POPISM

 

The Popguns are such a jewel.  I feel like this EP should be getting worldwide hit buzz, because every song here is exciting, fresh, bright, thought provoking and essential.  Pretty much every year, like so many others, I make a list of my favorite albums – or most listened to albums.  This is a four song EP that clocks in at less than twelve minutes, but it is easily my most listened to release this year.  Every single time I put it on the player, I listen to it at least twice, if not three or four times.  Talk about leaving an audience wanting more. 

“Caesar,” has a yearning chorus that is so goddamn pretty that it sends shivers down my spine.  Wendy Pickles’ mellifluous voice continues to be so charming that it took me several listens before I realized that she’s singing about the irreversible damages of climate change brought on by short-sighted greed.  Of course, this sobering message is delivered inside a brilliant and beautiful package.

Similarly, “Dirty London” takes a glance at monuments marking England’s far reaching history of Imperialism and weighs the pros and cons of the privileges earned from some disturbing history (“Now you see / how the hurt is just a page of history / how the end will justify the means”).  It’s a heavy subject that is delivered with a wicked combination of grinding bass and scratchy guitar stabs. 

“Red Cocoon” comes on as a breezy love song.  Sparks flying between a pair out on an all-night bender?   It’s funny, because this song could easily be the feature song with its bouncy bass and suburb guitar leads, but it’s not! 

This all too brief EP closes with a fun punky anthem named “Indie Rock Goddess.”  Talk about leaving us wanting more!  This song abruptly ends just before it reaches two minutes, yet it’s pounding beat and Wendy’s commanding vocal will definitely imprint itself into your consciousness.

It’s wonderful to have the Popguns as our wonderful little indie pop secret, but I feel like they should be one of those bands that get much higher recognition.  I feel like we’re taking them for granted.  Please check them out. 

(https://thepopguns.bandcamp.com/album/popism)

 

 

The Popguns "Dirty London"

The Swiss Army

Has it been twelve years?!  Northern Portrait’s debut album, along with their initial EP’s, were a breath of fresh air.  And now this four-piece from Denmark have returned over a decade later with their second LP, The Swiss Army.  Maybe they waited so long, because they knew that another rush of air was needed.

I think I wrote about all of their early releases, and I went overboard comparing them to The Smiths.  Yes, there is and was similarities in sound and style.  Vocalist Stefan Larsen has a wonderfully infectious vocal style that begs to be sung along to with great zeal!  Their music is timeless and sounds effortless and endlessly catchy.  And they have fantastic song titles, and lyrics like: “I have come to disappoint you!”   I think the similarities are strong in sound, but they also give me the same kind of rush and excitement that I first felt when I discovered The Smiths. 

Now, after all of these years, the new LP, is less Smithsy.  They’ve boosted the low end with this recording and have added a layer of organ to most of these tracks.  They still have all of their attributes fully intact, except now they are more in league with what Gene was doing from albums two through four.   Northern Portrait have not lost their knack for creating beautifully executed intelligent pop music tinged with longing, melancholy, feeling and fantastic melodies.

Each LP side opens with two singles.  “At attention” to open side one is one of those whoosh songs that always fills me with energy.  Side two’s “Once Upon a Bombshell” is one of those mid-tempo cautionary sad tales of faded glamor and attention that Morrissey used to capture so beautifully, while in The Smiths (“Paint a Vulgar Picture”).  In fact, much of the flawless second side feels like a strong caution of focusing one’s priorities on fleeting attractions of youth and commercialism.  The rousing “business Class Hero” is my favorite here with its life-giving guitar strums to its hammering and abrupt close and its tale of greed unhinged.  Sadly, there’s no karmic end awaiting this questionable character as they go on to “join the superhuman race.”  “World History part I and II” continues to focus on our penchant for fame and glory at all costs.  So damn good.  The Elsewhere, the jaunty “Long Live Tonight” grab a classic groove from pop bands going back to the 50s, but that still entice one to jump around, and likewise, the slow ballad, “The Soft Revolution,” could be a slow dancer from that time.

If you were or are a fan of 90s Britpop and Seattle’s National Honor Society, then you will likely really like this.  There are songs that can remind of the guitar attack of Suede, Sleeper, Blur, and even the classic melodies of the Stone Roses’ first album.  It’s also one of those records that gets better with each listen and it begs for repeated listens.  Can we wait for them to revive us in another twelve years?  I sure hope not.

