rescuing musical virtue in distress.
I've said it many times before. There is a sweet spot between pop and rock music that manages to combine the best of both genres. Find your way to that magical crossroads and you will find that your music is imbued with the infectiousness of the mainstream and the weight and swagger of rocks sonic... Continue Reading →
The great thing about Whole Damn Mess is that whilst they employ the sonic weapons of a rock band, what they create is so loaded with a pop sensibility, so wonderfully melodic, so addictive and infectious that they seem to create a genre all of their own. Pop-rock doesn't seem the right term, perhaps selling... Continue Reading →
Built from futuristic pop smarts surfing over rock waves, Nu Eyes takes a look back at the places and people you used to know with the fresh perspective which is only gained from leaving a place, either physically or mentally. As Matty Marz says, you gotta move on, and having done so it is easy... Continue Reading →
If pop music is built on infectious melodies and sonic addictiveness and rock music on solid structures and more deft musical choices, then there must be a sweet spot in the middle, a well-spring that gushes forth music with all these qualities. Well, there is, but it is hard to get to and it takes... Continue Reading →
The awesomely named Crime Spree in Candyland (and yes, that is now their full and official title as far as I'm concerned) is a band that perfectly embraces modern times. They understand that it is worth looking to the past for inspiration whilst striding confidently forward to embrace their own musical possibilities and sonic potential.... Continue Reading →
The message behind this musically lush new track from Love Letters From Space is not a new one but it does seem to have taken on added poignancy in recent years. The idea of the connectivity of (anti)social media as being some sort of technological saviour was long been known to be a myth, ironically,... Continue Reading →
Although the world occasionally moves forward through leaps of faith and lateral thinking, generally it advances through more gradual and accomodating steps. And this is certainly true of music. Forget all of those jarring fusions of conflicting genres, which those looking to create the next fad and fashion try to sell us as the first... Continue Reading →
I know that it might seem like a lazy reference point, but there is something Beatle-esque about So Sad. With only a few changes, mainly to reflect the production capabilities and tone of the times, you might even think that this is a lost track from the recording sessions which resulted in Revolver or Rubber... Continue Reading →
This latest album from The Fairchilds is full of contradictions. A largely rock-based album with a social conscience! Mainstream sounds but with mass appeal to the more discerning and underground listener too! Music which grooves but still has something to say! Guitar music as funky, pop-poised and danceable as the best artists that those genres... Continue Reading →
There is a sweet spot between pop and rock which eludes many who try to unlock its powers. It's sort of like alchemy, the quest to turn rock into something more infectious and addictive or to imbue pop with more weight and drive. Most fail to get the sonically charged, chemical reaction just right, ending... Continue Reading →
You can always tell when a band has honed its craft, you know, really put the hours, the months, the years in, and the blend of deft songwriting and warm waves of vocal harmonies, the energy and the infectiousness which greets you here, speaks to this in no uncertain terms. So it comes as no... Continue Reading →
If you think that artists get set in their ways the further down the musical path they travel, then you have obviously never spent much time in Nelson King’s musical kingdom. It might seem logical that having found a sound that fits, a style which suits, a core audience, that you should keep ploughing away... Continue Reading →
There is an odd belief that anything which sits comfortably in the mainstream, anything which is earmarked for commercial success is somehow not as good as the more underground artist, artists presumably more earnest and creative. Odd Saints prove that there is a sweet spot between the two worlds and Blame The Young is all... Continue Reading →
This latest release from Joemayk is a further reminder of his ability to blend wonderfully accessible, pop-aware sounds with more mature, more cleverly wrought and more readily memorable music. The irony of most pop music today is that although it is designed to be easy to connect with and memorable, it encourages you to join... Continue Reading →
Drop the virtual needle onto the digital groove of a new Phil Cooper album and you do so with a few expectations already in mind. Clever lyrics. A supple groove. Infectious melodies. Easy accessibility. And all of those clever tricks and sonic smarts which seem to keep the Cooper-verse a unique and wonderful place. What... Continue Reading →
