Panic Pocket wants to be honest with you

By Henry Lipput

The arrangements for the songs on Panic Pocket’s debut album Mad Half Hour (Skep Wax Records) alternate between 60’s girl groups and Liz Phair’s 90’s girl and a guitar. But unlike the girl groups, Phair’s songs were much more honest in their depiction of the relationship between the sexes while Panic Pocket’s songs by this London-based four piece have issues with both sexes.

“Still The Bad Guy” is an updating of the Emperor’s New Clothes with the idea that changing your mental outlook (if only on the surface) doesn’t make you a different or a better person. Its retro sound is a contrast to the song’s accusations: “Think you’ve made amends?/Truly believe you’re born again?/You’re no ally/You’re still the bad guy.” It’s like the guy who suddenly decides to throw in some lines about supporting women’s rights as a way to get a date.

In “Boyfriend” a hoped-for girl’s night out turns sour when an old friend brings along her significant other. “Booked a table for two/I was only expecting you.” Turning the tables on how a man refers to a woman, the boyfriend is called “the ball and chain.” But the friend doesn’t get it: “They say three’s a crowd/Do I have to say it out loud?”

“Say You’re Sorry” is another song about an evening’s honest conversation. With its Ronettes-style vocals and arrangement, a woman starts out the evening by letting her date know how worthless she’s been made to feel: “I’m gonna make you feel the same way.” And she’s going do this by making him feel sorry for even showing up: “I wanna see you with your head in your hands/I wanna make you wish you’d made other plans.”

The opening track, “Get Me,” has the strongest Exile in Guyville vibe with its crunchy lead guitar and angry vocal. It’s not clear if she’s talking to a friend or if she’s having a conversation with herself (which is my take) about having taken a wrong turn: “Just hold that smile/We’re not on trial/That way’s the door/When I count to four.”

They just don’t make them like this anymore

By Henry Lipput

In May of 1967 Syd Barrett, Marianne Faithful, and George Martin booked time in Trident Studios in London. Throughout the summer, recording under the name The 3 Clubmen to avoid prying eyes and ears, the trio created four complete tracks in between their regular sessions with other artists. Released a few months after the juggernaut of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the four-song EP sunk without a trace.

Obviously, none of this ever happened but The 3 Clubmen is a real thing. Today it’s not Barrett, Faithful, and Martin but another musical powerhouse trio in 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; it’s the kind of thing the trio I made up in the opening paragraph of this review might have put together.

This current day trio made their first appearance when the first single from the EP, “Aviatrix,” was announced back in the Spring (a few weeks ago 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. 

Both Partridge and Olive provide alternating vocals on “Aviatrix” as well as on the lovely, very Partridge “Green Green Grasshopper.” Like a finger-picked folk song for children it’s the tale of a request for a grasshopper to take a journey to deliver a message of love. But there are dangers along the way: “take care you’re not breakfast for a bird in the sky” but more importantly when the destination is reached (there may have been a breakup or a misunderstanding between the lovers) “make note if there’s a Spring-time thunder look in her eye.” This grasshopper saga seems made for a children’s book or an animated short.

Olive sings lead on both “Racecar” and “Look at Those Stars” and both are about the ways someone handles down turns in their lives.

“I am blue/What should I do?” asks Olive in “Racecar.” The answer, at least for now, is to engage with a bit of conspicuous consumption: “You need to buy yourself a racecar baby.” The song has a metronome-like interplay of guitar and drums along with occasional spooky piano fills.

“Look at Those Stars” is the most accessible, out-and-out pop song on the EP (which is why it’s probably my favorite). It also provides a natural – as in nature – answer to the blues. “I’ve got the kind of blues/Don’t ever go away,” sings Olive, “I’ve got the kind of dues/I always got to pay.” The solution is to look skyward and there’s a joyful lyrical outburst reinforced by the sound of steel drums: “But hey!/Would you look at those stars/Nothing more beautiful!”

The Radio Field is now transmitting at full strength

By Henry Lipput

Back in late 2020 during the second pandemic lockdown in Germany, Lars Schmidt of the band Subertuge began a home recording project that would become The Radio Field. With a little help from his friend Josephine De Mogan on backing vocals and his son Gustav – before his voice changed – adding some high notes, Schmidt had 2022’s The Simple EP (Subjangle). In my review I called the EP a mix of half joyful jangle and half melancholy melodies.

The response for the EP was extremely positive and several of Schmidt’s friends asked if they could become members of a Radio Field band. The result is an all-star lineup that in addition to Schmidt includes Mark Specht (drums and a founding member of Subterfuge), Christoph Scheider (bass and a former member of Klee, Clayton Farlow, Soap, and Soccer), and Philipp Breuer (lead guitar and Pale fame).

