Celebrating the fact that Sloan has a new album due out in October, we get the single “Spend The Day” to whet our appetites. What a prolific band, and speaking of prolific, Richard Turgeon has a sweet new EP Rough Around The Edges, check out the riffage on “I Never Loved You,” a classic power pop-sounding gem. The dense grunge-like rhythms are in contrast to the crisp re-released and remastered Kurt Baker solo Brand New Beat. This is without a doubt my favorite of his albums, and every song is top shelf, plus a boat-load of extra tracks (a total of 26) – so worth it.
Sad to say, but The Sunshine Boys are calling it quits, the trio leaves us with a pair of great tunes, both “Underwater” and “The Beginning.” If you want more buzz in your riffs, Geoff Palmer (The Connection) fits your needs perfectly. The FREEBIE this time is the lovely unpolished harmonies of The Happy Somethings from the UK. Great jangling happy melodies, full of irony guaranteed to brighten your day.
UK singer-songwriter Glenn Prangnell (Groovy Uncle) and New Jersey musician Mare Rozzelle formed The Vague Ideas and came up with a rock musical based on the book ‘The Songs of John Lennon: The Beatles Years.’ The songs were started by book author and Berklee professor, John Stevens, but Glenn finished the project in 2021 after his passing. The songs are based on imaginary letters written or received by John Lennon during his post-Beatles time in New York. The cast of Jonh’s life is all here; Cynthia, Yoko, Julian, Sean, Paul, Mimi, May Pang, and even Richard Nixon.
The Lennonesque vocals and arrangements are stunningly accurate and well written. This is a musical salve to Beatle fans, and you’d swear John wrote these tunes himself. The tender love song format fits “I Had To Go (Letter To Cynthia)” perfectly, and the pounding piano works on the funny “Nixon’s Listening (Letters to Tricky Dicky).” You will spend hours playing “spot-the-influence” with each tune, but it tells a straight narrative and there isn’t a note of filler here. Highly Recommended.
Caleb Nichols’ solo debut, Ramon, is more than a tribute to The Beatles, McCartney’s Ram, or John Lennon’s Imagine. It’s a love story between The Beatles’ Mean Mr. “Ramon” Mustard and a ship captain named Jerome Custard. Using the fictional characters from Abby Road’s songs, Nichols weaves a tale of gay love, loathing, and tragedy.
The first track, “Listen to the Beatles” with its “Dear Prudence” rhythm makes clear the middle school atmosphere, and his inner thoughts while listening to his favorite band. A standout here is the McCartneyesque “Run Rabbit Run” with its quick-witted lyric and catchy chorus. The aching ballads (“Ramon” and “I Can’t Tell You”) are closer to Elliot Smith than the former Fabs. But the pounding bass on “She’s The Beard” clearly illustrates closeted anxiety. “Jerome” is another highlight which feels like a Beatles-Prince hybrid. However, some themes feel too repetitive (“From a Hole in The Road”) or are just boring. But overall a good album worth exploring, especially if you’re a Beatles fan.
Nashville singer-songwriter Johnathan Pushkar was inspired by the new Thor movie to make a song about everyone’s favorite Asgardian hero. While it doesn’t mesh well with the Guns N’ Roses music the movie used, it’s a pretty cool song on its own (and who doesn’t love Legos?) Old Town Crier does a damn good job with its new EP “You,”especially that guitar break in the title track. Also, check out “Coal River Mountain.” Wesley David is a recent discovery, and count me impressed with his songwriting ability – check out “I’ll Be Damned!” Another potential star Neal Mehta has a rich harmony and dense instrumentation on “Lonely Cloud.” Guitarist extraordinaire Fernando Perdomo has “greatest hits” of sorts with Jangle, and if you aren’t familiar with him — this is a perfect primer. Everything here is great, I love “Girl With A Record Collection” and “This Can Be You.” If you want a dose of Ramones-like rock, then you can’t do better than Vista Blue. Stay Gold is a FREEBIE made for blasting out the car stereo with the windows down on “Friday Night.” Finally, Sal Baglio of The Amplifier Heads wrote the single “Space Cadette” for the Nashville show They Came To Rock. Woo! Enjoy the summer!
