Just a Tad of Honeywagen.

Honeywagen-Jamboree. Mike Penner, Scott Christensen & Co. are back with their followup to 2012's Atomic Cafe and their Midwestern jangle pop/roots rock is better than ever this time around. After starting with the rocking "Angel", they bring us the groovy "She Wants" (which shares some melodic DNA with "I Feel Fine"), while other highlights include the Plimsouls-like "Lose My Mind" and jangly "Another Hour". This one's available exclusively from Kool Kat at the link below.

Kool Kat




Tad Overbaugh-Beauty & Barbed Wire. If the name Tad Overbaugh seems vaguely familiar to you, it's because he was the frontman of roots rockers The Kickbacks, featured on this site back in the day. Beauty & Barbed Wire is Overbaugh's solo debut, and it's one of 2015's best to date. Although Overbaugh hails from the Boston area, he sounds more like heartland rockers Paul Westerberg and Tom Petty, and leadoff track "Lethal Charm" wouldn't have sounded out of place on Full Moon Fever. "Done With This Town" is a infectious alt-country tune that demands to be a theme to a TV show about someone moving to a new city, "End of the Decade" and "Scars Along the Way" show Overbaugh's way with a melody, while "Tip My Girl" laments the fate of being a stripper's boyfriend in classic country-rock fashion. With his tunes mixing the bitter with the sweet, Beauty & Barbed Wire stands as an aptly-named album.

Bandcamp | iTunes

Two for Thursday, 7/28/11

Honeywagen-Atomic Cafe. This Kansas City band is back from a near decade-long hibernation with Atomic Cafe, and it's a jangly delight of Midwestern power pop. "Throw it All Away" is a gem of an opener, kind of like Ray Davies fronting the Plimsouls, while "Go Someplace" sounds like a lost Byrds classic. "Lust" brings the Rutles' classic "I Must Be in Love" to mind, and "My Virginia" wouldn't be out of place of on a Gin Blossoms record. It's great to have these guys back, so janglers of the world, unite - you have nothing to lose but $14 or so. And Kool Kat is offering up a kool bonus disc - frontman Mike Penner covering A Hard Day's Night (the album) in its entirety.

Kool Kat | Official Site

Brian Hoffer-Into the Boulevard. I was pleasantly surprised to have stumbled upon this Milwaukee singer-songwriter's debut album, which has traces of Brendan Benson, AC Newman and Fountains of Wayne running through it. The upbeat, catchy "Good Day Now" is a near-perfect opener, and the clever "Psychoanalysis" reminds me of Dan Bryk and Lamar Holley. Other highlights include the raved-up "Keep Each Other Cold", the piano-and-guitar-based melody of "Superman Somehow" and the sardonic "When They Drop the Bomb". Hoffer really has a songwriter's ear for lyrics and melody here, and a nice sampling of the disc is below for your listening pleasure.

iTunes