As you may have gleaned by now, that's Pete Fij(alkowski) and his self-described jangly/soaring new single "Don't Bring Me Sunshine" (from the forthcoming in September album Up's the New Down. Heh.)
Frankly, he had me by "I need someone like you to show me the way/through the backstreets of the human heart." And when that twangy echoed single note-guitar solo came in at the end, I was a goner.
From his bio: "Pete first burst onto the scene in the early 90s as the frontman and guitarist of post-shoegaze / pre-Britpop band Adorable, whose 1993 album Against Perfection, released on Creation Records, is regularly referred to as a lost indie classic..."
I must confess to being heretofore unaware of the Fij-ster, but I was less than thrilled with a lot of those '90s Brit bands, so it's no surprise I missed his previous work. But after hearing the above, I guarantee I'm gonna do the research and catch up with his ouevre in the subsequent years.
In any case, you can check out more of his stuff -- and keep abreast of future live gigs if you're lucky enough to live in the UK in the age of President Inepstein -- over at his Bandcamp page HERE.
Long-time/attentive readers are no doubt aware of my fondness for Mr, Wilder, i.e. the self-described Last of the Full Grown Men and Idol of Idle Youth. 😎
The song itself, which absolutely slays me in a kind of Keith-Richards-Meets-Power-Pop sort of way, is from a 1991 album that I think on balance is his best; suffice it to say that nobody has come up with a better synthesis of Hank Williams, The Beatles and Andrei Tarkovsky.
And speaking as we were the other day of The Everly Brothers, from 1966 and their fab gear album Two Yanks in England, please enjoy the thoroughly swoonerama folk-rock ballad "Signs That Will Never Change."
Penned, like most of the album, by the Hollies' Clarke-Hicks-Nash songwriting triumvirate.
Apparently the Hollies provided the instrumental backing tracks for most of the album as well, although Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are rumoured to be in there too.
Oh, and because I love you all more than food, here's the Hollies themselves doing the song, as it turned up a year later as the b-side to their classic "Carrie-Anne."
I actually got a copy of that 45 (from the fabulous Sam Goody record store in Paramus NJ) practically the day it came out, and if truth be told I played "Signs" more often than I played the hit (estimable as it was); when people talk about great double-sided singles this one really should get props. 😎
From their just released EP American Teenage Prophecy, please enjoy fetching LA neo-punk/New Wavers Kid Sistr and their quite blistering "Boys in Skirts."
I think we can all agree that the above is a wonderfully kick-ass Blondie-derived rock-and-roll record (with an actual guitar solo!!!). And that the video -- which would have been considered no big deal/utterly inoffensive, say, 20 years ago -- now seems unexpectedly transgressive, doubtless due to the newly repressive cultural climate we're all enduring in the age of President Inepstein.
You can watch Kid Sistr's hilarious origin story over HERE; they don't seem to have an official website, but for you old people who still use Facebook you can find out more about them at their FB page OVER HERE.
All of which leads us, inexorably. to the subject of today's business at hand. To wit:
...and your all-time favorite (or least favorite) all-or-mostly-all lady rock band is...?
Discuss.
And in case you're wondering, my faves are these kids. Now and in perpetuity.
And let me just add that it is one of the great regrets of my adult life that I never got to see them in person.
From 1965, and their lost in the mists of history Beat & Soul album, please enjoy The Everly Brothers and their remarkable cover of Mickey and Sylvia's 50's rock classic "Love is Strange."
Quite an interesting re-imagining of the song, I think; it was a big hit in England, where the EBs remained Top of the Pops, even though they had been rendered suddenly un-hip in the States by (ironically) the very British Invasion they had helped inspire.
In any case, a lot of the Everlys' mid-Sixties albums are due for critical re-assessment; I'm talking about (in particular) the great "Two Yanks in England", where most of the songs they essayed were provided to them courtesy of The Hollies Clarke-Hicks-Nash songwriting triumvirate.
The trailer(!) from Cal Everett's just released Weight of Early Promise...
...and a complete clip of one of the album's best songs.
This stuff is as impressive a slice of power pop craftsmanship as I've heard this side of The Lemon Twigs in years; when they say in the trailer that it's recommended for fans of Paul McCartney and Emitt Rhodes, they're not overselling it.
I must confess that I was previously unaware of this guy -- whose late 70s/early 80s band 4 Out of 5 Doctors is apparently highly regarded by genre afficianados -- but this is his first solo effort ever. You can find out more about him -- and check out the rest of Weight..., which is a 23-track pop opera concept record -- over at his official link HERE.
And may I just say, and for the record (as it were), that between this and the new Twigs album, 2026 is turning out to be a very good year for the kind of music that comprises the raison d'etre of this here blog.
...and had either a good mordant chuckle at its lameness or else a moment when you threw up in your mouth a little. (Jay-Z? Really?).
In any case, I think we can all agree that it was meant to be provocative, in the sleazy click-bait sense, so it probably really isn't worth the effort to make fun of it.
But I'm gonna try anyway.
You know -- just because. 😎
So here, and to be consumed with a large grain of salt, is my take on the subject.
Oh wait -- before we get going...I would be remiss not to mention that the Times omitted Neil Young and Joni Mitchell on the grounds that they were born in Canada. Uh, sorry Times -- they've lived here and done all their work here for like 60 years. I mean, c'mon -- the people who wrote "Ohio" and "Woodstock" obviously qualify as Americans.
And one final note: Jay-Z is on the cover of the actual physical copies of the magazine; online, the cover person is Taylor Swift. Make of that what you will.
And now, with that spleen vented, let's get to work!
TOP 10 BEST AMERICAN SONGWRITERS INEXPLICABLY/CRIMINALLY OMITTED FROM THE TIMES LIST
And in no particular order (except at the end where number 2 and number 1 are basically a tie) they are...
10. John Fogerty
How many great songs has this guy written?
9. John Sebastian
Hey, what can I tell ya -- if you don't think those guys were one of the greatest American bands ever there's no hope for you.
8. Jackson Browne
And just for the record (as it were) I should mention that sometime before I die I am gonna do a Stones-ish cover of that song somewhere.
7. James Taylor
Pop Quiz: How many people spent hours weeping over that album in their college dorm room?
6. Tom Waits
Wow. All that and Keith Richards (guitar and vocals) too.
5. Paul Westerberg
Paul's omission probably pisses me off more than any of the others, if truth be told. I mean, the Times included a nose to the ground commercial hack like Diane fucking Warren instead of him?
4. Gerry Devine
Okay, I'm obviously joking here, but not completely. I mean, I'll say it again -- the Times included Diane fucking Warren?
3. "Weird Al" Yankovic
He's the greatest pop music satirist since Tom Lehrer. I think that qualifies him.
2. Billy Joel
Oh, so being the Irving Berlin of his generation wasn't enough to get Joel onto the list? Fuck that shit.
And the Number One it's-so-embarrassing-he-didn't-make-the-list-instead-of-Diane-fucking-Warren guy is...
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