Two for Tuesday, 12/8/09 (a day late).

Paul Johnson & The About Last Nights-Gameshow Rockstar. Are you ready to rock? Paul Johnson and his band are, and Gameshow Rockstar is power pop with the emphasis on the "power". Although they hail from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, this isn't "southern rock", it's high-energy power pop that draws from Cheap Trick and the Foo Fighters, among others. The title track could have been written by Dave Grohl, while "Ghost Radio" is classic 70s rock with cowbells and major riffage. Elsewhere "Money on the Mattress" recalls Weezer and Sloan in full-on rock mode, "Break U" shows they've mastered the art of the power ballad, and "Tell Myself" features a great melodic chorus. No reinvention of the wheel here, just 10 rockin' tunes to blast with the car windows open.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

Tody Castillo-Windhorse. Windhorse is the long-awaited followup to Castillo's 2005 self-titled debut, a really special disc. In my review of that disc, I called him "Texas' Ron Sexsmith", and that comparison continues to apply on Windhorse, perhaps even moreso as the more rocking numbers from the debut are largely missing here. Aside from the vocal similarity, they share a singer/songwriter sensibility that glides from pop to folk/rock and back. "The Other Side of Love" is a great example of that sound, and is also reminiscent of fellow Texan Salim Nourallah. "Best Thing Ever" is another standout, vaguely sounding like a slowed-down "Sexy Sadie", and "Sad Decision" recalls the Traveling Wilburys in parts, especially with its Harrisonesque slide guitar. And speaking of the Wilburys, the bright "Spoken Up Sooner" could pass for a Tom Petty tune. While Windhorse may be not be as totally immediate as the debut, Castillo has shown that the talent and songwriting ability demonstrated on that disc was no fluke.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

CD of the Day, 3/15/06: Tody Castillo-Tody Castillo

If I had picked up Tody Castillo's debut album before January of this year, there's a good chance it would have made my Top 20 of 2005 list. This album came to light in the power pop scene after an Audities member made it his #1 album of 2005 in the year-end polls, and retailers like Not Lame and Kool Kat took notice.

An interesting note about this disc is that Castillo likes to name his tracks after more famous ones; there are songs called "Independence Day" and "Backstreets" (Springsteen), "God Only Knows" (Beach Boys), and "This Is Love" and "Brainwashed" (George Harrison) on the album. There are some elements of all of these artists here, but it's mostly a mix of power pop and singer/songwriter pop. Another interesting facet of this disc is that Castillo alternates between slower numbers (the odd-numbered tracks) and rockers (the evens) throughout the entire 14 tracks.

Comparisons for Castillo to Jeff Tweedy, Ryan Adams and Tom Petty have abounded, but to me he sounds more like a Texas version of Ron Sexsmith. My favorites are the rockers: "I'm Gonna Change", "Brainwashed" and "Politics" are as good as any pure power pop you're going to hear, and among the slower numbers, "Not That Kind of Girl" is a delight, almost sounding like a lost Elliott Smith track. Castillo is definitely a major talent, and this disc definitely won't disappoint.

Sample full-length tracks at his site and his myspace page. Samples of all the tracks are available at his cdbaby page, although the album isn't (currently out of stock), so you'll have to get it at Not Lame or Kool Kat.

UPDATE: I just noticed that "I'm Gonna Change" is on the latest Not Lame Podcast. Some other good stuff on there, including a track from the oustanding new Chris Brown release.