Celebrating Richard Turgeon 2.0

20 Wednesday Dec 2023

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Richard Turgeon’s latest long player Life of the Party kicks off with the barn-burning “All Alone.” The surging rhythm guitar propels us along, eventually resolving into a classic Turgeon fist-pumping, melody-drenched chorus. Lyrically though the song perhaps inadvertently captures the whole project that is Turgeon 2.0, a mostly one-man song-writing, performing and design phenomenon. Sure, if you dig hard enough you might find a younger iteration of Richard Turgeon, band member, doing the live music scene across the USA. But with his solo relaunch in 2017 via the acclaimed LP In Between Spaces what emerges is a mature artist in control of his muse. The space between that first album and his most recent shows up some interesting consistencies and departures. Let’s stroll through the Richard Turgeon catalogue 2.0 to explore just how he pulls that off.

Reaching back to the first installment of what would be become his California Trilogy of albums In Between Spaces features bankable singles like “Bigfoot’s an Alien” and “Bad Seed.” But returning now I’m struck by how “30” both announces his new direction and finds the sweet spot between dissonance and melody that would become Turgeon’s musical calling card. From 2018’s Lost Angeles I was taken with “Big Break” and “Look Away” but overlooked the alluring, hypnotic “Creeper.” This one keeps shifting between idling and revving before accelerating into the chorus. By album number three of the series, 2019’s Go Deep, Turgeon was breaking out all over stylistically, with grunge, ska, and country inflections added to his usual Matthew Sweet-meets-Weezer brand of power pop. The songs this go round were so impressive – killers like “Loneliness” and “Next to Me” – they had me overlooking a gem like “If You Leave Me.” This is like some sixties classic given a grunge wash. 2020’s Sea Change was a legit new direction, adding menace and more up-front social commentary to the mix. So many contenders for top single here but going back now I’m gobsmacked by the melodic punch buried in “Jolene.” I called Turgeon a hook machine on this album for good reason.

In addition to albums proper Turgeon has turned out a number of EPs and cover albums. 10 Covers Volume I took on mostly indie material and demonstrated his talent for sonic reinvention. His take on The Lemonheads “Into Your Arms” added muscle without losing the song’s tenderness. 10 Covers Volume II took on classics of the poprock canon from the Monkees to The Cure without blinking. His cover of Hole’s “Malibu” elevated it to a should-be FM rock radio staple. From his two EPs – 2021’s Campfire Songs and 2022’s Rough Around the Edges – I now find myself drawn to the outliers, like the countryish “Promised Land” from the former or understated “Fire Drill” on the latter. Though it has to be noted that “Better With You” from Rough Around the Edges may just be Turgeon’s greatest single. And that’s saying something.

All of this brings us back to the present and Turgeon’s latest release, Life of the Party. The album opens with three solid guitar pop grinders showcasing that perfect Turgeon balance of sweet melody and sonic dissonance. The aforementioned “All Alone” is should-be hit single material for sure. “You’ve Moved On” eases in, building over time to a glorious guitar crashing chorus. “I’ve Got You Now” puts some blistering lead guitar up front, prefacing a really hypnotic, driving tune. Then the album takes the first of a number of stylistic turns with “Friend Zone.” Here the opening riff has an unmistakeable seventies Lindsay Buckingham tone while Turgeon’s vocals pull between dissonance and rich harmony. “Our Fair City” starts so Smiths before casting its social commentary over a bed of jangle. With “Parasite” I hear bits of both the Smiths and Swervedriver. The album has lighter moments too. I love the understated low key vocals guiding “Forgiveness” before they up the impact in the chorus. Both “Sweet as Pie” and “What Could’ve Been” have a sunny pop disposition, despite their ringing electric guitars. And then there’s “Without You,” a classic slice of Turgeon’s ‘new vintage rock’ surely worthy of regular FM radio rotation. Album closer “Don’t Forget Me When You’re Gone” is a bit of surprise, leaning on the piano with a decidedly Procol Harum-meets-The Beatles feel. Talk about ending on a high note.

Spread over six years Turgeon 2.0 represents quite an accomplishment: 5 albums, 2 EPs, and 2 covers albums, all chock full of solid material, offered up with Turgeon’s striking artwork and design. The quality has been so consistent we’ve featured his work in 15 separate posts and he’s made both our should-be hit singles and must-have albums lists every year since 2017. Certainly vote-able as the life of our party.

