On the Stereo, 8-16-24

Farewell to power pop legend Greg Kihn, Morgan Wade gets Obsessed, Velocity Girl reissue Copacetic, Bill Wyman plays the blues and more

Another bit of a hectic week on my end, partially due to professional transitions and partially due to a busy household calendar. In any case, I did manage to publish two newsletters this week (although the Ween piece did get yanked from Facebook due to its violation of community standards), plus this weekly roundup. 

As always, consider subscribing, as I am indeed no longer at Xperi/Allmusic and will be instituting a paid tier by early September. 

Morgan Wade—Obsessed (2024)

Dialing back the overt rock moves that distinguished her first two albums—Reckless and Psychopath, both produced by Sadler Vaden of Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit—Morgan Wade is in a subdued mood on Obsessed. Heavy on ballads and light on amplification, Obsessed isn't an austere acoustic album. Producing alongside her touring guitarist Clint Wells, Wade threads nuanced textures through her ballads, adding a slight sense of drama that provides a nice contrast to her flinty twang. A commanding singer, Wade tempers her toughness with tenderness, a perhaps inevitable move for a country singer/songwriter who prizes survival but it's affecting all the same. 

Greg Kihn RIP (1949-2024)

One of the handful of power poppers to land a genuine pop hit, Greg Kihn was lucky enough to have two big singles: the stuttering, swaggering “The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)” and the coiled, nervous “Jeopardy.” Kihn placed these two singles in the charts during the early 1980s, just after the Knack scored a fluke hit with “My Sharona” and just as MTV began its rise. By that point, the Greg Kihn Band were San Franciscan veterans, becoming a staple at Beserkley Records, a linchpin in the rise of power pop in the late 1970s.

Where many of his peers wound up adhering too closely to the tenets of the British Invasion, Kihn happily adapted to the times. Looking for a hit record, Kihn adopted AOR and new wave tricks on his 80s records, mugged it up on MTV, and was thrilled when "Weird" Al Yankovic sent up "Jeopardy" His sense of humor was evident; no other rocker cherished puns like Kihn, who spent much of his career discovering in-Kihn-ceivable turns of phrases within his own name. 

Kihn worked hard for his breakthrough, cherished it, then had it slip away swiftly, once the business became glassy and overblown in the wake of MTV's success. Dropping out of the pop race after 1985's Citizen Kihn, Kihn turned to the radio and opened a second career as a novelist, but he never gave up on music. He kept touring and cutting cheerful records on the cheap, no longer chasing trends but still deriving pleasure from old-time rock & roll, engendering good will that lasted until his death at the age of 75 this week. .

The Beserkley Records are all fun and all the various comps—and there have been a bunch—are solid but I prefer Rhino’s 1989 set Kihnsolidation: The Best of Greg Kihn

Velocity Girl—UltraCopacetic (2024; 1993)

I couldn't tell you the last time I listened to Copacetic, the debut album from the DC-based indie rockers Velocity Girl. It's quite possible the last time I gave the album a spin was somewhere in the late 1990s, even though I've harbored affection for the band in the years since. Listening to UltraCopacetic, a remix and expansion of the original album shepherded by its guitarist Archie Moore, what strikes me is how noisy and lively the band seems, especially compared to the rash of neo-shoegaze indie acts that have surfaced recently. It helps that Velocity Girl values sunny pop tunes, helping give shape to their shimmering strums and cascading distortion; they're in it for the songs as much as the sound. The songwriting is undergirded by an urgent rhythmic pulse in a remix that makes Velocity Girl sound like a live band pushing at the boundaries of a small stage.

Bill Wyman—Drive My Car (2024)

Not a year after he guested on Hackney Diamonds, the splashy recent studio affair by his old gang, Bill Wyman sings a song called "Rough Cut Diamond" on Drive My Car, his first album in nine years. That's a much, much faster turnaround than the Rolling Stones managed in the 21st Century but Wyman is operating on a different plane these days: he's built for comfort, not speed. Working with a familiar group of musicians, including drummer Paul Beavis and guitarist Terry Taylor, Wyman cut Drive My Car at his home studio and it does feel homey: comfortable in its skin, unhurried in its pace. Unlike Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman sounds his age. It's hard to ignore the raspy wisp of his voice since it's pushed up in the mix, a quality that's ultimately ingratiating when matched with these exceedingly relaxed blues shuffles. 

Josh Turner—This Country Music Thing (2024)

Last time around, Josh Turner was in a Country State of Mind, a name he adopted for a collection of covers That title rhymes with This Country Music Thing, his first proper secular album of new material since way back in 2017. Despite its title and its allusions to John Anderson and Randy Travis, This Country Music Thing isn't as traditional as it seems: "If You Ain't With Me" is bright and cheerful, its hooks steering the fiddles and Turner's twang toward the middle of the road. This is lighter and livelier than it needs to be and if it doesn't sound like modern mainstream country, it's still plenty agreeable. 

Osees—SORCS 80 (2024)

John Dwyer and fellow garage-punkers ditch guitars for samplers on SORCS 80. My review at Pitchfork.

Also out this week…

Lindsey Buckingham—20th Century Lindsey (2024; 1981-1994)

A box containing his first three solo albums, plus a disc of rarities that features the deathless "Holiday Road" and its companion "Dancin' Across the USA."

Creed—Human Clay (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (2024;1999)

Celebrating a quarter century of atrocious album art. 

Father John Misty—Greatish Hits: I Followed My Dreams and My Dreams Said To Crawl (2024; 2012-2024)

I used to be irritated by Father John Misty's preening pomp but I'm younger than that now. 

Melanie—Neighbourhood Songs 1966-1978 (2024; 1965-1978)

Easy Action/Neighbourhood Records release a six-disc box from Melanie featuring more than 100 rare tracks. Haven't heard this, intrigued by its existence.

Plus…

Nikka Costa—Dirty Disco (2024)

Foster the People—Paradise State of Mind (2024)

Ray LaMontagne—Long Way Home (2024)