Edward Rogers and Stephen Butler are a great pairing of rock veterans who work seamlessly together on their second long-player. Influences range from Ray Davies to Tom Petty, but this pairing feels like a modern update to those classic artists and the music is both immediate and inviting. The duo also benefits from a terrific band; Don Piper on guitars, backing vocals, and percussion, Sal Maida on bass, Konrad Meissner on drums, Joe McGinty on keyboards, Joe Chiofalo on accordion, and Chris Carmichael on strings.
Many of the songs early on feel like a reaction to the world during the pandemic, as the title track opener wishes for a “Brighter Day” and the cabin fever restlessness of “Where Does the World Hide” impresses with its catchy chorus. “Last Reply” is a moving piano love ballad and the gentle jangle of “A Perfect Market Day” has Rogers gives us a nice slice of life, which has a Beatlesque touch. Another big standout is the dramatic midtempo “The Sun Won’t Shine” which flows beautifully, and the folky “Oh Romeo” has that lovely mandolin tremolo. Not a bad song here, although the weary “Cabaret,” feels like it belongs on a different album. Overall, a great album that’s highly recommended.
Scottish singer-songwriter Kevin Robertson(Vapour Trails) specializes in delightful 12-string jangle pop and psych-pop. Obviously, fans of the Byrds and CSNY will love this. The warm “Tough Times (Feel Like That)” and his double-tracked vocal harmony blend is so cool, that you could listen to it on a loop. Kevin also enlisted a contingent of expert sidemen like Nick Bertling, Andrew Taylor (Dropkick), Dave Morgan (The Loft / Weather Prophets), and many more. “Psychedelic Wedding Song” is exactly what you’d expect – wedding vows set to trippy backward guitar riffs. “Forty-Five Losing Street” starts to feel like the Byrds'”My Back Pages” until the break in the chorus changes the tempo completely. The next song “Rather Hide” also uses this technique to prevent predictability.
Robertson does his best to keep things fresh, “Sleepy Island Sound” has a bouncier tempo to prevent things from drifting too mellow. It starts to feel more influenced by Gerry Beckley (America) on “Magnify The Sun” and “Misty Dew Soaked Mountains.” Overall, an improvement over Kevin’s debut Sundown’s End, and it’s also highly recommended.
What can you say about a guy toiling away in obscurity who deserves more exposure? That would be the Boston-based band, Gymnasium, and it’s lead creator Charles Hansen. He’s gathered a large contingent of guest musicians to help create this massive 22-song double album. Who? Let’s name drop a few: Anthony Kaczynski (Firekings), Mike Gent (The Figgs), John Powhida (The Click Five), and many, many more. If you love guitar-based power pop and rock, you’ll definitely find some favorite songs here.
Styles vary across the album, but I loved the Cheap Trick-styled “Tavern at the End of the World,” and the layered guitar rhythm of “Sad Country.” The grand epic vocals of Chris Cote on “Arguing with the Setting Sun” help make it a new heavy rock classic. The fast fuzz of “Little Disaster” is another compelling rocker, along with the wicked lead guitar of “Coast to Coast Companion” with its spacey verse breaks along the way. My favorite here is “Down to a Glimmer” which resembles a Pink Floyd slow ballad, that slowly turns into a Joe Walsh-styled guitar solo, and it’s a true thing of beauty. So much here lands perfectly, and yes it could’ve been trimmed a little – however as a music fan, you’ll love sorting through these tracks. Highly recommended.
The hard-rocking brothers Chris and Sean Lund have entertained fans for over 40 years with their brand of melodic guitar rock. It’s been a few years, but the new album Across State Lines continues the tradition. Opening with “Flyin” it boasts the chord shifts and harmonies that have wow’ed many, and fans of early 80’s rock bands (like 38 Special and Zebra) and power pop classic influences (Big Star, Beatles) will enjoy this as well. But keep in mind, most of this album is mid-tempo ballads. Explore earlier LPs for harder rock.
“Red, Blue, and Gold” and “Killin Me” are timely standouts, especially the latter tune about the frustrations of technology. “Love U” is another one, with those sweeping riffs and echoing verses, and the self-promoting “Want Your Money” has some of that Big Star DNA, as they sing “we know what it takes to make a hit.” While other songs aren’t that strong, there are enough tracks here to make this an album that deserves your attention. Check it out.
