Death of a popular song (Tim Finn)

Tim Finn - Say It Is S0 (1999) **** 

Nominated by: Kevy

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Underwater Mountain

I was shocked to see so many albums of Tim's on Spotify that I had never heard, or was even aware of their existence. He was definitely flying under my radar, but not only mine I suspect.

This is one such. It's good. Not a great Tim Finn album, but a good one.

Like so many of his albums he leads off with an instant success. Underwater Mountain maintains the tradition brilliantly. It seems effortless to him - creating these kinds of commercially vibrant songs.

I like many things about this album and if he sounds like this in concert on Saturday night I'll be well pleased. He sings well, he's a great NZ vocalist so no surprise there. His voice is starting to sound more lived in but he's getting on a bit now. Still great though.

Currents is another brilliant song, effortless again and kind of thrown in mid album like - meh, I can toss these songs off no problem mate. Similarly Death Of A Popular Song. Last song, Rest, is also a beauty - maybe even the best song on the album. It certainly climaxes the album and it really must have seemed an obvious closer as they recorded the songs. 

The album is just right length wise - not too long, not too short.

Only song I skipped after the first listen was Good Together. I don't think this type of smug type of song works for Tim, and I just found it kind of annoying - personal taste I guess.

A very pleasant surprise Kev! Loved it! On to the concert!!

Milestones

The Topp Twins - Honky Tonk Angel (2009) ***

Nominated by: Big G

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Honky Tonk Angel

I well remember seeing The Topp Twins, national treasures, in concert - they were larger than life and able to project their brand of Kiwiana country to the whole audience. They were a lot of fun! That was in the late seventies. 

How would they go as a straight (ahem) country act on a long player in the new millennium though? That's a whole other cheese ball of enchiladas.

Full disclosure - I am less inclined to their brand of comedy schtick, so I was not amongst their TV audience.

When they do their country and western (yes, both types) straight (you know what I mean - no pun or double entendre intended), and without the yodeling thanks, I am with them. 

Their comedy routines (Holy Cow) don't do it for me and a whole album's worth of their songs is more than I can take at one sitting, to be fair. Let's face it - they are not the greatest solo vocalists. They get by on good will and somehow they managed to tap into the kiwiana zeitgeist of the last century.

This whole album sounds like a few too many songs and the last  song is too slow for a closer. 

Comedy yee har songs like Holy Cow seldom work. Once heard and enjoyed, they quickly become too familiar and outstay their welcome.

But when the twins are on, they are terrific in their own way. Their harmonies mostly lock in and become endearing. The country backing with pedal steel and acoustic instruments sets a familiar scene - that's a good thing!

Topp moments (see what I did there) for me on this 2009 set are the title song - it gets things off to a cracking pace, Palomino Moon (even with the yodeling), Town This Size (has a nice easy lope going on with some fiddle action), and Milestones.

The only surprise is that Kevy didn't pick this before you - bet he's kicking himself!

Best behaviour

Greg Mendez - Greg Mendez (2023) ****

Nominated by: Alex G

Music club: MNAC

MNAC playlist addition:  Maria

I've enjoyed listening to this stripped down to basics version of Greg Mendez.

I don't have too many reference points, even though he's working in a familiar singer/songwriter fashion. Maybe some Lindsey Buckingham at times, maybe some Justin Vernon. I think Alex mentioned Elliot Smith - another inspired singer songwriter. But Greg's his own man.

The whole album skips by very pleasantly. No hard edges. Not a challenging listen at all. Not usually Alex' preferred MO for MNAC. Mellowing Alex?

Just wondering - that scraping of the fret sound when shifting finger positions and basic drum sound - is that deliberate do you think?  Certainly makes for a natural real context in a world of overly treated sounds. No one makes mistakes on records any more and mistakes help provide a sense that a real live human is making the music.

When Spotify finished this shortish album it played a few more electric songs with Greg in more of a band setting. They were great too.

