16 Again: 16 songs from 11 years now on vinyl

By Henry Lipput

The wonderful Dot Dash collection, 16 Again (Country Mile Records), is the first time these songs have been on vinyl and it’s a great way to hear them (but you really need to visit, or revisit as the case may be, the original CDs to get the whole sonic picture). 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. 

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" is one). The title 16 Again refers to the fact that these songs (all but one but more on that later) have been previously available on all seven of their albums released by Wally Salem’s The Beautiful Music label between 2011 and 2022.

Seven of the eight songs on Side One of 16 Again focus on the band’s two most recent albums Madman in The Rain and Proto Retro. Both of these albums were recorded with the current Dot Dash lineup of Terry Banks (guitar), Hunter Bennett (bass), and Danny Ingram (drums) and a have crisper, poppier sound thanks to producer Geoff Sanoff and both albums are full of bangers. The last track on Side One, “Holly Garland,” is from 2016’s Searchlights but although it has a slightly different lineup it fits right in.

Banks, Bennett, and Ingram have been with the band since 2011’s Spark>Flame>Ember>Ash but between that album and 2016’s Searchlights there were other lead guitarists. But since they left, Banks has expertly handled both all guitar duties and continues to contribute lead vocals. Banks has the perfect power pop voice and his guitar work is clean and drives the songs as do the brilliant rhythm section of Bennett and Ingram.

Side Two continues this musical journey with songs from the other four albums beginning with “Tatters” from 2015’s Earthquakes & Tidal Waves and ending with “There and Back Again” from their debut release in 2011. But they’re not done yet: 16 Again ends with Dot Dash’s cover of Television Personalities’ “Jackanory Stories” which was included on Volume 4 of The Beautiful Music’s series of tributes to Television Personalities.

This is what all of the hoopla is about

 By Henry Lipput

HOOPLA, the new album by SUPER 8 (The Beautiful Music/Bandcamp), is a cornucopia of musical delights. Written and performed by the super-talented one-man band Paul Ryan, also known as Trip, he’s been releasing high-quality tuneage since 2018 (including the amazing hat trick of three albums of all new material that year).

The new album not only continues his streak of presenting technicolor melodies (the title of his first 2018 album) but the time he’s spent since then, tinkering in his shed, has given his songs more textures, sounds, and arrangements. You can hear this all over the new album. The song “Our Town” starts in skiffle mode but when it begins to rock about halfway through you’d be mistaken if you thought there was full band hitting its stride in his backyard hideaway.

You can also hear it on “Jennifer Anne,” one of my favorite songs on the album. I’m not sure if I’m correct in calling this recording a suite but in a little over three minutes it has at least three different melodies, arrangements, and lyrics looking at the woman in the song in three different ways (and that’s not including a bridge).

The Fabs influence makes a few appearances on HOOPLA. Trip channels his inner George Martin on the opening track “For My Friends,” a salute to the folks who have supported his work over the years. “All My Worries” has a very solo Lennon vibe and there’s a lovely “Dear Prudence”-like acoustic guitar lick in there as well. Trip then plays a bouncy Macca sounding piano for “Out of My Head.”

I realize I’m not the first one to bring up the way The Beatles have made their mark on the music of SUPER 8 but I also want to point out they’re not the only band or solo artist that have become part of his musical grab bag. Over the last five years he’s recorded covers by, among others, BMX Bandits, Neil Diamond, The Replacements, The Beach Boys, Shack, and My Bloody Valentine.

And although he hasn’t covered a song from the XTC catalog, on HOOPLA he has built on a fragment of a song by Andy Partridge. In completing the track he’s created a Dukes of Stratosphere-worthy slice of psychedelic pop.

Three madmen but one sound

 By Henry Lipput

Madman in the Rain (The Beautiful Music), the new album from Washington, D.C.’s own Dot Dash, is a jangle-filled, melodic treat and the long-awaited follow-up to the band’s most excellent 2018 Proto Retro.

What have they been doing during the time between the albums? Well, if you follow any of the Dot Dash social media feeds, you know they’ve been touring and performing, probably playing songs from Madman in the Rain and no doubt giving audiences a thrill with the new sounds (and they're touring behind the album as well).

One of the highlights of listening to Madman in the Rain is the extremely clean mix. Producer Geoff Sanoff (he also plays keyboards on the album, occasionally channeling his inner Steve Neive) proves that the trio of Terry Banks (guitar and vocals), Hunter Bennett (bass), and Danny Ingram (drums) are equal partners in the band’s sound.

Another highlight is the clever lyrics. On “Airwaves” they use a word that gives you the (correct) impression that here is a thinking man’s jangle: “So goodbye and good luck/I hope things turn out alright/Where you’re going/In the gloaming/In the night.”

“Trip Over Clouds” has both some wordplay and Joan of Arc: “Joan of Arc/I put the fire out/But beware of sparks/It’s a lost art playing Name That Tune/While you’re whistling in the dark.” Both “Space Junk, Satellites” and “Tense & Nervous” have references to songs by The Jesus and Mary Chain, Everything but the Girl, The Cars, and The Knack. “Tense & Nervous” also tells the story of a wild road trip: “Caught a ride on a whirling tornado/Ending up in Juarez on the way to Laredo/How did I get here?/ How can I get back?/To Candy-O and Get the Knack?”

