Fish On Friday - 8MM

Three years after their last release, the international group, Fish For Friday is back with their sixth album, 8MM.  The album was largely written and recorded in the midst of lockdown and is a stellar addition to their discography.  The band consists of founding member and producer Frank Van Bogaert (vocals, keyboards, guitars), Nick Beggs (bass, Chapman Stick, backing vocals, production), Marty Townsend (guitars) and Marcus Weymaere (drums, percussion) and has been in this incarnation since Beggs joined for album three in 2014.  Musically, they do a fantastic job of straddling the line between prog rock and art pop with other elements like folk rock and jazz popping through, while the lyrics this time around often deal a lot with nostalgia.  The perfect example of that is the title track, which opens the album.  It’s a powerful, yet beautiful and melancholy track with outstanding vocal harmonies and hints of Pink Floyd with lyrics about pulling out old home movies and thinking back on life and past relationships (make sure to check out the video for the perfect visual accompaniment).  “Collateral Damage” is a solid art pop tune with lyrics that are unfortunately very pertinent today.  Next up is “Overture To Flame” / “Flame”, a cover from Metro’s self-titled 1977 album, and the only cover Fish On Friday has ever recorded.  It sticks close to the original but gives it a modern edge.  It’s a gorgeous, very dynamic, track with an instrumental opening that leads into a funky section with some great bass work from Beggs and then shifts into sweeping, prog tinged pop where Townsend really shines on the acoustic guitar, before picking up with a climactic finish.  Traces of Pink Floyd show up again with the guitar and keys at the beginning of “Jump This Wall”, an upbeat pop-tinged tune enhanced with flute and sax that has a bit of an Alan Parsons feel and strangely a chorus that's reminiscent of Prefab Sprout.  “Don’t Lose Your Spirit” opens with a two-and-a-half-minute prog instrumental before the vocals come in and kick it up a notch with a very art pop sound before slowing down for a captivating ending.  Clocking in at almost eight minutes, “Funerals” shifts around in tempo, starting and ending slow and introspective, but picking up in the middle with an upbeat section highlighted by organ and some great acoustic guitar.  Featuring outstanding lead vocals from bassist Nick Beggs’ daughter Lulu, “Silently Raging” is a dreamy, extremely infectious track with a nice, very easygoing groove.  Beggs' bass work really stands out on “Instillers” a really strong catchy, midtempo rocker.  Following the laid-back “A New Home” they close the disc with the gorgeous “Life Is Like The Weather”, a light, hypnotic acoustic folk tune that takes a reflective, sometimes somber, look back at childhood love.  While the band name is one was familiar with, for some reason Fish On Friday has never been on my radar, but after listening to 8MM I can assure you that is something that is about the change.    

(Esoteric- Antenna)

 

High Tide - The Complete Liberty Recordings 

After forming in California in 1965, The Misunderstood moved to England on the advice of legendary DJ John Peel, who had seen them on a trip to the States and suggested they come back with him.  Once in England they recruited guitarist Tony Hill, signed with Fontana Records and recorded a handful of heavy psychedelic rockers, but just as they were getting some success and influencing the likes of Pink Floyd and The Move, the American members of the band were deported.  Remaining in England, Hill moved on to doing some session work, spent six months as part of Turquoise, a trio with David Bowie and Hermione Farthingdale, and then formed High Tide in 1969.  Along with Hill on guitar, vocals and keys, the rest of High Tide consisted of Simon House on violin, viola and keyboards, Peter Pavli on bass and Roger Hadden on drums and organ.  Even though their career was extremely short-lived, the band released two incredible, very unique sounding, albums on Liberty Records before calling it a day in late 1970.  This new three CD box set, The Complete Liberty Recordings, contains newly remastered versions of both releases along with a third disc containing demos and studio out-takes.   

Sea Shanties, their debut album, kicks off disc one with the down-tuned, distortion drenched guitars of “Futilist’s Lament”.  It’s a super heavy, bluesy, proto-rocker with some absolutely incredible guitar work, a pummeling rhythm section and vocals that are reminiscent of Jim Morrison.  From the moment it hits your speakers it’s obvious this isn’t your everyday run of the mill release.  At over nine minutes long, “Death Warmed Up” is a powerhouse instrumental full of heavy guitar solos going toe to toe with House’s violin.  “Pushed, But Not Forgotten” starts off slow and hypnotic and it appears like we may be in for a change of pace, but about a minute in it explodes into a heavy psychedelic tune, shifting tempos back and forth throughout the rest of the song.  "Walking Down Their Outlook" is an incredible track that melds The Doors at their most psychedelic with the prog of King Crimson and fuzzed out heavy guitars.  The epic, almost ten minute, “Missing Out” is a very expansive psychedelic tune that’s heavy, but not as aggressive with strong dynamics that give it a hint of prog with outstanding interplay between the guitar and violin.  “Nowhere” closes the album and while again not quite as aggressive, it is a bit of a noisy chaotic track that even throws in some elements of jazz.  It's a mystery why this album isn't mentioned alongside the likes of Black Sabbath and Hawkwind.  

