Ticking Haze, the debut album from Shapes Like People, is reviewed and Kat and Carl Mann answer the Pure Pop Phive

By Henry Lipput

Ticking Haze (Jangleshop Records), the debut album from Shapes Like People, is rich with melodies, full of yearnings for love and a better life, and the offerings of a hand of support to lovers and friends.

It’s appropriate that Ticking Haze begins with the song “Ambition Is Your Friend” with the lines “Don’t punish me for trying/Ambition is your friend” because Carl Mann, one half of the husband-and-wife duo that makes up Shapes Like People, is one of the most ambitious people I know of in the indie music industry. He began work on Ticking Haze after two years of work on last year’s Daysdream, a two LP, 16 song collection (and one of the best albums of 2024) from his other band The Shop Window (he sang lead vocals and played lead guitar, keyboard, and percussion and he also produced the whole thing).

Carl began writing song to pitch to other singers and asked his wife Kat, who works in the film industry, to provide female vocals so he could hear what it sounded like (Kat is no stranger to singing as she provided backing vocals to three of Carl’s songs on Daysdream). He decided to keep her vocals and went to work writing more songs for what would eventually become Ticking Haze.

With jangle-meister Carl at the helm and Kat’s double-tracked vocals on songs like the new pop classic “When The Radio Plays” Shapes Like People have a tendency to sound like Kirsty Maccoll covering a Smiths song.

Although “When The Radio Plays” and “A New Crown” are not set along side each other on the album’s track listing they are two sides of the same look at life in a city. In “When The Radio Plays” a woman watches the missed buses go by in the same way she has missed opportunities to find love. In the gentle “A New Crown” this woman has also dealt with buses but in a different way: “I’ve done time in the city smoke/Had to leave before I choked” and decides to leave for a life in the country with its “shade from an old chestnut tree’ and “blissful scenes with natural stone.”

Other highlights on Ticking Haze include the beautiful, hopeful “Weathering” with lyrics that work as life lessons and conjure up “weathering the storm” and “taking the breaks off.” And on the upbeat, alt-Country tune “The Ship Has Sailed” I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Kat and Carl were wearing Stetsons during the recording.

Kat and Carl answer the Pure Pop Phive

How would you describe your music?

Carl: It has elements of all the music we love - Janglepop, Dreampop, Shoegaze, Indiepop, and some have described it as having Folky vibes here and there. 

Kat: When we make music we’re not really thinking about genre, we’re just trying to create something we love the sound of. 

What/who are your major influences?

Carl: When we first started recording demos we’d sit and listen to all the albums and artists we both loved. We mainly focused on female-fronted acts to think about where we might want to take it.  

Kat: Here are some that we both love and may have inspired us - Alvvays, Sol Seppy, Agnes Obel, Weyes Blood, Lee & Nancy, Johnny & June, Isobel & Mark, Eurythmics, Carpenters, Jenny Lewis, Mazzy Star, The Sundays, Cocteau Twins. 

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

Kat: At the moment we don’t have any plans to play live, but we’ll never say never.

Carl: Life doesn't provide us with much space for gigging, but it would be a joy to perform these songs. If we ever get around to it hopefully The Shop Window gents would step up and provide us with the band. 

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

Kat: I work full time in the film industry, while Carl is focused on music and running the label. 

Carl: We’re about to start offering production, mixing, mastering, writing/collaborations and session guitar services through Jangleshop Records, so we’re in a little period of development before opening the books up. 

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

Carl: There are so many, but if we had to pick one album that is really special to both of us it would be It’s a Wonderful Life by Sparklehorse. 

Kat: Carl introduced me to this record when we first met, and all these years later we still listen to it. We instantly get transported back to that time. Plus, it’s just an incredibly beautiful album.

 

What a day for a Daysdream

By Henry Lipput

The Shop Window’s great new album Daysdream (Jangleshop Records) is the band’s first new album in two years following A 4 Letter Word in 2022. After a clutch of singles promoting Daysdream the expectations were high for the new release.

