CD of the Day, 8/1/08: The Favorites-Bright Nights, Bright Lights

Straight outta Houston come The Favorites, who may soon be yours after crafting one of the brightest discs of 2008 with Bright Nights, Bright Lights. They remind me quite a bit of The Meadows (more their first album that the new one), The Gin Blossoms, The Rembrandts, and to some extent a less smart-assed Fountains of Wayne or an Americanized The Feeling.

"Something That You're Missing" and "In Case You're Wondering" are a great 1-2 punch to open the disc that immediately let you know what kind of sound you're in for: hooky, upbeat and hard to shake from your head. "Hope In The Sky" throws in some tasteful synths and rocks harder than the first two - it's more Waltham than The Gin Blossoms. "I've Got a Feeling" (not a Beatles cover) is heartland rock a la Tom Petty, and the lovely "Golden Like The Fall" shows that The Favorites know their way around the slower numbers as well.

Elsewhere, "Try, Try, Try" is where the Fountains of Wayne comparison comes in, and they share that popular band's wry outlook in "The Great Outdoors", a humorous look at a camping trip gone bad. "Let Me Come Home" is a power ballad whose title sums it up; and they channel Jeff Lynne on the outstanding "Pity Me Parade". Rounding things out are the Tex-Mex "La Tortuga Terrible" and closing ballad "8:00 am".

This is one of those discs that will jump right out of the speakers at you, and one I can see slotting into my Top 20 or better come year's end.

CD Baby | MySpace

New Music from a couple of AbPow favorites.

Two big-time favorites of mine have released some new music for digital download: Derby and Josh Fields.

We'll start with the boys from Portland, Oregon. Derby's still yet to release Posters Fade, their full-length followup to 2005's AbPow Album of the Year This Is The New You, but in the meantime they've given us a download-only EP that's a teaser for the disc. Available at CD Baby, it shows them further refining their sound. They've upped the BPM on "Streetlight" and even the midtempo "If Ever There's a Reason" without sacrificing their melodic gifts, while opener "Argyle" brings to mind "Jet Set", the wonderful opener from New You. (And to confound, they have a new track titled "This Is The New You" on the EP as well).

Meanwhile, 2007 Album of the Year contender Josh Fields has three new songs available for purchase via Snocap on his MySpace page: "Malibu", "Sleepwalking", and "Everywhere I Shouldn't Be" (non-album track "Bigger Than Life" is available as well, and all but "Sleepwalking" are streaming on the MySpace player). These tracks are of a piece with those on his self-titled debut and are definitely worth the .99 each.

Odds and ends.

I Don't Like Cricket, I Love It!

Pugwash alert! One of the best lines from 10cc's immortal "Dreadlock Holiday" could be the mission statement of The Duckworth Lewis Method, a new band featuring Thomas Walsh (a/k/a Pugwash) and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. These two Irishmen have parlayed their love of cricket into a concept album about the sport. Released globally today, this is a must for Pugwash fans (as well as cricket fans, but you don't have to be one to enjoy it). In case you're wary, have a listen below:

MySpace | iTunes

The Duckworth Lewis Method - T...

Your Favorites, free.

Many of you recall Bright Nights, Bright Lights, the outstanding release from The Favorites which placed at #15 on my 2008 year-end list. The band is now making the disc available free, gratis, without charge, yours for the taking, courtesy of NoiseTrade. A deal too good to pass up:

A bunch of stuff.

Been trying to post since last night, but up until only the last hour or so Blogger has been down. Anyway, here's a roundup of news, links, and thoughts:

* The Nines are about to unleash a new album, Calling Distance Stations. I have to confess I wasn't too familiar with them, but after reading their pedigree (involvement with the likes of Jason Falkner and Andy Partridge) my interest was piqued. After a listen to four outstanding tracks from the new one at their myspace page, and hearing samples from the rest at Not Lame's special page for them (replete with pre-order goodies), I grabbed their previous release, 2001's Properties of Sound, from eMusic. Just great stuff.

* The new Cheap Trick is ready to hit retail next Tuesday, and it's been mentioned by many as a return to form and their best since anywhere from 1979 to 1997, depending on who's doing the talking. I heard several tracks from it (some are streaming right now at their site), and they sound darn good.

