Ronnie D’addario and The Split Squad
Another selection of late 2021 albums that prove the theory “better late than never”…
Ronnie D’addario “Egg Yolks and Artichokes”
Ronnie D’addario is a musician in the mold of Gilbert O’Sullivan and The Left Banke who’s got a sweet spot for baroque pop songs. “Out Of Sync” is a fine start with a harpsichord melody and sweet harmonies across the chorus. “Corners of The Mind” has that late 60’s DNA, with some Byrdisan guitar. That Byrds influence really comes out on “The House I Live In,” a patriotic song with lots of jangle and heart. One of my favorites here is the father-son chat set to the song “Turn It Around One Day,” and like Dana Countryman, Ronnie is a super skilled composer of classic melodic pop.
Another patriotic sing-along “For Better or For Worse,” would make a great theme for a new Schoolhouse Rock cartoon. You can also hear the influence of Tommy Makem(The Clancy Brothers) on the folkie “My Single Days Are Over.” At times the romantic balladry gets a bit corny (“Sweet On You”) and a few covers here feel like filler. But some songs are strong enough to compete with his earlier gems. And if you are a fan of those classic pop sounds, you don’t want to miss this LP. It deserves to be heard.
The Split Squad “Another Cinderella”
Billing themselves as “America’s least famous Supergroup!” Keith Streng (The Fleshtones), Eddie Munoz (The Plimsouls), Clem Burke (Blondie), Michael Giblin (Cherry Twister), and Josh Kantor (The Baseball Project) make big riffs and like to keep things simple. They roar out of the gate with “Hey DJ” and it feels like part Ramones and part Cheap Trick. This isn’t rocket science but simple rock and roll, and the title track “Another Cinderella” is a nice earworm of a song that keeps you hooked.
The heavier guitar tracks “Palpitation Blues” and “Bigger Than Heroin” are entertaining (if a bit over the top vocally). But the meat of the album delivers prime cut power-pop. Highlights include ” Taxi Cab”, “Showstopper” and the fun “Sinking Ship.” The band sounds like it’s having a ball here, and it’s infectious. The guest list in the studio includes faves Scott McCaughey (The Young Fresh Fellows) and Joe Adragna (The Junior League) Overall a great album that is very highly recommended.
The Cheap Cassettes and Chris Church
The Cheap Cassettes “Ever Since Ever Since”
Seattle’s Cheap Cassettes starts the year right with a rocking release for 2022, “Ever Since Ever Since” and screams out of the gate with the catchy “She Ain’t Nothing Like You” and is followed by the riff-tastic “Malnutrition.” The band follows the blueprint laid by The Flamin’ Groovies, The Jam, and The Dwight Twilley Band.
This is an album you turn up in the car with the windows down. Lead singer-songwriter Charles Matthews is joined by Mike Isberg (Bass) and Kevin Parkhurst (Drums/Vocals) and they form a tight combo. The songs are quick and very repeatable. They take the typical power pop riff structure and build original gems all around it. They take a cover of The Elevator’s “Your I’s Are Too Close Together” and make it their own. Most often the band hits with “Red Line Blue”, “Endless Summer,” and the massive crunch of “Wishing The Sun Away.” No filler here, even the 4 minute + “One Black Summer” flys by with its joyous ringing guitars. Very highly recommended.
Chris Church “Darling Please”
Chris Church unearthed this early work and had it remastered by sonic guru Nick Bertling, with additional backing vocals by Lindsay Murray (Gretchen’s Wheel). Overall a very heavy-sounding album and the Matthew Sweet influence is unmistakable here. Church’s thick layered riffs are the dominant sound throughout, starting with the opener “History” and then the tempo speeds up a bit with “We’re Going Downtown” with its echoing grunge feel.