The new album more than meets the challenge. The Shop Window has, starting with their 2019 single “Signpost,” always been a really tight band but with Daysdream they’ve hit a new high. The band sees this double LP as being two mini albums with one being Days and the other Dream. The Days disc is filled with upbeat jangle and indie pop sounds while the Dream disc is more melancholy with its dreampop/shoegaze elements.

Disc One of Daysdream kicks off with “I Run” and we’re introduced to this disc’s emphasis on the sound of Carl Mann and Syd Oxlee’s two-voices-singing-in-one-mic vocals as well as Mann’s patented 12-string jangle (it appears that Mann has never met a jangle he didn’t like and he comes up with his own on Daysdream). Second guitarist, programmer, and sax player Paul Reeves, bassist and synth player Martin Corder, and drummer Phil Elphee join Mann and Oxlee to create a rewarding listening experience (one that is made even more special when you get to hear it the album on vinyl).

Disc Two, Dream, starts with “Miracles” and the songs on these two sides are a showcase for all the band’s talents. These songs make more use of Reeves’s programming and Corder’s synths, Elphee’s drums are more prominent, and the guitars of Reeves and Mann work side by side. Daysdream closes with the sweeping “Made In Heaven,” a seven-minute glorious beauty.

Videos from Tamar Berk and The Shop Window

By Henry Lipput

Tamar Berk, "Permanent Vacation"

"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.

It’s a joy

By Henry Lipput

“It’s A High” (Bandcamp) is the latest single from The Shop Window and it’s a sunny, jangle pop delight. Songwriters Carl Mann and Syd Oxlee have crafted yet again another wonderful song that is a joy to listen to. “It’s A High” employs the sun and clouds as metaphors for how the light from a loved one’s eyes can make life so much better: “When I’m feeling down/Your light of day just washes over me/A sun within a cloud.”

The line-up for The Shop Window continues to be Mann on vocals and guitar, Oxlee also on vocals, Martin Corder on bass, and Phil Elphee on drums. They are now joined by Paul Reeves on guitar, saxophones, and assorted instruments; Reeves became part of the band when The Shop Window toured behind their last album A 4 Letter Word after it became too difficult for Mann to play two guitars at the same time (and you just know he tried to do it).

“It’s A High” is also the lead-off single from The Shop Window’s next album Daysdream out next year. It’s a two-record event with the “Days” disc filled with summer jangle and the “Dream” disc full of melancholy melodies. Daysdream is the first album released on the band’s very own Jangle Pop Records, a very DIY affair, and you can preorder it here.

A Few Of My Favorite Things, 2022 Edition – Part One: The Albums

By Henry Lipput

My favorite albums in 2022 were a great mix of old favorites, recent favorites, and brand-new favorites. In the following paragraphs I’ve spotlighted the releases that tickled my ears the most, added links to where you can find them, and chose my favorite tracks from each of them (where available I’ve included links to where you can hear the songs). As in the past this list of albums is only Part One of my 2022 year-end review; Part Two, with singles, EPs, live releases, compilations, and reissues, will hopefully be posted by the middle of February (since for some reason my blog doesn’t let folks subscribe if you follow me on Twitter or Mastodon you’ll see Part Two as soon as it’s posted).

Freedy Johnston, Back on the Road to You (Forty Below Records)

Although it’s been seven years since Freedy Johnston’s Neon Repairman, from the opening notes of his great new album Back on the Road to You it’s clear he hasn’t missed a beat. My favorite songs on Back on the Road to You recall the things I’ve liked in his past work like the glorious pop of “There Goes a Brooklyn Girl” made me think of Never Home’s “I’m Not Hypnotized” and the five-minute long instant classic “Somewhere Love” has the same melancholy vibe of his masterpiece Blue Days, Black Nights. The first song, “Back on the Road to You,” and the last, “The I Really Miss Ya Blues,” bookend the album and express the feelings of long-time Johnston fans who, for nearly a decade, have had the really miss him blues. Favorite track: “There Goes a BrooklynGirl”

Karen, Karen (Old Bad Habits Label)

