Tag: The Campbell Apartment

The Campbell Apartment and The Maureens

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The Campbell Apartment

The Campbell Apartment “Under The Influence Of Love”

San Francisco band The Campbell Apartment is back after a several-year break, and they try some new things here. The opener, “Sand and Glue,” is a solid indie punk track with a compelling chorus of “What I do,” with plenty of Kinks-like verses in between.

“Bay Area Robot Farm” is almost like a lost Bill Lloyd tune, but the band breaks out on “PATH Train of Least Resistance.” This is the type of pop song in which the band excels, with a touch of jangle and a descriptive lyric of a certain time and place. Then “Boys Like Driving” is another winner, playing with gender stereotypes, and it seems like it stepped out of last summer’s Barbie movie. “Fun In The Sun” is a perfect follow-up, with flowing harmonies everywhere. The “sublime” ballad “452 Square Feet” feels like an epic album closer. Overall, plenty of interesting and unpredictable songs round out this album. Highly Recommended.

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The Maureens

The Maureens “Everyone Smiles”

The Dutch band The Maureens are back with a new record. The harmonies and instrumentation are still reminiscent of the early Beatles, but this band has expanded their sound with the jangling opener “Stand Up!” The compositions are all originals; “Lost & Found” boasts a catchy rhythm, and “Sunday Driver” is an aching ballad with a great chorus.

“Fell in Love” recalls Sloan or The Posies with a lighter pop touch, and “Rainy Day” is another highlight, which sounds a bit like Teenage Fanclub, with a quiet opening then the harmonies crash in. Another great tune is “Only Child,” with its slow-building, rich composition. Not all the songs are as memorable, and my biggest issue with the album is that the style and cadence don’t vary much, and the lead guitar on most songs takes a back seat to the harmonies. Overall, this is a really beautiful album that deserves to be heard.

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Fall into Singles, EPs: The Record Company, The Campbell Apartment, Vanilla, Half Catholic, Funeral Cake, Sugar Fight, and more

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It’s cooling off this week on the East Coast. The Record Company isn’t a great name for a band, but these guys have a nice groove and swagger on “I Don’t Dance On Mondays” from their new 4th Album. Love that slide guitar sound! The Campbell Apartment has a new single worthy as a theme for Barbie’s Ken on “Boys Like Driving.” Next, Vanilla continues its slow rollout of Pish Posh one song at a time, this one is “S1 E1,” a march about binge-watching. I was very impressed by Half Catholic, “Pour It On Lightly” is like The Posies meet Pearl Jam and 100% original soaring melodic rock (also out on Kool Kat Musik). Funeral Cake is a little punkier, fans of The Muffs might enjoy them; check out “Sleep Over” and “Fairy Land.”  Next Sugar Fight has a few singles collected with the addition of a few guests (Frank Bango, for example). Finally, with summer over, you should pick up the latest freebie from radio show blogger Ice Cream Man (Wayne Lundqvist Ford,) a massive collection of over 100 songs. Summer never ends with this much music!





Friday Night Vids: Amiee Mann, Peter Holsapple and The Campbell Apartment

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Aimee Mann’s Mental Illness shows off her rich, incisive and wry melancholia in an almost all-acoustic format, with a “finger-picky” style inspired by some of her favorite ‘60s and ‘70s folk-rock records, augmented by haunting strings arranged by her longtime producer, Paul Bryan. Aimee remains a student of human behavior, drawing not just on her own experiences to form the characters in the songs but tales told by friends.

Beloved power-pop songwriter Peter Holsapple (The dB’s and Continental Drifters) is self-releasing a new vinyl 45 record, “Don’t Mention the War” b/w “Cinderella Style” on his own Hawthorne Curve Records. “Don’t Mention the War” is a poignant look at one man’s post-traumatic stress syndrome and how it affects his adoring nephew. With low, somber brass (Mark Daumann on tuba) and echoes of battles past, this is another engaging Holsapple story-song, steeped in dark emotions and vivid character assessment.

A new video from The Campbell Apartment is cause for celebration. “Something In The Way” is a refreshing and upbeat tune starring Dana Mandolesi and filmed by fantastic filmmaker Shahrzade Ehya. It was part of the band’s EP “Sundogs” which you can get on Amazon. Great stuff!

The Mike Benign Compulsion and The Campbell Apartment

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The Mike Benign Compulsion “Martha”
It wasn’t long ago we heard from Midweswtern musician Mike Benign. This new full-length album is a big leap forward for the Compulsion, mixed by the dB’s Chris Stamey. The driving harmonies on “Chemicals To Candy” is full of classic power pop chord shifts, and a great opener. “My Michelle” has a bit more jangle, almost like The Raspberries. A few real standouts are the bouncing beat and harmony filled chorus of “Valentines and Honeybees” and the Beatlesque “Sing It.” No filler here and plenty of other great tunes, like the Kinks inspired “American Dreaming and Drunk” and the Stamey influence is clear on the album’s latter half with “By The Way” and “I Won’t Let You Down.” The ballads are good too, so overall it’s a highly recommended LP and a great addition to your playlist.

 

The Campbell Apartment “In”
After the melodic indie-pop sounds of 2008’s Insomiac’s Almanac, the Campbell Apartment take a turn towards a harder rock sound courtesy of leader Ari Vais. Joined by Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne) it resembles the late great Alex Chilton on the blistering opener “I Don’t Believe in Love (Anymore).” The cynical genius of “The See You Laters” explores the death of rock star dreams, as Ari’s vocal has a Lou Reed meets TMBG-styled cadence.

The album’s wall of guitar riffs recall the Replacements feel-good hooks on “Autumn,” and the more distortion fueled melody “Season In The Sun.” A few songs recall the early 80’s new wave, like the list of girls on “My Many Mini Obsessions” and the dissonance of “Plug-in Freak.” A few notable tracks, like “Gia Knows” recalls Weezer and “That’s All There Is” could fit comfortably on a Red Hot Chili Peppers LP. Some of the rhythm guitar acrobatics are colorful and the slow ballad “There Goes the Sun,” has some sweet horn arrangements. It’s a grower for sure, as Ari’s vocal takes a bit getting used to. Get “I Don’t Believe in Love (Anymore)” for free download to start you off!