Catching Up: Short Takes On New Music I Missed

With April now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take another look at new music that escaped my attention when putting together my weekly posts last month. At the rate new music keeps coming out, I’m under no illusion these additional picks only represent the tip of the iceberg of good stuff I missed but, hey, better some encore and none!

No Man’s Valley/Orange Juice

I’d like to kick things off with No Man’s Valley who based on their Bandcamp page are a psychedelic post punk group from The Netherlands. The five-piece of Jasper Hesselink (vocals), Christian Keijsers (guitar), Ruud van de Munckhof (keyboards), Rob Perree (bass) and Dinand Claessens (drums) calls out The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Gun Club and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds as influences. The group’s latest studio album Chrononaut Cocktailbar/Flight of the Sloths, apparently their third, dropped on April 19 and definitely is a psych rock affair. Here’s Orange Juice, a cool song that grabbed me right away, especially the vocals that sound like a psychedelic Eric Burdon.

Owen Stewart/Nobody Needs to Know

Owen Stewart is a Philadelphia-based artist whose music his Spotify profile characterizes as “groovy, gravelly, soulful and enormous.” It also notes Stewart “was born into rock at a young age,” adding his father Tommy Stewart was the drummer and lead vocalist of a late ’70s band called Cats who apparently opened for Van Halen, Blue Öyster Cult and others. On April 19, Owen Stewart released a great single, which the below YouTube clip imdicates is the first from his debut album Done and Dusted. Unfortunately, this seems to be all publicly available information on Stewart. Perhaps he prefers it that way. His new song is titled Nobody Needs to Know. You can’t make this stuff up!

Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge/Tell Me Why U Do That

Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge are fronted by Nashville, Tenn.-based 17-year-old guitarist Grace Bowers. A recent feature in Guitar World reveals Bowers started playing guitar as a 9-year-old after she had seen Guns N’ Roses’ Slash on YouTube, playing Welcome to the Jungle. She since discovered the blues and now also listens to lots of soul and funk, calling out Mountain, Buddy Miles, Shuggie Otis and Sly & The Family Stone. Apparently, her talent hasn’t gone unnoticed, and Bowers has been name-checked by the likes of Devon Allman, Margo Price, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Susan Tedeschi. Here’s the smoking hot Tell Me Why U Do That, the first single from her yet-to-be-named debut EP, scheduled for sometime this summer. Check this out – damn!

Grumpster/Waste

Grumpster are a pop punk band from Oakland, Calif. According to their profile on the website of their label Noise Records, the group’s origins date back a few years when Donnie Walsh (bass, vocals) met Lalo Gonzalez Deetz (guitar). They subsequently added Noel Agtane (drums). Following the release of their second album Fever Dreams in June 2022, Alex Hernandez (guitar) joined, completing their current line-up. Waste is the neat closer of Grumpster’s third and new self-titled album, which has been out since April 26. It’s evident Walsh had Green Day’s Dookie on heavy rotation while growing up.

GospelbeacH/Nothin’ But a Fool

GospelbeacH are a band from Los Angeles, who were formed in 2014 around vocalist and guitarist Brent Rademakar. He first had gained prominence in the ’90s and 2000s as a member of the groups Beachwood Sparks, Further and The Tyde. GospelbeacH’s record label Curation Records notes their sound harks back to several eras of California music, from folk-rock and sunshine pop to country-rock and the Paisley Underground. Off their fifth and latest album Wiggle Your Your Fingers, which dropped on April 26, here’s the opener Nothin’ But a Fool. I dig the song’s relaxed vibe, which to me has summer and California written all over it.

Deep Purple/Portable Door

I trust Deep Purple need no introduction. To say I’m excited to write about new music by my all-time favorite hard rock band would be an understatement. On April 30, they dropped Portable Door, the lead single of their upcoming album =1, slated for Jul 19. Based on Wikipedia, it should be their 23rd. Having had their March 1972 Machine Head on heavy rotation during my early teenage years, I immediately noticed the song’s guitar riff has a tiny similarity to Pictures of Home. While expecting another Machine Head would be unrealistic, Deep Purple still unmistakably sound like the group I came love, with their dual attack of electric guitar and that mighty Hammond. Co-founder Ian Paice (drums) and longtime members Ian Gillan (lead vocals), Roger Glover (bass) and Don Airey (keyboards) remain part of their current lineup. Simon McBride (guitar) replaced Steve Morse who departed in July 2022 to care for his ill wife. Earlier in April, Deep Purple announced a North American summer tour with Yes.

Sources: Wikipedia; No Man’s Valley Bandcamp page; Grace Bowers website; Guitar World; Noise Records website; Curation Records website; Deep Purple website

Green Day Are Back With Their Signature Melodic Punk Rock

Last Friday (January 19), Green Day’s long-awaited Saviors appeared. Reviews I’ve seen seen thus far have been favorable for the most part. Those with mixed opinions essentially note the American rock group’s 14th studio album doesn’t present anything we haven’t heard before. While that’s a fair observation, I think it’s a bit like saying The Rolling Stones didn’t reinvent the wheel on Hackney Diamonds – true, but who cares when the music is great!

After listening to Saviors various times, I think there’s much to like about the album, especially if you dig Green’s Day breakthrough Dookie from February 1994 and their huge 2004 comeback rock opera-turned-musical American Idiot. Saviors comes four years on the heels of Father of All Motherfuckers, aka. Father of All, which I had completely missed. Prompted by references I saw to that album, I sampled some of the tracks. The markedly different, more pop-oriented sound didn’t really grab me.

