Trip & Ellie are throwing a party and it's going to last all summer long

By Henry Lipput

In late May 1967 The Beatles released a concept album in what Paul McCartney called a “golden summer,” and the album was played around the world all season. And despite our current problems and concerns, Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8 have just released a wonderful album that can turn, to paraphrase Mr. Shakespeare, our summer of discontent into our very own golden summer and can brighten our lives all season long. 

LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 (US: Lisa Mychols, Bandcamp / Canada: The Beautiful Music label / UK: SUPER 8, Bandcamp) is also a concept album (it even has a theme song and a joke with a reference to Sgt. Pepper!) about summer loves. It’s a glorious sun-baked boardwalk stroll down memory lane for some and a perhaps a soundtrack for a future romance for others.

LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 is a meeting of musical minds and a true collaboration with both of them writing lyrics and music. As she sings in the joyous “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” they were “changing words to make better sense”  and turning up the tunes a few degrees to create the perfect mix.

After their first musical partnership (the fantastic single “Timebomb“ which is featured on the new album), singer/songwriter/“Queen of Power Pop” and Californian Lisa 'Ellie' Mychols and UK-based singer/songwriter/mad-scientist-in-his-home-studio Paul “Trip” Ryan decided to just keep going. They wrote and recorded an entire album using every trans-Atlantic means possible to send each other ideas, music, lyrics, and even videos. 

Lisa is the cool girl who’s not your girlfriend but your friend. She whispers secrets in your ear and giggles when you say funny things. You’d be really mad at her boyfriend but it’s your best friend Trip and you think this couple is perfect especially because you’re spending the summer hanging out with them and they‘re singing terrific songs.

These terrific songs include the opening track, the psychedelic “What Will Be?,” the album’s overture and, with its brief lyrical passages, it sets up the idea of songwriting as a way of finding the right recipe. There’s also a monster bass line and fuzzed-up guitar from Trip. Following is the theme song “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” which is a give-and-take between the two as they cook up their musical partnership. A vocal give-and-take is also part of “Honey Bee,” another pre-album single and a pop treasure that will find you dancing around your living room all summer to this tune. 

“You & Me, Me & You” is another pop delight and showcases Lisa‘s ability to express what being in love sounds like.  In many ways it’s about the mysteries of love: You can see someone at a school yard as kids and barely notice them but years later you fall in love with the person.  

“Flying Close To The Sun” compares falling in love with Icarus’ attempt to reach that far-away star; as a result you will either connect with a true soul mate or come crashing down to earth. It’s another gorgeous vocal turn by Lisa and an understated accompaniment from Trip with strummed guitar and just the right amount of Mellotron fills. On the flip side of love, the up-beat, short, and sweet “Laguna Nights To Remember” and the bossa nova-inflected “Your Summer Theme” describe what happens when everything goes right in a relationship.

Trip takes the lead on the cover of the late, great Kenny Rankin’s “Peaceful.” As an addition to an album of mostly summer love songs it fits perfectly as it reflects the feeling you have after a day spent with your loved one.

By the way, if you buy the CD of LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8  you’ll get a secret track that’s not available anywhere else.

Next time: This tugboat captain is pulling a brilliant pop tune

Vince Melouney Will Make You Feel Alright

By Henry Lipput

Vince Melouney’s new single, “Women (Make You Feel Alright)" (available on Bandcamp and other digital vendors), is a crash course in garage rock.

In case you didn’t know, Melouney was a member of the original BeeGees from 1967 to 1969 and appeared on seven of the band’s U.S. Top 20 singles including "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "To Love Somebody," "Holiday," "Massachusetts," "Words," "I've Gotta Get A Message To You," and "I Started A Joke."

But don’t expect to hear soothing vocals on “Women (Make You Feel Alright).” The song crunches from the word GO! And to help him achieve his take on the Merseybeat’s 1966 tune, Melouney has assembled a crack team of musicians to help him carry out his mission to rock'n'roll.

In addition to Melouney on vocals and lead guitar, the band includes the genre-hopping Jonathan Lea of The Jigsaw Seen on additional guitars and maracas, Alec Palao on bass and Paul Kopf on backing vocals (both are members of the San Francisco-based band Strangers In A Strange Land), and the always amazing Clem Burke of Blondie on drums.

The track is produced by veteran knob turner Shel Talmy (yes, THAT Shel Talmy) who was responsible for producing early recordings by The Kinks and The Who among others. For a garage rock song, "Women (Make You Feel Alright)" has a crisp and clear stereo mix. Melouney and Lea’s guitars are in separate speakers and Burke’s drumming is dead center. There are also handclaps which gives the song a real cool 60’s vibe. 

Make sure your favorite listening device is on repeat because you’re gonna want to hear this song more than a few times.

Next time: Trip & Ellie are throwing a party and it's going to last all summer long

Have The Proper Ornaments Created A New Indie Genre?

By Henry Lipput

The Proper Ornaments’ Mission Bells album (Tapete Records) is the band’s follow-up to last year’s shoegazey and Velvet Underground-influenced 6 Lenins. There are more musical references on the new disc and there is also what may be a new indie genre in the making.

