It's Time For Another Knockandknowall New Album Roundup!

Capsule reviews for people who love music but have short attention spans.

New releases from Anton Barbeau, Crowded House, Gary Louris, Gary Numan, I See Hawks In LA, Lannie Flowers and Wolfgang Van Halen. 

Peter Murphy
The Last And Only Star (Rarities) *****       
Rough Trade

For decades, the albums Love Hysteria and Deep have never been far from my CD player. That these archive tracks echo that illustrious period of Murphy's career make them worth a listen or three for me, especially "The Light Pours Out of Me" and the funk inflected "I've Got A Miniature Secret Camera." Fans only.

Various Artists
Still Wish You Were Here *****          
Cleopatra Records

Tribute albums, featuring a who's who of decrepit classic rock stars, contributing their parts utilizing the 4-track they keep under the bed, has evolved into a cottage industry. These albums are usually misguided, disjointed and disappointing. Normally, I wouldn't bother to write about one but, every once in a while, a project accidentally gels into something that rises above the mission statement [which is to make a quick buck]. 

Still Wish You Were Here is such an album. It features many of the usual gang — Rick Wakeman, Steve Hackett, James LaBrie, Todd Rundgren, et al...and the opening track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5)" suffers from Hackett failing to grasp the intended subtlety, but the closing track "Wish You Were Here (parts 6-9)" is worth the price of admission alone. Rod Argent [Keyboards & vocals), Steve Hillage [guitar], Ian Paice [drums] and Bootsy Collins [bass] create a groove for the ages that, quite frankly, ruins the original for me. An absolute must hear!

Anton Barbeau
Oh The Joys We Live For  *****                 
Big Stir

Anton Barbeau never ceases to amaze in every aspect. His skill as a composer, lyricist, arranger, engineer and self-producer are nothing short of astounding. That he seemingly purposely does the bare minimum to expose his incredible talent to the world — no manager, no agent — is also a bit jaw-dropping. He just writes and records brilliant kooky song after brilliant kooky song, always knowing exactly the right instruments and keyboard textures to use on each. 

Oh The Joys We Live For briefly appeared on streaming platforms last year while Barbeau was "promoting" his thoroughly immersive double CD tour de force Manbird. It was removed and retooled, with five songs swapped out in favor of new ones. The result is a near perfect 12-song collection of psychedelic pop whimsy, with a more than occasional dark edge, if you're paying close attention. The folks at Big Stir Records like it so much they are issuing the album in a spiffy CD package.

The title track lists puppies, nipple rings and fallen apples, too mushy to kick, as some of the litany of life's joys, while the 12-string driven "Cowbell Camembert" is perhaps an answer song to Robyn Hitchcock's "Cheese Alarm."  "One of her Super Powers," "When Life Brings You Beer" and "I love It When She Does the Dishes" provide a glimpse of Barbeau's quarantined life on the farm with his now wife, Julia VBHB, who also contributes lovely harmony vocals throughout the album, although "Dishes" appears to conclude on a note of violent intent.

"Filmik" provides a bit of a departure with a dramatic orchestral keyboard theme which at once evokes The Church's "Happy Hunting Ground" and The Beatles "Blue Jay Way." "It's Alright Rosie" can barely contain it's anger as the album veers into more overtly darker themes with "Three Days Death Enigma," "Die Smiling" and the poignant "Salt Lick" which refers to a mother's tears.

Throughout, Barbeau's ingenious lyrics, which teem with 'Easter egg' style references, are supported by melodic constructions that rival the best composers in the business he is marginally a part of.

If I have at all piqued your interest in taking the Barbeau plunge, Oh The Joys We Live For is a terrific place to start. 

Gary Numan
Intruder          *****     
BMG                            

Gary Numan is a bit of savant.  With all he has accomplished [bet you didn't know that, in addition to being a massive musical influence, he was also one of Britain's foremost demonstration pilots], he is still riddled with a nearly neurotic self-doubt about everything he does. This didn't stop him from uprooting his very supportive wife and three daughters from the English countryside to the edge of urban sprawl in Santa Monica, California where it never rains. 

When it comes to writing and recording a new album every couple of years it's that, while Numan stays up on all the latest recording technology, he has always relied on a gifted albeit limited musical vocabulary. His lack of musical training rarely allows him to break new melodic ground when composing, leaving you with a sense of 'Wasn't this chorus's chord sequence on the last three albums? Has he forgotten how to write a bridge? Can he write a song that isn't in the first person?' and 'How many times is he going to rely on that half-step change?'