The Radio Field’s new single, “The Version feat. Robert Stadlober” (Bandcamp) has actor Stadlober on backing vocals as well as Max von Einem on trombone and trumpet. It’s a horn-driven burst of summer sunshine with the new band sounding as if they’ve been playing together for years.

The Radio Field’s first full-length album Don’ts and Dos will be released on August 25^th on Subjangle/Less Records.

Here's the video for "The Version":

Not the kind of bucket list you were hoping for

By Henry Lipput

The angry, rocking new song and video from Tamar Berk, “drop in the bucket,” is the first single from Berk’s upcoming album tiny injuries. The single is available to buy and download right now on Bandcamp where you can also pre-order the album before it comes out on August 18^th.

“I know what you said to me/I know what you meant,” she sings, “Why am I always feeling like I’m failing someone?” The song reflects the frustration in a relationship that stems from the hurt feelings that build up over time: “It’s just a drop in the bucket, everyday.”

Here's the video:

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.

Don’t be a stranger to the black watch

By Henry Lipput

Since the black watch released their fantastic compilation 31Years of Obscurity in 2019, this overview of their career made them many new fans (including me). (As I mentioned in my review for CoolDad Music, I was surprised it had taken me some long to join the club.) In the intervening years, there’s been an explosion of activity as John Andrew Fredrick and company have given us 3 singles, 4 EPs, 1 reissue, and four albums (not counting the Magic Johnson album which came out around the same time as 31 Years and had a few songs on that collection.)

Last year’s the neverland of spoken things EP was a taster for the new album future strangers (ATOM records) and included the title cut and two non-album tracks. It also allowed the band to release some music as they waited for the album to be available on vinyl (there’s a backlog at pressing plants if you haven’t heard).

The fuzz, crunch and – especially – melodies that have become a trademark of music by the black watch are in full form on future strangers.  Joined by continuing members the producers and musical multi-taskers Rob Campanella and Andy Creighton, Fredrick adds to the fold the vocal stylings of Lindsay Murray of Gretchen’s Wheel.

Fredrick doesn’t scream in his vocals no matter how frustrated he is with the state of things. Instead, he allows his music to do the work. For example, he uses a glorious bank of guitars on the marvelous and moody title song and on “they may be grey” he and his follow riff masters bring on the pop. And although Lindsay Murray is listed as providing backing vocals for the album, her contribution on “the neverland of spoken things” is less of a support role than a partner to Fredrick’s lead vocal.

Over the last years there’s been a give and take with songs on albums and EPs by the black watch. “julie 3,” the last song on future strangers, is obviously not the first “julie:” “julie” and “julie II” were on the brilliant failures album. All three had different arrangements and different lyrics and on “julie II” the vocals were not by Fredrick but the Nico-sounding Julie Schulte (is she the julie in question?). As for “off you go redux!” it’s also on the white EP along with (the original?) “off you go!” They chronicle the future adventures of Mrs. Robinson, Elaine, and Benjamin in an arrangement that owes more than a bit to The Lemonheads’ cover of the Simon and Garfunkel classic.

 

Help me if you can

By Henry Lipput

At some point in a band’s career, they stop being compared to other bands but instead are thought of on their own terms. As far as I’m concerned this has happened with Fallon Cush, the Australian band led by singer-songwriter Steve Smith. Yes, they still have alt-country and jangle pop sounds (along with the occasional rock influences thrown in for good measure) but have definitely made a sound that’s their own.

The band’s heart-felt new single, the country-ish “Grain of Salt” (Bandcamp and all streaming services), is the first new music from the band since their excellent 2019’s Stranger Things Have Happened album. “Grain of Salt” is mostly a solo effort with Steve Smith getting an assist from producer Josh Schuberth but can definitely be considered a band track.

The lyrics for “Grain of Salt” ask for help during a difficult time. But the request seems to be from someone who has cried wolf or misled a friend too many times in the past: “If I came straight out with it/Looked you in the eye,” sings Smith in a voice that’s aching to be taken seriously, “Said that I’m really struggling/To get by/Would you take it with a grain of salt/Or would you listen to me?”

According to Smith, there are two or three Fallon Cush tracks in the works that will be released in the coming months and then an EP or album next year.

Flying high with the 3 clubmen

 By Henry Lipput

“Aviatrix,” the mind-bending first single by The 3 Clubmen from their self-titled EP out in June (Burning Shed/Lighterthief), is a love story made up of sounds and images that might, under normal circumstances, not work together. But these aren’t normal circumstances because The 3 Clubmen is the brand-new powerhouse musical trio of Andy Partridge, Jen Olive, and Stu Rowe.

