Jumprope

As the year has progressed, several great singles and EPs have been released for which I have written reviews or should have written reviews.  I’ve waited for many of these bands to go ahead and release new full length albums before offering my thoughts, but several have not yet materialized.  So, over the next week or two, I hope to share my enthusiasm for some great singles that have come along during 2014 that I’ve neglected to share.

Gingerlys

“Jumprope” 7” EP

(Shelflife)

Shelflife Records just keeps finding really fun pop music!  Gingerlys is a new New York band that takes the beautiful and dreamy songs of early Shelflife legends like Arrogants and Brittle Stars and infuses them with a dose of speed and adrenaline.  They’ve made a perfect single for the summer time.

“Jumprope” jumps right in with some frenetic strumming guitar, and a simple and warming keyboard line that evokes the Brittle Stars comparison, and then Maria Garnica’s breathy vocals (reminding of Arrogrants’ Jana Heller) come along tying the proceedings together magically.  It isn’t until the absolutely dreamy chorus – a repeated series of “ahs” and “uh-huhs” – that the song goes to the stratospheric.  It’s a compact and perfect song to hum on a beautiful stroll in the sunshine.  I’m not sure what’s going on inside the wall of noise that is the fast “Summer Cramps,” but it’s enticing.  The songs stumbles forward at a rapid pace and there’s so much going on with the layers of sounds (it almost sounds like a horn section buried deep underneath the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals), but the clarity of the straight forward keyboard melody ties the song together to give it a memorable quality beyond the fun urgency of the performance.

The B-side opens with another quick burner in “Better Hearts.”  Garnica punctuates every short line of each verse with a “you don’t know me” line that will get stuck in your head, while guitarists Matt Richards and Colin O’Neill weave together surprisingly intricate intertwining melodies together.  This song is where drummer Brian Alvarez and bassist Kevin Doxsey really shine.  Alvarez’s stunning rapid fire drum rolls, punctuated tightly by Doxsey’s rolling bass grand throughout the song are amazing!  Again, there’s a lot going on in the mix, but its fun to focus on the many different sounds coming out of these five players.   The closing “Set You Off” comes on like an airy breeze, or a long relaxing exhale.  Garmica’s cooing vocals perfectly match with her keyboard atmospherics and the jangly guitars.

What an excellent introduction!  I sure hope that there’s more music to come - maybe for next summer?

(facebook.com/gingerlysband)

 Gingerlys "Jumprope"

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)

Each Time

As the year has progressed, several great singles and EPs have been released for which I have written reviews or should have written reviews.  I’ve waited for many of these bands to go ahead and release new full length albums before offering my thoughts, but several have not yet materialized.  So, over the next week or two, I hope to share my enthusiasm for some great singles that have come along during 2014 that I’ve neglected to share.

Secret Shine

“Each Time” 7”

(Dreams Never End)

When bands began reforming after several years away, there were always prominent cries of “sellout” and a strange disdain cast upon them for giving their music another go.  What about bands that never really drew a huge audience?  What would be the explanation for a band reforming and enduring another possible round of being ignored, other than a pure love of the art?  Of course, there have been so many bands that have reformed over the last fifteen years that it’s no longer even an issue, but what I find surprising, is that there have been a handful of bands that have not only recaptured their original spark, but surpassed it.  For me, Secret Shine is one of those bands.

Secret Shine existed during the early 90s on the vaunted Sarah Records label, and I was familiar with them via the many excellent label compilations that I devoured back then.  Secret Shine was about as “shoegaze” as that label ever got, and though they were intriguing to me, they never connected enough to get me to pursue their records.  Yet, ever since their reformation back in 2006, they’ve been steadily improving and a band that I look forward to hearing from and will make every effort to secure their latest offerings.  Their last album, The Beginningand the End, brought an urgency and passion that they had never showed before (and was my #5 pick for best album of the year!).

It’s been some time since that great album, but while they commence work on a new album, they have offered up a very nice single as a teaser.  Luckily, this record is right on par with the best of their most recent work.  The A-Side, “Each Time,” burns with desperation and that urgency that drove much of their last LP.  They get compared a lot to Slowdive (also recently reformed) with their airy atmospheric sound derived from buzzing feedback, but that band never let loose with this kind of drive before - like having the beat go double time during the exciting chorus.

Over on the flip side, is the dreamier “Anything About Me,” a song that drifts along with a beautiful quiet melancholy and a rumbling beat, which builds the tension towards what looks like trouble ahead.  The feeling of being marginalized and taken for granted in a relationship is explored in the sparest of words, but the simple repeated line “You don’t know / you don’t know / you don’t know / anything about me” gives us a strong clue as to what is happening.

If these two songs are a sign of what’s to come, the next Secret Shine album will be an incredible highlight of 2015.

