Saturday, December 23, 2023

 The Armoires

Music and Animals (Single)

Big Stir Records


This is a late entry into my Song of the Year sweepstakes. The Armoires return with a great single about life and how much it means, in good or bad times, to provide comfort and joy. The lyrics are gently wry, reminiscent of the Nields. The music is smart pop/folk rock, a mellower version of The Wonder Stuff's style. The Armoires' upcoming full length will be out next fall, but if it sounds as good as this single, it should be a treat.

Andrea Weiss


Sunday, December 17, 2023

 The Grip Weeds

Under the Influence Of Christmas

Jem Records


This re-issued album, overflowing with holiday cheer, is also rocking enough to make non-Christmas people (I’m Jewish) happy, even when the break up songs don’t make merry.


It’s also politically correct, especially on ELP’s “I Believe in Father Christmas,” that slams commercialism, greed, and materialism, all of which goes on way too much at Christmas, as though the holidays are about nothing but gifts.


Making jangle rock of "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing,” is a great idea, as is making garage rock out of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” That’s the way it is on all the songs here -- great garage rock that gives a lot of grit to Christmas cheer and makes the holidays a lot more fun for non-believers like me. Give it a spin and you may agree.


Andrea Weiss


Monday, December 11, 2023

 Trigger Cut

ROGO

Self-Released


Noise, glorious noise, and Ralph Ralph’s treble guitar makes things even noisier and better. It's very melodic noise too, which means the noise isn’t formless, a very good thing here. Bass guitarist Daniel W. and frummer Mat Dumil are the other members of the band.


The lyrics are appropriately dark and angry, and while lyrics like that usually are a dime a dozen, they mean something here, as commentary on society. Ralph Ralph sings them like someone who is extremely fed up with everything.


So if you want music that clears the room in the best sense of the word, getting rid of very annoying people, play this, and laugh as they run screaming.


Andrea Weiss

Friday, December 1, 2023

 Shplang, the duo of Peter Marston and John Krause, make music that is loaded with good, quirky humor that never curdles into whimsy. There is nothing dark or disturbing about it, just fun, that I had a great time listening to.


Peter was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.



Andrea Weiss: For those who don’t know you, could you give a short history of the band?


Peter Marston: After playing in a handful of power-pop and punk bands in the 1980s, I met John Krause in 1994 through a mutual friend, and John told me he dabbled in music and so I invited him to goof around in my project studio to see what would happen, and what happened was Shplang. Those early experimental recording sessions resulted in our first album, Journey to the Center of Mirth. It was (surprisingly to us) well-received, so we kept on recording. The next two albums, Self Made Monk and American Cream, were efforts to be a little less experimental and a little more accessible, and this led to us being warmly embraced by the power pop community, most notably by stalwart supporters like David Bash, Jeremy Morris, Stefan Johansson, and, of course, the fine folks at Big Stir Records. Still, we missed the more absurd/surreal lyrics and the more psychedelic arrangements. So our fourth album, My Big Three Wheeler, was sort of a balance between psychedelic absurdism and a very pop sensibility. Our new album, Thank You, Valued Customer, continues our exploration of the strange and beautiful.



AW: Who were you listening to when you were making the album?


PM: Oh my goodness—that’s a tough one. I listen to all sorts of music, but the main touchstones are late 60s British psych-pop, late 70s punk and power pop, and 60s deep southern soul. My music diet and/or influences didn’t change during the recording of this album.



AW: Some of these songs are sung in other languages, like German and French. Did these songs just lend themselves to that?


PM: “Das Diddley” was originally conceived in German, but the demo consisted of made-up German-sounding words peppered with an occasional word I actually knew ("Farfegnugen!”). When it came to recording the song for the album, a friend of mine helped me cobble together some intelligible German doggerel. “À Son Son” was originally a song called “Sandwich Bag” that I thought was just too ridiculous to foist upon the public. I really liked the sound of the track and wrote the French lyrics to keep the groove and feel of the track without connecting it to some specific idea or theme (at least for English-speaking listeners who are the vast majority of our audience). “À Son Son” is our fourth song in French, by the way, and they all have the same etiology—that is, they began as a song in English that we liked, but couldn’t stomach the lyrics. There is also a song on our last album in Japanese, so I suppose we have an affinity for the sound of other languages.



AW: Where did the title come from?


PM: I had a list of titles that I shared with John and the working title for a while was Satellites and Butterflies, but as we were wrapping up the narration on “She, the Fair Bag Girl,” Thank You, Valued Customer presented itself (it’s the very last phrase in the song and the last thing you hear on the album).



AW: There is a lot of wry, dry humor in these lyrics, which I like a lot. Was it also supposed to be subtle?


