CD of the Day, 6/12/07: Frankel-Lullaby For The Passersby

One of the first EPs we featured on the site was Chatterbox, the debut of Frankel (Michael Orendy). It was an impressive debut, filled with a sound not unlike pop maestros like Jon Brion and Elliott Smith. But the key question for anyone who puts out an excellent EP is whether they can sustain that success when it comes time to put out a full-length. Fortunately Orendy has passed his test with flying colors, and Lullaby For The Passersby is more of the same high-quality pop that the Chatterbox portended.

"Thermostat" is a fine opener, in the vein of Smith's Figure Eight album, and "Tooth Decay" might be something that Brian Wilson would have put out today had he come up in the indie rock scene. Meanwhile, "X Marks The Spot" is a fully orchestrated marvel that indicates Orendy's ambitious approach to the album; "New Authority" is an amiable mid-tempo popper with a great melody; "Red Part of Town" is a jaunty, fun-filled number complete with kazoos (!), and "Curtain Calls" is where Smith meets Brion once again. Don't pass this one by.

MySpace | CD Baby

CD of the Day, 6/11/07: Brad Brooks-Spill Collateral Love

And now for something completely different. Brad Brooks stretches the boundaries of power pop with Spill Collateral Love, a tour de force of different pop stylings that share the same level of inspiration. I've seen comparisons of Brooks to a number of different artists, with the consensus being that he's Freddie Mercury meets Guided by Voices. There's certainly an element of that in there, but there are several others that shine through.

For example, the leadoff track "Love On My Sleeve" builds to a Rufus Wainwright via Thom Yorke crescendo that never wears out its welcome over nearly six minutes. "Lathered In Cream" is the closest to straight-ahead power pop, but it adds its own subversive GbV element as well. Other standouts include "The Loon of Altitude" (which starts off as a poppy-California-sounding ditty, only to dissolve into a "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" wall of sound, only to dissolve again into some ragtime piano with unintelligble whispers), "Francis of Alaska" (Freddy & Rufus again), the near-jangle of "The Sonic Twins", and the 40s-style crooning of the finale "Luccurious Latitude". Spill Collateral Love is the power pop equivalent of an art film, and although it my lack the immediate hooks that we normally deal in here, it's worth the effort to explore.

MySpace | CD Baby | Not Lame stream

Not exactly power pop...

...but a great album nonetheless. I'm speaking of Jason Isbell's Sirens of the Ditch, due out July 10 on New West Records. For those not familiar, Isbell until recently was one of three principal singer/songwriters of the great alt-country/southern rock band Drive-By Truckers, and in my opinion was responsible for the true highlights of the three most recent DBT albums. He's an extraordinarily gifted songwriter, both observant in detail and thoughtful in concept. You don't have to be a fan of DBT's genre to appreciate songs like "Outfit", "Danko/Manuel", "Decoration Day" or "Goddamn Lonely Love", and now he gets a full album to himself, of which I've been fortunate enough to have an advance copy.

At this point, I'll direct you to his myspace page, where you can hear three songs off Sirens, but take special note of "Dress Blues", a wonderful and heartbreaking song about a high school buddy of his who went off to Iraq and never came back. "Grown" is another winner, as its basic melodic hook keeps me coming back. Again, it's not power pop (although the disc is less, say Skynyrd-sounding, than DBT), but it's good stuff and I figure I'd drop this comment in before it shows up rather high on my upcoming top 50 of 07 list and some of you might wonder "what the heck is that?".

More good stuff on eMusic.

Some excellent additions to eMu today:

The Rewinds-The Rewinds. This disc landed at #32 on my top 100 from last year, and you can read more about it here.

Wiretree-Bouldin. Back at the end of February when I did my first (and only, to date) list of the best of 07, this one was #2. It should still be pretty high up there when I do my planned top 50 of 2007 for the midyear around the end of this month. The original review is here.

Chris von Sneidern-White Lies. CVS' 1994 release is now available. You generally can't go wrong with him.

The Lodger-Grown-Ups. Excellent new brit-pop band.

New McCartney on eMusic!

Perhaps the biggest criticism aimed at eMusic is that they don't have many "big name" artists available on their site. Of course, that's not something I concern myself much with as I tend to concentrate on independent power pop artists. Nevertheless, it's still a big deal when a big name shows up on eMu, and there can no bigger name than Sir Paul McCartney. His new release, Memory Almost Full, makes it bow on eMusic today, so here's your chance to legally download it for a fraction of what it would cost on iTunes or elsewhere.

How is it? I've listened a couple of times myself, and like most McCartney solo releases, it tends to be a bit inconsistent. Nevertheless there are a few gems in there, and if you'd rather cherry pick, grab "See Your Sunshine", "Only Mama Knows" and "Vintage Clothes".

CD of the Day, 6/5/07: The Zebras-Worry a Lot

If you like the Brit-pop jangle of bands like Teenage Fanclub, The Go-Betweens, The Primary 5 and others, you're going to love Worry a Lot from Brisbane's The Zebras. This largely overlooked 2006 release would definitely have wormed its way onto my Top 100 list had I heard it then, but as they say, better late than never.

There's a fairly uniform consistency throughout this disc, making highlights tough to pick out, but if pressed I'd go with leadoff track "You Look Ready", the title track, and "Patient to the End", which sports a truly lovely melody. The disc is only available as an import outside Australia, but it's worth seeking out.

MySpace (with 3 downloads from the album) | Amazon Marketplace

A couple of more good ones on eMusic.

Just a quick note to point out two new releases of signficance on eMu. The first is The Well-Mannered Look from Zombies of the Stratosphere, which we raved about a few weeks back.

The other is the latest from the Rainbow Quartz factory, The Get Quick's See You In The Crossfire, their followup to 2005's How The Story Goes.

CD of the Day, 5/25/07: Sixty-One-Live Your Dreams

Germany isn't exactly known as a hotbed of power pop in the way that say, Spain or Australia is. But after fine 2006 releases from artists like Monkeeman and Spyderbaby, and this new disc from Arne Herrmann, who goes by the moniker Sixty-One, maybe it's time to reconsider.

Although Herrmann hails from Germany, the sound here is more Swedish, in the vein of poppers like The Merrymakers and (more recently) The Tangerines - mostly mid-tempo, very melodic, a hit of jangle, and earnest-sounding vocals. "It's True" and "Why" are classic examples of this sound, while "We" and "Feel It" bear more of a 60s influence. Other highlights include the ballad "By Now", which does sound a lot like Spyderbaby, and the uptempo "Oneday".

CD Baby | MySpace

eMusic update.

Three new releases of interest:

Nick Lowe-At My Age. It's been a while since Nick Lowe could really be called "power pop", and his latest effort, appropriately titled, is more of the Nick The Crooner we've heard from this decade. Still worth checking out, though.

Shane Nicholson-Faith and Science. The sophomore effort from the Neil Finn soundalike was #43 on our top 100 discs of last year, and that was as an Australia-only import. Apparently it's now getting a deserved US release, and makes its bow on eMusic so the wait is over for those who wanted to get it reasonably priced.

The Holy Fields-The Holy Fields EP. This one is still on the Not Lame front page (as it hasn't been updated in two weeks now), and I can definitely see it on my year-end EP list. "Straight ahead pop power with tasty melodies and hot energy, sweat, sincerity, and a genuine sense of excitement seem to surround every song here" sez Bruce, and I wholeheartedly agree.

UPDATE (5/25): The Shane Nicholson disc is not showing up now on the site. Not sure what the story is.

CD of the Day, 5/23/07: The Well Wishers-How I Won The War

If there's anyone in the power pop community you can count on to consistently deliver the goods, it's Jeff Shelton. From a great run with the Spinning Jennies to his current band, The Well Wishers, you know before evening listening to the album that it's going to be good. And the Well Wishers' latest, How I Won The War, is no exception to this rule; it's more of the Posies-meet-The-Shoes-with-a-modern-twist sound that propelled their previous release, Under The Arrows, to #5 in my best of 2005 list.

