Squire - Get Smart! - 1983

 

Somewhere between the delicate power pop of Shoes and the classy British pop of mid-period Jam sits the wonderful world of Squire. No, not Billy "The Stroke" Squier. This is Squire, the groovy mod trio fronted by Anthony Meynell, one of pop music's unsung heroes. Spanning the years 1980-1984, this exceptional compilation concentrates on the latter half of the band's career, and contains almost their entire Get Smart album. By this point in the band's career, Meynell had tired of the musical restrictions that the mod scene had thrust upon him. Adding more overdubs in the studio (including a horn section), Meynell created some of the brightest, most exhilarating, guitar-based pop music of the early '80s. Sidestepping such influences as the Who and the Kinks, and embracing Lennon's edge from the Beatles ("No Time Tomorrow"), and the bright, sunny vibe from the Monkees ("Standing In The Rain"), Squire did not create disposable pop, they created timeless pop. Many of these tracks could have been released in the mid-'60s or even in the early '90s at the height of Brit-pop. "Every Trick In The Book Of Love," "You're the One," "My Mind Goes Round In Circles," "Girl On A Train," "Stop That Girl," and "Take A Look" are nothing less than perfect pop songs. When Meynell puts down his pen and records a cover version (including Shoes' "Boys Don't Lie" and Big Star's "September Gurls"), the results are nothing less than Squire-like. Sadly, the only low point on this disc is the A-side of their fan club-only final single, "The Young Idea," which, strangely enough, was probably considered a high point when first released! Mod and power pop fans should keep their eyes peeled for this gem of a CD. It's worth the hype! -AMG

Available at itunes

The Who - Sell Out (Deluxe Edition)

The Who Sell Out was given a deluxe reissue in 1995, a reissue that greatly expanded upon the original 13-track album, adding a plethora of outtakes -- some heavily bootlegged -- and rejected jingles to the end of the album proper. That 1995 reissue seemed to mine the vaults pretty thoroughly, removing the need for another expanded reissue, especially not one as lengthy as this 2009 double-disc expansion. In a certain sense that's true, as there's not a whole lot of previously unreleased material among these 53 tracks: there's a rather excellent, snappy studio take on "Summertime Blues," a full version of "Premier Drums," an instrumental called "Sodding About" that could function as the introduction to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (and was indeed planned as part of a rejected instrumental EP with that track), and a tighter yet inferior remake of "Rael 1 & 2," plus a few scattered jingles on the first disc, while the second has a stereo demo of "Relax" that's quite different, and a stereo "Glittering Girl," along with alternate mixes that are rare enough to seem previously unreleased. Unreleased tracks aren't the reason for this package, un-reissued mixes are, with the first disc containing the original stereo mix of Sell Out, the second the original mono mix. Often, parsing these kinds of mixes is the province of fanatics...and to a certain extent that's true here, at least in regards to the stereo mix, which does feel different than the 1995 reissue: it's different but not dramatically so. That's not the case with the mono mix, which is punchier and occasionally graced with additional flair, like a completely different guitar solo on "Our Love Was." Also, this reissue flows differently than the 1995 deluxe edition, which was sequenced to mimic the original album's pirate radio flow. That sensibility is retained on the first disc, where unbilled commercials pop up between the bonus tracks, but on the second disc the bonus material stands slightly apart from the rest of the album, which may be an appropriate move because this disc houses many of the alternate mixes and trails out with uncredited backwards backing tracks for "Armenia City in the Sky" and an unreleased commercial for the U.S. product Great Shakes. Despite all the repeated songs and differing mixes, it's only these hidden clips that feel like collector bait; there's such infectious joy and invention to this music, it's easy to get swept up in its momentum. Besides, repetition has always been the name of the game in radio, so having songs repeat throughout this deluxe edition of The Who Sell Out only accentuates and strengthens its initial pop art concept, which makes this a rare Deluxe Edition that manages to improve an already great album, and offers up a wealth of rarities while still being immensely entertaining. (Collector's note: even though this does have a wealth of rarities, it does not contain "Melancholia" and "Glow Girl" which were on the 1995 disc, giving further reason than the different mix to hold onto that reissue.) - All Music Guide

Link in comments.

Dodgy - The Dodgy Album

The Dodgy Album is the debut 1993 album by the British indie group Dodgy.

"Water Under the Bridge", the first single released from this album, saw the beginning of "the way of dodgy", a step-by-step enlightened 'dodgy' philosophy that would appear on the record sleeves for each of their future recordings. The artwork also included their 'mdv' logo. The single was released in early 1993, and the video for the song featured the band in Amsterdam.
The second single was "Lovebirds", a song that had won them award on Gary Crowley's GLR show during the band's youth. Included on the single was the acoustic live favourite "Big Brown Moon".
Continuing their new shiny artwork single success, Dodgy released "I Need Another", the cover of which depicted the band as garden gnomes and included a campfire version of "Never Again", complete with the sound of crackling logs.

Get it: HERE

THE THEME - MOD/POWER POP

 

The Theme are:

Gary Davis -lead vocals, Paul Bassom - lead guitarist, Martin Gamby - Drums, Anthony Morgan - bass and Reece Wiggett - lead/rhythm guitar.

