The Flashcubes
Christi Girl (live)
Big Stir Records
Recorded May 26, 1979 at the Firebarn in their hometown of Syracuse, NY this nicely punk, jangly power pop song, where all the singer wants is for Christi to give him a chance, is a lot of fun. It's very melodic, too. It's so important that songs have good melodies, and the beat falls into place because of it, the way all good songs do. It's a good song all around.
Andrea Weiss
Land Trust: Benefit For NEFOC
Erica Dawn Lyle & Vice Cooler
Self-released on Bandcamp
When Bikini Kill’s tour was canceled due to the pandemic, band member Erica Dawn Lyle and her friend Vice Cooler got together, wrote the songs on this album, recorded the basic tracks, and then gave them to friends to finish. The cause benefiting from sales, Northeast Farmers Of Color, buys land to return to indigenous farmers and farmers of color. It is a great cause.
The music, showcasing the best in feminist punk in all its forms, is wonderful. Every track has something to recommend it, from Kim Gordon’s spoken word piece “Debt Collector,” to “Mirrorball,” featuring Kathleen Hanna, with it’s refrain of “I want my money back,” to the Linda Lindas’ hit energy track “Lost In Thought.” Kelley Deal’s song “Bodies,” with Emily Restas on bass and Sarah Register on backing vocals, sounds halfway between Protomartyr and her duo with Mike Montgomery, R. Ring. Mike mixed and mastered the song.
You won’t go wrong in picking up this album, with music this good all the way through, and, as I say, it’s a great cause. So if you want some serious fun, to rock out, or both, get this album.
Andrea Weiss
Maple Mars
Silver Craft
Big Stir
I like the melodic crunch of the guitars, and the lyrics about flying high in the silver craft. It’s grungy, but also pop, and really just a good combination of elements all around. If you like this, you’ll also like their album, Someone’s Got To Listen, which features these combinations.
Andrea Weiss
The first song I heard from Maple Mars is “Gliding,” released as a single. I thought is was great. I heard a bit of Nirvana and was intrigued, so I played Nevermind and Someone’s Got To Listen, Maple Mars’ new album, back to back. The sonics are there, and musically, the album resembles Nirvana’s “On A Plain” my favorite from them, so if you’re curious about the comparison, play them both. Then you’ll hear how great Maple Mars are, too.
The band's Rick Hromadka, lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter, and Steve Berns, guitarist and producer, were kind enough to answer some questions for me.
Andrea Weiss: How did the band form?
Rick Hromadka: It started when I was asked by Steve Berns to record a new song at his Hollywood apartment. He was testing some new equipment he had just bought. The song came out well and we decided to do an entire record. That album was put out by Ray Paul from Permanent Press Recordings. That was the start of the band.
AW: What are your influences?
RH: Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, Elton John, AM radio 70s Pop, Todd Rundgren, XTC.
AW: I’m getting a little of Nirvana’s Nevermind in the sonics, and how heavy the guitars can be. Would you say this is fair comparison?
Steve Berns: I can see that comparison, sure. We used guitar sounds we thought would be right for each song. Some songs were a bit more distorted than others, while some used some cleaner tones and even some acoustic guitar.
RH: I don’t hear that, but everyone has their unique musical senses.
AW: Your sound is both heavy and mellow. Did that balance naturally come through in the music, or not?
RH: I think that balance comes through in the writing as well as the recording. We always shoot for dynamics.
SB: In production we let the song guide the arrangements. I personally like when songs have strong dynamics, so I think that came through in how we produced the album. At least I hope it did.
AW: Your lyrics deal a lot with breakups and other dark times, except for "Crooked Smile." Did the songs just go that way, or was there an effort to make them like that?
RH: I was writing from an honest point of view and at the time I was going through some dark times. “Crooked Smile” was a little light at the end of the tunnel.
AW: How did the pandemic impact the album?
RH: The pandemic made the recording, mastering, and ultimately the release of the album delayed. In a sense, it helped us fine-tune some aspects of the record to make it even stronger.
SB: We lucked out and had recorded a lot of the basic tracks just before the pandemic. The keyboards were recorded by Rick at home and some of his guitar tracks, our bassist Joe (Gidding) had moved to Massachusetts, so he did some vocals and a couple bass tracks at home as well. Then they sent everything to me, and I put it all together.
