The song of the lonely living room dancer

By Henry Lipput

“When The Radio Plays” (Jangleshop Records) is the second single by Shapes Like People, the husband-and-wife duo of Carl Mann and Kat Mann, from next year’s Ticking Haze album.

Like Paul McCartney’s “Another Day” and The Pearlfishers’ “Love & Other Hopeless Things” Shapes Like People blends both happiness and melancholy. And it has one of my favorite opening lyrics of any recent song:

Happiness comes and goes like buses

If only I was on time.

Kat’s vocal hits both the joy and sadness in a song about a woman who is always missing the chance to find love but keeps up her spirits by dancing to her favorite songs when they’re played on the radio. With Carl’s chunky guitar riffs and cool synth strings the song is not far from the disco songs that occasionally make her happy.

Carl, of the UK band The Shop Window, has said he “needed a female vocal for some demos he planned to pitch to other artists. To get a feel for what they might sound like he asked Kat to sing and relace his guide vocals but couldn’t bring himself to part with the songs afterwards.” And so Shapes Like People was born.

A little touch of Bacino in the night

By Henry Lipput

To paraphrase the great humorist S.J. Perelman: “I don’t know much about Nilsson but I know what I like.”

The little I know about the late, great Harry Nilsson is based on having a copy of the Essential Nilsson collection on CD, a used vinyl copy of The Point soundtrack, and reading about how Lennon and McCartney were big fans of his work (Nilsson recorded a Fabs-related song called “You Can’t Do That” made up of lyrics from Beatle songs).

Mark Bacino’s new album Top Of The World (Bandcamp) is a pleasure to listen to and although Nilsson’s name is never mentioned, it’s through and through a love letter to Harry’s pop stylings and sensibility.  The second track, “Flop Of The World,” with its pacing, vocal, and piano and tuba arrangement, recalls classic Nilsson. 

With this song as well as “Why Does This Woman Love Me?,” “Shaky Hand,” “I Like Wearing Clothes.” and “How The Story Ends” we have a bumper crop of what would have been radio hits in the '60s and '70s. And if you think I’m making any of this up, when I mentioned the Nilsson connection to Bacino in a Twitter DM exchange he replied: “There’s definitely a decent amount of Harry vibe on this record.”

Along with the Harry vibes on Top Of The World Bacino also provides some stand-alone pop tunes like the opener “Kaylee Hughes” a horn-driven, toe tapper. And “Not That Guy” hits all the right notes in how to put together a pop earworm.

A cool pop ode to an LGBTQ+ icon

By Henry Lipput

The London band Sassyhiya sounds as if the NYC band Television had a female lead singer and a sense of humor (with some very early Go-Betweens riffs thrown in for good measure).

Sassyhiya (the name works both as a greeting and a personal mission statement) is led by the both real-life and musical partners Kathy Wright and Helen Skinner (“now with added Neil and Pablo” as their Bandcamp page puts it). Of their latest single “Kristen Stewart” (Skep Wax) Helen, a long-time fan of the lesbian icon/pin up, says “I wanted to do a song about her because I think she’s ace and makes great choices when it comes to roles.”

The result is the very cool pop ode and the video not only chronicles a near real-life encounter between Helen and the actress but also celebrates Stewart’s bold fashion choices.

Sassyhiya’s album Take You Somewhere will be released by Skep Wax on November 8^th.

The Unpredictable Mr. Ryan

By Henry Lipput

With his new album, Retro Metro (Think Like A Key Music), Scotland’s SUPER 8 -- aka Trip aka Paul Ryan -- continues to delight and surprise us, as he’s been doing for the last six years, and he keeps us guessing about what he has up his musical sleeve.

In 2018 he released his first album T-T-T-Technicolor Melodies and as someone at the time wrote for CoolDad Music the album: “has the charm of a home-made, one-man-in-a-studio production like Paul McCartney and Emitt Rhodes.” And that was that because we were used to waiting at least another year or two for a musician’s next album.

