The Green Pajamas - Sunlight Might Weigh Even More

 

Jeff Kelly is never less than interesting, but it does seem a while since we've had a Psych Pop album from The Green Pajamas. Their last album, Phantom Lake. was a much darker affair and that was three years ago, so this has been an unusual gap from then. 

For someone so diverse, it has always been his Psych that has appealed to me the most. Few can touch The Green Pajamas on that Road and Sunlight Might Weigh Even More is more in Strung Behind The Sun territory and that's without even mentioning the similarity in album titles.

This is Psych Pop with the emphasis on Psych and it is just wonderful. That's not to say that there isn't any straight ahead material. I'd Rather Be In The Sun is a lovely ballad, Down To The Ocean is great Pop Rock and Falling In And Out Of Love has a gentle jangly vibe.

But it is the Psych that is most prevalent and it falls into two categories. The poppier elements such as That's Why Celia Can't Fly, the Donovan like Lovers Lease and the Kink's Village like Hello, Hello. Then there are the longer Psych trips.

High Tea With Miss Ava G is so mid 60s with its Indian vibe and Just To This is in tripped out White album territory, splendidly so. This all adds to what is The Green Pajama's best album in ages. The talent of Kelly has no end, but he is at his best here.

That's Why Celia Can't Fly is the type of song that The Green Pajamas master, but seem to do less and less and Art School 1979 is similarly wonderfully laid back, but grabs your attention.There is even an unlisted track 17 which is a popped up version of the stripped down I'd Rather Be In The Sun. Totally Superb!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Livingmore - Take Me

 

It's maybe just me, but I've been waiting all year for a great Female fronted Indie Pop Rock band to come to the forefront. Something that wasn't Dream Pop whispering or shouty Indie Rock would do it and now we have that with this West Coast quartet.

I suppose that people will position them somewhere between Blondie and Garbage, but Alex Moore's vocals take Livingmore in far greater directions. Yes, Got me Feelin' Like edges towards Garbage without the angst, but on Neighbors her vocal nears The Seekers more than an another noise feat.

At the heart of Take Me is great Pop Rock, big choruses, great riffs and then there is THAT voice. I Know It's A Smile sums up what they are about with its Pop that can grab the younger audience whilst appealing to the generation above.

Sharp is a killer opener, very 80's in its feel, but compare that to Dramatic which is very Glasgow. Closer enters 90's College Rock, yet on Rays, Scott sounds more like a Torch Singer. Then there is the closer, Dreams On Fire which is almost a Brit Pop anthem.

There really is so much variety here that it is hard to see what direction the next album will take. That follow up is planned for a February release, so we will soon know. Take me though is an outstanding offering. Everything attempted works brilliantly.

Livingmore are at their catchiest with the Guitar Pop of Bummer and the aforementioned, Sharp, but it is the diversions that are the most interesting. The future looks so bright for this lot and I can't wait for February. What a great album!

You can listen to and buy the album here. You can find out more about the band here.

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The Verve Pipe - Threads

 

Oh how I love The Verve Pipe and they are back in a big way. This is their ninth album, but it hasn't always been plain sailing for me as a critical fan. In earlier days, they fought with The Sugarplastic to take XTC's crown, but then it seemed to take a left turn, not helped by Underneath being released in the week of 9/11. 

Then came the kids albums, pleasant enough, but hardly fulfilling, a bit like a McDonald's Meal. Add in a mixture of line up changes and good, but not great, albums in Overboard and Parachute. My loyalty never wavered. In a similar vein to Cheap Trick, there were killer songs, but you yearned for a great, consistent album. They came good and now so have The Verve Pipe. 

I never ever doubted Brian Vander Ark, but something was out of kilter. The return of brother, Brad after nearly two decades may be a partial explanation. Even more so is the addition of Lee Channing who appears to have an influence on the album and the chemistry seems to have returned. 

Threads is a wonderful album. The Andy Partridge references will certainly be mentioned by reviewers, but there is also a more mainstream side to parts of the album. Love Will Find You Again is an example of this. Vander Ark offers up a Peter Gabriel like vocal and Channing's backing vocals add weight as does her Nashville influence with the slight twang.

You Deserve Whatever Comes Around has hints of Psych Pop and 60's UK Beat whilst also sailing close to Arc Of A Diver era Stevie Winwood. The duet on The Freeze is a cracking slice of Americana and Found is in Simon And Garfunkel territory.

These songs still reveal Vander Ark's mastery of lyrics, but the instrumentation isn't as angular as past times and that really works. The strings on Set Me On Fire are haunting. There are also plenty reminders of that ability to twist a song in the way latter day XTC did.

The Witching Hour is a great example of this, as is Forever Reaching. Then there's No One's Gonna Break This Heart (Again) is an epic 5 minutes. This isn't an album that is like Villains, but it is every bit as great. just in a very different way. The Verve Pipe have matured splendidly. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to the album here. You can buy the album everywhere.

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IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 13

It's that time again. 13 may be unlucky for some, but not you lot (See what I did there blah blah etc etc?). 10 songs from the UK, US and Australia for your delight. Our favourite songs this week provide 38 minutes of musical goodness. 

