Bash On Pop: March 2022

Posted by David Bash on March 8, 2022 in Bash On Pop | Comments Off on Bash On Pop: March 2022

 
 
Lolas-All Rise (Kool Kat; CD)
 
Birmingham, Alabama’s own Lolas have been releasing albums since the late ‘90s, save for a few hiatuses (hiati?), but their latest, All Rise, is probably their best since back in the day, and that’s saying a lot! Main man Tim Boykin knows his way around a power pop melody and the appropriate chord changes, and the best Lolas albums are always the aural equivalent of a raspberry milk shake spiked with five-hour energy drink! In other words, some fine, long-lasting bubble gum! Tracks like “Never To Be Mine”, “Messages From Home”, “Louise Michel” and “If I Don’t Do It (It Won’t Get Done”) are irresistible dancers, and ballads such as “All Rise, The Sneaky Snakes of Kudzu” (Boykin loves all things Japan), “General Assembly”, and the album’s finale, “All You Have Is Fire”, are as sweet as it gets. Top notch stuff from an artist we’ve long depended upon to bring the goods! https://lolas.bandcamp.com/album/all-rise-2
 
 
 
The Bye Bye Blackbirds-August Lightning Complex (Double Potions; CD and LP)
 
If the album’s title conjures up images of the glory daze of “college radio”, you’re spot on, as the venerable Oakland outfit led by Bradley Skaught has come up with another winner which fans of Game Theory, Let’s Active, and other cool bands of that ilk will definitely enjoy. Clever lyrics, smooth melodies and that ineffable quality which made ‘80s underground rock shine abounds on this album, along with a bushel and a peck of tight, male/female harmonies. The band includes the ubiquitous KC Bowman, of Corner Laughers, Agony Aunts, etc…, and Kelly Atkins, of the excellent 20 Minute Loop, and the album boasts Matt Piucci of Rain Parade as a special guest. A fine, sanguine-yet-rockin’ listen throughout! https://thebyebyeblackbirds.bandcamp.com/album/august-lightning-complex
 
 
 
Aaron Mannino-Lost In The Light (See Through; CD)
 
I got to know this fine gentleman around 10 years ago, when he was a Seattle resident and played the International Pop Overthrow festival there. He’s since moved from The Emerald City to Tampa, Florida, and fortunately he took all of his songwriting chops with him! Lost In The Light is the third member of a trilogy which Mannino started back in 2006, and is his first album since 2010…and it’s definitely worth the wait. His gentle, sometimes multi-tracked voice is accompanied by some of the most heart-tugging melodies you’ll have heard in a while, wedded to lyrics of life, love and loss. Exemplars are “Burn The Walls”, “Feel What You Want To Feel” and “The Great Play Goes On”, which was inspired by the Walt Whitman poem “Oh Me! Oh Life”, and one Mannino says might be the best song he’s ever written! Perhaps so, and one thing is definitely clear to this writer: Lost In The Light is Mannino’s best album. https://aaronmannino.bandcamp.com/album/lost-in-the-light
 
 
 
Rome 56-Days of Carefree Living (Think Like A Key; CD)
 
Many of the long term popsters among you will remember The Shirts, the Brooklyn-based band who released a few albums on Capitol Records at the turn of the ‘80s, and who also made the Dutch Top 10 singles chart (!) with “Tell Me Your Plans”. The writer of that and many other Shirts tunes was Arthur Lamonica, and these days he and his wife, Kathy, front this delightful combo, Rome 56. Their latest album, Days of Carefree Living, lives up to its title as it’s replete with carefree-sounding songs which nevertheless were given lots of care. Blithe pop melodies abound on the title track, “Platinum Girl”, the Petty-esque “Stranger On A Train” and “On Portabello Road”, “The Lime Café”, and several others. A strong ‘60s influence abounds, without ever sounding like it’s from the ‘60s! . https://rome56.bandcamp.com/album/days-of-carefree-living
 
 
 
Hoodoo Gurus-Chariot of The Gods (Universal; CD and LP)
 
They’ve been favorite sons of so many of us since the release of their debut, Stoneage Romeos, in 1984, and we’ve certainly missed them as their last album came out twelve years ago, but Hoodoo Gurus are back with a fury, with Chariot of The Gods. Time has certainly not taken the edge off of the Sydney-based rockers, as Dave Faulkner and company have delivered a very strong set of melodic rockers! Recorded during the pandemic, and definitely feels like it’s been unleashed, the album features blistering, angry rockers like “World of Pain”, “I Want Your Money”, the would-be power pop classics “Get Of Dodge”, “Hang With The Girls”, and “Carry On”, along with a should-be hit single, “My Imaginary Friend” and the Velvets-influenced, cheekily-titled “Got To Get You Out Of My Life”. The LP version comes with three extra tracks, including a nifty cover of (speaking of the Fab Four) “I Wanna Be Your Man”! (Release date, March 11)
 
 
 
Vanilla-Sideshow (Self-Released; CD)
 
Those Tacoma, Washington rascals are back again with what, in this writer’s opinion, is their best album! The band, featuring Liar’s Club alumni Jayson Jarmon and Sean Gaffney, cleverly distills influences like The Beatles, 10cc and Frank Zappa et al into a sound all their own, which is fun, engaging and filled with cheeky wordplay! Sideshow is very much an album of the 2020s, i.e. a series of songs released “one a month”, with the purpose of eventually compiling them on one disc, but it certainly coalesces well. Exemplars are “Milkmen”, which is kind of an “Eight Miles High” for the new generation; the soft poppy “Rain”; the wonderfully titled, exquisite “I Shall Be Re-Released”, the nursery-rhymey “Ten Bells”, and “The Truth Is Never True”. An insouciant sounding album which is assuredly serious, and assuredly excellent! (Release date: March 15) https://vanilla.bandcamp.com/album/sideshow
 
 
 
Cat Stevens-Harold and Maude Soundtrack: 50th Anniversary Edition (Universal; CD and LP)
 
If you polled movie buffs and asked them to choose their all-time cult film, Harold and Maude would almost certainly be a consensus Top 5 pick. The depressed but self-aware Bud Cort’s “Harold’s” union with the seemingly unaware Ruth Gordon’s “Maude” was a January-December quirky romance for the ages; as depraved as everything seemed about the whole thing, there was also a pure innocence there, which made Cat Stevens the perfect person to write the soundtrack, as his songs often rang out with innocence. Unreleased at the time of the film, the soundtrack finally made its first appearance in 2007, but soon went out-of-print. Universal has now released this 50th Anniversary package which intertwines Stevens’ songs with some instrumental passages and film dialogue, as every good soundtrack ought to do. The tracks come off of Stevens’ albums from the period, as well as two he wrote for the film, “Don’t Be Shy” and “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out”, and every one of them belongs much more to the film than to the albums from which they originally came. This reissue is lavishly packaged, particularly the LP version, which is presented with a 180g record, a beautiful gatefold, and a fine, 36-page booklet. An essential addition to any respectable soundtrack collection!