Dread never sounded so good

By Henry Lipput

On Visions In The Bowling Alley (Big Stir Records), the great sounding new album from The Jack Rubies, the faders are pushed to their limit and the troop of female background singers add, depending on the song’s lyrics, either a hint of lust or more than a hint of menace. Taken all together it’s a toxic mix that mirrors the toxic society in which we now live.

Visions In The Bowling Alley is a dreadful (as in “full of dread”) album warning us of not only the dangers that await us but also letting us know that many of them are already here. For example, “Are We Being Recorded?,” the album’s first single released earlier this year addresses not only the surveillance state we are forced to deal with every day but also the algorithms that take notice of everything we watch or listen to on whatever form of media we are using.

And speaking of dread, if such a thing has a song it would be “This Is Not A Joke” which begins with the sound of an upcoming disaster, a message from the future letting us know the dread we’re fearing might already be here: “This is not a joke/The lost look in your eyes/The rules are there are no rules.” The song gets under your skin and not in a good way.

And don’t even think of having a stable or lasting relationship. On the bass-heavy “Phantom” swirling backwards guitar licks combine with a violin played by the devil himself. Following a breakup a devastated man moves to a slum with probably the only possessions he can carry to what the lyrics describe as “a senseless killing neighborhood.”  Once there he continues to see his former loved one wherever he looks or wherever he is and wonders if she’s actually there or a figment of his broken(-hearted) mind.

Lead singer Ian Wright and the full band have a field day with the bluesy “Swamp Snake.” It’s a terrific listen with Wright spouting metaphors as he eases himself into someone’s bedroom.

“Be Good Or Be Gone” might seem like a threat at the beginning of a relationship but on this song it’s more of a kiss-off message at the end of one: “You can do anything you wanna do I feel no pain/That’s what I say even though it isn’t true/That’s what I say now I’ve lost you/Be good or be gone babe.” Guitarist SD Ineson adds Jagger-like harp fills to the mix and background singers Annabel Wright and Cat Henry become an essential element to the song’s sound.

New Singles From The Legal Matters and The Jack Rubies

By Henry Lipput

2026 is already starting to look like a good year for music. Both The Legal Matters and The Jack Rubies have both released singles for albums coming out early next year by Big Stir Records.

“Everybody Knows” – The Legal Matters

Next year it will be six years since Chapter Three, the last album by Michigan’s The Legal Matters, came out in 2021. I became a big fan with their brilliant second album Conrad (2016) and so it came as great news that Lost At Sea will be available early next year.

The new single, “Everybody Knows,” is the kind of wonderful pop for which The Legal Matters is known. The core band is made up of Keith Klingensmith, Andy Reed, and Chris Richards. Richards is lead vocalist on the new single and all three take turns in the spotlight. The trio also provides the soaring harmonies that lift the songs to Fab heights.

"Greedy" -- The Jack Rubies

“Greedy” is the second single and the lead-off track from Visions In The Bowling Alley (out on January 2026), the new album from The Jack Rubies. These post-punk and C86 veterans’ comeback album Clocks Are Out Of Time was a Pure Pop fav last year. 

With “Greedy” The Jack Rubies continue to mine the vein of what our (insert your own adjective) world has become. Following the single “Are We Being Recorded?”, a look at the surveillance state, the new song asks the musical question “When is it ever enough” and responds to the many -illionaires that are made each day: “What you have you do not need.”

All of this might sound more than a bit overbearing and scholarly but you don’t have to worry – because it rocks!

Big Stir Records doubles down on the scary

By Henry Lipput

 “Are we being recorded?”

Last year the UK’s The Jack Rubies released two songs that fit perfectly with the Halloween spirt we’re celebrating right now. But both “Poltergeist” and “Phantom” were also metaphors for a relationship on the skids.

The band’s latest release, the great sounding “Are We Being Recorded?” (Big Stir Records) is even scarier because it deals with a real threat to more than just a couple of kids on the outs. The surveillance state is tracking our every move and there’s a real menace from hackers trying to get into our phones and computers.  Even the algorithms attached to the streaming services we use to watch our favorite programs and listen to our favorite tunes gather information in order to suggest what we should do next.

