Glad - A New Tomorrow - The Glad & New Breed Recordings

The Sacramento band Glad initially got their start as a trio under the name Tim, Tom and Ron while the three members, Timothy B. Schmit, Tom Phillps and Ron Floegel, were still in school.  With the addition of George Hullin, they became The Contenders, and then in 1965 they changed it once again to The New Breed.  They released four singles under that name between 1965 and 1967.  Then for a brief moment in 1967 they shortened it to The Breed, before moving to LA, signing to the new label Equinox, changing it one last time to Glad, and releasing what would become their only album Feelin’ Glad.  Now, with the release of the outstanding A New Tomorrow - The Glad and New Breed Recordings, that album is available on CD for the first time, along with eight mono single mixes and the eight tracks that were released by The New Breed.

While the CD closes with the singles from The New Breed, I’m going to start there since that’s where it all began.  Their debut single was “Green Eye’d Woman”, an extremely catchy pop tune with a bit of an R&B swagger that ended up number one locally.  The flipside was “I’m In Love”, a very Beatles sounding Lennon and McCartney song that The Beatles never recorded but was a UK Top 20 hit for The Fourmost.  Both tracks on their sophomore single were a bit slower.  “I’ve Been Wrong Before” was a really nice sounding ballad written by Randy Newman that was a hit for Cilla Black, while “You’d Better Leave Me Be” was also laid-back, but one of their weaker songs.  The band shifted gears on single number three “Want Ad Reader”.  Influenced by The Beatles “Paperback Writer”, and featuring trombone and trumpet from Tim and George, it’s a punchy, fuzz guitar driven, garage rocker that to me was the high point of their singles.  “One More For The Good Guys” was the b-side and is a loose, psychedelic instrumental that was edited from a thirty-minute jam.  Their final single is another solid release, but it found them shifting back towards a more restrained sound.  Written by Ron Elliott and originally recorded by his band Beau Brummels, “Fine With Me” has a very hypnotic, kind of lilting groove, while “The Sound Of The Music” was more of an upbeat country rocker.  These singles were all actually quite successful locally, but they didn’t do much outside that area.  

In addition to the name change, by the time they recorded Feelin’ Glad they had also evolved with the changes in the music scene and embraced more psychedelia along with elements of the California Sound.  The album kicks off with “A New Tomorrow”, a light and sunshiny track with strong vocal harmonies and that breezy California psychedelic folk sound. “Say What You Mean” has a really strong Mama’s and Papa’s feel (especially in the vocals) with a touch of the Beach Boys and more strong harmonies along with a nice string arrangement.  The dreamy, stripped-down psychedelic “Bedtime Story” has some elements of The Beatles, while “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” has a little more of a rock edge and is loaded with hooks.  Their cover of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s “Shape Of Things To Come” is a strong psychedelic rocker, but ironically Tim’s lead vocals are the only band representation as the actual musicians include guitarists James Burton and Ron Elliott (Beau Brummels), bassist Ray Pohlman, Pete Jolly on keys, drummer Frank Capp and Paul Beaver on Moog.  Tim is also the only band member on “Love Needs The World”, a beautiful ballad with a lush string arrangement from Bob Thompson.  Following “Sweet Melinda”, a midtempo rocker with that breezy California sound and a bit of a funk groove, they delve a bit more into country rock with the easygoing “Let’s Play Make Believe” and “No Ma, It Can’t Be”, the latter of which has even more emphasis on that loping country beat.  Complemented by another great string arrangement and horns, “Two Worlds” is a strong psychedelic tinged ballad.  The extremely infectious “Johnny’s Silver Ride” is a poppy rocker that is very reminiscent of The Monkees, and the album closes with “Silly Girl, a country rock acoustic ballad with some really nice organ fills that ends with a short reprise of “A New Tomorrow”.  Rounding out this collection are mono mixes of eight Glad singles and while they more often than not don’t differ that much, there are exception’s like “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” that has more of a rock edge and “Let’s Play Make Believe” that is instrumentally a little more country sounding.  

Unfortunately, when the album was finished the label sat on it for a few months causing the band to lose traction and while they played some shows in LA they weren't making as much money playing there as they were playing back home.  They also were disillusioned by the orchestration that had been added to some of the tracks, feeling it didn't represent how they sounded.  Ron became frustrated with all this and went to Nashville, before deciding to go back home to Sacramento.  Also at this time, Timothy was introduced to Richie Furay, who was forming Poco, and along with Randy Meisner auditioned for the band.  Meisner got the gig, but a few months later he left the band and Timothy joined (he later on replaced Meisner again in The Eagles).  The remaining three members along with new bassist/vocalist Andrew Samuels formed Redwing and released five albums under that name.  

(Now Sounds)

The Wesleys - The Wesleys

Following their 2022 EP, Outside Voices, Montreal’s The Wesleys are back with this impressive, eponymous full-length debut.  Their bio mentions influences like Teenage Fanclub, The Pixies, The Replacements and The Clean, and you can definitely hear elements of these somewhat diverse bands as you make your way through the nine songs.  “Make It My Way” kicks the album off with synths and a tight, post punk tinged intro, followed by heavier surf rock flavored guitars, not unlike The Pixies, meshed with jangly guitar pop.  “A Lot To Lose” is a mesmerizing, dreamy, folk-tinged pop track that definitely brings to mind a bit of that aforementioned influence from The Clean.  Next up are “I’ve Been Waiting”, a catchy power pop track with a ragged, garage rock vibe, and the two minute “Fucked Up”, a noisier post punk track.  “25” is a faster paced tune with hooks galore, as is “You Better Believe It”, which opens with a hypnotic guitar and bass intro.  A strong contender for album highlight, “Radio Circus” is more of a melancholy slacker rock track, and lead single “Great Big Smile” is a dreamy, jangly guitar driven track with some nice synth touches.  Closing the album is the taut, angular guitar driven “Death By The Bite”.  In addition to writing everything the album was also recorded and mixed by the band, largely in their home studios, and sounds great.  