Green Day (from left): Tré Cool (drums, percussion), Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocals, guitars) and Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals)

For Saviors, Green Day went back to their longtime producer Rob Cavallo who had not worked with them on the predecessor but produced most of their previous albums, including Dookie and American Idiot. Based on the outcome, it looks like that was a smart decision. The credits of the multi-Grammy award-winning American record producer, musician and record executive also include the likes of Linkin Park, Goo Goo Dolls and Paramore. Cavallo has produced or otherwise creatively touched albums that have sold more than 130 million units worldwide, making him one of the biggest-selling music producers in history.

Recording sessions for Saviors took place in London and Los Angeles. Based on social media teasers Green Day had posted, early reports suggested their new album would be titled 1972, the birth year of each Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool. The actual title was officially announced in October 2023, coinciding with the release of the first upfront single The American Dream Is Killing Me.

In May of the same year, a demo of a different track, Look Ma, No Brains, allegedly had been leaked. In July 2023, Green Day revealed 1981 when they played the track for the first time during a gig at an outdoor festival in Canada. Yet another “leak” occurred in November 2023 when a UK record store posted the album’s track list, which subsequently was confirmed by Green Day’s record label. I can’t help but think these seemingly unrelated events were all part of an orchestrated campaign to create buzz. Let’s get to some music!

While the melodic style of Green Day’s music certainly isn’t traditional punk, at least some of the group’s lyrics project punk attitude. A good example is the opener and aforementioned The American Dream Is Killing Me – “a look at the way the traditional American Dream doesn’t work for a lot of people—in fact, it’s hurting a lot of people,” as Armstrong noted. The song had been written three or four years ago and as such could have been included on Father of All, but Green Day didn’t want to go political on that album, he explained in an interview with Canadian radio station 102.1 The Edge. Like for all other tracks, Armstrong wrote the lyrics, while the music is credited to all three members.

Look Ma, No Brains! blends what you could call typical punk lyrics with a sense of humor and self-deprecation: Don’t know much about history/’Cause I never learned how to read/Dropout, I’m a knucklehead/Sick boy and I shit the bed…On his 18th birthday, Armstrong did drop out of high school to pursue music as a professional career, though I’m not sure he is poking fun of himself here. I guess Armstrong also proves that some dropouts end up doing pretty well for themselves and can have the last laugh. The song became the second upfront single in early November.

When I heard One Eyed Bastard for the first time, the opening riff immediately sounded familiar. Then I remembered where I had heard it first: a song by P!nk that somewhat ironically is titled So What. I’m not trying to do a ‘gotcha’ here and suggest Green Day deliberately borrowed it, but the similarity is striking. The song began as a riff, “a shuffle, almost like a Black Sabbath kind of riff,” Armstrong told Rolling Stone. “Everybody’s got that ugly place in their life where they have to deal with ugly thoughts,” he further noted.

Among the album’s standouts is Dilemma, both musically and lyrically. “Dilemma was one of those songs that was kind of easy to write because it was so personal to me,” Armstrong said in a statement, as reported by Pitchfolk and other media when the song was first released as the album’s third upfront single in December. “We’ve seen so many of our peers struggle with addiction and mental illness. This song is all about the pain that comes from those experiences.”

The last track I’d like to call out is the touching Father to a Son, one of the album’s slower songs and another highlight, in my opinion. The father’s expressed love for his son and the guidance he offers topically reminded me of Cat Stevens’ Father and Son. New York Times music critic Jon Pareles opined it “unmistakably echoes Wake Me Up When September Ends, even with an orchestra now supplementing the power chords.” The latter, off American Idiot and one of Green Day’s best known songs, is a tribute Armstrong wrote for his dad who sadly passed away from esophageal cancer when Armstrong was only 10 years old.

Green Day will tour behind their new album in North America and Europe. Dubbed The Saviors Tour, the band will play the Dookie and American Idiot albums in their entirety, which stylistically should be a great fit with their new material. Additionally, this year marks these albums’ 30th and 20th anniversaries, respectively. The tour is set to kick off on May 30 in Monto Do Gozo, Spain. The North American leg starts on July 29 with a gig in Washington, D.C. The full schedule is here.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify link to the album.

Sources: Wikipedia; 102.1 The Edge; Rolling Stone; Pitchfolk; The New York Times; Green Day website; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Happy Saturday and welcome to my weekly new music review. All picks are from albums that dropped yesterday (January 19).

Feral Family/Sold

Let’s kick things off with British post-punk band Feral Family and music from their debut album Without Motion. The trio features Jamie Lowe (vocals, bass), Oscar Woods (guitar) and Aidan Riby (drums). A statement notes the album is about growing-up and getting-by in a seaside town long-forgotten by the tourists but one overrun with complex characters and even more complex relationships. Here’s Sold co-written by Lowe (lyrics) and Woods (music). “Sold is based on life being taken over by work, it quickly gets to a point in your day to day where working to live becomes living to work, and I think it’s one that many people can relate to,” Lowe explained. It’s got a pretty cool haunting vibe.

