2014 songs - Like a soft pillow on hard pavement

 Sing along songs in hot soft light

Standing in the crowd for most of The Hold Steady’s four-night, killer-party-in-residence earlier this month in Toronto, I broke on through to the other side. Right there on my two square feet of crushed beer cans and confetti at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, I had a moment of profound clarity ... or maybe a few. It was bound to happen really. Three consecutive evenings immersed in fully-amplified, stony and adorable moments can have an effect on you. And specifically what became crystal clear again and again over the course of these shows, is the fact that rock n' roll has an undeniable and unpriable grip on my soul.

The first three nights were album shows in chronological order: Almost Killed Me, Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America. Although the album show format seems sorta tired at this point, The Hold Steady have the luxury of being a band with diehard fans (kind sorts on the whole, built like dented tallboy cans and sporting college-try beards) and multiple, fantastic albums. And they nailed it. As a long-term fan, it was a treat to hear some album cuts that don't always make the tour date setlist like "Same Kooks" and "Banging Camp". And the band just plays with so much joy. It took a couple of years for them to redefine THS sound and live act following the departure of charismatic mustachioed keyboard man Franz Nicolay, but in these Toronto shows, the considerable contributions of second guitar player Steve Selvidge stood out. Together with band leader/axe man Tad Kubler they teamed to bring a dual-guitar, Thin Lizzy-style attack to the catalogue of riff rockers and added tasteful flourishes to flesh out the power ballads. Their interplay is a compelling newer element that bodes well for the band's future. 

The finale show on Saturday was, in effect, a THS greatest hits tape and proved to be the most fun night of all. In fact, this was one of my favourite concerts ever - up there with all of my heroes. After much pre-show speculation, Craig Finn announced right off of the top that the band was "going to play whatever the fuck we want" and it was damn near perfect. Kicking off with fan fave B-side "Ask Her For Adderal", the band sprinkled in Stay Positive (fourth album) highlights like "Joke About Jamaica", "Magazines" and my personal favourite "Slapped Actress" among its signature all-timer anthems like "Chips Ahoy" and "Stuck Between Stations". It was high octane from start to finish and a particularly emphatic way to close out the smash run.

And in the days following, the continuous thunder of barre chords echoed in my ears - well-outlasting the cumulative effects of my well-earned hangover - my spirit infused with that sound. With it, what resonated deeply with me following those massive nights was the notion of intimacy. Not “Intimacy” as a modern term men and women toss around to complain about their partner not sharing/cuddling/giving a fuck about them, but rather simply being close enough to something to feel exclusive connection, almost possession – like this one thing was made for you at this very moment. So a very sincere thank you to The Hold Steady for making me this terrific sound and bringing it to my town for an extended stay.

If you truly love music, you have spent so much time – especially back in the days of conscious music consumption – with your favourite records, attaching meaning and emotions to their songs and words and ultimately stitching a quilt of soundtracked memories that spans your lifetime. And even today, I would argue that, whether it’s a song in your running playlist or the soundtrack for folding tonight’s laundry, once it is in your head that song is part of your life. You have a one-on-one relationship…okay so maybe I can’t escape it: the intimate connection is akin to a classic love story...suffice to say, I have had some intimate musical relationships and I discreetly want to share some words on a few of the hottest asses I tapped in 2014 right here:

Joyce Manor Never Hungover Again

Can I hold you to that? 

Song-for-song killer stuff, a gang-tackle of a record that stands up arrow straight and all tucked in next to the landmark albums of the pop punk genre's heavyweights. 

On kickoff track "Christmas Card", singer Barry Johnson laments past kinda love with fire-snuffing, sad-hooked line "looking at your face in the dark/you don't even look that smart/could never make it past that part". From there, the band proceeds to plow through this entire pack of gum in just 20 minutes! The crushingly sappy hooks never back off and the we-mean-it-man melodrama never lifts. I kept coming back for more all year long. I mean c'mon man, it's even got a monster wave of swoon called “End of The Summer”! And bummer lost love stuff like "Victoria" with its "you got me hanging on again" refrain. The massive "Schley" is the pièce de résistance here. Less-loud/really-loud dynamics, tricky invasive rinky dink guitar hook. "How can you be happy when you wear all black?" Just smoking great. Fave song of the year. Also check out 65-second emo buzz clip "Catalina Fight Song" and classy album closer "Heated Swimming Pool", a loving nod to The Smiths with its Johnny Marr-lite guitar work and lyrics Morrissey himself would have been proud to put his quilled pen to: "I wish you would have died in high school so you could be somebody's idol". 

