Over the course of the last two years, Sour Ops — led by guitarist, songwriter and singer Price Harrison — has mined a rich lode of glammy power pop. Their flair for addictive guitar pop marks their 2018 album Family Circuit and 2019’s Tinder Flame, a superb EP. In addition, they’ve released a cool half-dozen singles in 2020. Each shows a different facet of the band, but the basis is the classic rock and punk of the 1970s and ‘80s.
In the world of Sour Ops, Bowie and the Beatles spark off Marc Bolan riffs, and there’s a hint of the Memphis-style power pop of stalwarts like the Scruffs and, of course, Big Star.
On the aforementioned 2020 releases, Sour Ops perfect a winningly snide take on guitar pop, with drummer George Lilly and bassist Tony Frost powering Harrison’s concise, riff-heavy tunes with flair and rock ‘n’ roll panache. Meanwhile, “I Want You Around” finds the band in Americana-meets-glam mode, with celebrated Nashville pedal-steel master Paul Niehaus, whose many credits include stints with Nashville avant-rockers Lambchop and alt-country singer Jon Byrd, adding that touch of post-Gram Parsons, post-Pavement atmosphere (think the country-esque tunes on that group’s 1995 opus Wowee Zowee).
In addition, legendary Nebraska-born blues-R&B-rock vocalist Shaun Murphy adds evocative background vocals to “I Want You Around.” Murphy’s resume includes work with Meat Loaf, Little Feat, Eric Clapton, and Bob Seger, the latter of whom Murphy has accompanied on the road and in the studio since the 1970s.
Glide is thrilled to premiere the Nashville-recorded single, “I Want You Around,” a ’90s throwback indie power pop anthem if there ever was one. AM era Wilco alt-country, fashionable Urge Overkill hooks, and glorious Paul Westerberg melodies enrich this twangy stunner.
“I really wanted to involve some of the great session musicians in Nashville: I called up Paul Niehaus to lay down some pedal steel (which he did remotely) and I asked Shaun Murphy (Bob Seger) to come into our studio to sing background,” says Harrison. “I wanted to contrast the organic / warm quality of the verse and chorus with the garage rock fuzz / synth on the breaks.”