For their self-titled sophomore release, Hill’s heavy guitar work was largely gone, and they moved in a more expansive direction.  “Blankman Cries Again” opens the album and is eight and a half minutes of hypnotic psychedelia and folk with the shifting tempos of prog and long jam-like instrumental passages.  “The Joke” finds them moving further in a prog direction with great guitar work that is often a bit more noodly.  The tempos shift a lot throughout the song and the keys are more present than on any other track. The third and final song is the four-part, fifteen minute “Saneonymous”, which starts with a long instrumental jam with guitar and violin going side by side and the steady, driving percussion section and then shifts back and forth between that and more folk-rock passages with Hill’s vocals and perfectly placed piano.  Definitely a bit of a shift from the debut, but arguably almost as good. 

Rounding out the box set are nine bonus tracks consisting of songs that were left of the two albums, and demos of album cuts.  When the band signed a publishing deal with Apple in early 1969 they went into the studio in March of that year and recorded their first three demos.  Included here, these consisted of “Pushed, But Not Forgotten”, a faster version of “Death Warmed Up” that’s still heavy, but a little less dirgy and “Dilemma”, a really strong cut that shifts between heavier prog passages with fuzzed out guitar and violin, and folkier sections (it’s a real shame this one never made it to an album).  “The Great Universal Protection Racket” and “Time Gauges” were also recorded for the debut but were both left off due to time constraints.  The former of these, a live favorite, is an epic instrumental that is very heavy and psychedelic, full of complex tempo shifts and clocking in at over eleven minutes (a much longer version was also recorded for the second album, but again didn’t make the cut), while the latter was an instrumental that mixed their heavier side with elements of jazz and even some classical touches.  A couple of demos for the second album are up next with “Blankman Cries Again” and a shortened version of “The Joke”, followed by a demo of “Ice Age”, which was recorded after the album’s release and is a mellower track with a strong Middle Eastern vibe.  

It should be noted that later in 1970 the band was recording a third album when Hadden had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. The band decided not to continue without him and split up.  Hill and House did record another release as High Tide in the late seventies that wasn't released until 1986 and Hill had several more releases with a completely different band in the eighties and nineties under that name, but these are really the definitive High Tide releases, and this great box set shows just how vital a band they were.   

(Esoteric Recordings) 

Interview with Maya Blue

The Burlington, Ontario three-piece Maya Blue recently released an outstanding debut full-length release (following an earlier EP) entitled Trouble In Mind.  I recently talked to the band about the album and it's more rock sound, recording at the legendary Catherine North Studios and more.  

Can you give me a little bit of history on the band? 

The three of us decided to start playing together in late 2019. We immediately gelled, wanting to find a more indie take on all of the classic rock records that we love. From there we got to work on our first EP which we released in 2021. From there we began playing shows throughout the Toronto Area, continuing to write, looking to refine our sound. We landed on creating a more rock-oriented album, which has brought us to our new record Trouble in Mind. We are continuing to play shows in the Toronto area and are now trying to branch out to different areas of Ontario to further promote our music and grow as a band.

You recorded the album at Catherine North Studios, which has seen a pretty impressive list of artists record there.  How was that?

Recording at Catherine North was a dream come true. It is an honour to be able to record in a space that has housed many artists we look up to. The space itself is magical. Being an old church, it has an amazing live room that delivers a tremendous sound. Above all, we also got to work with our childhood friend Aidan Robson, who produced, mixed and engineered the record. Having such a great history and comradery with staff translated into a genuine feeling of home for us during our recording experience.

How does your songwriting process tend to work?

Like many artists our process varies. That being said, I think the most frequent process is that one of us will come with a simple idea for either a chorus or verse. If the gang is on board, we take that and work it until we have something we are content with. Very seldom does one band member come with a song that is complete. This allows us to each have our own personal stamp on each song we put create, which makes it versatile and engaging as a collective.