However, there is a slightly darker, less sunny feel to this disc, as it draws upon some Smiths/Cure influences, and the unbilled cover of The Chameleons' "Nostalgia" that closes the disc makes the point clear; opener "Grey Skies Black" trades the Wishers' normal jangle for more of an 80s britpop sound as well, yet remains true to their melodic vision. But there are still plenty of what might be called "classic" Well Wishers tracks here as well, especially "Seashells", "I'm In Love (Slight Return)" and "Merilee", and tracks such as "The Optimist" and "It's True What They Say About Girl" up the rock quotient a bit. All in all, Shelton has done a masterful job of making a great Well Wishers record without making a carbon copy of Under The Arrows in the process.

CD Baby | Not Lame (with full stream)

Gimme an "e", gimme an "m".....

More titles at eMusic to get excited about:

The Contrast-Underground Ghosts. The latest (5th album, I think) from these Rainbow Quartz stalwarts, who have become big favorites of Little Steven and his Underground Garage, with their 60s garage-new wave-power pop sound (i.e., the Rainbow Quartz sound).

Brandon Schott-Golden State. If a Joe Pernice-Elliott Smith-Jon Brion hybrid is something you've dreamed about creating in a lab somewhere, put down the smock and grab this disc. This is billed as an "advance" on eMu, with a supposed CD release date of July 31, so you can be the first one on your block to experience its sonic joy.

Peachfuzz-Catch Your Snap. Great archetypal power pop in the vein of The Lolas, Velvet Crush and Splitsville, with the occasional flashes of humor, punk and alternarock.

(Side note to those who subscribe via RSS feed: Sorry I'm driving you crazy with what appear to be multiple posts, but I still haven't gotten into the habit of adding the labels, as I usually tend to realize it within milliseconds after hitting the "Publish" button.)

CD of the Day, 5/17/07: The Sunday Drivers-Tiny Telephone

In my book, Brad Jones is pretty much God. Who is Brad Jones, you ask? Maybe the greatest pop/rock producer working these days. He produced my #1 disc of last year, Bob Evans' Suburban Songbook. He produced my #3 disc of 2005, Josh Rouse's Nashville. He also produced David Mead's Tangerine, and oh yeah, some disc called Kontiki by this band called Cotton Mather. Not to mention his work in the Nashville power pop mafia with Bill Lloyd and others. So when Brad Jones produces a new album, I take notice, and he's lent his considerable talents to Tiny Telephone, the new disc by the Spanish band The Sunday Drivers. And while not another Kontiki or Suburban Songbook, it's a great listen nonetheless.

The operative sound here is mid-tempo roots pop, somewhere in between Evans on Suburban Songbook and Josh Rouse. I also hear some Tom Petty as well as strong similarities to The Latebirds' Radio Insomnia (a Brad Jones album without Brad Jones if there ever was one). Things start off nicely with "Rainbows of Colours", which has a kind of dreamy feel to it (as might be expected from the title) and features a great minute or so instrumental outro that really makes the track. "She" is next, and if there ever was a more obvious lost Josh Rouse track out there, I'm not sure you'd be able to find it (melodically, it reminds me quite a bit of Rouse's best song ever, 1972's "Rise"). "Do It" is the first single off the album, and its driving guitar sound is where the Tom Petty comparisons come in. Other standouts include the languid "Paranoid", the poppy "Sing When You're Happy" (which doesn't wear out its welcome despite being 5:30 long), and the hand-clapping, foot-stomping "Day In Day Out". It hasn't been released in the USA yet (perhaps never, who knows?), but it's a not-terribly-expensive-for-an-import $18 at the Amazon link below.

MySpace | Amazon

And here's a video for "Do It":

Popicana!

OK, that's my none-too-clever word to describe pop-informed Americana/alt-country, but there have been several recent releases that will appeal to those who don't mind their pop a bit countrified. Here they are:

Additional Moog-Thirty Three & a Third. Their CD Baby page touts sound as "Uber-melodic rootsy Americana meets lo-fi rock with a 60's Brit Pop sensibility. Here's what some have said : "...an absolutely BRILLIANT band..." -BBC Radio "...timeless..." -Kerrang. Radio "...gorgeous melodies...a hint of Wilco and The Jayhawks." I endorse these descriptions completely. CD Baby | MySpace

Kurt Hagardorn-Ten Singles. Hagardorn played for Thad Cockrell and Caitlin Cary, so you know that gives him a leg up in my book. Our friends at the Seattle Powerpop blog put it best: "Chock full of tunesmithy goodness, he's got this great roots pop thing happening that seems equally influenced by the Beatles, the Everly Brothers and some of the modern-day alt country folks like The Jayhawks (with perhaps a bit of 90's indie pop a la Portastatic thrown in for good measure)!" Kool Kat | CD Baby | MySpace

OK Jones-Elephantoms. Last year I featured their Push/Pull disc, and now they have a new one out. They've actually abandoned some of their "hardcore" Americana for a more power pop/indie rock sound, and they're the better for it. I love the leadoff track "Electric Bed", and the rest of it ain't bad either. Buy | mp3 of "Electric Bed" | MySpace | eMusic

Storyhill-Storyhill. This Minneapolis duo has been around awhile, and refers to themselves as either a male Indigo Girls or a contemporary Simon & Garfunkel. Either way, it's extremely tuneful & melodic. If you loved 70s duos like Seals & Crofts, England Dan & John Ford Coley, and Loggins & Messina, you'll love these guys (and yes, they put out a 70s duos cover disc of their own). Meanwhile, if you want some power pop linkage, the disc is produced by Semisonic's Dan Wilson. Amazon | MySpace

CD of the Day, 5/14/07: The Krinkles-3: The Mordorlorff Collection

Straight out of Chicago, The Krinkles unleash their brand of high-energy rockin' power pop upon the world with 3: The Mordorlorff Collection (the title and album cover being a spoof of MCA's ubiquitous Millennium Collection series). What you get here is classic Cheap Trick-styled power pop along with a touch of glam and bubblegum thrown in for good measure, making for more than you might expect for this subgenre of power pop.

"Dirty Girl" and "Stay With Me" start off the album, and they're a couple of great rocking tunes that not only call to mind the Trick, but contemporaries such as The Fags and Waltham. "Gimme Gimme" is where the bubblegum influence comes in, with the end result being a sort of Badfinger/Raspberries merger. "Sweet on You" has a more modern power pop sound that reminds me of Myracle Brah, while "I Want You" and "Friday Night" bear a Merseyside/British Invasion influence despite rocking more than their antecedents.

CD Baby | MySpace

CD (EP) of the Day, 5/10/07: Sono Oto-The Apple.

Sono Oto isn't from Japan. In fact, Sono Oto isn't even a person - it's a band from NYC headed by Mark Henry Phillips, and with the Apple EP, he's managed to craft a concept EP about - you guessed it - apples. And when you think of "apple" and pop music, the Beatles immediately spring to mind, which is an appropriate frame of reference as the Apple EP is piano-based pop that's most certainly Beatlesque.

"Granny Smith" (interestingly once the original working title of The Beatles' "Love You To") leads off the disc, and it's flat out catchy-as-hell, kind of like Ben Folds without the snark and with more of an indie-pop orientation. "Empire" is cut from the same cloth (or from the same bunch, I should say), as is "Northern Spy". These three tracks will have your toes tapping. "Malus Domestica". Meanwhile, "Pink Lady" and "Honey Crisp" have a more bluesy, borderline psychedlic sound, and "Malus Domestica" is a straight-out piano ballad.

mp3 of Granny Smith | CD Baby | MySpace

An eMusic bonanza!

eMu subscribers, if you haven't used up your credits for the month yet, you will after today. Several releases of note:

* Steve Bertrand's Pain Is a Megaphone. If the name isn't ringing a bell, perhaps knowing that he was the lead singer of The Tories will. Sounds very good from the samples, although for some reason eMu has it classified under easy listening and jazz.

