Or the Motown-infused album opener, “If Not Now Then When,” is also a pretty strong single contender. Yet the should-be hit single to my ears is “Dreamland” with its hooky John Waite instrumental roll out and understated vocals. “Rosanne” surprises listeners by combining 1960s guitar with a Gary Numan syth backdrop – but it works. “Alone” has that Long Tall Sally rockin’ out Beatles sound while “Hey Renee” works a 1965 lead guitar riff to good effect. “Don’t You Call My Name” kicks off with a driving chord cycle, fueled by some serious jangle. Case in point, “To Rule the World.” It’s got reverby guitar, otherworldly vocals and a Squeeze-like farfisa organ solo.
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On Pop Fossil The Click Beetles channel the fun poprock sound of the early 1980s where so many bands took a crack at reinventing the swinging sixties sound. However, I almost mistook “All Our Friends” for a Jeff Shelton song and performance. I love the slow swagger on “So True” and shuffle swing driving “War is Still Hell.” This is band that really owns its groove. “Watch Them Chime” jangles, of course, in a southern California country rock sort of way. Personally, I hear a lot of Revolver on “You Were All Light” and “If It Gets Light” while “Baby It’s Still You” adds some Tom Petty to the mix. The familiar chiming mid-1960s Beatles demeanor is back and the songwriting is as solid as ever. The Bye Bye Blackbirds don’t disappoint with their recent Boxer at Rest release. In any event, in hindsight I can see they should have gone straight to the ‘review now’ pile. All these great albums hit the review pile with a thumbs up sticker but somehow got filed under ‘I-don’t-know-how-to-file-things’. Perhaps ‘misplaced’ would be a more accurate description of what happened here.
How did I miss these acts? Well, if truth be told, I didn’t miss them actually.