Tag: 40 watt moon

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Music Record Reviews

40 Watt Moon Carries the Torch of Classic FM Pop

Imagine you’re listening to the radio as you drive through the Bluff City, when a song jumps out of your speakers, all driving guitar riffs and pounding drums, a perfect power pop epiphany, and you think, “Where did this come from? Tom Petty is no longer with us. Matthew Sweet, maybe?” But then a voice, not as sardonic or cutting as Petty’s, nor as sweet as Sweet’s, sings, “Well lately, I’ve been tryin’ to change, but I never seem to get that far/And maybe you can burn it down like another little shooting star.” This is another band altogether: Memphis’ own 40 Watt Moon.

If it seems like hyperbole to compare the group to such greats, just have a listen to the title song from 40 Watt Moon’s latest, I Hope the World Lasts for You. They’ve perfected a blend of that now-endangered genre one might call Classic FM Pop — not quite classic rock, and certainly not hair metal, but a more upbeat, propulsive flavor of power pop that thrives on driving riffs, harmonies, and wry-yet-sentimental lyrics evoking relationships past and present.

The band wears its influences on its collective sleeve, with classic Memphis self-deprecation. “Kind of like Tom Petty, but not as good,” they quip on their Bandcamp page, but that’s unfair to what they’ve accomplished here. A lot of the emotional authenticity comes from singer/guitarist Kevin Pusey’s delivery — a more hapless everyman than Petty, to be sure, but no less trenchant or pithy in his observations of everyday life and the ways people escape it.

Super low, that’s where you’ll go
Hiding secrets everyone knows
Find a pen at the back of the bar
But, these love letters won’t get you too far
Out of time, on this rocket ship
Lately I’m so tired of all this
Nothing’s real or meant to last
And it’s catchin’ up with you so fast
— “One and Lonely”

He’s backed by a band that blends driving rock and sparkling textures with a disciplined feel for arrangements. These players — drummer Vince Hood, bassist Michael Duncan, and guitarist Chip Googe (senior account executive at the Memphis Flyer) — have an almost architectural approach to arrangements, always playing at the service of the song. That’s equally true for the feelgood opener, “Everytime I Fall” (reminiscent of the Face’s classic, “Ooh La La”), the pummeling “Over You,” the lilting “Madeline,” and everything in between.

It doesn’t hurt that the pounding rhythms and shimmering guitars are given a bit of extra panache via Toby Vest’s production at High/Low Studio. Nor does guest keyboardist Rick Steff, typically heard with Lucero, hurt the overall effect, bringing pitch-perfect piano flourishes or organ pads as needed.

DJs take note: the opening scenario is not just a daydream. You need to play this album on the radio. It was meant to be blasted over the airwaves, carrying news of love and heartbreak, with ringing guitars, across the Mid-South and beyond.

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Music Record Reviews

40 Watt Moon’s Ghost From the Stone

In his 1980 absurdist-romance novel, Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins says that the light of the full moon, seen through a window set high in a lonely bedroom, is almost equal to the brightness of the light of a 40-watt light bulb hung high from a lonely bedroom.

While the science behind Robbins’ claims probably doesn’t hold up, the image has stuck with me a long time, and I’ve long wondered if veteran Memphis rockers 40 Watt Moon are fans of Robbins as well. Whatever their reading tastes, though, last month, the group released their new full-length album, Ghost From the Stone. They will continue the promotion of the release with a concert at Lafayette’s Music Room this Wednesday, July 10th, at 8:30 p.m.

Ghost From the Stone


The album pays homage to ’70s and ’80s power pop (think The Posies) and ’90s Britpop. The guitars, played by vocalist/guitarist Kevin Pusey and lead guitarist Chip Googe, are crisp and bright, and Vince Hood beats on the drums as if he’d just heard them insulting his mother. Bassist Michael Duncan rounds out the band and keeps the low end grooving in sync with the drums.


The tracking was done at Young Avenue Sound with engineer Scott Harden and at American Recording with in-demand Memphis mixmasters Toby Vest and Pete Matthews.


The album opener, “Venus and Mars,” is an excellent example of what’s to come, all jangle and melodic vocals. The refrain is infinitely hum-able: “Venus and Mars and runaway cars on the skyway.”


On “Lazarus,” Pusey sings about an old friend returned from the brink of oblivion. The relief is palpable in the singer’s voice as he welcomes an old friend he never expected to see again. The song is made especially poignant by the ranks of Memphis musicians who have fallen prey to overindulgence of their more hedonistic appetites.


“Liz Phair,” a personal favorite, opens with blues licks in a crunchy, rock guitar tone. The song is a tribute to one of rock’s leading ladies, who last year celebrated the release of her landmark debut album Exile in Guyville with a vinyl reissue. The 40 Watt Moon song is replete with references to Phair’s oeuvre (including her sophomore release, Whip-Smart): “Whip-smart right from the start … Liz Phair, I don’t care if the whole world stares.”
       
