"Permanent Vacation" is the fourth single from Tamar Berk's third album
tiny injuries (Bandcamp) (there’s a PP4NP review for that). The video, directed by Brandon
Mosquero, was inspired by Berk’s first vacation since the pandemic along with
her fears of traveling, flying, and crowds. Despite these anxieties she hoped
the trip would change her and make her a different person. Mission accomplished.
The video, however, reflects the earlier concerns of both
the pandemic and travelling as Berk is dressed completely in an astronaut suit even
when doing mundane tasks like grocery shopping. (As a side note, fans of Matt Smith-era Doctor Who may recall a similar look during the The Impossible Astronaut episode.)
The Shop Window, "I Run"
“I Run” is the third single from The Shop Window’s forthcoming
two-record (16 track) Daysdream to be released in May (you can pre-order here).
Earlier albums and singles highlighted the jangle and shoegaze
elements of the band’s sound which are to be even more evident as they are to
be split between the two discs of Daysdream. In addition, the 16 songs will
showcase co-writers and co-lead vocalists Carl Mann and Syd Oxlee as they expand The Shop Window’s sound (now with a second guitarist!).
It’s clear from the DaysDream Bandcamp page that “I Run” will be leading off the collection and is what my friends from across the pond would call a banger of a tune.
Along with the previous two singles (including "It's A High" and yes there's a review for that too) “I Run” gives a glimpse into what an
amazing group of songs will be found on DaysDream.
The video for “I Run” was directed by Darren Stokes, the alternative
title for which could be “A Dog’s Life” because although the lyrics can conjure up a
lover returning home from a long recording session or a tour like in “A Hard Day’s Night” it might
also be from the viewpoint of a lost or wandering dog finding its way home.
Here is the rest of the music I've been enjoying (and listening to more than once) over the past year. I hope there's something here that you can get into as well. Next time we'll see start to see what 2024 is going to bring us.
EPs
Peter Hall, About
Last Night
The initial email
for About Last Night from the Subjangle label described the new Peter Hall release
as a mini-album and/or an extended EP. For the purposes of this blog post I’m
going with the latter although it would have been in the top five of my album
list from Part One. About Last Night (Bandcamp) is
another brilliant collection of songs from Hall whose Light The Stars album was
at the top of the list in my 2021 year-end roundup. Each EP or album Hall presents to us is a musical
step forward and we continue to be struck by how the vocals, lyrics, and soaring arrangements come together .
The 3 Clubmen, The
3 Clubmen
The
musical powerhouse trio that is The 3 Clubmen is made up of Andy Partridge, Jen
Olive, and Stu Rowe. Their self-titled EP (Burning Shed) is the kind of
musically inventive and downright fun collection of songs that you just don’t
hear much anymore. The trio made their first appearance when the first single
from the EP, “Aviatrix,” was announced back in the Spring of 2023 (a few weeks later
a glorious pop-art style video was released). In my review of the song I called
it “mind-bending” and this also applies to the
paint-splattering way all of these songs have been put together; there’s
nothing in these songs that’s expected.
Caleb Nichols,
So This Is Crimble
It’s hard to deny Caleb Nichols his Beatle fan credentials. In addition to the very Beatles-influenced Ramon,
he also released the single DoubleMantasy with covers of McCartney’s “Waterfalls” and Lennon’s
“Watching The Wheels.” The centerpiece of the EP (Kill Rock Stars) is “Crimble Medley” in which Nichols creates a wonderful mashup
of a song from a Beatles Christmas fanclub disc as well as holiday offerings
from three solo Beatles along with Ringo's "Photograph" which fits
very nicely in the mix (what's Christmas without photographs?). The EP also
includes his two most recent Christmas songs, “(I Fell In Love On) Christmas
Day” from Ramon (my favorite new Christmas song) and “Christmas, California” from his recent Let’s Look Backalbum.
SINGLES
The Bablers, “Thinking
of You"
“Thinking
Of You” (Big Stir Records), the latest single from The
Bablers, is just the latest knock-out track following “Holding Me Tight
Tonight,” “You Are the One for Me” (my personal favorite), and “Mr. King” which
was released as the commutation (as a certain Mr. Lennon might have said) of
Prince Charles was taking place. With these songs we’ve been treated to four
singles from Like The First Time, an album only available in Japan and
Finland (their home country) and things look good for a world-wide release of the whole thing in
2024.
