Rick Springfield released one of the greatest power pop records ever. No, it’s not his new album Songs for the End of the World, though there are echoes worth hearing.
With his 1981 album Working Class Dog, and the song “Jessie’s Girl”, he found the formula to make one of rock’s best-ever power pop records, right up there with the stuff of Cheap Trick, The Romantics, Matttew Sweet and The Cars. The guitars, the sugary background 
vocals and three-minute pop/rock songs about girls and boys and more girls made the album a surprise hit record.
He would never match that sound or vibe again.
He’s given his new album a “take-a-dip-from-past” wash of his previous records, splashing guitar-driven, hook-laden, layered background vocals on the pop/rock. While not a truly great record, it is his best since returning to recording a little more than ten years ago.
album reviews/previews
Matchbox Twenty has their best single – ever.
I wasn’t trying to love it, but the the new Matchbox Twenty single is the best thing they have ever done. “She’s So Mean” is thrilling, stuttering, rocking ower-freakin’-pop. Great drums, Tele guitars, and Rob Thomas’ confident swagger is nicely understated. Video is good too. Song is a part of their new album North, coming in September. One of the pop/rock bands that lost their way. “3 A.M.” was a killer little pop song, and they had a handful of radio hits. But the new one is better than all of them. Trust your friend Rob on this one… And remember, guitarist Kyle Cook is from Indiana. Shout out to Frankfort.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8WLa6umgdw&feature=player_detailpage]
Album Review: Jeff Litman – "Outside"
If you’re hurting a bit and want to feel better – or at least have a drinking buddy – fire up Outside, a new album from New York roots and power-pop singer/songwriter Jeff Litman.
With “Runaway”, he channels Petty’s bright and drawling vibe to create the best slice of jangly American rock since Matthew Sweet’s heyday. Growling guitars, tight harmonies and a let-it-loose arrangement makes it a descendent of Sweet’s “Girlfriend”.
“Chasing My Tail” harvests the same territory, turning it into a bouncy, late 70’s Raspberries-style nugget
Litman has more than one influence, and the record shifts between the Petty’s guitar rock and Elvis Costello’s sneer and pop. The title cut is mid-80’s Costello, with a loping rhythm and New York City doo wop underpinning.
The acoustic “It Hasn’t Happened Yet” is a gentle, melancholy ode to the end of a relationship. Much of the album strikes a theme of relationship heartache and defiance; the centerpiece of the idea rides in this song.
The best cut is midway through the record, with “Don’t Want to Talk About it”, tying a tough midtempo rock melody with a killer chorus and lyric sung with anger and a “don’t mess with me” growl. A beautifully skewered song wrapped in gleaming power-pop; it’s the sound of an ought-to-be hit song,
“Back to You” goes all Hall and Oates blue-eyed soul, crossed with more Costello, and includes a segue from rough and tough vocal break midway through the song to a Smokey Robinson gentleness. Litman’s got the soulful vocal chops to separate him from many. On this record, it is bonded to some smartly arranged and consistent pop-rock.
Still relatively unknown to most, Litman’s Outside is the work of an artist who fits firmly between classic rock and power-pop, and an mid 1960’s British invasion sound. He’s never far from his influences, but is able to cut into the sounds with some of his own tough and unique ideas. It is enough to warrant another listen, and to pay attention to where Litman goes next.
Jeff Litman website
Hear the song “Outside”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2pDpE6xGNs&feature=relmfu]
Album Review: The Lumineers
The debut record from The Lumineers wallops with a roots-rock punch of backwoods-via-NYC soul, mixed with giddy realism and music surprising and powerful.
Riding the rootsy sound, the Denver, Colo-based band, was founded by two New York City guys, guitarist Jeremiah Fraites and drummer Wesley Schultz. They added multi-instrumentalist Neyla Pekarek through a craigslist ad when the pair moved west. They have been touring with another guitarist and bass player.
The band sold out a Friday, May 25 show at Radio Radio, and added a second show on Thursday. When they rolled into Indianapolis, it was with a self-titled debut full-length effort that reflects an Avett Brothers influence, but has echoes of an acoustic Gaslight Anthem, Springsteen-esque musical spiritualism, Arcade Fire majesty, and a hint of Blood on the Tracks-era Dylan.
“Ho Hey” is the song they have been playing on the TV stops (in the past two months, the band has appeared on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and on “Conan”) and smartly builds with shouted backing vocals, a kick drum banging in 4/4 time, and a loose recording full of talk and echo.
“Stubborn Love” is a melancholy ode to not letting go even when you should, driven by acoustic guitar and violin. “The Big Parade” mines gospel roots (“All my life I was blind, now I see”), with a soft, incessant backbeat.
“Flowers in Your Hair” opens the record with Dylan storytelling – a short two-minute taste of what is to come. “Classy Girls” follows, telling the story of a meeting at a bar, a full-on narrative with a thrilling chorus.
