Spins and Reviews 12.7.16
Alan Haber — Pure Pop Radio
(Originally posted on 12.07.16)
Jacob Panic | Jacob Panic (2016)
Picker extraordinaire Jacob Panic traverses his banjo’s fretboard with a sure-footed sense of purpose on five tunes borne from fertile ground rooted in pop and bluegrass. This self-titled EP finds the Baltimore-Maryland singer-songwriter’s multi-instrumentalist clothes, which he wore for 2012’s Pop Grass, in storage; for this release, he concentrates on the banjo as a crack team of players backs him up on his ace originals.
Recording in Nashville with producer Randy Kohrs (Grammy® winner for Jim Lauderdale’s The Bluegrass Diaries), Panic paints with a baroque brush on the four-on-the-floor stomper, “The Lie that You Told,” and takes a second, loving look at one of the top tracks from Pop Grass, the beautiful, lyrical “Hold Your Freight Train.” Panic recently opened for Ricky Scaggs and Kentucky Thunder, which says a thing or two about how good this masterful player is. Jacob Panic is always welcome here at Pure Pop Radio.
Now playing in rotation on Pure Pop Radio: The entire EP: “The Flame,” “Drown,” “A Lie that You Told,” “Hold Your Freight Train,” and “Hocus Opus”
Where to Get It: Bandcamp
One Like Son, “Disconnected” Historic platter recorded direct to disc via the Voice-o-Graph by Stephen Poff in the Record Booth at Third Man Records in Nashville, Tennessee. The booth is a “refurbished 1947 Voice-o-Graph machine that records up to 2 minutes of audio and dispenses a one-of-a-kind 6″ phonograph disc to the user,” according to the Third Man Record Booth web page. The skip at the end, an otherworldly thing, occurred during the recording, adding a certain charm to the proceedings.
A song about trying to break through to what the heart yearns, “Disconnected” originally appeared on One Like Son’s 2001 album, Goodbye. Poff’s intimate, updated reading of this number into the Voice-o-Graph is a whisper of a melodic moment in time; close your eyes and you are there with the artist, in the Third Man Record Booth, singing along at least in spirit. We are proud to be playing this recording on Pure Pop Radio.
Now playing in rotation on Pure Pop Radio
Where to Get It: Not currently available
Also recently added to the Pure Pop Radio playlist:
– Bread and Butter, “Desperation”
– Paul McCartney, “In the Blink of an Eye”; Carl Davis, “Walking in the Park with Eloise”; The Shadows, “Foot Tapper”; Dave Berry, “Little Things”; Rupert’s People, “Reflections of Charles Brown” (all from the soundtrack for the animated film, Ethel and Ernest)
– Gerry Beckley | Carousel (“Nature’s Way,” “Minutes Count,” “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying,” “Lifeline,” “To Each and Everyone,” “Serious,” and “Carousel”)
– Teenage Fanclub | Here (“I’m in Love,” “The Darkest Part of the Night,” “I Have Nothing More to Say,” and “It’s a Sin”)
– The Dots | Island in the Sun (“I’ve Been Looking for the Time,” “Wilford Lane,” “Here With You,” “The Stars are Bright Tonight”)
– Tony Low | Rendezvousing (“Do the Mikey,” “Eternal Dawn,” “Hey Now,” and “Should’ve Known”)
– Mike Daly and the Planets, “Never Too Late”
– Louise Goffin, “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman”
– Sir Video | Live at Ardmore Hall (“Take My Breath Away,” “This Magic,” and “Do What You Wanna”)
– The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco | The 3 Song Drive EP (“Kiki vs. Alice from the Breakers,” “Big Yellow Box,” “Byron Bay,” and “Blended”)
– Tony Valentino of the Standells, “Is This What U Want?”
– Tuns | Tuns (“Back Among Friends” and “Throw It All Away”)
– Baby Scream | Life’s a Trap (“Life’s Better When Ur High,” “Climbing Down,” “We Can’t Go Back to 17,” “Wish You Were Beer,” “Jokes,” and “Midnight Snack”)
Perhaps our most favorite thing to do, other than write about great melodic pop music, is to add it to our playlist. We’ll soon hop, skip and jump over the 8,200 tracks mark, on our way to 9,000 and beyond. Won’t that be fun!
Terry Draper | Searching We gave a rave review to this album just about a week ago (you can read what Alan wrote 
Kevin Martin | Future Friends This sterling follow-up to 2012’s Throwback Pop is even better than anyone could have hoped for, which is to say that these new songs show just how melodic pop is done right. Hooks and delicious melodies abound. Replayability is assured. We’ve added eight of the 10 songs to our playlist: “Not Gonna Let It Go,” “Castles in the Sand,” “I’m Doing Fine,” “Up In a Cloud,” “The Unknown,” “Diamonds,” and our favorite one-two punch: the upbeat, hit bound “Julia” and “Goodbye,” a lovely, heartbreaking, beautifully arranged song about loss. This is the real deal, destined to be one of our favorite records of this year.