Fallon Cush,
“Grain of Salt”
“Grain of Salt” (Bandcamp and all streaming
services) is the first new music from Fallon Cush since 2019’s Stranger Things Have
Happened album and the second single from the five-track Tricks EP
which is being released in March 2024. “Grain of Salt” is mostly a solo
effort with Fallon Cush’s main man Steve Smith with an assist from producer
Josh Schuberth. At the beginning of 2020 Smith
suffered a breakdown that left him with crippling anxiety. He stopped working and
barely picked up a guitar.I wasn’t aware of any of this
when I reviewed the song; it didn’t sound anything like an ask for help from
its author, but it certainly sounds like that now.
Confusion Boats, “I Want To
Hold Your Hand”
Brian Dear of Confusion Boats
has been coming up with Beatles and Beatles-related covers for a long time and
the fourth one to be released “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Bandcamp) is the
best. With the slowed down and soulful vocal of Andrew Lubman, Dear and fellow
Boater Fernando Perdomo lay down the original arrangement for Abbey
Road’s “Oh! Darling” on top. It’s just such a brilliant move that I’m sure
no one saw it coming (I certainly didn't and have been playing it for people
since it came out) and the result is amazing.
LIVE
The Sylvia Platters, Summer Dreamin'
The Sylvia
Platters from Vancouver, British Columbia, is a four-piece consisting of Alex Kerc-Murchison, Stephen Carl O’Shea, Nick Ubels, and Tim
Ubels. In December 2022 the band entered Malibu Sound Studio in Burnaby BC and performed a five-song set. Recorded and mixed by Kyle Schick, the
collection was released in the summer of 2023 as Summer Dreamin' (Bandcamp). The title song is new to the band’s
catalog but the other four tunes are from the albums, singles, and EPs The Sylvia
Platters have released over the past ten years. Their sound is undoubtedly
influenced by Teenage Fanclub and “Norman 4” (a bonus track originally on 2022’s Youth
Without Virtue EP and dedicated to Norman Blake) is a standout on Summer Dreamin’.
COMPILATIONS
Dot Dash, 16 Again
The wonderful Dot
Dash collection, 16 Again (Country Mile Records [sold out]/Last Night From Glasgow: vinyl/
Bandcamp: digital), is the first time these songs have been on vinyl and it’s a
great way to hear them. It’s also a terrific way to introduce new fans to the
band and a way to remind current fans why they liked Dot Dash so much in the
first place. The title 16 Again refers to the fact that these songs (all but one)
have been previously available on all ten of their albums released by Wally
Salem’s The Beautiful Music label between 2011 and 2022. You can think of these songs, hand-picked by the band, as "a greatest hits album by a band with no hits" as the Bandcamp page says. But there's a difference between songs not being hits and songs loved by fans that should have been hits ("Unfair Weather" immediately comes to mind).
Various Artists,
Let The Band Times Roll (a tribute to The Replacements)
Philly’s Creep Records, with their Replacements tribute album Let The Bad Times
Roll (digital available on Bandcamp and the vinyl from Creep Records) have put together a tremendous collection of 13 songs that span the ‘Mats recording career played by a group of bands and singers that I’ve never heard of playing songs I’ve been listening to for 30 or so years.Her Heads On Fire’s “Alex Chilton” and Celebration Summer’s “Left of the Dial” have arrangements close to the original but they just reinforce how great these songs are. The real gems are the ones that feature a different take on these beloved songs. Crazy Tom Martin’s “Sadly Beautiful” is electronically infused and Sammy Kay has an acoustic take and a Tom Waits vocal on “Favorite Things.”
REISSUE
Pernice Brothers, Overcome By Happiness
I know I sound like a broken CD at times (because for a decade or so it was very difficult to buy a vinyl copy of an album in the US) but like 2001's Meaningless by Jon Brion (the vinyl release was in 2022) the Pernice Brothers great 1998 album Overcome By Happiness (New West Records) has finally been made available on a wonderful sounding remastered vinyl. Thanks to an arrangement with New West you can not only get yourself a single vinyl version of the 25th anniversary edition of Overcome but there's also a gorgeous deluxe edition with a second disc of pre-Overcome singles (the single version of "Monkey Suit" featuring both Joe and Bob Pernice is nearly worth the price of the whole thing), album demos, and a hardback book with comments by Joe and as well as lyrics. Another bonus of the coming together of New West and Pernice is the upcoming new solo album Who Will You Believe from Joe Pernice (now available for preorder here).
