Early August Roundup.

Today's post features a common theme: Known artists with new releases under a different name.

Look Park-Look Park. Look Park marks the solo debut of sorts for Fountains of Wayne's Chris Collingwood, who teams up here with famed producer Mitchell Froom for a collection that isn't quite a FoW album by another name. So instead of the power pop of "Stacy's Mom" or "Radiation Vibe", Collingwood and Froom employ more of a laid-back, contemplative sound. This doesn't mean the catchy melodies are gone - single "Aeroplane" and the wonderful (and appropriately-titled) "Breezy" display the songcraft we've become familiar with over the years. But where FoW had the guitars front and center, Look Park's signature instruments are the keyboards, primarily piano. In fact, tracks such as "I'm Gonna Haunt This Place" and "Minor is the Lonely Key" bring the bedroom pop of another Froom collaborator - Neil Finn - to mind. So as long as your expectations aren't that this is that latest FoW album, you should have no problem enjoying it on its own pop-friendly terms.

iTunes



Happiless-Happiless. Regular readers will known Mike Benign of the Mike Benign Compulsion, and here he teams up with Allen Keller as Happiless. Benign hails from Milwaukee and Keller Los Angeles, so they collaborated long-distance through email and other electronic means to create the album, and the result is a mix of top-notch power pop and mildly baroque pop. The advance single "Sleepyhead" has a Michael Penn feel to it, "Hopscotch Town" is as bouncy as its title would imply, and "We Let Our Story Tell Itself" and "Stranger to Yourself" sound like classic Mike Benign. So let your goals be life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiless.

iTunes



Biltmore-Revolutions and Romantics. Another familiar name with an unfamiliar new band name is Phil Ayoub, who put out a couple of fine solo albums in 2006 and 2010 and here re-emerges as Biltmore. Those who enjoyed those albums will want to pick this one up as it continues Ayoub's bright, radio-friendly pop/rock stylings. The top examples of such are driving opener "Never Let You Go", the swirling melody of "Neon", the heartland rock of "Las Vegas Blue" and "Going Out" (which sound like lost hits from the heyday of late 90s alt-pop), and the anthemic Brit-pop sounding "Stars in the Attic". A welcome return.

iTunes

Weekend Roundup.

First in Space-In the Red. Johnny Stanec and the boys from Youngstown are back with their fourth full-length, and it just might be their best, trading in the Replacements-style rock of the last album for a purer pop sound. Although you wouldn't tell from the driving opener "Letters from Hell", it becomes evident on tracks like the bouncy "Forward Progress" and the midtempo, Gin Blossoms-like "The Other Side", and "Now or Never" is straight-up power pop reminiscent of Cliff Hillis or Michael Carpenter. And you only have to in the red for $5 for a digital copy at Bandcamp.

CD Baby | iTunes



VA-Here Comes the Reign Again: The Second British Invasion. Andrew Curry has done it again. After last year's compilation of contemporary power poppers covering the lite rock classics of the late 70s, Curry has gotten another all-star cast together to tackle the next decade when all those British bands came out of nowhere thanks to the emergence of MTV. Now while last year's comp was my favorite album of the year, this one - while executed just as well - may not achieve those heights due to my own personal preference for those late-70s tracks versus some of the synth-heavy sounds of the early 80s. Still there's plenty here to enjoy (and even geek out over if you're a bigger fan of the era than I) and like on the last compilation, the best covers here are those that sound like natural extensions of the artists covering them. So the suburban milieu of "Life in a Northern Town" is a perfect fit for Fountains of Wayne's Chris Collingwood, and "Everytime You Go Away" sounds so much like a typical Linus of Hollywood track that I forgot it was a cover when listening to it alongside his most recent release. Also in this category are "Save a Prayer", which is in David Mead's ballad wheelhouse, and the pure midetempo pop of "Wouldn't it Be Good" in Cliff Hillis's hands. Then you have the reinterpretations, and the ones that work here best are Mike Viola slowing down "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and Graham Alexander doing likewise with Tracey Ullman's "They Don't Know". This is another must for power pop fans.

CD Baby | iTunes

Bandcamping it.

More and more artists are using Bandcamp, which allows for full streaming of tracks, downloads (many free or name your price), etc. Here are a few that caught my eye recently:

A free download of Plasticsoul & Brandon Schott covering Big Star? You don't have to drag me screaming to that.



Chris Richards with another vault-clearing collection? Always good stuff if you recall his previous Pathetic History.



Daniel Person is a UK artist whose sound falls somewhere between Elliott Smith, Ryan Adams and Jesse Malin, and he's offering up "Wishing Well", the first single from his new album as a free download. It's a quality tune.



Nick Piunti of The Respectables brought Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms to my attention and I'm certainly glad he did. Some of you may know Allen from his work as frontman of The Friendly Foes, and this is crunchy power pop par excellence. Best part is that most of the songs clock in around 2:15, and the slower ones sound like Paul Westerberg:



Oh, and it's not on Bandcamp, but here's a free download of the new single from Fountains of Wayne, Richie and Ruben.

Free "new" Fountains of Wayne track.

For a special on NPR's All Things Considered, Fountains of Wayne took the circa-1890 poem "Song of the Passaic" and set it to their own style of music. The song is available as a free download from their official site, so go get it!