Sun Sawed in 1/2 is a St. Louis band founded by brothers Ken Rose (bass) and Tim Rose (lead guitar) with vocalist Doug Bobenhouse. They road the resurgence of power pop popularity in the late ’90s (with the standout of 1997’s Fizzy Lift) and are often compared to Jellyfish, The Posies, and XTC.
They are back after a 9-year break with a series of digital-only EPs (Beaches In Bali, Sirens, and Before The Fall) now compiled into a 20-song set called Triptych. The band is in fine form overall, with many ideas and hooks stuffed into each song, like the opener “Dried Cherry Blossoms,” with its hand-clapping chorus, and “Soft Away” with its dreamy harmonies. Sometimes the music follows dramatic winding paths, like “Sirens” and “Call For A Good Time.” Some songs are more immediate than others, highlights include “Twist of Lemon” and the atmospheric epic “The Cool Ivory Wonderful.” They also don’t stick to a single template (“Too High Strung,” “Sitting In A Tree”) as they stylistically shift things often. Overall, an excellent collection – highly recommended.
Songs that last less than a minute or so get viewed as filler and can be perceived as lacking the scope or power of longer songs, but it’s a current trend I’m seeing more of with our micro-sized attention spans. The Beatles’ “Her Majesty” count as a hit in this category, and artists like 2nd Grade, Ryan Allen, Mo Troper, and Nick Frater have done albums full of it. But writing excellent music which doesn’t break the minute mark is a skill in and of itself. West Bay native Tony Molina has made it his mission to excel in this niche.
Molina has been doing this since 2014, perfecting his Beatlesque bedroom melodies and fuzzy jams. His newest In the Fade, is very much a concept album about leaving a relationship from different points of view. “The Last Time” has a low fuzz and bouncy rhythm similar to Weezer, “Leave This Town” and “Burn Everyone” effectively channels Teenage Fanclub. “Years Ago pt. 2” is a lovely closing melody, and each song works to effectively support the entire collection. The short phrases are well written and begs multiple repeat plays. Super Highly Recommended.
It Karma Its Cool is a UK band from Lincoln featuring James Styring – Vocals, Martyn Bewick – Guitars & Production, Michael Barraclough – Bass, and Danny Krash – Drums have a new single “A Gentle Reminder” out. Not only that but the legendary Peter Holsapple(dB’s. R.E.M. and Hootie & The Blowfish) haves joined them for some long-distance recording and over the next 3 months, the band will be releasing six new singles. Let’s pay attention to each one of these guitar goodies! See the video below:
🎸 Visit this link to get the album: Amazon
Q: Where did the band name come from?
J: It’s a name I’d had written down for a while. I think I just woke up one morning with it in my head. It just seems to suit what we do. And karma is cool, isn’t it? Good or bad, it’ll be back to bite you on your ass. Watch what you do, ‘cos it’s watching you. There’s no escape. And it looks good on a t-shirt.
Q: What would you say is your primary musical influence?
J: As a band, we all bring our own influences to the Karma sound. On paper, it maybe shouldn’t work, but it does, so we don’t question it too much. Personally, I’m driven by melody, which probably stems from listening to my parent’s record collection when I was growing up. I didn’t know it at the time, but those records were shaping my taste in music and appreciation for good songwriting. I’m always drawn to the melody, regardless of the style of music. I’ll listen to the heaviest band if there’s a melody in there.
Q: Your vocal is very distinct — any inspirations for your style?
I don’t consciously try to sound like anyone, I just open my mouth and it’s there. A lot of people tell me I remind them of this singer or that singer, but I try not to let that influence me really, I stay focused on doing what I do. I’m well aware my voice splits opinions, folks really like it, or they don’t. It’s not going to change anytime soon, it’s just me. As long as people can tell I mean every word I sing and put my heart and soul into singing it, then that’s good enough for me.
Q: “Homesick for our Future Destinations” feels like an evolution of your sound, is the next album closer to this new sound?
We never intentionally repeat ourselves; we’re always looking for ways to push ourselves as songwriters. It would have been very easy to sit back and just re-write our previous album, but you owe it to your listeners, and to yourself as writers, not to do that. I think there has to be a sense of growth within a band with each new release, or things can quite easily become predictable. We’ll be releasing a series of brand new digital-only singles over the coming months, something that we’ve not done before, with an amazing special guest; an ‘honorary 5th member’ of IKIC. We have the one and only Peter Holsapple onboard for three of the new songs. I’m sure your readers don’t need me to tell them who Peter is, but he was a member of legendary, The dB’s and played with REM on their huge Green world tour, as well as playing on their multi-platinum album, Out Of Time. He’s also played and recorded with Hootie & the Blowfish for over 25 years. To say we’re excited for folks to hear these new songs is an understatement!
Q: What’s your songwriting process like?
Most start with a guitar idea from either Martyn (Bewick, guitars) or Mikey (Barraclough, bass) They’ll send me a load of ideas over; I’ll write to the ones that grab me. I’ll add melody and lyrics, then we’ll get together in the rehearsal studio with Danny (Krash, drums) and knock them into shape. We can tell pretty early on in the process if an idea’s going to work or not. And we have no map or blueprint as such, we allow the songs to go wherever they need to.