“You’re in my home sniffing ‘round/What have you found? Mr. Smith and Jones/Not your real names of course” sings the band’s Ian Smith (if that’s his real name). They go on to demand his real location but they already know and will delete his social media accounts.

Sounds like more trick than treat.

Chilling, Thrilling Hooks and Haunted Harmonies 

Did someone mention “Phantom?”

Chilling, Thrilling Hooks and Haunted Harmonies (Big Stir Records), is a frighteningly terrific new collection of Halloween-related tunes (including a spooky remix of "Phantom") interspersed with spoken-word horror stories presented as if Wolfman Jack was really a werewolf. The collection is a perfect accompaniment for your yearly candy and apple haunted house giveaways or your monthly neighborhood séance. (The collection is available on CD, digital, and a deluxe double LP in a gatefold package that unfolds to reveal a playable board game board.)

Speaking of hooks and harmonies, this Big Stir collection contains 21 tracks from the label’s artists. I could list my favorites but I'll just let the members of The Armoires tell you all about it.

Pop bliss

By Henry Lipput

Consequences + Detours (Big Stir Records) is the poptastic second album from the Michigan-based Crossword Smiles. And you would expect nothing less from Chip Saam (late of the much-loved and missed band The Hangabouts) and Tom Curliss (of Tom Curliss and The 46% -- of which Saam is a member).

The album kicks off with “Counting By Fives” and “Fall All Over Myself” a pair of pop rock gems. You can just imagine how cool it would be to hear these songs done live (as far as I know Crossword Smiles has only performed twice at the release concerts for their debut album and the new one).

Consequences + Detours is full of the kind of pop bliss and clever lyrics that aren’t often found together but this album has them in spades. For example, “Millicent” (one of my favorite songs on the album) is chock full of clever lyrics that are used to fully tell a story: “You bought a ticket on a plane/I’ll see you when you’re back from Spain/We can start a brand new deal/I don’t know where you went/but the money’s all spent/To what extent is it real?” The song also has a terrific arrangement with both mandolin and accordion up front in the mix.

For me, “Millicent” is in many ways a sequel to “Taking You To Leave Me” from The Hangabouts’ Kits & Cats and Saxon Wives album, a song about airports and leaving on a jet plane. 

“Navigator Heart” was co-written with Greg Addington (also of The Hangabouts and now recording as Suburban Hi Fi) and the vocals have an early Posies feel (before they went all grunge). “Looking for you/With my navigator heart/Still got a map/But I don’t know where to start.” Another favorite is “Girls Club” one of the many story songs on Consequences + Detours that recall the lyrical work of Ray Davies and Paul McCartney.

“Kismet” is a gorgeous straight-on love song about infatuation at first kiss and is the kind of pop classic written in the ‘60s. The essence of the song compares the feeling of a new love to the feeling that it was meant to be. “I know you go by something different/but for now I call you Kismet.”

Joy to the World! Like The First Time by The Bablers is reviewed and front man Arto Tamminen answers the Pure Pop Phive

By Henry Lipput

25 years ago The Bablers released their album Like The First Time – but only in Japan and Finland, their native country. After that the album, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.

But a few years ago their current label, the California-based Big Stir Records, has been releasing singles from Like The First Time which was only whetting the appetites of power pop devotees as to whether the entire album would be made available at a future date.

That time is now. Joy to the world!

For the first time Like The First Time (Big Stir Records) is out now for the whole world to enjoy. If, like me, prior to the album’s release you’ve only heard the great power pop bangers (like the opening track “You Are The One For Me” ) you’re really in for a treat because the ballads are just as good – and all together make the whole album a terrific listen. And although the Big Stir release has a new track listing and new mixes and arrangements we’re not dealing with what Capitol records did to The Beatles albums pre-Pepper – this is the album The Bablers want us to hear and the way they want us to hear it.

The album’s power pop rave ups are the sounds The Bablers have developed since they got together in the 1970s. Songs like “You Are The One For Me,” the Peter Gunn-with-a-bullet of “Thinking Of You,” and “Holding Me Tight Tonight” all show the band working at full steam.