Visit Richard Turgeon online to get an even fuller picture of this renaissance man – music maker, screenwriter, designer – and fill in the blanks in your record collection at his Bandcamp site.

Santa’s got the nightshift

17 Sunday Dec 2023

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It’s popular to paint Santa in petit-bourgeois hues, as if he’s the boss of the North Pole. For many he’s like a festive foreman, running the workshop as a seasonal overseer. But what if Santa is just another worker, one perennially doomed to work the night shift? It’s plausible. I mean, it’s not like he charges for the toys – we’re told he gives them away to boys and girls for no more payment than good behaviour. That hardly seems the ethos of some kind of profit-obsessed Christmas CEO. And if you set aside the magically-conceived-baby thing (and let’s face it, most of us do) what you’re left with actually sounds pretty socialist. In a sharing, caring, skip the work-camps sort of way. So corral your work-team into the break room – it’s time for our annual spate of poprock holiday hymns.

My go-to source for hooky holiday material is NYC’s mysterious merrymakers Make Like Monkeys. Do they work hard for holidays? I count twenty separate seasonally-themed pages on the band’s Bandcamp page so the answer would be yes. Here they get us into the spirit of getting busy with “Let’s Go Christmas,” a song that levels with you about what is to come (and it may be painful). Another reality check comes from Norfolk, Virginia’s The Mockers as they dispel the make-believe culture war nonsense of the political right on “(There’s No War on Christmas) When Christmas Is In Your Heart.” Keeping to the reality theme Jeremy Fisher completes our initial trio of tunes with the inflation-timely “Economy Xmas.” With a chorus consisting of ‘I owe, I owe, I owe’ this is clearly a real singalong number for many this year. So if you’re just looking for a Quiet Christmas this year, check out Jeremy’s album of the same name.

Trees and presents are essential components of consumer Christmas – we have to cover them. But we’re not heading to that in-town Xmas three lot, no sir. Instead we’ve signed up Sweden’s The Genuine Fakes to take us to Taylor Swift’s “Christmas Tree Farm.” It’s in a rougher part of the outback than Taylor usually frequents. Sometimes the guitars get turned up to 11. Moving on to presents, well you never know what you might get. Here to monetize that anxiety are everyone’s fave pop punkers Vista Blue with a track from their new EP Christmas Every Day entitled “What Are You Gonna Get?” But why worry about stuff when there’s love on the line? The Mockers explore the real meaning of the season and good deal of NYC and its boroughs on their beat group-inspired “(What’s a Better Present) At Christmas Time.”

Christmas is also about geography. After all, Santa’s got to cover a lot of ground in just one night. Perennial pub rocker Geraint Watkins draws our attention to classic humanist theme of harmony and togetherness in his beautiful, piano-based ballad “Christmas Day All Over the World.” Chicago’s Alpine Subs have a more narrow focus, finding Santa “Over Wichita”. There’s a nice Shins-meets-Paul McCartney vibe going on here. LA’s Sofa City Sweetheart draws our attention to the less savory side of a sunshine state seasonal celebration on “Christmas in California.” Still, it’s sung so pretty everything still sounds like a pretty good time. And there’s a whole album to go with it – you can literally spend Christmas on the Sofa.

What about feelings? We know that all the hyped holiday togetherness wallpapered through Xmas advertising gets a lot of people down. Geoff Palmer gives voice to some of this on “Lonely Christmas Call.” It’s basically a George Jones family break-up song but done in a more Nick Lowe poprock style. Make Like Monkeys hit the Beatles pedal hard on “Found Love for Christmas.” It’s an old, old story – everyone can see your new flame is about to go out. Looks like you’re getting heartbreak for Christmas. By contrast, Tall Poppy Syndrome are taking it slow. Why not just “Come Some Christmas Eve”? Seems like a curious time for a drop-in date but what do I know? The song is an oldie from Robin Gibb while the band features Vince Maloney from the original sixties version of the Bee Gees. Their version is both sixties immaculate and rather timeless.

You know what makes Christmas cool? Ok sure, snow. But beyond that you need a healthy dose of surf guitar holiday song instrumentals. Toronto’s all woman Surfrajettes go on a lovely guitar-lick-filled “Marshmallow March.” Then to the Jersey shore where The Evergleams take up the tempo on “Marshmallow World.” So much marshmallow, so little fire. Guitar virtuoso Joel Paterson is back with a second installment of his Hi Fi Christmas Guitar series, dubbed The More The Merrier. So hard to choose just one song from this fabulous collection. His take on “O Tannenbaum” is so groovy, one part Vince Guaraldi, one part shake and shimmying goodness. But then his work on “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” takes a song most of can’t bear to hear again and makes it jump with new life. I’m just going to put them both right down here.

