JANGLE ON!

Early Fall 2019

by Eric Sorensen

Summer has seen a flurry of live music shows – Parthenon Huxley & Friends (who encored with the 60s nugget “96 Tears”) and the John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band – and some terrific free outdoor concerts featuring local favorites like the 19^th Street Band, Shenandoah Run and Last Train Home.  Good friend Chris Adams encouraged me to go see the Jakob Dylan-produced documentary “Echo In The Canyon” – which was fabulous.  Fans of mid-60s pop/rock should snap up the soundtrack CD (already available) and the DVD (out soon); the film poster and CD/DVD cover art feature a mapleglo Rickenbacker 12-string!  2019 has continued to feature a succession of excellent jangly tunes.  In particular, I have discovered a number of pseudo-60s artists on the Thirteen O’Clock record label who embrace the signature Rickenbacker 12-string sound of the Byrds, Tom Petty and REM.  Here are some of the CDs and songs that should appeal to fellow jangleholics:

Darker By The Day (2009), From Round Here (2013) and Volume 27 (2016) – the Higher State (one of the aforementioned Thirteen O’Clock label artists).  Wow!  The Higher State is Europe’s answer to the Lears and the Belltowers – they wear their Byrds influence on their sleeves, and the catchy tunes represent jangly pseudo-60s pop/rock and folk rock at its finest!   Check out “Need To Shine,” “Jagged Words,” “You’ve Drifted Far,” “What Is The Deal,” “They Walk Away,” “Tomorrow You’ll Find Today,” “Try Slowing Down,” “That’s Where I’ll Stay,” “Clear Motive” … and the list goes on.  This band is in a time warp, and Baby Boomer fans will love what they hear!

The Problem With Me (2011) – Paul Messis (also on the Thirteen O’Clock label).  No surprise that this solo artist also embraces the pseudo-60s sound – reprising familiar chord progressions in original, chiming tunes.  Standout tracks include “Live And Die,” “The Problem With Me,” “I Go Walking,” “What Am I Going To Do” (very Beatlesque) and “Cry A Tear For Loneliness.”  Also check out Paul’s single release “Penny Arcade” – sounding a bit like the Rose Garden.  Great stuff!

Between Time And Space – the Lemon Clocks.  The ongoing collaboration between Jeremy Morris and Stefan Johannson (and Oscar Granero) has resulted in yet another gem of an album – overflowing with jangly, chiming guitar riffs.  “Everybody Wants Some More” reprises the E/D/A chord progression from “Gloria” and “The Dream Is Coming True” fuses Byrds and Tom Petty riffs.  Jeremy Morris just doesn’t know how to slow down; he keeps penning more hum-along songs and splicing together catchy hooks.  His song “Living The Dream” is also featured (under the Jeremy Band moniker) on the Pop Parade Volume 10 compilation.  Both of these CDs are available on the rock Indiana label.  Long may you run, Sir Jeremy!

See You In The Next World – the Vapour Trails.  Twelve earworm tracks of 12-string riffs, pseudo-60s pop/rock and psych-pop tunes … and strong vocals as well.  Favorite tracks include “The Inner Truth” (sounding a bit like the Lemon Clocks), “On A Nearby Bay,” “Sonic Wave” and “Gently Swaying” … but there is no filler among the dozen tracks.  Great summer listening!

Minor Blemishes – by the Unswept.  Another album that features pseudo-60s pop/rock ala the Hollies, the Byrds and the Searchers and more contemporary groups like the Squire and Starry Eyed and Laughing.  The very Byrdsian track “You Ain’t On My Mind” was my July 2019 Song of the Month, followed closely by “Don’t Drag Me Down,” “The Boy Who Wakes You Up” and “Sunshining.”

Other catchy jangle pop tunes from the past three  months include: “Might As Well” and “Carry On” by the Jangle Bees (the latter track opens with a “Listen To Her Heart” riff progression); “Spring” and “Ain’t Gonna Let You Stay” by the Creation Factory (pseudo-60s group ala the Leaves/Turtles); “Long Day To Your Home” and “But Not For You” by Doug Tuttle; “I’m Going To Miss Her” and “Like A River Glorious” by Clifford Ulrich; “It Won’t Be Wrong,” “Goin’ Back,” “She” and “Bells of Rhymney” from the Echo In The Canyon soundtrack CD; “Just A Man” by the Purple Merkins; a terrific jangly cover of Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” by David Myhr; “Cuando El Tiempo” by Los Andes (anyone else hear Teenage Fanclub and Velvet Crush references?); “Isabella” and “The Girl Next Door”by Jonathan Pushkar; “If You Do” by the Rallies (sounds like “That Thing You Do” by the Wonders);  “The Velvet You” by Noble Krell (another Thirteen O’Clock label artist); the full-length Open The Kimono by the Embryos; and “She Don’t Care About Time” by Tucson’s Marshmallow Overcoat.

Fellow jangleholic Ray Verno recently compiled Byrdsian Volume 133 –  standout tracks include “Echo In Laurel Canyon” by Bleu Stroud, “A Shot In The Dark” by the Floor Models, “I Don’t Know Why” by Julian Bailinson, “By The Sea” (a terrific instrumental) by Roger Illott and “Polar Nights” by American Suitcase (sounding a lot like Teenage Fanclub!)  Ray also turned me on to a very cool chiming cover of “I Come And Stand At Every Door” by Steve Simels (of Gerry Devine and the Hi-beams, the Souvenirs and the Floor Models).

Until next time, jangle on!

ERIC