Lizzie No/The Heartbreak Store

Lizzie No is a New York-based singer-songwriter, harpist and guitarist. From her bio: You could say that Lizze No makes “Americana” music, in that her work pulls from the rhythms and traditions of Blues, Folk, and Country — not unlike the artists to whom she’s most often compared: Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens and Adia Victoria — but her collaborations with Brian Dunne, Pom Pom Squad and Domino Kirke display an undeniable Indie influence that allows No to move frequently and seamlessly between overlapping musical circles. No’sdebut album Hard Won appeared in March 2017. From her third and latest album Halfsies, here’s The Heartbreak Store. I love No’s beautiful vocals and the song’s warm sound!

CobraKill/Razor Blade

CobraKill are a hard rock and heavy metal band from Augustdorf, a small town in the West German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Formed by lead guitarist Randy White in 2020, the group recorded their first album Cobratör in the summer of 2021 in Dortmund, Germany. They name Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Ratt and Mötley Crüe as influences. Apart from White, the current line-up includes Nick Adams (vocals), Tommy Gun (rhythm guitar), Crippler Ramirez (bass) and Toby Ventura (drums). Off their new sophomore album Serpent’s Kiss, let’s listen to Razor Blade. This is melodic and rocks nicely – the kind of heavy metal I find very accessible.

Eddie Berman/Heartbroken

Eddie Berman is a folk singer-songwriter whose rugged tonality is tempered by warm introspection, according to his Apple Music profile. He built a solid D.I.Y. career in the front half of the 2010s, self-releasing a pair of albums and touring throughout the U.S. and Europe. In addition to his own material, the Portland-based musician gained recognition for his stripped down acoustic covers of songs by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and others. Here’s Heartbroken, a song from Berman’s new album Signal Fire. Vocally, it reminds me a bit of present day Steve Forbert – really like this!

Packs/Missy

Packs is the moniker of Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Madeline Link. After her 2018 debut album Ouch + B-Sides, Link turned Packs into a band who since May 2021 have released four albums. The indie rock group currently features Link (vocals, guitar), Dexter Nash (lead guitar), Noah O’Neil (bass) and Shane Hopper (drums, percussion). Missy, credited to all four members, is a track from Packs’ fifth and latest album Melt the Honey, which was recorded in Mexico. The Spanish vocals were provided by Lupita Rico. The song’s upbeat vibe drew me in.

Green Day/Strange Days Are Here to Stay

After the fifth upfront single Bobby Sox, which appeared on January 18, Green Day’s long-awaited new album Saviors is finally out. Their 14th studio project, which follows the cheerfully titled Father of All Motherfuckers from February 2020, seems to stick to the group’s style of combining grungy, primarily up-tempo rock with pop-oriented melodies, based on my initial impression. All lyrics were written by Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocals, guitars), while the music is credited to all three members who in addition to Armstrong include Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals) and Tré Cool (drums, percussion). My pick Strange Days Are Here to Stay is a song that could have appeared on Green Day’s 1994 breakthrough album Dookie.

Sources: Wikipedia; Feral Family Bandcamp page; Lizzie No website; CobraKill website; Apple Music; Packs Bandcamp page; YouTube; Spotify

New Music Musings

Welcome to my first weekly new music review of 2024. Perhaps not surprisingly, things on that front seem to be off to a slow start – too many hangovers from New Year’s? :-) Only my first two picks are from 2024 releases that already dropped, yesterday, January 5. The two remaining selections are from upcoming albums, as noted.

Pile/Scaling Walls

Kicking things off are Pile, an American indie rock band from Boston, Mass., who started off in 2007 as a solo act by guitarist and vocalist Rick Maguire. After two solo releases by Maguire under the Pile moniker, the first album as a band, Magic Isn’t Real, came out in 2010. In addition to Maguire, the group’s current lineup includes original drummer Kris Kuss and Alex Molini who joined as bassist in 2018. Off Pile’s latest EP Hot Air Balloon, here’s Scaling Walls. Credited to all three members, the song first appeared as the lead single in August 2023.

Sprints/Shadow of a Doubt

Sprints are a garage punk band from Dublin, Ireland. Led by singer, guitarist and lead-songwriter Karla Chubb, they have been around for three years. Shadow of a Doubt is a track from their first full-length album Letter to Self. From their Bandcamp page: SPRINTS’ debut album ‘Letter To Self’ embodies their substantial evolution over the past 3 years. Transforming pain into truth, passion into purpose and perseverance into strength, the Dublin four-piece have steadily grown in stature, releasing two acclaimed EPs and building a fearsome live reputation...Inspired by Savages, their sound matured into energetic and abrasive garage-punk, synthesising influences ranging from early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux, IDLES and LCD Soundsystem.

Green Day/Dilemma

I trust punk revivalists Green Day and their accessible brand of pop flavored grungy rock don’t need much of an introduction. Starting with their third album Dookie from February 1994, the group around lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong has enjoyed significant chart and commercial success in the U.S. and beyond. Their upcoming 14th studio album Saviors is scheduled for January 19. Here’s the third upfront single Dilemma, released on December 7. Credited to Armstrong and his bandmates co-founder Mike Dirnt (bass) and Tré Cool (drums), the song sounds like classic Green Day.

