Although Autumn is only days away, Dolph Chaney’s poptastic
new single, “Cool in the Sunshine” (Big Stir Records), will help us to enjoy Summer
just a little bit longer. It’s the second single before the release of the Chicago-based indie rocker’s
new album MUG (also Big Stir, natch!) out in October. (The single also includes "The Old Ghosts," an exclusive non-album virtual B-side.)
On “Cool in the Sunshine” he’s awe struck in what seems to be
the perfect unrequited summer romance (well not perfect if you've ever been in this guy's shoes). “I’ve set my heart on you” he says to
himself about a girl who knocks him out: “Oh your casual hair flipping/Meets
the smell of fresh grass clipping” (I love this clever couplet!). There’s a breezy vibe to the song and a great Revolver-like guitar solo (you can hear the influence of songs like “And
Your Bird Can Sing” and “Doctor Robert").
Tamar Berk’s new album tiny injuries (Bandcamp) hits the
ground rocking and then opens up to include heart-felt and heartbreaking ballads
and, with the addition of horns, she builds on her already extensive musical palette. Berk
plays the quiet, acoustic card when she needs to and she and her band knows how
to bring the loud guitars.
Berk has a songwriter’s gift for collecting the important
parts of overheard conversations between lovers and friends especially the ones
that signal the end (my favorite line is from the ballad “what’s become
of me, my friend” with its feel of a self-created breakup “be what I want and maybe
I’ll stay”).
Now living in California and having grown up in Chicago, Berk has
written what might otherwise be throwaway lines but instead illustrate how she
also uses her own life and memories in her songs. On “if you know, u know” she sings “and I
haven’t seen snow in over three years” and in “sunday driving” it’s not clear whether
the trip is to or from Chicago but “then you’ll say ‘you’ll be okay 3000 miles
away.’”
Perhaps even more importantly, Berk creates the melodies to
those lyrics that conjure up the feelings her words have. “if you know, u know”
starts with the line “The sun comes up and I’m already down” and the music reflects
the feeling of knowing it’s not going to be a good day. The music of the piano-based
ballad “cash out” has a sense of resignation as things come to an end in a
relationship and there’s anger in both the words and music of “another drop in
the bucket.” And if you’re looking for a positive message from a strong woman
who’s had enough just take a listen to “gonna call it,” Berk’s version of Elton
John’s “I’m Still Standing” (it certainly sounds like he’s playing piano on the
track).
The Pure Pop Phive
Tamar answers the PPP, the questions all the cool kids are
talking about:
How would you describe your music?
I’ve heard indie pop, pop rock, power pop, alt pop.
I don’t know…what do you think?
What/who are your major influences?
Beatles, Classical, Elliot Smith, early Liz
Phair, Lana Del Rey, David Bowie
Do you perform live? Do you have any upcoming gigs?
I do perform live and currently I’m working
on booking some shows, but I am more of a loner and prefer being in my studio
writing and recording rather than playing live…so I really have to push
myself to get out there!
How do you support yourself so you can continue to
make music?
Sell music, sell paintings, freelance VoiceOver
and composing, and using my savings! Yikes!
What’s an album you can’t live without (that's not
one of yours)?
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie
Since his second album, Turn Around Or …, in 2018 (one of
three released that year as part of a musical hat trick), SUPER 8 has included
songs written by others on nearly every album and even a few singles. He has now
collected these covers and added more to create the groovy personal jukebox
that is Raindrops On Roses (available as a free download on Bandcamp).
These songs run the gamut from music released decades ago to those
recently reimagined. There are hits from the ‘60s like Lulu’s “It’s My Party,” Glen
Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Neil Diamond’s “Cherry Cherry” (which was paired
on SUPER 8’s HiLo album with his brilliant “Angels & Neil Diamond”) and deep
cuts like The Kinks’ “Autumn Almanac” (one of my favorite Kinks songs).