 I heard THE THEME recently on the Glory Boy Radio show playing the track "The first time I saw you" and I was immediately taken back to 1979 where I was sitting in front of a remoteless, fat television set, microphone in one hand and the other hand poised above the pause button of my mobile cassette recorder in pretty much the way I did when waiting for The Jam to appear on Top of the Pops back then.  The Theme's sound is full of energy, it is exciting, melodic and fun, and whilst it takes you back to another time of great music, it also sits comfortably besides the likes of Oasis The Real People and Ocean Colour Scene.

 

                                   The Theme is bringing the britpop/mod scene back to life!

The Theme describe themselves as a South London fusion of Brit-Pop and post-Punk Modrock! This is not sixties flower-power, it's hard-hitting rock music in the best traditions of Mod-Revival Power Pop.  "We're not trying to re-invent the wheel, we just wanna play some rock and roll."

 

The band have just released an excellent six track EP/mini Album, all six tracks have a real British sound about them, something that is extremely refreshing in amongst all these pseudo American RnB singers that seem to be thrust upon us from every direction at the moment, the EP is available to download from itunes HERE.

            "We love the music, we love the clothes, but this is our music and this is our sound…"

GIGS

100 Club Oxford Street Friday Febuarary 3rd
Purple Turtle Camden Friday Febuarary 10th
Camden Rocks Friday 24th Febuaray
Billeracy Football Club Friday 9th March, supporting The Mannerquins.
Southend Riga Bar April 14th supporting The Most (mod band)
Islington O2 April 18TH.

The Theme are a good honest, well dressed rock 'n' roll band playing the music they love and are having a great time doing it..........and that is exactly when the best music is made!

You can contact the The Theme on FACEBOOK  and read more about them at REVERBNATION

MOD ON! (Expression copyright Carl Grisley)

Purple Hearts - Beat That. 1979

 

Outstanding disc by one of the best of the Mod Revival Bands.  Solid musicianship, witty and well-delivered lyrics. This album is brilliant.  Thirty years after its release it sounds as fresh, energetic and as relevant now as it did in 1979.  If you are looking for a very good example of what "Mod Revival" sounds like, this is as good a place to start as any. 

 Get it: HERE (NEW LINK)

The Bank Holidays - As a Film.

 

It must be frustrating for a band like the Bank Holidays, with all their effortless talent and charm, to watch the culturally effulgent east coast spawn artists who, almost by protocol, manage to gather momentum and interest by sole virtue of exposure in the ‘big’ cities. You know, those cities where all the reputable indie labels are, where all the most forceful writers, announcers and lifestyle spruikers are. It’s probably extreme to paint Perth bands as outsiders – victims – but to an extent it is true. Most Australian musicians already understand the limits of our geographical predicament. Imagine living in Perth.
Still, with the opportunities for exposure and career-fulfilment being slimmer in Perth, there’s probably an instinct for the bands to work harder, or to play to their own strengths rather than the benchmarks set by others. The Bank Holidays is one of a handful of Perth bands at the moment that seem incapable of failure, if you ignore circumstance and concentrate solely on their efforts. In essence, As A Film is a marvellously consistent, lyrically thoughtful, emotionally provocative and seasonally specific (i.e. summer, i.e. now) album brimming with sincerity and melodic hooks to die for.
It’s an album for pleasure – an album replete with songs that mark moments like musical milestones. The lyrics are infused with the type of pop wisdom that we all take for granted but like to have reinforced in song. Take ‘Teaching Pupils’, where in the first verse a rather undesirable group of friends ‘tip your bag out on the lawn’ and ‘pin things to your uniform’. Following these accounts, sometime vocalist James Crombie warns us that, in order to save face and dignity, you’ll need to lie and ‘teach your pupils not to dilate’. Anyone who has ever forced back tears to save face will understand and cherish the sentiment.
Of course, being pop music it’s got a large capacity for nostalgia, and the strength of the melodies and harmonies involved here echo certain oft-referenced Californian luminaries, but if charisma and endearment are both essential ingredients for a good pop album, As A Film is a quiet classic.
by Shaun Prescott

Get It: HERE

+ 1 link

Frisbie - The Subversive Sounds of Love.

 

Heralded by many as the banner carriers of power pop for the 21st century, few bands have displayed such a mastery of pop songcraft on a debut release. Though not horribly adventurous with their sound, the unabashed reliance on sophisticated harmonic vocal arrangements, fuzzed out guitars, and occasional brass sections was seen as near revelatory in some critical circles. No doubt, the sweeping Big Star-inspired melodic progressions of tracks like "Shine" and "To See and Be Seen" more than deserved the accolades that The Subversive Sounds of Love garnered. When upping the tempo and volume on tracks like the galloping "Paid in Kind" or the punchy "Vertigogo," Frisbie can sound downright anthemic, though the more California-styled rock of "Disaster" probably fits their sound just as well. Still, it's hard to say that you ever get a real sense of the group dynamic that's at work in the process. And while that process delivers on an undeniably cohesive pop product, the personalities involved are never totally evident. An exception to this, the album closes with the theatrical whimsy of piano and banjo in "The Shuffle," proving the band can put a more pronounced face on their sound. Although artists like this emerge on a semi-frequent basis, and usually don't amount to very much in the long term, Frisbie gives hope to the power pop true believers. -AMG

Get it: HERE