THE HALF-CUBES - My Girl
THE HALF-CUBES double down once more with a two-sided single from their forthcoming album, and both tracks are pop treasures indeed. “My Girl” (featuring LA pop mainstays and Brian Wilson Band veterans Darian Sahanaja, Matt Jardine and Jim Laspesa) joins “Someday” – both written and originally recorded by Eric Carmen – as a double tribute to the late Raspberries frontman on the seventh and final single to preview the band's debut album. Both tracks are out September 6 on all digital platforms and up for pre-order now.
To call POP TREASURES a “debut album” does THE HALF-CUBES a disservice: drummer/producer TOMMY ALLEN and vocalist/bassist GARY FRENAY are literally one half of Power Pop Hall Of Famers and 2024 Syracuse Area Music Award winners The Flashcubes, and the album is a double-sized sequel to the acclaimed 2023 covers-and-and collaborations collection Pop Masters from the larger 'Cubes. Even at twice the size, and with a robust roster of guests and a bounty of five decades' worth of cult guitar pop classics on display, the album stays true to its calling... perhaps no more so than on its two tribute tracks to Eric Carmen, collected together for this single to grace the global pop rock airwaves just one week before the album hits record store shelves and streaming service worldwide.
TOMMY ALLEN explains why this pairing was the choice for the release-week single. “I think it is fair to say that for us, Eric Carmen was in the pantheon of pop songwriters. His music with Raspberries defined what we loved about 'power pop', and the subsequent solo output offered a more complex vision of the genre, always steeped in melody and pathos. For Pop Treasures, we chose to do two of his most Beach Boys-inspired tunes, 'My Girl' and 'Someday'. Our version of the former includes superb vocal contributions from Brian Wilson Band alumni Darian Sahanaja, Matt Jardine and Jim Laspesa, along with original Eric Carmen Band bassist Stephen Knill. The latter enlists Cleveland natives and Peter Noone Band members Billy Sullivan and Rich Spina. Eric's songs are impossible to cover, but without his influence on our lives, we wouldn't be who we are!”
That's Gary and Tommy's ethos across all 24 tracks on POP TREASURES: tributes to the music that shaped them, often alongside their fellow pop titans (listen for contributions from Van Duren, The Rubinoos, The Pursuit Of Happiness's Moe Berg, and many more). Like Pop Masters before it, POP TREASURES is a labor of love packed with ear candy of the highest order. It's half the 'Cubes and twice the pop. You can hear it on this single, and soon you can treasure the full album for yourself.
