Wesley Fuller “All Fuller No Filler”
We all knew Perth-born, Melbourne-based Wesley Fuller’s follow-up to Inner City Dream would be good. Wesley was kind enough to be interviewed about this album while promoting the singles earlier this year. But from the opening chords of “Back to Square One,” you can see that his songwriting has improved exponentially. With the casual retro synth-pop of “Alamein Line,” or “The House of Love,” and the guitar riffs of “The Velvet Affair,” Wes takes the late ’70s influences and builds from that point.
Even though Wesley looks a lot like Jeff Lynne—and Lynne’s influence is palpable in several of the songs—there’s a lot more happening here that reveals itself after repeated listening. “Look No Further” takes a distant piano rhythm and turns it into magic with a loaded chorus of harmonies. Like the promise in the name of his record, there’s nothing here that feels like filler. Highly recommended and an early nominee for 2024’s top ten!
Ducks Ltd. “Harm’s Way”
In the same vein as power pop, jangle pop is an adjacent subgenre of music that has a timeless quality. Bands like REM, The Smiths, and Echo and the Bunnymen reimagined what the Byrds started in the 1960s in the late 1980s. Canadian band Ducks Ltd. follows the tradition of combining sparkling, jangly guitars with crisp vocals and thoroughly melodic songwriting. The duo of singer-guitarist Tom McGreevy and guitarist Evan Lewis take great pains to make these songs stick.
“Hollowed Out” really does remind me of those college-era bands; The Ocean Blue or The Mighty Lemon Drops, without the psychedelic aftertaste. “The Main Thing” is another song that chugs away with a zippy chorus and a fast rhythm. Most of the songs hit that nostalgic mark, and this is another highly recommended album.