Q: For example, How did the song “She Sept With The Radio on” come together?
That would have come from an initial guitar idea. I remember having a few lyrics, and we just hammered it out in the studio. It came together pretty fast that one. We knew we were onto something after a couple of run-throughs. It’s then just a case of fine-tuning the arrangement. Some songs instantly jump out as singles, that was one of those.
Q: How did you meet up with Peter Holsapple and how did he contribute to your new digital-only singles?
Firstly, I’m a fan who’s followed Peter’s career for many years. I literally just asked him, figuring he could only say ‘no’. He asked me to send some of our songs across and said ‘yes’ pretty much straight after. We sent the demos over and gave Peter free rein to experiment and add whatever he wanted. You don’t really need to tell someone like Peter what a track needs, he’s been doing this for a long time! The songs have all come to life, we’re very happy with how it’s all taken shape, and how easy it’s all come together. They’re some of the strongest songs we’ve written, without a doubt. I’m sure we’ll work with Peter again in the not-too-distant future.
BONUS! We asked Peter Holsapple:
Q: What drew you to work with It’s Karma It’s Cool, and what other projects are you working on?
Peter Holsapple: Honestly, the guys from It’s Karma It’s Cool contacted me to do some overdub work on their beautiful songs, and I have to assume they must’ve known my work from the other records I’ve been on. Suffice to say, I was very grateful to hear from them! As far as the future goes, it’s pretty much “write, record, repeat” (but not “release”) around the home studio, with another house concert tour in the fall hopefully–the June tour was fantastic and self-affirming, something that’s pretty worthwhile at age 66.
Tex-Mex popsters The Krayolas return with a reissue LP from 1982 that has been carefully restored from the “long lost” master tapes. The sound and production are perfectly crisp and clear. The title track jangles along evoking a simpler time and “Times Together” uses a little Latin R&B and Motown with pop panache. An early highlight “Love is Gonna Get Ya” with San Antonio’s West Side Horns helps Hector Saldana effectively channel Smokey Robinson.
On “The Sphinx Won’t Tell,” it’s a novelty that reminds me of Sam Sham and The Pharaohs. The garage riffs of “All of the Time” is a welcome change of tone, and even better is the mix “Al Coda No. 1” an instrumental where the horns lead the way. The band doesn’t stick to a single style with bluesy “Roadrunner John” and the Beatlesque “You’re Not My Girl.” While the tonal changes are jarring, the band is still young and finding their voice. Fans will find this essential while newcomers may want to start with Savage Young Krayolas first.
Charlottesville, Virginia band Kingdom of Mustang’s fourth album continues its journey through mellow rock and jangling pop. The opener “All I Can Do” is a mid-tempo tune with gentle harmonies all around. And things really open up with “Here In The Valley,” a bouncy pop tune similar in structure to XTC.
The band is led by Mark Roebuck (The Deal) and supported by Michael Clarke, Tim Ryan, and Rusty Speidel. The music features some great melodies and thought-provoking lyrics, as “High” provides a great example of this. A song about avoiding your issues “when you’re making sense, but you’re inside out.” The band’s simple approach is deceptively catchy, and many “growers” are here. Highlights include: “It’s Alright (In The Wrong Kind of Way)”, “Whatever Makes You Happy”, and the sunnier”One More Day” and “Coming Soon.” Elements of folk and blues are subtlety brought into each tune and it gives Kingdom of Mustang its own unique pop style. Highly Recommended!
No more weather-related puns. Just great new music. DB Edmunds is a welcome sight after all this time. As a member of power pop greats The Gladhands and The Stars Explode, he’s back with a solo effort that sounds excellent. UK band It’s Karma It’s Cool has a new single out with the help of Peter Holsapple(dB’s. R.E.M. and Hootie & The Blowfish). Another notable collaboration is Natalie Sweet and Brad Marino (The Connection), the first single has Sweet singing the rocker “Second Time.” And yet another pairing with Michigan indie pop veterans Tom Curless and Chip Saam combine to form Crossword Smiles, they sing “Parallel Lines” in advance of their new album. And power pop band Vanilla decides to go full disco for its upcoming ‘77′ album, with the teaser “Ka-Bang!” sung by Ava Adams. I randomly came across Freya Josephine Hollick, and her tune ‘Me & Mine’ is for all the misfits, the ousted, those who live on the fringes of society trying to make ends meet, and finally a video from an eclectic group called Electric Lecture. The band is the brainchild of Greg Ansin, Bronson Taalbi, and Anthony J Resta, and the band is influenced by XTC, Tom Petty, and Beck. Can’t wait to hear more from them!
Jem Records Artists: The Anderson Council, Nick Piunti, The Airport 77s, The Midnight Callers, Lisa Mychols, and Jem Records CEO Marty Scott.
A big interview with several of the artists on the new tribute album Jem Records Celebrates Pete Townshend. I ask the basic question of each artist “What was the first Who song you heard? and more” Plus Jem Records CEO Marty Scott details his meeting with Pete on the potential release of the Lifehouse project years before it came out.
🎸 Visit this link to get their album: Amazon