A big highlight here is “Pillar To Post” and the vocals and harmonies come through. The album’s songs deliver an intimate mood but the sound is very “stadium-sized,” a great example is “Never So Far Away” and “Bad Summer.” A great thing also is the consistency of Church’s sound here, with harmonies added at just the right moments. It gets a little ponderous towards the latter tracks, here “Nepenthean” is a standout with strong keyboard chords leading the way. This is a grower of an album, that gets better with multiple listens and is a welcome addition to the Chris Church catalog. Highly Recommended.
Lost and Found: Adam Roth and Steve Rosenbaum
The Lost and Found category is for bands that up to this point were not “discovered” by the power pop community until recently.
The Adam Roth and his Band of Men “Down The Shore”
Adam Roth was a musician mostly under the radar, but well-loved by those who knew him. Once a member of the Boston rock band Del Fuegos, and regular collaborator with comedian Dennis Leary, his album of 80s frat rock was just about lost to history. The 1982 movie Beach House (aka Down The Shore) was a very low-budget Animal House/Porkys teen comedy without much positive to mention, other than the soundtrack. It jump-started Roth’s career in movie soundtracks (The Ref, Monument Ave, Hollywood Vietnam) and TV commercials. He passed away in 2015 of cancer, but Hozac Records remastered his album and featured new liner notes written by Adam’s brother Charles Roth.
The music is very much a product of its time, but brilliance shows through. “Judy Won’t You Dance With Me” is similar in some ways to The Shoes, and “Now You’re Runnin” and “I Just Wanna Have Some Fun” have more of a punk attitude displayed on the faster-tempo rockers. Overall a good addition to your 80’s power-pop collection.
Steve Rosenbaum “Have A Cool Summer”
Steve Rosenbaum is a DIY San Diego musician with a jangling guitar and lots of songs written between 1979-89. Similar in style to Tom Marolda (The Toms), The Modulators, The Deal, The Rubinoos – Steve really should have been signed by a major label at that time. But it never happened.
Fortunately, these songs are finally available to the public at Bandcamp. The songwriting here is pretty good, but the production was recorded mainly on the Tascam 244 cassette 4-track, and the sound quality is pretty spotty. There are some gems to be found; the Beach Boys-like “Me Alone,” “Come On Over,” the Twilley-like “Got To Tell Ya,” and REM-like jangle of “72 days.” Steve does offer a FREEBIE sample of these tracks on his Two-Cassette Deck Bounces EP. Fans of the era will see the potential in these songs because it’s music that deserves to be heard.
January Singles and EPs: Pete Donnelly, The Lunar Laugh, Mom Friend, Ex Norwegian, Amoeba Teen, Timmy Sean, The Roxies, J Prozac
New year, new music.
EPs: We open things with Pete Donnelly (The Figgs) a truly inspired catchy opener “Anthem of Time” that waves its melodic flag high. Then”Play Music” feels a bit closer to NRBQ (they’ve rubbed off on him.) Midwest wonders The Lunar Laugh delivers a FREEBIE of requested covers, tracks by The Talking Heads, The Bangles, and The Smiths are sparse but quite lovely. The band shines doing a deep, deep Beach Boys cut “Somewhere in Japan” and makes it their own.
I heard the music of Mom Friend two years ago, but this time Atlanta-based Emily Backus has raised her game. A combination of post-me-too-feminism and fuzz guitar make “Oooh” and “Scared” early standouts. The heartbroken melody of “Luke Danes” is very moving, and the swooning “Idea” has a great hook. Keep it up the great music, Emily! Roger Houdaille (Ex-Norwegian)has once again picked an obscure artist to cover. This time it’s Brit-rockers Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney (The Streetwalkers, Family). It sounds great, and encourages me to discover another “lost” artist!
Singles: Amoeba Teen starts the year with twanging “January,” a very impressive composition (check out that middle eight!) and Timmy Sean gets his Elvis on with a FREEBIE cover of “That’s All Right.” A Berlin band signed in Spain and the USA, The Roxies give us a frenetic rhythm and energetic punk-pop. J Prozac is the latest Rum Bar artist to rip the packaging off his “Building Blocks,” and it’s a wonderful thing.