Sheryl Crow/Alarm Clock

I’m thrilled to close out this post with Sheryl Crow, who is among my longtime favorite music artists. When Crow released predecessor Threads in August 2019, which I reviewed here at the time, she said she wasn’t planning any additional full-length albums, explaining most folks, especially younger people, cherry-pick songs and create their own playlists instead of listening to entire albums. It’s great Crow evidently changed her mind. Off her upcoming album Evolution, set to drop on March 29, here’s Alarm Clock. Co-written by Crow, Emily Weisband and Mike Elizondo, the song first appeared as the lead single in early November. I think Crow’s vocals sound as great as ever, and that fuzzy, edgy guitar sound is right up my alley as well. Looking forward to listening to the entire album!

Sources: Wikipedia; Sprints Bandcamp page; YouTube; Spotify

Best of What’s New

It’s Saturday and once again another week flew by. Welcome to my latest new music review. All picks came out yesterday (June 9).

Jenny Lewis/Psychos

Kicking off this post is American singer-songwriter and actress Jenny Lewis. She first became prominent as a child actress in the ’80s, appearing in a series of movies and TV sitcoms. By the mid-’90s, Lewis started focusing on music and in 1998 co-founded indie rock band Rilo Kiley. In 2004, Conor Oberst invited Lewis to record a collaboration album with Americana band The Watson Twins. Two years later, Lewis released the first album under her name only. From her latest, Joy’All, here Psychos. Like all of the remaining songs, it was solely written by Lewis.

Beau Jennings & The Tigers/People in This Town

People in This Town is a new single by indie rock band Beau Jennings & The Tigers. According to his website, Jennings is a Norman, OK-based singer and songwriter with a world of stories to tell as his recording career nears the two decade mark…From the Americana/indie rock band Cheyenne – which took him to Brooklyn, NY for the late 2000’s – to his ever-evolving solo career and penchant for home recording, Jennings explores the lives of others – both real and imagined – to craft touching, gallant pop songs with hints of Tom Petty, Wilco, Bob Dylan, and The National. The end of Cheyenne and a renewed self-reliance in his solo career led to the creation of The Tigers. People in This Town is a great rocker credited to Jennings and Tigers members Chase Kerby (guitar), Chris Wiser (organ), Michael Trepagnier (bass) and Dustin Ragland (drums).

Ultra Q/Saturday

Ultra Q are an American rock band who were formed in Oakland, Calif in 2019. They started out as a trio led by singer-songwriter Jakob Armstrong (guitar, vocals), who Apple Music notes is the youngest son of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Enzo Malaspina (guitar) and his brother Chris Malaspina (drums) completed the initial line-up. Kevin Judd (bass) joined shortly thereafter. Saturday, credited to all four members of the group, is from their sophomore album My Guardian Angel. This tune nicely rocks!

Jess Williamson/Chasing Spirits

Jess Williamson is a Los Angeles-based singer-writer who I first covered three years ago. According to her website, she makes deeply felt songs that orbit around her powerful voice, a voice that’s strong and vulnerable, big room flawless, quietly ecstatic, and next-to-you intimate. In her most recent work, Sorceress [now her second-to-most-recent album – CMM], that voice is surrounded by a deep-hued kaleidoscope of dusty ‘70s cinema, ‘90s country music, and breezy West Coast psychedelia. Williamson’s fourth and latest Americana-flavored album Time Ain’t Accidental is now out. She wrote all of the 11 tracks by herself. Here’s the beautiful Chasing Spirits.

The Defiants/Hey Life

The Defiants are a hard rock band formed in 2015 by former members of glam metal band Danger Danger. AllMusic characterizes their music as filled with big guitar riffs, soaring solos, epic-scale drum sounds, and a super-sized portion of swagger, [which] recalls the glory days of the hair metal era. Their current line-up features co-founders Paul Laine (vocals), Bruno Ravel (bass, guitar, keyboards) and Rob Marcello (guitar), along with Van Romaine (drums). Hey Life, co-written by Laine and Ravel, is a song off the group’s third studio album Drive. I find this melodic hard rock very accessible.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit/King of Oklahoma

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jason Isbell initially entered my radar screen in March 2020 when I covered his then-new album Reunions, which he recorded with his backing band The 400 Unit. Isbell first came to prominence in the early 2000s after joining alternative country rock band Drive-By Truckers as a 22-year-old. After his departure in April 2007, Isbell launched a solo career, which has yielded nine studio albums to date. The 400 Unit was first featured on his second solo album and has since appeared five additional times, including on the latest album Weathervanes. Here’s King of Oklahoma, which like the other 12 songs was penned by Isbell. I’ll be sure to spend more time with this album!

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist of the above and a few additional tunes.

Sources: Wikipedia; Beau Jennings website; Apple Music; Jess Williamson website; AllMusic; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Sunday is fun day and I’d like to invite you to join me on another trip through space and time to explore great music from different eras. Rest assured the flux capacitor and the time circuits work, and I’ve already set the coordinates for the first destination the magical music time machine shall visit. Off we go!

Woody Herman and His Orchestra/Early Autumn

Today, we begin our journey in a studio in December 1947 to witness the recording of a beautiful jazz instrumental by Woody Herman – of course, without disrupting the space-time continuum! The American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer and big band leader was active from the mid-1930s until his death in 1987. This recording of Early Autumn, composed by Ralph Burns and Herman, featured Stan Getz (tenor saxophone) and Terry Gibbs (vibraphone), together with Herman (alto saxophone) and his band.