* Speaking of hitting retail, Doug Powell's Four Seasons is out now. I blogged about it when it was announced, leading to a mini-controversy about whether Powell is a "pop genius" or not (see the comments). His versatility is certainly on display here, and the six "New Cars" tracks are worth the price of admission alone.

* An EP worth checking out is Get Steady, by the band Jonny Lives. Listen at their myspace page, where you can also buy the EP. They're garage pop/rock out of NYC with a real melodic sense. Been emphasizing the softer pop/singer-songwriter types quite a bit lately, so it's equal time for those who put the power in power pop.

* Speaking of power in the power pop, I know I mentioned them in passing about a month ago, but I just want to emphasize again what a great record The World Record's Guitars Forever is. One power pop gem after another, with my particular favorites being "See Saw Swell" and "We're #1". If there's any justice in the world, the latter will find some airplay in connection with winning sports teams (it's already my unofficial theme song of the national champion Florida Gator basketball team) with "We Are The Champions" having been done to death. And the song can be heard, along with three others from the album, at their myspace page.

* Another great song that I want to mention is one of my favorites from last year: "Amelia", by the Straw Dogs. The Dogs are one of my favorite poppy Americana bands, and this tune about legendary aviator Amelia Earhart is one of their best. Sung from the perspective of Frederick Noonan, the navigator who accompanied her on their ill-fated flight, it's haunting as well as melodic: "Everyone wants us to be on some island/everyone's hoping that we're still alive/nobody knows we got just what we wanted/we all died." I'm streaming it as my song of the day on the Absolute Powerpop myspace page, and the album can be bought and sampled here.

Mid-July Roundup.

Andrew Taylor-From the Outside Looking In. Dropkick frontman Andrew Taylor has been accumulating a collection of songs over the last 15 years that he hadn't recorded with his band, and he decided to play and record them completely by himself. Interestingly enough though, the end result sounds a lot like Dropkick, which is a good thing. This means it's another fine collection of top-shelf jangle pop that Taylor and his mates have been known for over the years that's found the golden mean between Teenage Fanclub and Matthew Sweet. Standout tracks here include "I Saw Through You" (with it's "you-ooh-ooh" chorus), the more rocking "Someone", and the album's catchiest track, "Who We Really Are", which reminds me of pre-Hotel California Eagles. So it's Dropkick without the Dropkick, or something like that.

iTunes



Various Artists-Songs, Bond Songs. Andrew Curry, the maestro of themed power pop compilations, is at it again. After his 70s lite rock opus that broke the rules against compilations and topped my 2013 list and 2014's followup covering the "second British invasion" of the 80s, his latest project features the songs of the James Bond movie franchise. As with the other two comps, Curry has enlisted a who's-who of indie power pop and the results are a blast. After Lannie Flowers gets you in the mood with the famous Bond theme, you're off an adventure that will leave you stirred, if not shaken. With such a variety of songs and artists involved (26 of each), everyone's bound to have their personal favorites, and mine here are Wyatt Funderburk's groovy take on "The Look of Love", Ryan Hamilton's "We Have All the Time in the World", Cirrone's "The Living Daylights" and Look Park (Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne) with "The World is Not Enough". Make sure you take advantage of your license to listen below.

iTunes



The Glad Machine-The Glad Machine. The Glad Machine hails from western Massachusetts, and their self-titled debut hits all the classic power pop sweet spots. Reminiscent of bands like The Shazam, The Tories and The Cautions, TGM starts things off with "Homecoming" where "it's 1985 here every day", and follows it with "Wake Up, Girl", more classic power pop with a killer chorus. Meanwhile, "I Wanna Drive" recalls Jellyfish in their less-baroque moments, "87 Highland Avenue" is a well-executed power ballad, and the melodic closer "Cake" is the icing on top, so to speak. Not a bad track in the lot, and it's a welcome return to what power pop sounded like in the 80s and 90s.

iTunes

Midweek Roundup.