(https://shop.matineerecordings.com/collections/new/products/northern-portrait-the-swiss-army)

 

Northern Portrait "Business Class Hero"

Pop Fiction

The Popguns

Pop Fiction

“Lovejunky” 7” EP

(Matinée)

Where have The Popguns been all of my life?!?!  This feels like the most absurd oversight in my personal music history.  I remember seeing their albums and singles in the bins at great record stores like the Ooze, 2^nd Avenue, and the import section at Tower Records back in the early 90s.  I’m sure I read about them in all the music magazines I read or used to read.  Yet for some reason, I never knowingly heard them.  That is until this fall.  I guess that is one huge advantage of technology.  Back then, there was little chance of actually hearing lesser publicized music that was sealed inside a vinyl jacket, or plastic CD case on the shelves of the better shops, so one had to stumble upon things by chance, or by taking the risk of purchasing unheard (I’m sure there are other options, but in my world, there was a lot of debate over which record I’d never heard I desired more – based solely on word of mouth).  When the “Lovejunky” 7” appeared as a new release from the wonderful indie pop label Matinée Recordings a couple of months back, all I had to do was click a button on my computer screen to quash my curiosity.  Let’s just say that the candy red colored vinyl was ordered right away.

The bright effervescent pop sound of The Popguns reminds me of why I loved Echobelly so much.  “Lovejunky” is upbeat, exciting, jammed with chiming catchy guitars and Wendy Pickles’ yearning yet smiling vocals, which in my distorted mind feel like a perfect blend of Echobelly’s Sonya Madan and Swing Out Sister’s Corrine Drewery (keep in mind that I have not heard SOS’s continuing career since about 1987, but see my love of their single “Breakout” elsewhere).  Echobelly may have climbed up and over the Popguns back to get the small level of notoriety they achieved a few years deeper into the 90s.  Whatever the case, they are back and I am fully on board and asking for more, much like the protagonist of “Lovejunky.”  The two non-LP B-sides here are so damn good that this 7” is a necessity.  The absolutely rocking “Long Way to Fall” has a massive chorus that feels like it’s been part of my personal soundtrack of super hits for as long as I can remember.  This song should be marketed as a single by itself!  The final clincher is the acoustic “Home Late,” which has the magical jangling intricacy of The Sundays and a rainy day quality that always feels comforting.  

Likewise, the full length, Pop Fiction, the band’s first in 18 years (where do I find the back catalogue?!) has been on constant repeat for weeks now.  I never grow tired of it.  From the opening ringing guitars of “City Lights” by Simon Pickles and Greg Dixon – underscored by Pat Walkington’s bass line – I get shivers up my spine with anticipation.  Then comes Tony Bryant’s crashing mid-tempo drums and Wendy’s melancholic, mixed emotional vocal turn as she says farewell to a place, a life, a past (“never hear from me again”).  The internal tension of the performance is enhanced by the ever increasing intensity of the guitars as the song progresses.  From the get go, this album doesn’t feel like a band returning from a long time away, but a band hitting their stride during a particular fertile creative stretch.  They’ve even included a sequel to the still brand new to me “Waiting for the Winter” single from the 1990 first album, Eugenie, with “Still Waiting for the Winter.”  Where the original version is a propulsive kiss off to an uncaring lover, this new version is appropriately, a more reflective second part in the long ago wake of the break up.  Wendy’s lyrical imagery is tangible as she sets the scene of a gathering bringing a group of old companions together and reminiscing about the girl who has vowed to never come back (“she’s never coming back again / yeah, I heard that she’s o.k. / still a world away”). 

There is a lot of reflection going on throughout the album, but it all feels so fresh, because of the vibrant music and Wendy’s wonderful voice, along with tasteful backing vocals from Kate Mander.  “Leaning on the Backline” brings up memories of a long lost friendship and the curiosity of the unexplored inside yet another perfect song structure and the fun sing a long chorus and closing refrain: “and did you find that love was not divine and kisses not like wine?”  Likewise, “Something Going On” comes on with a striking and sharp repetitive guitar strum and more curiosity if there was or is some kind of unexplored connection between two long time acquaintances.  The closing “I’ll See You Later,” on the other hand, has the feel of personal triumph as Wendy sings about the ignored girl from the past, becoming the sought after woman and the point is ever emphasized by her soaring vocals in the powerful chorus.

Every damn song is a keeper.  The pure pop of the standing in the wings “If You Ever Change Your Mind,” and the gliding cool of “Alfa Romeo” are so addictive and brilliant ear candy.  The only slow down of shiny hooks comes with the back to back slower songs in the middle section of the album.  “Out of Sight” soars with tasteful feedback atmospherics atop a rumbling beat, as the lyrics explore the strength of a relationship.  Is it one of convenience?  While the acoustic “Not Your Night Tonight” is a very gentle turn down, as Wendy sings “cause there’s no ‘us’” to some unfortunate guy who had higher hopes.

This is already one of my favorite albums of the year and cannot recommend it with any more gusto.  Welcome back Popguns!  Glad you decided to return to introduce yourselves. 

(popguns.net)