Lee Hazlewood, the pop svengali who wrote the Nancy Sinatra hit ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin”, died of cancer in Las Vegas on Saturday (August 4). He was 78. He was a recording eccentric who refused to acknowledge mainstream tastes; a songwriter capable of crippling fatalism (“My Autumn’s Done Come”) and playful country corn (“Dolly Parton’s Guitar”), and songs that use elements of both (“Dark in My Heart”); it’s all part of the highly contradictory legend of Hazlewood. His influence is felt all over today’s Alt. Country movement.
Jeremy Messersmith is an Elliot Smith-styled singer, with a gentle wistful voice that make his new album “The Alcatraz Kid” easy to follow and enjoy. Wonderful lyrics and thoughful melodies that have just enough hooks to keep you involved. “Old Skin” is a heartfelt love theme and very memorable here. Bits of Sufjan Stevens, The Eels and even Bowie peek through as influences other than the late Mr. Smith. The instrumental tune on “Day Job” would fit fine on an Apple iphone commercial, but the story in the lyrics is compelling here as well. “Snow Day” is an upbeat tune here and conjures up images of warm cozy nights in front of a fire place, looking for that first snowfall. “Novocain” is also another keeper, with a great chorus about deadening heartache by “Passing another needle…” My only issue here is that album is pretty downbeat, all the way through without anything that exciting to get your blood pumping. But thank goodness the lyrics are not all bleak.This is a great start for Jeremy and hopefully we’ll hear more from him in the future. Purchase the album straight from MySpace or itunes.
Jeremy’s Website | My Space | Itunes | Princess Records
Kurt Hagardorn loves to play music. Simple as that. His album “Ten Singles” is a relaxing series of songs that recall the great power pop influences of the past.The production is clean and perfectly done here. On first listen it is a nice Beatlesque Alt. Country album in the early Wilco vein, but after a few listens it really grows on you. It opens with the excellent Beach Boys’ Holland-era single “International Travel Advisory.” Then the Neil Young-ish “You are my Girl” follows. It’s got a wonderful chorus that recalls You Am I’s countrified power pop. “Please Make it Last” is the best song Harry Nillson never wrote and a real standout as well. The Badfinger comparisons are most apt on “Rock Scissors Paper” a rollocking number with awesome riff work. The style takes a more contemporary spin with “Leanne” – a wonderful song with more of an electric sound, and great lyrics about losing the girl. Most every track here is really good, and the stories on even the slower ballads remain interesting. Recorded between 2000 and 2006, Kurt has given us the cream of his crop here. It feels like a carefully handcrafted project and you couldn’t ask for more than that.
Brothers Tom and Alex White of The Electric Soft Parade are really the cream of the Britpop crop nowadays and have successfully taken the mantel left vacant by Oasis and Coldplay. Being the first major label release in the US, the songs follow a dizzy array of musical styles – from Post-Punk, to Psyche-Pop to Power Pop. The slow intro “No Need To Be Down-Hearted (Part 1)” almost plays like Pulp or Death Cab For Cutie, and that leads to the energetic “Life in the Back Seat” – a mix of the Shins and 10cc come to mind here. But a series of great indie-pop classics are buried here in “If That’s The Case, Then I Don’t Know” and “Misunderstanding” – they are excellent and the best I’ve heard since The Field Mice’s last album. “The Shore Song” is a dreamy acoustic song that flows along beautifully and like the lyrics state “you won’t get bored of me this time.” Unlike earlier albums, the focus here is on tight melodic songs, and not obtuse experimentation. “Have You Ever Felt Like It’s Too Late” has amazingly polished riffs and beats with great chord changes like The Beta Band on steriods. It follows with “Come back inside” another dreamy psychedelic mid 70s inspired gem. My favorite here is “Cold World” – a perfect Paul McCartney styled tune that will make you tap your toes for sure. A few tracks like “Secrets” seem more puzzling here and slow the momentum a bit. I can almost guarantee that you’ll be addicted to these guys after one listen, so be sure to pick this album up – it’s everywhere now.
I have been a fan of Ice Cream Hands for ages. I consider them one of the first great power pop bands to come out of Australia. With some artists you need a few spins of a CD to let it sink in. Not with these guys. The sound is an immediate satisfaction of harmony and melody. After the last album I heard “Broken UFO” in 2002, things were quiet. This new album “The Good China” finds Marcus Goodwin, Charles Jenkins, Douglas Lee Robertson and Derek Smiley up to their old tricks. Opening with “Come Along” it’s a rich full pop song that is full of the classic Ice Cream Hands sound. Best described as Teenage Fanclub meets Crowded House. The album continues with a droning riff on “In the Back seat of a stolen Car.” It then switches gears for the very Beatlesque ballad “Holding On.” Continuing on, almost every song is a keeper and the band’s maturity that was evident on “Broken UFO” is here as well, shown especially on the the very Finn-like “Anyway.” Toward the end of the album, the tone gets a bit more soulful and ends with the stunning Brian Wilson inspired “My Mother was a Dancer.” It’s hard to argue with anything here, visit the links below to purchase this. Emusic has the older stuff and if you pick up any of the older records you won’t be sorry either. They are also interviewed on PBS in Melbourne – see the MySpace site.