Album Review- Pulp- More

Pulp’s 1995 album “Different Class” took over my listening that winter. In retrospect, it still holds up and I would say that not only is it a personal favorite, it’s a bonafide classic. 

I have no problem comparing it to something like Who’s Next. Since I played it to death, it might have lost impact but even then, I probably still would prefer 1998s This is Hardcore. If Class was the Saturday night party, Hardcore was the Sunday morning hangover. Oh maybe I won’t proclaim it better, but I love it just as much. 

Pulp had formed in 1978. It took until 1994 with His N Hers to even make a ripple in the US. Then it seemed a novelty. But being allowed to marinate, they really were able to make a timeless album. In retrospect, it’s easy to see that the moment was gone by 2001s We Love Life. That CD never left my player. The band picked their hero Scott Walker to produce. Though, they will never eclipse the success of Different Class, I think this album was quite good. There are moments in that album that are some of the band’s best like “Bad Cover Version”. Lest we forget, we were now in the era of The Strokes, the White Stripes and System of a Down. The time had now gone but I still loved that record. I hoped that we would get one more out of Jarvis.

I followed his every move post-Pulp and it was an unexpected path. While I never found his solo albums essential, they had moments. For example, “Don’t let him Waste your Time” is as good as anything he ever wrote. Within solo albums, soundtracks and unlikely pairings (like with Canadian producer Chilly Gonzalez) there is one album that I do hold in high regard. 2003s A Night With.. Relaxed Muscle almost got passed me but this electronica variation on what Pulp did best was a duo of Jarvis dba Darren Spooner and Jason Buckle of the All Seeing I (with Richard Hawley on a couple of tracks). None of the reviews seem to be positive but what a fun “lost album” it is. I am not sure where you can find it now but some of the songs have been uploaded to YouTube I also think it’s worth mentioning Serafina Steer who was championed and produced by Cocker and has released some great music on her own, specifically 2013s The Moths Are Real. (Steer and Buckle are major cowriters and musicians in the Jarv Is project) 

More is the new Pulp album we thought we may never get. Of interest, Gonzalez, Buckley, Hawley and Steer make appearances. More feels a lot like their last album in that there’s quite a lot of what made Pulp great here. It’s not the beginning to end classic that Different Class was but it does feel like a solid listen. “Tina” and “Got to Have Love” are immediate additions to any Pulp playlist- at once new but recognizable. But the B-side to the manic energy is the world weary Pulp which can be found on “My Sex” and closer “A Sunset”. 

Overall, I have to say I am more than satisfied with the album. Of course, I want more and like the Pitchfork review of this disc, one can rhapsodize about Jarvis growing into a postmodern Leonard Cohen for the decades to come. But even if we don’t get it, it’s a nice addition to a splendid catalog.

Concert Review- Dehd w/ Starcharm

I first heard Dehd on local public radio in 2024 (from their most recent release- last year’s Poetry album) and was immediately interested. 

When they came in town for a tour, I immediately put it down as a possible date. 

Dehd are somewhat hard to describe. Allmusic uses a combination of Jesus and Mary Chain, the Gun Club and the B-52s. While they don’t particularly sound exactly like those bands, the description is otherwise strangely accurate. 

Reviewers also tend to find a surf influence or a similarly to the Flying Nun bands. I can’t put my finger on it, but I hear these too and I am sure that is why I like them better than some of their peers.

I generally don’t go to shows alone, so there is an aspect of selling other people to going to see a band. I am probably overthinking this but I know the reason I like Dehd is that they remind me of bands like Yo La Tengo or Superchunk, to name a couple, from the glory days of indie rock. In those days, there was a clear line between college radio and mainstream radio. These bands made a catchy pop rock sound that existed in a parallel universe to what was on Top 40. Fifteen years later, (roughly the age difference of me and my friend) Pop was no longer a dirty word. Artists like Carly Rae Jepson, Robyn and Taylor Swift became critical favorites. Gatekeeping never went away, it just changed, but “indie” became a more of a description of the music than a label designation. 