But SUPER 8 began his unpredictable ways as he released that same year not one but two albums of completely new material with each one (Turn Around Or… and HI/LO) being better than the one before. (I just want to point out that as far as I know – and you can let me know if I’m wrong – no one since The Beatles in 1964 and 1965 produced three albums in a year.)

Soon after this musical hat trick SUPER 8 began a collaboration with California-based power popper Lisa Mychols with the groovy single “Timebomb.” They never sat in the same room working on music and lyrics but instead traded files across multiple time zones, a practice which is something done by a lot of folks now but seemed to be very new at the time. Trip and Mychols also put out a self-titled album in 2020 and continue to work together as LMS8 – their latest single is the recent “Love Connection.”

SUPER 8’s Raindrops On Roses album contained a lot of covers which had already been on his albums but also included, as he surprised all of us, his version of a 1970’s Lennon demo that – at the time – The Twotles had yet to release. Legends – A Tribute to Astrud was another unpredictable album as SUPER 8’s tribute to his band of the 1990’s that toured the UK with these songs but never got into a studio to record them.

On the brand new album Retro Metro he does it again. He opens it with an instrumental theme song – when was the last time anyone did that? And at the end of 2023 a retro-60’s band The Plus 4 released a few tracks. But it wasn’t long before the cat was out of the hat and the word was that The Plus 4 was really SUPER 8. He’s own up to it and it’s not only now part of his canon but now the songs are on Retro Metro and everyone can hear how cool they are!

Back around the time T-T-T-Technicolor Melodies came out there were some early SUPER 8 videos on YouTube. One of them was for a lovely song about a female friend but it didn’t appear of this first album. It did, however, show up on Turn Around Or … and was one of my favorite tracks. So it was a big surprise to find “Mary Jane,” dusted off and performed anew, on Retro Metro – sort of like a full circle for the song.

Radio Days

By Henry Lipput

It’s been five years since California’s The Black Watch released 31 Years of Obscurity their amazing collection of what the band had been doing for the previous three decades (I know I’ve said this before but you really need to check it out). And in the last five years The Black Watch, rather than resting on their laurels, have given us five more albums not to mention multiple singles and EPs.

The latest from The Black Watch is weird rooms (ATOM Records) where they are again led by singer, songwriter, and guitarist (and novelist) John Andrew Fredrick. Leaving California for Austin, Texas, to record the new album, Fredrick brought his gear and his guitarist son Chandler on a road trip to producer Misa Bullock’s studio. (My imagined road trip is suggested by the brief bursts of radio stations along the way that pepper the album.)

The sessions became something of a family affair with Sara Minsavage-Bullock, the producer’s wife, providing backing vocals on a few songs. (In the Bandcamp notes for weird rooms, Misa is described as “carrying on more duties than most mortals can accomplish” as he was responsible for drums, bass, percussion, guitar, keyboards, and string arrangements. Slacker.)

The Black Watch is known for its dream pop sound and there’s plenty of that on weird rooms. And although it’s not always clear where Fredrick’s influences come from, it’s more than a bit obvious in the album’s first song “Myrmidon.” With its pacing, production, and hazy backing vocals it very much seems to be a nod in the direction of "Dear Prudence" (and at the end there are brief “Walrus”-like strings).  The dream continues with “Miles and Miles” with a spoken word foreign-language voice talking to you while you’re asleep and thinking about a place and a time you’ve never been.

On “Gobbledegook” the band gives us an example of a different kind of classic Black Watch pop gem. Sarah Minsavage-Bullock is heard for the first time as she adds wonderful backing vocals to Fredrick’s lead. Another Black Watch sound is Fredrick’s acoustic guitar and on the title song there’s a terrific interplay of electric guitars (John Andrew and Chandler?).

The dream and the pop are combined on “Swallowed” which highlights some high-quality drumming from Misa who also shines with his string arrangement for the lovely ballad “You’ll Get Over It.”

Girl-group inspired new single from LMS8

Henry Lipput

LMS8 has just released “Love Connection,” a groovy new single on Bandcamp. Who, you may be wondering, exactly is this LMS8 you speak of?

