New Static in Verona EP (yours free!)

Freebie morning at Absolute Powerpop rolls on:

Last year's Static in Verona release, a side project from Ash Avenue frontman Robert Merz, was a favorite around these parts, so I'm happy to announce that he has offered up a new SiV EP for free download. Titled Life-Size Replica, it's inspired by his impending fatherhood, and can be downloaded from the band's official site.

Who said Mondays were depressing?

CD of the Day, 1/7/09: Static in Verona-Be Quiet as You Leave (with limited time free download!)

Back in 2007, a band named Ash Avenue released a fine 90s-styled power pop disc titled And Then We Ignite. But that wasn't enough for lead guitarist and main songwriter Rob Merz, who by his own admission drove his bandmates crazy with all the new songs he had come up with. So with necessity being the mother of invention and all that, Merz started a side project called Static In Verona, and Be Quiet as You Are is the debut album, and a fine debut it is.

Whereas Ash Avenue was a little more "slick-sounding", Static in Verona leans more to the indie pop side of things, but is more melodic and accessible than a lot of what passes for indie pop these days. In fact, album opener "Drag Me Down", with its ringing guitars and big chorus, wouldn't have been out of place on And Then We Ignite, and "Unlucky Stars" has a bit of a Teenage Fanclub-meets-The BoDeans kind of vibe. But "Dead Bouquet" lets you known things are different: after a two-minute slow-building instrumental opening, it evolves into an Smiths-style 80s-influenced number. The title track is outstanding as well, recalling The Shins. Other standouts include the peppy "Sleeping Alone", which is perhaps the most traditional power pop-sounding track on the disc, and the Elliott Smith-influenced "Pretty".

Best of all (for the next week or so only) it's available as a free 256 kbps download from the Static In Verona site (just click on "music"). So go over there, grab a free copy, and Be Quiet as You Leave.

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CD of the Day, 11/1/07: Ash Avenue-And Then We Ignite

Ah, the 90s. Aside from being a decade of relative peace and prosperity, it was the last decade in which you could reliably turn on the radio and hear decent pop/rock from bands like The Gin Blossoms, Collective Soul, The Wallflowers, Del Amitri, Fastball, Better Than Ezra, etc. Nowadays the only time I turn on the radio is catch a sporting event while I'm out driving. The point I'm making here? Actually, I'm not sure I have a point. Oh yeah - if this were the mid-90s instead of the mid-00s, a band like Chicago's Ash Avenue would have a good shot at some decent radio airplay. Instead, they'll have to rely on touring, word-of-mouth, the internet and the kindness of strangers.

If And Then We Ignite, the band's debut disc, doesn't take you back to the days when Clinton was in office and Bush wasn't (WARNING: analogy only valid for the next 14 months or so), then I'm not sure what will. Anyway, hit radio's loss is your gain here: 12 tracks of quality tunes that straddle the line between power pop and what is now called "adult alternative". "Mistake Me Home" gets things going with a driving sound that's somewhere between the Gin Blossoms and the poppier moments of The Replacements; "Disposable King" is a mid-tempo beauty which wouldn't sound out of place with all of those Teenage Fanclub wannabes I wrote about yesterday; "New Year's Day" is almost pop-punk; "Trash Romance" might have Jakob Dylan wondering if he didn't write it; and "Rise & Shine" is a great Heartland-styled rocker that reminds me of the BoDeans.

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