I am simplifying (my friend, like my old college roommate is an expert in multiple genres) but Dehd feel like they would easily fit in the Lollapalooza/120 Minutes landscape of my young adulthood but also are going to appeal to The Needle Drop/Pitchfork/Tiny Desk crowd that exists now. 

The band is even better live. I saw good Internet buzz but it’s accurate. They are a top tier live band. On record, the band splits vocals between bassist Emily Kempf and guitarist Jason Balla. In concert, they seem to be a couple like few others.

 

I can’t help but think of the band X. Yes, Exene is probably the lead singer but it’s impossible to separate the duty she shares with John Doe. Likewise, calling Emily or Jason lead singer and the other secondary in the way you might differentiate Tanya Donnelly in Throwing Muses, Lou Barlow in Dinosaur Jr. or even say Mick Jones in the Clash. The interplay is one reason that they are so good. They don’t sound like X but I can only imagine if Exene and John had formed their first band in this decade, they would sound like this. 

One may even catch on a song like “Lucky” that Dehd would be a great alt country band if they chose to ditch the noise. There is no doubt either front person could lead a band, but they are better together. Kempf could be (and let’s just state as a fact- is) as an elite level front person. Her voice is incredibly strong. Her presence more magnetic than the bands promotional materials imply. 

Balla is incredibly energetic as counterpoint. He’s Townshend level committed to rocking the stage. Closer to Blink 182 and Green Day energy than probably most of their peers, without ever feeling like rock n roll cliche. Eric McCreedy is the third member of the trio and compliments them with Velvet Underground/White Stripes minimalist percussion Dehd has definitely hit the mark with some singles - “Dog Days”, “Bad Love” and the kind of sound that can go viral, but they also put on one of those shows that might convince you they can save rock n roll.

I didn't plan on posting video but I took a 20 second snippet of the encore (where the band switched instruments) and the sound was so clear.  
 

Opening act was Chicago band Starcharm. This all female trio are just starting out. This is their first tour and they really only have one song on streaming platforms, Bandcamp and YouTube.

I see a lot of potential in this band and a lot of the words I used to describe Dehd fit here too. Strong frontwoman. Minimal percussion. A mix of 90s indie rock and 80s/90s dream pop but also a good mix of modern day confessional indie pop a la Mitski or Clairo. There’s not a ton out there on Starcharm but I would not be surprised if they took off.  Check out the new single here

Also the benefit of seeing these bands in a town that is a bit off the main route is seeing them in a small venue and even getting to briefly talk to Dehd’s Balla and Starcharm singer Elena Buenrosto. Although a bad experience wouldn’t affect what I think of the music, I found both of them charming and accessible. Good luck to both bands, though with their talent, I don’t think they will need it.

Album Review- Xordox- Terraform

JG Thirlwell had a revolutionary career as an early participant in the industrial genre. Recording under various pseudonyms- his albums as Scraping Foetus Under the Wheel particularly 1984s Hole and 1985s Nail are well respected. 

While he was quite prolific for a time, his art is all over the place and outside the two aforementioned albums, you will see different opinions though everyone will agree there’s good work in the catalog. I personally think 1995s Gash is a top record - a surprising “of the time” signing to the major label Columbia Records. (Online talk tends to prefer the more aggressive “Thaw” from 1988.)

Foetus recorded less often in the 21th Century but he’s still put out quality product. It became much harder after Gash to find his records and I resorted to Amazon but I can say I have faithfully purchased everything. 

2001s Flow is an amazing end-to-end record if pushed to plug one here. But Foetus seems to be on the back burner now. 2013s Soak was the last album we got from the Foetus moniker. 

While juggling Foetus projects and various collaborations, he’s had three split off bands that have kept him busy. 

