The Freewheeling Matthew Sweet

 By Henry Lipput

Matthew Sweet’s splendid new album Catspaw (Omnivore Recordings) is his first since 2018’s Tomorrow’s Daughter and also his first entirely solo release (except for drums which are played by his longtime collaborator Ric Menck). On his previous albums Sweet has played rhythm guitar, bass, and keyboards and well as supplying both lead and backing vocals. On Catspaw, for the first time he also plays all of the lead electric guitar parts (he‘s no slouch on acoustic leads either as he proved on “I Thought I Knew You“ with Lloyd Cole on rhythm acoustic from his 1991 breakthrough album Girlfriend).

Since Girlfriend Sweet has had NYC post-punk guitar icons like Robert Quine, Richard Lloyd, and Ivan Julian provide the lead electric guitar parts and he obviously has learned from these masters. He has said his playing on Catspaw was “free form” and “spontaneous” (I would add “freewheeling” to this list to describe his loose and melodic playing). There’s also a stomp and crunch to his guitar work on the new album that recalls Neil Young in his Crazy Horse mode. The opening track “Blown Away“ is a prime example; “Drifting,” on the other hand, has a fine clean line (and there‘s also a lovely bit of counter-melody in the mix that recalls The Youngblood’s “Get Together.”)

Although there are some dark moments on Catspaw, for every song like “Best Of Me” in which Sweet questions whether there’s any point in his being alive (“What if the best of me isn’t good enough/And any world that doesn’t have me is better off without”) there are songs like “Give A Little” (“Give a little bit of love/And I’ll give a little bit of love back to you/Give a little bit of hope/And I’ll give a little bit of hope back to you”) and the seize-the-day message of “Challenge The Gods” (“Just do what you want to do/Go where you want to go/Challenge the gods to act”). 

And for every breakup song like “Come Home” (“But I won’t forget again/That my heart’s already torn/I remember how it feels/To be lost without you”) there are songs like “Coming Soon” that tell of hoped-for new loves: “You’ve arrived to bring about the end of the world/I’m about to make you mine/You’re about to see me as I want to be seen/So I’m already feeling high.”

Next Time: All You Need Is Friends

A Few Of My Favorite Things: 2020 Edition

 By Henry Lipput

Here, at last, are my favorite releases of 2020. In the past I’ve called this post Better Late Than Never but for a number of reasons it’s Later than usual. Blame it on Covid funk, blame it on allergies that put my head in a different kind of funk, or you can put the blame on Mame.

In the following paragraphs I’ve listed my favorite albums, EPs, singles, compilation, and reissue. I’ve also included a Spotify playlist (except for a song from two of the EPs and the compilation) so you can hear a bit of what I've enjoyed last year. 

Despite my use of this playlist, I’m very aware that musicians don’t make much money from streaming services so I’ve included with the descriptions below a link to where you can buy a download, CD, or vinyl copy of an album or song (I have done all of these things). And since the pandemic hit musicians have been unable to tour -- a major source of income -- it’s even more important now that you show your support in this way.              

ALBUMS

Close Lobsters, Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols

Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols (Last Night From Glasgow/Shelflife) is an album six years in the making. This great band from Scotland released two albums in the 1980s (the last being 1989’s Headache Rhetoric) and a bunch of singles (19 are collected on the Forever Until Victory! compilation).  The band was quiet until they released two EPs, one in 2014 and the other in 2016. Two songs from each of these EPs make up the second part of Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols and the rest of the songs continue and reinforce the legacy of what I like to call “The Clash with Rickenbackers.”

Tugboat Captain, Rut

With their debut album Rut, Tugboat Captain, a four-piece DIY band from London, have created a Technicolor song cycle that thrills in its inventiveness and the use of sounds and dynamics. And although the songs on Rut (vinyl: Double A-Side Records/digital: Bandcamp) were written before the pandemic, the themes of many of the songs (even the titles themselves), like “If Tomorrow’s Like Today,” “Day To Day,” and, especially, the single “No Plans (For This Year),”  fit together to make up something of a concept album about what we‘ve been going through.  But, it’s anything but a downer; it’s a joyful listen full of great tunes and arrangements .