Partridge, Olive, and Rowe have been working on projects since 2008 (Rowe and Partridge worked on 2oo7's Monstrance and Olive’s 2013 album The Breaks had all three of them on separate tracks performing separate tasks).  But The 3 Clubmen is the first time they’ve recorded as a proper trio. 

As for the process of making the new EP, Partridge said: “I throw paint, Jen throws paint, Stu throws paint...and we walk away. If, when we return, something in there calls to us, we’ll move heaven and earth to get it out and let it breath.” The result with “Aviatrix” may initially appear to be two separate songs but put together they complement each other not unlike Wasp Star’s “The Wheel and The Maypole” (or going even further back “A Day in The Life”).  And the paint on the walls must have stuck because the colors are so fresh you can smell them.

From six strings to 88 keys

 By Henry Lipput

The guitar, whether acoustic or electric, has been the instrument Peter Case has been most associated with from his time with The Nerves in the ‘70s, The Plimsouls in the ‘80s, and the solo career that begun with his self-titled first solo album in 1986. So it may be surprising he’s turned to piano on Doctor Moan (Sunset Blvd Records), his first album of original songs in seven years.

When touring stopped during the pandemic Case had some time on his hands and he used that time (and his hands) to start playing the piano in his living room until the songs for Doctor Moan began to appear. It also helped that since moving back to San Francisco, he began attending the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church and, playing there with the ensemble, greatly increased his strength as a piano player. In addition to Case on piano, harmonica, mellotron, and guitar, Doctor Moan has Jonny Flaugher on electric and acoustic bass, and Chris Joyner on B-3 organ.

All of the songs on Doctor Moan have a bluesy or boogie-woogie feel and a dark tinge. For example, the rumble of the keys on the opening track “Have You Ever Been In Trouble,” is not something you’d want to be listening to with your earbuds on a dark street in the middle of the night. Even hearing it on speakers you may be liable to occasionally take a look behind you to make sure you’re alone. The barrelhouse “Downtown Nowhere’s Blues” is a Broadway star turn and could be from an updated version of West Side Story. And although it’s not "Rhapsody In Blue" it certainly has some of the feel of that famous piece without lifting any of it.

“Wandering Days” has Case back on guitar in a song about the life of a sailor; the change in instruments allows the tune to breath and support the tale of the open seas. “Girl In Love With A Shadow” also slows things down a bit. It’s a sad story of the search for someone after an initial hookup and one of the highlights of the album.

Don't delete these scenes

 By Henry Lipput

If you type Gramercy Arms NYC into Google one of the results will be a co-op building of that name. Built in 1959, it was no doubt an apartment building between the time the president of the United States told the city to “drop dead” and the whole turning-apartments-into-co-ops started to happen.

It’s also the time period when young people -- artists, writers, actors, filmmakers, musicians – flocked to the city. And this period of creativity is reflected in the songs and sounds of Deleted Scenes (Magic Door Record Label), the wonderful new album by Gramercy Arms – not the co-0p but a collective led by Dave Derby. (How much do I like this album? I’m disappointed it’s only available as a download and would really like to have a CD copy or, even better, have it on vinyl.)

Derby, among other things, was a member of another collective of sorts: The Negatives was a band led by Lloyd Cole resulting in 2001’s The Negatives, a now mostly (and wrongly) forgotten disc that’s full of terrific performances and Cole is at one of the peaks of his songwriting game (“Impossible Girl” anyone?). This one-time only collection of musicians included Derby and Jill Sobule as well as long-time musical partner and Commotions guitarist Neil Clark and New York rock staple Robert Quine in what may have been his last time on a record.

Lloyd Cole, it turns out, is also part of the Gramercy Arms collective. He sang a duet with Joan As Police Woman on “Beautiful Disguise” from 2014’s The Seasons of Love album. Cole also co-wrote and plays on the splendid “Yesterday’s Girl,” the first single from Deleted Scenes. Having worked with Cole for more than 20 years, Derby has, especially on this song, picked up some of the former’s vocal mannerisms. This isn’t a criticism as I’ve been a Cole fan since I bought Easy Pieces in 1985 so the more Cole the better I say. (But it’s interesting that Derby sounds less like Cole on his work with The Norfolk Downs.)

Although the Bandcamp page for Deleted Scenes mentions the album was inspired by the 70s and 80s artistic heyday, I initially thought it referred to the burgeoning punk and new wave music of that period and so really didn’t catch the connection. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was instead the singer-songwriters of that period and the one I latched on to immediately was the 1974 self-titled solo debut of New York-based singer-songwriter Tim Moore. Moore’s great “Second Avenue” is a song of lost love and, for me, is in many ways, both lyrically and musically, a template for what Derby and company have achieved with Deleted Scenes.

The Pure Pop 4 Now People Singles Club 2023 #2

By Henry Lipput

We’re back with another batch of recent singles we’ve been enjoying. This time it’s new music from The Boo Radleys, The Plus 4, and Librarians with Hickeys.