Shakermaker-Shakermaker. Given that the band is apparently named after an Oasis song, you might expect brash, Beatles-influenced BritPop from this Chapel Hill, NC combo. If so, you would be wrong. Instead, this is high-quality melodic indie pop, kind of a southern-fried version of The Pernice Brothers. Opener "Frenchie" and its tastefully placed "whoa-hos" draw you in, and the jaunty "All Over Town" yields the Pernice comparisons, reminiscent of tracks like "One Foot In The Grave" and "Working Girls". The real standout here is "Sunday Ladies", a true pop triumph that veers from Shins-ish indie pop, to the Beatlesque, to music hall and back again all in the space of a few minutes. Really good stuff that may not jump out at you at first, but bears repeated listens.

CD Baby | MySpace

The Shimshaws-Ear to the Wire. I missed this brother act's debut disc, Subcutaneous (an oversight I'll have to remedy) from a few years back, but color me impressed with the followup. The Shimshaws are Colorado-by-way-of-DC's Scott & Todd McCombs, and their sound is vintage heartland-infused power pop a la The Gin Blossoms, Tom Petty and AbPow favorites Red Guitar. There's a bit of Matthew Sweet in the opener "Never Fly", and "Ocean City" has that driving guitar "Runnin' Down a Dream" feel. They have a facility for the slower numbers as well - "Ordinary Days" and "Cannonball" are as good as anything on the disc, including the Beatles-by-way-of-Oasis-ish "Once Again". Fine album, but I still have no idea what a Shimshaw is. (By the way, if you go to their official site, they're releasing a new non-album track every month for free download.)

CD Baby | MySpace

The 99th Floor-Eclectic Guitar. Boy, that album title has been out there a long time waiting to be used, and leave it to a Norwegian band to claim it. Nevertheless, this isn't the type of Scandinavian power pop we're accustomed to from The Merrymakers et al; it has a more rocking edge to it. In fact it owes more to bands like Supergrass and The Stereophonics in tracks like "Headspin" and "Cool Is Dead". Meanwhile, leadoff track "He Will Get to Call You Sweet Things Now" incorporates some tough R&B for a Jam-like sound and "Trampoline" is jangly bliss. So they earn the "eclectic" in the album title, and despite the differing styles, it's all good.

CD Baby | MySpace

Late April EPs & Singles Roundup.

Steven Wright-Mark-Wake Up! This EP is the first new music from NYC's Steven Wright-Mark since 2012's Plastic World, and it's great to have him back even if it's only four tunes. But it's a case of quality over quantity as all four tracks are pop gems that will appeal to fans of Cliff Hillis and Michael Carpenter. "Just a Dream" features a great call-and-response chorus, "Runaway, Baby" adds some Tom Petty influence to the mix, and "Whisper in the Wind" is a top-notch ballad. But the lead single "Underground" is worth the price of admission alone, one of 2020's best songs to date. It's a thinly-veiled commentary on the state of things today, but is anything but preachy and features handclaps and an irresistible chorus. A shoo-in for my year-end EP list.

iTunes

Steven Wright-Mark · Wake Up!

Mitch Linker-I'll Take My Chances EP. Speaking of long absences, Hartford's Mitch Linker brings us his first new music in 13 years. Perhaps best known for the short-lived power pop band The Day Traders, Linker serves up a slick four-track EP that could be called adult contemporary in the vein of Josh Rouse or David Mead. "Given Everything" and "I'll Take My Chances" are the standouts here, mellow gold for a new decade.

iTunes



The Explorers Club-Ruby/I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite. Like presidential elections and Summer Olympics (though maybe not this year), The Explorers Club has been releasing new much precisely every four years since 2008. This two-song single is a preview of the two albums they have coming out this summer, one consisting of originals and the other all covers. We get one of each here, with the original "Ruby" a great example of their glorious sunshine pop finding the mean between 60s California pop and Merseyside. "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite", meanwhile, is a cover of the 1968 Boyce & Hart top 10 hit that's of a piece with band's sound. This is all making me eagerly await the full-length releases.

iTunes



Creamer-Hideaway. Phillip Creamer's debut album was one of my favorites of 2018 as it perfectly captured the early 70s Big Star sound, and his new single is more of the same - a gentle ballad that builds to an operatic crescendo. Hoping this heralds a new album.

iTunes



Bleu-I Wanna Write You a Symphony. Another artist from whom new music is always welcome is the irrepressible Bleu, and his new single is as a grandiose undertaking as its title implies with all of his trademark bells and whistles.

