By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio
Five strong, they possess the tools of their miraculous, imaginative trade; when they slap, strum, pick and make thwoopping sounds in concert with their able-bodied voices, they distinguish themselves from nearly all other like-minded musicians who ply their trade in the recording studio and on stage. Lately, they have had to limit their collective ply to the recording studio; in the age of COVID-19, venturing out to play is unthinkable, considering the global state of play.
“If only we could play a f****n’ show,” the Flat Five’s Nora O’Connor says genuinely and honestly after a quick sigh, for it is on the stage that Nora and Kelly Hogan and Alex Hall and Casey McDonough and Scott Ligon, whose brother Chris, who isn’t in the band, writes the songs that the Flat Five warble brilliantly, gather to relate Chris’s clever and wildly imaginative lyrical wordplay and musical playlets with creative precision.
The Review
For now, the Flat Five from Chicago, from the Windy City and not from anywhere else, mind you, enjoin themselves within Alex’s popular Reliable Recorders. In there, they plug in and turn on and subsequently bring Chris Ligon’s beautifully and cleverly written tales of people who wind up here, there and possibly everywhere to life with harmony singing par excellence. The Flat Five’s joyous new album, Another World, their second long player that is even better than their first, a delectable spinner entitled It’s a World of Love and Hope that came out in 2016, is proof of everything.
“The song is our higher power,” says Nora, a truth borne out by snappy songs like “Drip a Drop,” which toasts the elixir known as pure and giddy happiness with wordplay extraordinaire (“My baby shakes like Tina Turner’s daughter / He runs around the house in just a little top / On his behind you can set a glass of water / He Hully Gullys and don’t ever drip a drop”).
The deeply felt ballad, “The Great State of Texas,” sung empathically by Kelly, tells the sad tale of a prisoner behind bars in the aforementioned great state who experiences a series of last meet-and-greets with things both mundane and personal before stating that “the great state of Texas is taking my” (beat, beat, beat, beat, beat) “life.” It’s a heartbreaking ballad that cuts deep.
Of course, there is much more to savor on Another World, and if you think the proverbial coinkidink is in play when you note that the word “world” appears in the title of both of the Flat Five’s albums, know that although it seems that there is absolutely no coinkidink in play, there actually is. It’s just that the world being referred to could be on the moon, could be an escape from the craziness of our lives, as it is in Another World’s jaunty closer, “Over and Out” (“Over and out the page has turned / the train has left the station…”).
The Interview
Listen to (and watch!) Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan wax poetic about all of the above and a whole lot more as my very special guests on the first in a new series of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation shows, appearing below (you’ll be able to hear the show on our Pure Pop Radio station soon). This interview is presented in See! Hear! Pop!, Pure Pop Radio’s finely-tuned video-riffic sight and sound format (make of that what you will, will you?).
Please note that, due to copyright considerations, this interview is scoped, so the songs spoken about do not play when I say they will and, instead, play below. So listen to the interview and then listen to “I Don’t Even Care” and “The Great State of Texas,” which should propel you to, after all is said and done, purchase Another World, another in a series of wonderful albums by Chicago’s Flat Five.
Without further ado, here are the Flat Five’s Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan in conversation with me, Alan Haber. Enjoy.
Where to Get It: Amazon, Bandcamp, Apple Music
Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, hosted by Alan Haber, is the internet’s premier talk show presenting melodic pop music artists talking about their work. New episodes appear here exclusively on the Pure Pop Radio website. Podcast versions of previously-aired episodes are archived here.
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Dear Stella. The nom de plume of Austria’s Stefanie Drexler is bound to satisfy fans of dynamic, creative sounds with the EP Time Zones, releasing tomorrow. These six, monumentally rich songs, beautifully produced and performed with true heart (check Drexler’s strong, emotional vocals), incorporate retro and contemporary sounds in surprising ways. Pop pundits Bleu, Eric Barao, David Myhr and Kai Danzberg are on hand, but this is Drexler’s show all the way, and a incredible, joyous show it is. We’re playing all six tunes in rotation. Here’s just a taste, a beautiful ballad from one of your soon-to-be-favorite 2020 releases, Time Zones:
As regards to the new songs I said I added to the playlist yesterday, well, I’m pretty impressed with the lot of them: now playing in rotation are sweet and catchy new tracks from Geoff Palmer and Lucy Ellis, from their terrific and whole-lotta-fun album, Your Face is Weird. You’re going to love it.
Wilding’s The Death of Foley’s Mall, the excellent work of one Justin Wilding Stokes that I believe you will be hearing much of in the coming months. We’re playing five songs in rotation
The always great Bill DeMain, who has covered probably the one Harry Nilsson song that you would never expect him to cover, from the movie Skidoo, about which much will be said later on; “Garbage Can Ballet” is the name of the tune, and it’s another masterful job by a Pure Pop Radio favorite artist
Kenny Herbert, whose music I’ve been playing on the various incarnations of Pure Pop Radio for more than 20 years; his latest, an uptempo love song called “It’s Only Me,” is another instant classic from the musical bard of Scotland
Hoodoo Gurus, speaking of classics; the Gurus have released another top track called “Get Out of Dodge,” with the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson and the Beach Boys’ John Cowsill in tow.
Chris Church’s blazing collection of richly rendered pop-rockers, Backwards Compatible, is exploding here, there and everywhere. Catch the rocking “Begin Again,” slathered with a hefty yard’s worth of poppy background vocals, in rotation right here on Pure Pop Radio.
