It’s July! Trust Your Gut, the latest album by The Worriers (due in September) have this cool video for now. The band, led by lead singer Lauren Denitzio, has a highly approachable songwriting style full of folksy flourishes and driving guitars. Tamar Berk is back after her winning turn last year on Start At The End. She hasn’t missed a beat, and I look forward to more strong memorable melodies, as the preview shows. Vanilla also comes back with new music from the Pish Posh collection recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Speaking of Abbey Road, local Beatlesque troubadour Tommy Sistak wants to “Take Me Along.” Next, Singer Brock Pytel (Canadian pop-punk band The Doughboys) and Brian Minato (Sarah McLachlan) are SLIP~ons, and they bring GBV energy with them. Finally, I don’t know much about Philly power pop band Hurry, but they have nice harmonies – kinda like Teenage Fanclub and the album is due in August. Enjoy the fireworks!
The one-man band LMNOP has a new album coming called whatNOP dONW7 on July 16, 2021. “The song ‘Nuclear Trust’ doesn’t have anything to do with anything nuclear, just liked the way those two words sounded together. The line “Now I’ve found I don’t know what I’ve found” kinda sums up where I’m at in 2021.” says LMNOP mastermind Stephen Fievet. I agree. Look for an LP review soon!
Geoff Palmer is back with a catchy punk answer to that query when you forget the name of that band. You know, the one that goes…
Canadian Tommy Sistak is back with a new retro-harmony-covered tune. Fans of The Beatles and Monkees will enjoy this comforting music.
Jonny Polonsky is back and he’s sounding much more like himself on this hook-filled single. He certainly has a pulse on the public’s anxiety with COVID. Favorite lyric; “To make me feel like Felix Unger – I have to set myself on fire”
Speaking of retro – The Reflectors are a brilliant 80s-90s styled power pop combo that rocks! Explore last year’s debut for more.
Finally, we have Late Night with Drew Vandenberg introing Drew Beskin singing “Going Alright For You” from his upcoming third full-length solo album, Problematic for the People. It’s a damn good power-pop tune with its crunchy riffs, handclaps, and a killer hook. Enjoy!
Willie Dowling and Jon Poole are back, and by combining strong production values and the influences of XTC (specifically, Andy Partridge) continue to bring us great music. The album theme is an unrepentant political protest of the Trump-era. Starting with the title track, “See You, See Me,” Willie laments “the dumbing down of a nation in defeat” by weaving multiple themes together. “The Product” has a more techno rhythm and beat, and with “Hope” the influence of Prince is obvious. Technically the band has never been better, although the melodic hooks are buried a little deeper than I would like.
“Alison’s Going Home” opens a scenario sounding more akin to Jellyfish with a wonderfully inventive composition about an Afghanistan War veteran returning home and taking in “the armchair medicine” on TV. “Made In Heaven” and “Keeping The Stupid Stupid” about the state of our political mess is right on the nose; “don’t let the facts get in the way… and history repeats.” “The Last Train Home” is a lounge-styled lament about a “Never Trumper,” and stating “when his sanity was normalized, we whispered someone should be notified.” Highly Recommended (unless you are a Trump fan.)
Tommy Sistak returns with his Beatlesque talents to give us Music For Sale. “Come Find Me” and “Away From You and Me” has that infectious early Merseybeat sound, and it’s a lot of fun. The lead guitars are less prominent here than his last LP Ready Set A Go-Go, while the rattling rhythms and vocal harmonies remain. The quaint music hall stylings of “A Good Friend” and “Then All The Hearts Were Broken” bring to mind both early solo McCartney and Harry Nilsson.
While derivative, Sistak puts enough of his signature style in it to keep it interesting. Some of the songs also bring to mind The Searchers, like on the standout “With My Imagination.” Tommy plays all the instruments on the LP, with drumming provided by Gerard Pagliuco. On an acoustic version of “Come Find Me” the additional harmonies make this closer to an Everly Brothers single. Fans of this retro-rock style will really enjoy it, so pick it up! It’s music that deserves to be heard.
Tommy Sistak’s (third) album continues his run of Merseybeat music in the tradition of his “Short Songs” and “A Good Hat Indeed.” So, if you are looking to get your early Beatles or Searchers music fix you’ve come to the right place.
The Rickenbacker jangle and three-part vocal harmonies are still in place for the bouncy opener “You Can’t Change Me” and the mid-tempo “Life Is Waiting For You” is arranged more like The Beau Brummels. Tommy knows the subtleties of the genre with his ukulele solo “Would You Want To” and isn’t afraid to add more guitar muscle to “I’ll Be There” and “She Just Won’t Go Away.” The multi-tracked vocals don’t always match the strength of the arrangements (“On My Own”) but otherwise, this is a guilt-free set of pop gems to enjoy.
Reno native singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Nick Eng has a great sense of melody and produces music with a timeless retro pop style, rooted in the mid-sixties. “Reminiscing” is a catchy gem with clever chord changes and his easygoing tenor reminds me of David Cassidy or Tommy Roe. The upbeat lyrics and tightly crafted arrangements of “Someday Someone” and “The One For You Is Me” share elements of both The Beatles and The Monkees.
Much of the music is the classic boy-loves-girl theme, as “How Do You Tell” and “A Fool” demonstrate. The storylines on “Mr. Greene,” shift to aging and “Left To Know” is a self-reflecting ballad on a breakup. Honestly, not a bad song on the album even though not every hook finds its mark. I hope to hear more from this talented artist in the future, so check it out!