(secretshine.bandcamp.com)

 

Now Time

As the year has progressed, several great singles and EPs have been released for which I have written reviews or should have written reviews.  I’ve waited for many of these bands to go ahead and release new full length albums before offering my thoughts, but several have not yet materialized.  So, over the next week or two, I hope to share my enthusiasm for some great singles that have come along during 2014 that I’ve neglected to share.

Close Lobsters

Kunstwerk in Spacetime 7” EP

(Shelflife)

Somehow, I mostly missed Scottish band Close Lobsters back in the late 80s, but I didn’t completely miss them.  At some point, I picked up a couple of their EPs used, and I still have their excellent song “Lovely Little Swan” on a bizarre 1990 K-Tel Records “modern rock” compilation called The Edge of Rock that I bought simply for the cheap price and the novelty (I say “bizarre,” because I thought K-Tel had long vanished by that point.  My prior K-Tel collection fresh from TV ads was the wondrous Rock 80 from around my ninth birthday– collecting 1979 “new wave” hits from the likes of The Knack, The Pretenders, Gary Numan, Blondie, The Ramones, and Nick Lowe).  They were renowned from their offering from the legendary C86 NME compilation that launched so many great bands’ careers, but I apparently I always kind of overlooked them.  So, how did I end up with this brand new 7” single by a band that has been dormant for about 25 years?  Not sure how, but it doesn’t matter, because I love this record!!

 K-Tel "The Edge of Rock"

 K-Tel Rock 80 TV commercial

“Now Time” begins with some solid guitar interplay and then a building drum surge before launching into a perfect mid-tempo summer time driving song.  The song fills me with great anticipation and excitement.  Lead singer Andrew Burnett’s well worn voice urges us to get out and get some stuff done, while reminding us that “history is about to be made.”  It’s absolutely spine-tingling, especially during the bridge when the music begins to blur into a dramatic wash before a perfectly simple guitar solo.  Even at six plus minutes, this epic feels concise and begs for repeated listening.

The B-Side, “New York City in Space,” seems to be a story about their first visit/tour to the US, as they explore New York City in the heat of the summer (“the heat this time of year is ridiculous”).  As with “Now Time,” this song is addictively catchy.  For a band that hasn’t recorded for so long, they sound really tight and both of these songs are fully realized and exactly in line with the best of what I remember from the past – if not better. 

Speaking of their past, it seems that I may need to rectify my oversight and look a little deeper into their two late 80s albums, while I hope that they are considering more new music.  What a welcome return!

Note: This record is titled as an EP, but only has two songs.  There is a digital download card that comes with some remixes of these songs, which is a nice bonus, but not my cup of tea.  Stick with the original versions.

(twitter.com/CloseLobsters and buy the single at: shelflife.com/catalogue/LIFE112.html)

Mocking Love Out of Nothing at All

As the year has progressed, several great singles and EPs have been released for which I have written reviews or should have written reviews.  I’ve waited for many of these bands to go ahead and release new full length albums before offering my thoughts, but several have not yet materialized.  So, over the next week or two, I hope to share my enthusiasm for some great singles that have come along during 2014 that I’ve neglected to share.

Gentlemen Rogues

“Mocking Love Out of Nothing at All” 7”

(Shifting Sounds)

Here’s an Austin, Texas four piece that I was introduced to earlier this year via their bassist, Brandon Tucker, who is also a member of Magnet School, who I raved about last year with their digital single “Fur & Velvet” – a Swervedriver-esque massive rocker (#26 pick for 2013).  Gentlemen Rogues is an entirely different beast, but one that is equally intriguing.  Instead of bringing back fond memories of the UK bands from the early 90s, on this single the Rogues bring back the fiery yet thoughtful US styled power pop much like the band they cover on this singles’ B-side, Buffalo Tom.

First of all, I do have to lodge a small complaint; the A-side original here is titled “Mocking Love Out of Nothing at All,” presumably a take off on the horrific Air Supply song from the early 80s.  This is a road that should not be explored.  However, having said that, the song itself is excellent!  It is absolutely jammed with vibrant energy and big twists and turns that carry us on an exciting rollercoaster, much like the tumultuous Get Up Kids single “10 Minutes” on Sub Pop Records a long time ago.  The mid-tempo power chords that open the song belie the surge that comes, as the song seems to step up the intensity as the song progresses.  Plus the chorus is a wide open pay off that feels like a breath of fresh air.  And, I have to say that hearing this kind of music again - good old fashioned “college rock” – is fun, because for some reason it fell by the wayside for some time, despite being pretty universally easy to like.

As mentioned earlier, the B-side is a very straight forward cover of Buffalo Tom’s 1992 song “Mountains of Your Head” (from their amazing third and probably their best LP Let Me Come Over), but somehow infused with just a little bit extra noise and speed - just enough, that is, to make this a worthy cover.

