Some Cool and Not So Cool Music of 2003

As another year quickly draws to an end, I find myself with stacks and stacks (and more stacks) of CDs that for some reason didn't get reviewed. It's with this in mind that I present to you, dear reader, some snapshot reviews of cool--and not so cool-- stuff that made its way into my CD player in 2003...

Swinger's The Walk is a solid, jangly (and short - only 35 minutes) pop album, with special harmonies from Mike McLaughlin and Rob Schulz and a handful of great songs (cue "Mercy Mile" and "Day By Day").

I believe that The Blakes may have broken up, but their groovy New Tattoo five-song EP was a hell of a swansong. Well played, multi-layered rock/pop, heavy on the harmonies, with a distinct rockin' Jellyfish influence. Their bass player was named Gay Elvis, a fact I throw out there for no apparent reason.

Danny McDonald's Summer City starts out promisingly enough with a few slices of Michael Carpenter-esque pure pop (McDonald's also from Australia), but things soon turn rather ordinary, and in the case of the frantic "Sandy Harrison," rather awful.

I always approach "best of" collections from bands I've never heard of with a certain degree of trepidation, but in the case of The Hawaii Mud Bombers' The Best So Far, any fears were swept away as soon as the supercharged Ramones-meet-the Beach Boys sounds burst forth from the speakers. I mean, how can you NOT love five Swedes who release surf music on a Japanese label, dub it "Super Surf Sound Summer Tunes!," rip off "Wipe Out!" and write tunes with titles like "Surfin' Nurse" and "Billy the White Shark?"

American Suitcase's Summerman is sweet, atmospheric jangle pop that takes on added depth with each listen. "Buffalo Bill" is a real winner, while the haunting "Ghost Vibes" adds a string section, to great effect.

While we're on the subject of that 'ol sweet jangle, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention The Rhinos' Year of the Rhinos on Rainbow Quartz. Byrds guitar licks fly all over the place here---hell, Roger McGuinn should find some grounds to sue over the scary-Byrdsy "She's A Lucky Girl"---and the whole deal sounds not unlike a good Bobby Sutliff record.

I've never been a huge fan of early '80s popsters The Wind, but those in the know---such as I.P.O. impresario David Bash and power pop godfather Jordan Oakes---have continually sung their praises over the years, so I figured I must be missing something. Well, kinda. I seem to be a tad more tolerant of Lane Steinberg's quirky, histrionic vocals nowadays, and some of the inventive, expansive arrangements on the recently-released Windjammer collection (which compiles the Wind's first LP, the subsequent EP and a few unreleased goodies) do make for an interesting listen or three….but I'm still not entirely bowled over. This is a generous collection, though, with notes from both Steinberg and Oakes (it was released on the latter's new Yellow Pills Records imprint, and includes a treatise on power pop).

Speaking of groups I never got…here come those damned Gladhands again, with a posthumous best of on Japan-based Air Mail Recordings. Again, lots of folks dug these guys, but they always struck me as an overly-stylized Todd Rundgren minus the hooks and definitely one of the lesser lights of the Big Deal Records Cavalcade of Stars. (But Jeff Carlson and Doug Edmunds do manage to bore me equally as songwriters, though, for whatever that's worth.) But if they're your cuppa, this comp does include four rare live cuts and an unreleased demo.

On the newish, up-and-coming pop tip, there are a few things to report: Big Kid's seven-songer You Must Be Kidding is solid meat 'n' taters stuff, nicely arranged, written and sung, with some sweet keyboard parts weaving in and out; Lovetap's There's the Girl is more alternative-sounding (especially vocally) and moody, and not nearly as successful; and Single's self-titled disc finds the young San Francisco foursome belying their age with a knockout set of songs that convey passion, depth and a knack for a strong, memorable pop hook. "The Moment to Start," in particular, is a stunning ballad. A band to keep an eye on.

Michael Quercio has long been considered some sort of mad pop boy genius, and the Jupiter Affect's The Restoration of Culture After Genghis Khan does nothing to alter that perception. It's baroque, buzzy, rockin', often accessible, often infuriatingly obtuse and impenetrable and unrelentingly original and clever. Nutty-ass song title of the year: "You Are Wise in Your Conceit, O'Beautiful Woman of the Tartars." Only a mad pop boy genius would even attempt a song with that title, let alone make it one of the cornerstones of a solid record.

Jim Basnight's been at it for quite some time, going back to his salad days as the leader of power-poppers The Moberlys in the '70s, and he's back in the game with Recovery Room. Quieter and more lounge-oriented than most of his guitar-heavy output, it contains a swift cover of "I Can See For Miles" and a great tune that recalls his former glories, the hooky "Look Inside."

The Vinyl Kings have offered up a slick---almost too slick, if you ask me---homage to the Fab Four with their A Little Trip CD. For fans of the Spongetones and those who mourn over the Rutles' breakup.