iTunes



Salim Nourallah-Building a Case. The man who brought us my favorite album of 2012, Hit Parade, otherwise has released several albums I've enjoyed but haven't been over the moon about. But this catchy new single about his lover "building a case against our love" demonstrates his clever charm and wit and wouldn't have been out of place on Hit Parade, so I'm highly recommending it.

iTunes

Two for Tuesday, 4/19/11

Steve LaBate-The Dead Art of Letter Writing. Atlantan Steve LaBate is an interesting guy. He's a writer/editor for Paste Magazine, and is best known musically as "Christie Brinkley" in the punk-comedy band Attractive Eighties Women. He goes solo here, and it's apparent his real idol is Paul Westerberg as The Dead Art of Letter Writing might be the best Replacements record to come down the pike since Pleased to Meet Me. 'Mats fans will immediately identify with this record from the opening guitar riff of "Reckless Hearts", which comes right out of Westerberg's "Knockin' on Mine". There's also a Stones influence evident, as well as early Wilco ("Wind-Up Toy" is a cousin to tracks like "Outta Site Outta Mind" and "Monday"). Other standouts include the midtempo "Channel Surfer", the raucous, Clash-like "Cops in Alley", and the "Rocks Off" rock of "Ratskellar". This is power pop/rock 'n' roll for true believers, and LaBate speaks the truth.

CD Baby | iTunes | eMusic

The Genuine Fakes-The Genuine Fakes. The Fakes have been billed as Sweden's Fountains of Wayne, and they do share that American band's brand of effervescent power pop if not their oh-so-clever lyrics and character studies. On their Kool Kat debut (also known as "The Striped Album") they do open things with a FoW touch, a self-titled track which serves as sort of a theme song for the band. From there on out, it's one well-constructed power pop track after another, complete with hooks and melodies galore. The standouts here are "The Promise", "Something New" and "If You Then I", but all of the tracks are of a uniform high quality. The only drawback is that there is a bit of sameness from track to track (even the cover of Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" is done in their frenetic power pop fashion), making them the perfect band to put in shuffle mode with your other favorites. As always, Kool Kat is offering up an exclusive bonus disc with the regular disc purchase, so make sure you stop there for a copy.

Kool Kat | Listen at Bandcamp

The Absolute Powerpop Top 125 of 2008, #6-25.

UPDATE: Top 5 going up at 1PM Eastern.

6. Derby-Posters Fade
7. Andy Reed-Fast Forward
8. Todd Herfindal-Collective
9. Rob Bonfligio-Bring on the Happy
10. Bryan Estepa-Sunday Best
11. The Galaxies-Here We Go!
12. Adrian Bourgeois-Adrian Bourgeois
13. Scott's Garage-Scott's Garage
14. John McKenna-Stone Cold Summer
15. The Favorites-Bright Nights, Bright Lights
16. Tyler Burkum-Darling, Maybe Someday
17. The Meadows-First Nervous Breakdown
18. Scott Murray-Vinyl Generation
19. The Afternoons-Sweet Action
20. The Goldbergs-Under the Radar
21. Mike Viola-Lurch
22. Ike-Where to Begin
23. The Smith Bros-Restless
24. Pugwash-Eleven Modern Antiquities
25. The Offbeat-The Offbeat

CD of the Day, 11/18/12: VA-International Pop Overthrow Vol. 15

One of the more welcome annual traditions in the power pop community is the release of David Bash's International Pop Overthrow compilation, guaranteed to be 3 CDs of top-shelf power pop with new tracks from old favorites and a wide variety of tracks from up-and-coming power poppers. Volume 15 is no exception, including many artists who have been featured on these pages such as The Condors, Private Jets, Clockwise, The Foreign Films, The Afternoon, Vegas With Randolph, Throwback Suburbia and The Shamus Twins. But it's the new discoveries that make these compilations special, even for those who consider themselves well-plugged in to the scene.

Disc 1 starts off, however, with one of the genre's icons. As most of you know, Shoes are back with the first album in ages and the fine "Head vs Heart" is one of the better tracks off their highly recommended return, Ignition. Among the lower-profile artists, the standouts here include the Stonesy rawk of Marvin Etzioni's "The Grapes of Wrath", Fireking's jangly "So You Say You Lost Your Baby", the Who-like power chords of The Seasongs' "New Love" and the 60s pop of "Yesterday" by The Secrets.

