No other artist is currently doing more for the cause of janglepop than Toronto duo Ducks Ltd. Evan Lewis and Tom McGreevy have majored and minored in the genre, and are well-versed in classics from around the world — from Dunedin to Glasgow, Hoboken and beyond — and have used that knowledge to craft their own undeniable earworms. Harm’s Way doesn’t really mess with the formula of their 2021 album, Modern Fiction, but it’s improved upon it in every way. Give it a spin below.
In that spirit, we asked Tom and Evan to tell us about their favorite janglepop songs which, with one exception, are entirely from the 1980s heyday of the genre, including The Go-Betweens, The Feelies, Felt, and more. Read their list and listen to a playlist of all their picks below.
DUCKS LTD’s FAVORITE JANGLEPOP SONGS
Five from Evan Lewis…
The Go-Betweens – “Cattle & Cane”
This song is so perfect. It might just be my favorite one ever. I can still remember the first time I heard it. I was so captivated by its atmosphere and the feeling it evokes. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find more songs like it, and there really aren’t many. It’s an enigmatic masterpiece.
The Clean – “Anything Could Happen”
“Anything Could Happen” is one of those songs that makes you want to pick up your guitar and write a song. It’s got that great Dylanesque, sneering attitude to it. The guitar playing is so cool; those big strums and plinky arpeggios give it so much character. The Clean were consistently good and just seemed to know how to do it from the beginning of their career.
Felt – “Vasco de Gama”
Maurice Deebank is such an incredible guitarist, and his playing here is just magic! The whole Strange Idols… record is a masterpiece, but this song over the years seems to be the one I want to listen to the most. By this album, Lawrence has a confidence in his vocal delivery, and it just hits on this track. “Vasco De Gama” chimes and jangles like the best music from this period.
The Feelies – “It’s Only Life”
The Feelies are the greatest American jangle pop band! Look at what they can do with just two chords. “Only Life” is one of those songs I could listen to on repeat. The Feelies really prove that simplicity can produce the most effective songs, and “It’s Only Life” is such a gem in their catalog.
Twerps – “Dreamin’”
I first heard this on the great Melbourne radio station RRR while on a trip visiting my family in Australia, and it’s stuck with me ever since. There always seems to be great jangle pop bands in Aus, and Twerps might be my favorite one in modern years. It’s a really beautiful song and has a magical quality to it. Like many of my favorite jangle pop songs, it’s got a nice blend of simplicity, naivety, and sincere emotion.
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Five from Tom McGreevy…
Talulah Gosh – “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction (Thank God)”
Talulah Gosh were maybe the first band I heard that could be described as jangle pop, before I really had any conception that it was its own genre. It immediately felt like something that had been missing for me and expanded my idea of what guitar music could be. This really could have been a bunch of their songs (I love “Steaming Train,” “My Best Friend” and “Do You Remember”), but I think this one might be the best example of how incisive their songwriting can be.
Orange Juice – “Rip It Up”
Is this the biggest jangle pop “hit”? I guess it depends whether or not you count The Smiths, who I am choosing to disqualify because I would prefer not to think about Morrissey for any longer than is absolutely necessary. Regardless, Orange Juice were another band that I heard as a teenager when I was beginning to discover that jangle pop was a broader musical movement. It does some different things both in terms of instrumentation and in terms of its composition. It’s bright and danceable and brilliant. A perfect song.
The Monochrome Set – “Inside Your Heart”
Another band where a lot of songs could have been the right choice for this list (especially “Jet Set Junta”). I picked this one because it’s a relatively early one, and part of my motivation in including them in this list is that they feel kind of like a proto-jangle pop band. There’s an awful lot going on over their catalog, much of it extremely cool and interesting, but it feels like Bid Seshadri was kind of a frontrunner in the UK indie scene in being a bookish, slightly off-beat songwriter who clearly really likes the Velvet Underground, and this song captures that quite neatly.
McCarthy – “We Are All Bourgeois Now”
A hardline Marxist jangle pop band is just such a great idea! This band [featuring a pre-Stereolab Tim Gane – Ed] is one of one in a jangle pop landscape where the bands can blur together sometimes. Their arrangements and guitar work was better than almost anyone else making this kind of music, and they nail a kind of political songwriting that is so so hard to do. This song feels like their signature song. It has a memorable chorus and a really neat structure where it has an introductory framing and then the rest of the song is a quotation. It’s such a smart way of doing satire in a pop song. It’s hard to imagine being this good.
Dolly Mixture – “Everything And More”
This is one of the indelible UK indie songs for me. It’s a song that transcends its context, and could work just about as well in any of the last 7 or so decades of pop music. The post-chorus backing vocal exchange is a brilliant idea, the vocal performance is so charming, and the chorus melody is irresistable. Great bridge too!
The Verlaines – “CD, Jimmy Jazz and Me”
I love how ambitious so much of The Verlaines’ music is, and I think this one is their masterpiece. The arrangement is so big and cool! It feels like it really stretches the boundary of what this kind of music can be in its scope, scale and emotional intent. It’s definitely one of my very favorite songs.
Playlist link (no Feelies cause the track isn’t on Spotify!):
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Ducks Ltd have a few tour dates ahead, including NYC in March for the New Colossus Festival and Boise’s Treefort Fest. as well as lots of dates with Ratboys. Check out all dates are here:
02/10/24 – Montreal, QC @ Taverne Tour Festival
03/08/24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
03/09-10/24 – New York, NY @ New Colossus
03/28/24 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar *
03/29/24 – Chattanooga, TN @ Barking Legs Theater *
03/30/24 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy *
04/01/24 – Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor *
04/02/24 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall *
04/04/24 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
04/05/24 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom *
04/06/24 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery *
04/07/24 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge *
04/08/24 – Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar *
04/10/24 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig *
04/11/24 – Bloomington, IN @ Bishop *
04/12/24 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s *
05/11/24 – Esch/Alzette, LU @ Out Of The Crowd Festival
05/14/24 – Porto, PT @ CCOP
05/15/24 – Lisbon, PT @ Musicbox
05/19/24 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
05/20/24 – Liverpool, UK @ Stockroom
05/21/24 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
05/22/24 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
05/23/24 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
05/24/24 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall All Dayer
05/25/24 – Bristol, UK @ Dot to Dot
05/26/24 – Nottingham, UK @ Dot to Dot
05/27/24 – London, UK @ Moth Club
05/29/24 – Tours, FR @ Oxford Pub
05/30/24 – Rennes, FR @ L’UBU
05/31/24 – Paris, FR @ Block Party
06/01/24 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Coopérative de Mai
06/05/24 – Antwerpen, BE @ Trix
06/06/24 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
* with Ratboys