Wrapping things up, Vancouver’s Said the Whale remind us of the “Weight of the Season,” the different ways it affects us all. Now that Saint Shane is gone York’s Bull get my vote for most emotionally-charged Christmas tune with their new “Gay Days.” In their view the world may be shit and darkness reigns but as long as ‘you’re coming home for Christmas’ they can muster up a choir, some horns, and few penny whistles. We end our melodious journey where we began, with Make Like Monkeys and a focus on St. Nick. On “Father Christmas” the band reflect on the old man’s drive to make some good happen for those who believe while battling wind and weather and whatnot. Kinda like the rest of us (well, some of us).

It’s been a rough year for the working classes at home and abroad and wherever you may be. So please accept a merry happy whatever-you-celebrate this year from us here at Poprock Record.

Image courtesy Tatsuya Tanaka from his Miniature Calendar. I feature his image in part to help promote his great project – check it out here.

Around the dial: Thomas Walsh, The Small Square, The Exbats, and Miss Chain and the Broken Heels

15 Friday Dec 2023

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Time again to twist the dial in our never-ending search for exciting and hooky new tuneage.  Today’s finds qualify as some quality discoveries.

Pugwash regularly conjured review comparisons to the Beatles and XTC but their sound eventually became its own point of reference. The band’s creative force Thomas Walsh now returns with a solo album The Rest is History that bears the mark of his distinctive artistic imprimatur and then some. The record launches with “A Good Day for Me,” a very ELO-inflected bit of pop genius. The arrangement of the song is so perfect, shifting from delicate moments and lush interludes to straight up earwormy hooks. Singles don’t get much better than this. “Another Lesson in Life” is a close second vote for should-be single with its psych Beatles feel and Lennonesque vocals. From there the album oscillates between spare and sunny pop sketches like “Love in a Circumstance” or “Born of Kamchatka” and the more jangle-pop contributions like “Take Your Time” and “Man Lies Down Again.” “All This Hurt” does crank things in a more power pop direction. And of course there must be some XTC vibes somewhere on any given Walsh product, this time featured heavily on “Everyone Back in the Water.” Pugwash fans are going to be very happy with Walsh in solo guise. The Rest is History is pure enjoyment.

Velvet Crush main man Paul Chastain has a new outfit and the vibe is something else. The band is The Small Square and they have a new LP entitled Ours and Others. I love the distinct mood on this album. Opening cut “Twenty-Third” sets a sombre tone before breaking out into a more Mike Viola pop ode. By contrast “The Hourglass” builds on its acoustic guitar base in a very Michael Penn kind of way. Then “Open Up (Closer)” commits to a more rocking demeanor with a Matthew Sweet balance of ripping lead guitar and strong melodic hooks. And check out the gorgeous jangle defining the enigmatic lurch of “Tilt.” It’s got Byrds, some Tom Petty, and just a hint of Mike Viola again. Come to think of it “Insta” has got some Brydsian turns too. The album has got a load of beautiful mellow pieces too like “Days In,” “Found Object,” and “Baby Face.” Should be single is definitely “Can’t Let Go (Oh, Tommy).” This one saunters in, understated, only to break out a great hook in the chorus. I’m also partial “N. Main Blues” with its otherworldly synth textures and chugging chorus.

With their new album Song Machine Bisbee Arizona father/daughter combo The Exbats move the dial up from their usual early 1960s Brill Building/Phil Spector sound to a more early 1970s Partridge Family vibe. “Riding With Paul” has got the ‘ba ba ba ba’s of the TV band down, with just a dash of Monkees guitar work near the end. Not that the sixties motifs have been entirely put away. “To All the Mothers I’d Like to Forgive” harkens back to an early 1960s girl group sound. Other sixties riffs can be found on the 1960s girl singer standards “Easy to be Sorry” and “Himbo.” Or there’s the more late 1960s Sonny and Cher feel to “Better At Love.” Sometimes the retro sound gets refracted through later periods. “Cry About Me” takes a new wave remake approach to the sixties girls group sound while the current single “Like It Like I Do” could be either The Bangles or The Go Go’s doing their hip-shaking, good time take on the past. Then there’s “You Got My Heart” and “Food Fight,” both rollicking blasts of goof pop, the latter getting garagey in a Velvets way. Last up, a real surprise – is that some Abba I hear lurking deep in “The Happy Castaway”? Get yourself a copy of Song Machine. You’ll have it running for a long time.