On the wonderful ballads the band’s influences show but none of this takes away from what The Bablers have done with them. “Together Forever” recalls solo McCartney while The Bablers channel solo Lennon with “In This World.”

The Bablers’ Arto Tamminen answers the Pure Pop Phive

How would you describe your music?

Pop with a rock attitude… or as our slogan says: “The best possible organic pop music. No artificial ingredients.” We use no samples, no autotune – no artificial ingredients!

What/who are your major influences?

Each member of the band has different preferences. I was born and raised in a family where music was everywhere. Everyone played an instrument or sang in a choir.

My first influences were classical – from Sibelius (the Finnish composer) to Bach, Mozart, and the rest of those guys. I remember we had "go-to-sleep music" when we were very young, and I still remember falling asleep to those beautiful classical pieces. I started playing the cello when I was six, and it has stayed with me ever since – you can hear it on our new album, on tracks like “Where The Wind Blows Free.” So classical music is a big one!

Then came jazz, fusion, progressive rock, folk-rock, Irish folk, and all that British Invasion stuff – plus Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. I got into those through my older brothers, who had about 1000 vinyl records in our "music room," where we had a drum kit, a Vox AC30, a Gibson SG, acoustic guitars… and my mother’s piano, which I still use in our recordings!

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

Not at the moment. But you never know! If something interesting comes up, we’re open to hitting the road. For live shows, we’d need a fifth member – a multi-instrumentalist – to make it possible to play all the tracks from Psychadilly Circus and Like The First Time. In some arrangements, four guys just don’t have enough hands. 😊

Everyone's pretty busy playing with other bands and working on recordings. Janne, our drummer, and Pekka, our bassist/keyboardist, are on the list of the top 10 most recorded musicians in Finland – and they’re constantly touring with top Finnish artists, so they’re really in demand! Hannu now works full-time in a recording studio. He also used to do a lot of touring and producing – which he still does.

Nevertheless - this is a secret - we are working on new Bablers material.

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

I’m the only one with an "honest day job" at the moment. The others work with music 24/7. I used to be a full-time musician for almost eight years, but lately I’ve been working as a director at a copyright licensing agency.

What's your favorite album of all time  (that's not one of yours)?

I’ve never really thought about that. But if I had to choose right now, I’d pick Mstislav Rostropovich’s recording of J.S. Bach’s six suites for solo cello. It has everything!

Sometimes half is more than enough

By Henry Lipput

If you remember listening to AM radio in the ‘60s and early ‘70s (before you had a receiver that allowed you to get free-form FM radio), not only are you getting to be pretty old now but you know what it was like to hear blast after blast of pop tunes.

Well that’s what you get with Pop Treasures (Big Stir Records) an exceedingly cool collection of songs that were released over a span of 50 years and now covered by The Half-Cubes. The Half-Cubes are, as their name suggests, half of Power Pop Hall of Famers The Flashcubes. On Pop Treasures Gary Frenay (drums and lead vocals) and Tommy Allen (bass and acoustic guitar) of The Flashcubes get a little help from the guitar army of Randy Klawson and Fernando Perdomo.

Throughout Pop Treasures The Half-Cubes revel in not only showing a real affection for these songs but also amping up the pop quotient in each of them as the band hopscotches from decade to decade. 

The album kicks off with a blast with a cover of “Love’s Melody” by The Motors (which was already a cover of the Searchers’ original).  “I Live,” a solo track by Jason Faulkner, following his stint with the short -lived but much -loved group The Grays in the mid-90s, has much the same feel as the songs he wrote for that group. Del Amitri’s “Not Where It’s At” is from the same decade and it’s a cool song to include in this collection and, like so many of the songs on Pop Treasures, will encourage listeners to discover the bands and artists who first recorded them. The ‘70s are represented a lot including “Let Me Make Love to You” by Flo & Eddie.

Those are just some of the songs covered by the core Half-Cubes band but for me the highlights (your results may vary) are the songs in which guests – many of which played on the original recordings – bring their still formidable skills to the music.

Bob Pernice, one half of the actual biological Pernice Brothers, contributes his guitar once again to 2003’s gorgeous “Weakest Shade of Blue” from my album of that year Yours, Mine & Ours. 