Even As We Speak, Adelphi

Like their Shelflife label mates Close Lobsters, Even As We Speak's Adelphi (Shelflife) was a long time in coming. It’s the band’s first album since 1993’s Feral Pop Frenzy. Going their separate ways for a number of reasons the band reformed in 2016 to play at the NYC Popfest in celebration of Sarah Records. The response was so positive the band returned to the recording studio to produce The Black Forest EP in 2017. Adelphi is full of wonderful tunes like the jangle pop of “Forgiving,” the full screen cinematic sound of “Unknown,” and the gorgeous Mary Wyer vocal and squeeze box-like accompaniment of “Leaves.”

Brandi Ediss, Bees and Bees and Bees

Bees and Bees and Bees is the amazing debut album from Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Brandi Ediss (Futureman Records). She joins a long line of honest voices like Joni Mitchell that weren‘t afraid to write about both their failures and successes at love. Many of her lyrics are honest, sometimes painfully so and her clear vocal lines and the album’s simple arrangements only add to what comes across as a confessions of heartbreak or joy about relationships.

The Apartments, In and Out of the Light

Peter Milton Walsh has been part of the music scene in Australia since 1978. The sad and beautiful In and Out of the Light (Talitres) is full of songs of regret, encouragement, and even anger that reflect experienced life (and love) lessons. And whether In and Out of the Light is a concept album about one relationship or a collection of songs about the many over the years that didn’t work out, it illustrates how there’s something worse than the hurt of a breakup: it’s the post-breakup that you have to live with.

the black watch, fromthing somethat

Is fromthing somethat (ATOM Records) the album that puts an end to the black watch’s brilliant failures? Founded in 1987, the band celebrated their seeming lack of recognition on 2019’s  great 31 Years of Obscurity: The Best of the black watch: 1988-2019, a career-spanning compilation.  In 2020, refusing to rest on any laurels, the black watch released two albums and an EP. They continue to have a winning streak of great guitar-based tunes with rarely a failure in sight. Track after track on fromthing somethat, their 19th LP,  showcases a band at its peak. 

Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, I Can Still Hear You

I Can Still Hear You (StorySound Records) is the third collaboration from Suzzy Roche and her daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche. I’ve been a fan of The Roches since their first album came out in 1979. Whether it’s genetics or a sign of how much they love each other, there are times on I Can Still Hear You when Suzzy and Lucy harmonize that recall the sound of The Roches.  Founding member Maggie Roche lost her fight with cancer in 2017 but her spirit is very much a part of the new album. Maggie sang lead on the traditional Irish song “Factory Girl” on The Roches’ 1980 Nurds album and Lucy brings the song back on I Can Still Hear You. She also sings “Jane,” a song that Maggie wrote when she was 18 and has never been recorded until now.

Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8

LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 (US: Lisa Mychols, Bandcamp/Canada: The Beautiful Music/UK: SUPER 8, Bandcamp) is 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 future romance for others. The album is a meeting of musical minds and a true collaboration with both of them writing lyrics and music. After their first musical partnership (the fantastic single “Timebomb“) they decided to just keep going. They wrote and recorded this album using every trans-Atlantic means possible to send each other ideas, music, lyrics, and even videos. 

Theater Royal, Portraits

Theatre Royal, a four piece from the UK, have been around since 2010 (you should really check out the collections of their singles and b-sides on Bandcamp) and I’ve been enjoying listening to them when the songs get played on the internet radio stations I visit. But I really started paying attention when they began releasing singles and an EP back in 2019 to build interest for what would become their fifth album; I was hooked. As excellent as their previous work has been that album, Portraits (Bandcamp), is a major step forward for the band in terms of songwriting and performing.  

Willie Nile, New York at Night

Willie Nile’s latest album, New York At Night (River House Records) is a love letter to the city he obviously adores.  Nile has been making records since 1980 and New York At Night shows that he’s lost none of his songwriting chops. Working with his long-time live band. Nile has created a set of rock and roll gems. And as much I enjoy the kick-ass tunes it’s the beautiful and melancholy gems sprinkled throughout the album that show his range and the ones I love the most.

