Party like it's 2006.

New releases from two bands that are back with their first new music since they were reviewed on this site's early days in 2006:

Barnacle Bill-Barnacle Bill. As alluded to above, we first made our acquaintance with this NYC band some five years ago with their excellent debut Towards The Pebbled Shore. In the time that's passed, they show they haven't missed a beat on their self-titled followup. The one-two punch of Yianni Naslas and Stu Klinger alternate tracks again, and fans of Fastball and Fountains of Wayne will want to give this disc a spin. Lots to like here: the "yeah-yeah-yeahs" of "Like You're Supposed To", the midtempo "The Things I've Done", the catchy power pop of "Running Away", and the FoW-esque "nth Street Girl". Let's hope album #3 comes sooner than five years.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

Onestop-Labor of Like. We head down the east coast to catch up with Onestop, whose debut Pop Shop owed a lot to the sound of Barenaked Ladies. This time around, they have more of their own pop sound and "Treats Her So Bad" is a rock-solid opener, touching all the power pop bases. "Right Beside You" is another winner that has more in common with a different Canadian band, Sloan. Other standouts include the manic "On Your Mind", the hook-heavy "Out of Touch", and the shuffling "What Went Wrong". A true leap forward from the debut, and a labor you'll like.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

CD of the Day, 2/14/06: Onestop-Pop Shop

Washington DC's Onestop had been a covers band for a few years before finally committing to recording original material, and 2005's Pop Shop is the result. After listening to Pop Shop, I have to come to the conclusion that the boys sure must have done quite a few Barenaked Ladies covers. The result is pretty much a BNL album without the quirk (which is both a blessing and a curse) and the Canadian accents.

Nevertheless, it's pretty solid stuff. Tinges of Americana show up ("If I Only Knew Now"), and other deviations from the norm here include the 6+ minute "Lover's Land", which could pass for a Journey power ballad, and "High School Halls", a bouncy number with Beach Boy harmonies. The first three tracks from the album are available as mp3s from their site:

Big Design
If I Only Knew Now
She's Everything

You can stream these three, along with "Lover's Land" at their myspace page, and hear samples of the rest at cdbaby.

And for some reason I was craving orange soda after visiting their site. Luckily, I had some Publix store brand orange on hand; it's better and cheaper ($1.99 for a 12-pack) than Sunkist. Mmmmm....orange soda.