Armstrong doesn’t sound like anyone else

 By Henry Lipput

If you follow Armstrong (aka Julian Pitt) on Twitter I’m sure you’ve noticed that when he’s tweeting about one of his songs he adds a list of other musicians to attract notice to his work. I’m here to tell you (and him) that he doesn’t need to do that anymore.

With the release of his radiant third album Happy Graffiti (TheBeautiful Music/Country Mile Records) Armstrong has made it clear, with his trademark DIY use of vocals, acoustic guitars, and snyths, he doesn’t sound like anyone else because he has a sound all his own. But if some of the songs on the new album sound familiar it’s not because they sound like someone else; it’s because for the past year or so he’s been tweeting early versions of some of these songs and one of them, “Happy Someone,” was released as a single last year.

One of the themes in Armstrong’s work is the idea of walking with a friend or partner and having a conversation to work out problems (“Keep on Walking” and “Eyes Wide Open”). “Keep on Walking” is also one of Happy Graffiti’s songs in which upbeat arrangements bump up against melancholy lyrics: “But I don’t feel afraid/I keep walking through a summer’s day/Keep on walking with me.” And on “Outside Looking In:” “I was always on the outside looking in/I broke the chains that bind my heart/That hold me down and never let me go.”

The lovely, gentle “Songbird” recalls McCartney’s avian flights and “In A Memory” has a piano-based “Let It Be”/”The Long and Winding Road” feel to it. “Happy Someone” gives a lift to Happy Graffiti with its positive message of lessons learned: “Time will tell if we’ve learned our lessons/Opened up the world to feel like something new/Time to be that person/Be that someone/Be that someone/Life lights up the sky full of angels.”

Instrumental tracks on an album can feel as if the songwriter can’t quite come up with the words to fit the melody. Happy Graffiti’s “Days Turn into Months,” however, is unique in that it fits just right in the running order and the album as a whole.

Trip & Ellie are throwing a party and it's going to last all summer long

By Henry Lipput

In late May 1967 The Beatles released a concept album in what Paul McCartney called a “golden summer,” and the album was played around the world all season. And despite our current problems and concerns, Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8 have just released a wonderful album that can turn, to paraphrase Mr. Shakespeare, our summer of discontent into our very own golden summer and can brighten our lives all season long. 

LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 (US: Lisa Mychols, Bandcamp / Canada: The Beautiful Music label / UK: SUPER 8, Bandcamp) is also 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 a future romance for others.

LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8 is a meeting of musical minds and a true collaboration with both of them writing lyrics and music. As she sings in the joyous “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” they were “changing words to make better sense”  and turning up the tunes a few degrees to create the perfect mix.

After their first musical partnership (the fantastic single “Timebomb“ which is featured on the new album), singer/songwriter/“Queen of Power Pop” and Californian Lisa 'Ellie' Mychols and UK-based singer/songwriter/mad-scientist-in-his-home-studio Paul “Trip” Ryan decided to just keep going. They wrote and recorded an entire album using every trans-Atlantic means possible to send each other ideas, music, lyrics, and even videos. 

Lisa is the cool girl who’s not your girlfriend but your friend. She whispers secrets in your ear and giggles when you say funny things. You’d be really mad at her boyfriend but it’s your best friend Trip and you think this couple is perfect especially because you’re spending the summer hanging out with them and they‘re singing terrific songs.

These terrific songs include the opening track, the psychedelic “What Will Be?,” the album’s overture and, with its brief lyrical passages, it sets up the idea of songwriting as a way of finding the right recipe. There’s also a monster bass line and fuzzed-up guitar from Trip. Following is the theme song “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” which is a give-and-take between the two as they cook up their musical partnership. A vocal give-and-take is also part of “Honey Bee,” another pre-album single and a pop treasure that will find you dancing around your living room all summer to this tune. 

“You & Me, Me & You” is another pop delight and showcases Lisa‘s ability to express what being in love sounds like.  In many ways it’s about the mysteries of love: You can see someone at a school yard as kids and barely notice them but years later you fall in love with the person.  

“Flying Close To The Sun” compares falling in love with Icarus’ attempt to reach that far-away star; as a result you will either connect with a true soul mate or come crashing down to earth. It’s another gorgeous vocal turn by Lisa and an understated accompaniment from Trip with strummed guitar and just the right amount of Mellotron fills. On the flip side of love, the up-beat, short, and sweet “Laguna Nights To Remember” and the bossa nova-inflected “Your Summer Theme” describe what happens when everything goes right in a relationship.

Trip takes the lead on the cover of the late, great Kenny Rankin’s “Peaceful.” As an addition to an album of mostly summer love songs it fits perfectly as it reflects the feeling you have after a day spent with your loved one.

By the way, if you buy the CD of LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8  you’ll get a secret track that’s not available anywhere else.

Next time: This tugboat captain is pulling a brilliant pop tune