You may know the folks behind LMS8 as the very much missed power pop duo Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8. The pair’s first trans-Atlantic collaboration was the fabulous single “Time Bomb” and culminated in 2020’s Trip & Ellie’s self-titled summer blast (Mychols also contributed to SUPER 8’s out-of-this-world Universal Journey in 2022).

Back together again for the first time since then, the duo has just given us “Love Connection.” It’s a girl-group inspired romp with Mychols, after taking some time for herself, is ready to “move on to a Love Connection” but without the games she’s had to deal with in the past. And SUPER 8? It’s all his hands on deck as he once again is playing all the instruments and providing some cool deep-voiced background vocals as well.  

And there’s a video too.

Five songs in it looks like Colonizing the Cosmos is putting together a new album

By Henry Lipput

Back in 2010 I saw the Pittsburgh indie pop band Colonizing the Cosmos at a fundraiser for a local public radio station. I was knocked out and bought their latest album, The First Frontier, on the spot. It was my favorite album of the year.

Since then the band hasn't done much according to their Bandcamp page. But in October of last year the band released the wonderful “So Robo” a love song to the voice on a robo call. Yeah it’s a weird topic for a song but it has the bouncy, futuristic sound of The Final Frontier.

Last year also came “Made Up” and “Eyes Like A Swan” and two more singles arrived on Bandcamp this year (“Buzzards Bay” and “Clean Up”). When I saw the band in 2010 it was a full line up with horns and everything. Currently the band consists of Josh Moyer and Michael Savinsky but they’re still making a joyful noise. And with five songs under their belt it looks as if we might actually have their first new album since 2013'sThe House of War is the House of Peace.. And I for one can’t wait.

The first single from the new Greg Williams album is reviewed and he answers the Pure Pop Phive

By Henry Lipput

Australia’s Greg Williams has been known in his home country for his work with the band Splurge where he was principal songwriter and lead vocalist.

Williams is about to release Stone on Stone, a new solo album, on September 30^th and has already given us two singles from the album. The first, “This Life" (Bandcamp), hits you right away with it’s wonderful vocal and sparkling melody. For me, along with some others who know more about it, the tone of his singing and the sound of the song remind us of the late great Grant McLennan especially his solo work. And I can give Greg no higher compliment than that.

The Pure Pop Phive

Greg answers the PPP to make sure the cool kids know all about him.

How would you describe your music?

Rock/pop, heavy on guitars and melody.

What/who are your major influences?

My favourite music has great rhythm guitar, acoustic or electric, and great songs, songs, songs: Tom Petty, Beck, Radiohead, The Pretenders (80-81), The Beatles, Bob Dylan.

Do you perform live? Do you have any upcoming gigs?

When I saw Beck solo in early 2023, he said it was his first gig since the pandemic.
That made me feel better about not playing lately while I've been finishing the album.
My new gig idea is to play in record stores because that's where the people who like music go.

How do you support yourself so you can continue to make music?

What I make from music might buy me a coffee some days. In my other life, I've been a journalist, a website designer, and worked in corporate IT. That bought me a bit of a buffer, so now I have a house with a studio where I can work on music full time.

What’s an album you can’t live without (that's not one of yours)?

Only one. Jeez. They'd probably be all Bob Dylan albums anyway. This one especially because it blew my mind, aged 15: Bob Dylan, Blood On The Tracks

The Jimmy Webb of Glasgow

By Henry Lipput

On Making Tapes for Girls (Marina Records), the new album from The Pearlfishers (their first in five years), David Scott and company have brought to us a melodic bounty. It’s an album full of wonderful tunes and arrangements recorded by a talented group of musicians and singers.

Why is Scotland’s David Scott the Jimmy Webb of Glasgow? Scott and his co-writers tap into melodies and tales of regular people just the way Webb has done. One of the best examples on the current album is “Kisses on The Window." This is not the first time I’ve noticed Scott’s affection for Webb. On 2019’s Love & Other Hopeless Things I wrote in my review for CoolDad Music about the song “You’ll Miss Her When She’s Gone” “it could have been written by Jimmy Webb in the mid-60s and sung by Glen Campbell.” Both Pearlfishers songs have lovely string arrangements that recall the strings used in Webb’s songs. And like the people in the songs of Jimmy Webb, one of them has left and another one is leaving.