There’s Steroid Maximus - three albums from 1991 through 2002. A take on spy movies and crime noir with over the top action and big band sounds on steroids. Although no one knew it then, it created the perfect route for what has kept Thirlwell busy in recent years (and surely his largest paychecks) by soundtracking the cartoons The Venture Bros (collected in two volumes as JG Thirlwell in 2009 and 2016) and Archer (released in 2024). 

There is Manorexia- a much harder to classify Freeform project that Wiki calls Modern Classical. There are four albums which were exclusively offered through his website from 2001 through 2011

Finally, there’s Xordox. As much as I love Steroid Maximus, I think Xordox is even a funner listen- all synths providing a science fiction sound. For those who haven’t checked on Thirlwell in awhile, it will likely be a nice discovery. Terraform is the third album, following albums in 2017 and 2021. 

While it would be easy to throw it in with video games soundtracks, songs like “Anthrobot” seem to have a bit of a punch that you might not expect. “Moonrise” is a climactic motion picture without the motion picture. “Planet Xordox” harkens back to Gary Numan, Afrika Bambaataa and Fad Gadget - those early 80s visions of the Future, except with modern synth technology.

Album Review- The Chop Tops- Fabrikate

The Music Industry has changed so much in the last couple of decades. While undoubtedly it’s been bad for some, I am also impressed by some of the changes that could be seen as positive. 

One of those is that it is probably easier in general for bands to get heard. Getting the sound of your garage (or these days, bedroom) to a listener who could be located anywhere on the planet. On Pandora (or any number of similar sites) you can make a radio station based on your favorite artists. Or genre. Or mood. There are infinite variations of discovering new music. Websites spit out “similar artists”. Algorithms churn out streaming radio on stuff you like. Lest we forget, albums are more available than ever before. 

A recent news item said there’s more albums released in one day now than in the whole year of 1989. I don’t know if the Chop Tops has any of this in mind when they reunited and decided to release album number seven Fabrikate after 15 years since their last new studio album. 

 The Chop Tops are proudly sponsored by Murray’s Pomade- the only other band to win that endorsement was the Stray Cats. The Strays are a good starting place but the band throws in some horror and surf influences. Fabrikate shows some unusual detours- there’s a cover of the classic (made famous by Led Zeppelin) “Gallows Pole” and maybe the only Rockabilly song to be based on Nick Cave’s “Stagger Lee” (called “Bucket of Blood”). Surf, blues and horror punk inform the proceedings when it strays from Rockabilly. 

 Here’s a band who recorded their debut in 1997, recorded their second album with Adele Dickerson in 1999 and played on a Brian Setzer album in 2001. Now recording and touring again, may they find additional audiences.

Album Review- Iggy Pop- Live at Montreux, Jazz Festival 2023

A friend gave me his copy of “Metallic KO” the famous 1976 Iggy and the Stooges live record that was allegedly from their final concert (Side 2 is from that final 1974 concert. Listeners would years later find out Side 1 was actually from a separate 1973 show) I found it then (and still now as) the most captivating live punk album of all time. 

Of course, it seems like almost every Stooges live performance seemed to find its way to disc. Iggy, like his fellow punk godfather Lou Reed, is almost as defined by his live albums as his studio work. There’s plenty of the Stooges stuff (up to 2005s much loved Stooges reunion album Telluric Chaos). Although not official releases, I would run into (and repeatedly bought on CD and vinyl) the concerts from the Ritz in New York 1986 and The Channel in Boston 1988, both seeing mass distribution starting in 1995. 

Corresponding to albums that have since fallen off the radar -86s Blah Blah Blah and 88s Instinct- freed from slick production from David Bowie on the former and Bill Laswell on the latter, the songs are rough as the classic pre punk songs they sit by on the setlist. I won’t go into a deep dive of other Iggy live releases which are so numerous that I am surprised that Discogs and Allmusic can keep up, and nearly all eras and years can be found. 

I will say I do particularly love the songs off of the 1977 tour with Bowie (like the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland show in March of that year) which were finally given the cleaned up treatment in 2020. I also saw Pop in the 90s and still consider it one of the best concerts I have ever seen. That said, it certainly felt like he was at least 60 years old then- the godfather of Punk. But he was younger then than this writer is now. He was in his late 40s but still had the energy of someone half that age. 