* New Moon, the 2-CD release of Elliott Smith rarities from the mid-90s.

* Fred's Sound Awake. This actually came out in 2005, but it's being billed as an advance of a May 22 release; I suppose it's being re-released on a label this time around. For those who missed it two years ago, here's what Bruce at Not Lame had to say: "Produced by Jellyfish member, Chris Manning(Roger`s brother), Fred will certainly appeal to many Jellyfish fans. While not all the material easily falls into `sounds just like Jellyfish vibe", there`s a few songs that sound like they walked off of "Bellybutton", in particular "Piscetarrius" and "Sound Awake". There`s a strong sunshine, almost bubblegummy feel of bands like The Association, some Squeeze, Spy Mob, Steely Dan, Wondermints and Raspberries."

* Yet another Robert Pollard release, Silverfish Trivia.

* And a 7-track rarities/demos EP from Jason Collett titled Prodigals.

Download away!

Latest at eMusic.

* The new Superdrag collection of odds and sods, Changin' Tires on the Road to Ruin.

* The latest from Spanish American power poppers Mas Rapido, Pity Party.

* And a couple from the Kelly's Heels catalog, Gone Off Pop and Bent Over Backwards.

Overlooked Gem of the Day: Greg Dean-These Pages, This Story

This one came out in 2005 to little fanfare; had I had this blog when it came out, I definitely would have touted it. As it is, it came up in random play a few minutes ago and I figured I'd give it a plug. Greg Dean has both feet firmly planted in what might be called the "sophisticated adult pop" subgenre of power pop, and the artists that come to mind while listening are David Mead (circa Wherever You Are), Michael Penn, Jon Brion and the other usual suspects.

The overall sound is brooding midtempo, but it's done extremely well. The true standouts are "Living Half Awake" and "This Side of Heaven", but also noteworthy are the two tracks that pick things up a bit, "Honey It's Good" and "Something Better Than This". His myspace doesn't have a lot to offer, so check out the CD Baby link below.

CD Baby

CD of the Day, 5/4/07: The Peaces-Is/Are/Was/Were

In keeping with yesterday's CD of the Day, here are The Peaces, another New York City band that owes its sound to 1960s pop. But where the Zombies of the Stratosphere were more influenced by 60s mod and psychedelia, The Peaces have a more "pure" pop sound that owes more to Beatles circa 1965 and other more classic-sounding contemporary power poppers like The Rubinoos, The Spongetones or The Red Button.

The most notable characteristic of The Peaces are their harmonies, and nowhere are they more evident that in the opening track "Don't Take It For Granted" and its immediate followup, the piano-based "Endless Line", which come off as lost Association or Left Banke tracks with a bit more pep. "She Stands So Close to Me" jangles away, and just when you think it's all sweetness and harmony, they give us the somewhat acerbic "Portrait In Vanity", complete with guitar solo (but still somewhat sweet-sounding). The Holliesesque "Nobody Cares" is another highlight. All in all, it's a great disc for those who enjoy the kind of harmonic pop that you heard on the radio in the 60s.

CD Baby | MySpace

CD of the Day, 5/3/07: Zombies of the Stratosphere-The Well-Mannered Look

NYC's Zombies of the Stratosphere pretty much sound like you'd expect off their name: 60s-inspired pop and psychedelia. Although one might be tempted to think they're named after The Zombies and XTC's psychedelic alter ego The Dukes of Stratosphear, the name actually comes from a 50s sci-fi serial. Nevertheless, Rod Argent and Andy Partridge would still be proud as these Zombies have their sound down, along with a helping of The Kinks and The Small Faces.

Opener "Thrush" wouldn't have sounded out of place on Odyssey & Oracle, while "Barber Street" and the title track nail the Ray Davies day-in-the-life-of-an-everyman narrative and sound. "Boy With The Shades" is a lushly orchestrated midtempo number that recalls The Left Banke, while "Decisions" rocks with abandon and "The Story of Your Life" has a great combination of jangle and music-hall stomp. The bottom line is that if it were 1969 and we were on Carnaby Street, these guys would be gods. Since it's 2007, they'll just have to settle for the admiration of discerning power poppers like you and I.

CD Baby | MySpace (with three downloads from the disc)

New John Hoskinson!

It's news worthy of an exclamation mark, as John Hoskinson is set to release Pancho Fantastico, his followup to 2004's outstanding Miscellaneous Heathen, on June 12. If you're drawing a blank on his name, know that Heathen was released to universal acclaim, and no less than Uncut Magazine called it "The lost link between Rubber Soul and Emitt Rhodes." Had I compiled a 2004 list it probably would have made the top 10. Oh, and did I mention that Hoskinson is in Eugene Edwards' band, and vice-versa?

Anyway, you don't have to take my hype for it, you can listen to the new album in its entirety streaming at JH's official site. (Click on "Listen to CD Tracks"). I've only had one listen so far, but it sounds like another winner. In some places, it reminds me of The Red Button.

And Hoskinson has assembled what seems to be the L.A. power pop mafia for help on the disc; as it says on the site, it was recorded with "Luke Adams (Pete Yorn); Brian Whelan and Dan Iead (The Broken West); Mike "Soupy" Sessa (Cracker, Rosie Flores); Eugene Edwards; Robbie Rist; Stevie Blacke (Beck, Glen Phillips); Vince Meghrouni (Mike Watt); Dan Clucas (Arthur Lee/Love); with Joe Ongie (Aimee Mann, Minnie Driver) also handling production." (Yes, I found the Minnie Driver reference a bit jarring too.)

Best albums you never heard?

I recommend you drop what you're doing right now and check out this great list of the "Best albums you've never heard" over at Bullz-Eye. There's a heavy power pop presence on the list, including the great Kontiki by Cotton Mather, as well as discs from The Argument, Fluid Ounces, Jason Falkner, Heap, The Merrymakers, and my favorite disc of 2003, Warren Zanes' Memory Girls. Also featured on the list is Marjorie Fair's Selp Help Serenade, which featured one of my favorite tracks from 2005, "Hold On To You".

Of course, I'm sure most of you have heard at least a few of these discs.

H/T: Rock and Roll Report.

CD of the Day, 5/1/07: Adam Miner-Dangerous Eyes

Going to make this one brief as I'm a bit strapped for time, but make sure you take a listen to Adam Miner's Dangerous Eyes. This Canadian singer-songwriter has fashioned a quality disc that ranges from classic power pop to Coldplay-on-steroids to your standard singer-songwriter fare.

Standouts include the title track, which is a bit of Tal Bachman meets Simon Morel, "Shades of Blue", perhaps the most "power poppy" of the disc, "Fool", which inspired the Coldplay-on-steroids remark above, and "Rumors", which reminds me a bit of Cliff Hillis.

CD Baby | MySpace

Some more eMu's.

A couple of more discs of interest that have just been added to eMusic:

Fran King's Beautification. This one was #52 on the best of 2006 list (it seems like every week one or two more from the list get added), although going back and reading my original post on the disc I see that it was really a 2005 release and shouldn't have been on it. Oh well, it's the music that matters, not the year, so hop on over and download it.

Also added is the brand new disc from Steven Mark, Racing Grey. For those familiar with his previous releases, Aloneaphobe and Distraction (both of which are also available at eMu), this is more of the same high-quality densely produced Lennonesque pop, albeit with some social commentary in tracks like "Paris Hilton Generation" and "God on High".

Right on Brother!

Larry at This Is What We Do Now has a great post up extolling the genre of power pop, and he's kind enough to praise this blog by name. My favorite passage is this:

I've heard all the criticisms: The lyrics are vapid, the songs repetitive, there's not enough layer and depth, the music's too happy, etc. Those who don't enjoy it always employ a holier-than-thou "Well it can't be good if it actually has discernible hooks, gets lodged in your head immediately, makes you want to sing along and doesn't drearily plod along for four to six minutes" attitude. Apparently happy music = bad music in the indie world.

