As album titles go, ‘Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!’ certainly signposts the listener to what is going on within these grooves. This is the record in which Aaron Lee Tasjan lets his name ring aloud, showing the world what he can do without inhibition. You do not need gently easing in, no sales pitch, no preparation or finding the right time of day. This album is instant, it is Pop music pure and simple. Yes, it is cut with a retro sheen but so what? At this point labelling things this way is becoming redundant because music that sounds this good simply identifies as a classic pop sound. But above and beyond the dressing is the man at the center and for sure, this is the album on which Aaron Lee Tasjan rubber stamps his credentials, showing a singular songwriting talent with an ear for both the left field and the mainstream.

You will first see Aaron’s name show up on a Fruit Tree Records playlist around five years ago when the epic cowboy psych of ‘Little Movies’ caught my ear. That song in particular stood out so firmly that he simply had to remain on my watchlist, it was obvious someone with a rare gift was at work and I needed to be there when a talent like that fully blooms. Well, in 2021 the moment arrived beyond doubt although the only regret was that it happened at a time of worldwide pandemic and lockdowns. This sadly limited the exposure Aaron has enjoyed and surely held back the impact his record could have made last year, for with so many instantly loveable, hit-sounding songs to play he could so easily have grabbed the festival scene by both ears and made a far more ubiquitous presence of himself. That is what this kind of album deserved, the tunes are immediate, you can singalong to them first time if you want but they have subtle layers of depth and playful patterns of mystery sewn in too.

As an artist Aaron Lee Tasjan is multifaceted for sure. His instrumental facility is considerable, a former student of the jazz guitar who has gone on record as stating his favorite all time guitarist is Freddie Green of the Count Basie Orchestra. In his own career he has put these skills to work not only in his capacity as a performer but also production and composition work. At a certain point it seems that Aaron just decided songs were where it was at and so he poured all his creativity into that side of his music. At this stage, his ability to write a great three-minute song is established but as a live performer Aaron also shines. He has flashes of the Elton John about him, see it in those moments of camp flamboyance unleashing a fuzzy guitar solo, there is a sense of the absurd peeking through. In fact, on ‘Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!’ that classic rock star androgyny is played into quite deliberately with lyrics like “broke up with my boyfriend to go out with my girlfriend, cause love is like that.”

In terms of sound, the classic Pop I have referred to is not so much Elton John (although that is in there) but leans towards the jingle-jangle guitar sound pioneered by the Byrds as a starting point. However, that is nothing more than a launchpad. The guitar pop trajectory flies across four or five decades and lands most firmly in the Travelling Wilbury’s and Tom Petty arena. This is accentuated too by the laid back, Laurel Canyon timbre in the Aaron Lee Tasjan voice. His studio craft is evident, the sound is as clean and wide open as those aforementioned acts in the eighties and leaves plenty of space for modern sounding electronic brush strokes to complete the picture, it is a cleverly crafted soundscape.

Underpinning everything, the key to the strength of this album, is the tunes. Aaron is unpretentious in his subject matter; he can tackle a topic with straightforward delivery and find humour in there too. Is ‘Feminine Walk’ a hymn to the difficulties in androgyny and not adopting conventional sexual stereotypes or does Aaron just want to strut around like Jagger and play it for laughs? It is hard to tell, but he delivers the chorus hook of the song with all the seriousness of the Bangles singing about their Egyptian walk. He nonchalantly drops any pretense of analysis on ‘Up All Night,’ shrugging off the rationale of staying up all night with “it could be good, or it could be bad for you” and then settling on “it’s gonna be alright.” On the other hand, ‘Computer Love’ is more a straight ahead put down of living life on the internet; “my little avatar, I’ll never know who you really are.”  

Opener ‘Sunday Women’ is a great example of how Aaron can let the music tell most of the story, simply by catching the right feel. The lyrics really only peek from behind the curtain at what is going on, wondering where these Sunday Women are and regretting the lost opportunity to build dreams with one as the singer sits alone with the Monday blues. It is the music that conveys the forlorn sense of longing and dreams unfulfilled. You get the sense that Aaron has really gone all in with this record. He has pulled every lesson learned, all the licks and vibes absorbed and fine tuned within his music with a Blues tilt, a Country inclination and cooked it all up into this fantastic musical melting pot. ‘Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!’ deserved greater recognition for sure but hey, it got made and those that did hear it invariably loved it. Given time, more and more people are going to be shouting the name Aaron Lee Tasjan Tasjan Tasjan!

Search for a vinyl pressing of ‘Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!’ here:

https://www.discogs.com/release/16782057-Aaron-Lee-Tasjan-Tasjan-Tasjan-Tasjan-