We probably don’t need a new live Iggy album but “Live At Montreux Festival 2023” comes out to rave reviews and it’s a nice addition to the catalog. Iggy is backed by guitars, bass, drums, trumpet and trombone. He hits an expected Stooges heavy playlist with nods to the Berlin period (“Mass Production” from The Idiot being a nice representative of that time) and the most recent album. (“Frenzy” and “Modern Day Ripoff” may be even dumber than songs like “Tuff Baby” and “Squarehead” from that Instinct-era setlist but it doesn’t matter when it’s all about aggression and energy. 

 The brass instruments on Search and Destroy does give some “Iggy in Vegas” vibes but nothing can tame that song, and more often than not it gives a nice Fun House vibe on songs like “Loose” or augments the proto-industrial sound of “Mass Production” Artists evolve over the ensuing years but it’s hard to believe Iggy ever did. On “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, as tensions increase, Iggy baits the crowd with as much intensity as he did when he was a Stooge. This is without the question, the same guy from Metallic KO from over 50 years back. 

I also don’t want to discount that “Iggy in Vegas” would be a bad thing. There’s never really a chance to reel him back in. This is the perfect Compact Disc length setlist. There’s a nice mix of Stooges, Berlin era and Solo songs. Where do you even cut? I mean I love American Caesar and Post Pop Depression which get no tracks here. To be honest neither do popular moments like Brock by Brick or anything from 1980 on that isn’t the new album. That said, it’s nice to see the underappreciated New Values get its two songs and you surely can’t cut out stompers like Gimme Danger. 

At this point, fans probably have as many Iggy albums as they need. This one is a pretty great “career capper” though that is worth the price of admission.

Album Review- Pete Doherty- Felt Better Alive

The Libertines remind me a bit of the Strokes. Formed a year earlier, their debut released 15 months later. Critics could have no issue with such blatant ripping off of their on-their-sleeve influences. Yet in many ways, it felt fresh and there was no denying their melodic ear. It was a rip off of 70s/80s NYC and 70s/80s UK fashion and sound but it was so cool.

One suspected Pete Doherty was either going to die an early death or if he survived find himself a Costello or Morrissey style respected elder lyrical statesman. Neither really quite panned out. Doherty was hard to love for awhile but he seemed to find some middle aged magic. 

His fifth (by most counts) solo record comes off two well received works- 2022s Frederic Lo collaboration Fantasy of Life and Crime and 2024s Libertines reunion All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade. 2025s Felt Better Alive comes out to some glowing reviews. 

As a fan, I agree with the take that he’s making some great music. I am less enthralled by the new record though. That’s probably explainable -11 songs at a mere 28 minutes. Doherty always was capable of just plugging in a guitar and churning out an enjoyable half hour and that’s what this feels like. But I also think it’s an odds and sods album. (At least I thought I read that at least a couple of songs were previously heard. Danged if I can find that now). 

Most songs feel like fragments. “Pretre de la Mar” is a standout with its sea shanty-ish charm. “Pot of Gold” offering happy domestic life. These are highlights that could fit on any Doherty playlist- rarely but sometimes making it past the three minute mark. The goofy “Fingee” is one I would skip but it seems popular so what do I know. Which may be where I land. 

Most reviewers think more of this album than I do. I am not willing to bump many of Doherty’s other albums off my favorites list for this. That said, it’s still a decent listen if you’re a fan.

Album Review- The Burning Hell - Ghost Palace

I am not sure where I first heard the Burning Hell but I know I was intrigued and wanted to search for more. The Canadian band has been around close to 20 years and new album Ghost Palace is album # 10. Still, they feel incredibly fresh to me. 