AW: I like how the guests make the album so well rounded. Could you say a few words about them?
SB: Everyone that you have in the studio contributes in their way to the production, so having people from outside the band come in to play parts helps to create a more interesting final product.
RH: Jeff LeGore played bass on two tracks. He was our steady bass player until he moved to Nashville. Kaitlin Wolfberg we know through the music scene in LA and is a fantastic violinist.
AW:Do you plan to tour?
SB: Yes, Rick can elaborate.
RH: Depending on how the album is received we will probably head out on a small tour of the East Coast. Spain may be in our future if we decide to return to the UK, which we’ve toured twice in the past.
AW: What would you tell someone first starting out in music?
RH: Go to dental school instead!
SB: Don’t quit your day job! Just kidding. If you can make a living at music, more power to you. That is the ultimate goal. Music is so fulfilling, and I dedicate as much time as I can to it. However, I also enjoy having a house, car, and other amenities, so most of us have a separate career to support our lifestyles.
Maple Mars
Someone’s Got To Listen
Big Stir
To put grunge into a power power pop context is cool, and still doesn’t describe how cool this album. It has grunge sonics, but is smooth as fine grit, heavy without the metal. It's appealing all the way around.
Some of these songs are about love, some about life, while a lot lighter in tone than grunge lyrics, but just as complex. A lot of the songs on this album remind me of my favorite Nirvana song, “On A Plain,” and the others just remind me of Nevermind in general.
So focus on that album for Maple Mars' overall sound and you have an album as great in its own way as Nevermind. And everyone knows what a game changer that album was, so let’s try to make Maple Mars a game changer too. They deserve it, as their album is just that good.
Andrea Weiss
Lisa Mychols and Super 8
I Can’t Explain single
Jem Records
This is the first single from an upcoming Pete Townsend tribute, and what a tribute it’ll be! This is a radical reworking of the Who classic--very jazzy pop--to the point where it sounds like its own song, not a cover.
And that’s how good it is. If you’re a serious Who or Pete fan and want to hear a group that made a famous song their own, this is it. Keep an ear out for the tribute album, too.
Andrea Weiss
Walker Brigade
I’m Tired single
Big Stir Records
This is a cover of a song from the film Blazing Saddles. The original is funny -- comedy as only Mel Brooks could do it, and Madeline Kahn is great. The cover is funny, feminist, rocking, and just wonderful. Tracy Walker sings sole lead on this song, and sings the hell out of it. There needed to be a punk rock version of this. Get the single, and try their album If Only if you want to hear more, and you will, as this single is just one of the many cool tracks on it. There are some dandy originals, too.
Andrea Weiss
I first became aware of Bob Burger and the Weeklings with their live album In Their Own Write. Their sound is very likably 60s. His solo work is more modern. Both are 60s and modern in the best ways, and one can never go wrong with that.
Bob was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.
Andrea Weiss: I know your work from the Weeklings. What made you want to record a solo album?
Bob Burger: I had actually started this project prior to the formation of The Weeklings, and put it on hold to concentrate on making Weeklings records. The downtime afforded by Covid gave me some extra time to complete the album. But even without Covid, I would have eventually finished it anyway. I love The Weeklings! But the solo album allows me to stretch in some different directions, and to work with some other musicians with whom I am also very close.
AW: Is this your first solo album?
BB: No, this is actually my fifth solo album. Although this is the first that will be released by Jem. This album is really a continuation of my previous solo album, The Day After.
AW: I do hear a bit of Fountains Of Wayne in your sound, which is good. Are they an influence? Any other influences?
BB: I can’t say the FOW are a direct influence. I love their music, but really didn’t have it in my head for this one. I have lots of classic influences: Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Petty… All the greats. But there are also songs on this album that I would be hard pressed to point to any particular influence.
AW: Your songs here are so heartfelt, which I like. Do you always write songs like that?
BB: I certainly try to! I like songs with a little gravity and deeper meaning.
AW: “Pain In The Ass” is funny. Was that about someone in particular, or people in general?
BB: It’s a conglomerate of a number of people I’ve met in my life. Probably some that you’ve met too! When I came up with the idea, it seemed like a pretty universal concept!
AW: Will the Weeklings make another album too?
BB: Hopefully lots. We recently recorded basic tracks for seven new songs we are working on.
AW: Do you have any plans to tour?
