Is Paul Your Favorite Beatle? Check This Out…

Three New(ish) Albums to Reward You For Your Excellent Taste

Sure, he’s the "cute one”. He knows how to write a great pop lick. He’s a little goofy and absolutely rocks a shetland sweater. That’s right - Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. In an attempt to calm the raging hoards yelling at their screens: I’m not saying he’s objectively the best member of the Fab Four. Who am I to say that any one of them is objectively anything? I’m not a scholar. But subjectively, he’s my favorite.

His musical curiosity drew him to explore loads of different genres, and dive into music theory and arranging. His technical curiosity inspired multiple albums recorded at home. He’s both endlessly interested in the craft of making music and also doesn’t take the whole thing so seriously. See: the alleged origin story of “Hello, Goodbye”. The astonishing and admirable thing about Paul though, is that whether or not the song was conceived on the spot or had existed in some rudimentary form beforehand, the simple fact remains - it was, and continues to be, a massive hit. Paul has that ineffable knack for creating timeless melodies that bury their way into the very core of your being, and his musical torch has been carried by legions of artists over the years.

Three albums in particular that were released recently (or at least, earlier this year) made me chuckle and think, I know someone in that studio giddily sings along to the B section of ‘A Day In The Life’ , juuuust like me.

If you’ve read this far, I suspect it’s because you too, like me, have a soft spot for Macca - so here are three albums to reward you for your excellent taste:

The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know

Alright, this might be a cheap shot. Anyone already familiar with the work of brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario knows that it’s mostly a pastiche of 60’s and 70’s psychedelia and glam rock. They themselves are open about the Beatles’ influence on their work, with Michael stating that “In terms of arranging a pop song, The Beatles are one of the best at it – if not the best.”

Their last two albums, last year’s Everything Harmony and their latest, A Dream Is All We Know, are their most self-assured and exciting. They’re also their most personal, and in many ways, their most beautiful. The vocal arrangements all over A Dream Is All We Know are tight two-part harmonies reminiscent of Lennon and McCartney’s finest, where sweet, chromatic melodies abound. Tracks like “They Don’t Know How To Fall In Place” and “Peppermint Roses” would’ve easily felt at home on Revolver or Rubber Soul. But where this album feels particularly Paul-coded are the moments where The Lemon Twigs channel McCartney’s deep love for The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. The mid-point of the albums is “In the Eyes of the Girl”, a starry-eyed, sun-soaked doo-wop ballad that would make Brian Wilson blush. The B-section of album opener “My Golden Years” sounds like what I can only describe as McCartney conducting the Wilson brothers through a rapid-fire retrospective of their entire career. As a whole, A Dream Is All We Know is joyful, wistful, and deliciously harmonic - sound like anyone else we know?

Clairo - Charm

I’m fully convinced that the Brat Summer will give way to the Charm Fall. Clairo’s third album has quietly found its way on to everyone I know’s playlists and even their best albums of 2024 lists. I’ve been aware of Claire Cottrill’s DIY indie balladry for years, but something about Charm’s whimsy and whip-smart point of view has completely won me over. Content creator Derrick Gee astutely linked this album to McCartney’s mid-70’s solo work and Wings albums, stating, “Sometimes things don’t need to be so serious, know what I mean?” I do, Derrick, I do.

From the ba-da-dum opening refrain of “Second Nature” to the cheeky mid-tempo groove of “Thank You”, this is clearly a less serious affair than 2019’s Sling. The chorus of one of the album’s breakout hits, “Sexy To Someone”, features Cottrill cooing, “Sexy to somebody, it would help me out / Oh I need a reason to get about of the house / And it’s just a little thing I can’t live without”. This album’s winking musings on early attraction have the same sense of humor and simple wisdom McCartney exhibits on “Silly Love Songs” & “Maybe I’m Amazed”. Charm’s hooky melodies instantly sneak into your psyche, but the album (particularly B-side standouts like ‘Juna’ and ‘Glory of the Snow’) has a depth and delicacy to it that rewards repeat listens. Cottrill specifically sites Harry Nilsson and The Beach Boys as influences on her work on the album - coincidentally, both favorites of one Mr. Paul McCartney.

Ginger Root - SHINBANGUMI

You want to know how confident I am this album will make you smile? It’s on this list and it hasn’t even been fully released yet! Cameron Lew’s self-proclaimed “aggressive elevator soul” is sunny and inviting, blending maximalist arrangements with low-fi fuzzed out vocals that keep the whole package delightfully low-key. Drawing influence from 80’s J-Pop, Feist, and Vulfpeck, Ginger Root’s latest album is reminiscent of Beck’s uptempo albums, as though Midnight Vultures, Guero, and Colors were all put in a blender.

Part of what makes Lew’s work so winning, as well as Beck’s and McCartney’s for that matter, is his musical curiosity. Each song reveals a new instrument, production texture, or musical reference that draws your ear, even as you nod and boogie along. The glockenspiel coda of lead single “No Problems” is a fun surprise, seeing as the uptempo groove feels like sticking your head out the window on a beachside drive, but its finale wouldn’t be out of place on a Christmas hit. The Bossa Nova intro to “There Was a Time” is a clever bait-and-switch the gives way to a mid-tempo yacht rock jam. It’s the same balance between slick and quirky that make “Say, Say, Say” and “Paperback Writer” such enduring hits. When SHINBANGUMI officially drops on September 13th, put it on right away to make your summer last just a little bit longer.

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Paul McCartney said in a 2008 interview with the Guardian,

“When it comes to music, enthusiasm is what drives me. And because I'm enjoying myself, I never see anything that I do as a risk, I just see it as a bit of fun.”

Given the sheer volume of popular, influential art that has come before us, I think it can be tempting as an artist to set out to make a vital contribution to your art form. Obviously, I think it’s natural to want to leave an impact, but setting the intention of making something important can often get in the way of making something enjoyable, and the desire to make something perfect will often get in the way of making something good. What makes McCartney one of my favorite totems is that he stands as a constant reminder of the power of a good time. Have fun. Who knows? You might move someone.