Of course, two of the highlights from Making Tapes for Girls are the singles that came out prior to the album’s release. Both the title song and “We’re Gonna Make a Hit Record, Boy” are trademark pop from The Pearlfishers. If you liked “You Can Take Me There” from Love & Other Hopeless Things (and who doesn't?) you’ll really love these two.

“Yellow & The Lovehearts” (a twist on lonelyhearts?), about an imagined psychedelic 60’s California band, has a lovely Bookends-like acoustic guitar segment that takes over the last third of the song. The beautiful closing track “Sweet Jenny Bluebells” has Scott recalling early morning rendezvouses with a teenage love.

On “Hold Out for A Mystic” and “Put the Baby in The Milk” Scott pulls off the neat trick of having an uplifting message without being preachy. “Hold out for something spiritual/Hold out something magical,” sings Scott, “Hold out for something that makes you breathe like a child/Hold out for a mystic.” In addition to the song’s positive message “Hold Out for A Mystic” is a pop treat. “Until I Knew Happy” is just gorgeous. It may be Scott’s best vocal performance on the album and there’s the cool use of a banjo in the mix.

What a day for a Daysdream

By Henry Lipput

The Shop Window’s great new album Daysdream (Jangleshop Records) is the band’s first new album in two years following A 4 Letter Word in 2022. After a clutch of singles promoting Daysdream the expectations were high for the new release.

The new album more than meets the challenge. The Shop Window has, starting with their 2019 single “Signpost,” always been a really tight band but with Daysdream they’ve hit a new high. The band sees this double LP as being two mini albums with one being Days and the other Dream. The Days disc is filled with upbeat jangle and indie pop sounds while the Dream disc is more melancholy with its dreampop/shoegaze elements.

Disc One of Daysdream kicks off with “I Run” and we’re introduced to this disc’s emphasis on the sound of Carl Mann and Syd Oxlee’s two-voices-singing-in-one-mic vocals as well as Mann’s patented 12-string jangle (it appears that Mann has never met a jangle he didn’t like and he comes up with his own on Daysdream). Second guitarist, programmer, and sax player Paul Reeves, bassist and synth player Martin Corder, and drummer Phil Elphee join Mann and Oxlee to create a rewarding listening experience (one that is made even more special when you get to hear it the album on vinyl).

Disc Two, Dream, starts with “Miracles” and the songs on these two sides are a showcase for all the band’s talents. These songs make more use of Reeves’s programming and Corder’s synths, Elphee’s drums are more prominent, and the guitars of Reeves and Mann work side by side. Daysdream closes with the sweeping “Made In Heaven,” a seven-minute glorious beauty.

Playing it forward

By Henry Lipput

Stands for deciBels, the debut album by North Carolina’s The dB's, has been re-released by Propellor Sound Recordings. It’s been remastered and is available for the first time on vinyl in the U.S (the new CD edition of the album includes the bonus track “Judy” which was not included on the original release).

The sounds on Stands for deciBels are made up of both older bands that had influenced The dB's but also newer musical trends that members Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Gene Holder, and Will Rigby clicked with.  The album contains songs like “The Fight” with a prominent jagged guitar right out of XTC and “Tearjerkin’” has the electro-pop of Gary Numan but with extra pop. 

Both “Bad Reputation” and “Big Brown Eyes” have a real 70’s power pop glow with the first channeling The Romantics and the second right out of the Raspberries’ song book and “Moving in Your Sleep” recalls the hazy sound of Big Star’s Third. My favorite of these musical tributes to bands of the not-so-distant past is the wonderful Beach Boys-flavored “She’s Not Worried.”