Karen is a British supergroup made up of musicians who have worked with other bands: Davey Woodward on vocals and guitar (The Brilliant Corners, The Experimental Pop Band, Davey Woodward and the Winter Orphans), Hugo Morgan on bass (The Heads, Loop), and Tom Adams on drums (Beatnick Filmstars, Secret Shine, The Total Rejection). Karen released an EP, Filwood Broadway in 2018 and the self-titled release Karen is advertised as their first and only album. Woodward’s songs chronicle working class Brits (“Carrier Bag”) and rocky romances (“Too Late”). I’m a sucker for Woodward’s broken-hearted, yearning vocals as well as his lyrics whether it’s for a love song or a story song. Favorite track: “Estuary”

Lannie Flowers, Flavor of the Month (Spyderpop Records/BigStir Records)

One of my favorite discoveries of 2021 was the reissue of Lannie Flower’s album Home. In 2018 Flowers was working on the songs that would become Home but also coming up with some 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. Flavor of the Month contains theses songs (remixed by Flowers) but also the new single “Summer Blue” and is the first physical release of these songs (and if you buy the vinyl for Flavor you’ll get a CD containing the original March To Home tracks). The album is a masterful collection featuring straight-up rock and roll with some power pop thrown in for good measure. Favorite track: “What Did I Know”

The Shop Window, A 4 Letter Word (Bandcamp/Spinout Nuggets)

Love is all over the new album, A 4 Letter Word from The Shop Window: there’s love in the lyrics and love in the playing of the songs. Band is also a four-letter word, and this love is best shown in the way the four members of the band (at the time of the album’s recording) love playing together. This is clear as soon as the needle hits the vinyl on the album’s first song, “Eyes Wide Shut,” it’s clear from Mann’s opening licks and jangles, the solid background provided by Martin Corder’s bass and Phil Esphee’s drums, Syd Oxlee’s keyboard washes, and then the intertwined vocals of Mann and Oxlee. Favorite track: “Lay of the Land”

Josh Rouse, Going Places (Yep Roc Records)

I’ve been a fan of Josh Rouse’s music since 2005’s splendid Nashville album. His latest, Going Places, is almost as good. Rouse spent the last few years his family in Spain, writing songs to be played in a small club; I had a ticket to see him in a small club here in Pittsburgh but wasn’t ready yet to be out in a group of people (my loss). With its tune-heavy songs (“Henry Miller’s Flat” and “Hollow Moon”), his gentle vocals (“Indian Summer”), and arrangements that feature the use of horns and some cool old-school organ fills (“Apple of my Eye”), Going Places is made to be heard live (but equally excellent on your stereo or headphones). Favorite track: “Apple of my Eye”

Tamar Berk, start at the end (Bandcamp)

Singer-songwriters can be a serious bunch and Tamar Berk is no exception. On her second solo album (a strong follow-up to 2021's the restless dreams of youth -- no sophomore slump for Berk), she once again writes honestly about adult relationships. Perhaps not intended as a concept album, the album opener, “Your Permission,” opens the door for her to put on various moods and attitudes in her songs: “Can I ask your permission/To be someone else today/To say what I want to say/In a different sort of way.” The songs range from rockers (“real bad day”) to piano-based confessionals (“you already knew”) and dancing-around-the-living-room pop (“alone tonight”). Favorite track: “tragic endings”

SUPER 8, Universal Journey (Bandcamp)

Universal Journey from SUPER 8 aka Trip aka Paul Ryan is an out-of-this-world delight. The album is the first since 2020’s collaboration on the Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8 album (Mychols provides guest vocals on many of Universal Journey’s songs).  The opening and closing tracks on Universal Journey (“Universe,” “Feel,” and “The World Is Happening”) make up a soundtrack to a viewing of the incredible Webb telescope photos. And “Galactic 9,” with vocals from Mychols, is the sexy sound of space travel with visions of a ship full of mile-high-and -a-half members. Favorite track: “Cracks in the Pavement”

The Jazz Butcher, Highest in the Land (Tapete Records)