John Rubin and Tommy Dunbar of The Rubinoos are on board for the power pop gem that is “The Girl.” Two songs by former Raspberries lead vocalist and songwriter Eric Carmen are included on Pop Treasures one covered by The Half-Cubes (“Someday”) and the other one, “My Girl,” brings on Darian Sahanaja, Matt Jardine, and Jim Laspesa. All of these gentlemen have had long relationships with Brian Wilson and they bring out the Beach Boys sound of Carmen’s original.

There are also some interesting choices of songs for The Half-Cubes to cover including “Souvenir” by Orchestral Manoeuveres in the Dark – but it works.

Another Halloween treat from The Jack Rubies

By Henry Lipput

It’s scary how good this song sounds. The Jack Rubies’ new single “Phantom” (Big Stir Records) is a follow up of sorts to this year’s “Poltergeist” from the terrific Clocks Are Out Of Time album (their first in 30 years).

“Phantom” is a song that celebrates and acknowledges a time of year filled with monsters and goblins but would also, at any other time, be a major dance club hit. It’s certainly early enough in the year for the DJs in the know to pick up on this and make it part of their set (where's my 12-inch remix?). And the song is as much about the spirits that haunt us as it’s about relationships that end and create a haunted house with someone who is no longer a part of your life and seen out of the corner of your eye.

The sound of “Phantom” recalls the sounds of The Jack Rubies' original contemporaries like The Boomtown Rats (especially Mondo Bongo). There’s also some more time travel going on in the video for the song in which the band dons masks of their younger selves.

Here's the video:

The Jack Rubies are back for another shot

By Henry Lipput

Clocks Are Out Of Time, the terrific brand-new album from The Jack Rubies (Big Stir Records), their first in over 30 years, doesn’t turn back in the clocks in a daylight savings time sort of way as much as it continues the streak the band had in the late 80s and early 90s. Or to put it another way: 2024 is sounding a lot like 1988.

And although a lot of the music on Clocks Are Out Of Time can remind you of bands and musicians like The The, Lloyd Cole, and Nick Cave it’s important to remember that The Jack Rubies, along with others at that time, were soaking up influences not unlike the bands in the 60s; it was in the musical water supply and available for the taking. And it doesn’t hurt that the band on Clocks Are Out Of Time is composed of the original line-up of Ian Wright (lead vocals and guitar), SD Ineson (backing vocals and guitar), Steve Brockway (bass), Lawrence Giltane (percussion), and Peter Maxted (drums and also the album’s producer).

For me, there are two very different musical styles on Clocks Are Out Of Time. There’s the “slightly bruised and battered positivity,” as singer and songwriter Ian Wright put it, of the songs. On the “slightly bruised” corner is the noirish “Hark” with its line “Does anyone know the way back?” “Poltergeist” is a rollicking scare fest and “Read My Mind” is a love song doubling as a warning. Wright’s vocal does nothing to reassure the listener/target he only has good intentions.

It should come as no surprise my favorite set of songs are the ones falling under the “battered positivity” flag. Even though The Jack Rubies were a year of two late to be included in NME’s fabled original C86 collection, the songs “Angeline Soul” and “Heaven Shook Me” would have not only fit perfectly on that cassette but would have made a killer double A-side single. You can listen for yourself here:

“Heaven” is the best of the best. It has a big, brassy arrangement and tight playing by the band. It’s a glorious track and if there’s any justice in this world it should be the next single from Clocks Are Out Of Time but also a major hit.

Thinking of The Bablers

By Henry Lipput

We may never get all of Like The First Time, the album The Bablers only released in Japan and Finland (their home country), although there have been mentions of an eventual release at a future date. But as of now we’ve been treated to four singles from the album which put together give one the impression that when it is released to the rest of the world it will surely be a very, very big hit.

“Thinking Of You” (Big Stir Records), the new 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.

Usually, bands make singles available to generate interest in a forthcoming album that has yet to see the light of day but The Bablers seem to be doing it in reverse. And I have no problem with this when what we’re getting bit by bit is this good. Keep babbling gents!

