"Tomorrow...?" No, TODAY!!
The Half/Cubes' superb new album Found Pearls is released today by the good folks at Jem Records. This Sunday, October 19th, two lucky This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio listeners will win their very own Found Pearls CD.
What is Found Pearls? Glad you asked!
THE HALF/CUBES: Found Pearls
The world of rockin' pop music has no use for half measures. The giddy thrill of pure pop survives and thrives on passion AND craft, power AND precision, a longing for pristine love AND an eye on the earthy prize. Rock AND roll. Missing either half misses the freakin' point.
The Half/Cubes know the whole story. Half/Cubes Gary Frenay and Tommy Allen have seen it all from all sides, as fans and performers, as kids listening to records and radio and as one-half of Power Pop Hall of Famers the Flashcubes, sharing stages with legends and building an immediate and lasting legend of their own. The Half/Cubes' impeccable taste in the finest pop songs brings us the full-on treat of their brand-new album Found Pearls.
As the much-anticipated follow-up to their acclaimed 2024 album Pop Treasures (which was itself a continuation of the Flashcubes' 2023 triumph Pop Masters), Found Pearls once again finds our beloved Half/Cubes diving into the depths of their mighty record collections and emerging with fresh renditions of some pop classics you probably know (like the Romantics' "When I Look In Your Eyes," the Rembrandts' "That's Just The Way It Is, Baby," Marshall Crenshaw's "Whenever You're On My Mind" and "Something's Gonna Happen"), some deeper cuts you should know (Crabby Appleton's "Go Back," Artful Dodger's "Think Think," Brian Wilson's "It's Like Heaven," previously recorded by the disparate likes of American Spring and Shaun Cassidy), and some buried bounty you'll rightly wish you'd encountered earlier (Starclub's "Hard To Get," Canadian pop star Pagliaro's "Some Sing Some Dance"). The Half/Cubes lead us to rediscoveries of so many irresistibles by the Hollies, XTC, the Cars' Elliot Easton, Stereophonics, Mark Hudson of the Hudson Brothers, Jules Shear, Simon Townshend, Dirty Looks, Tim Wheeler, and Jon Brion. It all shines with the Cubic brilliance one expects from the Half/Cubes.
Not content to merely add oomph to old favorites, the Half/Cubes have also enlisted a number of super-friends to help them save the day. Robert Crenshaw and Tom Teeley pitch in on "Whenever You're On My Mind," Pilot's David Paton assists the Half/Cubes in their exquisite revamp of his former group's "Just A Smile," Phil Solem fills the Rembrandts quorum on "That's Just The Way It Is, Baby," Artful Dodger's Gary Herrewig and Steve Cooper assist in rethinking "Think Think," and Mark Hudson lends his patented razzle-dazzle to "I Don't Wanna Know" (originally recorded by Mark's friend John Lennon's son Julian Lennon) and to his own "Be Mine Tonight." Yeah, the Half/Cubes clearly do know the whole story.
And that ain't the half of it. Case in point: The album's first single enlists 1960s British Invasion superstar Peter Noone, not to remake one of his cuddly Herman's Hermits hits but to revive "I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight," which our Peter originally recorded with his incredible early '80s new wave combo the Tremblers. For those of us who have waited DECADES for Peter Noone to pay a return visit to the Tremblers songbook, this is a big, big deal. And the kicker? The Half/Cubes featuring Peter Noon version of "I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight" is even better than the Tremblers. Impossible...but true!
In fact, many of the pearls to be found on Found Pearls somehow surpass the seemingly nonpareil originals. That's what happens when the Half/Cubes apply their taste AND talent, their creative vision AND fannish enthusiasm. Their pearls and their ability to find them...and shine them. Curious to hear more? The Half/Cubes have done the work, and they'll meet you halfway to all the way. Found Pearls await. The rest is up to you.
THE HALF/CUBES: Found Pearls
2 I’ll Be Taking Her Out Tonight (The Tremblers)
Featuring Peter Noone
3 The Disappointed (XTC)
4 Shayla (Elliot Easton)
5 I Don’t Wanna Know (Julian Lennon)
Featuring Mark Hudson
6 Go Back (Crabby Appleton)
7 Be Mine Tonight (Mark Hudson)
Featuring Mark Hudson
8 Have A Nice Day (Stereophonics)
9 Feels Like Summer (Tim Wheeler)
10 You’re Not Around (Jules Shear)
11 Just The Way It Is, Baby (The Rembrandts)
Featuring Phil Solem
12 Think, Think (Artful Dodger)
Featuring Gary Herrewig, Steve Cooper
13 When I Look In Your Eyes (The Romantics)
14 Something’s Gonna Happen (Marshall Crenshaw)
15 Don’t Make Me Fall In Love With You (Jon Brion)
16 Just A Smile (Pilot)
Featuring David Paton
17 Hard To Get (The Star Club)
18 Meet You (Simon Townshend)
19 Lie To Me (Dirty Looks)
20 Slow Down (The Hollies)
21 Some Sing Some Dance (Michel Pagliaro)
22 It’s Like Heaven (Shaun Cassidy)
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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.
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