EPs

Shop Girls, A Fine Day in Anfield

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Cardiff-based Shop Girls is an all-male trio made up of Leroy Kenneth Rahman on drums and percussion, Damir Zlaktic on bass, and James P. Davies on vocals and guitar. Their A Lovely Day At Anfield EP (Bandcamp) is full of brilliant pop tunes. “Louise Megee” recalls The Boo Radleys with a bit of a Macca medley thing going on. “I Love Clara Crowe” has more than a touch of The La’s  and “nIGHTbEAT” is a rocking band workout.

Peter Hall, There's Something Wrong With Everyone

Peter Hall’s There’s Something Wrong With Everyone EP (CD: The Beautiful Music/digital: Bandcamp) is a wonderful mix of melancholy pop and it doesn’t hurt that Hall‘s voice is gentle and welcoming. Hall’s influences include Wings-era McCartney, Big Star, Emitt Rhodes, and George Harrison’s self-titled solo album. The EP initially came out as a digital-only release early in 2020 but the Beautiful Music CD includes a bonus track you’ll just have to buy to hear. 

Cleaners From Venus, July

Martin Newell, of the long-time British band The Cleaners From Venus, a well-respected iconic/ironic DIY legend, is known as the Jangling Man, a song from his great 1993 album The Greatest Living Englishman. And he doesn’t disappoint on the July EP (Bandcamp) with it’s crunching guitar riffs and dazzling jangle. He’s advertised as fronting The Cleaners From Venus although he may not be fronting as much as being a one-man band. As the Bandcamp page notes, Newell  is both “muse and Word-sick“ and he recorded the tracks at Chez Martin “between tea-breaks and sleeping.“

SINGLES

The Shop Window, Evacuate

The Shop Window, a band from Kent in the UK, consists of Carl Mann (vocals/guitars), Simon ‘Syd’ Oxlee (vocals/keys), Martin Corder (bass), and Phil Elphee (drums). “Evacuate” (Bandcamp), one of the four singles they released in 2020, opens with a single finger on a synth keyboard and the vocals begin with the song’s chorus. Described by the band as “evoking nostalgia” it’s a “a warm hug sounding like today from yesteryear.” After the chorus, the band is in full swing and it’s a joyful noise with some fine jangle. Keep a look out for their debut album to be released in the coming months.

the blue herons, Go On

the blue herons is another transatlantic duo with Andy Jossi from Switzerland supplying music and instruments and California’s Gretchen DeVault providing lyrics and vocals. the blue herons have been releasing singles since 2017 and the latest “Go On” (Bandcamp) is another fine example of their dream pop sound. They continue to keep busy and have already released the “Endless Rain” single in February.

Vince Melouney, Women (Make You Feel Alright

The single by Vince Melouney, a member of the original BeeGees from 1967 to 1969, “Women (Make You Feel Alright) (Bandcamp) is a crash course in garage rock. In addition to Melouney on vocals and lead guitar, the band includes 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.

COMPILATION

Various Artists, Garden of Earthy Delights: An XTC Celebration

Futureman Records has had a great run of tribute albums (like 2018’s Altered Sweet tribute to Matthew Sweet) and Garden of Earthly Delights (Futureman Records) is no exception. A range of indie artists cover songs from XTC’s 1977 debut album White Noise to 2000’s Wasp Star (my personnel favorite).  Highlights from these two CDs and another 17 digital tracks include King Radio’s mashup of “Mayor of Simpleton” and The Kinks’ “Victoria,” Gretchen's Wheel’s lovely “The Last Balloon,” Dot Dash’s jangle-infused “Respectable Street,“ and Anton Barbeau adds a touch of reggae to  “We’re All Light.”

REISSUE

Allyson Seconds, Bag of Kittens

The collaboration between Allyson Seconds and Anton Barbeau is a match made in Heaven, or at least in Sacramento. Originally released in 2009 the pair’s delightful Bag Of Kittens (Big Stir Records) has been reissued with four never-before-heard bonus tracks.  This album is a must for anyone (like me) who adores the 2016 Seconds and Barbeau release Little World or anyone who loves off-kilter pop with great vocals. As with Little World, Barbeau wrote, produced, and arranged the songs on Bag Of Kittens but it’s her voice that shines throughout the album. Seconds can sing like a child, a woman, and a siren singing rock, ballads, and country. And Barbeau has provided all of those for her.

Next time: On to 2021! or How Sweet It Is