Of course we will be hungover again. The album’s title is a silly pronouncement, made in pain and said in haste. It’s like saying you are never going to fall in love again. And in dropping this 10-song string of petals, Joyce Manor celebrates the fact that love lessons are hard-learned like drinking lessons and that even though we come to know better, thankfully, we are predisposed to think that one more shot is a pretty good idea.

Single Mothers Negative Qualities

how do they tell the jets from the sharks?

The band Single Mothers is from London. Yup, Ontario. The 519, or 226 I suppose. And their aptly titled debut full length was a nasty thorn in my side for much of the year. This 26-minute set of songs burrows into you. They aren't immediately catchy but after a couple of listens you're caught. The story has been told a few times by now: SM put out an EP and 7" single of careening bad trip punk rock a few years ago and broke up. Singer Drew Thomson left town and some bad habits to dig for gold in Hells Half Acre, Ontario (or something like that) but just couldn't suppress his need to vent his spleen in dive bars for peanuts. The band reformed and has delivered on the promise of those earlier efforts with a stomping, fucking brilliantly good bad time of a record. Thomson's lyrics rightly get a lot of press attention - the man can spew an insightful self-loathing rant - but what can't be understated is the kickassitude of this band. The production and mix lets the songs and the vocal "performance" shine. The bass is loud and thundering and the guitar riffs are fat and powerful with a tinge of Jesus Lizard's sinewy throb. Negative Qualities smokes. Highlights include the headbutt-to-the-coffee-table "Marbles", in which Thomson readily admits "I'm a hypocrite, and I'm okay with it / I'm so self-aware, that it's crippling" and the groovy "Half-Lit", from which the title of this post was borrowed.

Thomson's lyrics and delivery are often compared to Craig Finn of the aforementioned and lavishly praised THS, but Drew brings you a little closer - and sometimes too close - to the action. Although they share an ability to pump humour and humanity into a seedy world of pills and pass-outs, Finn's early THS (and even Lifter Puller stuff) centred around fascinating recurring characters and drugs and religion, whereas Thomson writes from the inside - he is the only recurring character and the drugs and blackouts and empty life of feeling like a lowly 'townie' are all him. The Hold Steady and Single Mothers are at the same party, it's fun and it's loud and it's pretty dangerous. There are some interesting fuck ups there; over- and under-educated people bouncing off the walls fueled by cocktails of varying severity. Craig Finn just picked up his busted glasses off of the floor. Drew Thompson is fumbling for a tooth. Love the shit outta this album. 

The Jeanies S/T

Sorry guys, this is as tough as we can

hope to look with this band name

This Brooklyn power pop foursome throws haymakers from the opening bell on their debut full length. Check out stellar opening track "I Seen Her Dance", an old school smiley rocker that sets the pace for this winning debut. The Jeanies bring the sweet noise with standouts like "Believe Me Jenny", which features a beautiful walk-down chorus, boogie popper "The Girl's Gonna Go" and kick ass album closer "Gotta Get Back to Judy" with its 'ba-da-ba-bas' ringing out. Dwight Twilley, The Plimsouls, The Romantics ... all well represented here in respectful amounts.

A marvel. And yet, sadly not many will hear this record. Clearly, power pop doesn't get enough respect! The Beatles created this genre - along with most others of pop music - and the best fab four songs are their power pop songs. This is irrefutable. Hooks like The Jeanies are dropping all over the verses and choruses of the songs here are sick. Just timeless, pop goodness. It deserves to be heard by more than just lifers like me and record geeks in Grade 8 class portrait sweaters. Buy it, love it. I did and do.

Double-barreled action in the 

power pop bullpen 

Mother's Children Lemon

Superb full length from Ottawa’s finest power pop tarts. Starts with a revving motorcycle engine and Johnny Thunders lick and kicks into high gear from there. Catchy bubblegum pop that stings even deeper than their previous two stellar efforts. These MC guys have honed their sound and are at the top of their game here. Highlights include oxidized gems "Not Fair" and “Out of the Dark”, both of which would have been great 80s movie cruising songs. Album closer “Nobody’s Business” is the pinnacle here: a killer guitar riff with stops and starts leading into a chorus of exploding sweethearts…and then the motorcycle speeds away. I’ll drink to that. Every damn time.

Other stuff I dug a tonne:

Chumped Teenage Retirement
Superb pillow-punching punk.
Hector's Pets Pet-O-Feelia
Good time garage pop, "Teenacher" is a great tune.
King Tuff - Black Moon Spell
3rd great album in a row. This guy's a sure thing.