BB: I’ll be touring with The Weeklings and Max Weinberg. I’ll also be doing solo dates, but they will likely be limited to the Jersey Shore area.
AW: What would you tell someone just starting out in music?
BB: Stay in school, kids! Seriously, music is a difficult business and you have to work really hard. I wished I had practiced guitar more when I was younger. And if you’re a songwriter, you have to write lots of songs and really practice that. Don’t expect you first songs to be great. The more you write, the easier and better it becomes. Knowing a bit about business doesn’t hurt either.
Bob Burger
The Domino Effect
Jem Records
Burger is the leader of the Weeklings, a power pop band with a 60s feel. On his solo album, his songs are modern in the best sense of the word, adult as the weaklings, but contemporary, so he sounds a little like Fountains Of Wayne as an adult rock band.
Whether writing about life or love, the tone of things getting better, or getting through hard times never flags, even on the song that’s a lot of fun to hear “Pain InThe Ass” which is self explanatory. The best of the life songs is the album opener “The Suicide King,’ which isn’t about killing yourself, but rather sabotaging your self. The best love song is “Nearly Beautiful” in which the woman he’s trying to date doesn’t make her intentions clear.
The Weeklings are a lot of fun to hear, and so is this album all the way through. If you’re power pop fan like I am, you’ll want this albumin your collection, as it really is great.
Andrea Weiss
Paige Beller
Uncontrollably
Live At Radio Artifact
Sofaburn Records
This video is as good an introduction as anything to this out and proud Dayton, OH singer/songwriter. The song is about love gone wrong: “she used to love me, uncontrollably.” Her debut for Sofaburn, I’ll Be Better, is terrific, too, although this song is from a previous EP, Space Cadet. It’s just her alone on guitar, with effects such as drum pedals, and the longing and aching of the lyrics comes through in the music, even as it’s calm and quiet on the surface
The video has some neat effects, too. At first the stage lights form a halo, and then toward the end it’s like looking at the performance through a kaleidoscope. It turns the lyrics somewhat psychedelic then, too, and makes for great, wild viewing.
Take my word for it, the video is great. So is the song. You’ll be glad you saw it.
Andrea Weiss
The Flashcubes
Gudbuy T’‘Jane
Big Stir
The original version by Slade was great, and the cover improves on it. With former New York Doll Steve Conte's guitar giving the cover a little more grit than the original, they turn the song into a friendly anthem to Jane, not as “get away from me,” but “Jane, you're great. Have a nice life.” So rock out to a glam headbanger, and pump your fist to the lyrics, especially the refrain of “she’s all right, she’s all right, all right.”
I first became aware of Spygenius in 2020, with their album Man On The Sea a delightful double album that introduced me to a wonderful band. Then it was Blow Your Covers in 2021, an album I really like, and now Jobbernowl which is more subtle psychedelic rock, but with an edge and a lot going on below the surface, which is something I like a lot.
Peter Watts, the lead singer and songwriter in the band, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.
Andrea Weiss: I like your sense of whimsy and irony in your lyrics. Do you always write that way?
Peter Watts: Speaking for myself, yes, I suppose I do, at least in as much as I think life is like that. Loads of stuff all floating about at the same time. It’s good to write about what you know, so my lyrics are almost always notes to self – if there’s something bothering me, a thought or a question or an experience or a worry or a feeling, I’ll try to work out what to do with it through composing a lyric. But a lyric isn’t a treatise, you know, it’s not about coming up with a final philosophically cogent and legally binding point of view on an issue, it’s an opportunity to open things up, to explore the different ways that you might approach something, whatever it may be… and it’s not just a matter of what the words mean, but also how they resonate, what they evoke, how they feel to say or sing, their rhythm, what they don’t mean but might mean, what they remind you of and so on. I know irony gets a bad press sometimes but I think it can be really useful for expressing an openness to more than one point of view, to the contradictions and absurdities of existence (ha ha!) – it’s like “I think I know I mean ah yes but it’s all wrong” versus “Gimme some truth,” and I’m firmly rooted in "Strawberry Fields." Nothing wrong with a bit of uncertainty, I reckon, because it makes spaces for the listener, makes the lyric less of a declamation and more of an unfinished conversation between singer and listener.
AW: Do you have any influences you want to note?
