Back to 2014.

A couple of excellent releases from 2014 that either came out very late in the year or got by me:

Smith & Hayes-People All Over the World. Every four years we have the Olympics, the World Cup and U.S. Presidential Elections to look forward to. OK, maybe not that last one. But the latest four-year tradition seems to be a new Smith & Hayes album. Debuting in 2007 with the great Changed by a Song (my #5 disc of that year), and then following up with Volume II in 2011, they're back again with People All Over the World as 2014 changes to 2015. (I snuck this in at #8 in my 2014 list but I'd have no argument with you if you wanted to view at as a 2015 release especially as it's only gone to CD this week). Once again, the veteran Oregon pair deliver the Beatlesque/Wilburyesque goods with a collection of tunes that rivals their debut. The opening title track even borrows a bit from the similar Oasis tune "All Around the World" (but is mercifully about half that song's length) while "Slow Down" is a real gem with its harmonica and minor-key melody, sounding like a lost George Harrison track. "Waiting for the Wheel" pulls out the Beatle bells and whistles, and the piano-based "Didn't Want to Fall" has McCartney written all over it. And the majestic "Don't Let Your Heart Break" recalls some of Jeff Lynne's classic ballads. I'd say this was a top 10 candidate, but I already put it there, so pick it up if you've missed it especially now that it's available on CD.

CD Baby | iTunes

The Fraidies-Try it Again. Melding indie rock with a power pop sensibility, this Seattle band has produced an auspicious debut that also came out late last year. Produced by a name some of you may be familiar with (Gary Reynolds of The Brides of Obscurity), Try it Again combines the sound of indie rockers with pop leanings like Portastatic and Dr. Dog with the more straight-up power pop sounds of bands like The Shazam and Cheap Trick. The brilliant "Xs on Your Eyes" opens up in grand melodic fashion, catchy and rocking both. "You've Got a Brand New Calculator" comes off as an off-kilter Badfinger tune, and "The Powers That Be" has that famous stacatto beat that stretches back to the Beatles' "Getting Better" while taking off on a carnival-like bridge. And "Your Mouth is a Radio" just straight-up rocks. So don't be a fraidy cat - give it a listen.

CD Baby | iTunes

CD of the Day, 5/12/11: Smith & Hayes-Volume II

Clay Smith and Bill Hayes burst upon the power pop scene in 2007 with Changed by a Song, a classic steeped in the sounds of The Beatles and Jeff Lynne that has to be on the short list of top power pop albums of the previous decade. Four years later, the followup is ready. And while Changed by a Song is a tough act follow, Volume II is a solid, worthy successor.

The main difference this time around is that they go for a more direct Beatlesque sound rather than the Beatles-via-Lynne style on the debut. This becomes apparent right off the bat with "Learning How to Love", which owes a debt to "Instant Karma", but doesn't slavishly imitate that track, offering a wondefully melodic chorus that's all their own. After the ballad "All the Love in the World" comes the midtempo McCartneyesque "All Your Life", which mines Macca's late 60s/early 70s sound. Also a treat is the breezy "Wake Up to Now", which fills the George Harrison change-of-pace role.

The album's standout is the uber-catchy "Turn it Up", a direct Beatle homage that starts off with the line "It was 40 years ago today", and name drops Murray The K and refers to various points in Beatle history. Other highlights include the lovely ballad "Save the Day", the Eastern sounds of "The Road to Bodhicitta", the "Honey Pie"-like "Fab", and the rocker "For a Chance" which draws on "I've Got a Feeling". And in case you were still wondering about the extent of Beatle influence, they throw in a slowed-down cover of "You Won't See Me". Once again, the sheer joy of their love for Beatlesque music shines through, making this a must-have for anyone who loved the first album.

CD Baby | Samples at official site | iTunes

Smith & Hayes on eMusic!

Smith & Hayes' Changed by a Song was added to eMu this morning. I'll say it again, if you're into Beatlesque songs in the manner of David Grahame, jump all over this one.

CD of the Day, 10/30/07: Smith and Hayes-Changed by a Song

I like to kid quite a bit about some of Bruce Brodeen's catchphrases on Not Lame, such as the variations of "highly recommended" that he uses. Another one he uses quite a bit is "major find", when unearthing an obscure or older title that should have received more publicity (and he does a fine job in that department). Anyway, "major find" is the phrase that kept coming to mind after listening to Smith and Hayes' Changed by a Song, because this is a major find for fans of David Grahame, and by extension Emmit Rhodes and McCartney. (In fact, I almost broke out the siren again, but I don't want to overuse it.) Like Grahame, Clay Smith and Bill Hayes are music business pros who know their way around a song as well as around a studio.

The title track kicks off the festivities, and it's a fine tune with great harmonies and Revolveresque guitars. Next up is another standout - the Wilburyish "You Be The World". But things really go to another level with "Nothing But Love", a slow-building ballad that Grahame fans will do a cartwheel over (and which features a timpani). Other standouts include "Before You Know It", cut from the same cloth as "Nothing But Love"; "Directions Are Inside", which gives off a bit of a Rutles vibe; "Child of Yesterday", which features the best middle eight on the disc; and the Nines-ish "Last Thing I Do". And you even get a "Her Majesty"-like closer with "It Must Be Love", strummed on a ukelele on what sounds like an old scratchy 78.

There isn't a bad track on the entire disc, and someone's going to have make room in my top 20, if not top 10, for this one on the year-end list.

CD Baby | Streams from Official Site