I'll need to explore more of his catalogue. Definitely a musician to revisit.

Thanks for the introduction Alex.

 

Bounce around

minisnap - bounce around (2007) *****

Nominated by: Kevy

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Innocent

Kevy's instructions were to listen to the first few songs and try to guess who the band was, minus the lead singer. I'm big on compliance.

To me it sounded quite indie rocky for a start - so I thought maybe The Beths, then the Dunedin jaggly indie-pop sound predominated and I wondered if Look Blue Go Purple had reconstituted themselves. Both of those bands I love, so this album was already off to a flyer!

I was kind of on the right lines. It's The Bats, without main man Robert Scott. I also love The Bats!

Minisnap is roughly The Bats with lead guitarist Kaye Woodward taking over vocals and writing duties.

Those first three songs were all great and third song - Innocent, has a killer riff.

I loved everything about this album - the off kilter song development, the non-polished vocals (reminded me a bit of The Marine Girls sound with Tracey Thorn), the beaty pulse. Every song was terrific - no downside.

I need to find a physical copy of this one Kevy - maybe your finest selection yet (high praise with Golden Horse and The Chills also hitting the heights).

Actually, speaking of Golden Horse - I couldn't believe how much better it sounded on CD than on Spotify. It really pops on CD.

Great introduction to a new band/voice - thanks KS. Go you good thing!

Try

Soda Blonde - Small Talk (2021) ***

Nominated by: GK

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Tiny Darkness

ABBA-esque first track Tiny Darkness kicks things off well with a great perky up tempo slice of synth-pop/ alt pop. Unfortunately that one appears to be something of an outlier on this set.

Things get a little strained after that one as the heavily processed/ synth sounds largely take over the songs. Plus the vocals become more bombastic. Some of the songs and delivery remind me of Florence and the Machine's second album Ceremonials. I really enjoyed their first album - Lungs, but then the follow up lathered up with overly dramatic big sounds. So, Ceremonials was a mis-step for me.

Soda Blonde's Faye O'Rourke sounds like she has been inspired by Florence Welch. She clearly has a very powerful voice and the material suits her on Small Talk. I'd say she's mostly half way between Lungs (the more understated ones like I Still Have Feelings For You) and Ceremonials (Holy Roses).

It's purely a matter of personal taste, I'd say (and have said plenty of times). Some voices I love and connect with - Patti, Grace, Janis, Yoko and so on. Other voices I like (like Faye) but don't actually connect with emotionally. Nobody's fault but mine.

Special mention to the hypnosis inspired artwork - what a great cover! Perfect.

So - I like it but don't love it = three stars for me and a hearty thank you for the introduction GK.

Something's changed

The Mockers - Swear It's True (1984) ***

Nominated by: K Simms

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  After The Rain

Reporter: What are you? A mod or a rocker?

Ringo: Er, I'm a mocker.

From that snippet of Hard Day's Night dialogue comes a name for Nu Zild's teen pop sensations of the early eighties. Great choice!

Back in 1983-84 Andrew Fagan and his band of school mates were quite something. 

I loved their pop smarts on 1983's My Girl Thinks She's Cleopatra and 1984's Forever Tuesday Morning. But I guess I instinctively knew they were more of a singles proposition than an album band because I didn't follow through and buy Swear It's True at the time.

Plus, I was a tad busy: 1983-1984 was a period of transition for me, literally - moving from the Windmill Rd flat in Auckland to New Plymouth for my first teaching job, meeting Jacky, getting married, starting a family - all in that order and all before 1984 was done.

It was a great year for music, 1984. Among what I bought that year: REM - Reckoning; Prince - Purple Rain; Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand The Weather; Springsteen - Born In The USA; U2 - Unforgettable Fire; Van Halen - 1984; Big Country - Steeltown; Brewing Up With Billy Bragg; The Alarm - Declaration; Tom Verlaine - Cover; Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasure Dome; Alison Moyet - Alf.