(Little Village Records / The Wesleys - Facebook)

 

Dinosaur Jr - The Black Session - Live In Paris 1993 

For anyone unfamiliar, Black Sessions are live music performances recorded in front of an audience and broadcast on the C’est Lenoir show on the French radio station France Inter.  Initially recorded on March 2, 1993, this session from Dinosaur Jr has been remastered from the original tapes and released on coloured vinyl.  The session took place a little less than a month after the album Where You Been was released and featured original members, singer and guitarist J Mascis and drummer Murph, along with new bassist Mike Johnson.  While they only performed nine songs, they did a great job of covering all their releases to that point and also dug a little deeper at times instead of just sticking to their more popular songs.  The set opened with “Quest”, which starts like a slow dirge and has a noisy Neil Young vibe with a little Sonic Youth thrown in.  Their cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” is next and is an absolute kller track.  They give the song a great, ragged punk kick, while still maintaining all the hooks of the original.  After a long instrumental opening “Lung” kicks in with a manic pace and has a tenseness to it that almost takes your breath away, perfectly matching the lyrics.  “Freak Scene”, the super infectious single from Bug is up next and again Mascis lets loose with his guitar solo.  Side one closes out with the more melancholy “Get Me”.  The guitar on this track is a little mellower, but still plenty noisy, and really allows him to stretch out a little.  Sticking with the most recent album for another track, side B opens with the slow, somewhat pummeling sounds of “Drawerings” and another great solo from Mascis (hard to not sound redundant talking about his guitar solos when he kills it song after song). “Keep The Glove”, a bonus track from the album Bug, is actually a little more on the pop side of things and is about as bouncy and catchy as they come, but Mascis still absolutely lets loose at the end.  With Murph’s straight-ahead pounding leading the way, “Budge” is punk done the Dinosaur Jr way.  Closing out the nine-song set is “Thumb”, a gorgeous seven plus minute track that comes across like a ragged version of shoegaze with an extended guitar solo that is incredible.  The remastering on the album is outstanding and it’s easy to see why this has been a fan favorite for over thirty years.  (As the owner of a miniature horse I also have to give them bonus points for that great album cover).  

(Cherry Red Records)

Cock Sparrer - Hand On Heart

Cock Sparrer got their start in 1972 and are considered to be one of the pioneers of early punk and Oi!.  The band was founded by vocalist Colin McFaull, guitarist Mick Beaufoy, bassist Steve "Burge" Burgess and drummer Steve Bruce, and while they have broken up twice in the ensuing fifty-two years, since 1992 the four of them, along with rhythm guitarist Daryl Smith, have stuck together, doing the occasional tour and releasing the occasional album.  Now, with the release of Hand On Heart, they are back with their eighth and final (at least that’s what they are saying) album.  When you’ve been doing what they have been doing as long as they have, you tend to stick to what the fans want, and while there are a few exceptions to the rule where they expand their sound a little, that’s exactly what they do here.  Tracks like “With My Hand On My Heart”, “Rags To Riches”, “Nowhere To Be Found” and “Here We Stand” are great examples of their classic high energy, straight-ahead, anthemic punk with gang vocals, singalong choruses and plenty of hooks.  As mentioned before there are also a few cuts where they switch things up.  The most notable of these is “My Forgotten Dream”, which is more of a melancholy tune that’s a really nice change of pace.  It features a string arrangement from Simon Dobson, who has worked with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon and Architects, and is principal conductor and arranger with the London based Parallax Orchestra.  Although it's more of a singalong punk track, “Mind Your Own Business” is another one that veers in a slightly different direction with a bit of a boogie beat and a taut, buzzing guitar line running through it that gives it a really interesting sound.  With production handled by James Bragg and guitarist Daryl Smith the album sounds great and as the band says, “for once, more of the budget went into the studio than down the pub!”  Hopefully this really isn't the swan song for Cock Sparrer, but if it is they have definitely gone out with a winner.  

(Captain Oi! / Pirates Press Records)

  

 White City Graves - Canary's Dead

Canary’s Dead is the latest EP from Seattle’s White City Graves.  While I couldn’t find a lot of current information on the band, they have been around since 2010, although there have been several member changes, and prior to this they have released two full-length albums, an EP and a split EP with Terror Inc.  As for the four songs here they are largely thick muscular rock with elements of punk and metal that remind me a little of Tad (another Seattle band of yore), although I would say they are a little less aggressive and a little more melodic.  That is not to say they aren’t heavy, they rely a lot on that thick bass sound and meaty guitars and they don’t lack in aggression (check out “Personal Hell”).  They also manage to keep things fresh and diverse, but still always sound like White City Graves.  One song that really exemplifies that is “Burn It All Down”, an extremely catchy track that stands apart from the rest and will most likely have you bopping your head with its groove metal element.     

(White City Graves)