I’ve read that your goal in making this album was to make a “rock record” and I would have to say that you have really succeeded, but I also hear a rootsy side to a lot of the songs.  Would you agree with that?

Being a three-piece band, there is a lot of room for various elements to come through. Not only as musicians but genuine lovers of music.  We each have our own influences. Nick, our guitar player has more influence stemming from blues, folk and country- tones that come through in songs like "Tokyo". Additionally, it was important for us to create an album that flowed as a story, carefully curating our tracklist to translate seamlessly to vinyl (Side A and Side B).

The album opens with “Hey”, which is bluesy, but still has a heavy rock edge.  I also love how it has a crisp sound, but at the same time sounds kind of dirty. Was that something you were looking for with that song?

Absolutely. I think the attitude for the entire record was to have an older sound put through a modern lens. We recorded the tracks live off the floor so we could maintain a classic feel. Thanks to Aidan, we were able to have the crispness that we feel is on par to a lot of modern records.

“Juliet and the Lonely Boy” is a great rocker, but to me it stands apart a little from the rest with the keys and then the almost pop “ooh ooh oohs”.  What can you tell me about that song? 

Giving a nod to one of our favourite bands, Thin Lizzy, we could tell it had the potential to be a single from the get-go. As a result, we decided to take a poppier approach throughout the writing process.

I love the song “Rain”.  It shifts back and forth between being laid-back and atmospheric to sounding like an arena rocker.  There is also a bit of a jazz element at times too.  Can you tell me a little about that one?

We feel that "Rain" is a song that carries a lot of our indie influence. The unique transitions and element changes are no exception in our attempt at keeping with the theme of a traditional rock record. These musical changes allowed us to create two different lyrical themes. An introspective look on yourself wanting to make changes in your life through the verses, while the chorus explores how old habits can affect loved ones in your life.

If you had to pick one, which track would each of you say is your favorite to play live and why?

Nick’s favourite song is "Rain" - there’s a lot of sentimental value for him behind the writing of the song. It took him about a year to complete the lyrics, so it’s incredibly rewarding to see it turn into a tangibly completed song after all this time.

Ty and Derek both love to play "Juliet and the Lonely Boy" live because of the high energy that we maintain throughout the song. Crowds are also more engaged throughout the song, so we get to see people singing along to it while we play, which is a very cool feeling.

I listened to your earlier EP, and the new album definitely has a better production, but you also sound like you have really matured as a band since then.  The album is also overall a lot heavier with much more of a rock edge. Was that a conscious decision or just a natural evolution?

A healthy combination of both. I think there’s a natural evolution in terms of the quality of our song writing and cohesiveness as a band. However, we definitely made a conscious decision to go in a heavier direction.

Do you still play any of those earlier songs live and if so, have they changed?

"Dance" is probably the one we play most off of our first EP and it is a crowd pleaser.  We also frequently incorporate "Maya Blues" into our set, as it’s one of our favourites to play live.  Elements have certainly been refined and tightened over time but overall, they have stayed tried and true to their original versions.

What made you decide on Maya Blue for the band name?

Wish we had a wild story behind that one. Like any good band name, we just like the sound of it.

Did the pandemic have much of an impact on the band?

Since we became a band right before the pandemic unfolded, that time became the catalyst for really understanding what kind of band we wanted to be and what our sound would be like. When live music became a thing again, we were super eager to jump in with both feet and introduce ourselves to the scene.

Do you have physical copies of the album available, and if so, how can people get a copy?

Not at the moment, but we are hoping we grow enough following and demand to realistically start pressing vinyl in the new year.

Now that the album has been out there for a few weeks what’s on the agenda?

With all the hard work that went into creating the record, our main goal at this time is to get the album out there through developing a broader fan base, touring and reaching new audiences.

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

Thanks for giving us your time.  If any of this piques your interest, we’d love your support on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok - all that fun stuff. But most importantly, stream our new album on your platform of choice or keep an eye out for us for a live show in the Toronto area.

