Things have been pretty quiet from everyone’s favorite Jersey boy (Bruce who?) since 2006’s Nightcrawler, but there’s been a trickle of activity around the internets in the past few weeks that suggests a new Pete Yorn record is not far off. Yorn is reportedly working on songs in Omaha, Nebraska, and a few have popped up on the usual social networking sites. You can check out new songs including “Sans Fear” and “Shotgun” here. We couldn’t help noticing at one location a reference to Yorn prepping his “records” (plural). This could just be a typo, but who knows? Maybe Petey is following in the footsteps of Kiss (they were the ones, they dressed like something so special) and releasing a double album. Stay tuned.
Morrissey(vocals): The ex-Smiths frontman is currently “blitzing” his fanbase with “Everyday Is Like Sunday,” which appears in NFL Network commercials. New album Years Of Refusal (Attack/Lost Highway) is due February 17. U.S. tour dates here.
Andy Rourke(bass): Earlier this month, Rourke accepted a job as head of A&R for The MuseBox, a New York/Toronto-based music marketing company. The firm’s clients include Echo & The Bunnymen, Dr. Dog, the High Dials and, uh, Less Than Jake. Rourke was last seen playing in Freebass, a multi-bassist outfit with Peter Hook (New Order) and Mani (Stone Roses).
Johnny Marr (guitar): The best Smith. Maybe we’re biased. Not quite sure what to make yet of his village-bicycle status as a member of Modest Mouse and the Cribs (and previously of the Pretenders, The The and others). All we want is for the man to find a real songwriting partner again. Why wasn’t Electronic—Marr’s duo with New Order’s Bernard Sumner—better than it was? Marr will appear on several tracks on the upcoming Pet Shop Boys album Yes, due in March. Look at all his guitars!
Mike Joyce (drums): Is indirectly responsible for some terrible solo Morrissey lyrics (“I bear more grudges/Than lonely high-court judges”) stemming from a drawn-out lawsuit over Smiths royalties. Joyce now works as an “indie DJ” with a regular club night at Manchester club the Brickhouse.
Craig Gannon (guitar, bass): The fifth Smith! You thought we wouldn’t go here. We have. Originally drafted into the band as a bassist in 1986 when Rourke was temporarily exiled due to drug problems, Gannon (formerly of Aztec Camera) continued in the band as a touring guitarist. He is currently a prolific composer of theme music for British television shows and documentaries.
Post script: It’s highly recommended that old and new fans pick up The Sound Of The Smiths, a compilation that Rhino quietly issued in November. There are one- and two-disc versions; get the latter. While we’ve long complained that Morrissey is the worst abuser of the best-of release (he has three of them, not counting singles compilations and other collections), The Sound Of The Smiths is notable because of the remastering (supervised by Marr) of the songs. A huge boost is given to the bass, the drums on “Bigmouth Strikes Again” are leveled out, and the Peel Session version of “What Difference Does It Make?” is its finest take. It’s oddly light on material from Strangeways Here We Come (no “Paint A Vulgar Picture”?) but at any rate is now the only Smiths collection worth owning.
To read the chapter about the Smiths we excerpted from 2006’s Rob Young-penned Rough Trade: Labels Unlimited, click here.
“What Difference Does It Make? (Peel Session Version)” from The Sound Of The Smiths:
After the dissolution of beloved sci-fi pop outfit Grandaddy in 2006, frontman Jason Lytle left behind California’s blue suburban skies for the peace, quiet and sobriety of Montana. This week, Lytle re-emerges with news of a solo debut and a part-time seasonal job as guest editor for magnetmagazine.com. Read our new Q&A with Lytle about his forthcoming album, Yours Truly, The Commuter (Anti-), here.
Lytle:Beck can do no wrong in my book. He’s pretty much pulling off what Prince thought he was gonna pull off at one point, as far as jumping all over the place and remaining a true artist. Somehow, his body of work is super-cohesive regardless of the fact that his albums do tend to sound a lot different from each other.
Beck’s “We Live Again” from 1998’s Mutations:
For an in-depth piece on Lytle circa the end of Grandaddy, read our 2006 cover story here.
We’ve spent the past few weeks posting items from issue #80’s 15 In Philly feature, our 15th-anniversary spotlight of favorite music from MAGNET’s hometown. Guess what? It’s year 16. This week, we pay attention to the newcomers, make amends for the omissions and basically try to cover our asses. Because all beatdowns are local.
As if handed some imaginary baton from the late, great Bigger Lovers, the five-piece Canadian Invasion has inherited the title of Philadelphia’s best power-pop band. The proof is in sophomore album Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand (Transit Of Venus), a smartly written critique of—and ode to—suburbia. Three Cheers doesn’t rock the suburbs with rote teenage angst or anti-sprawl tirades, however; the voice of singer/guitarist Andy Canadian is coming from inside the ranch house, detailing the funny and sad lives of the members of an American family lost in their own bland anonymity. The clever lyrical conceit is held up by sturdy guitar-pop songwriting; Canadian Invasion sounds like Fountains Of Wayne with considerably less cheese, swapping regressive teenage fantasies and gimmicky Cars keyboards for Kinks-like character sketches and Teenage Fanclub guitar chime.
MAGNET spoke to frontman Andy Canadian and bassist Jim Foley about the big ideas and small details behind Three Cheers, out Feb. 17.
“Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand” from Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand:
Mott The Hoople, in answer to the prayers of anyone who ever loved the band, will reform in 2009 for live shows to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The Hereford, England-bred combo was fronted by gravel-voiced, perpetually sunglassed lead singer Ian Hunter, whose runaway curly mop rivaled that of King Charles II and whose platform shoes were gaudier than those of MAGNET contributor Fred Mills. Mick Ralphs played guitar and Verden Allen handled the keyboards, with Pete “Overend” Watts on bass and Dale “Buffin” Griffin on drums. They specialized in tearjerkers such as “Ballad Of Mott The Hoople” and “All The Young Dudes,” the latter a glitter-rock anthem written and produced by David Bowie that cracked the U.S. market for the band in 1972. Along with Iggy And The Stooges and the New York Dolls, Mott helped fill the deep void left by the demise/decline of the Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Doors and other ’60s legends until the punk revolution of the mid-’70s relit the fires. Some astute observers have pointed out that the Sex Pistols were really just Mott The Hoople speeded up with angrier vocals. Hunter and Co. will play London’s Hammersmith Apollo on October 2 and 3, with more dates possible down the line.
Things have been pretty quiet from everyone’s favorite Jersey boy (Bruce who?) since 2006’s Nightcrawler, but there’s been a trickle of activity around the internets in the past few weeks that suggests a new Pete Yorn record is not far off. Yorn is reportedly working on songs in Omaha, Nebraska, and a few have popped up on the usual social networking sites. You can check out new songs including “Sans Fear” and “Shotgun” here. We couldn’t help noticing at one location a reference to Yorn prepping his “records” (plural). This could just be a typo, but who knows? Maybe Petey is following in the footsteps of Kiss (they were the ones, they dressed like something so special) and releasing a double album. Stay tuned.
