Andrew Weiss And Friends - Sunglass & Ash

Andrew Weiss doesn't half get a lot of labels. Americana, Laurel Canyon, Power Pop, to name just three. The answer is probably that he is all of these things and similarly none. Perhaps people should just forget about genres and sit back and enjoy the excellence on show.

Sunglass & Ash is only really Americana when Weiss picks up the acoustic guitar and some of those songs are more Singer Songwriter Pop. Laurel Canyon wise, maybe the odd time there is an Eagles before the coke feel, but again the Pop is more pronounced. When he does Power Pop, it is all encompassing, could be Badfinger, could be Jangle Pop or could be something entirely different.

So let's settle on Pop Rock, but not any old Pop Rock. There is really feeling, sentiment and meaning in the lyrics revealing quite an observer, certainly not someone who wants to sing about how great the sun is. All this variety is his strength. 

I take three songs as examples of the variety. Tommy's Teardrops is great Jangle Guitar Power Pop, Carolina is wonderful Piano Pop with big harmonies and A Beginners Guide To Being Famous is great modern pop, think Williams / Chambers that really should be grabbed by the people behind some upcoming young "popstar".

Ballad Of The TV Housewife (1950+) is mesmerising a country twang, a petty drawl and much more. Shot In The Dark is great 70s Piano Pop, something that Weiss excels at and Never There is a twangy, let's do the show right here, shuffle. If you want Laurel Canyon, here's You Had To Be There.

Then there is Stone Washed which races along, a little Nick Piunti in feel and sound, it is built around a cracking riff. The big closer is Backstage Bella / Italian Ice, a real story of a song, a little bit solo Henley, but way better than that.

24 songs is a lot of songs (it is a double album), but the quality rarely drops and the album never ever outstays its welcome. In fact the 102 minutes fly by. Many used to do this sort of album, few do now and those that do come nowhere near the quality of this excellent release.

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

The Great Speckled Fritillary - Her Majesty's Secret Circus, Vol. 2

 

I have become absolutely fascinated by both volumes of The Great Speckled Fritillary albums. The Vancouver five piece have been brave releasing two albums on the same day. Even more so, because there is so much going on on one album that multiplying it by two is like a week's worth of dreams.

The IDHAS Review of Volume 1 is here. I have spent much of my week off from here listening to both, the albums demand that because they are so interesting and inventive, but equally baffling. There are so many twists and turns. For instance a song like Ride On starts all UK Glam Rock and ventures into Budgie territory. 

Her Majesty's Secret Circus is a wonderful listen and has a Bowie 72 - 73 ish vocal. Babylonia is a surprisingly and rare straight forward affair, a restrained joint vocal ballad. The male female combination works beautifully, but even that song has to have a dramatic rocked up close.

Many Splendour'd Thing is very Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies era in feel. Magic has an Alex Harvey like vocal and Linger On is frantic, part Psych, part Broadway show. Cormorant Arcade is the big closer, another showstopper, part Geldof, part Bowie.

Linger On is more 80s in sound, feel and instrumentation, but just as effective. I'm sure that the band don't wish me to pick my favourite twin, but I have come to the conclusion that this volume is my favourite, but it was close,

My reasoning is that the shorter songs are just as interesting and inventive on both, particularly the magnificent Death Is My Girlfriend here, but the longer songs are slightly more gripping. However, both albums are a tour de force. They will take repeated listens, which will be no chore, but everytime you listen to the songs you notice something new. Highly Recommended!

You can listen to and buy Volume 2 here.

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The Light Music Company - Housewives' Favourites

 

Something a bit different here involving someone we know very well. You could say it is an attempt to bring culture into our world of poptastic choruses. Alternatively you could equally say it is because we love Martin Newell.

Newell has teamed up with ex Dolly Mixture, Rachel Love to write and perform six instrumental pieces on Piano and Cello and what a pleasant surprise it is. The compositions are augmented with electric keyboard and field recordings and what a soothing listen they are.

What is also appealing is that all six instrumentals provide different thoughts. The Midwife Cycles Home is like a soundtrack to a European film, probably French. Ms B Goes Shopping For Shoes is a mix of Toytown Pastoral Psych Pop and the instrumental backing for a silent film.

Ghost Waltz is Parlour Room Baroque that ends with some distant vocal harmonies and Borchester Echoes is real click your fingers easy listening. Frinton-On-Sea is smoochy bossa nova with some splendid recordings of the sea thrown in. Not our usual listen, but nevertheless a triumph.

You can listen to and buy Housewives' Favourites here.

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IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 31

Volume 30 was one of the most successful Mixcloud mixes ever and hit No 14 in the Mixcloud Global Indie Pop Charts as well as high places in the other two Indie Charts. So the new mix has a lot to live up to and thankfully it is just as great. Thank you to all you listeners and I do hope you visited the artist pages to listen to more.