The Boo Radleys, "Now That's What I Call Obscene"”

The rousing “Now That’s What I Call Obscene” (linktr.eebooradleyofficial) is the second single being used to announce the June release of the band’s new album Eight. The new song’s lyrics gives listeners a choice of what they might think is obscene and the video makes it even clearer with scenes between same-sex couples alternating between scenes of armies and killing machines. Based on the new songs, it’s clear that Eight will be giant step (see what I did there?) in the continuing evolution of the band.

The Plus 4, "She's In My Head"

Who is the mystery band that is The Plus 4? “She’s In My Head” (Bandcamp) is the fourth single from the band and we still don’t know much about them. (My guess is that it’s made up of four members but that might be wrong as Ben Folds Five was only three.) What we do know is The Plus 4 is a beat-happy group with influences ranging from Merseyside bands to the early 60’s London of The Who and The Kinks. When you can’t shake the thought of someone you've just met, “She’s In My Head,” with its big screen sound of strings, horns, a pounding piano, and a Dave Davies-like lead guitar solo, is what it feels like.

Librarians with Hickeys, "Can't Wait 'Till Summer"

For the lonely guy in Librarians with Hickey’s “Can’t Wait “Till Summer” (Big Stir Records) as Winter slowly changes to Spring he’s looking forward to seeing his September gurl again. Now with both most likely living in different states, he wonders what’s going on : “You told me you needed some time alone/You promised me that you would phone.” This latest from Akron, Ohio’s finest, and the second single from last year’s Handclaps & Tambourines, is a pure pop gem and no matter what the season it’s jangle all the way.

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.

When everything changed

 By Henry Lipput

Robert Forster had three years’ worth of songs  for a new album before his wife and musical partner Karin Baumler was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

And then everything changed.

While Baumler underwent chemotherapy, Forster set out to quickly record songs at the Alchemix studio in Brisbane where they had lived for a number of years. Their son Louis joined the music sessions as did Adele Pickvance, a long-time friend, bass player on the last three Go-Betweens albums and Forster’s great The Evangelist album, and currently the Adele of Adele and the Chandeliers.

Not knowing how much time they had (when her health allowed, Baumler contributed violin and backing vocals to the songs as she had for Forster’s two previous albums), the goal was to create a recording they would always have of the experience whether it became an album worth releasing or not. But after listening to two of the completed songs, which were made without headphones and overdubs and with everyone in the studio together playing eye-to-eye, they wondered whether an entire album could be produced the same way. The result is the literate and heartfelt The Candle and the Flame (Tapete Records).

Forster wrote “She’s A Fighter” after Baumler’s diagnosis and as she rested from treatment he come up with a basic riff. The sound owes more than a little to skiffle (but with electric guitar and xylophone) and the simple, repeated lyrics of support (“She’s a fighter/Fighting for good”) became a mantra, a way of building up both their spirits.

A few of the songs on The Candle and the Flame deal with the passage of time. In “I Don’t Do Drugs I Do Time” Forster triggers a time loop of memories of both before and after he met Baumler. She provides lovely backing vocals as Forster plays an acoustic guitar. “I remember when we first met/Where you sat/What you said/What was running/Through my head” circles back to earlier times: “I’m walking to school in ‘69/The next day I’m 35.”

“Always” sounds like an early Go-Betweens track with its Tom Verlaine-inspired guitar. Although Forster sings “time moves in one direction” he continues with what I hear as a metaphor about how the brain processes memories: “And there’s a breakdown at the intersection of Highway 5/There’s going to have to be a detour” and your thoughts head off in another direction.

 “When I Was a Young Man” is a story song in which Forster writes about his early musical efforts and his major influences. “Elder brothers/I had a few/One was named David/The other was Lou” he sings, half name-checking Bowie and Reed. As time went other influences were felt: “Elder brothers/They came along/There was a new David/And there was Tom/They bewitched me in wardrobe and song” with this time referring to Johansen and Verlaine.

With “Tender Years” Forster conflates both time and storytelling. He says “She’s a book/A thousand pages” before letting us know “Images of her are vivid/Her body has not withered/From her entrance in Chapter One.” “I’m in a story with her” he sings “I know I can’t life without her/I can’t imagine one.”

They’ve been together for 32 years and their third meeting (the third time’s the charm, right?) during the German leg of the R.E.M/Go-Betweens European tour is referenced: “Time is important/Timing is more important/Without it a story can end/Heidelberg is a German city/By the river very pretty/I was there/The timing was our friend.” “Tender Years” has a groove to the arrangement and there’s also a wonderful “Losing My Religion”-like mandolin along with one of the few band workouts on the album.