I've never listened to music to be challenged or find some sort of deep, hidden meaning. I couldn't give a flying fuck what a band has to say. If I want to be intellectually stimulated I'll pick up a book, watch Jeopardy or do the Times crossword. When it comes to music, all I care about is getting a song stuck in my head and making me want to play it over and over again until I get sick of it.

Amen, brother.

Updates & Miscellany.

By way of follow-up on some earlier posts, and some other things that I've been meaning to mention over the week or so since I last posted:

* I made reference a few weeks ago to a new David Grahame album becoming available through downloads from his official site. It now turns out that Grahame is only releasing individual tracks as he completes them, and not only are they going for $2 a pop, he's not making any previews of them available before purchase so as to preserve the surprise element. This business model of Grahame's has created quite a lengthy discussion on Audities, with the general consensus being that it's too steep a price, and even those who feel they could justify spending $2/track are put off by the lack of ability to sample the tracks. It is kind of a "pig in a poke" type of setup here, especially with Grahame's hints of a departure from his earlier sound. If anyone here has heard the tracks, please post a comment with your take on them, and if by some reason you're reading this Mr. Grahame, feel free to send me the mp3s on a promo basis and I'll be glad to write up my thoughts on them. :)

UPDATE WHILE PREPARING THIS POST: Apparently bowing to semi-popular demand, Grahame has made samples available. After listening to the five 20-30 second snippets, I'm not detecting that radical a change in his sound, with the exception of "The Slide", which has a horn section and sounds kind of bluesy. The others sound nice enough, assuming the snippets are representative of the tracks as a whole. I'm a bit more tempted to shell out the $2, but I'm not quite there yet.

* Contrary to earlier reports, Derby is not imminently releasing their sophomore disc, Posters Fade. It will probably be out later this year, according to their publicist. Nevertheless, the three new tracks are still playing on their site (click on "music") and I remain eager to hear the rest.

* I'd be remiss not to mention that Jason Falkner has a new disc out, but only in Japan. It's titled I'm OK, You're OK, and if you want it now before it gets a US release (if ever), Kool Kat has it for $32. I may have my power pop membership card taken away for saying this, but I've never really gotten into Falkner that much. It's not that I dislike his music, and maybe it's also due to his very spotty track record of solo releases, but for whatever reason his stuff has never jumped out at me. I'll certainly be glad to give the new one a listen, but not for $32.

* Not Lame put up some new discs today, and one of them looked particularly interesting: This Is Grand Atlantic, by the Australian band of the same name. Although this new full-length is not available yet on eMusic, their EP Smoke and Mirrors (which features several of the same tracks on the full-length along with a cover of Abba's "The Winner Takes It All") can be found there.

* Speaking of Not Lame, they've also rolled out the red carpet for the new disc from The Well Wishers, How I Won The War. So head on over and listen away. You know I'm stoked for this, since their previous release, Under The Arrows, was my #5 disc of 2005. I just got the disc in, so I'm not ready for a full report yet, but it sounds like more of the same goodness.

CD of the Day, 4/25/07: Holmes- Stop Go

Who is Holmes? Is he one-half of the crime-fighting team of Holmes & Yo-Yo? (Man, I'm really dating myself with that reference) Is he the legendary detective Sherlock? Katie's brother? Nah - Holmes is actually LA's Roy Shakked (I guess "Holmes" scans better than "Shakked", although if he wanted to keep his own name he could have called his project "Shakked Up"), and his full-length debut Stop Go is one of the more engaging power pop productions of this soon-to-be-one-third-over year. Mixing in pop influences as varied as Ben Folds, Jeff Lynne (one of the current incarnation of ELO's cellists plays on the disc), Jellyfish, The Beatles, and maybe even a dash of Beck, he still manages to create an organic enough pop sound that in six months' time I'll probably be referring to some other artist as Holmeseque.

The piano is Holmes/Shakked's primary instrument, although he doesn't use it in as dominant a fashion as, say, Folds. The opener "Five Days a Week" (Beatles nod?) rocks along with a poppy punch that recalls The Argument, while "Wake Up", his signature track which anchored his self-titled EP of last year, is a delight that crams in more "na na na"s in 3:23 than "Hey Jude" did in 7 minutes. You'll go, not stop, with the title track, which bounces along like "Getting Better" with a more rocking guitar riff.

He can do the slow stuff too, as piano-and-acoustic-guitar ballad "Prove Me Wrong Again" proves, with its Penn/Brion/Dolieslager sound. Other highlights include "Grey World", which has enough Harrisonesque slide guitar and orchestration to come off as a combination of a typical Jeff Lynne/ELO ballad with Badfinger's "Day After Day"; "Be Alone", a more "modern"-sounding track that has handclaps galore, and "Nevermind", another lushly orchestrated ballad. Even the closing instrumental "Daydream No. 57" isn't bad, and I hate instrumentals.

MySpace | eMusic | Kool Kat | Not Lame

CD of the Day, 4/17/07: Duane Dolieslager-The Opposite of Optimist

It's kind of fitting that I chose today to feature Duane Dolieslager's The Opposite of Optimist as the CD of the Day, as today also marks the release of two Michael Penn releases: one, a best-of, and the other a re-release of 2005's Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947 (our #4 disc of that year) with bonus tracks. Why is it fitting? Because Mr. Dolieslager has managed to put out the nearest approximation to a new Michael Penn album with this disc, and had earlier received raves for his cover of "I Can Tell" from the online-only Penn fan tribute Look What The Fans Drug In.

Optimist opens with "Mad Dash For The Door", the kind of dense yet melodic Revolver-influenced rocker that Penn perfected with "Try" from 1997's Resigned. Following is "Carousel", a brilliant reflective midtempo number that recalls Penn classics like "Out of My Hands" and "Whole Truth". "Like Day & Night" is another uptempo rocker in the vein of "Evenfall" and "On Automatic", as I continue my quest to compare each of these tracks to those of Penn's. Oh, and did I mention "A Long Trail of Enemies" reminds me of "Bunker Hill" crossed with "A Bad Sign"?

Elsewhere, the jaunty, somewhat baroque "Nowhere In Record Setting Time" has a strong Jon Brion/Jason Falkner/Jellyfish influence, while "Nothing's New" is more straightforward pop/rock in the style of The Wallflowers. All in all, an outstanding disc, and have I made it clear that if you like Michael Penn, you'll love this album?

CD Baby | MySpace

Today's eMusic goodies.

First off, an exciting new release from Kool Kat shows up immediately on eMu: Fooling April's In The Now. According to Kool Kat, "their well-produced, keyboard-led brand of pure, radio-friendly pop will immediately appeal to fans of The Argument, The 88, Ben Folds, Crowded House, and even Steely Dan!" If you prefer the disc, and want the exclusive 4-track bonus disc, get it from the Kat here.

Also, a couple of Rainbow Quartz releases make their eMusic bow. One of them is one readers of this blog will be quite familiar with, The Mellowmen's Tomorrow's Sound Today. We were all over this one last year when it was an import (it was#45 on the year-end list), and now it's gotten a domestic USA release through RQ. Don't pass this one up if you had up until now.

The other is the truly retro-sounding The Shake and their aptly titled disc, Trippin' The Whole Colorful World. This is vintage Rainbow Quartz, with that 60's/Nuggets/Psych/Garage sound that many of their bands are known for.

Personal note.

Will the artist who emailed me about being referred by David Bash please re-send your email? I accidentally deleted it. Thanks!

CD of the Day, 4/12/07: Class Three Overbite-Rendezvous

If you're old enough, just close your eyes and picture the scene in your head: you're sitting on the floor of a wood-paneled basement with wall-to-wall carpet and you've wearing a pair of headphones listening to the latest rock LP you bought from the local record store for $4.99. The year is 1976. Now open them. You're sitting in front of a computer listening to mp3s and the year is 2007. Either way, it works for Class Three Overbite's Rendezvous, a gem of a disc that will appeal to rockers young and old.

