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. 

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.

Triple Play #1

 By Henry Lipput

This is the first of a Triple Play series containing a trio of albums I’ve been enjoying. First up are releases from Marshall Holland, Nick Frater, and The Dupont Circles. 

Marshall Holland

Pop tunesmith Marshall Holland’s Paper Airplane (Bandcamp/Mystery Lawn Music) is full of glorious pop tunes that show off a voice that will remind you of McCartney and his heirs Glenn Tilbrook and David Mead.

And it’s not only the voice: many of the songs on Paper Airplane are influenced by the music of the 60’s and 70’s but Holland has put them in a blender and made them his own. For example, the opening track, “Our Fate,” with its pounding drumbeat, electric guitar fills, and some synth would have fit nicely on early Squeeze albums.

“When The Rain Comes” is straight from 60’s AM radio heaven. The lovely, acoustic “A Hand Holds A Bird” has a beautiful, just-right string arrangement supporting his vocal. It’s a sound that recalls McCartney songs from “I Will” to Egypt Station’s “Happy With You.”

“I’m Checking Out” has a Gene Clark-era Byrds vibe. The title track has shimmering lead guitar, layered vocals, and synths; a wonderful coda repeats the lyric line “We’ll take a ride on my paper airplane” and the song just lifts off like, well like a paper airplane. And “Look Into My Eyes” is the kind of melancholy pop that Emitt Rhodes was known for.

Nick Frater

Nick Frater’s Fast & Loose (Big Stir Records) begins with an instrumental title song that sounds like the Attractions covering a Booker T and the MGs track. “Let’s Hear It For Love” has a big sound and is ELO without the sheen that Jeff Lynne added to nearly everything he produced. “Luna” and “California Waits” are upbeat pop tunes with really fine 70’s AM radio sounds.

But it’s the ballads that really shine on Fast & Loose. “That Ship Has Sailed” is lovely and its ingredients recall McCartney and Tears For Fears circa Songs From The Big Chair. It’s less than two minutes long but you really want it to last longer. 

“Moonstruck” is another gem and the bridge with “I don’t know what you see in the dark/Satellites and falling stars/Ambulances passing cars” is a wonderful little section. And “Endless Summertime Blues” is wonderful with its flugelhorn intro and a very Bacharach feel.

The Dupont Circles

Thirty years (give or take) in the making, The Dupont Circles from Washington, D.C., have finally released their debut album In Search of the Family Gredunza (The Beautiful Music).

Working with the band over the last five years, Wally Salem’s The Beautiful Music label put together an album that covers all of The Dupont Circles sounds from jangle and garage to mid-60’s British pop.

R.E.M. was one of the most influential American bands of the 1980s. So it’s not surprising that early songs from The Dupont Circles, like “Everywhere Girl“ and “My Picasso Girlfriend,“ have the joyous jangle that Peter Buck inherited from Roger McGuinn and George Harrison.

At other times, The Dupont Circles put down their Rickenbackers and turned up the volume on a cheesy organ to make a sound that harked back to The Sir Douglas Quintet and ? And the Mysterians. “How I Learned To Love The Bomb” and “Sarah The Weather Girl” are perfect examples and “Get Down Off My Back” is The Rolling Stones’ ”Get Off Of My Cloud” played by a bar band. 

In between, The Dupont Circles dipped their toes into Ray Davies territory. “Man In The Snuff Shop” is a musical mind meld between Peter Buck and The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society. “Tales Of Flossie Fillet” is a delightful call back to mid-period Kinks’ songs like “Dedicated Follower Of Fashion” and “Sunny Afternoon.”

Next time: The Nature Strip branches out