The Heavy Heavy/Miles and Miles

Let’s go back to the future, which really is the present, with a great tune by The Heavy Heavy, a UK-based five-piece band. Led by Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, they “create the kind of unfettered rock-and-roll that warps time and space, sitting at the reverb-drenched collision of psychedelia and blues, acid rock and sunshine pop” according to their Bandcamp page – sounds like a perfect fit for our trip! Miles and Miles, written by Turner, is from their debut EP Life and Life Only released in June 2022.

Led Zeppelin/Stairway to Heaven

Next, let’s set the time circuits to November 1971 and what I would consider the greatest rock tune of all time, on most days: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, off their untitled fourth studio album, aka. Led Zeppelin IV. ‘No Beatles song?’ you may wonder. ‘And a band he constantly has called out for borrowing from other artists without giving credit?’ I know, I know. To be clear, I still think Messrs. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page should have put their big egos aside and admitted that Stairway’s intro clearly sounds like Spirit by Taurus (the part in question starts at 45 seconds). It wouldn’t have taken away anything from Stairway, nothing whatsoever! This masterpiece brilliantly builds from an acoustic into a full-blown metal tune, featuring one of the best rock drum parts I know, by the amazing John Bonham. And, yes, the song hasn’t exactly suffered from obscurity on classic rock radio stations, so let’s get it over with!

Marshall Crenshaw/What Do You Dream Of

Time for a dose of great power pop! To get it, we shall travel to July 1996, which saw the release of Miracle of Science, the seventh studio album by Marshall Crenshaw. When thanks to a recent post by fellow blogger Rich Kamerman I started listening to Crenshaw, I came across What Do You Dream Of and earmarked this tune right away for a Sunday Six. Crenshaw, who has been active since the early ’80s, is best known for hit songs, such as Someday, Someway, Cynical Girl and Whenever You’re on My Mind. But he has written many other gems including this one!

The Byrds/You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

You know we simply can’t skip the ’60s as long as I man the controls of the magical time music machine. Today’s destination of this decade shall be August 1968. That’s when The Byrds fully embraced country on their sixth studio album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, thanks to Gram Parsons. Initially conceived by band leader Roger McGuinn as a double LP that would span American popular music ranging from (early) bluegrass to (then-current) electronic music, Sweetheart of the Rodeo became the first widely recognized country rock album. One of my favorite tracks is You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, penned by Bob Dylan in 1967 in Woodstock, N.Y. during a self-imposed isolation following his motorcycle accident the year before. The maestro himself recorded the tune in September 1971. It was included on his second compilation Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II, released in November of the same year.

The Alarm/Sixty Eight Guns

Once again, we’ve reached the sixth and final stop. This one takes us to Feb 1984 and Sixty Eight Guns by The Alarm. Fellow blogger Max from PowerPop first brought the Welsh rock band and this great tune to my attention a year ago, and Rich Kamerman reminded me of them a few weeks ago. Ya see, Robert and Jimmy, giving credit is simple – just man up and do it! Co-written by the group’s Eddie Macdonald (bass, guitar, vocals) and Mike Peters (vocals, guitar, harmonica), the catchy song is from their debut album Declaration. If you made it grungy, it could be a Green Day tune.

As usual, I’ll leave you with a Spotify playlist of the above goodies and hope I’ll see you again next Sunday for another trip!

Sources: Wikipedia; The Heavy Heavy Bandcamp page; YouTube; Spotify

Best of What’s New

Happy Saturday! If you’re in the U.S. and celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great time. Of course, Saturday also means taking a fresh look at newly released music. Perhaps not surprisingly given the holiday, this week looked lighter, so finding four tracks that sufficiently spoke to me was more challenging than usual. The first two songs are on albums that came out yesterday (November 25), while the last two tracks appeared as singles last Friday (November 18).

Chase Ceglie/Tonight

My first pick this week is Chase Ceglie, a 26-year-old pop-oriented artist and multi-instrumentalist from Newport, Rhode Island. From his website: In his youth, Chase became involved in the RI music community. While at Rogers High School, Chase was twice awarded the Heritage Music Festival Maestro Award for distinguished individual performances. From 2007 to 2013, Chase was annually selected for Rhode Island’s All-State ensembles as a saxophonist. Performing at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2012 and 2013, Chase was awarded the 2013 George Wein Jazz Ambassador Scholarship. He is a 2017 graduate of Berklee College of Music where he received a B.M. in Professional Music with a focus in Composition and Saxophone Performance. Ceglie’s debut album Onion, which he performed, recorded and produced while still being a student at Berklee, appeared in 2016. He has since released three additional albums including the latest titled Chaseland. Let’s check out the opener Tonight, written by Ceglie who in addition to providing vocals played acoustic piano, electric guitar and Moog synthesizer. Acoustic guitar, bass, drums and percussion were provided by Jonathan Elyashiv. Quite a pleasant pop tune!

Elder/Endless Return

Nine out of 10 bands Apple Music tags as “metal” don’t speak to me, since to my ears their music is primarily loud and the vocals resemble screaming. As such, I was a bit skeptical when I saw that same tag for Elder. It turned out this group, which blends progressive rock with metal, is different. From their Apple Music profile: Elder formed in Massachusetts in 2005 behind singer and main songwriter Nick DiSalvo; bass player Jack Donovan and drummer Matt Cuoto completed their lineup. The trio released their self-titled debut on Meteor Records in 2008. Their second album, Dead Roots Stirring, followed two years later on Meteor Records and Headspin Productions, with the EP Spires Burn/Release arriving via Armageddon in 2012. Fast-forward 10 years to Innate Passage, Edler’s new album. In traditional prog-rock fashion all of the five tracks are long, ranging from eight and half to more than 14 minutes. Here’s the perhaps appropriately titled close to 10 minutes Endless Return. Joking aside, I think it’s actually a pretty good tune.