PM: I write lyrics that appeal to me and I am especially interested in songs with interesting titles—one of my favorite things about Shplang, in fact. None of the lyrics are intended as jokes per se, so yes, I suppose they would be rejected if they weren’t subtle. I know Shplang treads dangerously close to recording what might be called novelty songs, but I don’t think we have crossed that line yet. Hope not, anyway.



AW: What is “Look Me Over” about?


PM: Well, all the songs are just “made up” in that we never set out to write a song about something. It’s just whatever comes out of my mouth at the time. That may be what introduces humor and absurdism into our songs. That said, what I get from “Look Me Over” is that the character singing the song has sought to escape his troubles with alcohol, but when called out for being loaded, seeks to escape that through isolation. That’s just a guess, though!



AW: Is there anyone who played on the album that you want to give a shout out to?


PM: Lee Thornburg did the horns on “Understood” and really elevated the track. Thanks. Lee!



AW: Are you planning to tour?


PM: We do not have any plans to tour. We are almost entirely a recording project and, as you can tell from listening to the album, nearly all these songs would be very hard to realize in a live setting. But you never know . . . 

 Shplang

Thank You, Valued Customer

Big Stir Records


The new album from the duo of Peter Marston and John Krause, is good, gentle, psychedelic, quirky good humor, set to some very rocking pop/rock.


The humor never curdles into whimsy. There is nothing dark, disturbing, odd, or weird on this album. Rather, it's the kind of humor that makes one smile wryly and dryly, and maybe play a bit of air guitar, like on “Look Me Over,” which is about being drunk.


The “ooh shalla la la” at the beginning of “Buddha (What Was That?),” “Das Diddly” sung in German, “She, The Fair Bag Girl” sung with an English accent, about love in the supermarket, "A Son Son” sung in French, and “Baby Hobo” are great examples of wonderfully funny, quirky humor. The more serious songs, like “Understood,” are  gentle ones that will make you think.


So if you like quirky songs for adults, offbeat humor that never gets silly, psychedelic goodness, and songs to play air guitar to, this is it. You, the valued customer, deserves this album.


Andrea Weiss

Monday, November 27, 2023

 Super City

InTheMidnightRoom

Sofaburn


The music is catchy, it flows, and you can dance to it, but the lyrics are dark, which sets up an interesting contrast. They have influences like Prince, and are from Baltimore.


The best songs on the album include “Outta Touch,” as it is the most danceable song on the album, and an up on energy alone. (All the songs on the album are, but this one the most of all). "Light of the Moon" is the other great one, as it’s not meant to be danced to, but rather to contemplate. Acoustic-based, it almost sounds folk.


So if you want something energetic to bop around the room to, with a good flow, this might be what you’re looking for.


Andrea Weiss

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

 Nick Frater

Bivouac

Think Like a Key Music


This concept album is loosely about the downfall of the UK under successive Tory governments. The protagonist goes to live in the woods to get away from it all.


All of this is rendered as cinematically as possible. This would make a good action film, maybe not necessarily heavy drama, as there is satire here, but a film like Sorry To Bother You. 


The lyrics are more joyous than the concept would suggest, and it’s not hard to smile at some sincerely happy ones, like the Steely Dan quote on “Hello Monday!” (“lay down the jam till the girls say when,” from the Dan’s song "Josie").


The music is mind blowing. Frater is a multi-instrumentalist, as is everyone he plays with here, and a lot of people play on it. Everyone from Brian Wilson, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, and many others are influences.


In short, it's a delightful album, and even if you don’t know a lot about the UK government, it’s not hard to get the concept. It’s fun and a joy to hear, not dark or disturbing, more cutting, which adds to the fun that it’s one big put-down of the Tories.


Andrea Weiss

Friday, November 17, 2023

 Super 8

Raindrops On Roses

Self-Released


This covers album, spanning from Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” to BMX Bandits’ “Serious Drugs,” from Neil Diamond’s “Cherry Cherry” to The Smiths’ “Back To The Old House,” is wonderful, especially when it’s folky college rock/power pop.


Other covers that get this treatment, like T Rex’s “Ride A White Swan” are also great, as is The Replacements’ “I Will Dare.” It's a lot of fun. There’s a playfulness to these covers that makes the originals sound too serious, even when it’s a song like “Across the Universe” by The Beatles.


So if you want something will make you think about these songs in a new way, try this. It’s a great way to pass the time.

Andrea Weiss


Thursday, November 9, 2023

 The Gold Needles

Hit The Main Drag (Single)

Jem Records


This single, with it’s lyrics about having fun on the main drag, speeds along like any good Cars song, or the Motors’ song “Airport.” Cheery power pop, perfect for, yes, having fun, or anything that calls for a good time.


Andrea Weiss

Saturday, November 4, 2023

 The Lunar Laugh are back with a new album, and it's a good one. It’s a studio album, not live as their last one, Nighthawks.

Jared Lekites was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.


Andrea Weiss: Who were you listening to when you were making In The Black?


