Lolas
Silver Dollar Sunday

(Jam)

lolas.net

With their debut, Ballerina Breakout, the Lolas showed the capability of being one of the leading lights of the contemporary powerpop scene. The followup album more than makes good on that promise. Brimming with confidence, chock full of great songs that are executed in a tight, kinetic manner, Lolas can do no wrong. When the band gets revved up, they sound like some serendipitous combination of The Records and Buzzcocks - breezy post-Byrds power pop melodies married to a superb energy.

This record pushes all of the right buttons. Fans of the robust sounds of The Shazam should check out the beginning of “Radio Dios”, with Mark Reynolds pounding his kit. But rather than riding down the Cheap Trick highway, like so many Shazam tunes, this goes all jangly, with a bopping stride and sing-song melody. If you want to skip the power and go right to the jangle, then “Who am I Talking To” gets right to the point - the chorus sounds like some lost 1966 Top 40 hit - as if The Wonders hadn’t broken up after “That Thing You Do”.

The band does a perfect cover of “The Summer Sun”, the 1977 chestnut from Chris Stamey and the dB’s (that’s what it said on the original Ork single release). They don’t mess with the basic structure of the song, but enhance the song with more harmonies, more guitars, and more sunshine. The fact that frontman Tim Boykin has a Southern drawl akin to Stamey’s (with less quirky intonations) makes this a cover that may surpass the original. This tune is followed by “You & Me”. With assistance from Jeremy Morris on keyboards and guitar, the tune sounds like a lost dB’s classic, if Jeff Lynne had managed to man the boards. The song has an ascending bridge the likes of which I haven’t heard since Repercussion came out. Perfect.

The slightly-above mid-tempo “Dog and Pony Show” has a candy-coated punk-pop rhythm (obscure reference point - Parasites), with just the sweetest melody line. It’s Ramones-styled bop, hold the blitzkrieg, thank you very much. The other side of the coin is “Long Time”, which is a McCartney-pure ballad, and showcases a fairly soulful side of Boykin on vocals. Teenage Fanclub fans will really appreciate “Silver Lakes”, which starts with a jangle that can be traced back to The Searchers, Beatles, Byrds and Big Star, but a more modern hook. “In My Car” has a jaunty piano underpinning (reminds me of a Lennon solo track I can’t recall the title of), and a chorus that demands handclapping accompaniment.

Appropriately, the disc ends with Lolas’ contribution to this year’s Shoes tribute album (Shoe Fetish). Like Shoes, Lolas create a transcendent guitar pop that soars in the most sublime fashion, reminding you how fun rock and roll can be, and tickling the same pop nerves that made you dance to the radio when you were young enough that having fun was all that mattered.

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Ashby
Power Ballads

(Marina)

parasol.com

If, like me, you were a big fan of Saint Etienne's Good Humour, the 1999 classic where the Brit trio captured the perfect blend of breezy '60s pop sounds with modern electronic backing (and some dance music vibes), then you must buy this disc. If it were possible for me to get a court order to make you do so, I would get it. In fact, this review would come with a subpoena.

The Ashby duo of Evelyn Pope (who provides voice and tunes) and William Cowie (who creates the soundscapes) get just about everything right here. The songs sparkle and pulse - a vast array of keyboards and synthesizers drive these songs, but at no point is there any danger of sterility. Far from it - the music here is as warm as Pope's voice. Her voice is coated in honey, with just a wee bit of roughness on the edges, which is only noticeable on ocassion. Pope's phrasing is impeccable, generally precise, but she'll caress the notes that need the extra special treatment.

The heart that is evident from her singing is equaled by the intelligence of her writing. The sublime chord changes and silky melodies she comes up with here are graceful and intoxicating. The musical modes vary from light dance pop to post-Bacharach fingersnappers to space age jazz vibing. Ashby utilizes a wide array of keyboard and synthesizer sounds, elegantly blending together the bop of a Fender Rhodes, the warm rumble of the Moog, the melancholy shooting star wail of what sounds like a Fairlight or Roland, and even some techno blips.

So you get creations like "Horizon", with a percussion track that sounds like a less frenetic Pizzicato Five, with Pope carrying the melody line for most of the tune. There are a few distinct melodic ideas in this track, and the way they seamlessly melt into each other is a testament to Ashby's talent - this song is like a sustained warm embrace.

Then there's the slow insinuating groove of "Continuity", with a ringing keyboard part, what sounds like vocoder effects and a percussion track that is designed for swaying.

"Last Another Day" is modern martini music for the neo-swinging set - Matt Marvulgo plays a part on his flute that you'd swear is lifted from a classic Bacharach/David composition. As the song goes on, Amy Geddes doubles up the part with her strings. Pope matches this melody with the story of a woman trying to find her place in life, weighed down by uncertainty, but taking comfort in her ability to endure. The music and words link perfectly on this tune.