Like Dwight Twilley? Okay, then we can safely guess that you'll like Craig Davis. Why? Well, simply put, Craig Davis is Dwight Twilley. As a matter of fact, his vocals might well fool everyone except Mama Twilley, they're that spot on. It's eerie, really. And the guy's music is the same power-pop-dipped-in-a-southwestern-rock batter that DT's served up for years. He's released three albums over the past few years and each is solid, with good songs, solid playing (Davis is an excellent guitarist), blah, blah, blah. Pick one or pick 'em all, but just try not to laugh when you glimpse the photo of the shirtless, shaggy-haired, ever-so-earnest Davis massaging his axe in the booklet of Revolution Road. Priceless.

Suddenly, European power pop comps of dubious legality that collect rare singles from the '70s and '80s are all the rage, and the Metrojets series is one of the good ones. We've seen two volumes thus far, with the first comping the Boys' outstanding "Baby It's You" (originally on the legendary Titan Records) and the Fans' jumpy "True," among others. The second volume contains cool cuts from the likes of The Dazzlers, The Expressos, The Shades and the Urgent Crunch Band (great name). Power pop collectors and completists will covet both volumes.

With the departure of Donnie Vie from Enuff Z'Nuff, lead guitarist Johnny Monaco has taken over lead vocal duties for the pop-metal semi-legends. Monaco is also a viable artist in his own right, as his nine-song Breathe proves. The songs were all recorded on a four-track and suffer from a hideous drum machine, but their melodiousness shines brightly, especially on the rubbery rockin' of "All I Want," the insistent "Perverted Love" and the mellow, psych-dipped "India." Get this guy in a studio with his band, pronto!

The Memphis pop scene of the late '60s/early '70s wove quite a tangled web, with musical relationships, bands and other partnerships being forged at a dizzying rate. Lucky Seven records attempts to make some sense out of the chaos with their previously unheard Rock City release. Recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in 1969-1970 (pre-Big Star), Rock City included Chris Bell and Jody Stephens, along with keyboardist/co-producer Terry Manning and singer/songwriter Thomas Dean Eubanks (who co-wrote Big Star's moving "My Life is Right" with Bell). It's an interesting curio, and one that features three tunes that Big Star would later wax: there's a version of "My Life is Right" that is very similar to Big Star's take, a sweet, unadorned reading of "Try Again" and "Feel," as recorded by Icewater (Bell, Manning and Stephens) in 1969.

While we're on the subject of the Memphis pop scene, '70s Memph-pop warhorses Tommy Hoehn and Van Duren have teamed up for another excellent album's worth of harmony-soaked pop on Blue Orange. Why the underground pop community isn't going gaga over these guys is beyond me, so I'll sing the praises of the swingin' "Black Little Book" (Hoehn's McCartney-esque vocals kick this one into the stratosphere), the perky "Renee" (a musical love letter to Renee Zellweger), the beautiful "Love Overtakes Me" and the slightly '50s-flavored "Anytime." A great effort from two consummate pros.

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1969 with the help of Beatles associates Norman "Hurricane" Smith, Alan Parsons and Geoff Emerick but never released 'till now, the Aerovons' Resurrection is a pleasant, if not earth-shaking, late '60s baroque-pop album. There's obvious echoes of the Fabs, sure (check the "Oh, Darling"-inspired "Say Georgia"), but the Aerovons' style may have been more indebted to groups like The Left Banke and The Bee Gees. Kudos to RPM Records for making it available more than 30 years on.

The Quick's Untold Rock Stories is a 22-song collection of the seminal '70s L.A. pop/glam combo's demos for Mercury (pre-first album) and Elektra (never-released second album). These guys featured a primo songwriter in Steven Hufsteter and a way-young Danny Wilde as lead vocalist, and were supported by such area scenesters as Rodney Bingenheimer and Kim Fowley. Lots of memorable, semi-twinkie moments here, including the bubblegummy, shoulda-been-a-hit "No No Girl," covers of "Rag Doll" and "It Won't Be Long," Hufsteter's classic "Pretty Please" (later covered by the Dickies and Redd Kross) and a hilariously overdramatic version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

If you're up for some Shazam-like rockin' shenanigans, check out Adam McIntyre's solid Rockstars & Superheroes. This guy's a top-shelf songwriter and besides doling out the pop stuff in heavy doses, he also drags out a mandolin on the nifty "Friend or Lover" and exhumes the ghost of Deep Purple on the riff-crazy "Tuesday Street." One of the best albums I've heard in 2003, for sure.

Speaking of one of the best of 2003, let's end this missive with a shout out to the Soul Engines, who have crafted a near-perfect pop album with Closer Still. Urgent vocals, melodies that hit and stick like glue, guitars that ring, ring, ring, and harmonies that'll bring a tear to the eye of any self-respecting pop lover. 14 tracks and not a loser in the bunch---when's the last time you could say that about an album? Extremely highly recommended, as a wise man once said….

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