Emperor Penguin “Corporation Pop!”
While this collection was created and released over the months of 2020, it’s a great selection of music to have complete in one album. “Talk To Me” the bouncy pop single (with Orbis Max) has echoes of the late ’80s in the rhythm. Another great collaboration is “Tuesday’s World” with the queen of power pop Lisa Mychols, featuring interwoven male-female harmonies in each verse. They bump up the tempo on the Star Trek inspired “Planet of Love.”
Emperor Penguin has proven to be a formidable talent, with a stylistic bend towards the ’60s psych-pop in many cases, like the jangling “Maserati” or the gentle harmonies in the wonderfully melodic “Hell in a Handcart.” Other than a lite synth track at the end, there isn’t a note of filler here and it’s a highly recommended album.
The Vapour Trails “Underneath Tomorrow” EP
Aberdeen-based psych-pop band The Vapour Trails are a talented group of musicians whose style emulates The Byrds, The Hollies, and Buffalo Springfield. The first few songs of this EP are loaded with hooks, “Tommy’s Tune” is just an infectious melody that sticks very quickly. “Underneath Tomorrow” and “That’ll Do It” has excellent guitar work, and fans of The Grip Weeds and Outrageous Cherry will love it. “Autumn & Spring” and “Good Morning Maudlin Town” have a lighter pop touch, all produced, mixed, and mastered by Nick Bertling. Fans of retro pop should check this out. Highly Recommended.
The Hard Way “New to You” EP
Matt Wilczynski’s musical collective (aka The Hard Way) is made up of Matt on vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums with a rotating cast of musicians and friends to round out the sound – which takes influences from The Beatles, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and The Doobie Brothers.
It’s the meticulous craftsmanship and production that you will notice right away. The opener “Walls & Bridges” starts with a slide guitar intro and Matt’s soulful vocal, then the Beatlesque harmonies in the chorus hit you. The guitar solo is Duane Allman-like in approach and simply great. “Note To Self” adds a smooth backing vocal chorus with a piano verse, and some impressive songwriting. “Open Cage” and the instrumental “Worm Underground” adds some of that Joe Perry-styled hard rock sound, and with the latter track, it’s got some funky keys and horns. “Sunshine” is an acoustic blend in the Doobie Brothers tradition and I’m proud to list this as a top ten EP for 2021. It was even reviewed by Ben Folds! In his words “Excellence everywhere…” Super Highly Recommended.
