Jim Cushinery, Marty Ross, and Bobby Tews have finally arrived. The story of The Wigs is a bit of an west coast legend. Formed in Milwaukee and after building a local fanbase in 1982, they piqued the interest of CBS Records and recorded a shining gem of an album, but ended up with infamous manager Stanley Polley (Badfinger fans take note). As the paperwork was being drawn up to commence recording of The Wigs’ major label debut, CBS became embroiled in a hostile takeover attempt and the album was allowed to die on the vine with a limited release. Now, on the 25th anniversary of “File Under: Pop Vocal’s” release, Marty and Jim have undertaken a remix of the original tapes, for a first-time ever release on CD.
And if you loved the eighties and that era’s skinny tie power pop sound, The Wigs are a gift from the music gods to you. They traded in melodies that could be extremely sweet, yet delivered with too much muscle to be simply lumped in with other more saccharine power pop outfits of the time. Opening with “I Can See It Now” it has the sharp rhythms and fast drumbeats that fit in with the classic sounds of The Records, The Beat and Pezband. The following “180 degrees” has a great looping melody and a great slow middle eight that brings to mind The Raspberries or The Toms. Next “Susie’s Got A Problem” with it’s Costello-like vocal approach and references to “Elvis, Beatles ,DC-5” it even has guitar breaks that recall Buddy Love. The album is relentless with the style and quality of it’s songwriting. It even takes a Rockabilly detour with “First Time” that would give Brian Setzer a run for his money. The songs continue with a near perfect energy booster in “Tijuana” and then takes a breath with the ballad “Popular Girl” complete with wonderful harmonies in the chorus. Then a rousing cover of “Mony, Mony” that made me forget that Billy what’s-his-name. The tune “It’s Over” gets the Rick Springfield meets The Knack sound down as well. The guitar work on each song is some of the best I’ve heard in a long time, and no filler either. That’s 14 tracks of greatness here, and it makes my top ten list of 2009. The quality of music has been so good recently, I may need to expand the top ten this year, as Roy Scheider mentioned in Jaws, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat. “
It is most satisfying when you hear an artist who sounds like he’s lived through this music. And lead singer/songwriter Jeff Davis set up shop with Fergus Griffin (guitar) and Also Silver (bass) to write a big fat love letter to all the girls he’s loved before. The group settled together in San Francisco involved producer Bond Bergland, and producer Jeff Saltzman (Green Day, Two Gallants, The Killers) and included drummer Michael Urbano (Sheryl Crow, Cake, John Hiatt). “Your Star Was Shining” is a gloriously tuneful collection of rock-songs with an emphasis on songwriting and melody. It seems equal influence between Bryan Ferry, T-Rex and Elvis Costello and the opening track “Swandive” is a great opening here, as the rock star Lothario picks up the girl. The next track “Pretend You Don’t See Me” is a slick slice of Britpop with sophisticated arrangements and the delicate “Rocket Girl” is a sweet sister track to Paul Simon’s “Judy’s Comet.” This showcases the brilliant acoustic balladry and it’s one of the best tracks here. Since almost all the songs are about girls, it’s fitting that each one has it’s own unique flavor and most are great pop. “Miss Yugoslavia” is a bouncy mid-tempo number that recalls both McCartney and The Honeydogs, and Davis really sounds Costello-like here. The strutting guitar riffs in “Black Venus” make it another gem, recalling The Stones “Brown Sugar” (in both subject and style). “Queen Of The Forest” is full of sophisticated pop charm and stands as another winning track. I was more enamored by the slower songs on the album, as you can really appreciate the well written lyrics throughout. No fillers here, and the ending track is “Here’s To Absent Friends” melts The Beatles with Oasis-like swagger “We fanned the bonfire/ And we got guitars/ I’ll see you in the ethers, baby” in a richly orchestrated finale.
Overall, a real winner of a debut here and no doubt it makes my top 10 for 2009. Highly recommended and even better… we highly suggest you visit L’Avventura’s Website before March 1st.
Members of The Roswells, one of the best Canadian pop bands ever, have formed this new group. This new release by The Tomorrows, follows the classic power pop template, with elements of Velvet Crush, Big Star, and Badfinger all come into play here. “Effortless Lee” is everything a fan could hope for in an opening single, with melodic jamming and swirling riffs that take the best of The Roswells sound and add the Beatles/Badfinger elements to the mix. “Love Is Dead” brings forth comparisons to Cheap Trick and The Rubinoos, with great chord changes and impressive backing harmonies. The title track is an expansive janglefest that recalls the past, but follows the band in a light mid-tempo mode about the largest temple in Rome. It follows with the gem “Don’t Worry About Me” complete with heavier guitars and smooth harmonies along the lines of Teenage Fanclub. The subject matter is also fresh, for example “Anime” is fanboy dream theme that sparkles with “You’ve got eyes so big, they’re scary pretty… I wanna be in Anime with you.” Every track here is excellent, without any filler to be found – although the ending six minute opus “Remember” drags into a wandering jam session. But there is enough rock and roll goodness here to have The Tomorrows earn my first nomination to the best of 2009 list! Kool Kat Musik is offering a bonus disc with this release which include live tracks and a Beatles tribute! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge – say no more!
The wait is over. And now US residents can finally get Roger Joseph Manning Jr.’s “Catnip Dynamite” on February 3rd. Most are familiar with Roger’s work through such original group endeavors as Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook and TV Eyes. Roger has also assisted artists like Beck and Air both in the studio and in live performances. He has worked as a keyboardist, vocalist, arranger and songwriter in a more behind the scenes capacity with hundreds of other artists. Since his first album “Land Of Pure Imagination” 2 years ago, all of power pop fandom has been hanging onto Roger’s every note. Let’s face it, this is an easy review for me. Without trying to fall over myself in praise — it’s pretty much what fans have come to expect from Roger. Highly detailed pop compositions that hook into your brain from the opening riffs on “The Quickening” to the Moog keyboards on the bouncy single “Down In Front.” Unlike the last effort, there is more of an effort to rock here and approach each pop song with surgical precision that lasts longer than 3 minutes. There is also less flowery pop (a la Carpenters) and more groovy psyche rock with lot of progressive organ flourishes peeking out behind the melodies. You can hear Strawberry Alarm Clock all over “Imaginary Friend” for example. Every track has it’s own unique flavor, and that’s part of the joy in exploring this album. The storytelling element is expanded here on most tracks (i.e. ” Haunted Henry” and “Drive Thru Girl”) with the sound effects adding to the atmosphere too. Toward the albums end, it gets very proggy and preachy a la Tony Banks-era Genesis on “Survival Machine.” The album ends with several live tracks from Japan. Listen to the entire album streaming from Oglio Records. Right now Newbury Comics has a pre-order special with autographed CDs. I expect other vendors (Not Lame, Kool Kat Musik, etc.) will shortly follow in February. If you couldn’t afford the Japanese CD last year, you have no excuse now. This is a “must have” for any music collection.