I knew little to nothing about the band The Jazz Butcher when its leader Pat Fish died in 2021. But the people whose musical opinions I respect on Twitter had a lot to say about the importance of his music to their lives. As a result, I've been listening to, and enjoying, their final album and the first in nine years, The Highest in the Land. The album is full of wonderful tunes and there’s a block of gorgeous ones in the middle of the album: “Sea Madness,” “Don’t Give Up,” “Amalfi Coast May 1963.” It has certainly given me a good reason to take a deep dive into the band’s back catalog (founded in 1982 they had an 11- album run in the first 13 years of their career). Favorite track: “Never Give Up”

The Vague Ideas, New York Letters (Trouserphonic)

New York Letters is set during the period John Lennon lived in New York between 1971 and 1980 and this unique idea is the result of a collaboration between US-based musician and writer Mare Rozzelle and UK-based songwriter and musician Glenn Prangnell. The songs take the form of letters and messages both to and from Lennon. “Bread and Jam (Letter to Julian)” fittingly recalls Double Fantasy’s “I’m Losing You” as John writing to his young son and the amazing “Revolution 9”- inspired “Prelude to the Lost Weekend” is Prangnell’s look at Lennon’s state-of-mind as he leaves Yoko. The last two songs on the album are the saddest as well as the most beautiful. “When You Turn Five (Lullaby for Sean)” is the future that neither of them will see together. And “No More Crying (Message to Paul)” is a love song to McCartney; it’s his version of “Here Today” and even begins with the same chord.  Favorite track: “No MoreCrying (Message to Paul)”

Armstrong, Happy Graffiti (The Beautiful Music/Country Mile Records)

With the release of his radiant third album Happy Graffiti Armstrong (Julian Pitt) has made it clear, with his trademark DIY use of vocals, acoustic guitars, and synths, he doesn’t sound like anyone else because he has a sound all his own. 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. In terms of musical themes “Keep on Walking,” for example, is one of Happy Graffiti’s songs in which upbeat arrangements bump up against melancholy lyrics. “Eyes Open Wide” and “In a Memory,” however, are straight-up gorgeous sad songs. Favorite track: “Songbird”

Caleb Nicols, Ramon (Kill Rock Stars)

Ramon is not only the album’s title but also the last name Paul McCartney took when The Beatles had their first real gig in 1960 as the backing band for Johnny Gentle on a tour of Scotland. On “Ramon,” Nichols borrows the line “Ram on, give your heart to somebody soon” from McCartney’s RAM. Nichol’s take is just as lovely and melancholy. The centerpiece of the album is the relationship between Mr. Mustard and Captain Custard. “Mustard’s Blues” recalls McCartney’s “Let Me Roll It” and the neatly six-minute “From a Hole in the Road” (or is it a hole in the heart?) with its repeated line “I’ve been dreaming you” and then “I still dream of you” becomes a mantra. The final song on Ramon (and my new favorite Christmas song) is “I Fell in Love on Xmas Day.” Favorite track: “Ramon”

Crossword Smiles, Pressed & Ironed (Big Stir Records)

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. 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. Favorite track: “Feet on the Ground”

Love is a 4 letter word

 By Henry Lipput

Love is all over the new album, A 4 Letter Word (Bandcamp/Spinout Nuggets), from The Shop Window: there’s love in the lyrics and love in the playing of the songs.

The lyrics on the album are about the many ways a person makes the journey to find or keep the love of their life. On “The Lay of the Land:” “I won't fall out with love/It’s the meaning of life.” And “Lighthouse” uses the metaphor for a beam of light that guides you to safety: “When you radiate light/It’s a window to the heart of you/A lighthouse of hope/Sending a beacon to my core.” “That Feeling” works in much the same way with a message of love lighting the way: “I’ll be your rock/On a stormy day/I’ll be your sun/When the skies are grey.”

Band is also a four-letter word, and this love is best shown in the way the four members of the band (at the time of the album’s recording) love playing together. The Show Window is obviously a tight-knight unit; two of its members, Carl Mann and Syd Oxlee, have known each other since the mid-90s.