Disc 2 opens with the harmonic, melodic pop/rock of King Washington's "The Gears", and The Sunychmes' "Revelations in Her Mind" is a great introduction to their 60s California sound found on their latest disc, Let Your Free Flag Fly. Other treats include the Brill Building pop of "The Coast is Clear" from The Housekeeping Society, Norman Kelsey's 70s R&B-influneced "On the Rebound", and the 70s AOR of "No One to Blame" by the wonderfully-named Salvador Dali Llama.

Disc 3 features the great retro-pop of Portland's The Cry ("Modern Cinderella") and the Beat Rats ("Only 16"), the trippy psych-pop of The Pondhawks' "Drive", some fine Popicana from the (unfortunately-spelled) Pengwins in "Naive", and the bright 60s pop of The Airwaves' "Miracle". And things close on a high note with Ed Tulipa's "Barbie", a catchy midtempo Beatlesque tune. These IPO compilations always make a great holiday gift for the power popper on your list, and not a bad present to buy yourself.

Kool Kat | IPO site (with streaming IPO 15 tracks)

Weekend Roundup.

Bubble Gum Orchestra-The Discovery. A 2013 release I missed was the latest from Michael Hildebrandt, a/k/a Bubble Gum Orchestra. As there haven't been any hints of Bleu and Mike Viola reconstituting L.E.O., this is where you'll have to get your fix of new "ELO" music. As on his previous releases, Hildebrandt is anything but subtle with his ELO homages and the title of this disc alone indicates that. So it wouldn't be a surprise that the best track on the disc is an "Evil Woman"-styled proto-disco/rock track called "Evil, Evil Girl". Other treats include ihe jaunty "Lovely Days, Lovely Nights", which has a hint of "Mr. Blue Sky" about it; the frenetic "There Goes My Baby", and the catchy "Until You Say Go". Fun stuff, and since Jeff Lynne isn't going to be walking through that door anytime soon, a must for ELO fans.

CD Baby | iTunes

Sell Music online at ReverbNation.com

Baby Scream-Greatest Failures. Juan Pablo Mazzola has had enough releases as Baby Scream to warrant his first-ever compilation, which he's self-deprecatingly titled Greatest Failures. While they may be "failures" from a commercial perspective, there's no failure of quality here and for those who have until now been immune to the charms of his Lennon-esque musical stylings this is a great opportunity to catch up. Thanks to Bandcamp, you can visit (or re-visit) all these tracks yourself, but if you want to know my favorites they're the languid "Mars", the sneering rocker "Every Day (I Die a Little Bit)", the gentle and melodic "The Riots", and the twisty "Nicole". How does the old song go? "I scream, you scream, we all scream for Baby Scream".

Bandcamp | iTunes

Wednesday Roundup.

Benjamin R-The Other Side of Nowhere. This LA singer-songwriter (whose real name is Robert Selvaggio) has crafted a fine pop album that puts him right there with other contemporaries from the City of Angels such as AM and Gus Black, and also recalls Pete Yorn in places, especially on the engaging opening track "Quit". The uptempo "Falling Apart" is another standout, bringing Keith LuBrant to mind, and the melancholy "Tell Me I'm Wrong" also hits the right melodic notes. He also has a way with the ballads too, as he demonstrates on "Beautiful (Ugly Now)", while "Time is Running Out" has a bit of Jon Brion to it. An impressive debut.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

John's Revolution-Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World. When I first heard this disc and saw the cover, I could have sworn these guys were from England. After all, they have a big Britpop sound that owes a lot to Oasis and the Stereophonics. But no, they're from Italy, although I even question this given that the band is comprised of four guys named Alex Eschgfaeller, Othmar Schoenafinger, Juergen Lanthaler and Boris Egger. Whatever their origin, they have a rocking sound that definitely does put the "power" in power pop. "Dreammachine" gets in your face, not unlike Oasis' "Shakermaker"; "Pocket Symphony", with its mix of quiet and loud, yet all melodic, sounds like it came from a Jet album, while "Cosmos" is John Lennon by way of Noel Gallagher. But my favorites here are the brash "Walk Away" and the groovy 60s rock of "Pop Child". If I have any say in the matter, this disc will be "Today Absolute Powerpop, Tomorrow Your iPod".