All this past week I just can’t stop listening to Miss Chain and the Broken Heels new album Storms. On the bus, during my run, on my way shopping for the husband, I just keep choosing this record and then hitting repeat. There’s something brash and raw and real going on here while still being oh-so polished and hooky. Sometimes the sound has a strong retro 1950s sheen. Songs like “Wild Wind,” “Caring Wolves” and “Uh Uh Uh” lean into that more rough-hewn, fifties-style melodic rock that reminds of another great find this year, The McCharmleys. But at other points lead singer Astrid Dante exudes the vocal charisma of a Neko Case, Jenny Lewis or Chrissie Hynde. Opening cut “I Don’t Know” is like a declaration of purpose, wielding its original and distinctive rhythm guitar work to anchor the song. “Storms” trundles along with a carefree abandon. “Hunters of Hope” has a more anglo-poprock gloss. Really, there are just so many great tunes here: “Since You’re Gone,” “Perfect Day” and the hypnotic “Green and Black.” Storms works on the stereo and you know it would rock live.

There’s nothing like twisting the dial and stumbling across a new find. Today’s acts will give you plenty to return to.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Spotlight single: Bill Lloyd “Keep the Place Clean”

08 Friday Dec 2023

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On the self-penned presser for his new album Look Into It Bill Lloyd describes himself as ‘willfully eclectic’ for refusing to pick a genre and just do that. Good on him say fans who see Lloyd’s genre diversity as a real strength. He’s a whole lot of country and rock and roll. This album outing is no different. Come to think of it, Willfully Eclectic might have made a more apt album title for this diverse collection. There’s Steve Earle-inflected outlaw-country here on “Aroma Dollhead” and “Half Mast.” Bluegrass gets a look in with “Bunny in the High Grass.” You  can get your jangle fix during “Look Into It” and “This Ain’t My Parade.” Some tracks like “The After Party Party” and “Game Show Stars of the 1970s” are delivered with a wry grin. There’s even a reggae turn on “Don’t Watch Me.” But for me the album’s strengths are to be found in Lloyd mastery of the melodic rock form. Take “She Cheated on her Pain” or “We Can Drive” – the observational lyrics ride over subtle melodic hooks in a style familiar to us from the work of Marshall Crenshaw, Freedy Johnston, Mark Everett (particularly in his ‘Man Called E’ guise), and many others. Or simply go directly to this album’s star should-be single IMHO, “Keep The Place Clean.” This track is pure pop magic in both composition and execution. Clean guitar lines set the stage for some initially understated vocals, occasionally buffeted by seductive pedal steel, only to bait the hook with a seriously Beatlesque ear-worm in the chorus. Overall the tune reminds me of the mood of Babylon and On, Squeeze’s 1987 comeback album. It’s ‘instant replay’ material for sure.

Keep the Place Clean

With his latest record Bill Lloyd delivers serious variety in one highly listenable package. Really, you’d be missing out not to Look Into It.

Going Velvet Underground

05 Tuesday Dec 2023

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Back in the mid-1980s Polydor started re-issuing the Velvet Underground’s back catalogue on a budget line series. I stumbled across a promo copy of the famous banana cover debut while doing time at my early morning show on the University of British Columbia’s CITR student radio in Vancouver. The cover initially grabbed my attention but it was the tunes that sent me to A&B Sound after the show to buy up the band’s first two albums. I was both intrigued and confused. Songs like “There She Goes Again” and “Sunday Morning” were totally in my melodic rock wheelhouse but others like “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” were a bit out there for me. I was certain of one thing though. This band was cool personified. Four decades later The Velvets remain a touchstone for indie bands who continue to cover their tunes as a rite of hip passage. This post draws from a wide range one-off song covers and VU tribute albums to recreate their 1967 debut with Nico.

Things kick off with Austrian band Die Buben im Pelz’s version of “Sunday Morning,” sung in German (rendered as “Sonntag Morgn”). Their take is more muted than the original but still just as sunny and wistful. The band actually give the whole album a German twist, even replacing the iconic banana with a bratwurst sausage. New Jersey’s The Feelies cover a wide range of the Velvet’s material on their live Some Kinda Love LP, including a propulsive take on “I’m Waiting for the Man.” By contrast, the Chrysanthemums lead guitar man Alan Jenkins has put together a great collection of instrumental covers of VU songs, including a trebly take on “Femme Fatale” that leans heavily on the whammy bar. Jason Alarm takes a different approach to covering the band, keeping their lyrics but abandoning their tune on “Venus in Furs” for his own more rollicking composition. Another departure from form comes The California Honeydrops whose version of “Run Run Run” slows things down and gospels things up. Side one closes rather quietly with crazytrain and a whisper folk treatment of “All Tomorrow’s Parties” that really highlights just how pretty this tune is.

