JANGLE ON!

Early Spring 2019

by Eric Sorensen

2019 has already seen its share of top-notch jangly CDs and songs.  In addition, the live music scene has featured some excellent jangly music as well.  In late January, I attended a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Beatles final live appearance – the rooftop gig in January 1969.  That show featured 22 local artists who performed 60 Beatles songs over a four-hour period.  More recently, area favorites the Kennedys returned to their home club in Northern Virginia – Jammin’ Java, and Pete Kennedy played his Rickenbacker 12-string on 80% of their songs.  The husband-wife duo performed an exceptional version of “Eight Miles High” – a Byrds tune that has long been included in their set lists.  Later this week, I will finally have the chance to see Teenage Fanclub – a band that has now influenced two generations of pop musicians.  I can’t wait to hear songs like “Sparky’s Dream,” “Straight & Narrow” and “Take The Long Way Round” performed live!   In the absence of live jangly music, I recommend the following discs and songs to fellow jangleholics:

Listen To The Wind: A Tribute to Tom Petty – Starbyrd. Starbyrd front man Horst-Peter Schmidt showcases his admiration for Tom Petty with two original tribute songs and nine of his favorite Petty songs.  Many of the songs feature Schmidt’s Rickenbacker 370RM 12-string guitar.  Schmidt, a prolific songwriter with over 20 albums to his credit, is already at work on the next Starbyrd album.  Long may you run, Sir Horst-Peter!

Dead Calm – The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness.  JANGLE ALERT!  This album (currently only available on vinyl or via download on Bandcamp) is a collaboration between Dropkick front man Andrew Taylor and Spanish power pop artist Gonzalo Marcos.  It’s like listening to Dropkick with a chiming Rickenbacker added to each track.  The group and one of the tracks take its name from a Feelies song by the same title.  “Cose The Door,” “The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness,” “Nervous Man,” “Sparkle,” “Another Yesterday,” “Southern Words” and “Start It Again” are all catchy, chiming ear candy tunes.  Dead Calm is an early candidate for this year’s Top Ten!

Speaking of Andrew Taylor, don’t overlook his late 2018 release Acoustic Volume 1.  Andrew Taylor has long been a disciple of the Teenage Fanclub sound … and these acoustic tracks will keep Dropkick fans very pleased while they wait for Dropkick’s next album.

Fair Weather – Sam Hoffman.  This is a terrific power pop album that shines on chiming tracks like “December,” “Anything At All” and “Karate.”

Issues – the Genuine Fakes.  Like Fair Weather, this is a strong power pop album with standout jangly tracks like “Wither Away” and “In It For The Chase.”

All You Need Is Fuzz – Marshmallow Overcoat.  While the Paisley Underground movement was gaining traction in Los Angeles, the Marshmallow Overcoat were embracing a similar pseudo-60s sound of their own in Tucson, Arizona.  All You Need Is Fuzz is an excellent retrospective of one garage band’s gift for power pop and jangly guitars (think of the Flamin’ Groovies and the Barracudas).  Favorite jangly tracks include “Wait For Her,” “Marshmallow Theme,” “Half A Life,” “Our Love Will Survive,” “Beverly Pepper,” “When It’s Dark” and “Suddenly Sunday.”  All fans of 60s pop/rock will enjoy this disc!

Psychedelic Country Soul – the Long Ryders.  Yes, THE LONG RYDERS.  One of the finest bands to emerge from the afore-mentioned Paisley Underground scene has reunited and treated rock/pop/alt-country fans to another exceptional album.  Sid Griffin’s Rickebacker 12-string is pronounced on the original tune “The Sound” and the band shines on their cover of Tom Petty’s “Walls.”  I am forever indebted to the great San Diego radio station 91X for introducing me to the Long Ryders back in the late 1980s.  Long may your run, Sir Sid, Sir Stephen, Sir Tom and Sir Greg!

My good friend Ray Verno has unearthed more jangly nuggets from the past five decades that he has included on Byrdsian Volumes 130 and 131.  My own “mining” efforts have unearthed current tunes like “4 AM” by the Maureens, “The Inner Truth” by the Vapour Trails, “A Girl Like You” by Alex Dominish, “No End In Sight” by Strange Passage, “Either Way” by the Dirty Sidewalks, “Running Out Of Time” by the Rectangle Shades (a catchy variation of the melody from the classic jangly song “When You Walk In The Room”), “Whisper Softly” by the Bertling Noise Laboratory, “So Happy Now” by the Rainyard (don’t know how I missed their excellent 2014 disc A Thousand Days) and “I Can’t Explain This Feeling” by the Belltowers.

Until next time, jangle on!

ERIC