The closing track, “Nine Muses,” is quieter and more contemplative, with arrangements that give the song room to breathe and marinate in the atmosphere it creates. Fittingly, the final lyrics on the album are, “She has trouble with goodbyes.” 40 Watt Moon will have CDs available at the upcoming show at Lafayette’s. So fans who are similarly afflicted with farewell-difficulties never have to say goodbye.

40 Watt Moon performs at Lafayette’s Music Room, Wednesday, July 10th, at 8:30 p.m. $5.

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We Recommend We Saw You

Priscilla Presley, Stuntarious Vol. III, The Lifter, 40 Watt Moon

CREDIT: Harold Graeter

Harold Graeter

I had the pleasure of having my photo taken with Priscilla Presley the night she received the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Distinguished Citizen Award.

Priscilla Presley’s visit to Memphis drew a crowd of almost 500 June 24th at the Hilton Memphis. She was here to accept the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Distinguished Citizen Award.

The event, along with the 24th annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl Golf Classic (held June 25th at Ridgeway Country Club), and Liberty Bowl’s partnership with the College Playoff Foundation, raised a record amount of about $250,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“I’m truly honored to be here,” Presley told the audience. “I’m a bit taken aback by all the honors. And it’s very hard for me to take that. But I’ll do whatever I can to help Memphis. I now feel officially a Memphian with this honor.”


Past recipients of the Distinguished Citizen Award include Danny Thomas, Frederick W. Smith, Kemmons Wilson, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Lou Holtz, Archie Manning, and Tim McCarver.

The 60th AutoZone Liberty Bowl will be at 2:45 p.m. Dec. 31 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium and will feature teams from the SEC and Big 12.

………

Michael Donahue

Maricus Windless

Wearing a pair of knickers with long red-and-white-striped socks, Maricus Windless waited for customers in his golf cart.

No, he’s not a caddy. He and Donte Jones operate “The Lifter” shuttle service. It provides quick rides to local destinations, including restaurants, bars, sporting events, and concerts, to people in the Downtown area.

“We’re trying to revolutionize the way people commute Downtown,” Windless says.

People can call him at 901-GOLIFTS and he’ll take them where they want to go. “Each ride is two to three minutes anywhere in the Downtown area, including Sun Studios.”

If people just have a 30-minute lunch break, they “have the option to go further” with his service, he says. They don’t have to eat close to where they work or pay to park. They also can do emails and text on their phones will they ride. “It’s saving them time.”

His service also takes out “a lot of the guesswork” for tourists, he says. “I’m the first person they see for recommendations.”

They began with a soft opening last year, but went full-time during the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, Windless says.

They now operate between 7 a.m. and 12 a.m. during the week and 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. on weekends.

And “The Lifter” is expanding. “We’ve already purchased two more carts.”

The knickers and red-and-white socks are part of his weekend outfit, which also includes a cap, a red and white polka dot bowtie and Chuck Taylors, Windless says. During the week he wears khakis and blue jeans, but everything else stays the same.

His headgear either will be a Memphis Redbirds or Memphis Grizzlies cap, Windless says. “I’m always going to be representing Memphis.”

………………….

Michael Donahue

IMAKEMADBEATS and PreauXX at the release of Stuntarious Vol. III at Railgarten.

Unapologetic released “Stuntarious Vol. III” July 30th at Railgarten. It’s the third volume of a series of compilations dropped by Unapologetic every summer since 2016.

The EP features Cameron Bethany, IMAKEMADBEATS, AWFM, Kid Maestro, PreauXX, Aaron James, ISpeakWIthaFift, Idi Aah Que, MIIDAS, Blueprint, Mean Joe Scheme, R.U.D.Y., C Major, and Coldway.

“It went great,” says Unapologetic producer/founder IMAKEMADBEATS. “Some of the stuff we tried, we’d never tried before. It worked out very well.”

As for its meaning, “Stuntarious” is “a word we created,” he says.

Most of the material was recorded at Dirty Socks studio.

…….
Michael Donahue

Chip Googe performs with his band, 40 Watt Moon, at Lafayette’s Music Room.

My colleague, Memphis Flyer senior account executive Chip Googe, and his band 40 Watt Moon, have a show booked for August 10th at The Blue Monkey on Madison.

I’d recommend going. I saw his show June 12th at Lafayette’s Music Room.

“The best way to describe us is power pop,” Googe says.

The band performed music from its first album, August in Grace, which was released in 2006. The group currently is recording its next album at Young Avenue Sound and American Recording Studios. That album is slated to be released in a few months.

In addition to Googe, who plays lead guitar and is background vocalist, are guitarist/lead vocalist Kevin Pusey; bass player/songwriter Michael Duncan; and drummer Vince Hood.

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