Side two should start with a cover of “Heroin.” But try as I might I couldn’t find any version that did not emulate the original a bit too closely. So instead we go back to the source – Lou himself – and a 1965 demo that Reed and Cale recorded and mailed to themselves as kind of ‘poor man’s copyright’ protection. 50 years later the unopened envelope was discovered and had to be released so here is Lou Reed pre-covering himself. Next up a Spanish language rip through “There She Goes Again” from picondemulo, complete with Bond-esque intro guitar work and fun sing-along background vocals. TM Collective are cover song superstars so when they turned their attention to the Velvet Underground I had to give every track some serious scrutiny. Here I love Keith Klingensmith’s jaunty run over “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” with its sunshine pop vocals, guitars and keyboards. For something a bit different there’s Joe Ladyboy’s synth-driven interpretation of “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” Wrapping things up on side two, another selection from the TM Collective VU covers collection, this time Isaac King doing “European Son.” But wait, there’s more. A tribute wouldn’t be complete without something a bit kooky. How about barbershop Velvets? Got it right here with Nick Luna’s “Velvet Underground Barbershop Medley.”  Take that hipsters.

In our ever changing world some things remain constant. I mean, as long as young people search for authenticity in popular music there’s always going to be someone covering the Velvet Underground. See, there is hope.

The Plus 4 mystery solved!

01 Friday Dec 2023

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Yup. Everyone is looking for answers.

Early in 2023 a curious new band hit the scene offering up a whole lot of 1960s beat-group shake and sizzle. The Plus 4 quickly issued 4 tunes, one a month, before disappearing just as mysteriously as they had arrived. But what a quartet of singles they left us! The tunes channeled a glammy Kinks/Beatles/Byrds melange (reviewed here) that definitely had me wanting more. Well, it would appear the wait is now over and the mystery of just who this band is can be solved.

Turns out – it was Super 8 behind every song.

Why am I not really surprised? Paul Ryan is a master of sixties stylings, deploying hints of all the great beat groups, right from the British invasion through their psychedelic reinventions and beyond to the sunshine pop that took them into the 1970s. His songs are littered with inventive reworkings of Kinks, Beatles, Beach Boys and Byrdsian motifs. But this Plus 4 project is something special. It’s like he’s put a particularly unique sixties filter on the stereo for these tunes. What I hear is a bit more stripped down affair, with greater prominence given to the jangly guitars, and a stronger to-the-front-of-the-mix on the vocals. Check out for yourself just what the differences amount to by hitting play on the just released The Plus 4 EP #1. You get – no surprise here – four songs. One track is a slightly revamped take on “Resolution (Happy New Year),” the project’s very first single that came out in early January. Glam Kinks was how I initially described it and I stand by that declaration. From there we segue into the new tunes, starting with the swinging Meet-the-Beatlesque “Take It From Me.” The guitar so nails the period. Dance-able? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. “Every Word is True” breaks out the harmonica to good effect. Then things wrap up with the janglelicious “Tell It Like It Is.” The EPs overall effect is like a fresh blast of Merseyfied poprock at its finest.

Given the prior releases and now these new tunes my guess is that this is only the start of a fab new year for us and The Plus 4. Mystery solving never sounded so good.

International Pop Overthrow: Toronto

29 Wednesday Nov 2023

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David Bash returned to Toronto recently to close out this season of his traveling live music roadshow, the International Pop Overthrow musical festival. It was the last stop on a set of 10 dates that had him jetting from Liverpool and Copenhagen to Los Angeles and New York City. The Toronto dates offered four shows over three days featuring 20 local-ish acts, all playing at The Painted Lady live music venue. And Poprock Record was there to provide a snapshot of what you missed.