Class Three Overbite is the brainchild of Mike Elgert and Bradley Jendza. Elgert should be familiar to power pop fans and readers of this site; his Days Gone By placed a cool #59 on last year's Absolute Powerpop Top 100. But whereas Days Gone By was more straightforward Jellyfish/Superdrag-inspired power pop, Rendezvous is more in debt to 70s glam and "corporate rock". The opener "Milkshake" sounds like one of Tommy Shaw's Styx tracks; The title track, with almost a danceable disco beat, reminds me of none other than Kiss's "I Was Made For Loving You", their stab at disco-rock. "No Good Rotten" is my favorite track on the album, with a heavy Queen influence - but more the Queen of Brian May than Freddie Mercury, and "Life Is a Piece of Cake" is cut from the same cloth. And "What's So Funny" is probably the album's quintessential track, trading folky verses with a glam-rocking chorus.

CD Baby | MySpace

New David Grahame on the way.

David Grahame is someone I'm not sure I've mentioned before on this blog, but it's not because he isn't worthy of mention. He's a true pop genius (I mean his best-of was called Supergenius, so he has to be, right?) and out-McCartneys Sir Paul these days. Anyway, the exciting news is the photo above, the cover art for Welcome to the Dark Ages, his newest release due next month.

The catch is that it will be a download-only release available exclusively from his site. And one other caveat:

As much as I would love to satisfy the curious by posting samples, the album is so dramatically different from any of my previous solo work, that it's best left a surprise to buyers. A nice surprise.

Hmm...should be interesting.

New Derby!

Long-time readers of the blog will know that we yield to know one in our fandom of Derby, a Portland, Oregon band who had our #1 record of 2005 with This Is The New You. So it's with great pleasure that I pass on the word that the boys are getting ready to release their second disc, Posters Fade, and that three tracks from the disc are now streaming at their myspace. "Untitled" is the best, but the other two are quite good as well, so any fears of a sophomore slump appear to be unwarranted.

More eMusic goodness.

Lots of great discs have popped up on eMusic in the last several days. First and foremost is The Fags' Light 'Em Up, which was #41 on our Top 100 of 2006. Also available is the their Self-Titled EP, which has a couple of tracks not on Light 'Em Up.

Also notable is the addition of the two releases by Paper Airplane Pilots. Western Automatic Music was #80 on the 2006 top 100 list, and "The Way It Goes" was one of my top 20 songs of the year. Also available is their debut release, The History of Flying.

If you're more inclined toward softer indie pop in the vein of Belle & Sebastian, take a listen to Hop on Pop's As Drawn by Ethan, Age 2, a fine release from a couple of years ago.

And finally, we have Texas' Deathray Davies, an indie pop band that bridges the gap between The Kinks and Guided by Voices. The Day of the Ray and The Return of the Drunken Ventriloquist are worth a listen.

CD of the Day, 4/3/07: Everybody Else-Everybody Else

I've been waiting for a while to blog on this one, having had an advance for several weeks, but now that it's out today it's time to spread the word on LA's Everybody Else (named after a Kinks' b-side). Their self-titled debut is great high-energy, truly rocking power pop in the vein of vets like Cheap Trick and Butch Walker and new artists like The Fags, Orson and Locksley.

Great tracks abound here. The opener "Meat Market" pulls off the feat of having melody and a groove, while rocking fiercely. "Faker" and "I Gotta Run" keep the momentum going nicely, while "Born To Do" (I hear some Billy Squier) and "Rich Girls, Poor Girls" (I hear Walker) carry the flag for 80s-influenced pop/rock, while "Makeup" is an interesting amalgam of 70s R&B and 90s modern rock. They save the best for last, however, with the closer "Alone In The World", just a great power pop track with an outstanding chorus.

MySpace | eMusic | Amazon

Born To Do (mp3)

Imitation is the sincerest form...

So I was checking Not Lame's new releases this week, and one of the album covers caught my eye: Auto Interiors' Let Agree to Deceive Our Best Friends. Here it is:


It's actually a pretty decent album; I got a chance to listen to the whole thing on Rhapsody without even being a subscriber (you get 25 free plays). (Or you can download a couple of tracks from their myspace). But something about that album cover looked real, real familiar:


Ah, yes...Frank Brown's 2005 release Out of the Blue. (Of course, Frank's album title has an awfully familiar ring of its own). And it's a pretty good album, too, worth checking out if you missed it back then - it's still available on CD Baby and eMusic.

Nevertheless, I'm still a little disappointed in both of these discs; neither had a power pop cover of the Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster" The Pernice Brothers' "Ferris Wheel" on it.

New stuff on eMusic.

We'll start off with one of last year's top 100, #50 to be precise. UK powerpoppers Silver Sun with Dad's Weird Dream. This one's a must, so if you didn't pay the import price for it, now's a good chance to get it inexpensively.

The other two lean toward the more psychedelic side of power pop: Doleful Lions' Song Cyclops Number Two, and The Green Pajamas' The Night Races Into Anna. Grab these two and party like it's 1967.

Video of the Day: Mika-"Grace Kelly"

I know I'm a little late to the party here, but count me in as another one blown away by Mika's Life In Cartoon Motion, and especially the UK smash "Grace Kelly", seen below. If for some reason you haven't yet heard of Mika, he's basically Elton John, Queen and the Scissor Sisters rolled into one and turned up to 11. Aside from "Grace Kelly", tracks like "Stuck In The Middle", "My Interpretation" and "Billy Brown" will defy your attempts to get them out of your head once you've listened. The album gets a US release tomorrow, and I see that Best Buy has it on sale for $7.99, a deal and a half.



Mika on myspace

CD of the Day, 3/25/07: Simon Morel-Record #2

Last year, one of the first discs we featured on this blog was Simon Morel's Songs From The City, and the Australian is back with his second disc, Record #2 (the time spent coming up with that album title must have been incalculable). #2 is a bit different than Songs From The City, feauturing a little more harder-edged pop sound than its predecessor courtesy of production from the legendary (in power pop circles) Michael Carpenter.

Carpenter's production is apparent right off the bat with the power pop gem of an opener, "Tomorrow's Maybe", and the rock of "As Time Goes By" (not a remake of the Casablanca standard). Other uptempo standouts include "Don't Give Your Love Away" and "Sadness In a Small Town", possibly the catchiest track on the disc and featuring great harmonies on the chorus. Fans of Morel's softer side won't be disappointed either; "No Coming 'Round", "Saving Grace" (co-written with Carpenter), and the closing "Place For Us" are all high-quality ballads.

Stream a few tracks at his official site, or at his myspace. And of course you can check it out and buy here:

Friday Miscellany.

* Josh Fields is back in stock at CD Baby. With two sellouts already occurring, I'd recommend acting fast.

* Two new releases of note at eMusic. They have the new Holmes full-length, Stop Go, about which I'll have more to say soon. Check it out. Also new this week is the latest from The Loves, Technicolour, which was featured at Not Lame this week. As a matter of fact, so was the Holmes.

* Adam Merrin of The 88, whose solo debut we featured earlier, had "Still Alright" from that disc played during last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy, one of the highest-rated shows on US TV.

CD of the Day, 3/20/07: The Fizzies-Contest Popularity

LA's The Fizzies are the latest entrant in the high-energy, power-in-your-power-pop sweepstakes, and they deserve a winning ticket (or at least a decent listen) with their disc Contest Popularity. You can draw a straight line from T.Rex to Cheap Trick to Weezer to Rooney in their sound, but they have enough quirks and moments of originality to place their own stamp on things.

On to the songs. "Honey" opens with a rocking punch, while "Rock Kidz" has a glammy sound that either lampoons or observes with affection the band's possible intended demographic. Elsewhere, "In a House" has a Fountains-of-Wayne feel with its pure pop melody and use of proper names; "Love Suicide" channels The Cars, "It's Alright" is power ballad bliss, and "High" reminds me of the Bay City Rollers in the chorus, but its verses are from somewhere else, jazzy and breezy-sounding. Closer "Garbage Generation" has something to say, and could pass for a track off the new Ted Leo disc.