(Maya Blue - Facebook)

Sandy Posey - Born A Woman : Complete MGM Recordings 1966-1968

After initially releasing a few unsuccessful singles under various pseudonyms starting with “Kiss Me Goodnight”/”First Boy” as Sandy Carmel, and followed with others under names like Betty York, Sherry York and Betty Richards, Sandy Posey got her big break when song publisher Gary Walker (later her manager) was looking for someone to cut some demos and American Sound Studio owner and producer Chips Moman suggested Sandy.  Moman ended up so impressed by her demo of Martha Sharp’s song “Born A Woman” that they rerecorded it in 1966 and leased it to MGM who signed her.  It ended up hitting twelve on the US charts and sold over a million copies.  The new double CD Born A Woman - The Complete MGM Recordings, contains all four of these albums plus seven non-LP single tracks and Italian versions of the hit songs “Born A Woman” and “Single Girl”.  While she was influenced in her youth by forties and fifties country like Hank Williams, she was equally influenced by pop artists of the era like The Shirelles, The Shangri-Las and Nancy Sinatra (she did a great cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walking” as Betty Richards), as well as rhythm and blues, and as you make your way through this collection you can hear what a great job she does bringing these elements and so much more together.  Her songs are well-crafted and arranged, often accompanied by strings and great vocal harmonies, with the absolutely gorgeous “Patterns” a perfect example.  Her first album for the label was Born A Woman which had highlights like the title track (number 12 on the US singles charts), the upbeat “You Got To Have Love To Be Happy” and the almost dreamy pop of “If Tears Had Color In Them”.  In addition to the aforementioned “Patterns”, her next album, Single Girl contained her second hit single (again the title track) and also had great renditions of “A Place In The Sun” (originally recorded by Stevie Wonder) and “I’m Your Puppet”, “Hey Mister” which is stripped down with her captivating vocals accompanied by a simple organ and drumbeat, and “Shattered”, a blues tinged track with a deeply emotional vocal.  Album three, Sandy Posey Featuring “I Take It Back” kicks off with the song “I Take It Back”, an absolute killer track that bounces between upbeat pop with a hint of country and a little Duane Eddy twang, and a slow country waltz.  Other standouts on this album include “Standing In The Rain” with its lazy groove and great arrangement, the classic sixties pop tune “Sunglasses” and her incredibly heartfelt take on the classic “Love Of The Common People”.  You can hear Posey’s work get stronger as you make the way through each release, and she definitely reaches the pinnacle on the fourth one.  Looking At You opens with a couple of gorgeous gems with “Deep In Kentucky”, which is superbly arranged and produced, with gentle acoustic guitar, strings and horns that sound a lot like something Jimmy Webb would have done, and “The Meadow Of My Love”, a laid-back tune with an almost psychedelic country feel.  “One Man Woman” and “Just You, Just Me (And Love For Company)” are upbeat soulful tracks, the latter of which also has some psychedelic undertones and great thumping bass.  There’s also a nice take on “Shades Of Gray”, originally recorded by the Will-O-Bees, but made famous by The Monkees, and “Out Of Tune”, a super catchy, jaunty pop tune.  Another track of note is “All Hung Up In Your Green Eyes”, a darker track that’s a little reminiscent of Scott Walker.  It was written by Posey and was the b-side to her final MGM single.  These are just some of the many highlights on these two discs as you would be hard pressed to find a misstep among the fifty-five tracks here.  Once she was done with her contract with MGM Posey stepped away from touring and recording for awhile and got married and had a daughter.  In the early seventies she released some more traditional country and gospel albums, and over the years sang backup for a variety of artists including “Suspicious Minds” and “In The Ghetto” with Elvis, “When A Man Loves A Woman” with Percy Sledge, and songs with Tommy Roe, Bobby Goldsboro and Joe Tex.  She was also considered an inspiration to the young Dolly Parton, Morrissey included her song “I Take It Back” in his 1989 list of “Singles To Be Cremated With” and The Primitives covered “Single Girl”.  There is also a fantastic CD booklet with extensive essay on her career and the albums included here.  This is a fantastic highly recommended collection.

(Strawberry)

Jaguero - New Love 

Following last year’s debut EP Worst Weekend Ever, Italy’s Jaguero (featuring members of Regarde, Slander and La Fortuna) is back with their follow-up EP New Love.  Throughout the five cuts here they mash together elements of emo, pop punk and grunge along with tons of strong melodies and hooks, and the results are outstanding.  While tunes like opener “You”, “All I Think About” and “Pressure” all show this infectious and melodic side, they also have their noisier moments, whereas the title track is loud and aggressive, full of feedback and definitely has hints of Nirvana.  At just short of twelve minutes this is one EP that will have you hitting repeat quite frequently.    (both EP's are also available together on one vinyl LP through Epidemic) 

(Jaguero - Facebook / Epidemic Records)

