The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait

Back in the 80's as pre-teen and teen, the public library system was my introduction to a lot of music and bands I wouldn't have heard otherwise and one of those band's was The Replacements and specifically their album "Tim". Not knowing their Mineaopolis, or Twin Tone / punk roots, I took The Replacements at face value as a terrific, major-label rock band. Had I been less of an Anglophile-centric music listener at the time (having been a fan of The Smith, The Cure, New Order, etc) I'd have probably dug The Replacements a lot more. As music videos rose to prominence in the 80's, it was a hoot to see the band release the same video for "Bastards of Young" and "Left of the Dial" as a fuck-you to the record company. But I was barely acquainted with the band even through to the late 80's as well as when the band broke up in the summer of 1991. I can't pinpoint when I started to reacquaint myself with the band (maybe the late 90's, or possibly early 2000's) but I was interested and fortunate enough to see them live when they played Riot Fest in Toronto in August 2013. Stereogum has all the deets on the upcoming box-set reissue of "Tim (Let It Bleed Edition)" being released September 22 through Rhino Records, which will include a number of bonus tracks including a previously unreleased cello version of "Can't Hardly Wait" as well as a newly remastered version of "Left of The Dial" amongst other unreleased recordings:


via Stereogum


via Stereogum







The Replacements | Official Website
Purchase: The Replacements - "Tim (Let It Bleed Edition)"

The Beaches - Blame Brett

One casualty of falling out of favour with indie music (moreso due to my own exhaustion with the discovery process rather than thinking there wasn't still good indie music being made) over the last 10 years is ignoring the local talent. Such is the case with Toronto band The Beaches who started out on the indie route in 2013, releasing a number of EP's over the years. They got signed to Island Records and their debut album "Late Show" (produced by Metric's Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw) was released in 2017. Over the years they've been getting airplay on local stations like 102.1 The Edge and Indie88 (88.1 FM) - I'm sure I've heard a bunch of their songs over the years. I hesitate to mention they're an all-girl band, but yes they are and they are very cool. Their current tour Canada / U.S. tour itinerary, from September through to November (including a two-night stint at Toronto's Massey Hall on Nov 1-2) shows the band selling out a number of shows already, so yes they must be doing something right. I guess there is no better time to jump on the bandwagon than the present. Their second album "Blame My Ex" is set for release on September 15, the first single which is the punchy, infectious, poppy "Blame Brett" which the local alt-rock stations have been playing.

The Beaches - "Blame Brett"


The Beaches | Official Website
Purchase: The Beaches - "Blame My Ex" (set for release on September 15, 2023) [link to come]

Everything But The Girl - Run a Red Light

After going inactive in 2000, with their last full-length being 1996's "Walking Wounded", UK duo Everything But The Girl returned to active duty with the release of their most recent full-length "Fuse" just this past April. They were fairly influential to me back in the late 80's when I first discovered them through borrowing cassette tapes of theirs through the public library system and was quite excited for the band as they gained later popularity through their forays into electronic dance music and drum n' bass with singles like "Missing", "Before Today" or Tracey's vocal contribution to Massive Attack's "Protection". I have yet to listen to the new album except for the singles so far, but it's the sparse, acoustic, piano-accompanied "Run A Red Light" which is deeply affecting, as melodically and harmoniusly rich as any of their best work - a song to quiet the chaos that surrounds us. It's joyful to see the return of EBTG, approaching aging with grace and vitality.

Everything But The Girl - "Run a Red Light"


Everything But The Girl | Official Website
Purchase: Everything But The Girl - "Fuse"

TURNSTILE & BADBADNOTGOOD “NEW HEART DESIGNS”

Very interesting collaboration between Toronto instrumental hip hop / jazz outfit BADBADNOTGOOD and Baltimore melodic hardcore band Turnstile, as three songs (“Mystery,” “Alien Love Call,” and “Underwater Boi, from Turnstile's 2021 LP "Glow On") are reinterpreted on a surprise joint EP entitled "New Heart Designs". The EP is expected to be released on vinyl later this year. BADBADNOTGOOD's instrumentalism DNA is all over this and the melodic elements and vocals brought by Turnstile fits in quite nicely.

Turnstile | Official Website
BADBADNOTGOOD | Official Website
Purchase: BADBADNOTGOOD - "Talk Memory"
Purchase: Turnstile - "Glow On"

Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right?

Olivia Rodrigo burst on to the pop music scene in 2021 with her debut LP, "Sour" quickly garnering fans and accolades. I'm highly impressed that she wrote and or contributed to writing all the songs on her debut LP and appreciate that she dips her toes into a variety of influences on the album. Her second album "Guts", is set to be released in Canada on September 8, 2023 and its second single "Bad Idea Right?" (the first single, being "Vampire") was recently released. Alternating between spoken-word and singing lyrics, it's a spunky slice of new-wave-meets-90s-alt-pop, riding along a rhythmic guitar / bass groove - a song about hooking up with an ex, and punctuated at the end of its chorus by "Fuck it, it's fine". Good fun.

Olivia Rodrigo - "Bad Idea Right?"


Olivia Rodrigo | Official Website
Purchase: Olivia Rodrigo - "Guts" (to be released Septembre 8, 2023)
Purchase: Olivia Rodrigo - "Sour"

The 1975 - About You

So I've come to accept, for awhile now, that new music no longer appeals to me as it did with my younger self, my appreciation of listening to music and developing my tastes coming of age in the eighties as a pre-teen and then teen, and even as music ruled my life through my twenties into my early forties. I started my blog in 2007 when I was 36 years old and ran it for approximately 10 years, and yeah it was like my second youth, going to countless shows and even reaping the benefits of this blog and getting free / discounted passes, photo privileges and or promo cd's. But then I stopped blogging to focus on other life priorities. However, I hadn't relegated myself to nostalgia listening to eighties and nineties music on repeat either. I'm less inclined now to explore 'indie' music, but and now more drawn to explore the mainstream, seeking to find those diamonds in the rough. Five albums in, UK band The 1975 released their latest LP "Being Funny In A Foreign Language" late last year, having released a string of singles, including their gorgeous track "About You" has been on repeat for me. I first discovered the track at the beginning of 2023 when Amazon Prime released a clip on YouTube of the band performing the song at Madison Square Gardens on November 7, 2022,.

Unabashedly romantic, nostalgic, and melodic, but sombre, its swirling, atmospheric mix of violin, synth and saxophone, is interesting and lead vocalist Matt Healey's swoonful vocals make this song deliriously inviting. Two thirds of the way into the song, when the dreamy vocals of guitarist Adam Hann’s wife Carly Holt kick in for her own verse, it is icing on the cake.

The song's account of a relationship between two people that are no longer together, but apparently could be under different circumstances, beckons the question, why are they apart? Aside from that unanswered question, the sadness of it still remains. A gorgeous song, but full of heartache.

The 1975 – "About You" (Official Music Video)


The 1975 – "About You" (Live from Madison Square Garden)


The 1975 | Official Website
Purchase: The 1975 - "Being Funny In A Foreign Language"