A Wanderlust reunion (of sorts)

Wanderlust was one of my favorite power pop bands from the 90s and they did in fact reunite in 2012 but who knows if they will ever again. So instead we have the next best thing - brand new solo albums from their primary singer/songwriters Scot Sax and Rob Bonfiglio, released within weeks of each other.

Scot Sax-Drawing from Memory. Sax has been the consummate music professional over the years, from fronting Wanderlust and Feel to a wide-ranging body of solo work that's included everything from pop to rock to funk to country as well as being a songwriter-for-hire who's penned hits for the likes of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Drawing from Memory is his return to the pop/rock idiom with the emphasis on the "pop". It kicks off with "Where Do You Go to Cry?", a midtempo number that sounds like a pop standard, and continues with "I Never Loved You", a Bacarachian ballad sung with Judy Blank, followed by "Am I Still Living?", a Lennon-esque number that's classic Sax. Highlights elsewhere are the string-laden "Parade of No's" which sounds co-written by Neil Finn, the ukulele-strummed "Addicted to the Needle" (which is about his love for vinyl, not drugs) and the wistful "Used to the Idea". It's the kind of album that Harry Nilsson used to make, a type not seen much these days.

iTunes




Rob Bonfiglio-Trouble Again. If it's straight-ahead power pop that you prefer to singer-songwriter stuff, then Sax's former bandmate Bonfiglio delivers for you with his latest solo album. I once wrote that Bonfiglio has a power pop sound that's big - big choruses, big hooks, big melodies. It's kind of a cross between indie power poppers like The Meadows and Velvet Crush and big name artists like Matthew Sweet, Collective Soul and Oasis, and the one-two punch to open the album of "Passenger Seat" and the title track makes that clear, as does "Spread This Feeling". But Bonfiglio can take things down a notch as well, with the wonderful "Gone" incorporating some Philly soul into the mix while "There Goes My Heart" sound like a top ten hit that charted sometime between 1975-1985. In fact, the whole album almost plays as a greatest hits from an alternate universe where Bonfiglio ruled the charts during that era and might be his best, most consistent album yet as well as one of 2018's.

iTunes

Summer of Sax.

Over the last 18 years or so, Scot Sax has been a big deal in the power pop community whether it be his solo material or band efforts with Wanderlust, Feel and Queen Electric. So it's noteworthy to have two Scot Sax-related releases out this summer, one of which features a Wanderlust reunion.

Wanderlust-Record Time. It's been a year of power pop reunions (Shoes and dBs among others), and none is more welcome than Wanderlust's. With bandmates Rob Bonfiglio (a fine solo artist in his on right), Mark Getten and Jim Cavanaugh back in tow, Sax led them in recording a "live in the studio" record of new material. Instant classics abound, from the opening rocker "Lou Reed" to the melodic and soulful "Blow Away" to classic rock sound of "Fork in the Road". It's been 12 years since their last album, but it doesn't sound like a day has passed.

Kool Kat



Scot Sax-The Los Angeles Years. Also newly out via Bandcamp is a 15-song collection of unreleased "songs written and recorded in the fun-loving, sushi eatin', sunny songwriting days from the Warner/Chappell years in Los Angeles 1999-2005", as Sax himself puts it. While Sax was penning tunes for megastars like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, he continued to record his own material and some of these tunes stand among his best. "Cell Phone Again" recalls his slightly-mellower sound in Feel, "Busy Being Free" is a charming, bouncy, piano-based number, and "OK, You're Beautiful" sounds like it had to have been a hit for somebody at sometime. This must-have for Sax fans is a digital-only release at Bandcamp.

2011 Clearout!

Today I'm going to quickly note several discs I've been enjoying to clear the decks for next week's Best-of-2011 lists. And the best part of all of these fine releases is that you can listen to them in full on Bandcamp, either at the artist page or through the embeds below.

Queen Electric-EP. I'm not sure how a release from power pop luminary Scot Sax went largely unnoticed this summer, but it did. Queen Electric is his new band, and it continues the trend in his sound of a more moderately funky power pop. He touches all the pop bases here, from the heavy rock of "Gonna Let You Down" to the power balladry of "As You Make Me Out to Be". Welcome back, Scot.

Kool Kat | Bandcamp


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The Beagle Ranch-A Moment Away. Speaking of welcome returns, we haven't heard from these Canadian janglemeisters since the middle part of the last decade. They're back with 16 tracks of their melodic, jangly rock that are easy on the ears and mostly clock in under 3 minutes. This is top-shelf stuff, and really I wanted to get this one mentioned on the site before it appears in next week's year-end list.

Bandcamp | iTunes


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Dany Laj & The Looks-The Match EP. Staying north of the border, Laj & Co. hail from Ontario and have released an impressive EP that brings to mind Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, and The Plimsouls. The title track is classic roots-based pub rock, and despite its silly title "Alien Ate Some People" is another enjoyable track in the same vein.

Bandcamp


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The Vinyl Skyway-Return of the Dead Surfer. I've enjoyed this Cambridge, Mass. band for several years now, and their latest is another masterful amalgam of indie pop and Americana. Fans of The Pernice Brothers and the Gary Louris-led poppier version of The Jayhawks will definitely want to check this out (and for free, no less). "Salvo" and "Golden Lights" are my favorites here.

FREE download from Bandcamp | iTunes

EP Roundup.

Time to resume things with a look at a couple of EPs and a CD single, two of which come from familiar names:

Scot Sax-While She Was Working. Most of you know the Wanderlust and Feel frontman, and the quality LA pop he's been responsible for in both incarnations. This EP, however, is a bit of a departure. A good one, though. As Sax himself says, he felt he should have changed him name to Rodriguez after the sessions, and there is a definite Latin/urban feel (pardon the pun) to these tunes. "Bad 4 U" starts off in familiar territory then veers away; "Not Today" sounds like the work of a different but interesting artist, sort of Alejandro Escovedo meets Beck. Check out the samples. CD Baby | MySpace

Wild Bores-ReIntroducing Wild Bores. Wild Bores is Nashville-via-Chicago's John Whildin, and the sound here captures a mix of both of those cities: roots rock with a midwestern feel. The four tracks here are all outstanding in a Summerteeth-era Wilco kind of way, albeit a bit less ornately produced. A year-end EP contender, subject to being superseded by the scheduled full-length which is supposed to include these four tracks. CD Baby | MySpace

The Alice Rose-Body Offering (single). The Alice Rose burst onto the scene with their fantastic 2006 disc Photographic Memory, and they're getting to ready to release the followup. In the meantime, they've made available the first single from the disc, "Body Offering". It's a fine track, in the same Jon Brion-meets-Squeeze style that we saw on the debut. The b-side, "Wear That Cross", is no throwaway either. Get the single on iTunes.

MySpace | iTunes