The Dirty Nil/Bye Bye Big Bear

The Dirty Nil are a Canadian rock band from Hamilton, Ontario, who I first featured in a Best of What’s New installment in early January 2021. They were formed in 2006 after their members Luke Bentham (vocals, guitar), Ross Miller (bass) and Kyle Fisher (drums) had started playing together in high school. The band’s debut single Fuckin’ Up Young in 2011 was followed by a series of additional singles and EPs before they released their first full-length studio album High Power in 2016. In 2017, The Dirty Nil, who blend hard rock with punk, won the Canadian Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year. Following the release of their third studio album Fuck Art in January 2021, Sam Tomlinson replaced Miller on bass. Bye Bye Big Bear, co-written by Fisher and Bentham, is the group’s latest single. Their combination of grungy rock with a catchy melody is a bit reminiscent of Green Day.

Winterland/Set Me Free

Rounding out this week’s new music revue is Winterland, a Swedish rock solo project by Fredrik Nilsson. Here’s more from his Spotify profile: Reminiscing about 70’s yacht rock bands like Fleetwood Mac, he has discovered music as a therapeutic experience. [He] describes this experience. “I started writing for therapeutic purposes, and then there were a lot of songs all for a sudden. It has never been obvious that I should be on stage, be a front figure. I’ve just been keeping on really.” A music enthusiast from an early age, Frederik has played with several bands over the years, allowing him to develop a mature sound, which permeated his previous project, the band Waterhill. Here is Winterland’s latest single Set Me Free, a nice pop-rock tune credited to him and Björn Engelmann.

Following is a Spotify playlist of the above and some additional tunes.

Sources: Wikipedia; Chase Ceglie website; Apple Music; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

Welcome to another Sunday Six, a celebration of music in different flavors of the past and the present, six tunes at a time. To those celebrating, Happy Easter! If you don’t observe the holiday, I still hope you’re enjoying the weekend. And just in case you’re looking for some great music, I have some humble suggestions. Hope on our magical time machine and let’s go!

Ahmad Jamal/For All We Know

Today’s journey starts in 1960 with relaxing jazz music by Ahmad Jamal. According to his website, he was born in July 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pa. and already began playing the piano at the age of 3. By the age of 10, Jamal was composing, orchestrating and performing works by Franz Liszt, exploring the music of Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Nat Cole, Erroll Garner and a host of music notables...At 17, he left home at the request of the George Hudson Orchestra and began touring the country...He formed his own group in 1951 and with the help of John Hammond started his recording career with Okeh Records. Today, more than 70 years later, the now-91-year-old Jamal still appears to be active. His most recent album Ballads appeared in September 2019 – what an amazing career! For All We Know, which initially had been published in 1934 with music by J. Fred Coots and lyrics by Sam M. Lewis, was included on Happy Moods, a 1960 album Jamal recorded with Israel Crosby on bass and Vernel Fournier on drums – my type of music to start a Sunday morning!

Big Star/September Gurls

Next, we turn to the ’70s and power-pop band Big Star, to which Max from PowerPop blog introduced me and safe to assume other readers a while ago. Formed in Memphis, Tenn. in 1971 by Alex Chilton (guitars, piano, vocals), Chris Bell (guitars, vocals), Andy Hummel (bass, vocals) and Jody Stephens (drums), the group was initially active until 1975, during which they recorded two albums. While each received excellent reviews, both records were “commercial failures” due to ineffective marketing and other record label issues. For more on the band’s unfortunate history, I’d encourage you to visit Max’s blog, who has written about them various times, most recently here. One of Big Star’s best-known tunes is September Gurls, written by Chilton, off their sophomore album Radio City that appeared in February 1974. It’s hard to believe this catchy power-pop gem didn’t become a hit at the time. Twelve years later, the Bangles included a great cover on their hugely successful second album Different Light, the version I had known and loved for many years. When I listened to the original first, I immediately dug it just as much!

Bonnie Raitt/Made Up Mind

I’m very excited about this next pick, which is the most recent single by one of my all-time favorite artists: Bonnie Raitt. If you’re a more frequent visitor of the blog, you’ve probably seen me rave about Raitt and her great musicianship as a slide guitarist before. I think she’s an exceptional artist who has battled and overcome significant challenges during her 50-year-plus career. Made Up Mind, released on February 25, is from Raitt’s upcoming new album Just Like That…, slated for April 22. The tune was co-written by David Landreth, Joseph Sydney Landreth and Jonathan Singleton. Damn, now I want to see Bonnie again even more than I did before! If you like her music and haven’t been to one of her shows, I’d encourage you to catch her if you can. Her current national tour kicked off last evening in Hampton, N.H. Here’s the schedule. This lady is just amazing!