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World

What's playing at AbPow 9/6/07

Time to start a new feature here which might strike some as lame, but what the heck, it's my blog.

I'm going to try to at least once a day (which will probably mean once in a while when I get around to it) list the last 10 songs played on my iPod. Rather than some look into what my favorites are, the way I use my iPod almost exclusively is as thus: I have a 1000-1100 song playlist set on shuffle. This playlist is comprised of 200 tracks picked from my 21000+ song iTunes library at random, with the remaining 800-900 being albums I've added in the last two months or so. The purpose of this exercise is multifold: to give everyone a peek into a sample of my daily listening (to the extent anyone cares), and to bring out comments on discs I'm enjoying but otherwise might not blog about (or that I plan to blog about soon). So without further ado, here are the last 10 tracks that popped up on the pod:

"Instead"-Paul Starling, Ghost Waltz. I grabbed this mp3 off his site or somewhere - don't have the whole album (if someone wants to send it to me, I won't complain). RIYL: The Now People, Nelson Bragg, The Wondermints, Brian Wilson, etc. MySpace

"Outerspace"-The Millions, Disrespectfully Yours. These guys rock hard but very melodically; they're probably about as "heavy" as I'm going to listen to on a regular basis. CD Baby | MySpace

"Believe In Me"-Rooney, Calling The World. These guys are major-label types I usually don't write about, which isn't to say they aren't any good. I've enjoyed several songs from this album, especially the ELO-ish "Don't Come Around Again".

"Nightfall at Electric Park"-Great Lakes Myth Society, Compass Rose Bouquet. I only just added this one to the rotation, so I'm not ready to offer up an informed opinion. Indie pop/rock that sounds quite melodic though - Pitchfork deigned to give it a 6.5. eMusic

"Another Losing Season"-John P. Strohm, Everyday Life.

"Getaway"-Ryan Calhoun, What Are We Doing Here.

"Rollerskaters In The Park"-The Afternoons, Baby, You Know The Deal. Melodic Welsh band whose Rocket Summer was a fine 2005 release. This "new" disc is kind of a combo of Rocket Summer and some other tracks. MySpace

"I've Got Love"-The Twilight, Tempest in a Teapot. A really good indie pop disc that warrants further investigation. CD Baby | MySpace

"Miss You CA"-Dean Owens, Whisky Hearts.

"My Friend Hates Me"-P.Hux, Kiss The Monster. The latest from the Huxster. This is another random mp3 I got off his myspace back before that myspace mp3 thingy was shut down. Again, if he wants to send me a copy, I'll review it. :)

Well, this took a bit longer than I thought it would. But I'll try it again tomorrow.

CD of the Day, 10/21/09: This Modern Station-All We Leave Behind

Nashville strikes again. The home of so many artists that have brought us quality releases in 2009 gives us This Modern Station, whose debut disc All We Leave Behind is a melodic breath of fresh air. They tread that fine line between power pop and Americana, sounding at times like an American Teenage Fanclub and at others like early Wilco.

The driving opener "Long Overdue" sets the tone, with hooks galore and a stomping beat that's reminiscent of Being There-era Wilco tracks like "Outta Site (Outta Mind)" and "Monday". "Next Best Thing" follows in the same vein, while the midtempo "Just Another Heartache" recalls The Favorites (who placed in our top 20 last year) and Red Guitar. "Evangelina" is another driving number, reminiscent of Todd Herfindal and The Meadows, and "Sunday Morning" brings the rock.

Kicking off the second half of the disc, "Ruby" finds the band into a bit of pop-noir, telling the story of a wayward woman to a moody melody not unlike The Smithereens' "Blood & Roses", while "Playing With Fire" proves the boys can handle the ballads as well. Closing things out, "I Think I'm in Love Again" is another infectious rocker, and "The Highway Never Ends" is quality straight-up Americana. "Popicana" fans, and those who liked the later-day Gary Louris-led Jayhawks are going to flip for this one. With nary a duff track to be heard, this one's a definite year-end Top 20 contender.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

CD of the Day, 6/10/08: Adrian Whitehead-One Small Stepping Man

Usually, my practice is to listen to a CD over a couple of weeks before putting up a review, to get a feel for it and to make sure I initially don't overrate or underrate it. Then there's this disc, which I received three days ago and have listened to only a couple of times, and which I can say is easily the best new disc I've heard in many a month.