One of those bands with sarcastic literate lyrics that has one foot firmly planted in that post-Pavement slacker rock, and maybe that other foot is somewhere close to anti-folk- those observational stories that can be sung. But with deadpan vocals, witty lyrics and ukulele in tow, I can’t help but make some mention of Magnetic Fields. (Last FM’s “Similar Artists” page does little to shine some light on this topic except they are obviously Canadian). 

I don’t know that the band is named for the oddball REM song off Dead Letter Office, but it seems appropriate. The band’s most famous song is one called “F—- the Government. I Love You” 

Ghost Palace brings the science fiction with “Luna FM” (a breezy melody hides lyrics about a moon based Deejay who is forced to keep playing “Space Truckin’” and “Planet Clare”) but also more mundane topics like “Bottle of Chianti, Cheese and the Charcuterie Board” which hides divorce and death among its seductive lines.

“The Summer Olympics” is surely one of the great songs of the year. As with so much of this album, there is a sense of impending doom hidden by a sense of blasé. Life is a resort but the only things you can get is “Brazil Nuts and Blue Caracao” on that same titled track. We can be famous but only when we are “Celebrities in Cemeteries” as we join Gram Parsons, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison in the opening track. 

“The Birds of Australia” in a The Far Side style scenario are singing sweetly while wishing our death. Although ostensibly a project for Mathais Kom, like Merritt, it’s best when he shares vocals with band member Ariel Sharratt, who at various times provides drums, bass and woodwinds. I have only sampled the band’s previous output in bits and pieces so I don’t know how this album ranks in comparison but on its own, it’s a quite enjoyable listen.

 

Album Review- Dan Mangan- Natural Light

If you lived in rural America when I grew up, you might have got your television through satellite not cable. If you got your television from satellite then you might have spent your time watching MuchMusic, the Canadian alternative to MTV like I did. I remain amazed that there were so many good Canadian bands that never crossed over to the US. 

As cool as MTV was in the early 90s, the low budget Much was so much cooler. Yes many of those bands found at least some chart success in the US - Tragically Hip, The Pursuit of Happiness and Barenaked Ladies to name a few. Looking far and wide for albums by Canadian bands that had negligible presence in the US like Blue Rodeo and The Grapes of Wrath were big for me. 

If you can’t tell, I’m very nostalgic for that time but it ended as I entered adulthood and also as Much eventually transitioned in the late 90s/early 00s to Fuse. If you watched Fuse, it seemed like they wanted to compete with MTV, not be what they once were. As much as I wanted to hold on to that dream channel of youth, it had gone. For a brief time in the early 2000s, I had some correspondence with an interesting Canadian woman, which included trading discs. Once again, I was getting exposure to great bands that would otherwise not be on in my radar. 

Somewhere in the mid 2010s or so, I got (at least some access to the satellite radio) Sirius XM. I quickly found channels that specialized in some underappreciated genres- underground garage, outlaw county and college rock. I don’t know if someone hadn't told me- that the Verge existed- a Canadian alt rock channel hidden between the Jazz and Classical. It also led to jokes between me and my friends how “Canadian” is listed as a genre like it was Reggae or Heavy Metal. So it’s the like old days. Here’s those old Cancon (Canadian content) rules pushing artists that haven’t broken ground in the US, but come from a deep well of music to pull from. 

Among a list of songs that could be hit radio singles in an alternate universe is Dan Mangan’s 2009 single “Robots”. Catchy, quirky, sad- that alternate universe is Canadian alternative rock. It made me a fan and I have watched to see what he has done. 

His most recent work is 2020s Thief- an album of all covers of some obvious influences (REM, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elliott Smith) and some less obvious (Lauryn Hill, Bob Marley). I didn’t take to 2022s Being Somewhere - an album cowritten and produced by OneRepublic guitarist Drew Brown. 2025s Natural Light was recorded in six days- a workshop in preparation for a new album that became that album. Brown isn’t here, as Mangan is backed by his touring band consisting of Jason Haberman and Mike Brien, producers, multi instrumentalists and members of Canadian indie band Zeus and Don Kerr who has been in Rheostatics, Communism and made an album with Ron Sexsmith. It didn’t receive much attention outside of Canadian press outlets. 