“Morning Song” ends the album with a crashing electric guitar and lots of space to sing about a girl leaving. Jeff Tweedy and Wilco would be proud. Songs reward patience, as opening notes build to include more instruments.
The cinematic words and sugar-coated rustic hooks of the record win us over; it’s a very good, – and at time s thrilling — gospel-stamped, folk-fried American rock album.
Lumineers website
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6e5wxzPsQM]
Indiana Music: Whoa!Tiger – "Rollout"
Whoa!TigerRollout
On Whoa!Tiger’s new album, Rollout, the four-piece rock band from Indianapolis succeeds when they embrace their inner ’70s rock band tendencies, and write lyrics more cinematic than universal. The record wins with flashes of detailed lyrics and gutsy rock and roll, and slips only when jam band tendencies weigh down the later half of the record.
The opener, “The Rollout,” blends Memphis soul with The Allman Brothers or early Seger.
The best cuts include ” I Can Live With It,” with Shelby Jones on guest vocals, lending a soulful female sexiness to the recording. “Touch of Bad” incorporates ZZ Top Texas blues with country talk-singing. “Moment of Silence” fades in like Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,” and the song hits the an album-wide theme of overcoming doubts with resiliency. And I’m a sucker for any song that talks of “Grandma singing a favorite hymn” and “seeing rainbows in the bubbles the kids blow.” This is one of the best songs on the album.
Grateful Dead guitar lines are interspersed throughout the record, with welcome touches of piano and crunchy guitars. Rollout is crisply recorded, cut mostly at with Ryan Adkins at Azmyth Studios in Indianapolis. Adkins has shown an ability to make no-frills rock records with local bands for years, and this release has his engineering touch of distinct instrument separation and a loose but produced feel. Jack Barkley and Jon Knight’s guitars blend smartly, turned up in the mix.
Other good stuff includes “The Window,” a piano rock tune; it’s a melancholy piece of Marc Cohn-sounding blues, with fitful stops and starts.
The back end of the record isn’t as strong, with “What Do You Say” falling flat as a poor man’s Duke Tumatoe rehash. “Kick Me Down” is rescued by a nifty guitar solo and lyrics that paint pictures in your head of girls in pony tails and borrowed cigarettes. “Pawn on the Run” is jazz rock with smoky guitar solos.
“Long Road to Reason”, however, brings back the piano and anthemic Elton John chords. It’s nicely done by the band..
The album will prove itself a winner with Why Store/pre-Hi Infidelity REO/early Journey/Grateful Dead audience. Rollout has a distinctly old soul, embracing a ’70s sound updated with more modern influences.
Whoa!Tiger feels like a band that could take a dark club and a beer-lubricated live crowd someplace higher. The album harnesses the potential of that live vibe and provides a set of songs to take on stage and turn up.
Review: Bruce Springsteen – "Wrecking Ball"
One could argue that, at this stage in his career, a Bruce Springsteen album will be two things: never as good as his best work and still better than any new rock music releases.
With Wrecking Ball, Springsteen’s 17th album, he somehow confounds this notion by delivering a record great enough to be considered alongside his best work. Sure, there are experiments with a segment of Bruce-penned rap in “Rocky Ground”, some percussion loops, and Dropkick Murphy-style stomp rock with “Death to My Hometown” and “Shackled and Drawn”.
But what Wrecking Ball really flies is a gospel music flag. The chord changes, the church choir voices, and the lyrics that ultimately forsake resignation for hope.
Is it about Occupy Wall Street, as many focused on before its release? I d argue that is too narrow of an assessment. Instead, it is about the country, and the economy, and what the past few years has done to the psyche of those who are living without the safety net of millions of dollars in the bank. Looked at in these thematic terms, it relates more to Born in the USA than any other record he has made.
The most familiar (i.e. 70’s and 80’s Bruce rock) sounds come from the title cut, “We Take Care of Our Own”, and (due to it’s inclusion in the past ten years of shows) “Land of Hope and Dreams”, recast here as a focused, kicking rock anthem. These are the songs most easily digested by fans. They lend familiarity to the set, allowing for some sonic risks on the other cuts.
The centerpiece is “Jack of All Trades”, a Nebraska-esque sound wrapped around a song about a man who can do a lot of things, but nothing about problems bigger than himself. Still, he tries to convince his girl that it will “be alright”.
The album is wholly and unmistakably a Bruce Springsteen rock record. Hints of his Seeger Sessions work are never too far away — and that looseness is welcome.
And when Clarence Clemons’ sax solo rings during the latter half of “Land of Hope and Dreams”, the melancholy is absorbed by the notion that Springsteen has figured out how to mix his old with a touch of new, with the help of producer Ron Aniello. The album will be one of the best rock (or other) albums of 2012.
The bedlam of Born in the USA will never return; that was a blaze that burned far too high and wide to be repeated. But what Wrecking Ball does is show an American rock and roll singer, nearly 30 years down the road from that cultural moment, still able to capture a sound and emotion that resonates deeply.