Adrian Whitehead hails from Melbourne, Australia, and he's on the incomparable Popboomerang label, home of many great power poppers. He's been mostly a sideman, with my only exposure to him being the track "Spector's Dead" (which appears here) on a Popboomerang comp from a few years ago. As good as that track is, nothing prepared me for how great this full-length is, in which Whitehead has shown his utter mastery of 60s and 70s-influenced pop forms that all of us in the power pop community enjoy. The Rolling Stone record guide once said that not liking the Beatles was as perverse as not liking the sun; the same could be said of this disc if you're a reader of this blog. While it draws its influences from the pop greats like the Beatles and Brian Wilson, it's also reminiscent of contemporary acts such as personal favorites like Derby and The Red Button as well as Jason Falkner, Michael Carpenter and Ken Sharp.

The bouncy and appropriately titled "Caitlin's 60's Pop Song" gets things going, and if your ears don't perk up within the first 30 seconds or so, you might be better off reading Pitchfork. The 6-minute "Saving Caroline" follows, and while my normal philosophy regarding songs is that 3-4 minutes is more than enough for a pop song (unless it's "Hey Jude"), it never wears out its welcome as it captures the late-period Beatles sensibility perfectly. "Radio One" is as catchy as it gets, and its breezy midtempo quality reminds me of Carpenter; "You Are The Sun" is piano ballad bliss that builds to a poptastic crescendo; and "Julia" may be even better than the Beatle track of the same name. Meanwhile, the aforementioned "Spector's Dead" doesn't have a wall of sound but provides enough sonic detours to keep things interesting, and "Ways of Man" has a bit of a Todd Rundgren-at-his-poppiest feel. And "Better Man" might be the coolest track on the disc, complete with an awesome honky tonk piano break in the middle.

Folks, step right up and meet the #1 disc of 2008.

CD Baby | MySpace

Some quick hitters.

A quick look at several releases I've been enjoying recently:

DC Cardwell-Pop Art. Aussie DC Cardwell returns with the follow-up to 2011's Some Hope, and brings us another round of mild-mannered, Beatlesque pop. Favorites: "In the Cloud" (where you can get this release), "Magic for Everybody" (a piano-pop gem) and "Record Store Day" (an ode to the old-school way of buying music).

CD Baby | iTunes



Greg Hoy-The 21 Day Myth. Greg Hoy has been a pop chameleon throughout the last decade, releasing numerous albums with styles as varied as straight-up power pop, Sun Records-style rockabilly, and near-heavy metal. This time around he's gone with groove, with the results resembling the minimalist-yet-melodic beats of Spoon. "The Talk Goes Stiff" and "Fiend 4 Your Soul" are the standouts here.

CD Baby | iTunes



Antony Plain-Continuing on My Plan. I don't know much about England's Antony Plain, but his newest release caught my ear. It also caught my eye, as Plain looks a bit like John Lennon on his album cover but it's songs that warrant mention here, a mix of 60s and 70s power pop styles from the groovy rocking opener "Invisible Man" to the midtempo "Truth is Closer" to the string-laden "Boy". (Note: the album is streaming in full at the CD Baby link below)

CD Baby

Steve Baskin-Dead Rock Star. This Atlanta-based singer-songwriter is back with his third album, and this one is the best of the lot. It has a "big" sound, with big hooks and big melodies that remind me of fellow Atlantan Butch Walker. The opening 1-2 punch of "Single Thing About You (Chinchilla)" will leap out of your speakers, and Baskin has some facility with a ballad too ("Nobody Died Today"). Plus there's a pretty good cover of "Killer Queen" thrown in the mix. One of 2015's early best.

CD Baby | iTunes

Free music player widget at ReverbNation.com

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

Sunday Roundup.

