August 11, 1995 No.  178

Roch On Music
By Roch Parisien

Three-Pack of Pure Pop Summer Fun

More than any other season, Summer to me spells P-O-P.  
AM radios riding on waves of humidity accompanied by locust
ensembles and lapping surf; highway cruising, bubblegum
smacking, tap-yer-toes, bop around the room, basking in the
sun, melting popsicle, three-minute, guitars jingle-jangling
glorious pop.  From British Invasion yeah-yeah-yeahs to Byrds'
chiming 12-string; from early  70s pop underground (Big Star,
Raspberries, Flaming Groovies) to skinny-tie New Wave, the
Paisley Underground, and all the contemporary variations on
same, July and August are always my favourite months to pan
for new pop gems.

Earlier 1995 had already cast up several superior pop-style
nuggets, including Chris von Sneidern's _Big White Lies_,
Matthew Sweet's _100% Fun_, The Figgs' _Low Fi at Society
High_, and The Boo Radleys' _Wake Up!_  It's my pleasure to
fire up the backyard BBQ and pop open this three-pack to get
us through the waning weeks of Summer fun!

TEENAGE FANCLUB
Grand Prix                    ***1\2
(MCA)
          
I seem to occupy a minority position that believes Teenage
Fanclub's over-hyped 1992 major label debut _Bandwagonesque_
- granting its influence in helping break "alternative" music
into the mainstream - lived up to its title by attracting
fashionable bandwagon jumpers, paling in retrospect next to
the increasing maturity heard on subsequent releases.

Last year's unjustly maligned _Thirteen_ sounded nothing like
its predecessor, and now _Grand Prix_ follows suit, stripping
the group's guitar sound to a lean, barely recognizable power
pop confection.

More Badfinger than Big Star (pundits who compare every jangly
pop band to Memphis' underground geniuses miss the fact that
Big Star's sound was marked as much by jagged edges and
disconcerting twists as it was by tasty melodies), _Grand
Prix_ stays on safe, hooky terrain throughout, never really
challenging its pop music conventions.  Yet several tracks are
right up there with the very best of the skinny-tie cannon,
coupled with lyrics, at least, prepared to tackle pop/rock
dogma: "I don't need an attitude/Rebellion is platitude/I only
hope the verse is good/I hate verisimilitude."

Opening numbers bop forth pleasantly, with the disc really
squeezing out sparks when revving into the crunchier guitars
of "Don't Look Back" and "Neil Jung" (a song not about
psychoanalysts or Neil Young) - the later blessed with a
killer stop-start chorus.  "Tears" lays on strings and horns
in close approximation of a cheesy early-'70s AM radio ballad,
before "Discolite" rockets to power pop nirvana, its
infectious guitar riff duking it out with an equally
delectable chorus, the two pounding each other to a glorious
climax.  The dreamy, scintillating chime of "Going Places",
the near-perfection of folk-rock ballad "Say No", and the
classy, vintage "I'll Make It Clear" (recalling Stackridge's
masterful _Pinafore Days_) easily maintain the sucrose high.   

THE GREENBERRY WOODS
Big Money Item            ****
(Sire/Warner)
  
It's nice to hear Sire casting a nod back to it's halcyon
power-bubblegum days (The Undertones, The Rezillos, The Paley
Brothers) with this second release from Maryland's The
Greenberry Woods.  And just to make sure they get it right,
Paley sibling Andy is back on board to oversee production
duties.

Both the group's instrumentation and yearning vocal style tend
to the emotionally-manipulative, heart-on-sleeve side, but
lyrics often rise above the vacuous boy-girl stuff that
defines the genre.  Like a wily double agent (and in manner
similar to Teenage Fanclub's "Verisimilitude"), opening track
"Love Songs" surveys the cliched landscape with a sly, knowing
eye while working completely within the musical formula: 

"I used to sing love songs, but that's all changed/I can't be
happy, it's not the same/ I'm pretending my life is fine/When
down inside, you know I feel like crying /I'm lost.../Now it's
hard to believe that/I used to have daydreams, but that's all
changed..."

At 18 tracks, most hovering under the three minute mark, _Big
Money Item_ serves up a dizzying overabundance of sugary
riches.  While some selections remain lightweight trifles,
enough substantial moments overflow the cone to coat the
listener in captivating sticky goo.

"Invisible Threads" combines sudden gear shifts with a phased,
baroque pop underpinning. There's  the stately soft-psych of
"Parachute", and  a dew-eyed tip of the hat to Crowded House
balladry in  "For You".  "Nervous" pumps up the fuzz for some
garage-y power pop while "Go Without You" breaks into Bay City
Roller handclaps.  "Oh Janine" 's soaring chorus recalls both
The Beach Boys and Eric Carmen's Raspberries.

Even at its most superficial and derivative ("Back Seat
Driver": is it The Beatles or The Monkees?) and
unapologetically nerdy (the studiously self-deprecating "Super
Geek") _Big Money Item_ is just so chock full of fatal hooks
and golly-gosh wouldn't it be nice if life was this simple
again attitude that...well...life almost starts to feel that
fresh and innocent again.  Crank it up and pass the popsicles!

P.  HUX
Deluxe                    ***
(Black Olive)
  
_Deluxe_ offers a more "rockish" take on classic pop than
either Teenage Fanclub or The Greenberry Woods, drawing
partial inspiration from band leader Parthenon Huxley's
previous songwriting credits with Sass Jordan, Dave Wakeling,
and...er...Foreigner (oh well, it's a living!).  The results
find fake British inflections, meaty harmonies, psych-tinged
guitar lines, Monkees-style tamborines, and subtle uncentered
bits (reminding me, in places, of early Max Webster) often
undercut by hard rock drum patterns and squealing Gibsons.

It's a difficult balancing act to maintain effectively; tracks
like "It'll Be Alright" strive to maintain a rough-edged
 alternative' hue while others, like forced-anthemic "Every
Minute", could easily be rearranged for Bon Jovi or Def
Leppard. 

It's a brave gamble, and when the band does hit the right
formula blend, there's magic on the airwaves.  Spin "So Good"
in heavy rotation on rock radio and watch national speeding
infractions and accident rates skyrocket.  The chiming on
"Live Like A King" is so pure that you'd swear Huxley's guitar
was wired through a cathedral belfry.

Even when _Deluxe_ falters, the attempt is never less than
admirable, bringing to mind a favourite line from the disc's
keenly-penned "Keep From Crying": "We see it perfect in our
eyes/But in real life we compromise.../And when the perfect
vision dies, we say  so what?'/To keep from crying." 

(Look for Deluxe at your local indie/import outlet, or call
Black Olive Records at 408-394-7176.)

*****  - a "desert island" disc; may change your life. 
****   - excellent; a long-term keeper.
***  - a good disc, worth repeated listening.
**   - fair, but there are better things to spend money on.
*  - a waste of valuable natural resources.

Copyright 1995 Rocon Communications - All Rights Reserved