Kelley Stoltz – The Flower (Dandy Boy)

June 6, 2024

My expectations were high for the new album Kelley Stoltz. I’m a relative newbie to his music who missed me somehow, even though I love his genres of power pop and psych pop and have lived in his city of San Francisco for almost 20 years.

I fell hard for the first song I ever heard from him. “Another time” outside the “Ah! (Etc)” LP (Agitated, 2020) is power pop perfection, recalling elements of the many artists and bands I’ve cherished in the genre, from Flamin’ Groovies has Jason Falkner has The the.

New, “The Flower” is Kelley’s 18th album. Released June 7 on Dandy Boy Records in the US and Agitated in Europe/UK, Kelley has spent the last two years writing and recording. The rich collection of 12 songs is dense enough to want to enjoy it little by little. The opening track, “Human Events,” captivated me enough to want to play it several times before moving on to track two, “Victorian Box”; another groover saturated with a bouncy bass riff and synths.

What caught my attention when reading the press release regarding “The Flower” was that Stoltz “again plays almost every instrument on the album, although a new friendship with pop guru Jason Falkner led to Falkner appearing on two songs, “Hide In A Song” and “Make Believer ” respectively.

“Hide in a Song” is indeed everything I look for in a great guitar jangle-pop song. See for yourself. Stoltz’s vocals are typically a bit low in the mix, especially in his lower register, but that just makes me want to listen closer. Put on your headphones, go for a walk on a sunny day, and repeat this song.

Falkner fans know that he too often plays his albums alone to great effect, but his production waned in recent years while he toured with Beck and focused on other activities. Hearing that these two men were going to collaborate definitely got my adrenaline pumping and I hope to hear more with Jason’s involvement. “Make Believer” has a decidedly Los Angeles canyon-rock sound (e.g. Gospel Beach) woven into Moody Blues trippy 60s psychedelia.

As with many Stoltz albums, it meanders, spinning fractals of ’60s psych, late ’70s and early ’80s post-punk, and ’80s power pop into its sound . “Losing My Wild” is a perfect illustration of this, with changing reflections of Cars, Ultravox, Devoand some kind of druggie-fed glam-rock gene Parts structure of the song. It works wonderfully. Robyn Hitchcock Kelley may also be missing, which makes sense since the two toured together in 2023.

As Stoltz tells it, the album’s first single, “Reni’s Car”, is a jangle-rock fever dream based on a real-life event, as he traveled around Manchester in the Stone roses drummer John “Reni” Wren)’scar. Oh, to have been a backseat passenger on this trip.

“Awake in a Dream” has a ’60s groove, like many of Kelley’s tracks, but little guitar effects take listeners to other places. The main guitar riff has a dark edge and sounds very similar to that of Joke to killIt is Geordie (RIP), giving a lush gothic effect to the track. Later in the song, sharp, melodic guitar chords remind me Will Sargentwork with Echo and the Rabbits.

Something about the chorus and melody of “About Time” also takes me on a later Echo journey. Oh, and the acoustic guitars in this song get a nice mixing feature in this song which Kelley says is “a cautionary tale for (his) young daughter.”

Kelley plays a few dates in June, including opening for Echo & The Bunnymen, with whom he tours as guitarist. On June 13, he will play in San Francisco at the Chapel for his “The Flower” record release concert, with other janglers Carillon schoolAnd Maya. He is traveling to Norway and the UK for the July concerts.

The Flower by Kelley Stoltz

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