The Toms - Make My Day

I have been a fan of The Toms since I was 16 when the UK New Wave led me to explore what was happening in the States and finding albums in those days was far from easy. People may bemoan the internet, rightly so for what it has done to the value of music, but you can find anything these days as the output of IDHAS shows.

That 1979 self titled debut album was Power Pop at its very very best and it is amazing to find Tom Marolda still making relevant music 47 years on. Those that are still around rely on touring on the previous songs and reputation, not Marolda

Rather than sticking to recording the same old thing, The Toms have moved on through many directions that are very different to the start. I urge you to look at previous reviews here to see that movement. At times, songs have been more akin to Modern Pop, taking advantage of modern recording techniques.

There has been the addition of synth and treading into Indie Pop and Pop Rock. There are examples of this here, but Make My Day sounds more like a return nearer to that Power Pop that started it all. The whole album is basked in catchy melodic joy.

All I Need Is You mixes Bubblegum with Pastoral Psych Pop, Magic Carpet Ride sounds very 60s Pop, wonderfully so. Apple Tree sounds like 1968 Beatles, Psychy, very hippy trippy. It Just Doesn't Matter At All closes the album with some great 70s Pop Rock.

It is hard to pick out stand outs in an album as strong as this, but I'll risk two. The title track is a superb opener that is extra-ordinarily fine Pop Rock, close to Power Pop. 15,000,000,000 Years Of Evolution is wonderful Psych Pop as heard on a recent LTTW Playlist.

For an artist to be so effective, almost 50 years on, is a massive achievement and still be able to release an album a year, ditto. Tom Marolda has constantly moved on without ever losing what he's great at. This album feels as close to 1979 as he's ever been, yet sounds incredibly modern.

You can listen to and buy the album here. 

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2024 : 81-90

 

For the last eight years We have compiled annual Best Of 's  because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists. A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended. A reminder that only new albums are included among these 100.

Narrowing things down to this 100 has been really difficult. The 100 albums are posted in reverse batches of 10. For each album, A song is embedded from the album and a link is provided to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album.

81 Shenanygans - On Monte Verita      IDHAS Review

82 Mothboxer - Timelines      IDHAS Review

83 Lions Of The Interstate - Strange Empires      IDHAS Review

84 The Toms - Rock Paper Scissors      IDHAS Review

85 Bottlecap Mountain - Electric Love Spree     IDHAS Review

86 Them Elephants - Come Calling       IDHAS Review

87 Mountain Movers - Walking After Dark      IDHAS Review

88 Swiftumz - Simply The Best      IDHAS Review

89 Wesley Fuller - All Fuller No Filler      IDHAS Review

  

90 StoneDog - About Time     IDHAS Review

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The Toms - Rock Paper Scissors

 

The Toms debut album was released in 1979 and remains one of the great Power Pop albums. Regular featuring in lists of the best ever albums in the genre.  Marolda has been around since. I make this his 10th album of new material and 20 years of that included a break from recording.

The Toms have never ever released a duff note. There has been a shift in direction, particularly since 2022's Stereo. There are glimpses of Power Pop, here you have It's Personal, but The Toms now inhabit a world somewhere between Indie Pop and Pop Rock.

Studio advancements mean that the production quality has risen greatly and this allows the diversions sound great. Beautifully produced and particularly synth and beat enhanced. However Marolda hasn't lost his vocal quality, the pipes sound in as great shape as ever.

The songs are beautifully arranged and land equally in Modern Studio Pop and 80s Indie Pop. These arrangements are complex, both instrumentally and vocally, but the melody count is very high. Songs that you, your kids and grandkids can sing along to.

It is totally admirable that The Toms have moved with the times without ever losing the melody and poptastic nature of the songs. Here are 12 songs that are maybe a little bit more commercial that you may be used to, but Cloud Nine 11 is a big reminder of what makes Marolda great and essential 45 years on.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2022 : 21-30

This year, the standard has been the highest since IDHAS began six and a half years ago. Narrowing things down to this 100 as been really difficult. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album.

A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended. 

No 21 : The Green Pajamas - Forever For A Little While    IDHAS Review

No 22 : Ian McNabb - Nabby Road      IDHAS Review





No 23 : Uni Boys - Do It All Next Week    IDHAS Review

 

No 24 : The Chrysanthemums - Decoy For A Dognapper!         IDHAS Review

No 25 : Nick Frater - Aerodrome Motel  IDHAS Review

 

No 26 : The Sun Sawed In 1/2 - Triptych (2CD)       IDHAS Review


  


No 27 : Steve Robinson & Ed Woltil - Shadow Play     IDHAS Review

No 28 :  Bird Streets - Lagoon    IDHAS Review


 

No 29 : Dave Cope - Killer Mods From Inner Space   IDHAS Review

No 30 : The Toms - Stereo       IDHAS Review

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The Toms - Stereo

I'm told that I ignore Power Pop these days. I agree with that only to the point that I don't really cover the "I Love You, You Know I Do, Oh Yes It's True" brigade. I was mentioning on Facebook about the days I would be attending IPO in Liverpool later this month and looking at the line up, my view was largely endorsed.

