Music & Concerts
Tyler Glenn’s ‘Excommunication’ statement
On the outs with Neon Trees, gay frontman cuts loose


Tyler Glenn’s new solo album is more daring than anything he did with former band Neon Trees. (Photo by Meredith Traux)
Utah-based electro-new wave revivalists Neon Trees rode their breakthrough single, 2009’s “Animal,” to an impressive wave of success. Similar stylistically to the Killers (for whom Neon Trees opened) with perhaps a bit more manic energy, Neon Trees’ sound was perfect for a period in which the pop charts were blitzed with ‘80s-inspired electronica.
They scored a Top 10 hit in 2011 with the upbeat dance/pop “Everybody Talks” and their second album “Picture Show” made the Top 20.
Meanwhile, things were changing for lead vocalist Tyler Glenn. Neon Trees were all members of the Mormon Church, which holds a decidedly dim view on homosexuality. Glenn came out publicly as gay in April 2014, just two weeks prior to the release of the band’s all-important third album “Pop Psychology” (which ultimately sold far fewer copies than the band’s first two releases). Glenn’s announcement predictably caused a rift among fans, and it also evidently fractured Glenn’s family and Neon Trees itself.
According to a July 21, 2016 piece in Billboard Magazine, Glenn’s brother and the still-practicing Mormon members of Neon Trees were, at least as of the time of that interview, no longer on speaking terms with the singer. Another reminder, as if we needed one, of the steep price some individuals are forced to pay to be who they truly are as a person and an artist.
The good news for Glenn is that his first solo album, “Excommunication,” is as electrifying and upbeat as anything Neon Trees might have produced and boasts the added poignancy of exploring Glenn literally losing his religion. He addresses this trauma with piercing directness on songs like “G.D.M.M.L. GIRLS (God Didn’t Make Me Like Girls),” an explicit and defiant embrace of his sexuality in the face of superstitious rejection. Glenn pushes back against the condescending term “tolerated” and stands up proudly for exactly who he is.
Glenn has a well-developed sense of caustic sarcasm, which he liberally sprinkles through the album’s nakedly confessional lyrics. He explores the doubt, confusion, rejection and ultimate determination and yearning for freedom that Glenn experienced while going through such a pivotal period in his life. This was a real change in personal spirituality for Glenn. He was a devout Mormon, a true believer and yet he knew he had same-sex attraction from an early age.
That long simmering sense of shame and confusion finally gave way to acceptance, defiance and affirmation that he has every right to be the person he should be and he is in no way lesser than those who choose to follow a mythology that they believe elevates them to a spiritual and moral superiority to their fellow humans. He explores these concepts with a pulsing modern pop energy, an album that’s simultaneously fun and deeply meaningful. On songs like the kinetic “Trash,” Glenn skewers the self-righteous with their own hypocrisy, derisively sneering “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
At times, like on the retro groove “Shameless” and the manic new wave thriller “First Vision,” Jake Shears and Scissor Sisters seem to be an obvious influence on Glenn’s sound, and that’s not a bad thing. Glenn doesn’t stray too far from the general vibe he helped cultivate with Neon Trees, but “Excommunication” is ear candy more daring and sonically adventurous than any of his past work. He also shows himself once again to be a first-rate vocalist, especially on the dramatic ballad “Midnight.”
The album closes with “Devil,” a cunning mix of heavy electronic pop with gospel influences and the recurring hook “I found myself when I lost my faith” that is ultimately the album’s defining theme. Glenn’s solo debut finds himself reveling not only in his ability to finally, without reservation, come to terms with his true self, but in his ability to finally shrug off those who can’t accept it. “Don’t pray for me, don’t pray for me, no,” he sings derisively.
“Excommunication” is not only a declaration of self, it’s a road-map for those who may be where Glenn was several years ago, filled with fear, doubt, confusion and an absence of self-worth. This album is exactly the kind of testimony they need to hear.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”