A Pair of Jersey Releases I've Been Listening To All Week from Joseph Black and Fascinations Grand Chorus

Retromania

I wanted to call your attention to a pair of releases from artists I've supported around here for a few years.

Joseph Black, Wildest Dreams EP

Way, way back in the infancy of CoolDad Music, I came across New Brunswick lo-fi pop band Honeydrum. With hints of Ariel Pink and early-80s R.E.M., I felt like Honeydrum were destined for bigger things. That materialized in two albums for Captured Tracks under the new name Donovan Blanc.

Last year, Joseph Black of Honeydrum / Donovan Blanc released his debut, solo LP, Northern Exposure. That album further solidified Black as one of the most unsung, underrated heroes of retro-inspired pop. Last month, Black released Wildest Dreams, the first of three, three-song cassingles in a project set to span the end of 2019 into 2020.

Black recorded, mixed, and mastered Wildest Dreams in Highland Park, NJ. The three songs on the EP are breezy, dreamy pop that draw on some sounds of the 80s that are soothingly familiar to my Gen X ears. There isn't a weak moment on Wildest Dreams, and closer "Lonelier Than Heaven Knows" is a standout. It's a short, romantic track reminiscent of Psychedelic Furs and John Hughes films.

Wildest Dreams is available as a super-limited 25 cassette run. It's also downloadable over at Joseph Black's Bandcamp page and streamable everywhere.



Fascinations Grand Chorus, Presentations of Electrical Confectionery

Speaking of bands I've been supporting for a while who have a bit of a retro vibe, Fascinations Grand Chorus -- the Jersey City duo of Stephanie Cupo and Andrew Pierce -- released Presentations of Electrical Confectionery last week.

I've always loved Fascinations Grand Chorus's commitment to their aesthetic. Presentations of Electrical Confectionery is ten songs showcasing the band's love of the timeless pop of Brian Wilson, Jersey forebears like The Shirelles, early AM radio, even the punk of The Ramones or The Misfits. The band also throw in a few tinges of psychedelia which results in some of the best sounds they've produced to date.

I've been playing Presentations... on repeat all week, and it's honestly difficult to single anything out. All the songs work seamlessly together. From bopping opener "Can't Let Go" to the mellow, Carpenters-esque "Echoes" to the surfily-tinged three-and-a-half-minute pop epic that is "Would It Be," there is something infectiously engaging about every song here. The spaced-out intro to "Cry Over You" gives way to an earworm embellished with some more spacey keys. Closer "Back Again" is a soulful bop that takes the album out on a vibe as upbeat as what kicked things off.

For me, though, "Future World" is the standout track here. Combining guitars and horns with Cupo's vocals and keys, the song represents a single confection that has all of Fascinations Grand Chorus's disparate electrical and analog influences as ingredients.

Presentations of Electrical Confectionery is available now. You can order a special limited-run CD over at the Fascinations Grand Chorus Bandcamp page, and you can stream the album pretty much everywhere.

Joseph Black, Northern Exposure, 2018

Album Review

I've been telling you about the work of New Jersey's Joseph Black for about five years now. It started when I stumbled upon his work as part of lo-fi pop duo Honeydrum. Black and Honeydrum collaborator, Ray Schwab, scaled their formula up a bit as Donovan Blanc and released a pair of LPs under that moniker with Captured Tracks (Mac DeMarco, DIIV, EZTV, Wild Nothing, more). For the past year or so, Black has been working on his solo debut. He released Northern Exposure last week digitally and on cassette via Chill Mega Chill Records, and the entirely solo effort is another showcase of Black's facility with retro-inspired, infectious pop.

Black wrote, played, recorded, mixed, and mastered everything on Northern Exposure in his New Jersey home. The result is a polished collection of songs steeped in the feel of 80s synth pop. Opener "Lonesome Dreams" is upbeat and ethereal, featuring handclaps and bright synths. The title track is a dreamy earworm that could soundtrack a montage in a coming of age film. Single "What If It's All Wrong?" brings in the sound of horns and is an absolute pop gem. The album drifts out on atmospheric closer "Cold Calling," with its piano and acoustic guitar.

Northern Exposure flows along seamlessly and without a single low point. As far as I can tell, Joseph Black has been one of the most under-the-radar artists and pop songsmiths from New Jersey or anywhere for a lot of years now. With Northern Exposure, he'll hopefully get his due.

Northern Exposure is out now on Chill Mega Chill Records.

Donovan Blanc Are Back with a New Album

The Color of Hearts

From the early days of CoolDad Music -- since our very first year five years ago, as a matter of fact -- I've been telling you about NJ band Honeydrum. The band specialized in lo-fi, retro-inspired pop reminiscent of something like Ariel Pink. Short, infectious pop songs about lots of those things that pop songs are about: love, obsession. Honeydrum put out music at furious clip, releasing something like 9 EPs over the course of two years.

