the melody-drenched chorus. “Highlight Reel” makes this obvious but, frankly, any track from the record could demonstrate this magic.
Original Merseybeater Billy J. Kramer has a new album out and it’s got some killer tracks. Title-track “Are You With Me” works some autobiography into a very hummable effort. “My Sweet Rose” is another notable cut. But the radio ready song here is the early 1960s crooner “Go On Girl.” Sounds so of the era!
Living driving distance from the bottom of the Canadian shield I know a thing or two about snow. And it definitely goes better with music. Here you’ve got 21 snow drift sanctioned songs to get you through it.
Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.
Poprock Record 