User based websites have given it mixed reviews but the few press reviews are quite positive. I agree. While a critic went with the “sad bastard music” label, it’s a downer of a record in a good way (one critic used “Astral Weeks” as a touch point). Mangan is in the vein of that Bon Iver or Fleet Foxes indie folk sound. There’s no killer single a la Robots but it feels like a consistent bunch of songs that hangs together beginning to end. 

Which is a good thing. Mangan has constructed the kind of album you would hope that he could and this under-the-radar gem that would be an otherwise AOTY candidate if it was marketed differently. Plus. As others have mentioned, he’s still only 42 despite 20 years of recording music. An old soul in a young man’s body.

What I Am Listening To : Half Man Half Biscuit

At a certain age, I feel we probably get set in our ways for our tastes. This is what I expected to happen and it is mostly true. 

The albums I am usually most looking forward to are by bands that I have listened to for years. But I also surprise myself by still finding new “favorite” bands. Half Man Half Biscuit is surely one of Earth’s most unusual bands. 

I have to admit this started off as a reference from a friend to a song exploration to fill out fandom. Debuting their first album in 1985, even in the intellectual world of the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen, there’s few truly sardonic bands. 

There’s the Fall, of course and the Wedding Present, but not many more. The band (after a brief break up from 1986-1990) seems a better fit for the 90s- the era that gave us The Wonder Stuff, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine and Cud. Although I haven’t seen anyone make this comparison, I can’t help but think of Sparks when it comes to 2025. HMHB are not only incredibly prolific (9 albums in the last 25 years) but it’s almost guaranteed that every album has a gem. Still relevant enough that in 2010, their 2005 song “Joy Division Oven Gloves” was pushed up the British charts by a movement aligned with preventing the closure of BBC6. “JDOG” is their most streamed song. 

A band’s most popular song coming off their tenth album is the thing only generally bands like U2 and Radiohead can achieve. They are possibly as close as you can get to Monty Python for a three minute pop song band. There’s plenty of bon mots in these latter albums. 2016s “Vatican Broadside” imagines Slipknot meeting the Pope. 2005s “Upon Westminster Bridge” is a stream of consciousness that ponders “I’ve only got three bullets and there’s four of Motley Crue”. 

There’s no other band quite like them. It might not also work if lead singer Nigel Blackwell didn't have a distinct voice like David Gedge or Mark E Smith. Album # 16 All Asimov and No Fresh Air came out in June. It is led off most assuredly by a single called “Horror Clowns are Dickheads”

Album Review- The Devil Makes Three- Spirits

I am fairly certain that I heard The Devil Makes Three around the time their debut album got reissued in 2007. I wish I could explain how revolutionary they sounded *gasp* nearly twenty years ago. They seem fairly tame now when there are countless number of bands that do some sort of twist on alt country or goth country or folk punk. But DM3 really was one of the first.

There was Nick Cave and Tom Waits of course and bands like 16 Horsepower and the Pogues but there were only a handful of bands that were making music that took say something like Woody Guthrie and married it with heavy metal ethos. There’s tons of bands now - too many to mention. But there was no Old Crow Medicine Show or The Dead South. There are the more extreme artists like Amigo the Devil and Harley Poe. But when I first heard DM3, you didn’t even have hardly any bands that incorporated bluegrass into their sound. DM3 hits different when artists like Trampled by Turtles or Billy Strings aren’t even imaginable. Murder Ballads was a Nick Cave disc, hardly a genre unto itself. The Louvin Brothers were a mostly forgotten act that only fans with deep knowledge were familiar with. Not the meme they would become with tens of thousands of streams every month. Johnny Cash shirts are required apparel. 

