JANGLE ON!
AUGUST
by Eric Sorsensen
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The past month brought some extreme heat, some unseasonably mild weather … and a steady trickle of excellent jangly tunes and new power pop albums. As a result, this month’s Jangle Pop compilation required very little filler. The following discs and tracks should interest fellow jangly music enthusiasts:
Love In Laureltide Green – Michael Mazzarella. The very first Not Lame pop sampler CD that I purchased (stocked by Bart Mendoza at San Diego’s Off The Record store) featured several tracks by Michael Mazzarella’s former band the Rooks. That band deserved to be categorized as Beatlesque, and Mazzarella’s solo material has followed suit. Mazzarella still has some of the best Lennon-inspired chops in the power pop community, and he shines on Love In Laureltide Green. All fifteen tracks will delight pop fans, but jangleholics will be most pleased by the chiming guitars on “Into The Rain,” “Take Me Down, Wind” and “Send My Love To Anyone Who Needs It.” Long may you run, Sir Michael!
My Hometown: A Tribute to New Jersey. What a great concept: 18 cover tunes of classic pop/rock tunes originally performed by New Jersey artists, with the proceeds going to the (post-Hurricane Sandy) New Jersey Relief Fund. The Tim Lee 3 do a superb job of covering the strummy, jangly “The Bulrushes” originally released by the Bongos. Jim Testa and His Inappropriately Younger Band incorporate “The Bulrushes” into a medley with Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot.” After hearing these two cool renditions, I was primed for a cover of a Feelies tune … but that will have to wait for a Feelies tribute disc. From the opening track – Janet LaBelle’s stripped-down version of “Baby It’s You” – to the final song – Jon Caspi’s “I Like Your Mom” – this is a terrific album. Kurt Reil and the Grip Weeds, stalwarts in the genre of pysch-pop, give us another wonderful cover – “Lies” by the Knickerbockers. Kudos to the Face Down Record label, Mick Chorba, the Successful Failures (a spot-on cover of “I’ve Got A Flair” by Fountains of Wayne) and all the artists who contributed to this worthy cause.
Bleached Highlights – Linden (Joe McAlinden). Top-notch pseudo-60s pop that is heavy on vocal harmony and Beach Boy production arrangements. “Bleached Highlights,” “Brown Bird Singing,” “If I Had Wings” and “I Just Wanna Be Here” attest to the strength of McAlinden’s multi-tracking skills. There are no standout jangly tracks, but patterning one’s sound after the Beach Boys and Jeff Larson is a very good thing for a contemporary pop artist to do.
The Owl and the Full Moon – Adam Marsland. Marsland’s latest disc borrows from the same reservoir as Bleached Highlights did, but with a bit more jangle. “Power Pop Days” is a bouncy, chiming pop tune, and “Song 11” is more of the same. This is solid indie power pop that pop fans have come to expect from Adam – and he delivers the goods!
Also in rotation this past month: Moving Forward Sideways by Too Much Saturn (catchy, melodic pop); MCII by Mikal Cronin (a 2013 top ten contender); Above, Beyond & In Between by Lisa Mychols (more pseudo-60s pop); One Day CD EP by Luke Potter; and Dana & Carl Present This Is Rock’n’Roll Radio Volume 3. The last disc features 29 tracks, and Kool Kat Musik is offering a bonus disc with 13 additional tracks.
On the horizon: a new Starbyrds double CD from the Prince of Twelve-String, Horst-Peter Schmidt.
Until next time, jangle on!