MySpace | Official Site (click on "Music" for a full stream)

New on eMusic 3/13/07

In my third piece in a row today in a desperate bid to make up for a recent lack of posting, I'll note that there have been some great adds to eMu today. In fact, it's not every day that two of my top 100 of 2006 get added in the same day, but today was one of those days.

Most notable was my #22 for 2006, The Hazey Janes' Hotel Radio. As I wrote over a year ago, "The HJ's are at the intersection of my two favorite styles of music: power pop and alt-country. The Jayhawks and Cosmic Rough Riders comparisons are most certainly apt." I never gave the disc a proper review, but my lofty ranking speaks for itself. "Moanin' Face" was an unfortunate omission from my favorite songs of 2006 list.

My #74 popped up as well, The Virtues' Where Were You?. See this post for more on these Swedish janglers (scroll down about halfway), complete with a couple of mp3 downloads.

Finally, had I done like David Bash and compiled a list of top reissues/compilations, Smash Palace's Best of 99-06 would have been near the top of the list, and it should be at the top of yours.

Time for another Roundup.

Here a few discs that I heartily recommend that I've been meaning to blog about:

The Sheers-Goodbye World. I've had this disc for about a month or so, and originally it didn't jump out at me - it sounded good, but not a lot to distinguish it from some other good discs I've heard. But on coming back to it recently, I found that most of the hooks had burrowed themselves into my brain, and it was like catching up with an old friend. This is really good power pop with a bit more of a commercial sound; in fact, "You're Just Lonely" was recently featured on the ABC TV Series "Men In Trees". I hear The Tories and Jellyfish here, but more in frontman Danny DeLaMatyr's vocals than the sound, which is more akin to Fastball or Semisonic. One notable exception: the early-McCartney/Emitt Rhodes influenced ballad "It Is What It Is".
CD Baby | Not Lame | MySpace

Jeff Murphy-Cantilever. This release was a big deal in the power pop community as this is Shoes legend Murphy's first proper solo disc (he & Herb Eimerman put out a great quirky pop record in the 90s as The Nerk Twins, titled Either Way and which can be found on eMusic), and it's certainly no letdown. In fact, Cantilever has more in common with the quirky Either Way than the classic Shoes sound, and is the perhaps the stronger for it. From the humorous-but-earnest "I'm a Tool For You" to the great piano hook of "You're an Icon" to the jangly pop of "It Happens All The Time" to the train sounds of "She Don't Drive", Cantilever is a diverse mix of pop styles that doesn't follow a formula. Kudos to Murphy for making this more than a Shoes rehash (not that that wouldn't have been bad either). CD Baby | Not Lame | Kool Kat

The Satellite Program-Adoration In Retreat. This Seattle band has kind of slipped under the radar, but they have an excellent sound that falls somewhere between straight-ahead power pop and americana/alt-country. This is apparent right off the bat with "Tough When You Tell Me", which jangles with enough grit to please fans of both genres. Other highlights include the rocking "Inside Man", the midtempo "Rollaway", "Red Roses In The Snow", and the moody ballad "Western Electric" (a great song title for this band's sound). You can listen to the whole thing at their official site, and grab it at CD Baby. Or perhaps by the time you read this, it'll be featured on the front page of Not Lame, per the news section of the band's site. Either way, check it out.

CD of the Day, 3/13/07: Mandrew-The Wonderful World of Mandrew

Last month I told you about Mandrew, and his great debut album on eMusic. Well, here's his new one, and it's another quality outing which falls somewhere between "power pop" and "indie pop". Whether it's the rocking "Burning" (which sounds like Paul McCartney fronting Collective Soul), the Jon Brion-ish "Expanding The Collection", the Beatles-by-way-of-Matthew-Sweet "I Can't Write", the Posiesesque "Obsceneries" or the AC Newman-influenced "Note to Self", the world of Mandrew is wonderful indeed, and this one needs to go to the top of your current power pop wish list. I know I'm going to have to make room in my top 10 for it.

MySpace | CD Baby

New Monkeeman on eMusic.

The outstanding Monkeeman disc from last year, which placed #19 on our Best of 2006, is now available via eMusic in its re-release form. When it was independently released last year, it was self-titled, but he signed with El Muto Records, and they've put it out as Jumping On The Monkey Train. Whatever you call it, it's a great listen, so get on over and use those downloads.

New look.

I switched over to the "new Blogger" today, so I thought I'd fool around with the fonts/colors, etc. and shake the look up a bit. To make the archives a bit more manageable, I changed from weekly to monthly archives; with the new blogger format, it should be easier to find older posts.

I'm also going to experiment with the "labels" function, to make it easier to pull up related posts. I have nearly 400 posts to edit to make it comprehensive, but I've gone back and done all the ones from 2007 so far. This way, if you click on say, the "eMusic" label, you'll get all the posts in which I've linked to discs on eMusic. Also, you'll notice if you scroll down far enough that all the labels that I've done so far are listed on the right for your convenience.

More on Josh Fields.

For those interested, I've dug up some more information (and music) pertaining to Josh Fields, whose self-titled disc is our #1 favorite of 2007 to date here at Absolute Powerpop.

Some sleuthing (OK, a well-crafted Google search) led to the discovery that Fields was in an early-decade band called March Hares. They can be found at Garageband.com, and there are three songs that can be downloaded. First is an early version of "Clock Keeps Ticking", the outstanding leadoff track on the new CD. It's pretty much the same, except the mix isn't quite as good and it's slightly different towards the end. Another is "Peter Frampton", a 2-minute track about wanting to be the 70s superstar that doesn't do much for me. The third track is "She's a Spaceship", which is really pretty good, and would have been nice to have re-recorded on the new disc to flesh it out a bit (it's only 7 tracks).

Also you may have remembered that in my original post on the disc, I couldn't find a myspace for Fields. Well, that's because he's still using the myspace for March Hares. And four of the tracks from the new disc are streaming there, including "Clock Keeps Ticking" and the equally great "Steal The Air". I also found his listing of record label on the myspace page ("Taiyo Yuden") to be quite amusing.

Oh, and by the way the disc is sold out on CD Baby again.

CD of the Day, 3/7/07: David Brookings-Obsessed

Memphis's David Brookings has established himself as one of the more consistent power pop artists of the decade, and his fourth album, Obsessed, is another winner. Brookings' music has been described (according to Not Lame) as "power pop in the vein of such timeless faves here as Jim Boggia, Michael Carpenter, The Grays, Cherry Twister( and Parallax Project), Marc Carroll, Paul Melancon, The Candy Butchers and Matthew Sweet".

Obsessed has more of the sound of recent Mike Viola/Candy Butchers than some of the others listed above, and the punchy "I'm Not Afraid" starts things off with the right mix of sass and melody. "Get Behind Me" is a rollicking acoustic number, and the title track is a wonder - a wistful midtempo number that recounts Brookings' life to date in music. Other highlights include the classic power pop of "I'm In The Future Today", the gentle acoustic "What's Wrong With Nikki?" and the Michael Penn-ish "Don't Be Sad". "Get Behind Me" and "Obsessed" can be downloaded at the myspace link below.

CD Baby | MySpace

Also get his previous two albums at eMusic.

Cool stuff on eMusic.

Apologies for the extremely intermittent posting over the last 7-10 days, as I've been out of town over the past couple of weekends, and very busy at work. Things should start picking up again. While I was "away", there have been a few significant power pop releases added at eMusic.

Most notable is the brand new disc from The Primary 5, Go!. The band features Paul Quinn, who once drummed for Teenage Fanclub, and the TF influence is quite apparent on this disc as well as their 2005 debut effort, North Pole (also available on eMu.) There's also a jangly Byrds sound to TP5's work as well. A must-grab. Also check them out on myspace.