It’s been seven years since the band released a studio album. They were the future when they recorded their debut in 2002. Fortunately, there is some recognition that has come along the way. They are headlining a local festival here with their name at the top of a fairly strong lineup. On Spirits, there’s drugs, alcohol and of course, the Devil. But even on a song like “Half as High”, there’s an amazing level of pathos that sort of betray the rowdy image of the band ("How come we got to take a bigger hit/Just to get half as high"). 

I had surely thought we had heard our last great “marijuana protest song” since there is seemingly a Cannabis dispensary on every street corner. But this is a modern update to the Lower East Side acts of the 60s and 70s and the occasional throwbacks like Dubya-era troupe Asylum Street Spankers. On that song as well on a song like “Divide and Conquer”, they actually have buried a great political protest. 'Hard Times" talks about what it says on the box. 

Understated not preachy, they have found a niche for political overture in these tunes. While this album is unlikely to gain any attention outside of the Americana crowd, it seems like it’s gotten enough buzz that it does feel like Spirits is a significant album of 2025 in that genre. Listening to their first album again now, a lot of the darkness is lyrical and mental- a strong statement while the music is hardly hardcore punk. Still, it hits hard. 

Most of the wildness here is implied. The lyrics perhaps too smart for punk. The end product turns out to be an impactful album.

 

Album Review- Cheekface- Middle Spoon

Cheekface seem to simultaneously belong to the indie rock crowd and adjacent to much of it. Every review inevitably mentions They Might Be Giants, but it’s not so much sonically as they seem to exist in a space within themselves.

Indie blogs cover them but they still feel like a cult band. Lyrically, they surely have similarities to Yard Act, Wet Leg and Dry Cleaning, but they’re quite frankly too…. American. 

If they existed in a different time and space, they surely would fit the anti folk scene of New York City circa 2000. I see similarities to the Bay Area punk scene but you know they’re not …loud. 

On Allmusic, they’re a nonentity. I am not sure of a band that has more press coverage and monthly streams that has no attention from that website. It seems there’s garage bands that sell a total of 20 albums that have Allmusic reviews but not Cheekface. Cheekface would be brethren with artists like Dead Milkmen and Atom & his Package but they don’t seem especially puerile or trying to be offensive. Though maybe the band would tell me otherwise (there’s enough sprinkling of profanity to prevent them being my kids’ favorite band) 

One artist from the past that comes to mind for me might be Ben Folds. Self aware but maybe having too much fun to be an indie fave. A little too weird for the mainstream but with enough hooks that a leftfield hit isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Maybe the Recommended If You Like for Cheekface is RIYL: Cheekface. 

They seem quite prolific. Middle Spoon is album number five, released thirteen months after Its Sorted. That makes five albums in six years, not including tons of B-sides (generally collected on EPs) and non album tracks (including covers like Ballad of Big Nothing, Ana Ng and What’s so Funny about Peace, Love and Understanding). I don’t think this album is as good as the two that immediately precede it. That said, I don’t think it’s a drop off on quality either, and if you are experiencing the band for the first time, this is as good place as any to start.

 

What I Am Listening To: Shin Joon-Hyun

There of course no way to listen to all the music. Though we certainly seem closer to that goal with Amazon and various streaming platforms and helpful “Listen to an album a day” blogs and whatever. My go to for recommendations have been the British magazines like Uncut and Mojo. 

If I can’t listen to every album, maybe I can use their staff and the recommendations. Similarly, Light in the Attic Records has become a favorite of Uncut, and me too, releasing a lot of obscure albums that deserve attention. Now, they may not be so obscure but it’s an amazing list of unique artists -the Monks, Michael Hurley, Rodriguez, Betty Davis, Jim Sullivan, Karen Dalton, the Louvin Brothers and many more. 

It is also the home of introducing Shin Joong-Hyun to a bigger audience. Shin is known as the “Godfather of Korean guitar”, the man who brought rock n roll to Korea, and a prominent figure in 1960s and 70s Psychedelia. More about his life later, but in the conversation about his skill, I have read references to Hendrix, the 13th Floor Elevators and Jefferson Airplane. 