So The Mocker's debut album passed me by.

Fast forward forty years! And Kevy picks The Mockers for his latest poptastic delight from Nu Zild.

I found an album of two extremes - some good A songs, delivered with youthful exuberance and pop smarts, but other B songs are of uneven quality - either in composition or delivery.

Clearly, the songs I had heard before were still bright and shiny in the nostalgic morning light: Cleopatra; After The Rain (the B-side to Cleopatra); Forever Tuesday Morning. 

Album opener, Woke Up Today, is also a step in the right bubblegum pop direction (I'm a big fan of bubblegum pop). 

But between Cleopatra and Alvison Park we hit a rough patch of lesser material where we find either some sparse instrumentation, blander arrangements (Good Old Days),  banal lyrics (Swear It's True, You Only Live Once), attempts to do an ABBA treatment (Destiny), overreliance on synths (You Only Live Once) or songs where Andrew Fagan's singing lacks quality (Ancient Times/Good Old Days are shockers). 

Swear it's True (the song) is interesting. Fagan, I think, would maybe consider himself a bit of a poet but look at those rhymes: you/do/glue/true are repeated over and over and over.

Yes, I hear you - The Beatles' Yes It Is is not Lennon's greatest  lyric either (blue/you/true again), but he's John Lennon inne.

The album does end on some stronger songs - Alvison Park onwards. That one is not too inventive musically but the lyrics are more interesting and reveal a glimpse at some depth.

After The Rain is my favourite track. Interesting arrangement, interesting lyrics, good performance by Fagan, and a successful attempt at a Cure type delivery. When I bought the Cleopatra single I played the B side a whole lot. I'm not averse to synths as such (Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Vangelis, Eno, Patrick Moraz etc etc) and they work well on this track.

Nothing is terrible (okay - maybe Good Old Days), but too many songs smack of album filler-hood.  Maybe it was a rush job to cash in on the singles? 

My initial eighties impression is therefore backed up  - a solid singles band, but not really having the ability to extend quality over a whole album.

For me The Mockers are like NZ's Herman's Hermits - charismatic front man, some great (albeit slight) singles and a lot of filler.

Stumbling through the dark

The Jayhawks - Rainy Day Music (2003) ***

Nominated by: The Big Gee

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Madman

I've enjoyed The Jayhawks off and on since 1997's Sound Of Lies. The alt-country, pop/rock stylings of the band are well within my wheelhouse.

Rainy Day Music escaped me at the time but it's one of their better albums, although they were down to a trio at the time. Gary Louris is definitely the main man, so it doesn't matter too much who the personnel are as it's his songs that dominate.

This album sounds a lot like their influences - Poco and CSN&Y. In fact I could have sworn that Madman was a long lost CSN&Y track, with Jerry Garcia on guitar.

The album gets off to a great start with Stumbling Through The Dark. A song so good it bookends the album. The band gets back to a more alt-country sound generally on this album with some banjo and pedal steel appearing at times, and the Jayhawks harmonies are great on this track and elsewhere.

So, all is well. No duds, no skips.

Favourite tracks - Stumbling..., Madman, Tampa To Tulsa (echoes of Ryan Adams on that one), and the six bonus tracks.

If I was a nit picky person I would point to the over-reliance on Gary Louris. His voice is fine but spread over the whole album, I do find myself yearning for a different lead voice at times. Which is why I much prefer the Golden Smog albums that he contributes to and which I'll eventually get around to selecting for my weekly WTWMC choice.

I know the Mighty Gee warned us off the extra tracks, but, call me perverse, I liked them much more than the actual album. They seem to have been joined to subsequent releases of the album so they are legit to comment upon.

There is something honest and natural about these demos, live versions, and acoustic tracks. Plus Fools On Parade is a welcome up tempo number (something that's missing from the actual album).

Nice one Gee!