Jon Yeager, late of the Daybirds, put out a great EP in 2005 titled Truth & Volume, and followed that up with a late 2006 full-length titled Foi (that's French for "faith", by the way). Foi is now on eMu (as well as Truth & Volume), and it's great singer-songwriter pop, not unlike Pat Buchanan or more famously, Pete Yorn.

Finally, the Pugwash catalog continues its eMu rollout with the addition of Earworm, the predecessor to his great 2005 album Jollity.

Random Musings

* Mark Bacino has a new album in the works and has made an mp3 from it available for download:

Happy (www.thequeensenglish.com/mp3s/Happy.mp3)

(Note: You'll have to cut and paste the link here due to some Blogger quirk I can't manage to figure out, as it kept putting extraneous stuff in the link when I tried to hyperlink it.)

If you're not familiar with Mr. Bacino, head on over to eMusic and sample his previous release, 2003's Million Dollar Milkshake, or his myspace page. Or better yet, grab several mp3s from that album and his first, Popjob, at his official site.

* If like me, you loved Ryan Adams circa 2001's Gold but grew impatient with his subsequent genre exercises, grab a hold of the latest Griffin House disc, Homecoming. It's available at eMusic, and the highlights include "Burning Up The Night" and the Adamsesque-titled "The Guy That Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind". Three tracks from it are also streaming at myspace.

* In case you wondering whatever happened to Cotton Mather's Robert Harrison, wonder no more. He has a new band/project titled Future Clouds and Radar, and they're releasing a self-titled double disc on March 13. From what I've heard ahead of time, it's going to be more art pop than power pop, but you can judge for yourself from these two mp3s:

Drugstore Bust
Quicksilver

Meanwhile, nothing new to report on Stockton, the band formed by the other two former members of Mather, who gave us the brilliant track "Dreamworld" (still streaming at their myspace page). If you go to their myspace, it still states the debut album is to be released in "late 2006".

Top 10 of 2007 (as of 2/27).

OK, here we go with our first best-of list for the new year:

1. Josh Fields-S/T
2. Wiretree-Bouldin
3. Shake Some Action!-S/T
4. Signal Hill Transmission-An Empty Space
5. Keith LuBrant-Searching For Signal
6. The Red Button-She's About to Cross My Mind
7. Buva-All This Humming
8. Peter Baldrachi-Solid Ground
9. Jesse Malin-Glitter In The Gutter
10. Locksley-Don't Make Me Wait

I've discussed all but the Malin on the blog so far, but he's a relatively known quantity; suffice it to say it's the best of his three discs to date.

Bryan Scary on eMusic.

Today's interesting addition to eMusic is Bryan Scary's The Shredding Tears. Who is Bryan Scary? I'll let Ray from Kool Kat elaborate:

WOW!!! Where did this guy come from? The scale and level of detail on this project rivals any of the sophisticated rock and pop albums of the past! But it's not just ambitious, it's also fun! These are pop songs in the highest sense of the word, catchy melodies, lots of vocal harmonies and many clever sonic touches! The critics are already gushing about this one! "A kaleidoscopic art pop concept album that harkens back to the days of Sgt. Pepper and its brethren, combining catchy melodies and innovative songcraft with sweeping arrangements and a gloriously eccentric imagination. Recorded alone in his Brooklyn apartment, this is a true original, and essential listening for fans of The Beatles, The Move, XTC, and The Fiery Furnaces!"

I haven't listened to all of this yet, but from what I've heard, it does sound like something special. Dare I say "Scary" good? Other places to check him out: MySpace | Official Site

CD of the Day, 2/20/07: Semion-Help Me I Work In An Office

I missed this one when it came out last summer, ironically around the same time another similarly themed disc came out. And although these guys hail from London, they also share this a straight-ahead, no-nonsense power pop sound with Edmund's Crown.

The opening three tracks set the tone, with no letup from "Rum Runner", "Liverpool Sunset" and "Rubbing Alcohol", all of which will have your toes tapping and head bobbing in power pop bliss. And they can jangle with the best of them, so much so that they named one of the catchiest tracks on the album "Jangle #1". Quality stuff.

CD Baby | MySpace

New Mitch Easter mp3s.

Pop/rock legend Mitch Easter (Let's Active) has just released his first solo disc in 18 years, Dynamico, and he's offering up two mp3s that are well worth your bandwidth:

Time Warping
Sudden Crown Drop

"Time Warping" is a really great track, and "Sudden Crown Drop" ain't bad either. You can buy the disc from his label, 125 Records. And two additional tracks from Dynamico are streaming at his myspace page.

Video of the Day: Bob Evans-"Friend"

I couldn't post a video from my favorite album of 2005 without giving equal time to my favorite disc of 2006, so here's a video for "Friend", from Bob Evans' Suburban Songbook:



If you really liked the video, you can watch a "making of" video for this one as well.

Video of the Day: Derby-"Parade"

Been a while since I posted a video, so here's "Parade" from the Portland band Derby, whose This Is The New You was my favorite album of 2005. "Parade" might have been about the 6th or 7th best track on the disc, but it's an excellent tune nonetheless.

Streaming Thursday.

Time today to feature three releases that you can stream (two in full) that'll be worth a Thursday afternoon (or evening, or Friday for you Aussies) listen.

First off, Not Lame is at it again with their deluxe treatment of the new Bobby Sutliff disc, On a Ladder. By now, you know what this means: a full stream of the album, lots of bonus goodies, and a special pre-order deal. This one really looks like good value with the disc, and about 25 bonus downloads from Sutliff's back catalog, all for $12. If you're not familiar with Sutliff, Not Lame's descripton of his music as "12-string jangle pop heaven" should give you a good idea.

Recently I gave David Bash's Top 100 of 2006 a once-over looking for releases I wasn't familiar with. One that I found that would have definitely made my top 100 list was his #20 disc, Picture In My Head by Household Names. Click this link to their official site, and the disc immediately starts streaming. Although the first two tracks were a bit "modern rock" for my taste, the pure power pop starts with track 3, "Almost Fab" and doesn't let up from there, with "Anytime Mrs. K" a particular standout. I hear echoes of Guster, The Gin Blossoms, Fountains of Wayne and The Posies in this one. Somehow this eluded the larger power pop community last year (not found on Not Lame, Kool Kat or CD Baby), so kudos to Mr. Bash for unearthing this hidden gem.

Finally, we have a new download-only release from Adam Merrin. Adam who? Well, he's the guy who mans the keyboards for The 88, one of the top power pop groups around these days, and his solo stuff is outstanding as well. Have One is the name of his release, and it's apparently exclusively available from his myspace page as a Snocap download, $5.94 for 6 tracks. You can stream four of them there as well. Have One isn't too far afield from The 88; while the piano ballad "Still Alright" is what you might expect from a keyboard man's solo disc, the more rocking "Everything Has Changed" would have fit in well on Over & Over. The highlight here is "This Is How You Are", a gorgeous midtempo number that's equal parts Pernice Brothers and Autumn Defense. Don't waste any time getting this one on the mp3 player of your choice.

There's also a CD Baby link to sample the online EP, but you can't buy it directly from there.

Hidden gems on eMusic.

Three discs have recently come to my attention on eMusic, all of which will be worth your while. The first is courtesy of an anonymous commenter to the recent Daniel Wylie post, who alerted me to the new disc from Michael Slawter, frontman of The Saving Graces.

It's called An Assassination Of Someone You Knew, and if you liked any of The Saving Graces' previous releases, you'll love this one. But perhaps you're not familiar with the Graces, so here's an additional pedigree: the disc is co-produced by Jamie Hoover. This disc touches all the power pop bases, from jangling guitars, to great harmonies to catchy melodies. You can get the 30-second sample blitz at the eMusic link, and listen to four full streams at The Saving Graces' myspace page. I'm pretty sure this one will show up soon at Not Lame and Kool Kat, so those in need of the actual disc should be in good shape.