The truth is when I hear Shin’s music that I don’t really think about such things. In the way music that sometimes transcends language, I can’t put my finger on what I am hearing but I know I like it. Of course, some of his music recalls American garage rock and psychedelia, he also has songs that to my ear not that much different than Chinese pop music, but I find if no less powerful. In 2011, Light in the Attic released Beautiful Rivers and Mountains- an all killer no filler 14 track double disc anthology of his work from 1958 to 1974. This was followed by the release of From Where to Where- 7 more songs from the 1970s. (There is also a Korean five disc nine hour career anthology that seems impossible to find to purchase but is available on streaming) 

The simplest description of Shin’s career is this: his first album was in 1959 at the age of 21. In 1964. His band And4 (the first rock band in South Korea) released their debut album. In the late sixties, he achieved popularity as a producer, songwriter and guitarist for others, and established his psychedelic soul sound. In 1974 and 1975, he was at his height fronting the band Shin Yung Jun and Yup Juns releasing Vol 1 and Vol 2. But the defining moment in Shin’s career was happening too. 

In 1972, South Korean President Park Chung Hee (who was then establishing his military dictatorship) asked Shin to write a song praising Park. Shin refused and instead wrote a ten minute song praising South Korea called “Beautiful Rivers and Mountains”. Park forced Shin to cut off his long hair (which was banned) and the police confiscated his guitars. 

Things got worse in 1975, Shin was imprisoned for giving a pot plant to a friend of Park’s son (despite Marijuana not being illegal in South Korea at the time). After prison and torture, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital and finally released but banned from performing until 1979 when Park was assassinated. Mostly retired since, his music enjoyed a comeback in the 1990s. 

In 2010, he became only the sixth guitarist to get his own Fender Custom Shop Tribute Series guitar (Beck, Clapton, Van Halen, SRV, Malmsteen). As a long time rock music fan, it’s interesting to find someone who had a career that parallels say a Clapton or Page, but also was a producer and a pioneer. I have to say its fascinating as most Americans don’t have a glimpse into

Album Review- Matt Berry- Heard Noises

There’s probably two paths to Matt Berry’s music. One is that you are a fan of the actor and heard he made music, so you checked it out. Or maybe you were like me, you heard a fantastic song and went to look to see who performed it and did a double or triple take. Surely not that Matt Berry of numerous TV comedy roles. 

But with apologies to Billy Bob Thornton, Berry is a fantastic actor and musician. While not particularly a parody or comedy artist like Flight of the Conchords, there is a certain chameleonic element about him like Ween or Zappa. My exposure to Berry began with his third album- his breakout 2009s prog rock tribute Witchazel. 2025s Heard Noises is album number eight. I have to admit that my knowledge of Berry doesn’t run much deeper than that one album. 

Still, Heard Noises has grabbed me more than most of his other stuff Yes, eighth albums in the catalogue don’t get rave reviews but critics seem to be pretty favorable to this one, and most agree it is one of his most accessible. At times, it feels like one of those 90s Britpop albums that wanted to be Scott Walker. Some times, it could be Neosoul or it could be modern day Rod McKuen. Is it Psych? Is it Folk? Is it an obscure circa 1973 album you picked up at Goodwill? It’s possible that it’s all of these. 

Songs build slowly and creep up on you. As will this album which may not surprise the initial listener but holds together amazingly well for repeat listening. Even surely when the joke goes over the top like the duet with Kitty Liv “I Gotta Limit”. The lyrics are ridiculous but it convincingly gives you enough to sell you that it’s not that much crazier than Lee and Nancy. 

 “I Entered as I Came” which features actress Natasha Lyonne seems like a misstep in the way that say the Moody Blues would have added a cringy track on their ambitious 1970s records. Wait, is the fact this feels like a throw away track mean it’s not good, or is this a 3D chess move that this album needs a song like this. Dang. I just blew my mind. In any case, if this isn’t Berry’s best album, it surely is near the top, and if you are hesitant at first, repeat listening will win you over