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Sweet Release (July Talk, Touch review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Ever wanted to dial back the clock, dear readers?

Once we learn that time is the most precious commodity we’ll ever have, it becomes something that a lot of people beg and plead over. When really they should just appreciate the time they have and make the most of it. And sometimes when we are good little boys and girls, we get rewarded with things like July in the month of September.

 

 

 

July Talk – Touch
released September 9, 2016
********** 9/10

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July Talk is a Canadian alt rock band, and one of the hardest working acts in town. Well not necessarily in my town, but across Canada, the United States, Europe, and even Australia, they’ve been touring almost relentlessly since they first got traction with their debut self-titled album in late 2012.

Then in 2013 they released a deluxe version of the album with four additional tracks, and I bought that album. A couple years after that point, July Talk were gaining the attention of the US market so they released another version of their album with another three additional tracks.

But they just kept touring and touring. And it’s probably why they were able to keep releasing singles from that first album, and to help us Canucks fall in love with them.

Then July Talk decided to release their follow up album this month, it’s called Touch, and quite frankly, I can’t get enough. Previously Dreimanis and Fay would play their voices off of each other, but they are starting to grow into their sound all the more, and exploring more collaboration and synchronicity between them. If the first album was about trying things and experimenting with who the leader should be, Touch is a recognition of the old adage that playing together is more fun than alone.

And that’s what this album is even stronger than the first one. There is a unity to it’s overall message, what happens when we lose connection with one another? Opener Picturing love has a wonderful piano lead-in and gets our minds out of the old July Talk mechanisms right-quick. The following track Beck + Call confirms that this is not a one man or one woman show, or even a him VS her kinda album – Fay does her part to guide us in, and Dreimanis keeps us boxed in with his howls.

The energy between the two lead singers is tight throughout, and I personally think best demonstrated in Push + Pull, whether that is obvious and cliche can be your call.

There are of course some softer songs like Strange Habit, Jesus Said So, and the title track (which is also the end track). My second favourite track is Lola + Joseph, which fits snuggly between their new material and what we know of their past, and the pacing falls somewhere in the middle too. This is disco-blues after all folks, so we are going to get a wide range of emotions and sounds, but those waves of building sounds are represented well here.

I fully expect July Talk to continue to grow as a band, and if I’m being honest with myself, they’ll probably round out my top 20 bands within the next year or two.

 

 

 

I was almost at the point of emotional overload when I found out that July Talk was releasing a new album in September friends. I might have mentioned this already, but they were my first ever Melodic Monday entry almost exactly a year ago (October 5, 2015). And while I think they deserved that 8 I gave their deluxe album, this one is a 9 all on it’s own, without the benefit of time and rereleases.

If you want to travel back a couple of months, you should probably listen to to July Talk. But that’s just a theory.

Tim!

 

A Model of Consistency (Goo Goo Dolls, Boxes review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Have you ever heard that expression, the music that defined a generation? Usually its just a bunch of garbage marketing that encourages people to get nostalgic and appreciate something new. It got you here though didn’t it?

Well this week’s album review features a band that did help define a generation, in a time when Grunge was king, there was a band that did something different than Nirvana.

 

 

 

Goo Goo Dolls – Boxes
released April 29, 2016
********* 9/10

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Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock group. The band was formed in 1986, a year after I was before, though that’s not relevant to their story, it’s a personal anecdote. Robby Takac and George Tutuska had been long-time friends and invited John Rzeznik to play with them. They had a gig but no band name and decided on Goo Goo Dolls after seeing a True Detective ad of a toy with the same name.

They released their first album, self-titled, in 1987 to a smaller label, but it wasn’t long before they were opening up for punk bands like SNFU and The Dead Milkmen. Two years later they released Jed. Their third release, Hold Me Up, allowed them to get into the legendary CBGB music club as they incorporated more heavy metal, punk and pop into their alt rock sound.

They released another album and got more success, but it was shortly after the fifth album, A Boy Named Goo, that Tutuska departed and the band began touring. With the release of the single Name, Goo Goo Dolls hit the big time. Then they had an opportunity to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and that was it for them. Rzeznik came up with Iris during a serious case of doubt and feeling uninspired.

People went nuts.

I’ve linked to the music video here – In case you’ve been living under a rock or weren’t born at the time. Then they recorded Dizzy Up The Girl, their sixth studio album, and went triple platinum in the states.

Granted, that’s a lot of build up for an album, but here we are, eleven albums in, and 27 years later – Boxes.

Maybe it’s the nostalgia or the lack of viable reviews from other more famous and liked venues than mine, but I love this album.

I actually think that their sound has improved over time and while they’ve had success since Dizzy Up the Girl, this album feels like the spiritual follow up to it. The boys are more mature, and the songs are even more heartfelt, but seasoned. I like all of the songs on the record. I cannot find one that I dislike.

This band is in it’s middle age, and they are moving away from high energy and singles towards mood and depth. Of course, they still pay attention to the present. So Alive kind of reminds me of a Twenty One Pilots song with that sweet piano. Souls in the Machine  and Reverse are great examples of their anthemic rock.

My personal favourites are Flood, Free of Me, and then Boxes, which well represent the upbeat message of the whole album. This is Goo Goo Dolls at their best, negativity be damned. Okay maybe Lucky One isn’t the best, it’s a little contrived, (I still like it though. Hence the 9 out of 10.

 

 

 

Goo goo dolls will always have a place in millions of peoples hearts, and that Iris was ranked number 1 on Billboards Top 100 Pop Songs 1992-2012, simply proves it. If you don’t own Dizzy Up The Girl, you should. And if you already know better, give Boxes a listen too. It’s worth unpacking.

Tim!