Fancey is the name of both the solo project and album of the New Pornographers’ Todd Fancey. Like many people his age, Fancey grew up listening to AM radio playing the soft rock hits of ’70s. In this day of ’80s plagiarism, Fancey and like-minded souls From Bubblegum To Sky provide a refreshing take on pop music. That New Pornographers sound is there, but throw in some Beach Boys, some Association, and some Todd Rundgren, and you’ve got that “Rock N Roll Rhythm.” Hmmm, makes you wonder what kind of music the kids of today growing up on Playstation/Xbox are gonna put out in another decade or two…
Youth Group
A mature, well-crafted, dark bit of pop by an Australian trio who, if they enjoy any kind of longevity, are gonna have to face the music when they’re not so youthful. Hell, it’s worked for Sonic Youth after all these years. Perhaps by invoking youthfulness, they actually tap into the fabled fountain. I back Woody Allen’s take on the matter when he says, “I want to achieve immortality by not dying.”
Trembling Blue Stars
I’ve got a prized piece of vinyl entitled Wire Play Pop. It’s a seven-song assortment pulled from Wire’s first three albums. Ever since I bought it that title has bugged me, because I wouldn’t necessarily equate Wire with pop (although the world would be a better place if that was the definition of pop). But anyway, if that title would ever be appropriate, it would be as Trembling Blue Stars Play Pop. TBS sing about love and love lost like only popsters can. They’ve got a new single out now, but this song is from last year’s The Seven Autumn Flowers.
The Dudley Corporation
The Dudley Corporation. The name alone sounds like something out of “The Office” (the original British series, which I just spent all weekend watching for the first time ever…eerily genius). Their website gives off a similarly ironic corporate vibe. Musically, these Irish lads have a wonderful pop-hazard sensibility, recalling at times The Smiths without being redundant. Watch for East Coast dates with Pinback in May. Album’s in stores today.
The Foxymorons
While their name is more befitting a rec league softball team than a lo-fi pop duo from Mesquite, Texas, don’t go writing them off as a novelty act (unless, of course, you’re into that sort of thing — in which case you should skip straight to their covers album). These guys take their craft quite seriously, as evidenced by the warm, inviting hooks and smart yet honest lyrics. Their newer material is more polished, relatively speaking. “Harvard Hands” mimics early Wilco and “Hesitation Eyes” is pure power pop a la Posies, Cheap Trick, et al. But, no matter how you package it, the honesty goes down smooth and easy. As referenced earlier, the band’s site features an entire album’s worth of MP3 covers — including some fractured renditions of Sonic Youth, Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston, and more. Play ball…
Lilys
I just love it when people ask me, “What’s your favorite kind of music?” It’s always people who really don’t know me, and I love it even more when my hesistation to answer immediately leads them to further clarify. “Rock? Rap? What about Jazz?” But I always answer, simply, “Lilys.” Kurt Heasley, the force behind Lilys, is a musical chameleon, changing colors and styles at will. He started as an American My Bloody Valentine, then shifted to psych-tinged Kinks, then drifted into Pink Floyd, came back again to the Kinks, then passed on into mellow pop-influenced electronica, and with the last release, 2003’s Precollection, touched on UK indie pop. Each shift usually throws me for a loop, but I keep coming back, and I keep answering, “Lilys.”
Malcolm Middleton
Malcolm Middleton is one half of Scotland’s Arab Strap. On his second solo album, Malcolm expands on his earlier work and the sounds he churns out for Arab Strap. Folksy one minute, almost danceable the next, Malcolm shares the highs and lows with equal beauty. But make no mistake, this being Scottish, the self-loathing is still there; just listen to the chorus of “A Happy Medium.”
The Happies
A handful of us here at the 3hive were involved, musically, many years back. First, at an AM radio station we basically hijacked for a summer, then at a CD exchange (remember those?) called Sonic Garden. Blurb designed the logo. Soon after that fell to pieces, Sam and I started up an indie distribution company called Happyville (I’m sure we’d unanimously agree that 3hive is our best venture yet). ANYWAY, The Happies are sorta namesakes, and are not-so-coincidentally, from the state of Utah, where we initially made our acquaintances. They also make endearing, quiet, lo-fi pop songs, for which I am a complete sucker. Thanks to Todd Simmons for dropping this into the ol’ s-box.
The Weakerthans
In light of the recent discussion in Wisconsin to legalize cat hunting (if you haven’t heard about this, check here), it seems appropriate to post The Weakerthans, whose “Plea From a Cat Named Virtute” is actually told from the perspective of a cat. Katherine slipped me a disc of their melodic Canadian punk/pop, replete with a little steel guitar here and some blazing noise there, and it’s been the only rotation in my car’s CD player for a few weeks now. As for the licensed hunting of feral cats, it seems like The Weakerthans would likely not approve. To my knowledge, 3hive has no official position on the matter.
Swoon
Need another reason to move to or at the very least vacation in Sweden? Swegazers. Yeah, that’s Swedish shoegazers, and our pick today from the suggestion box, Swoon, have coined the term. Like one of the masterpieces of shoegazing, Lilys’ 1992 album In the Presence of Nothing, which deliberately mimicked My Bloody Valentine, Swoon are not ashamed to show their influences, and like Lilys, they do it so well that their songs can stand alone on their own merit. So those of you wondering what your band would sound like if you were raised in Sweden on Chapterhouse, Ecstacy of St. Theresa, Ride, and even Lilys, that’d be Swoon.