Pennan Brae 'Lit' - literally the best album this year so far...

 
The press for Pennan Brae’s 8^th studio album says that it is “influenced by rock & roll of the 1970s & 80s”. And certainly, the opening of lead song ‘Won’t You Come My Way’ has a very Rolling Stones guitar riff, a theme that repeats throughout the record. Following hard on this start is the album’s best song ‘El Camino’ which adds Raspberries style pop to the mix.

You might think that in 2021 the possibilities of the guitar bass drums format had been played out. In fact, there is something highly refreshing about it. In an age where even the simplest album is pro tooled to death, Brae’s clear unadorned guitar sound is the more powerful for simply being simple. There is as much 60s garage in this music as later influence, most of the songs on Lit would have fitted in just fine on ‘Nuggets’. 70s style Power Pop is another good reference point. Ten years ago, Brae would have been snapped up by Bruce Brodeen’s Not Lame label for sure.

Other album highlights are the mid-tempo ‘Sashay’, the only place where Alison Jenkins’ backing vocals have much impact, and singles ‘Passing Fad’ and ‘Tearing my Heart in 2’. And there’s the clue. The best songs are the singles, the album is ten tracks long and under 40 minutes long. In other words, a good old-fashioned album. You know where to buy it by now.

Pennan Brae is also a screenwriter and film maker. His ‘The Astronot’ is on Amazon Prime now, and well worth a watch.

There are changes coming to 160gigblog. More content and different content.  Watch out over the next few weeks. In the meantime, here’s Pennan Brae’s latest video while you wait. 

 

 

Keep looking under the radar

Out in business land I belong to an organisation called 4Networking who've done a great job of keeping their members connected over Coronavid, including through a meeting aimed at musicians and those interested in music. Listening to the recommendations of others in the group reminds me of how much good music now flies miles under the radar.

I think I’ve mentioned before that in 33 Songs Nick Hornby decides that after listening to the US top 10 albums for a given week that his preferences aren’t part of the mainstream and perhaps shouldn’t be called “pop music” at all. I’m not sure what you call it if you don’t call it pop, so I’ll stick with that especially as my first example is…

Power Pop

Bruce Brodeen was the owner of Not Lame records back in the 90s, and now has a site called Pop Geek Heaven, which focuses on the world of jangly guitars and Power Pop. One of the best music lists books is “Shake Some Action:  The Ultimate Power Pop Guide” by John Borack which Bruce publishes. I have the 1^st edition which is a great source for new music buys. There is a new edition due out, I can’t justify £50 on a book when over half of that is postage, but I’m sure I will regret that decision soon. Anyway, much of the music being made now is high quality pop, which may be a bit “old fashioned” but the tunes! As a quick guide sign up for Bruce’s newsletter, but try anything on the Big Stir, and Ice Cream Man labels for songs that you will be singing in the shower. If you’re quick Ice Cream Man have a free sampler on Bandcamp now.

Pennan Brae

A friend introduced me to this Canadian singer/songwriter. His website is here and features his acting as well as his music. His most recent album 2 Below 0 is like most recent ones tied to a film. It would be interesting to hear what he does when the songs stand alone. It’s very much old school guitar-based indie rock. All his pictures show him with cheap Fender Mustang and Musicmaster guitars

which tells you about his attitude to simple well-structured songs. Whatever, you’ve never heard of him and you should.

In my networking group you must keep alert as there are loads of new suggestions for music being thrown out all the time. I have picked up on Parquet Courts, Endless Boogie, and following a talk about him I’m now expanding my David Bowie collection rapidly, particularly his 90s albums… but that’s another story.