The first single from this Australian pop-rock duo perfectly captures the modern world, especially the one experienced by those of us caught up in its rat race. We find ourselves only half-committing to jobs which hold no interest for us whilst our mind wanders towards more interesting and often more fantastical places. Aided and abetted... Continue Reading →
Guitars and harmonicas have to be the most natural of sonic travelling companions, so much so that a whole series of genres, from blues to country to rock and roll, have used it as a springboard to make sweet music and so grab the attention of the music masses. And as Rory D’Lasnow fires off... Continue Reading →
There is a strap line on Julian Shah-Tayler’s page which asks… “What if Bowie, Prince and the Cure had a baby?”…and to be honest I couldn’t really sum his music up anything like as succinctly as that. I could leave it there but I guess you, dear reader, are looking for me to put a... Continue Reading →
We live in an age where your average pop-picker demands an easy handle on their music, a quick soundbite to help them compartmentalise a track by genre, sound or style. The irony of the internet age is that the new found freedom that should have been ushered in has instead resulted in an even more... Continue Reading →
I always maintain that the job of a single is to advertise a forthcoming album. It’s an old-school notion I know, especially in this age where today's artists seem to feel the need to spew forth every and any sonic endeavour as soon as the paint is dry. But if I am right and singles... Continue Reading →
Pop and rock are often at their best when the two genres are allowed to bleed into each other. Take rock’s drive and urgency and leave behind its cliched testosterone-fuelled baggage, add pop's fun and infectiousness whilst swerving its more style over substance traps, mix thoroughly, serve hot and voila!It is in such crossover territory... Continue Reading →
Up until now, most journalistic pens put to paper regarding Paul Lappin have dwelt on the back-story, the chance meetings, the lucky alignment of factors, the path from rural France to a Swindon recording studio. But the release of this first full length album means that all of that can now take a back seat,... Continue Reading →
We spend so much of our time looking to the future for sonic saviours to appear, for the next great slice of music, for the next big thing, that we often ignore the wealth of music which has gone before. What is great about Chris White’s current revisiting and remastering of just some of the... Continue Reading →
Although this is the debut single for Captain Mike, he has been a face and fixture on the Minneapolis music scene for years, something which is immediately clear from the quality of the music that he makes. Here he and his musical posse merge country imagery with off-beat pop perkiness, folk moves with some more... Continue Reading →
If Downward Dog (Wiggle Your Butt) show us that Mark R. Goujon has a neat way with perky, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, then A Dreamer of the Night shows that he has a more serious, smoother and more mature side to his songwriting too. Based around Addie Nicole's soft and seductive vocals, A Dreamer of The Night... Continue Reading →
With a title such as this you might be expecting something country-tinged, a slice of southern fried rock 'n' roll or perhaps more bluesy to wander out of the speakers once play has been pressed. Oh, no, here The Impersonators opt for something that wanders the pop-rock boundaries, a neat blend of fluid guitar work,... Continue Reading →
Any album which comes bundling into earshot with such a blast of euphoria and energy, such passion and joy is going to grab your attention right from the world go. No tricks, no gimmicks, just getting right on with the job at hand. The job at hand in this case being to make sassy blends... Continue Reading →
Considering the melancholic and almost baroque nature of previous single Gone By Noon, Acid Rain is the perfect follow up track. In may ways it is the perfect contrast to the mood of that previous outing, opting for a more confident and vibrant beat, a more energetic and obvious groove. Although these are enough touches... Continue Reading →
Between pop and a hard place, between melody and musical muscle, between groove and grace there is a sweet spot. Many artists try to find their way there, few get it quite right. Battlescars is the sound of someone hitting that spot perfectly. Estani Frizzell has already proven that she is able to turn her... Continue Reading →
Joemayk has always walked a neat line between pop and a hard place, so to speak, weaving accessible melodies through Americana-tinged rock to great affect. It’s a clever balancing act, one which gives his songs as much appeal within the mainstream and commercial end of the spectrum as it does with the more discerning and... Continue Reading →