Things kicked off with a solo set from Dublin’s Barry O’Brien, leader of Slumberjet. So IPO Toronto was not all Canadian content. Fans of XTC and Pugwash won’t go wrong with O’Brien’s brand of melodic tunes. Then local boys The James Clark Institute featured a few tunes from their new album Under the Lampshade from a paired down version of the group. The results were more acoustic Mersey than the finished product but no less delightful. When The Nines took the stage it was like some joyous reunion concert. The audience seemed primed for every tune and if the band had been parted for some time you’d never know it. Another band that made the most of just having two members in attendance was Telejet. They cranked through a half dozen tracks from this year’s Spiritual Age record and the effect was magic. That album is a load of great tunes. Night #1 of IPO ended with an actual reunion of Halifax legends Cool Blue Halo. Chatting with the band’s former manager, the story he told me was so textbook: band on the brink of success breaks up. Still, this night they played tunes from their 1996 debut Kangaroo and you’d swear they were today’s latest new thing.

Slumberjet – Why Do You

Day #2 of IPO Toronto opened with the inimitable Blair Packham. Man, can this guy weave a tale. His songs are hooky and touching and Packham can hold an audience in a spell like few performers can. “One Hit Wonder” is a brilliantly-staged story-song with a chorus that will have you singing along. Moving Clockwise, this band have been around for decades but their performance here seemed to distil their sound to its sixties British invasion roots. On record, I love the over-sized pop charm of “Lift a Finger” from their 2000 release Accidentally on Purpose. By contrast, Carmen Toth conjured up the no-nonsense, new wavey rock and roll bounce of early Pat Benatar or Chrissie Hynde. “Pretty Dresses” is a clever rumination balancing feminist critique with individual desire. But you could dip in anywhere on her recent LP Fix the World for equally good results. Hands down the rocking-est moment of IPO Toronto happened when The Wasagas took the stage. With matching t-shirts and guitars, the band blasted through a series of way-cool, seriously dance-able instrumental surf numbers. Windows fogged? Check. Day #3 was an afternoon, all-ages event. Standard Electric definitely offered up some family fun, complete with stickers and buttons. Don’t worry if you missed the party, you can hear on the band’s 2020 album Overnight Lows and Afternoon Highs.

Clockwise – Lift a Finger

David Bash operates with a big tent approach to the power pop genre, big enough to encompass jangle, roots, surf, singer-songwriter, art rock, retro and indie. If you were there at IPO Toronto you got to savor them all. But if you missed it, click on the hyperlinks above to get a taste of what was some great IPO action.

Jangle Thursday: The Treasures of Mexico, U.S. Highball, and many more!

23 Thursday Nov 2023

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Nothing makes Thursday sparkle like a bit a jangle. Today’s selection offers up full albums and stand-alone singles to sate your reverb-craving appetite.

Former members of The Dentists, The Discords, and a host of other bands make up the membership of The Treasures of Mexico. Burn the Jets is their album number 3 and it’s a solid collection of tunes, awash in predictably sibilant guitar sounds. Opening cut “Beaming” practically sounds like a rainy day in by the fire, so suggestive is its aural atmosphere. “Monday Morning” is another strong contender for should-be hit single. On album #4 Glaswegian guitar pop band U.S. Highball clearly know how to stock an album full of melodic twists and turns. As previously noted in our preview of the record last summer, No Thievery, Just Cool has some strong singles contenders with “Irresponsible Holiday” and “Paris 2019.” But why stop there? The record is a veritable sea of highlights, with nifty offerings like “Picnic at Doughnut Groyne” and “Out of Time.” And how did I miss the link with the band name and American experimental musician Harry Partch’s magnum opus? Not sure why the band landed on that influence but an interesting connection nevertheless.

Now we move on the singles portion of our jangle programming. You might want to be sitting down for this next one. Japanese band Memory Girls have assembled a killer jangle roll out for their single “Our Freedom, Our Darkness.” As the song is sung in Japanese I have no idea how the sombre title connects with the rippling, mesmerizing jangle lead guitar work that drives the tune but, really, who cares? When the music is this good … Toronto’s Ducks Ltd. know how to throw down serious jangle. Their one-off single “The Main Thing” explodes into action and never lets up. The lead guitar workout is unbelievable, buffeted by a dreamy, ethereal vocal. More Canadian content comes from Kitchener, Ontario’s Hyness with “Weatherman.” The song has a folkie pop flavour, reminding me a bit of April Wine in some of their more jangle moments. Dutch janglers The Maureens have been teasing fans since September with a few new songs. “Rainy Day” speaks to all their strengths: sparkling guitars, effortless harmony vocals, and a subtle earwormy hook buried in the song. A new album from their Utrecht headquarters is highly anticipated.