Our 10 favourite songs this week come in at just over 36 minutes. A heady mix of everything from Psych Pop to Pure Pop. They are in no particular order, just positioned in what we think provides the most engaging track list. 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 Ball Park Music - Pleb Rock

02 Daystar - Get Your Gun

03 The Fernweh - Happy As Larry

04 Northern Portrait - Once Upon A Bombshell

05 Fastball - Electric Cool Aide

06 The Len Price 3 - She Came From Out Of The Sun

07 Momma - Rockstar

08 Mark Lofgren - We Don't Leave The Yard

09 The Lunar Towers - Happy As Larry

10 Special Pillow - So Inclined

IDHAS Ten Songs Mix 31

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Momma - Household Name

 

The likes of NME have got hold of Momma and usually when I see NME raving about a band, my suspicions are raised expecting a big accompanying album advert or a general too kool for skool collective that means that the writers are not hip if they don't mention them.

These mags make plenty of references to any fuzz guitar female fronted that appeared on MTV after 1992. You can sense why NME want to seem as relevant as they were in 1993 and are desperately looking for the 2022 version of Elastica or Sleeper.

Don't get me wrong, there are references here to that period on Household Name. At times Allegra Weingarten and Etta Friedmann do sound a little, lets say Smashing Pumpkins, but without any of the unnecessary bombast. 

The difference here is that Momma offer up really melodic pop songs with big choruses and riffs that are simple, but absolutely hook you. The vocals are also really sweet sounding rather than shouty and this benefits the 12 songs enormously.

Speeding 72 has a killer riff and could be Classic Rock from a much earlier era. Rip Off could be Alisha's Attic. When they let go, they really let go, particularly on Rock Star, but again the verse is very Alisha's Attic until the chorus kicks in.

There's nothing particularly elaborate in what Momma do, but the songs are sung splendidly with a gentle emotion which is very different to bands that tread similar boards. Household Name is a great listen and deserves much wider attention. NME may be right for one.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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The Fernweh - Torschlusspanik!

 

The Fernweh, despite giving the impression of being a European band are in fact from my beloved Liverpool and their second album is absolutely superb. It is Pop Rock at its very best and in several ways different from their debut album.

That self titled introduction leant a bit more on Folk, here this is straight ahead Pop Rock. Psych Pop is the base and the band do that incredibly well, but is the departures from that template that thrill most. The Pike is pure 70s Glam Rock, but not simplistic, there is so much included in that one song. 

Sad Face is a little bit Cockney Rebel and imagine Harly being accompanied by the Wizzard Sax Section. Everybody Says They Love You is like a Peter Skellern cover, a bit Liverpool Express. What's Jesus For is top notch 60s Big Ballad, you can envisage the singer on a high stool. The arrangement is wonderful.

Then there is the exceptional Happy As Larry which opens like a Scaffold song, but settles into the inventiveness of say, Sparks on Indiscreet. There's also a Deaf School feel to the thing. The Wounds is something else entirely.

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A twisting and turning big sounding beast, a bit Brit Pop with a marching beat that reminds me of The Killers' Sam's Town album. It is magnificent and even includes a big Guitar Solo or two. It is the most different thing on show here, but with so much choice, it is hard to say its the best.

Torschlusspanik! is an amazing listen. Psych Pop lovers will adore those songs, but as you can tell from the review, it is the alternate directions that make the album as great as it is. I didn't expect what I heard, but I'm really glad I did. Without a doubt, this is an IDHAS Album Of The Year contender.

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Mark Alan Lofgren - Black Moon Book II

 

Mark Lofgren has a splendid history. Founder of The Luck Of Eden Hall and member of The Thin Cherries. both excellent affairs. The latter specialised in Psych Pop with a heavy hint of Prog, the latter are far more 80s in feel, particularly with the added keyboards.

So you'd think that a Lofgren solo album might fall somewhere between the two and at times it does. Red Giant vs Red Dwarf is very keyboard led and close to The Thin Cherries, but Black Moon Book II is much more in the Pop Rock territory that IDHAS followers know and love.

Lofgren's mellow vocals are ideally suited to this type of material. He sounds like a cross between Ian Broudie and Rick Corcoran and this is ideal for jangly We Don't Leave The Yard. Proceed Home is very early 90s Dance Rock and yet New Ice Age Better is a wonderful fragile ballad. 

Plastic Candles is like a dream sequence with a Power Pop riff and the melody just oozes out of the album. More restrained than you'd expect from someone with Lofgren's history, but splendidly so. I am reminded of Orgone Box a lot without the big choruses. A great listen!

You can listen to and buy the album here.

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Be Back Soon

 

All is fine. I have just been tied up with non IDHAS stuff. I expect to be back at some stage midweek. Please have a look at recent reviews and hopefully you will want to listen to the albums. I will see you all soon!

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