New(ish) music- June 2023

Below are my reviews to the June 2023 playlist that myself and six friends do; each month we put two tracks on a playlist and, at the end of the month, either meet up virtually to discuss / review / roast as appropriate; or, on occasions when we can't meet, provide written reflections or voice notes.

A word on my two picks for this month - the first, ‘Hodja’ by Todd Rundgren, falls into the category of curio. Rundgren is an eccentric genre-hopper at the best of times, but for this tune (and indeed, the whole A Cappella album) he recorded a diverse collection of songs using his voice alone. This, in the pre-digital era - the most powerful tool at his disposal was an early sampler called the E-mu Emulator. A monstrous task without digital technology, then; even the ‘handclaps’ on ‘Hodja’ are the layered, compressed sound of Rundgren clicking his tongue.

My other pick was ‘I’m A Man’ by Jobriath - a guy who fell into such obscurity that when Morrissey tried to book him when curating an All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, he didn’t realise he’d been dead nigh on twenty years. Jobriath was a former child keyboard prodigy who was hyped to the rafters as America’s answer to David Bowie - and he was gay. Openly gay, in fact, probably before any other rock musician. This whole album is a treat, an overblown, theatrical fantasy that probably edges closer to the collaborations between Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf than anything Bowie ever did. Jobriath died, penniless, of AIDS in 1983.

Okay, time to hit shuffle on this bad boy…

I Can’t Party - Vulfmon

I think I’ve registered my wariness when it comes to humour in music, and my antennae started vibrating immediately; and frankly, it’s not my kind of thing. This flavour of fun is only a step away from that rather deadpan ‘uh, THAT just happened’ seam of joking that makes me wish I didn’t have ears or eyes. Nonetheless, there’s enough silliness and charm here to coast by, and the music sounds like a mutant Donald Fagen number, so in an oblique way I enjoyed it. Bonus points for mentioning Don Rickles.

Gans Media Retro Games - Hot Mulligan

Going by track record I should be in the hater category, so can I shock you? I really like this. There’s a crunch and springiness to the music that I can get behind, buoyed by an expansive production. The singing is a riot too, just stomping over everything with the exuberance of a sugar-dosed toddler.

30 Under 13 - Better Loves

Again, I know I’ve typified some of the music of this ilk as ‘sweaty’ and ‘tryhard’ in the past; but this hairdryer of double-bass pedal drumming and diamond-hard riffing got under my skin. There’s a discipline and precision to it that reminds me of the death metal-prog of late-era Death, which is no bad thing. They even throw a proper ripping little guitar solo into the mix. Heavy metal that sounds like a dozen car alarms going off - what’s not to like?

You Keep Running Away - The Four Tops

Hall of famer. This is right in the Motown sweet spot for me - a little past the era where the pop hits sounded a bit formative, but before the label’s big beasts decided to get all introspective (though that’s good, too - I mean, who could clown on mid-1970s Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder?). The singing is outstanding, the arrangements are funky and the horn parts that typified this moment in Motown history are catnip to me - they absolutely sizzle here. Best thing I’ve heard in an age.

Good Hands - Jason Cruz and Howl

Sad to say that this is the most anonymous of all the picks this month. It’s a fairly pleasant, fairly bouncy pop-rock number. Fine. A few key components are missing - you know, a decent hook, a degree of character and any hint of inspiration.

All and Everything - Spidergawd

Candidate for worst band name this month, but I found myself absorbed with this odd musical chimera. I’m all for bands shoehorning slightly offbeat instrumentation into their signature sound, and they really make the saxophone work in this vaguely NWOBHMish alt. rock. Ghost managed a sax lead on their last decent album. Aren’t both bands Scandinavian? What is in the water / Pripps Blå over there, eh? Anyway, had a pretty gnarly edge to it and made for premium driving music. With this pumping out of the Failwagon, my opps at badminton had no chance.

The Corner’s Dilemma - Free Throw

Eh, has its moments - but lest you think I’ve been kidnapped and replaced a la Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, quite reliably I don’t really dig this. The chorus is pretty kicky, and I am simpatico to the animating spirit behind this (and indeed, much emo music) but the execution often leaves me cold. For a bunch of noise merchants, doesn’t it come across as a bit wet sometimes? A miasma of ‘arrested development’ hangs about this track, alas. What happens when emos age out, I wonder? Do they all get into jazz?

II. Worldstar - Childish Gambino

This goes all over the place, in the best way - seemingly also incorporating soundclips from a couple of those ‘Worldstar’ videos that the internet was freighted with about fifteen or so years ago. Oh, and we’ve got another saxophone guy! Luckily, this never slips into the kind of lassitude that a lot of rap that incorporates jazzy elements can do - blame Souls of Mischief or De La Soul back in the day for this innovation, but some of the more recent stuff is boggin’. The same criticisms were levelled against Steely Dan though - wah wah, why are these wiseacres playing augmented chords in muh rawk music? Well, guess who’s the baby now? Me.

In Spite of Ourselves - John Prine and Iris DeMent

A gentle lollop through the vagaries of growing old but - gosh darn it! - keeping the embers of love a-glowing. Can I play the spoiler here? It’s all so confoundedly folksy. Too folksy! We’re into hyper-folksy territory, folks. Everything from the tastefully picked guitar, through the vocal inflections and right on to the cloying sentimentality of it all…uh. This is the kind of jive I should, by rights, be fully behind, but instead it has me reaching for the sickbag. 

Notorious - Duran Duran

If ever a band should be fully and completely rehabilitated in terms of critical re-evaluation, it’s Duran Duran. Superb musicians all, but a trot through their discography reveals a jaw-dropping facility with slick, punchy pop songs. No exception here. The production dates the song, for sure, but I mean that in a neutral sense, because a bright, crisp sound is exactly what this kind of smart, lightly funky sound deserves. Give ‘Notorious’ the respect it deserves and run it through a good set of speakers. Also, dare I say that Simon Le Bon’s yelp contains more angst than any of our more explicitly emo offerings this month?

Calling Elvis - Dire Straits

Ah, a kind of space-age hoedown from Dire Straits’ cocaine-and-synths era. This is off their last album, I think? Not a great record, though it does contain ‘Iron Hand’, an anti-Thatcher song about the Battle of the Beanfield that somehow wound up in a Nintendo compilation album I happen to own. ‘Iron Hand’ is good, as is ‘Calling Elvis’; good without scraping the firmament. I do have a soft spot for musicians doing songs about other artists, so I got a kick out of Mark Knopfler muttering truncated lines of Elvis lyrics over big guitar and keyboard washes. I love the guitar tones throughout. My one real beef is that I know what Dire Straits were capable of - and this sounds a little flabby in comparison with their early stuff like ‘Lady Writer’ and even ‘Sultans of Swing’, which contrasted the sweetness of Knopfler’s fluent playing with a dash of vim and vigour. I suspect Mark Knopfler talks in exactly the same voice he sings in. 

Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System - Carcass

Is there a little nod to Venom here? Whatever, this absolutely kills it. It’s antisocial enough to bother the neighbours but that imperative is twinned with a really strong sense of melodic invention. There is a restless quality to the guitar work - I take it the great Bill Steer is at the helm, so I’m thoroughly unsurprised. Frankly, this crams so much into four minutes that I’m always left mildly exhausted after a listen - but that’s never been enough to prevent the dandruff from flying!

On to next month, boys - vorwarts immer, ruckwarts nimmer!