New Dolph Chaney single helps to make Summer last longer

By Henry Lipput

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"). 

What comes from doing nothing

By Henry Lipput

Starting out with what seems to be an apology to a friend for not visiting them in the hospital during their last days, Graham Parker’s new song “We Did Nothing” (Big Stir Records ) is instead an acknowledgement of what we have done, and continue to do, to Planet Earth. It’s the second single before the release of his new album with his band The Goldtops, Last Chance To Learn The Twist, out on September 8^th (Big Stir Records).  

Strumming an acoustic guitar, and with an understated backing from The Goldtops, Graham sends an urgent, if late, message about what we are seeing as a result of our less-than-caring global stewardship: “I knew you were slipping away by the day/What did I do?/I did nothing/The tone of your sky was a gun-metal grey/What did I do?/I did nothing.” And then there’s swimming in the cool waters of a melting ice cap.

The first time I listened to “We Did Nothing” I thought of the quote/prose poem by German Pastor Martin Niemoller which begins “First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out.”  Whether Parker used these words as a template for his song I have no way of knowing. Following the devastation of World War II Niemoller had hoped things would be different in the future.

But Parker knows there may not be a next time because of where we are with climate change. We’re already there. And it’s not looking good.

Fresh from the blender

 By Henry Lipput

What do you get when you put a musical mix of styles in a blender and hit the puree button? If you’re lucky (and it turns out we definitely are this time) you’ll end up with The Power Of And (Big Stir Records) the debut solo album from Steve Stoeckel – and it’s a delight!

The Power Of And alternates between the Rockpile rockabilly of “Laura Lynn” to the wonderful acoustic treats of the title song, “Heather Gray,” “Birds” (a lovely melody as good as anything on a McCartney album), and “Strange Cameo” with its “I’ll Follow The Sun” vibe.

Stoeckel is a founding member of Power Pop Hall of Famers The Spongetones so it’s not surprising the power and the pop is brought out in force on “Christine” in which Stoeckel double tracks his vocal and sounds like the Everly Brothers doing “Lucille.” His duet with Irene Pena on “Why” also suggests not only the Everlys but also the foreverly album in which Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day dropped his snarl and teamed up with Nora Jones for an album of Everly Brothers songs.

“If/Then” is where the Nick Drake influence comes in and it includes some wonderful Robert Kirby-like strings. “Hummingbird” could have been written by Andy Partridge and is a sister to “Ladybird” on XTC’s Mummer album. And I couldn’t help but think of George Harrison when listening to “Just One Kiss” with its opening mandolin like something off Brainwashed.

This crossword is no puzzle

 By Henry Lipput

Ringing guitars, short sharp bass lines, wonderful close harmonies, and tunes a-plenty, that’s what you get on Pressed & Ironed, the debut album from Crossword Smiles (Big Stir Records).

The band is a brand-new collaboration between Detroit, Michigan, pop stalwarts Tom Curless (guitar, drums, and vocals) of Your Gracious Host and solo efforts and Chip Saam (bass and vocals) of The Hangabouts as well Curless’s backing band The 46% (and Neighborhood Weekly Radio’s Indie Pop Takeout).  Inspired by the sound of 80’s and 90’s college radio, Curless and Saam dip into their musical grab bags to create songs that both reflect and build on what they’ve grown up listening to.

“Feet on the Ground” is the blast that begins the album. It’s the sound of Big Star if Chris Bell was still in the band for the Radio City sessions (Pressed & Iron’s “Take It on the Chin” is the corresponding Alex Chilton track). Another nod to their influences is highlighted in “This Little Town.” With its Amanda Brown-sounding violin and Robert Forster-like rhythmic guitar jabs, it’s like the late, great Go-Betweens take on Simon & Garfunkel’s “My Little Town.” And what can I say about the sad and beautiful “October Leaves?” It’s a song about broken hearts that might break yours as well.

The album’s first single, “Parallel Lines,” is infused with that college radio vibe and the video would have been a staple on MTV’s 120 Minutes. The second single, “The Girl with a Penchant for Yellow,” is kicked off with an A Hard Day’s Night guitar crash and a dreamy musical phrase. It’s about a woman who wants to be noticed and packs her suitcase as if she’s leaving home; but she’s in a world of her own as she has her “ears on tight.” There’s also a man on the move with “his briefcase packed and ready to pick a fight” with the girl.