The Mixcloud link is below and at the foot of the page is the Mixcloud Player which takes you directly to the music. Here is the playlist of the ten songs this week :

01 Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers - When I Don't Understand

02 Reigning Sound - A Little More Time

03 Kid Gulliver - Stupid Little Girl

04 The Successful Failures - It Goes Away

05 Aliens - Liberation Road

06 The Reflectors - Radio Signals

07 David Brookings - Magnolia

08 West Coast Music Club - Long Goodbye

09 Well Wishers - Growing Old

10 Even - Starlight Caravan

IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 13

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Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers - Andrew Taylor And The Harmonizers

 



Three or four of us writers joke about how there are periods when every band are compared to another so much that it becomes cliched and ends up with completely inappropriate comparisons. We've seen it with XTC, Jellyfish, Nada Surf and currently, Guided By Voices.

But none of these compare to the number that used to get compared to Teenage Fanclub. Now that that has died down, it seems ok to mention TFC again and the band that has always been closest (and maybe have even surpassed them) are Dropkick. 

I've mentioned before how consistently great the band are, but I'm also in admiration of Andrew Taylor's adventures away from the band. His soothing gentle vocal lights up all of his projects and this is no exception.

I've spent 2021 praising artists who avoided the lockdown offering up something lo fi that suitably tells you how sad the year has made them. The Harmonizers have done just that and the trio of fellow Dropkick mate, Ian Grier, Iain Sloan and brother Alastair Taylor should be applauded for this.

The sound is exemplary and in many parts, the album sounds like a Dropkick album. But there is a difference and that is Sloan's wonderful Pedal Steel. This emphasises the difference and the variation. It marks out the Country Rock and Americana. It even makes some of the Guitar Pop in to something different.

The simplistic way to describe the album in general terms is it being like a cross between early Eagles and latter day TFC. The best example of the Country Guitar Pop that I mentioned is the magnificent, Life Is Good. Many of the songs are equal to it, but none would make a better opener.

I could make the case for any song, but for the reason of brevity only, I'll pick out the deviations from the norm. I'll Never Win is all Gerry Rafferty. Everything's Really The Same follows that trend with its melancholic Stealers Wheel feel. The vocal is even a ringer for the Egan - Rafferty Voice blend.

Roundabout is very Doolin' Dalton in style, It's About Time is a stripped down joy and For This To Pass is an absolute Tour de Force, a perfect example of how Pop can be more complicated than it appears and yet still be incredibly melodic.

For all of this variety, it is strangely the two most Dropkick like songs that appeal most. When I Don't Understand and Older are those and the latter mixes Jangle Pop with Pedal Steel. The vocal harmonies should also get a mention. The whole album is welcoming top notch fayre. 

You can listen to and pre-order the album here.

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Kid Gulliver - Kismet

 

There is definitely not enough chipper music around. The Covid lockdown in particular encouraged Angsty songs. Applause should therefore ring out for Kid Gulliver who spent 2020 with six upbeat releases that are collated here.

The Boston quartet are fronted by Simone Berk and her sugar sweet vocal certainly lends itself to the material. The Power Pop slant of the songs will likely lead to lazy comparisons to Rachel Sweet, Kirsty MacColl et al. Truth be known Kid Gulliver are more like a faster version of The Corner Laughers.

Yes there is the jaunty sing along pop that you would imagine on the likes of Susie Survived Chemotherapy, but there is also some great variety on show. The Corner Laughers comparison is most relevant on Lila Dreams.

But, Boy In A Bubble has a killer mid 80's riff part Jangle, part Goth. Carousel has Psych Pop touches and Beauty School Dropout sounds very Go-Go's. I Wanna be A Pop Star is in The Rubinoos territory and Gimme Some Go could be on the Two Tone label.

Special mention should be given to the poptastic Stupid Little Girl and a particularly inspired cover of The Bee Gees' I Started A Joke. Forget About Him is a ringer for a Stiff Compilation and has a great Jangly riff. There isn't one duff track amongst the eleven.

The songwriting of David Armilotti is top notch. Great pop songs, but unlike many, the lyrics are not from a rhyming dictionary. There is a real depth to the words, that just adds to the enjoyment. A great debut album, full of fun. I can't wait for more. 

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Successful Failures - James Cotton Mather

 

The Successful Failures have never made an album that isn't engaging, so they are not going to start now. They are a quartet from Trenton, New Jersey who specialise in an Indie-ish Rock with a difference. The difference being that they can easily switch into Americana, even Country, instantly.

This is largely due to Mick Chorba's vocal which has a twang that makes that quite simple. The Rock has at times leant towards a noisier version of Power Pop, but not here. This is a Rock album, wonderfully so, beautifully constructed, an absolute gem of an offering.

All the hooks are still here, but this is more of a heads down affair that will translate splendidly to the live stage, an area where the band truly excel. The band just don't come up for air which suits me because I prefer them most in this mode.

There are still nods to the Power Pop, particularly on Tiger Gravel Opposition Child and there is more than enough variation to keep all interested. For instance, Little Ivan goes all Ry Cooder and Freedom Within is particularly anthemic.

Hand Grenades is a ringer for The Black Crowes and Old Man River is almost spat out via a fine vocal. Let The Power Go Through You even hints at Glam Rock. But it is the power of the songs that shines through. This is above all, a Plugged In Guitar album. Riffs fly from everywhere.

The band is the sum of its parts, but Chorba has such a distinct voice that is just so easy to listen to. The album is a concept album about James Cotton Mather and nautical in its thread. But the songs stand up individually. I thought I couldn't love The Successful Failures any more than I do. I've discovered that I can. This is superb.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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