Category: Moldy Oldies and Guilty Pleasures

Radio Days and Pezband

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Radio Days “Back in The Day”

Italy’s Radio Days have paired themselves down to a trio and are going back to their roots on “Back In The Day.” In doing so the band moves away from the strict formulaic approach and decided to rock out, capturing an energy that is more like The Beatles on steroids with the opener “Why Don’t You Love Me Anymore?” The next several tracks are catchy and highly addictive, especially the double-time “You Won’t Fool Me Twice.” The title track follows a template closer to The Raspberries and makes its point, looking to the past for those tasty hooks.

The oddity here “Your Words” is a light pop tune with a reggae beat, but the band is quick to return to those chiming guitar chords and each track after is a solid gem. From the ballad ” You Bring Me Down” to the powerful backbeat of “Subway Station Girl,” Radio Days delivers the goods and never falls into a predicable rut, adding garage elements on “Smash This Party” and ending with another Beatlesque love song “Betta” which echoes a little of the Fab’s “Do You Want To Know A Secret?” My only pet peeve here is the compressed sound quality in the studio mix. Overall a great album that makes my top ten list for 2016. Ciao!

Bandcamp | CD Baby | Amazon


Pezband

Pezband “Women & Politics” EP

Chicago’s Pezband was one of the better known power pop bands in the late ’70s, following the path of their bretheren Cheap Trick and The Raspberries. But by 1980 after three albums and two live EPs, interest from their label vaporized and the group disbanded. The next year guitarist Mimi Betinis and drummer Mick Rain were energized and ready to to give Pezband another shot. Joined by original band member John Pazdan, the trio headed to Los Angeles to record “Women & Politics.” Unfortunately in the era of post-Knack backlash, the EP was shelved. Until now.

“Office Girl” has the angular guitars and beat that’s typical of the pre-new wave era. “Waiting In Line” is closer to a classic Pezband single, with its distinctive vocal interplay and jangling rhythm. “Fab Girlfriends” is another gem, with some excellent guitar shedding between the chorus and ending. “Russian Tanks” is a cold war era tune that compares well with The Clash and Public Image Limited. This is a vinyl release and a highly recommended one.

Frodis Records | Amazon

They Might Be Giants “Phone Power”

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B-Leaguers

Brooklyn’s kings of quirky pop They Might Be Giants have done it all, and now they’re offering you brand new album Phone Power. It another collection of Dial-A-Song quirky tunes and fans will appreciate the new collection. The album features “I Love You for Psychological Reasons” which is the standard catchy TMBG single. Plus you’ve got a pile of 17 more songs, some of my faves here are “ECNALUBMA,” “It Said Something” as well as a live cover of Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills.” Like most of TMBG, there is a certain ratio of pop experimental songs to ear worms to be expected. Even “I Wasn’t Listening” is a funny self-reference to the whole Dial-A-Song concept.

Amazon

Promise and The Bloodhounds

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Promise

Promise “Promise” 2015 Remastered Edition

It’s rare that a lost power pop treasure like this gets dusted off and given an opportunity to shine. Promise was a little known band, originally issued in 1980 on the Boulder, Colorado, area band’s own Cumulus label, their eponymous debut is filled with melodic, beatific blasts of pure Beatlesque pop, replete with ringing, jangly guitars, and rollicking crunch. Co-led by singer-songwriter’s/guitarists Curt Mangan and Danny Mey—with bassist Randy Jones and drummer Gary York—the group was out of step with the new wave trends at the time, opting instead for a timeless rock sound.

Without a doubt Promise is a classic that deserves to be re-discovered. “Say Alright” is eerily like Badfinger with its boogie baseline and jangling rhythm. “Back in My Heart” has a great acoustic strum and Mangan sounds like Emmit Rhodes here. The vaguely Genesis-like prog ballad of “Guitar” is a sweet curve, and “Later On Tonight” brings more Badfinger comparisons. “Hands of Luck” is probably the catchiest single, with its thrilling chorus. The remaining tracks don’t reach these heights, but are consistently very good. The remastering is done from the original master tapes, and it sounds great. For the power pop fan this is manna from heaven.

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Got Kinda Lost Records

The Bloodhounds

The Bloodhounds “Let Loose”

A big thanks to Dave “The Boogieman” for turning me on to this classic retro band. Starting with “Indian Highway” its a mix of rockabilly, blues and catchy rhythm that sets the stage for this LP. Then the tempo speeds up on “Wild Little Rider” with its blues harmonica, you’ll hear a mix of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Bo Diddley all wrapped up in a neat package. Equally powerful is the echoing reverb on the bass guitar riff for “Saint Dee.”

Next the band gets inventive on “Dusty Bibles and Silver Spoons” with a simple lo-fi production, using kitchen pots and spoons as percussion instruments. They even use an old player piano for the dancehall ditty “Hey Lonnie,” but bar room R&B is what this band delivers more than anything else. I couldn’t find a really bad track, so if you want a little honky tonk mixed in your rock, this one is highly recommended.