Lyrically, Numan approaches each new album with a theme. 2017's Savage explored a dystopian sand drenched world brought about by our current political short shortsightedness. Desert garb and face painting was involved. On Intruder, the Earth is crying out at us — the intruders who are killing it. A really impressive Goth jacket and face painting are involved on a contender for 2021's worst album cover.

The thing is, though, Numan is one of those artists that has created his own musical world and, even though he always sounds a bit too much like himself, he doesn't sound remotely like anybody else. You have to keep listening attentively and repeatedly to get past what sounds on the surface to be repetitive to be able to perceive and marvel at Numan's astonishing ingenuity as well as his voice, which has developed from a nasal whine to a powerful tenor. He really is one of a kind.

Gary Louris
Jump For Joy  *****  
Thirty Tigers                    

More country tinged rock from the leader of The Jayhawks? fahgeddaboudit! Jump For Joy is teeming with lush, infectious Beatles style pop songs that will make you... 'er ...jump for joy. "Almost Home" kicks off with a classic power pop acoustic riff [the infamous GAD] before it is adorned with a steady beat and synthesizer bleats that will have you looking for Jeff Lynne's name on the sleeve. 

"Living In Between" will have you believing that George Harrison is alive and well and is living in Gary's basement, writing away.

"White Squirrel' brings the 60's psychedelia while "New Normal" evokes underrated pop maestro Michael Penn. Louris continues to travel far afield with an ode to novelist John Updike and into the 60s jangle pop of "Follow." I'll let you discover the rest of this highly satisfying ten song collection. 

Crowded House
Dreamers Are Waiting      *****      
BMG

The venerable Crowded House return with a new line up built around founders Neil Finn and Nick Seymour augmented by a trio of younger Finns and veteran keyboardist and original Crowded House producer Mitchell Froom. While fans of the band's early albums may be disappointed by the complete lack of Froom's signature organ sound [honestly, there's nothing to suggest he was involved other than the credits] Neil Finn remains one of the world's most gifted songwriters as evidenced by the fourteen gems on this very welcome release. Highlights include "To The Island," "Sweet Tooth" and "Too Good For This World."

Mammoth WVH   *****  
EX1 Records                 

The progeny of Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli was raised to be a virtuoso, and he is. After replacing original bassist Michael Anthony on Van Halen's final album and tour, Wolfgang Van Halen began working on a project called Mammoth which was the original name of Van Halen before flamboyant non-singer David Lee Roth joined.

Wolfgang IS Mammoth. He plays all the instruments and does all the singing and songwriting. And it is impressive. As Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid put it on Twitter, "[Wolfgang] doesn't sound like one guy playing all the instruments, he sounds like a different guy playing each instrument." 

While the chops are impressive — Wolfgang has clearly inherited and honed the dexterity of his father and uncle — he doesn't seem to have gleaned his father's underrated ability to compose an ear worm melody. I forced myself to listen to the album four times, and marveled at his skill, but I couldn't hum you any one of those tunes from memory if you held a gun to my head. 

Lannie Flowers    
Home       *****        
Spyderpop/Big Stir                            

With a name like Lannie Flowers and a home address in Texas, you could easily assume this is a Country record, or at least Alt-Country. Despite a slightly twangy voice and the occasional rootsy instrumental flourish, Flower's fourth album Home is an ambitious fourteen song Power Pop anthem. 

The title track bounces along with a "Penny Lane" style piano riff while "Free To Dream" jangles and "Missing You Tonight" brings all the pathos of Liam Gallagher singing Noel's words back in their heyday. That track sounds like a perfect album closer but there are four more songs to go after it, culminating with "He's Going Home," which is another perfect album closer. Home might seem overlong on the initial listen, but once you hear it a few times, you'll wish there were more.

I See Hawks In LA
On Our Way        *****                     
Self Release/Bandcamp

The "Hawks" are California's best kept secret and perhaps the world's finest purveyors of the aforementioned genre of "Alt-Country." Anchored by the rich, soothing and affecting voice of Rob Waller, with additional vocals from Paul Lacques and Victoria Jacobs [also on guitar and drums respectively] and Paul Marshall on bass, I See Hawks In LA deliver their fully realized melding of Country, Pop, Blues — and now add British Chamber Pop [the exquisite "Kensington Market"] into the mix, as well the Todd Rundgren aping The Temptations album closer "How You Gonna Know." A perfect album forged in a decidedly imperfect time. Let the healing begin.  

Eric Sandberg