Meanwhile, I've come across a couple of overlooked "oldies" that really deserve mention. First is the self-titled 2004 debut from St. Paul's Mandrew (short for Mike Andrew). If I could sum up Mandrew's sound in one word, it'd be "Lennonesque". Also I hear a lot of Jon Brion, Michael Penn and Plasticsoul as well. My favorite tracks here are the Beatle-y "Pick Up Your Floor" "Angry Mob" and "Rain or Shine Rain". Aside from the eMusic link, you can sample and buy the disc at the Baby, and listen to the whole thing via WeedShare (Warning: 44MB download link). And better yet, Mandrew has a brand new album about to be released, The Wonderful World of Mandrew. Catch four tracks from the new one at his myspace page.

Finally, here's an excellent overlooked 2003 disc from the Aussie band Halfday, titled Now We're Happy. They're fairly comparable to countrymen like The Wellingtons, Ice Cream Hands and Murphy's Lore and have a real jaunty, breezy sound. Highlights include "Turn Me On", "You Make Me Want to Clean My Room", "My Life in a Jar" and "In The Meantime". Myspace 'em here. Not sure where to pick up the actual disc, but they're also available on iTunes and via Snocap from the myspace page. However you get it, just make sure you get it.

Josh Fields back in stock!

Well, apparently my glowing review of the new Josh Fields disc may have led to a sellout on CD Baby (must have been the siren). Anyway, for those who were looking for it, it's now back in stock. The more I listen to it, the more I'm convinced it's my #1 for 2007 to date (all 45 days of it), and that's #1 on the full disc list, not the EP list, even though it's seven tracks.

New Daniel Wylie EP on eMusic!

Regular readers of this blog may know that I'm a big fan of ex-Cosmic Rough Rider Daniel Wylie, and last year's The High Cost of Happiness was a favorite. Well, Wylie has returned today with Let's Go Surfing, a 5-track EP that is available via eMusic. The EP is more of the same, and that's a good thing.

Speaking of which, all of Wylie's solo output is also available on eMusic - you can't go wrong with any of it.

Absolute Powerpop is 1 today!

Yes, hard as it to believe, this blog celebrates its first birthday today. It's been a fun year, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to get the word out on hundreds of great power pop and related discs.

The early days of the blog seem like eons ago, back when it seemed every third post was about Supraluxe, and "CD of the Day" actually meant a new CD every day, instead of every 2-4 days (hey, I had a backlog then). Anyway, thanks to everyone out there who's been reading, and I hope you all have been able to expand your power pop collection as a result.

The Latebirds on eMusic.

Back in March of last year, I waxed rhapsodic on a Finnish band called The Latebirds and their Radio Insomnia release. I guess it finally got a US release late last year, and now it's on eMusic. There are couple of mp3s at my original feature of it, but grab the rest of 'em from eMu.

CD of the Day, 2/6/07: Satellite Soul-Straight Back to Kansas

It seems like I've been on a roll lately with bands that aren't purely power pop, but have an alt-country/Americana/roots rock/heartland rock/whatever sound to them, and here's another one that's put out a damn listenable album: Satellite Soul with Straight Back to Kansas. Satellite Soul used to have a major label deal, and they were pretty much a straight-up CCM band. They're now independent, and they've gone in a more secular direction.

Listening to new stuff in a random mix on my iPod, I always note those bands or artists who seem to make me perk up when one of their songs pops up, and Straight Back to Kansas has been passing the "perk test". The insistent rocker "Visceral", the second song on the disc, will get your attention with its rapid-fire hooks reminiscent of Cheap Trick; "Crazy" and "Indiana" are great mid-tempo numbers that recall The Jayhawks, Whiskeytown and early Wilco; "Good Ride Down" wouldn't have been out of place on a Gin Blossoms disc; "Bury Me" is a roots rocker in the Walter Clevenger vein; and the closer "Everything" is a true gem, marrying a great melody with horns and "ooh la la" backing vocals.

Their official site has the album (or samples of it, I couldn't get it work just now) streaming, and there's the obligatory myspace page. The disc is available at CD Baby and at iTunes.

The Ditchflowers on Not Lame.

Not Lame's latest featured disc is The Ditchflowers' Carried Away. Who are The Ditchflowers? Let Bruce & Co explain:

Well, long time Not Lamers will remember Barely Pink who released 4 mighty fine albums and an EP of classic Cheap Trick inspired power pop in the late 90's and early 00's. Brian Merrill, the leader of that band returns playing in The Ditchflowers along with one Ed Woltil, an unknown in the Not Lame world. Well, not anymore. Woltil is one serious, stunning songwriter, which all you have to do is play one minute of the songs here quickly to confirm.

Barely Pink holds a special place in our hearts here at Absolute Powerpop, since they were a Tampa Bay-area band, and the region is where our global headquarters reside.

In any event, I gave the album a quick listen this afternoon, and it sounds quite good. Hear it for yourself at this special page Not Lame created, with the full album streaming and plenty of bonus goodies if you take them up on their offer. Going to have make it a point to take an Absolute Powerpop field trip to see these guys.

CD of the Day, 2/2/07: Josh Fields-Josh Fields

OK, folks, time to break out the siren for this one:

LA's Josh Fields (about whom little I could find online other than the fact he was a former guitarist for a band called I-94) has come out of nowhere with a pure power pop delight of a mini-album (7 tracks, a bit too big to be called an EP). On the CD Baby page for the disc, he describes it as "melody driven powerpop that lives somewhere between Jellyfish and Cheap Trick with smart lyrics and addictive hooks." It is somewhere in between - not as baroque as the 'fish, but not quite as crunchy as Cheap Trick. In fact, it reminds me of Fastball, specifically the Miles Zuniga songs ("Fire Escape", "Airstream"), as well as Semisonic and the other bands that spearheaded a late 90s pop/rock renaissance on contemporary hit radio before the boy bands and the divas took over for good.

Anyway, the seven tracks here are better than most discs with 12 or more. "Clock Keeps Ticking" is the lid-lifter, and what a song it is, buoyed by a great chorus that won't leave your head and sounding like a lost Rembrandts classic. "Steal The Air" may be even better, with another killer chorus and a piano hook that surfaces from time to time not unlike Semisonic's "Closing Time". "Goodnight LA" is an exceptional power ballad that compares favorably to any that Cheap Trick have released; and "Photograph" is a midtempo marvel.

Can't find a myspace, the artist site linked to at the CD Baby page says "coming soon", so you'll have to do your one-stop shopping at the Baby, where it's a bargain at $8. There isn't much question this'll be on a Best of 2007 list at year's end; the only question is whether it'll go on the main list or the EP list.

CD of the Day, 2/1/07: Signal Hill Transmission-An Empty Space

After power pop, my favorite musical genre is alt-country, which has about as loose a definition as power pop can, at least as I interpret it. When these two genres intersect, it can result in some of what I think have been the best discs of the past 10 years; think The Jayhawks' Smile, The Old 97's Fight Songs, Wilco's Summerteeth, etc. And while it may not be the near-perfection found on those discs, Signal Hill Transmission has made a similar breakthrough with their new disc, An Empty Space. This California band put out a fine alt-country disc in 2005 with Tomorrow, The Stars but An Empty Space is a sonic leap forward into a more pop-oriented sound, merging the best of alt-country and power pop.

While opener "Pipe Dream" might have fit on their first album, with its languid beauty, "Alright" announces that a new SHT has arrived with its rocking guitars and 70s-style swagger. Things don't let up with "Polyvinyl Acetate", another rocker, while "Cherry Is a Girl" is true straight-up power pop a la Velvet Crush or Fountains of Wayne. Their alt-country roots resurface with the title track, which reminds me a bit of "I've Just Seen a Face". Other highlights include "Salt In The Store", a Superdrag-style rocker, "On and Off", which sounds like one of Dave Grohl's midtempo numbers, and the anthemic closer "Ordinary". Another definite Best of 2007 contender.

MySpace | CDBaby

(Although the new one isn't yet available on eMusic, you can pick up Tomorrow The Stars there).