Delivering on it's title, "Space Bossa Nova" Brazils along, but the backing adds all sorts of burbling synth fills and an instrumental break down of blips and blurps that reminds one of Kraftwerk and their ilk (The Girl from Ipanema meets the Girl from IBM?). For those who want their pop straight, "Old Gold" is a wonderful ballad, with a tender chorus, Pope's voice just flowing on top.
This is a very special disc. Ashby manages the trick of exuding all sorts of warmth and empathy, yet never blowing their considerable cool.

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Various Artists
Parasol Presents: Stuck In The Chimney (More Christmas Singles)

(Parasol)

parasol.com

Take your Burl Ives' "Holly Jolly Christmas", your Johnny Mathis, your Nat King Cole, your Chipmunks, your Very Special Christmas (which gives me a very special headache), your Manheim Steamroller (who almost make me regret buying that copy of C.W. McCall's "Convoy" back in 1976, since the royalties helped co-writer Chip What's-his-name put together his Old Fart New Age dreck factory) and put 'em in the fireplace, incinerator or landfill. Not to 'Scrooge Out' here, but four years of working at a retail record store, combined with an insane head manager who wanted holiday tuneage and nothing but from Thanksgiving on, scarred me. Christmas music just makes me cringe.

Not that there aren't fine Xmas offerings (like Cole and Mathis) available. But the mix of happiness and nostalgia gets old too - there is a lot more to the season than that. (Note to self - maybe now's the time for a Very Hopeless Christmas, with proceeds going to a suicide hotline - it's a big time of year for that, y'know).

This Parasol disc is the antidote to the usual cheer. Deck the halls with melancholy, I say. This stuff is the soundtrack for wrapping gifts, drinking a warm beverage, contemplating loves lost and loves on the horizon, while the wind rattles the window and tiny snow drifts form outside the sill.

For those into tradition, you get a dream pop version of "Silent Night" by Absinthe Blind, which breaks down into a hypnotic instrumental passage at the end. Jenifer Jackson, she of the smooth, sweet voice, slows down "Blue Christmas" in an acoustic rendition that fits the tearstained theme of the tune. The Green Pajamas tackle "O Holy Night", which, quite frankly, doesn't stray too far from the melodies the lush band spins on their recent original material. I'd hate to follow them on a Christmas caroling route (though hauling their instruments might tucker them out). Though technically not a Yuletide standard, Big Star's "Jesus Christ" should be one, and Doleful Lions make a compelling case in support of my argument with a swell cover.
Only one real rocker in the collection, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives' "Jingle Hell (Stuck In The Chimney)" conjuring memories of past seasonal smokers from The Sonics. Two bands take the electronic route - Friends Of Sound's "I Don't Want Presents" comes off like Margo Guryan gone synth, while Vitesse mixes cool vocals with a warm electronic bath (think early Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) on "Ice & Ribbons".

A host of tracks are perfect fireplace/eggnog fodder. My favorite track on the collection is White Town's take on "December" (the Teenage Fanclub tune), a gentle acoustic pop number from an artist too often overlooked. The George Usher Group may have the best original of the set, with the hypercatchy mid-tempo powerpop nugget "Christmas in the Lion's Den". Toothpaste 2000's "7-Eleven Christmas" is just plain cute, while Fonda nail the sad love song vibe of "Last Christmas" perfectly. For those of you who checked out the talented Pascal Deweze on the Chitlin Fooks record (the collaboration with Bettie Serveert's Carol Van Dijk), his band Sukilove plies a similar light country-rock vein, as shown on "X-Mas for Aliens".

This is a charmer of a disc. If only they'd play it in the shopping malls.

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Post Office
Fables In Slang

(Spade Kitty)

postofficemusic.com

Stephen Becker and Larry O. Dean - two great tastes that taste great together! Becker and Dean are the singer-songwriters who front this Chicago quartet. Becker has the power pop friendly voice, while Dean contrasts his partner in rhyme (yes, I dragged that piece of shit phrase out of the mothballs) with his alternatively sardonic and curmudgeonly microphone turns. The two share a love of language, and it seems almost criminal that there isn't a lyric sheet included (though, as Elvis Costello used to point out before he relented and included lyrics with his albums, you do have to pay attention), as there is some damn fine wordplay going on here. The band is an intriguing indie-pop contender that could have rubbed shoulders on college radio back in the '80s with artists like The Embarrassment and Big Dipper. They have a generally big guitar sound that ventures everywhere from sweet melodic stuff to rootsiness that nearly crosses the border into Americana.