Although there’s no resolution, what is clear is the song brings along Saam’s bandmates from The Hangabouts, Greg Addington and John Lowry. Even cooler is, following the release of Pressed & Ironed, it was announced that Curless would be joining The Hangabouts and the band was working on new material for a forthcoming album. Curless and Saam will be joined by Addington and Lowry at a Record Release Party for Pressed & Ironed on January 6^th at Trinity House (opening the show is Pure Pop fav Chris Richards of The Legal Matters and Chris Richards and the Subtractions)! You can get tickets here.

“Second Guesser” is a delight with some fine backing vocals (something you might have heard on a Beatles record; are they referencing “Girl” in the middle eight?) and excellent lead guitar work. Like “The Girl with a Penchant for Yellow,” but more fleshed out, it’s a story song. It’s left up to the listener as to whether these two become Terry and Julie or they never meet up because they think too much about it.

The very complete Nick Frater

 By Henry Lipput

Glenn Tilbrook, lead singer, lead guitarist, and the melody half of the Difford and Tilbrook musical partnership, didn’t make a solo album until 2001’s The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook in between one the many Squeeze retrofittings. But, just for the sake of argument, what if he had made such an album between his band’s Argybargy and East Side Story?

That album would sound very much like Nick Frater’s Aerodrome Motel (Big Stir Records). Like Tilbrook, Nick Frater is always there with a cracking tune. And his latest, his third album in three years, is no exception.

The lead-off track from Frater’s Aerodrome Motel, “The Pleasure is Mine,” is a perfect example, not only in the melody but also in the vocal.  It’s what Frater does best; he adapts a style and makes it his own.

Frater has always seemed to be something of a musical magpie; in earlier reviews (for 2020’s Fast & Loose and 2021’s Earworms [a very apt title because that’s what his songs are] I’ve compared the sound of his songs to Raspberries, Wings, Elton John, Emitt Rhodes, and Big Star.

But the songs on Aerodrome Motel have more of a consistent sound and in doing so make the case (whether he's aware of it or not) for the solo album Glenn Tilbrook didn’t make. Frater’s music has always looked back to the 70s and 80s for inspiration so it’s no surprise he’s picked one of the most melodic bands (and a specific musician) from that era to dig into and to pay tribute. 

Two from Big Stir: Lannie Flowers and Anton Barbeau

 By Henry Lipput

LANNIE FLOWERS, FLAVOR OF THE MONTH

One of my favorite discoveries of 2021 was the reissue of Lannie Flower’s album Home. Originally released in 2019 by Spyderpop Records, the reissue was the result of a partnership with Big Stir Records. In 2018 Flowers was working on the songs that would become Home but also coming up with a lot of songs that didn’t fit his vision of the album. Rather than putting those tunes aside he decided to issue them as free monthly downloads as a March to Home series.

The new Lannie Flowers album, Flavor of the Month (SyderpopRecords/Big Stir Records), not only contains all of the March to Home tracks (which have been personally remixed by Flowers) but also the new single “Summer Blue” and is the first physical release of these songs. The album is a masterful popscape of the people and places, working folks, and women he has known or wants to know.

The straight-up rock and roll (with some power pop thrown in for good measure) on the title track and “Don’t Make Me Wait” are recommended if you like the early Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers especially Damn the Torpedoes The album also features the pop delights of “Summer Blue,” “This One,” and “Day Glow All Night.” “About You” begins with an acoustic guitar and a string section, then moves into a pop/rock middle and concludes by repeating the opening’s arrangement; it’s a suite piece of work.

Of course one of the many things I like about Flowers is his use of Beatles references. For example, he surely knows when he sings “I should have known better” on “What Did I Know” what the line and the near Mersey beat feel conjures up. And on “Lost in a Daydream” he goes all in with the Fab stuff for a magical mystery tour-de-force.