John Mellencamp/Paper in Fire

As fellow blogger Dave from A Sound Day posted a few days ago, April 12, 2022, marked the 40th anniversary of American Fool, the fifth studio album by John Mellencamp who at the time was still known as John Cougar. The thought the little ditty about Jack and Diane was on the radio four decades ago is mind-boggling to me! In a comment, I noted that my favorite album by the heartland rocker from Indiana is The Lonesome Jubilee, which appeared in August 1997. Don’t get me wrong, I also still dig Mellencamp’s straight rock albums he put out during the first half of the ’80s. But I love his transition into roots rock even more. It started on The Lonesome Jubilee with the introduction of instruments like accordion, fiddle and banjo. Here’s Paper in Fire, which was also released separately as a lead single a week ahead of the album. Like all other tracks except one, the song was written by Mellencamp.

Red Hot Chili Peppers/Under the Bridge

Including two songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers off their latest album Unlimited Love in recent Best of What’s New posts here and here reminded me of a band I had known primarily by name for many years. One of the few songs I could name was Under the Bridge, a tune I’ve always liked. Credited to all four members of the band – Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals); Michael Peter Balzary, known as Flea (bass, trumpet, piano, backing vocals); John Frusciante (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals); and Chad Smith (drums, percussion) – Under the Bridge is from their fifth studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, released in September 1991. Today, 21 years and seven albums later, the group from the city of angels is rocking on with the same line-up. One of the things I dig about Under the Bridge is Frusciante’s guitar part. That sound is just awesome!

Green Day/Wake Me Up When September Ends

Okey-doke, time to wrap up another Sunday Six. My final pick for this installment takes us back to the ’90s and one of the best-known tunes by Green Day: Wake Me Up When September Ends, off their seventh studio album American Idiot, released in September 2004. I’ve always liked how this band, which has been around since 1987, oftentimes combines grunge, punk and alternative rock with pop, especially on this album. Wake Me Up When September Ends was written by Green Day lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong about the death of his father when he was 10 years old. Bandmates Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals) and Tré Cool (drums, percussion, backing vocals) received co-writing credits for the music. The three of them still form Green Day’s current core line-up. Beware, this is a bloody catchy tune that might get stuck in your head! 🙂

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist of the above tracks. Hope there’s something you like!

Sources: Wikipedia; Ahmad Jamal website; Bonnie Raitt website; YouTube; Spotify

If I Could Only Take One

Happy Wednesday! Once again, the desert island is calling and I must make an important music decision. This time it’s picking a band or artist starting with the letter “G”.

Looking at my library, I could have selected Peter Gabriel, Marvin Gaye, Genesis, Greta Van Fleet, Grateful Dead, Green Day and Guns N’ Roses, among others, but didn’t since I wrote about all of them previously. Instead, I picked Dutch rock band Golden Earring and one of the coolest driving songs I know: Radar Love.

Co-written by the band’s Barry Hay (lead and backing vocals, flute, saxophone, percussion) and George Kooymans (guitar, lead and backing vocals), Radar Love first appeared on Golden Earring’s ninth studio album Moontan from July 1973. Subsequently, a shortened version of the tune was released as a single in Europe in August 1973, except for the UK where it appeared in November that year. The U.S. release of the single took even longer, until April 1974. Here’s the album version.

Radar Love became Golden Earring’s biggest hit. In addition to topping the charts in The Netherlands, it climbed to no. 5 in Germany, no. 6 in Belgium, no. 7 in the UK, no. 10 in Austria and no. 13 in the U.S. Undoubtedly, the tune also helped make Moontan the band’s most successful album.

Here are some additional insights from Songfacts:

Before you could send a text message or call someone in their car, there was no way to communicate to a driver – unless you had a certain telepathic love that could convey from a distance your desire to be with that person, something you might call – Radar Love. In this song, the guy has been driving all night, but keeps pushing the pedal because he just knows that his baby wants him home.

…Like many of Golden Earring’s songs, this began with the title and grew from there. Originally intended only as an album track, it turned out to be the only cut on their US debut album Moontan that they could whittle down to a single for radio. It became their showstopper at concerts, and provided a striking moment for their drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk, who would take a few steps back and leap at the drum kit near the end of the song.

Following is a smoldering live version, which according to the clip was captured in 1973:

And here’s something for the geeks among us: 🙂

The song is all in 4/4 time, and the original tempo is around 100 BPM. It’s a very clever arrangement: the intro is on the beat of each bar at the start. The shuffle on the snare is semi triplets which give the illusion of the song speeding up. You have to quantize drum machines to a 6th beat. Consequently the chorus is doubled up to give the impression that the tempo has speeded up to 200 BPM. You have to transpose the 4/4 bar so it can be played with in 1 beat of the bar. It does take a bit of lateral thinking to get your head around the math, but the song is all 4/4 at 100 BPM.

Golden Earring, initially formed as The Tornadoes in 1961 in The Hague, were active until last year. Since 1970, their line-up had consisted of co-founders Rinus Gerritsen (bass, keyboards) and Kooymans, along with Hay and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums, percussion). In 2021, they disbanded following Kooymans’ diagnosis with ALS, a devastating neurodegenerative condition aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube

My Playlist: Fastball

When I recall a song I haven’t heard in ages, I tend to revisit the band or artist who performed it, especially if I don’t know them well beyond a tune or two. That’s what happened with Fastball when I remembered The Way the other day and included the cool tune in my last Sunday Six feature. After sampling a bunch of other songs from different albums by the American alternative-rock-turned-power pop band, I liked what I heard and decided to put together this profile and playlist.

Fastball were formed in 1994 in Austin, Texas by Tony Scalzo (vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar), Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitar) and Joey Shuffield (drums, percussion). After Shuffield had introduced Zunigo to Scalzo who had been with California group The Goods, the three of them decided to start their own group.