David Bash is someone undoubtedly linked to all things Power Pop, yet the artist line up is largely great Guitar Pop artists, but how many would you say are indelibly Power Pop. There is a mixture of Indie, Psych Pop, 60s Beat and 70s Pop Rock as well as some incredibly inventive Singer Songwriters. It is called International Pop Overthrow, not International Power Pop Overthrow,

I never ever want to get involved in the "Is It Power Pop?" nonsense. IPO supports great Pop Rock from bands who would like to be superstars, but aren't, but should be. I Don't Hear A Single does the same with the new an under appreciated.

The two most popular reviews over the past 12 months have been albums that I would say are Power Pop. The Toms and The Summer Holiday have been the most popular reviews on IDHAS for months respectively, yet their appeal has been far beyond the genre. Michael Collins is without doubt Power Pop through and through, but Tommy Morolda stretches far wider.

Morolda has branched out into a much wider Indie Pop. Unexpected chord changes, an increased use of keyboards and developed into a much wider Indie Pop area. The melodies are just as strong, the choruses as great, but there is now more in common with The Sun Sawed In 1/2 than 70s New Wave Power Pop.

Stereo is Intelligent Pop of the highest order. Twists and Turns in direction in individual songs, all beautifully produced in a modern way. There is an 80s feel at times in the material, but not the sound. Yet in all this Pop, there is no genre hogging. Pop is the operative word and Stereo is great an example that you will never ear.

A song like Raindance comes across as such a catchy affair, yet the whole three and a half minutes is such an admirably complex affair. Yet I need Somebody is great 70s Pop Rock and I Can't Sleep is more like the Power Pop that The Toms were noted for.

The title track has a real 60s Psych Pop feel updated for the modern age. Atmosphere has an impressive wall of sound, very Spygenius like. Witching Hour Glass Figure mixes Baroque and Pop Rock with twists into almost Toytown. Stereo is incredibly creative and original. A wonderful adventure that shows Pop has no boundaries.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2021 : 11-20

It's been difficult to get these choices down to 100. I'm also not a believer in saying one album is better than another. Most of the time you are comparing Apples To Oranges. I'm not a List person, I just think what's the point?

However, for the last few years I have compiled annual Best Of 's  because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists. There is no meaning or judgement on an album that is Number 1, Number 100 or not on the list. Anything that I review on here, mention on Social Media or play on the Radio Show is as highly recommended.

There are few rules. All albums have to have been reviewed on IDHAS. Reissues and Live Albums are not included. Previously unreleased albums are included, but Best Of's are not. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album.

No 11 : Mothboxer - On The Flip Side     IDHAS Review





No 12 : David Brookings - Mania At The Talent Show    IDHAS Review

 

No 13 : Edward Rogers - Catch A Cloud     IDHAS Review

 

No 14 : Nick Frater - Earworms          IDHAS Review

      

No 15 : Caper Clowns - Abdicate The Throne    IDHAS Review

       

No 16 : The Armoires - Incognito       IDHAS Review


 


No 17 : The Boxcar Suite - Every Side Of The Abyss     IDHAS Review

No 18 :  The James Clark Institute - The Colour Of Happy   IDHAS Review

No 19 : The Toms - Tomplicated   IDHAS Review

          

No 20 : Quick Fiction - Fingers Crossed         IDHAS Review

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The Toms - Tomplicated

 

Tommy Morolda will be forever remembered for that 1979 debut album and I fully understand that to a point. The self titled album from The Toms is one of the great Guitar Pop albums, it unleashed a lot that followed it and few realised that it was just one man behind it.

Considering it was 1979, recorded over a weekend in a home studio and the technology available at the time, all the applause is more than deserved. But Morolda hasn't been idle since, indeed he has been involved with plenty of high profile artists and now we have a new album and its great.

It does sound a bit 1979, but that's no drawback, far more than a handful have and continue to build careers on similar material. But what they don't have is the inventiveness and sheer hooks and arrangements that is present here.

Contained within Tomplicated are journeys into Power Pop, Psych Pop, New Wave and more genres that end with Pop, while essentially being very Beatles 1978 based. Beginners should go straight to the title track to get a feel of what Marolda is about and progress from there. 

It is a wonderful song and my only complaint is that it ends too soon. There are loads of similar treats such as the Toytown Beat Pop of You Shot Me Out Of Your Canon and the 70s Pop Rock of Marathon. Whatever has a wonderful arrangement.

Hang On could be Jigsaw, The World Is Flat is in Orgone Box territory and Sunday Clothes is great California Pop. Daylight Wasting Time is an a storming slab of 60s Psych Pop and Three is bass driven Glam Rock of the highest order that turns into Jeff Lynne Psych.

16 songs is a lot of material, yet the quality and listening pleasure never ever drops. Special mention too to Futureman Records who have had another storming year. Tomplicated is a wonderful listen and others who do roam in this territory could learn a thing or two about originality.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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