Tag Archives: Power Pop
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE | PART ONE
Scrolling Bluesky in search of vinyl thrills, a post caught my eye. It was a book, its rectangular profile standing out amongst square LP covers and rotating records. Nothing flashy about the cover, but an instant spark of interest in the name: Fountains of Wayne. Such a hip little band, one that should have been […]
POPTOPIA!
All record collectors have their ‘grails’, those rare and desirable albums that rarely pop up or, when they do, require a second mortgage to obtain. Some people keep a list of those items they long to call ‘my precious’, others simply hope for a chance encounter in the wild at a reasonable (or not totally […]
OPERATION COVID
Whenever I come home with yet another compilation album, the Conscience Gnome who sits on the amplifier with his little legs dangling over the volume knob shakes his head and waggles an admonishing finger. He never speaks; he doesn’t need to. Why do you do this? Back in the day, there were reasons. Not necessarily […]
HITCHCOCK CLASSIC
Pacing the house like a mangy old bear. It was a hot windy day yesterday. Today it’s cold and miserable. Welcome to Melbourne Spring, where blossom comes and goes on the whim of Aeolus. Go for a walk, instructs Ms Connection. I should. I’ve become indolent; flabby of mind and body. Getting frustrated with… everything. […]
ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE WORLD—AUSTRALIA
SUNNY BUT OVERCAST It is a puzzle why some bands get so little attention outside their country of origin. And sometimes precious little inside it. The debut by Sydney’s Sunnyboys is an excellent example of an album that is worthy of greater regard. It would most likely thrill fans of Matthew Sweet’s more driving work […]
TROUBLED TIMES
Back in the early days of Vinyl Connection, I wrote about one of the styles of music that has given me enormous pleasure over the years: Power Pop. Jangly guitars, catchy choruses, some salt in the chocolate. The piece still reads OK, and the playlist is a good test of whether you are likely to become […]
I NEED DIRECTION
A Catholic Education Bandwagonesque Thirteen Grand Prix Songs From Northern Britain Howdy! The millennial year was a challenging one. Having formed a strong and passionate connection with a new partner, I was dismayed to hear that she was decamping to her English homeland for an indeterminate period. This was not my fantasy of how the […]
TOMORROW AND TOMORROW
Prior to 2017’s Tomorrow Forever, the last Matthew Sweet album of original material was 2011’s Modern Art. In between was the third volume of Under The Covers, the charming series recorded by Sweet and ex-Bangle Susanna Hoffs. Matthew Sweet’s personal circumstances had changed considerably in the intervening years: he re-located away from Los Angeles to […]
GOODGIRLFRIEND
After extensively shopping around the demos for his third album, Matthew Sweet finally landed a deal with Zoo, who released Girlfriend in 1991. It’s fine songcraft, scintillating guitars from Television’s Richard Lloyd and Lou Reed alumnus Robert Quine—now chiming, now gouging—and deep understanding of pop music forms made it an underground success that poked its nose […]
DIGGING THE AGE OF PLASTIC
Last Sunday, bright and early, I packed the car with six crates of records, a box of CDs, another of 45s and a sandwich and drove off to the Box Hill Record Fair. It’s something I’ve been doing fairly regularly for quite a while. About fifteen years in fact. This realization made the sunny morning […]
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