It looks like the Gentlemen Rogues are soon set to release their debut album, so we can only hope that this single is a sneak peek into what kind of goodness is to come.

(gentlemenroguesmusic.com)

 

Runaround

As the year has progressed, several great singles and EPs have been released for which I have written reviews or should have written reviews.  I’ve waited for many of these bands to go ahead and release new full length albums before offering my thoughts, but several have not yet materialized.  So, over the next week or two, I hope to share my enthusiasm for some great singles that have come along during 2014 that I’ve neglected to share.

The Fireworks

“Runaround” 7” EP 2013

(Shelflife)

Here’s a record from late last year that I feel remiss about not sharing sooner, but it still seems like a good time, because The Fireworks just recently revealed plans for the release of their first album in early 2015, as well as issuing a little preview.  This little slab of red vinyl certainly got a lot of play around my place all year long, so it’s not as though I wasn’t aware of this record. 

The Fireworks bring the pop and the buzz in full force and this shit never gets old.  As long as I’ve been smitten with buying records, there has always been a lot of room for catchy two minute pop songs that are invigorated by sing-along melodies, limitless energy, fast drums and a healthy dose of feedback.  With “The Runaround,” The Fireworks evoke the best moments of The Primitives late 80s heyday, or perhaps Australia’s Hummingbirds.  The bulk of the song is really just a blistering fuzzy mess of buzzing guitars barely contained by vocalist Emma and the steady drums.  However, once the chorus comes along, everything blossoms, as the guitars begin to chime and some background “oohs” and “aahs” bolster the song and push it to a serious need for repeated listens.

The Fireworks "Runaround"

The first song on the flip side similarly speeds along for less than two minutes like a long lost Primitives great.  Shaun’s frantic drum work on “With My Heart” gives the guitars a bit of a reprieve until the bridge, but its Emma’s commanding vocals that make this song so great.

Lastly, this short and sweet EP closes with the lovely viola adorned “Asleep.”  This song reminds of early Creation Records bands like The Razorcuts or Emily, as well as the softest acoustic moments of The Field Mice, as guitarist Matthew sings a fragile song filled with self-sabotage as he watches his significant other drift off to sleep and wonders if they are dreaming of someone else. 

Oh, this is so damn good.  I cannot wait to hear what they have in store for us with their debut album.  Go ahead and check out their sneak peek “On and On.”

(thefireworksgopop.bandcamp.com)

 

Nobody There

As the year has progressed, several great singles and EPs have been released for which I have written reviews.  I’ve waited for many of these bands to go ahead and release new full length albums before offering my thoughts, but several have not yet materialized.  So, over the next week or two, I hope to share my enthusiasm for some of these great singles that have come along during 2014 that I’ve neglected to share.

Veronica Falls

“Nobody There” 7”

(Beachy Head)

What a pleasant surprise this single turned out to be!  Late last year, I received an email message from veronica Falls about a limited edition 7” single to be released before years’ end.  I jumped at the chance and secured a copy, which actually finally showed up early in February - though the digital version has been available, while the vinyl version with a nice fold out screen printed sleeve (limited to 300) quickly sold out.  Veronica Falls have been a favorite ever since their debut of dread-filled songs came across my limited awareness in 2011 and the thought of a brand new single hot on the heels of their incredible second album Waiting for Something to Happen (my #4 pick of 2013) had me on the edge of my seat.

This could be taken as negative, but the A-side “Nobody There,” is no different than we’ve come to expect from Veronica Falls.  The song contains their wonderful forward momentum of jangling guitars, rolling drums, and amazing harmonies and it never ceases to get old, and as their songs have become bolder and tighter from their steady touring schedule and much better recorded, they sound like a band on a hot streak.  In fact, “Nobody There” could be one of the most joyous sounding songs about what seems to be complete isolation and loneliness one may ever hear.  The A-side’s rousing chorus – complete with handclaps – is letting us know that there is no one listening and that “there’s nobody there.”  Wow, that’s really depressing, but the message is wrapped inside such a pretty song, it harkens back to those lonely moments of dancing alone around my bedroom as a teenager to angst-ridden anthems (“Shut the door / don’t let them see / turn in circles endlessly”).

The B-side “Need You Around” is a more spacious song about loneliness, or an attempt to avoid it, as Roxanne Clifford pleas for someone to stay with her.  It’s up to us to decide if this exit is permanent, or just for the moment, but the desperation is palpable.  Plus, how many bands out there can create such ear catching vocal harmonies in just over two minutes?  This B-side is definitely not B material.  Both songs are as good as anything they’ve done so far, and that is about as high of praise as I can muster.

(veronicafalls.com)

Veronica Falls "Nobody There"