The Sound He Appears To Make - A (not often enough) Recurring Look At New Albums.

Former Hollies lead vocalist Allan Clarke will release his latest solo album I’ll Never Forget on April 7. Clarke retired from the band at the turn of the century due to issues affecting his singing ability, but overcame that obstacle and released an impressive comeback titled Resurgence in 2019. This new effort finds Clarke’s life-long mate and former fellow Hollie Graham Nash joining in via songwriting and performing.

Clarke and Nash, once billed as the Two Teens when they performed as youngsters in Manchester, sound splendid singing together again on the catchy and fun Nash-penned song “Buddy’s Back.” It’s an easy-going look at the band’s earliest days, similar in tone and style to “Then, Now, Always,” a song the current Hollies recorded in 2009. According to online articles I’ve seen, Nash joins Clarke on some other tracks, which will be a real treat for long-time Hollies fans. I’ll Never Forget is available for pre-order in CD and vinyl formats on the official Allan Clarke website, as well as on Amazon.

The recently released album She Steals Candy by vocalist Juniper exudes the same quirky singer-songwriter vibe that made her self-titled debut such a winning effort. For anyone discovering her now, the most surprising thing about She Steals Candy is that Juniper didn’t write any of the material. The 16 tracks are a mix of lost nuggets from the mid-1960s; covers of  The Bangles, The Go-Go’s, Amy Rigby, and other artists. There are also new songs written especially for the album by her father, guitarist Michael Shelley and a few hand-picked members of current indie bands. And yet, Juniper makes each track her own.

She’s only 18 years old, but brings the same authenticity to Delbert McClinton’s somber “Picture Of  You” as she does to her rendition of “Bang,” by the U.K. power pop band The Sails. She totally gets Rigby’s desire to shred condescending nicknames for women on “Baby Doll” (“I’m no doll and I won’t be treated that way”). For pure fun, there’s the golden oldie “Little Miss Stuck Up” and the more recent punk of “I Gotta Guy.”

Michael Shelley wrote the catchy title track and “Ride Between Cars,” while the clever “Alone With You” arrives courtesy of Dawn Eden and The Anderson Council lead vocalist Peter Horvath. An army of well-known musicians helped Juniper and her Dad on She Steals Candy, including Rigby, Horvath, Ira Kaplan from Yo La Tengo, Page Burkum from The Cactus Blossoms, Greg Townson from Los Straitjackets, Chris Geddes from Belle and Sebastian, Steve Goulding from Mekons, John Perrin from NRBQ, Alex Hall, and Dennis Diken from The Smithereens. Here’s betting Juniper will have a few of her own songs on the next album.