Some of the tunes Dean sings are strongly reminiscent of Nothing Painted Blue, as he has a narrative vocal style (and as with his 2001 solo release, I'd be remiss in not mentioning Lou Reed and Steve Wynn as comparison points vocally) and the hooks are subtle but snag after a few listens. His ode to feminist writer "Susan Faludi" is a nice mid-tempo folky number that doesn't oversell its cleverness. "Fondly" is a beefy melodic rocker where Dean strings together some trenchant observations and memories, such as "I like to celebrate the flaws/and imperfections people try to hide/they're so much more interesting/than what we choose to wear on the outside." The tune's tender message can't be obscured by the power chords - remember the good times.

Becker opens the disc up with the classic Britpop structure of "Deliver My Letter", which has a fantastic middle section with pretty harmonies and deft lead guitar coloring (colouring?) before getting back into rollicking mode. Meanwhile, "Pillows" sounds like Chris Stamey, Elvis Costello and Squeeze getting together - an enticing mix of pub rock, stately melody and an oddball quirky chorus with an indelible hook. Yet this track might be topped by "Semiprecious Stone", which has enough memorable parts to support three or four songs, the band showing impressive dynamic range, as the tune encompasses loud chords and lovely string accompaniment, and asks a pertinent question: "Where is Colin Moulding when you need him?"

Geography buffs will appreciate the consecutive combo of "Going to Indiana", with Dean waxing both articulately and wistfully over a lover who left (but why did she want to go near Muncie?), and "End of the El", all strummy verses and a shredding but friendly chorus, as the song takes almost as many twists and turns as the Evanston Express into the Chicago Loop. This song shows off Chris (The dBs) Stamey's impressive production skills, as the many musical juxtapositions sound terrific and there is a great use of sound effects.
There are a lot of layers to this disc, so if you're looking for something challenging that doesn't believe that intelligence means sacrificing catchiness, you may want to check this out. (Hey, I made it through the whole review without a postal pun!)

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Pulp
We Love Life

(Island U.K.)

pulppeople.demon.co.uk

This British national treasure enters the 21st Century with a semi-conceptual effort rendered in their inimitable Village Green Kitchen Sink Drama manner, produced by the legendary Scott Walker. The album takes a middle ground between their artistic and commercial breakthrough disc Different Class, which houses their masterwork "Common People", one of the all-time greatest rock singles, and the brilliant failure This Is Hardcore, which found the band pushing the dramatic aspects of their music to the point of exhaustion.

Thankfully, the band manages here to scale back from the epic aspirations of the last album, but does not abandon its ambitiousness. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the record go to an environmental charity. Too clever to merely pen rants about ecological disaster, Jarvis Cocker and his mates instead incorporate nature and ecology into the lyrics of the album.

This approach works to perfection on the single "The Trees". Opening with stately strings, the song actually has structural roots in '60s R & B, a vibe the band also incorporated on the preceding album and uses to even greater effect here. A melancholy groove supports a simple sing-along melody, as Cocker rues a broken romance and curses the silent witnesses of nature: "Yeah, the trees/those useless trees/produce the air that I am breathing/yeah, the trees/those useless trees/they never said that you were leaving." In the end, however, the trees are all that will listen to Cocker's lament.

"The Birds in Your Garden" is a classic acoustic rock and roll ballad, with a big full-hearted chorus. In this case, the birds are love advisors - this song is cast in the classic 'it's now or never, go for it you poor old sod, or you'll never get a chance again' mold, but with a fresh spin that fits in the 'back to nature' concept: "I came inside/climbed to your bedroom/I kissed your eyes awake/and then did what I knew was only natural." This is a gentle anthem for those who want to strike the 'unrequited' from 'unrequited love'.

An even better use of metaphor is found in the bitterly fun "Bad Cover Version", as Cocker tells an old flame that her new man will never compare to him - a bad cover version of love: "It's like a later "Tom & Jerry"/when the two of them could talk/like the Stones since the eighties/like the last days of Southfork". All this to a sumptuous '60s-style production, strings swelling as Cocker froths in classic romantic loser style.

The pop gems surround more ambitious tracks that give the album further heft. "Wickerman" (which samples from the cult classic '70s movie) is an epic, that starts out as a prose poem rendered in folk ballad form, and then, like the screen going into color in Wizard of Oz, blossoms into a dramatic glam epic, like their 1999 hit "This is Hardcore". Then there is the one-two album opening punch of "Weeds" and "Weeds II (the origin of the species)", in which our treatment of crabgrass and such is compared to our treatment of the poor.

This album is a dazzling reminder of what a stunning force Pulp is. This is an album for the heart and the head, full of delicate moments and gigantic explosions, the sound of urbanites going pastoral. Here, Pulp takes the musical vocabulary of the Britpop giants of the '60s to explain why the dreams that generation had have been dashed, while demonstrating that broken hearts and longing remain eternal.

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