“My Street (Back Porch Version),” a song from the Home sessions, does make an appearance on Flavor Of the Month. It’s one of three versions of the song, with one on the Home album and the other (the one I like best), the “Nashville Version,” was released last year as the B-side to the “Home” single.

ANTON BARBEAU, POWER POP!!!

You never know what to expect from an Anton Barbeau album. And that’s a good thing.

His 2016 album Magic Act included the track “Heavy Psychedelic Toilet” and he has written amazing, dreamy songs for the two albums he produced for Allyson Seconds (the first of these, Bag of Kittens, was reissued by Big Stir in 2020). He has brought on former members of XTC and The Pretenders to play on his albums. And on the album Kenny vs. Thrust he enlisted two very different bands from two very different countries to provide backing for his vocals.

Barbeau’s new album, Power Pop!!! (Big Stir Records), is, due to COVID restriction, mostly a home-grown affair. It resembles his 2018 album Natural Causes in that it has songs and sounds from across the musical spectrum from the pysch-out of “The Sound,” with its lyrical references to The Byrds, The Beatles and XTC and a monster ending not unlike the ending of “It’s All Too Much,” to “Whisper in the Wind” a broken-hearted lament with an 80s drum machine beat and bass line.

The psychedelic also sound raises its head on songs like “The Never Crying Wolf Boy” and the country rave-up of “Hillbilly Village.” The ode to “Drugs” revels in the use of them but in terms of the sounds Barbeau produces it’s not what you might expect because there’s a Macca-esque piano as a foundation and a Dylan-inspired spoken word segment in the middle. The last song on the album before the instrumental "Prologue, Literally," is one of the album’s highlights. “Valerie’s Waiting” has a harpsicord and synth in addition to a wonderful vocal turn from Barbeau.

 

Stuck In Your Head

 By Henry Lipput

On his new album, Earworms (Big Stir Records) Nick Frater has come up with tunes that stick in your head and stay with you for the rest of the day -- and sometimes, if you're lucky, even longer. Frater is a UK-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who specializes in evoking the sounds of ‘60s and ‘70s pop. 

Back here in the U.S. we had AM radio in the ‘70s that played music by bands like Rasperries, Wings, early Daryl Hall/John Oates (I‘m thinking of 1973’s Abandoned Luncheonette), and piano men Elton John and Billy Joel. And although Big Star and Emitt Rhodes weren’t being played on the radio at the time they have become over the years a very big part of our musical DNA -- and Frater is certainly aware of this.

Recordng at his home in Croydon, and prevented by lockdowns from calling on his regular band and studios, Frater instead pulled together an impressive group of home recordists spread across the UK and U.S. including Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish/Beck), Darian Sahanaja (Wondermints/Brian Wilson), Mike Randle (Love/Baby Lemonade), Dana Countryman, drummer-in-a-closet Nick Bertling, and many others. 

The first track on the album, “It’s All Rumours,” is a rave-up that recalls the guitars and lead vocal of Eric Carmen and company. “Buggin’ Out” is a pop treat as well as a mashup of decades with it’s references to ‘50s doo wop backing vocals and  Abbey Road-era George Harrison guitar. 

“What’s With Your Heavy Heart” is both a musical and lyrical tribute to Emitt Rhodes. The line “What’s with your heavy heart?/Love is just another to fall apart/On a second chance/Falling with my face on the floor” makes it hard not to think of the Rhodes track “Face On The Floor” from his 1970 self-titled album.

“Lucky Strike” begins with a Supertramp vamp and although Frater’s fellow pop traveler, the late, great Owsley, wasn't around in the 70s, his influence can be heard on the melody lines of this song as well as Earworm’s “Not Born Again.”

The lovely “Star-Crossed” is the song McCartney never wrote for his albums Red Rose Speedway or Venus And Mars. And the short, sweet “How To Survive Somebody” is another Raspberries callback that starts quietly with its choral-like backing vocals and builds to a musical crescendo.

Frater has said he wanted to “make an album that sounds and feels like a lost treasure from the mid '70s melodic rock scene,” and he delivers the goods. In addition, the amazing album cover by Adam Mallett, an homage to the great Klaus Voormann cover for Revolver, is just icing on the cake.

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