Closing out this jangle Thursday, Johnny Marr’s new single “Somewhere.” A undeniable master of the genre from his time with The Smiths and  as a ‘guitar for hire’ since their breakup, his own solo work has often slipped under the radar. This song, the only new addition to a recent ‘best of’ collection, is just too Johnny jangle good to ignore.

Jangle Thursday is a kind of public service, helping you get to the weekend with your smile intact.

Photo courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

I get mail: Dude, The Mother Z’s, Justin Levinson, and Elephonic

20 Monday Nov 2023

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People write me. Really talented people. What can a poor scribe do but write about these great rock and roll bands?

With his band The Muggs Detroit rock and roll mainstay Tony Muggs has delivered 6 albums of distinctive heavy blues rock. But his solo albums have a decidedly different flavour. Under the Dude moniker he released 2012’s Kid Gloves and this year’s Autobiograffitti, the latter coinciding with his book of the same name, and the contents are more solidly pop. The vibe is very Beatles 1966. There’s whimsey, there’s drone, there’s sometimes even a heavy kick lurking beneath the poppy melodies. Having said all that, Kid Gloves’ opening cut “Not Exactly Where I Should Be” actually suggests a Monkees sense of fun. By contrast “Sweet Danielle” matches a more Beatles “I’m Only Sleeping” melancholy pop while “Two Minutes Hate” is more in “Tomorrow Never Knows” or “She Said She Said” vein. Then again “Soliloquy” sounds very Pugwash to me. A decade later the Beatles influences spread from 1966 to 1968 on Autobiograffitti. There’s a more loose, old school rock and roll vibe on tracks like “Ahh Geez Louise” or a touch of Nesmith’s country mode Monkees on “Devil’s In My Whiskey Once Again.” But other tracks like “Red Coat For Sale” are Revolver-era rocking tight. Both “Mary Mary (Quite Controversial)” and “You Are So Wonder” harken back to that “Doctor Robert” or “Paperback Writer” feel. Then the record ends on a more dreamy psychedelic pop note with “Tomorrow Is Promised to No One.”

The Mother Z’s are a brother and sister duo that have the DIY punky immediacy of Jonathan Richman or The Violent Femmes. It’s been almost ten years since they waved goodbye to fans with a variety of acoustic collections and b-sides. Since then brother Andy released a host of work as ARP! while sister Becca exited the music scene. But now they’re back together with a new EP Rest It Straight and the results are less frenetic, more acoustic, but no less engaging than their earlier work. “Non, Merci” launches things with a cool strut, evincing a Replacements kind of rough band togetherness. “Rest It Straight” offers up an alluring swing featuring a Spoon-like rhythm section. “Sheboygan” and “Meredith” have a country rock-folk feel akin to Rank and File while “Holy Smokes!” has the makings of an Americana classic. And don’t miss the tender openness on display within “Postcard from Chicago,” definitely the should-be single.

Collamer Circle represents some double-barrelled Vermont songwriting action from Justin Levinson and Ben Patton. I’ll admit, there were times when I thought I could discern when songs tipped more towards one writer or the other. For instance, having waded through Patton’s 12 fabulous albums, tracks like “Send Some Love My Way” and “Then and There” seemed to exude his distinctive turns of phrase and melody while “Mirabelle” just captured his penchant for old-timey whimsy. But for most of the album I couldn’t tell who wrote what, so aligned are these artists in their melodic MO. Opening cut “Madeline for the Win” is exhibit A, a classic Levinson/Patton cleverly structured pop song, both in tune and lyrics. Altogether I’d say the collaboration has a 1970s AM radio flavour. “California Sun” has a west coast beach sound washed with a bit of yacht rock. I hear something like Leo Sayer’s boppy pop singles on “Baby You’ve Arrived” while “I Need Somebody Now” builds to a brilliant melodic arc in the chorus. Then again, “Lead Me To You” could be seen as a more Beatlesque effort. But the record’s stand-out, should-be hit single is undoubtedly “Tin Foil Hat Parade.” This tune breaks out into more timeless poprock territory, conjuring the feel of any number great songs from Squeeze or Split Enz.