In 2014, frontman Joe Black and bassist Ray Schwab released a full-length as Donovan Blanc. Their self-titled debut brought many of the ideas in Honeydrum to a fuller more polished realization. Now, Donovan Blanc are back with The Color of Hearts. On their latest release, the band play with the sounds of 70s disco. There's a definite Bee Gees vibe that comes through on opener "Never Let You Down" as well as "I've Never Loved Someone (Like You)." The title track feels like soulful 70s AM radio pop. There's a hint of country twang on "You Made a Fool of Me" (which also sounds like it's played over one of the built in tracks on an electric piano you'd buy at the mall back when I was a kid) and "Breanna," but both still exude a disco vibe.

What shines throughout the album is the fact that Donovan Blanc know how to write a damn good pop song, whether that song is a disco bop or a country waltz.

The Color of Hearts is available now over at Donovan Blanc's Bandcamp page as either a download or a limited run of gold cassettes. Cassettes are also available via the Captured Tracks store.

Three "Lost" Tracks from Honeydrum

Strangerer Calls

Back in the days of CoolDad Music's infancy, before we achieved our current level of world domination and before we were rolling in the #FATSTAX of music blog success, I told you about a New Jersey band called Honeydrum. Back in October of 2012, I had this to say about their Stranger Calls / Do U Party? release:

I've had Stranger Calls / Do U Party? on repeat all afternoon; and even though the songs are short, they're dense with contrasts between melody and dissonance, the familiar and the surprising.  It will be interesting to see what Honeydrum does on a full-length LP in terms of both sound and the number of songs they'll be able to squeeze into the format.

Alas, the Honeydrum full-length was not to be as frontman Joseph Black and bassist Ray Schwab went on to form Donovan Blanc. The duo released a very solid self-titled LP of cool, easygoing, and slightly retro pop for Captured Tracks in 2014. There is a clear connection to Honeydrum on Donovan Blanc, but everything is more polished.

Over the weekend, small cassette label, Missing Records, released a three-song tape EP of "lost" Honeydrum tracks. Strangerer Calls takes us back to the time when Honeydrum were putting out short and amazing lo-fi pop creations. Totaling under six-minutes, Strangerer Calls includes a pair of somewhat obsessive love songs in "DEBBY" and "LOVELY JENNY" along with the disco-inflected chamber pop of "PEACHES N' CREAM."

Missing Records has a very limited run of 25 hand-numbered cassettes for Strangerer Calls. Stream "PEACHES N' CREAM" below, and then you can grab a cassette over at Missing Records' website.

Honeydrum, Stranger Calls / Do U Party?, 2012

Sunday Bandcamp Discovery Album Review

I get myself into ruts.  As far as this blog goes, fanboyism, laziness, and just allowing myself to get caught up in the hype and promotion that floats around the blogrockisphere day after day sometimes cause me to focus a little too heavily on the "mainstream indie" part of this blog's stated mission.  I decided, therefore, to dig through some of the Bandcamp stuff I've downloaded over the last several months in an effort to pick out something new to review.  Then I remembered Honeydrum.

Honeydrum are a New Brunswick, NJ quartet who have been releasing singles and EP's digitally and on cassette (a format whose revival I'm still not understanding) at a furious clip since 2011.  Honeydrum's songs are short, lo fi / experimental pop confections that generally clock in at under two minutes.  Their Stranger Calls 7" / Do U Party? CD EP is an eight-song collection that comes in a few seconds shy of thirteen minutes.

There are obvious comparisons to make between Honeydrum and L.A.'s Ariel Pink.  "Stranger Calls" and "Oh Donna" stack up well against some of Pink's most infectious pop, and they manage to do that while sounding as though they're coming out of a broken radio or, more appropriately maybe, a cassette player that's seen better days.  Following the slow-grooving sound of "Let's Make a Holiday," the final cut on Stranger Calls, Honeydrum's sound changes.  Do U Party? moves into Murmur-era R.E.M. territory with "Girls on the Radio" and "Can't Wait to Meet You."  The lo fi production remains, but the sound on Do U Party? is slightly darker and less reminiscent of 1970's radio.

I've had Stranger Calls / Do U Party? on repeat all afternoon; and even though the songs are short, they're dense with contrasts between melody and dissonance, the familiar and the surprising.  It will be interesting to see what Honeydrum does on a full-length LP in terms of both sound and the number of songs they'll be able to squeeze into the format.

I really have no excuse for getting into a musical rut.  Even if I restrict myself to New Jersey bands, Bandcamp alone contains enough music to keep me interested for quite some time.  And Honeydrum, along with many others I'm sure, prove that New Jersey music is about much more than punk and straight-ahead rock and roll.

You can check out Stranger Calls / Do U Party? along with quite a bit more from Honeydrum over at the band's Bandcamp page.  If you prefer physical media, you may still be able to get that over at AMDISCS.