In between the release of these albums the band (James Hoare, Bobby Syme, Max Oscarnold, and new bassist Nathalie Bruno) toured Europe. New song ideas were born during soundchecks and soon after the tour ended they began recording at Hoare's home studio in Finsbury Park, London. 

As a result of the band’s touring and going right into the studio, they’ve become a tight group that effortlessly falls into a groove. On “Downtown” the groove is not so much funk as swamp like The Beatles’ “Come Together” as they cover a song originally sung by Petula Clark. Hoare sings “Just listen to music of the traffic in the city / Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty” but it’s nearly unrecognizable which means they’ve made it very much their own.

There’s a brooding, nearly claustrophobic vibe to some of the songs. For example the lyrics of the opening track “Purple Heart” (“Your enemies are close / The walls are closing in”) match the overall tone of the song. “The Wolves At The Door” has a similar mood. But the delicate “Stings Around Your Head” and the closer “Tin Soldier,” with it’s Sterling Morrison-like guitar licks, are breaks in the musical clouds.

Two of the last songs on the album borrow lyrics from other songs on Mission Bells for their titles. “Music Of The Traffic” is an instrumental-only “Downtown” and “How Do You Get To Be So Cold” is a lighter, piano-based take on “Purple Heart” with a new set of lyrics.

My favorite moments on Mission Bells are the sounds and the instrumental passages within the songs. There’s the ending of “Downtown” where the band continues its groove, “Broken Insect” has a terrific, jangly rhythmic strumming guitar like on Lloyd Cole and the Commotion’s “Mr. Malcontent” as well as a droning bug sound like XTC’s “Fly On The Wall,“ and there’s the hypnotic drum and electronic beat of “Strings Around Your Head.” 

And the new genre? There‘s a bit of it at the end of “Echoes“ but it‘s on “Flophouse Calvary” where there’s what sounds like a pedal steel guitar in with The Proper Ornaments’ brand of gazey stuff. I may be wrong but this may very well herald the arrival of -- wait for it -- Nashville shoegaze.

Next time: Vince Melouney will make you feel alright.

Davey Woodward Has a Brand New Bag

By Henry Lipput

Davey Woodward's band Karen has a terrific new single, "Carrier Bag," on Bandcamp and a new video, too. 

 The song has an upbeat arrangement with a lyric that undercuts it with a look at the continuing struggles of the underclass: "Unemployed youths in CK T-shirts / Girlfriends with blue hair gasping for a fag / School's a bore and everything's a drag / You either look cool or you end up sad."

The video has a split-screen, lockdown setting with Woodward on guitar, Hugo Morgan on bass, and drummer Tom Adams doing his best Bez impression.

According to the Bandcamp page, "Carrier Bag"  is one of ten songs the band recorded for their as-yet-untitled debut album. Karen already released the Filwood Broadway EP in 2018 and Woodward also released the very fine Davey Woodward and the Winter Orphans  album that same year.

Next time: Have The Proper Ornaments created a new indie genre?

Anton Barbeau's Battle of the Bands

By Henry Lipput

It's not quite The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones but on his album, Kenny vs. Thrust (Big Stir Records), Anton Barbeau pits two bands, both led by him, against each other.

Within the last year this prolific Sacramento-native and Berlin resident released an initial Kenny single “My Adelphi Twin“ (also on Big Stir), the second album from SALT  (The Loneliness of Clouds), a collaboration between American and French like-minded souls, and the mutant neo-cabaret of Berliner Grotesk.

It’s clear that everything Barbeau touches reflects his distinctive voice. He did it on Allyson Second’s amazing 2016 Little World album and on last year‘s SALT release for which he contributed lyrics and lead vocals. And it’s the same with Kenny vs. Thrust although the bands are from different parts of the globe and bring different colors to his songs.

Kenny is based in Sacramento, California, and includes Kevin Allison on guitar, Tom Monson on drums, and Jeff Simons on bass. Thrust is from Oxford, England, and consists of Matt Sewell on guitar, Jules Moss on bass, and Richard Nash on drums (they also perform under the name Charms Against The Evil Eye).

Kenny provides a straight-up rock-and-roll sound on “Land of Economy” and the Byrds-like “Jingle Jangle”while Thrust brings more of the "pre-apocalyptic psychedelic pop" that Barbeau is known for on songs like “Popsong 99” and “Beautiful Bacon Dream.“

The songs on Kenny vs. Thrust were written by Barbeau as a teen right up through the present day. But the terrific performances of the two bands make them sound as if they were brand new like the songs that he revisited on 2018’s excellent Natural Causes album.

Which band does Barbeau prefer? I’m convinced it’s Kenny because he’s stacked the deck for them. There are eleven songs on the album and six of them are by Kenny leaving five for Thrust. But you can decide for yourself after you’ve enjoyed another delicious slice of what musical master chef Barbeau is serving.

Next time: Davey Woodward has a brand new bag