Tag Archives: Winterpills

I think I hear a single

06 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Poprock Themepark

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Whenever my power pop tank is running low I head on over to Don Valentine’s I Don’t Hear a Single blog for a reliable re-up. I can’t be going there too often or I’ll just want to cover everything Don’s got up, though our tastes do diverge sometimes on the genres adjacent to melodic rock and roll. Even when we cover the same artist we often differ on the tracks to highlight. Don is also a music reviewing machine. I can’t believe the number of new releases he gets up on his site. He’s just finished his annual ‘best of the year’ countdown and in the spirit of blog cross-pollination I’ve needle-dropped all 100 entries and pulled out just 10 that caught my ear. Let’s see if we can hear a single from amongst these I Don’t Hear A Single approved releases.

The first song to jump out a me was the mid-summer release from Keys entitled “My Temporary Game.” It’s got a McCartney undercurrent and a very strong resemblance to the Pugwash sonic imprint. Then I caught an earful of Winterpills “Lean Into the Wind” with its wonderful dreamy lustre. Almost folk pop but the electric guitars stretch such genre labels. Florida’s Evening Standards oscillate between punkish abandon and folky sweetness on different tracks. “Wild Seahorses” falls somewhere in-between, more melodic rock and roll. Clock Radio have got a crashing, swinging style all over “Blood on Chrome” where the chorus really delivers. I didn’t even know Orange, Massachusetts was a place but apparently Creative Writing hail from there. Their sound is like they absconded with a bit Athens, Georgia and moved it to New York City. “Baby Did This” has got jangly guitars and spooky vocals with just a touch of Americana. Chicago’s Half Scratches is something else again. How many people sing about getting gout again? Not many. This band slips such references into “Houses” and it doesn’t take away from the tune’s over-weaning sense of fun. Future Clouds and Radar load up a big guitar sound on “Chicken Out,” one you can dial up and float away on. Slow Buildings work up a more spare atmosphere on “Cruel Girls Are Wrong” with a kind of Rank and File singalong feel and sharp lead guitar work. I love the intimate, spooky aura established by British Birds on “Silence Daedalus.” There’s something carnivalesque about the whole proceedings. And then it’s on to a big finish with the dramatic energy oozing from Them Elephants on “Right Way.” This one’s got a buzz so strong you can feel it vibrating. Definitely solid rock.

You won’t go wrong hanging with Don over at I Don’t Hear a Single, as his “100 Best Albums Of The Year 2025: The Cut Out And Keep Guide” makes infinitely clear. This post just amounts to a Poprock Record distilled highlight reel.

Photo courtesy Alex Eylar Flikr collection.

A few degrees from Chris Collingwood

12 Sunday Jan 2025

Posted by in Artist Spotlight

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Damn I miss Fountains of Wayne. A friend sent me their 1996 debut knowing I was snowed under with a new career path and from there they joined a small coterie of my very favourite bands. They didn’t put out a lot of records but I cherish each one. The group’s main songwriters also produced some great solo  stuff, Adam Schleshinger with Ivy and host of other  projects and Chris Collingwood with Look Park. Schleshinger sadly passed away in 2020 but lately I’ve been wondering if there isn’t something I’ve missed from Collingwood. It’s been eight years or so since his Look Park project debuted. Surely he’s worked up a tune or two since then? A search on the ole interweb didn’t turn up much, though I did come across mention of his short-lived Gay Potatoes indie supergroup and a live performance from 2000. From what I can tell, group members included Collingwood, Gentle Hen’s Henning Ohlenbusch and Phillip B. Price of The Maggies and Winterpills. So if I can’t have a new Collingwood or Look Park record at least I can get a few degrees closer by exploring these projects and collaborators.

Let’s start with the Gay Potatoes show. It’s a fun, ramshackle affair, apparently the band’s first live appearance. The song line-up reflects that fact there are three songwriters and singers in the group. Show opener “Another Right Time” definitely captures the band’s power poppy energy. Price’s “Ballad of Frank Strange” and Collingwood’s future FOW tune “Hung Up On You” are also highlights.

From there exploring Price and Ohlenbusch’s work is a research project all on its own. Price has 12 solo albums, as well as 8 with The Maggies and 7 with his Winterpills project. Ohlenbusch has an equally daunting musical resume. This is going to a very random sampling of their accomplishments. Though you don’t have wade very far into The Maggies second and third albums to see the kinship with Collingwood. Tracks like “Be My Guest” and “Long Dark See You” from 2000’s Cryptic Valentine have a very Bangles meets FOW vibe while “Covering Me Up” and “Everybody’s Golden Age” from 2001’s Breakfast at Belreck’s are akin to Collingwood’s more pop country stylings. Price’s solo work and Winterpills catalogue lean more into his textured folk sound and away from power pop, though the 2002 solo track “Please Don’t Change” is certainly FOW-adjacent.

Meanwhile Ohlenbusch has put out some great eclectic and electric Simon and Garfunkel worthy tracks as Gentle Hen. His solo work steers in both folky and poppy directions at times too. You can get a taste of this on “V66” from his now unavailable Henning’s School for the Dead album or “A Machine to Break Your Heart” from 2006’s Looks Like I’m Tall or “Amélie” from 2011’s Henning Goes to the Movies. But check out his Gentle Hen track “She’s Got It Bad” from 2018’s Be Nice to Everyone, you’d swear it was a FOW deep cut you’d overlooked.

Do fabulously creative people just give up being creative? In my dreams Collingwood is still crafting his trademark tune-age, just waiting to spring them on us as a delightful surprise. But if we can’t have more FOW or Collingwood solo material we can’t go wrong digging deep into work from melodic compatriots like Price and Ohlenbusch.