As soon as the needle hits the vinyl on the album’s first song, “Eyes Wide Shut,” it’s clear from Mann’s opening licks and jangles, the solid background provided by Martin Corder’s bass and Phil Esphee’s drums, Oxlee’s keyboard washes, and then the intertwined vocals of Mann and Oxlee. The band is a four-man operation that operates as one and they love the distinctive sound they make. This happens throughout the album.

You may have heard the four songs The Shop Window released prior to 2021’s The State of Being Human (a year-end favorite) as well as the four before the new album but you’d be wrong to categorize the group as a singles band. A 4 Letter Word shows this talented four-some achieving so much more. You can hear it on the wondrous “Dancing Light,” the jangly “It’s by Design” with its too-quick Corder and Esphee solo, and as The Shop Window takes a trip down Morrisey-Marr lane with the dance-around-the-living room vibe of “Circles Go Round.” And that’s just for starters.

The Shop Window’s 7-inch jangle-fest

 By Henry Lipput

England’s The Shop Window is one of the jangliest bands going right now. This four piece from Maidstone is about to release their second album, A Four-Letter Word, later this summer (the first, The State of Being Human, was one of my favorites of 2021) and have already put out two singles as a teaser for the new album. Like the singles last year, the third single, the double A-side “Eyes Wide Shut/Low” (Spinout Nuggets/Bandcamp) is the one being made available on vinyl and proof, if any is necessary, that the independent label Spinout Nuggets is keeping the 7” single alive.

Made up of long-time mates, the band’s first single, “Signpost,” saw the light of day in 2019. As excellent as their first album was (and still is), at the recording sessions for A Four-Letter Word last summer it was no doubt clear to The Shop Window that they were on to something above and beyond what had been produced so far.

This is abundantly clear with the new single.  “Eyes Wide Shut” is a blast in terms of sound and structure. Carl Mann wields his guitar like a Sir Chimes-A-Lot with a double-bladed axe, the rhythm section of Martin Corder on bass and Phil Elphee on drums is front and center in the mix, and the keyboarding of Syd Oxlee adds heft to the mixture. In addition, the dual vocals of Mann and Oxlee are a trademark of the band’s sound. And – wait for it – at 2:33, after a cool, calming synth wash, the band builds to an amazing freak out. You don’t want to miss that.

Backing vocals on both “Eyes Wide Shut” and “Low” is provided by their Spinout Nuggets label mate Beth Arzy of Jetstream Pony and The Luxembourg Signal. “Low” is another gem of a tune, this time beginning with a piano riff and a bit of a jangle, leading into a moody soundscape. Like the “Lighthouse” single from earlier this year, despite “Low’’s sense of being down and struggling, the support of a partner can be a saving grace. For both songs the theme might be where there’s love, there’s hope.

A New Single From The Shop Window

 By Henry Lipput

The very cool pop tune “Evacuate” is the fourth single from The Shop Window, a band from Kent in the UK that consists of Carl Mann (vocals/guitars), Simon ‘Syd’ Oxlee (vocals/keys), Martin Corder (bass), and Phil Elphee (drums). 

“Evacuate” opens with a single finger on a synth keyboard and the vocals begin with the song’s chorus (not unlike the arrangement for “She Loves You”): “Everything I do, I do for you / So calm down, calm down / Evacuate this anxious state and keep calm.” Described by the band as “evoking nostalgia” it’s a "warm hug sounding like today from yesteryear.” 

After the chorus, the band is in full swing and it’s a joyful noise. One of the sounds this song recalls is the music of the land Down Under. Carl Mann has spent nine years in nine different places including New Zealand and the sound of that country has rubbed off on him. I’m thinking specifically of The Chills but there’s also some fine jangle from around the world that can remind you of bands from The Smiths to (insert the name of your favorite current jangle band here.)

Three of the four singles The Show Window released in the past months, including “Evacuate,” will be on their forthcoming album The State Of Being Human. 

Next time: On his debut solo album Gary Olson is trumpeting his indie pop credentials.