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Cindy Lawson

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Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Boppin' (Like the Hip Folks Do) 

 

I've been listening to pop music with willful obsession for decades. It's why I co-host a radio show, and the sweetly addictive nature of my obsession is why I write about singers and songs on (or not on) the radio. 

And I'm still discovering new and new-to-me stuff all of the time. In the '90s, Cindy Lawson was in a group called the Clams. The Clams completely evaded my radar; I only heard them for the first time a few days ago. My belated discovery of the Clams came about because I stumbled across Lawson's swell "Let's Pretend" on a sampler album, decided to play it, and then felt compelled to find out about more of her work. Obsession in play! Cindy Lawson makes her TIRnRR debut this week. The Clams make theirs next week. - Carl Carfarelli (THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL RADIO dj and former GOLDMINE editor)

Cool pic! Thanks, Stephan Faerber!

Cool pic! Thanks, Stephan Faerber!

Don't Come Crying To Me. Cindy Lawson 

In the promo email accompanying Don't Come Crying To Me, this blog is actually quoted on Cindy Lawson's previous single, 'How It Feels': "How it Feels is all about loud, huge riffs and a mean rhythm section. If How if Feels signifies Cindy Lawson's return to rock and roll, the world can only welcome her warmly". What more can I add then this? Her new single is fantastic. Tick, tick on the drumsticks and off goes the band. Cindy Lawson is back and in a hurry. After releasing 'New Tricks' in 2022 a new album is underway already. If Don't Come Crying To Me is any indication, it will be a total knock-out. This single has so much drive and there certainly is some anger in it as well. This title spells out how she feels and there can be no doubt about whether she means it or not. This person cannot make up with a bouquet of flowers, no matter how big or colourful. I'm afraid, they will be shredded to pieces in the huge rock sound of Don't Come Crying To Me. Cindy Lawson is back from rock and roll retirement and she obviously means it as well. What A Single!

WONO BLOG, The Netherlands

PowerPop

From 2023 (right about now, in other words) please enjoy legendary local hero Minnesota punkette rocker Cindy Lawson and her kick-posterior new single "Don't Come Crying to Me." 

YMMV, but I hear a lot of Patti Smith in there, and more than a hint of the early (i.e. when she was still in Detroit) Suzi Quatro, but whatever influences you wanna cite, the above is as infectious and makes-you-want-to-jump-around as it gets. Let me be blunt: If I had stumbled into a show at some dive club years ago (or last week, actually) that resembled the above, I would have been hopelessly, embarrassingly smitten on the spot.

Honesty compels me to note that I was previously unfamiliar with Lawson, but she's apparently been in a succession of cool bands in the Minneapolis area for quite a while; the current batch she's playing with got together last year, when her album New Tricks, her first in a quarter century(!) was released on Rum Bar Records. That new song is from her forthcoming waxing, also titled Don't Come Crying to Me, which will be out any minute, also on Rum Bar. You can learn more about Cindy, not to mention hear (and order, 'natch) more of her music, over at her official sort-of-website HERE.

I should add that the gentleman playing guitar on the right in the video is named Jerry Lefkowitz. Jerry's a friend I've never met in person who used to be in a brilliant Minneapolis-area band called Something Fierce; I've written about them in these precincts a number of times, but if you missed those posts, here's a link where you can get the back story. And quite a story it is, trust me.

PowerPop blog
We're in the Top 75 this week!

We're in the Top 75 this week!

Shooting a video for our new single at the Hook and Ladder with Chelsea Oxborough from HOTDISH CREATIVE! Photos by Chuck Avery.

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In the Dream Hog studio with Steve Price recording the new record! Photos by Chuck Avery.

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Hey Santa b/w MR. SCROOGE

REAL GONE

Back in the dim and distant past of the mid 80s, at a time when The Cars were still chart toppers and The Replacements hadn’t quite made the jump to a major label deal and fullblown melodies, there was a rock ‘n’ roll band called The Clams. That name has since been hijacked by a surf rock band, but the original Minnesota Clams were a great vehicle for garage rock riffs and massive hooks. A lot of people have only really caught up with them via the Rum Bar Records compilation ‘The Complete Clams’ (issued in May 2022), but it’s clear that decades after they disbanded, The Clams were a band with a huge potential. At the very tip of their musical iceberg, ‘He’s Like Heroin’ presented them like a huge-voiced, female fronted Stooges; ‘Give Me A Reason’ served up sixties garage pop loaded with bubblegum sweet melodic hooks and ‘The Dangerous Kind’ showed them dabbling with something much punkier, but with equally cool results. The Clams were a band that often sounded great, no matter what. Their vocalist Cindy Lawson disappeared off the map for a good few years after their disbanding, but made a much unexpected return to the US rock scene in 2021. Her counter vocal on a Beebe Gallini Xmas recording showed how much her voice had matured, but it still retained so much of its former sass and power, before Lawson’s own LP (‘New Tricks’, released in May ’22 alongside the Clams comp) showcased a hugely confident vocal curl on a range of power pop bangers that came with a strong root in mid 60s melodies. The album suggested that she was back in a very big way. Hot on the heels of that Rum Bar LP, this two track festive treat gives fans more of “the voice”, but if anything, Lawson’s natural coolness sounds even better here. When applied to music that aims to lift the spirits – first and foremost – but also supply a dose of yuletide nostalgia, it appears that she’s able to summon some pleasingly huge sounds. On the newly written ‘Hey Santa’, the clean opening chords and soaring vocal melody immediately hark back to the Phil Spector stable, providing melodies that are very broad, but they become much more indebted to the works of the Wall of Sound when a classic girl group groove takes a hold via a massive drum part and curly vocal. The 60s derived music comes strongly juxtaposed with ironic, modern lyrics about iPhone accessories and not wanting traditional toys, but nothing here ever leans on novelty. If anything, Lawson approaches each syllable with a great earnestness that sells the song, and by the time she reaches the chorus and drops in various whoahs that are clearly stolen with love from The Ronettes, this sounds like a modern classic in the old school mould. To hear it once is to love it. On the flip, Lawson and her band tackle The Orchids’ ‘Mr. Scrooge’, which they make their own with the help of another beefy drum part and well arranged harmonies. Although the lead vocal remains very strident, the more spacious and slightly slower arrangement immediately shows how it wasn’t written with Cindy in mind. There are a couple of moments where she wobbles on a broader melody, but reaching the second verse and beyond, and with a much higher register, she positively explodes, dominating another tune that calls back to the glory days of Gold Star Studios. That’s not to take anything away from the assembled band, though. This very natural sounding recording features some really cool bass runs, a hard edged guitar that’s just perfect for the role it’s given, and as previously suggested, a really taut drum sound brings a great amount of life to the recording as a whole. Xmas singles may only have a limited amount of stereo time every year, but the retro feel of these tracks ensures they won’t actually get old any time soon. This duo of 60s inspired bangers deserves a place on any festive playlist loaded with old favourites. In time, they have every chance of becoming part of your listening tradition along with those Brian Setzer LPs and that well worn copy of ‘A Christmas Gift From Phil Spector’. …And if, somehow, you’ve stumbled across this release due to a love of xmas related songs, be sure to backtrack and check out Cindy’s ‘New Tricks’ LP too – you won’t be disappointed.

REAL GONE
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