PW: A is for Absurdism! B is for Beatles and Byrds, Bonzos and Buffalos (Springfield), Beach Boys and beach balls and "beach baby, beach baby give me your hand give me something that I can remember." C is for Croydon and Claptrap the Venue (Stourbridge, England)… and Covid… which reminds me, I once caught a virus and had a fever so high that it altered my consciousness more or less forever, which might explain why I write lyrics the way I do, so I suppose you could say that I was influenced by influenza?
AW: I hear a lot of Robyn Hitchcock in your music. Is he an inspiration for you?
PW: I got quite heavily into his music when I was younger, but I think as much as anything that was because I was delighted to find someone whose general orientation to things seemed somewhat aligned to mine… a fellow traveler, if you will, albeit a much more successful one. More a case of convergent evolution than anything - like two crabs. See what I did there? We’ve met him a couple of times and had some nice chats, about leaves and the order of the universe and stuff like that, but he never remembers us the next time we meet. Perhaps we’re just one of his hallucinations? That would explain a lot.
AW: Your lyrics are dreamy, but the music lends gravity that grounds everything in reality, which is great. Is that balance your intention?
PW: We rock! I always think that ideally a song should form a sympathetic dialogue between the music and the lyric, so the music has to have as much character as the words do. You know, the tunes have to be good enough so that if Herb Alpert decides to do a Tijuana Brass instrumental album of Spygenius’s greatest hits, they’ll stand up. Herb Alpert Presents Spygenius 65! And catchy melodies are great. You can get away with all kinds of outrageous lyrical stuff if you’ve got a catchy tune and good beat.
AW: Man on the Sea, your album from 2020, was a concept album. Does your new album have a concept as well?
PW: We told everyone that ‘Pacéphale (the album before Man on the Sea) was a concept album, except we created the thing the wrong way around – we didn’t come up with a concept and then write appropriate songs, we had a bunch of songs and invented a story ex post facto to tie them together, and then everyone sort of expected and assumed that Man on the Sea was a concept album too, although I don’t think we ever meant it to be. It sort of became one because that’s what other people heard in it. I suppose the title sounds quite concepty, but it’s actually pinched from a children’s book. Jobbernowl isn’t explicitly a concept album, although there are some presiding themes – truth, belief, loss, self-deceit, other-deceit, making the absolute most of every fleeting moment you have on this earth, universal love, Apollo and Dionysus walking side by side, the irresolvable tension between darkness and light that makes existence delicious, all the usual Spygenius hokum… and not a few painful puns.
AW: Are there any bands or solo artists that people should pay attention to, especially if they figured in the making the album?
PW: Anyone and everyone on Big Stir Records!
AW: How did the pandemic affect your music?
PW: At a practical level we couldn’t get together to play for about a year. This is why we followed up Man On The Sea with Blow Their Covers, which was mostly recorded remotely. We didn’t want to work on new original material when we couldn’t meet to jam the songs through and develop the arrangements together, but we needed to do something to keep us musically connected. It came out OK. More existentially, 2020 was a pretty grim time in Casa Spygenius – we lost a lot of folks we loved, some directly due to the pandemic, some indirectly due to the pandemic, some just through bad luck. That whole experience is infused through Jobbernowl. D is for Death. E is for Emotional Exhaustion. F is for FFS. G is for OMG. H is for Hospitals. I is for Incomprehension. J is for Jobbernowl…
AW: Do you have any plans to tour the US?
PW: If everything goes according to plan most of us will be in California in August. We’ll be playing the International Pop Overthrow festival in San Francisco and are hoping to get some other dates set up, too. Watch this space!
Spygenius
Jobbernowl
Big Stir
This subtle psychedelic rock with a hard edge hints of Alice In Wonderland experiences, with pointed moments throughout like the romp that is “Dig Your New Robes, Pierre!“ and “Son Of the Morning, Go Man Go!”
Or maybe I should say gentle, ironic peace and love, not necessarily hippie, but mind expanding anyway, like “Screwy,”the only song by Ruth Rodgers. It's a nice counterpoint to songs by Peter Watts, the main singer and songwriter in the band.
The music never flags, never loses focus, energy, or interest, making it a delight. Put that together with lyrics that bite and will make you think, and this is one wonderfully wide-ranging album. Put it on, immerse yourself in the music and lyrics, and you’ll be very glad you did.
Andrea Weiss