There are songs that the man known as Trip (real name Paul
Ryan) no doubt grew up listening to: The Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” The Smith’s “Back
to the Old House” (a lovely acoustic guitar and mandolin arrangement), Psychic
TV’s “Goldstar,” and “Ride A White Swan” by T. Rex. More recent picks are BMX
Bandit’s “Serious Drugs” (the one on Turn Around Or … that started it all) and
The Replacements’ “I Will Dare.”
Then there are some amazing things SUPER 8 has done to
reimagine and/or finish up two songs. “Susan
Revolving” is based on a fragment by XTC’s Andy Partridge and has a cool Dukes
of Stratosphere vibe. The other is “Now & Then (reimagined)” from a demo
recorded by John Lennon in the 1970s; it’s a haunting listen not only because
of the arrangement but also knowing Lennon wasn’t around to give it a proper
recording.
Speaking of arrangements, some songs like “I Will Dare” start off as if SUPER 8 is doing a faithful recreation of the tune but then he makes a left turn and gives us a clever and surprising twist. And that happens a lot on Raindrops On Roses which is one of the album’s delights.
I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining but one of my favorite
SUPER 8 covers didn’t make the cut: it’s “X Hits the Spot” by Michael Head
& The Strands which appeared on 2019’s Backers & Maracas album and is worth
checking out. Also worth checking out is the rest of SUPER 8 releases on Bandcamp and while you’re there you could, since Raindrops On Roses is a free download,
buy yourself an album, a single, or a download to support this extremely
talented musician and songwriter.
Despite a gap of 24 years between albums, The Boo Radleys
great new release Eight (BooSTR Records) continues the band’s brilliant sonic
journey. Eight is not only where the new album fits in Boo Radleys discography,
it also makes it clear there’s a throughline in the history of a band that
before last year had not released an album since 1998 and where the band is now.
Speaking of the 2022 release, Keep on With Falling brought
back three members of the band’s original lineup with Sice on vocals, guitar,
and keyboards; Rob Cieka on drums, percussion, and vocals; and Tim Brown on bass,
guitar, keyboards, and vocals. It was wonderful the hear them making music
together again and I really enjoyed the album especially the singles, “Keep on
With Falling” and “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” as well as the songs “I’ve
Had Enough I’m Out” and “I Say A Lot Of Things.”
Eight, however, is a giant step (I couldn’t help myself) in
the band’s regeneration (I prefer that to “reboot”). I’m not sure if the album’s
fuller sound has anything to do with the fact it’s the first Boo Radleys album
I’ve had on vinyl (the 1990s were a vinyl wasteland in the U.S.) but there’s the
confidence of the three members and their musical associates having a great
time (by the way, it’s also sounding more than fine as a download). The album
begins with a banger called “Seeker” and keeps going with “Now That’s What I Call
Obscene” (a pro-LGBTQ anthem comparing military killing machines with loving
same-sex couples and the people who have no problem with the first one), “Wash
Away That Feeling” (a showcase for both Brown and Sice), and the closing rave
up “How Was I To Know?”
I started listening to Boo Radleys about halfway through their
original run with 1995’s pure pop blast Wake Up! and then eagerly moved on to the
glorious From the Bench at Belvidere EP (I still LOVE the title song and “Almost
Nearly There”), the little-loved but time-for-a-rethink What’s in The Box? (there
is the lovely “New Brighton Promenade” and the very cool “Annie and Marnie” B-side),
and 1998’s Kingsize, an album I consider to be the band’s crown jewel and not
only my favorite Boo Radleys album (Eight is in second place) but one of my favorite albums over all.
Over the past few days, I’ve been listening to all of this
music on shuffle to find the throughline I mentioned in the opening paragraph
of this review and it’s more than obvious there are many songs that would fit
side by side as examples. But to hear the best of these all you need to do is
listen to Eight’s “Sometimes I Sleep” alongside the title song from Kingsize and
you’ll hear it too. Welcome back Boos!