But Stands for deciBels isn’t only about looking backwards; the album became an inspiration for bands that were just starting out but also those who were yet to be. Mike Mills of R.E.M. said about hearing the album for the first time: “This is the one that let me know we were not alone, that there were others out there with the same curiosity, the same willingness to dive into melody, structure, and pop sensibility,”

And although you can hear what Mills is talking about when it comes to the album’s melody, structure, and pop sensibility, it’s the first song on the dB's album, “Black and White,” that more than likely hit the nail on the head for him and his new band.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

By Henry Lipput

Dreamers On The Run, the new album by BMX Bandits (Tapete Records), with its wonderful arrangements of instruments and both backing and choral voices, is, in many ways, the band’s Pet Sounds. (Need convincing? Check out the stereo mix of Pet Sounds created for the Pet Sounds Sessions box set in 1997.) “I am dreaming all the time/Not just when I’m asleep” sings lead Bandit Duglas T Stewart on the opening track and title song. Dreamers On The Run is full of tales of dreams achieved, hoped for, and sometimes dashed.

In my review of “Setting Sun,” the first single from the album, I referred to it as “jaunty pop.” Both it and the next song on Dreamers On The Run, “Time To Get Away,” are about dream vacations, whether real or imagined, and contain this type of uplifting vibe.  On initial listen so does “Hop Skip Jump (For You Love” with its Bo Didley riff.  But sometimes in a relationship, no matter how hard one tries, you don’t make the grade. “My best was never good enough/I go so far to win your love” – so “I’m sick and tired of running after you.” 

On the segue that connects “Time To Get Away” and “What He Set Out To Be” we hear the tide that has washed away the dreams of the man in this song. “He thought too much of himself/And not enough of she/He can’t replace her smiles/Not if he walked a million miles.” Both musically and lyrically it can remind you of a Ray Davies song from mid-period Kinks, as this sad and lonely man may be the figure watching lovers crossing Waterloo Bridge each evening to meet.

With “My Name Is Duglas (Don’t Listen To What They Say)” one is also reminded of The Kinks, this time from their Schoolboys in Disgrace album. The voices that introduce “Jack The Idiot Dunce” have the same dismissive tone of people who have no regard for others who are different. The BMX Bandits track gives both Duglas and Jack a chance to respond to the haters.

Tucker Bingo’s new album is reviewed and he answers the Pure Pop Phive

By Henry Lipput

Like a master carpenter building and assembling a sturdy dining room table, Tucker Bingo has been building and assembling a sturdy body of albums and EPs. Working in his Philadelphia basement (I first heard his music on 2021’s The Basement Sessions EP) he’s been using the same rudimentary tools as most DIY solo musicians (his Bandcamp page’s bio includes this information: “Player of guitars, synths, piano, and percussionist)”.

His latest, Cattle & Canes (Bandcamp), continues this trend while also bringing something new to the mix. It’s had not to think the title isn't a nod to Grant McLennan’s Go-Between’s hit. As a result, the new album, more than his other releases, has more of a pop sensibility (and if you’ve read more than a few of my posts on this blog you know what a big thing that is for me). And he’s also more confident in his songwriting, playing, and mixing. For me, Cattle & Canes is a game changer and, if you support indie music (and if not -- why?) this is a good place to continue that support.

The Pure Pop Phive

Tucker Bingo takes the PPP and all the cool kids in Philly are waiting to hear his answers.

How would you describe your music? 

Not sure. It’s all over the place, a bit of this, a bit of that. I still get confused by genres. Just rock and roll.

What/who are your major influences?

Too many to count. Some, off the top of my head, are the Flaming Groovies, Velvet Underground, The Supremes, Iggy Pop (with Bowie), The Nerves, The Clean, The Smiths, The Clash, etc.

Do you perform live? Any upcoming gigs?

Not at the moment. Still looking for musicians who will want to just play the songs.

How do you support yourself so you can continue to make music?

I work in construction.

What’s an album that you can’t live without?

It would be a mix tape. I’m more of a one-hit wonder guy. I get tired of the same stuff. I go through “music phases.” I’m selfish and impatient with tunes. I treat music like a drunk one-night stand. I’ll listen to a song 150 times in two days then forget about it for a year. But it I absolutely had to choose it would be Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life album as I’d never turn it off.