With his new Elephonic project Blow Pops and Lackloves leader Mike Jarvis attempts to distil the very essence of poppy rock and roll. And given a few plays of his new band’s self-titled debut I’d say he’s largely succeeded. Opening cut “Until the Sound” is a cacophony of sounds that still somehow gel together, vibing a load of 1980s English guitar bands. But other points reach farther back, reinventing a Merseyside feel on tracks like “Wonderin’.” I mean “Why Can’t You Listen” almost sounds like a With The Beatles deep cut, the song structure is so early Beatles but wrapped in a more contemporary sound. From there it’s like a tour of different decades, with the various songs accenting different pop music moments. There’s a 1960s Latin horns wash on “Durango,” a sunny early 1970s AM pop sheen to “Freedom Bells,” while “Rapid Transit” exudes a late 1970s penchant for acoustic rock with ominous overtones. And then we have songs that defy easy categorization like “Memphis UK.” This one swings with a “His Latest Flame” shimmy, touched up with some striking guitar flourishes. Really, Elephonic is an obvious ‘best of’ list addition.

Why Can’t You Listen
Memphis UK

Hard to believe people this talented have to write and send their own pressers but that’s what being an artist has come to today. Why not put paid to that effort by making it rain across the hyperlinked band sites added above for your convenience.

Photo ‘Mostly It Was Something To Fill Up Her Empty Days’ courtesy Thomas Hawk Flikr collection.

Read all about it: S.W. Lauden’s Remember the Lightning

15 Wednesday Nov 2023

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I grew up immersed in popular music. My parents were barely adults themselves when they had me and my other brother and their enthusiasm for the 1960s music scene they were living through was palpable. If the TV was off the record player was on. Between them my parents covered a pretty wide swathe of the popular music scene. Dad was everything from Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry right through to Jimi Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Mother filled in more of the pop content with Buddy Holly, Brenda Lee, and Gene Pitney as well as country like Patsy Cline and folk from Pete Seeger. And they both loved The Beatles. This was the musical universe I came from as I began exploring music on my own in the mid-to-late 1970s. I picked up a few things from AM radio – thank you LG73 for playing Rockpile and Squeeze! But for years I struggled just to find out about music. I wish I had something like S.W. Lauden’s fabulous music review site Remember the Lightning back then. It would have made getting where I am now a lot easier.

S.W. Lauden is a music book editor, essayist, novelist, and drummer with bands like Tsar and The Brothers Steve. He is also the driving force behind Remember the Lightning, a website and semi-annual music journal focusing on the micro sub-genre of rock and roll known as power pop. Subtitled ‘A Guitar Pop Journal,’ Remember the Lightning takes its name from a 1979 song by a band called 20/20. And that’s important because 1979 was arguably a seminal year for the power pop genre, witnessing an explosion of melodic rock bands that followed in the wake of punk’s destabilization of the era’s whole rock and roll scene. Since that early but brief high-point power pop has remained on the margins of the more commercially successful music world, occasionally producing a break-out hit (“Stacey’s Mom” anyone?) but mostly surviving as a niche amongst a strongly loyal fan base. Lauden hopes to contribute something to changing that with his journalistic efforts on Remember the Lightning. By bringing together a unique mix of musicians and fans in each issue, the point is to convey some of the excitement and joy that drives the genre and helps explain its staying power despite a failure to storm the charts. And perhaps bring about some chart-storming.

Let’s talk about what Remember the Lightening is not. Despite the subtitle describing it as a ‘journal’ it is not academic in its approach. For a long time, ever since the Frankfurt school dumped all over popular music back in the 1940s, academe had a strained relationship with what the young folks like. But that began changing as boomers moved from attending the concerts to writing about them. Now there are a host of academic spaces where one can dive into ‘Beatles Studies’ or publish in The Journal of Popular Music and Society. No, this journal is more immediate, less detached than the kind of stuff academics produce. It’s about what bands and fans are into now: what they’re doing, why they’re doing, who inspired them, and whether audiences will dig the whole thing. Issue #1 that came out earlier this year lays it all out with ruminations on the genre, reflections on influential songs, and plenty of writing by and about the artists, both newbies and veterans. The range of covered acts includes the Beths, Exploding Hearts, Whiffs, Sloan, Juniper, Popsicko and Tinted Windows. Issue #2 is just out and it’s even more ambitious, with coverage of historic power pop music scenes (Philadephia), a primer on southeast Asian guitar pop, classic bands (The Replacements) and albums (Welcome Interstate Managers), musician autobiography (Kurt Baker), and great new albums from the Uni Boys and Kate Clover.

I had to find my music resources the hard way, e.g. by hosting a college radio show at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings in the 1980s or buying countless reference books like The Trouser Press Record Guide and Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles. Today’s internet makes things much easier for power pop kids to find their peeps. Give yourself a break and ‘go all the way’ to the hyperlinked web address for Remember the Lightning. Your power pop community awaits.