Following a series of names, including Star 69, Magneto, Magneto USA, Ed Clark’s Business Bible and Starchy, they decided on Fastball. What appears to be a baseball metaphor is definitely more memorable than some of the other names they had considered. Fastball managed to quickly gain popularity in the Austin music scene. After a local journalist had seen them perform, they brought them to the attention of Hollywood Records, which led to a record deal soon thereafter.

Up to that point, Fastball’s story almost looked like a fairytale. Other bands struggle for years to sign with a label if they ever get that far. But the Texas group’s ride wouldn’t be without bumps. While their debut album Make Your Mama Proud from April 1996 yielded a win in the “Best Pop Band” category at the Austin Music Awards (tied with The Wannabes, another Austin group), the record sold poorly (about 5,500 copies as of April 1998). Suddenly, the future was wide open, to creatively borrow from Tom Petty, and all of the band’s members felt compelled to keep their day jobs.

Then came their break – again, something many music artists never get. And it was a big one. In February 1998, Fastball released the above-mentioned The Way, the lead single of their then-upcoming sophomore album All the Pain Money Can Buy. The Way, which only was the group’s second single, hit no. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, as well as in Canada on both the mainstream and alternative rock charts. Overseas, it also reached no. 7 in Sweden and no. 21 in the UK.

By September, only six months after its release, All the Pain Money Can Buy had sold more than a million copies in the U.S. alone, thus reaching Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Interestingly, the album “only” reached no. 29 on the Billboard 200. It did better in Canada where it climbed to no. 18 and also charted in a few European countries. Fastball had arrived. But their commercial and chart performance would be short-lived – again, an all-too-familiar playbook in the brutal music business.

In September 2000, Fastball’s third album appeared. It was appropriately titled The Harsh Light of Day. While it received positive reviews, once again, it turned out to be a record that didn’t sell well. As of January 2004, sales totaled a mere 84,000 copies – definitely a harsh drop compared to the predecessor’s million units sold in just six months! It also was the group’s last album to make the Billboard 200, reaching no. 97.

Despite lacking chart and commercial success, Fastball managed to soldier on. They remain active to this day in their original line-up and have since released four additional studio albums. Their catalog also includes two live records and a compilation. I’d say the time has come to take a closer look at some of their songs. And there’s definitely more to this band than The Way.

I’d like to do this in chronological order starting with Fastball’s debut album Make Your Mama Proud from April 1996. Compared to their sophomore record, the songs on their debut effort sound a bit rawer and remind me a little of Green Day’s 1994 album Dookie. Here’s the title track, written by Scalzo.

Turning to Fastball’s hugely successful second album All the Pain Money Can Buy, I’m skipping The Way, since I just covered it (though the tune is included in the Spotify playlist at the bottom of this post). Instead, I’d like to highlight Out of My Head, the only other song that had sounded vaguely familiar when checking out the band’s music. Penned by Scalzo, the song also became the third single off the album and the last to make the Billboard Hot 100, climbing to no. 20 – interestingly outperforming The Way, which missed the U.S. mainstream chart but as noted above was pretty successful elsewhere.

You’re an Ocean is a catchy pop-rock tune from Fastball’s third album The Harsh Light of Day, the last appearing on the band’s original label Hollywood Records. Once again, the song was written by Scalzo. The record featured some notable guests, including Billy Preston and Brian Setzer.

In June 2004, Fastball released their fourth album. Previously, they had signed with new record label Rykodisc. The record was mixed by Bob Clearmountain who is known for having worked with major acts like Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Toto and Bon Jovi. Two tracks, Someday and Red Light, were produced by Adam Schlesinger who among others founded Fountains of Wayne. Here’s Someday written by Miles Zuniga – nice power pop! The album did not chart.

The Beatlesque The Malcontent (The Modern World) is from Fastball’s fifth studio album Keep Your Wig On that came out in April 2009. The band had switched labels, and the record appeared on MRI/RED Distribution. It was co-produced by Miles Zuniga and CJ Eiriksson, with mixing once again done by Bob Clearmountain.

The last tune I’d like to highlight is Friend or Foe, the opener of Fastball’s seventh and most recent studio album The Help Machine from October 2019. The song was written by Zuniga. The record appeared on the group’s own 33 1/3 label.

It’s a pity Fastball have largely been under the radar screen for the past 20 years or so. I find their melodic rock and power pop that oftentimes is reminiscent of The Beatles and Badfinger enjoyable. Here’s a Spotify playlist featuring the above and some additional tunes by the group.

“When I look at our catalog, there’s not a bad record in there,” notes drummer Joey Shuffield in the band’s online bio, “We’ve been through our ups and downs, but I think we’ve really found our groove over the last few years.”

“We spent a lot of time on a major label, so initially the transition back to being an indie band was a little bumpy,” Shuffield further points out. “But now it feels comfortable being responsible for everything ourselves, because that way we’re more likely to get it right. We’re all so into the music now, and I think you can hear that on the last couple of albums.”

Adds Tony Scalzo: “It’s only natural that you get better at what you do as you get older and more experienced. But you can’t always figure that out when you’re in your 20s. Now that we’re on our own label, the pressure’s all on us, and that’s fine. All I ever really wanted was a consistent creative outlet, and we’ve got that now.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Fastball website; YouTube; Spotify