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The Wind and The Shivvers

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The Wind

The Wind “Re-Wind”

The Wind formed in 1982 and their debut LP was a criminally overlooked by most. It was a power pop classic that had influences from Beatles and Dylan to Motown. Now thirty years later Lane Steinberg is rejoined by his mates Steve Katz and Steve Burdick. Add to this pop maestro David Grahame, who co-produced and mixed this reunion. A mature sophisticated pop sense replaces the youthful energy, but they definitely recapture that old magic.

Keeping the production simple and clean similar to the Grahame Steinberg series, “Fight Like A Girl” has a catchy hook filled gem with hand claps and a fight bell to get the point across. Those harmonies of Lane and Steve work magic on the ballad “Let Me Show You How It’s Done.” The soul pop piano of “Think On Your Feet” is another great song with a low key chorus (think Todd Rundgren’s “Something/Anything”) and solid composition. Additional standouts include Steinberg’s piano melody “Weak Spot” and Katz does his best Motown in “Baby I Can Take A Punch.” Lane remains a superb songwriter on the breakup song “Which Part Of Goodbye?” and the hopeful gem “There’s A Clamoring.” “The 99th Percentile” is another rock blues riff about romance that sticks to your head. The reunion feels like a easy going session between friends, and while these men are no longer the youths that rocked out “Bad Eloise” from the debut LP thirty years ago, the themes of the music remain the same.

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The Shivvers

The Shivvers “The Shivvers (Remixed and Remastered 2014)”

Hard to believe, but this “lost” power pop classic belongs alongside the great albums of the early 1980’s era. If you love Blondie, The Scruffs, The Toms, and The Shoes then you should make it your business to listen to Milwaukee’s first real power pop band. The debut record LP finally saw the light of day this summer with terrific vocals from Jill Kossoris and backed up by Scott Krueger, Jim Eannelli, Jim Richardson, Mike Pyle and the late Breck Burns. Although the music was available in 2006, it has been newly remixed and remastered in 2014. Its being re-discovered today (thank you, internet) and well worth the listeners effort.

“Teenline” was bona-fide hit single that got attention from Raspberries’ frontman Eric Carmen who wished to produce the bands LP. “Please Stand By” is another fast paced song with bright angular guitar chords and hand claps in the chorus. “Hold On” is built very much like a Raspberries song, even the opening chords closely resemble “I Wanna Be With You.” The slower “Why Tell Lies” is song about heartbreak that echoes those fifties ballads with repeating vocals behind the chorus. Every song here resonates and impresses, from the heavy riffs of “When I Was Younger” to the piano melody on “Don’t Tell Me.” Krueger eventually joined The Wigs, and the group was disbanded. As a lush coda to the bands career, the 1989 reunion single “Remember Tonight” is included. Despite the simple production techniques, the music doesn’t sound dated due to the solid songwriting and energetic performances that carry each tune. When building a power pop collection, The Shivvers remains an essential LP to get.
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Vinyl Records Edition: The Turtles

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There is a movement about and quietly the vinyl record is making a comeback. Some artists slough through this process knowing it appeals to a select (but growing) group of audiophiles. There is a false sense that with the ubiquity of digital music, vinyl is the new “artisanal” method for distribution. As the article in Slate states “the vinyl boom can be seen as yet another manifestation of the societal fetishization of all things “vintage” and analog, which is pretty clearly a response to digitization.” The statistic is that 75% of these sales are for rock music – my guess is if you look further, its for classic 60’s artists too. That brings us to this special vinyl record review:

The Turtles “45 RPM Vinyl Singles Collection”

Few bands navigated the tumultuous shift in popular rock style from clean cut pop harmonies of the British Invasion to the Psychedelic era than The Turtles. Lots of great bands just couldn’t make that shift, and just didn’t have the versatility. The list of casualties is long; The Beau Brummels, The Hollies, The Association, The Cryan Shames, etc. And even among contemporaries like The Grass Roots or The Monkees (who also thrived during that time) The Turtles did more than survive. They blazed a trail forward, with an unmatched satirical edge to their music.

Add to this the talents of Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman and Jim Pons (all who would move on to Frank Zappa’s Mothers), arranger/producer/bassist Chip Douglas and John Barbata. Kaylan’s vocals have stood the test of time, as one of the most distinctive in rock and roll, and the bands sense of humor was unlike anyone else at the time. You can hear this on the many singles of this newly-remastered vinyl disc box set. What stood out for me was the quality of the B-sides of these records. Songs like “Outside Chance,” written by a young Warren Zevon or the under-rated “Sound Asleep” which deserves a second listen. These 16 singles were personally compiled and packaged by the band in very limited quantities.   The Turtles 45 RPM Vinyl Singles Collection will be released via FloEdCo/Manifesto Records.

Get it from The Turtles | Amazon