Tiny Volcano | Tiny Volcano Scott McPherson more than dabbles in a deep paintbox full of melodic pop projects including Pop 4, Sproutless, Liar’s Club and this group, whose 2003 debut has just been remastered anew by the maestro himself. Is it going too far to say that these songs, all poppy and catchy and all the rest of it all, have been reborn? We don’t think so. Tracks like the crunchy, guitar-filled “Mary Goes Around,” the Merseybeat nod “You Wanna Go,” the dreamy waltz “Building a Bridge (Out of Water),” and the country-ish bopper “Ten Nights in a Row” dazzle, but they’re only some of this album’s classic numbers. In addition to these tracks, we’re playing “Loaded Gun,” “Wonderful Sun,” and “Summer Solstice,” an affectionate Beach Boys audio sculpture. Remastered and reborn? You bet.
The Electric Stars | “Loaded With Regrets” and “The Only Lover Left Alive” Jason Edge and crew debut two explosive new songs that will be part of the Electric Stars’ forthcoming album. “Loaded With Regrets” is a Rolling Stones-styled (a la “Wild Horses”) tearjerker; “The Only Lover Left Alive” rocks and rolls with T. Rex flavor (and an instrumental section dipped in dynamic international mystery). Both are now playing in rotation.
The Last Conspirators | Hold that Thought Forever New York State pop-rockers The Last Conspirators’s fourth album takes charge with muscular songs, written by singer Tim Livingston and guitarist Nick Bisanz, that demand attention. We’re playing four tracks in rotation, all surging with crunchy guitars, great hooks and Livingston’s urgent vocals: “Perfect Lovers in a Complicated World,” “Fortune Teller,” “Russian Eyes,” and “Two Days in May,” a powerful ballad. Now playing in rotation and thrilling music lovers worldwide.
Cheap Trick | “No Direction Home” The first song released from the band’s upcoming album, enticingly titled Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello, is a typically engaging pop rocker with one of those, what do you call them…hooky chorus things? Yeah, that’ll work. Album number 17 sees release on April 1.
Anton Barbeau | Magic Act We go way back with this always surprising, innovative and wholly original musician–almost to Pure Pop Radio’s beginnings in the mid-1990s. Anton’s latest is perhaps his strongest long player yet–a vital collection of pop numbers designed to get your attention and make you sing along. We’re playing four songs in rotation from this forthcoming release: “High Noon,” the very Anton titled “Sit Your Leggy Down,” “Swindon” (about as close to a folk song as Anton gets), and the very Bowie-esque “Milk Churn in the Morning.” It’s always great to have new Ant music to play on the air.
The Surfin Burritos | “King of the Party” and “Devil’s Newsletter” From Spain comes a pair of early rock ‘n’ roll rave-ups that will get you up on the dance floor pronto. Breathless and breathing fire, both “King of the Party” and “Devil’s Newsletter” spew sharp beats and toothy melodies. And then there’s that band name. If our burrito went surfin’ off our plate, we’d probably worry. But there’s no need to worry here. Dance the night away.
One Like Son | Ugly And now for another top-flight collection from pop rockers One Like Son. There’s something for everyone here, such as a decidedly Tom Petty-esque vibe in the pretty “Midwest Summer Nights.” A strumming ukelele and beautifully arranged strings lie at the heart of the lovely “The Song You’ll Never Hear.” We’re playing these numbers in rotation, plus “Stella,” a country-flavored song with familiar-sounding guitar strumming that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Big Star album; “Lie to Me (One More Time),” an assured blast of Americana; “Tonight,” an acoustic charmer; and “Goodnight Sunshine,” a slow burner of a rock tune. Stephen Poff, take a bow, will you?
Vegas With Randolph | “The Comeback Kid” The latest great tune from the songwriting team of John Ratts and Eric Kern is a typically catchy slice of melodic pop that starts off pretty and gentle and quickly ponies up with a power pop urgency that drives the rest of the song. Vegas With Randolph keeps getting better; Washington, DC’s pop kings are riding high.
The Del Zorros | “Step Away from My Heart” Our love for the music of the Del Zorros knows no bounds. Monte and Stede can sing to us any old time. This new song, not part of the duo’s latest, greatest album, Wilmington, is a determined, tuneful, horn-adorned Stax-ian shuffle that really pleases. Now playing in rotation, of course.
Well, technically, my time away from these pages wasn’t a vacation. In fact, it was anything but a bout of fun in the sun. As those of you who follow me on Facebook already know, I’ve had some medical issues to deal with these past few months. On New Year’s Eve, I had an operation to correct a digestion problem, and just a few days later, I found myself in the hospital again with arterial flutter.
New and now playing in rotation are Cheap Trick’s “No Direction Home,” which apparently will be part of the venerable popsters’ next album. Also spinning are great new tracks from Anton Barbeau, from his latest album, Magic Act; Chris Murphy; Torbjorn Petersson (his new EP); Rocket Bureau; Paul Melancon and the New Insecurities; the Surfin’ Burritos; Javier Escovedo; One Like Son, who are in a country-esque mood on their superb new album, Ugly; New Sincerity Works; the Del Zorros (a spectacular new song, “Step Away from My Heart”); Mimi Boswell and Friends; and Vegas With Randolph, with another rousing number, “The Comeback Kid.”
If I may, I’d like to pat these pages on their melodic backs: More than 50,000 pop fans have read the words we’ve stitched together since we opened for business back in late December 2013 (thanks one and all). Our number one post, by a hook-filled mile, is our review of Jeff Lynne’s instantly legendary September 14, 2014 show in London’s Hyde Park. Posted on September 16, 2014, it’s still got that ELO magic; 
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