The Monks - No Shame : The Complete Recordings

In 1979, as punk and new wave were making their mark, the song “Nice Legs, Shame About Her Face” by The Monks flew up the charts in the UK, topping out at number nineteen.  The song was in fact a four-track demo released by a French record label after the band that it was actually recorded for had rejected it.  Due to the unexpected hit, they hurriedly recorded their debut album Bad Habits, but when it was revealed that they were actually Richard “Hud” Hudson and John Ford, who had been members of the bluesy psychedelic rock band Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera before joining Strawbs for three years and four albums and then releasing three albums as Hudson-Ford, along with their friend singer Terry Cassidy, their punk credibility was gone.   While their next two singles failed to do anything in the UK, the tune “Drugs In My Pocket” became a hit in Canada hitting number 20 (number 4 in Toronto) and the album went double platinum there three years after its release.  Due to that success in Canada, they went back into the studio and with the addition of drummer Clive Pearse, lead guitarist Brian Willoughby (a sometimes member of Strawbs) and Chris Parren on keys, released Suspended Animation, which ended up going gold in Canada.  Following a Canadian tour, the band started work on album number three, which unfortunately was never finished. Now, thanks to Cherry Red Records, both albums along with six tracks from that unreleased third album, b-sides, demos and a handful of previously unreleased cuts have been compiled in the new two disc set No Shame - The Complete Recordings.  

Disc one gets thing started with their debut album Bad Habits.  The album is full of clever, extremely hook-filled, well performed songs that were more of a clever parody of punk and new wave, and while they never intended to be a serious punk band (something that should’ve been obvious from the get go with a song titled “Nice Legs, Shame About Her Face”) they were talented musicians as displayed by the diversity of the songs.  While opening cut “Johnny B Rotten” is a poppier take on the Sex Pistols and “Nice Legs…” is raw, stripped down pub rock, “Love In Stereo” has an early Joe Jackson vibe and “Dear Jerry, Don’t Try To Kill Me With Your Love, Norman” is very reminiscent of The Police.  Other highlights include the angular “Bad Habits”, and the bouncy new wave sounds of “Drugs In My Pocket”, “Inner-City Kitty” and “Ain’t Getting’ Any”.  Another track of note is “Skylab (Theme From Monks)”, which closes the album and is a spaced-out surf tune that’s largely all instrumental and sounds like it may be an homage to Joe Meek’s legendary “Telstar”.   Disc one also includes eight bonus tracks including three previously unreleased cuts (“Beat About The Bush”, “Stop & We Go” and “Heap Of Junk”) that are all very electronic influenced and sound like they were channeling Devo.  Others include an alternate version of “Drugs In My Pocket”, a demo of “No Shame” and “You’ll Be The Death Of Me” (b-side of “Nice Legs…), which sounds a little like fifties country-tinged doo-wop.

While Suspended Animation, their sophomore effort, is a more polished release and expands their sound even further, many of the songs were way more politically incorrect.  Some of the cuts this time included lyrics about religion, bondage, child molesting flashers, well-endowed porn actors and there’s even one where they made fun of the music industry using a fake Indian accent.  As for the expanded diversity, tracks like the upbeat “Don’t Want No Reds” and “King Dong” find them tackling ska, “James Bondage” is funky new wave, “Cool Way To Live” is Elvis Costello/Marshall Crenshaw flavored pop and the title track opens with swirling psychedelia and some great guitar that’s reminiscent of The Cult’s Dreamtime and Love era and then shifts back and forth between that and poppy punk.  Some of the other highlights are the quirky punch of “Don’t Bother Me”, “Go”, which actually at times brings to mind Nik Kershaw’s “Wouldn’t It Be Good”, and the Buzzcocks flavored punky pop of “Grown Ups”.  Like the closer on the debut this time around the final cut, “Space Fruit” is a dreamy, spaced-out surf guitar tune.   Rounding out disc two are eight more bonus tracks starting off with six that were recorded for the aborted third album Cybernetic Sister.  Most of these songs were in more of a new wave direction showing the influence of bands like XTC (“Gold And Silver”), Oingo Boingo (“Slimy Gash” and “Ann Orexia”) and The Fixx (the haunting ballad “Lost In Romance”).  Lastly are a couple more previously unreleased Joe Meek like soundscapes, “Space Noises” and “Electric Shivers”.  Also included is a booklet with a band history and highlights from both Cassidy and Hudson.  

(Cherry Red Records)