Jared Lekites:Well it was a three year process making the album, so there was a lot to absorb in that time. Apart from the old stuff I listen to on the daily, I was quite taken with the Harry's House album by Harry Styles when it came out. I also dove into the deluxe reissues of Prince's Sign O' The Times and The Gold Experience albums. I know there are plenty of albums that I am forgetting but I remember having those on my car radio on the way to a couple of the first sessions.



AW: What do you see as the differences between In The Black and your previous album, Nighthawks, other than that the performances there are live?


JL: With the live album, most of those songs we played countless times over and over. The In The Black songs are ones we hadn't really road-tested when we went in to record them. There's still those raw nerves of presenting the new tune to the others in the band flowing about in some of the performances.



AW: The music is so happy, but the lyrics are so bittersweet, which I find interesting and cool. Did the juxtaposition sound natural to you?


JL: That is something we have kind of built our catalog on. I think it speaks a lot to some of our personalities. We joke and laugh our ways through a lot of pain. So it makes sense that some of that comes across in the music.



AW: Some of these songs are about love and some about life. Do you tend to favor one subject over the other?


JL: I think they go hand in hand. Love is a part of life and life is a part of love. So I can't justify picking one over another.



AW: There are no covers on this album, and there were three on the last one. Did it just work out that way, no covers?


JL: The covers on the live album had a lot to do with us wanting to fill in some time during concerts and also to bring a bit of familiarity to people in the crowd that didn't know our songs. But this was the first time we have written every song on an album. We got really close with the Mama's Boy album except there was one track on the physical copies of the album that was by an outside writer. I think it was an unspoken thing that we wanted this to be as much of a band creation as possible, so we didn't consider covering anything. Also we had a good backlog of original songs piled up.



AW:Did you approach your new songs from a different perspective than on Nighthawks?


JL: I think we always took it one song at a time, no matter what album we were working on. The approach was to always do what would best serve the music.



AW: Did you find it easier to make Nighthawks than a studio album like In The Black?


JL: Recording the live album was a much quicker process than tracking in the studio, but then actually sitting through every recorded show and selecting which version of a given song was the one to use, and then going through all those and fixing any glitches that might spoil the listener's enjoyment, took a long time. So I think it evened out in the end.

 The Lunar Laugh

In The Black

Big Stir Records


I’ve always felt that good melodies are everything, that the rhythm is the heart of a song and the melodies the spine. If there is a good melody, the beat falls into place, as do the lyrics and singing. On their fine, new album In The Black, Oklahoma City’s The Lunar Laugh prove it, with melodies galore that make the rhythms high step all over the place and the lyrics flow.


This adult rock/pop is never too soft, but never too hard either, with meaningful lyrics about life and love. Even when the songs are about troubled love or life, the melodies give a lot of hope, with hope always winning out. It’s what college/indie rock should be.


If this sounds like it might be for you, go for it. It is worth your time to listen to this highly melodic, great pop/rock album. It’s also good to take a walk to,  will get you where you want to go, and then back home.


Andrea Weiss

Sunday, October 29, 2023

 The Weeklings

Brian Jones (Official Video)

Jem Records


This video, in which the band wins over a tough crowd with a song about the who, what, where, why, and how of Brian Jones and his untimely death, is a lot of fun to watch, with its “will they or won’t they pull it off, and what will the crowd do,” atmosphere. If you’re a Stones fan you will want to watch this, or if you just want good rock and roll, this is your video.


Andrea Weiss

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

 Shadwick Wilde

Forever Home

Sofaburn Records


This well-made, well-written, well-played album is quiet to the point of somber, and perfect for quiet times. There is a lot to admire here. The folk/folk-rock/Americana music is solid, and well-produced by Ken Coomer, who keeps things moving along nicely. If there is a weak link here, it's that these are sad songs where everything is terrible.


The best song on the album is the one happy song, “Two Girls With Hazel Eyes,” which is also the shortest.


So if you do like sad songs, this is a good album of its type. You can have a good cry or contemplate what life is like right now.


Andrea Weiss

Saturday, October 21, 2023

 Super City

Hang Up (Official Video)

Sofaburn


This good new wave song is about not having what it takes to leave a relationship they never should have started. The video is a cross between action and horror film, with the main character getting gassed, and people talking on the phone like their lives depend on it. It is a lot of fun to watch, and the ending is a nice twist. So if you’re look for something different to watch, this is it.


Andrea Weiss

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

 Jim Basnight

I Want You/Sexteen

Power Popaholic


The latest single from his album The Early Years is good punk rock originally recorded in the 70s. “I Want You” is punk romance, but “Sexteen” is the real classic for its punk adolescent sexuality. Both songs rock, and roll, so if you want a bit of punk rock that is likable and fun, this should be what you’re looking for.


Andrea Weiss