Spent the last few days trying to piece together what I lost from a failed hard drive, so things have gotten a bit backlogged. With that in mind, here are three discs worth checking out:

John P. Barton-Love Etc. Houston's John P. Barton is back with Love Etc.., the followup to 2003's Does Not Play Well With Others. Barton's sound is upbeat pop somewhere between George Harrison, Tom Petty and (to be more obscure) Brian Jay Cline. The opener "Beautiful Friend" is reminiscent of "If I Needed Someone"; the breezy melody of "Minute" is another highlight, as well as the roots rock of "Sweet Dreams". 18 tracks in all, so you're bound to find something you like. CD Baby | MySpace

The Stereotypes-5. The Stereotypes are not stereotypical when it comes to followup time between releases. Hot on the heels of last summer's outstanding 4, the San Diego band is back with 5, an 8-song "mini-CD" that's becoming known as The Black and White Album for its cover art. If you liked 4 (or 3 or 2 or 1 for that matter), you'll certainly like 5, although it has a slightly darker sound. Plenty to like here, from the bombast of opener "Home" to the jangly "The Lines" to the song noir of "Black and White Film" to the beautifully melancholy "All My Angels". Here's looking forward to 6, and to knowing we probably won't have to wait all that long for it. CD Baby | MySpace

Secret Beauty Cream-Addicted to You. Secret Beauty Cream is Pasadena, California's Bob Owen and he's in the vein of classic power poppers like Richard X Heyman, The Spongetones and 20/20. You certainly get bang for the buck with this disc, 21 tracks in all. Although some are a bit "demo-ish" in production there are many full-blooded highlights here, including my personal favorites "Understanding You at All", "Saturday", "As a Friend" and "Attracted", the latter of which reminds me a bit of early Replacements. Pick up the disc, find your own, and program your iPod accordingly. CD Baby | MySpace

Early August Roundup.

The Szuters-Sugar. If the name "The Szuters" rings a bell for you, it's maybe because you became aware of them in the original incarnation in the mid-90s, where they became quite popular in Japan (a power pop cliche, I know). They later changed their name to Magna-Fi and went to a harder, modern/alt rock sound, played Ozzfest, supported Sevendust on tour and broke up by the end of the decade. Well brothers Mike and CJ Szuter reformed The Szuters, came back with a classic power pop sound and the byproduct Sugar is one of 2020's more pleasant surprises in a year of unpleasant surprises. Opener "Two We Will Always Be" has an early-Beatles sound, the piano-based "Don't Lie to Me" has a bit of Todd Rundgren to it, and "Baby Don't You Be So Blue" channels The Raspberries. Elsewhere "The Things That You Said" has a Jon Brion-in-Jellyfish vibe and closer "The Most Beautiful Girl" should have been chiming out of AM transistor radios in the 70s. This is Power Pop with two capital Ps, and though the general sound may be familiar, the songs themselves are fresh and exciting. Easily a top 10 candidate for the year-end list.

iTunes



The Lees of Memory-Moon Shot. Superdrag was one of the great power pop bands of all time, spanning the 90s through the mid-2000s. The creative force behind the band, John Davis, has had various projects solo and otherwise since that time but lately has teamed up with Brandon Fisher as The Lees of Memory over the last several years. While the Lees have had several singles, EPs and even a double album which have all been just fine, Moon Shot is the first Lees release that stands with the best of Superdrag. Hearing the crunchy guitars and melodies of "Lonely Everywhere" along with Davis's voice will bring you back to those days, as will the take-no-prisoners heavy pop of "Crocodile Tears". The spacey rock and indelible chorus of "Free & Easy" is a real triumph as is the loud-but-languid "No Floor No Ceiling". This Moon Shot is definitely more Apollo 11 than Apollo 13.

iTunes



Nite Sobs-Do the Sob!. This Austin, Texas 3-piece has a real throwback sound and Do the Sob! is 13 tracks of catchy-as-hell pop which all clock in under 2:46. They bill themselves as "skinny ties and four eyes" (all 3 members are bespectacled) and that's just about enough to describe their sound given their debt to the likes of Buddy Holly and Marshall Crenshaw. Hooks and harmonies galore and all of these songs are excellent, but my two favorites are "I Need to Hear It" and "Vowelerie"; your mileage may vary. So ignore The Pretenders and start your Sobbing.

iTunes

Power pop at SXSW.

The SXSW lineup is out, along with mp3s galore for many of the artists. A couple of years ago when I started this blog, I did a list of power pop and near-power pop mp3s available from the SXSW site, but last year Powerpopulist did it. I'll give it a stab again this year, though. Here goes:

Aberfeldy-Come On, Claire
AM-Old Song
Blue Rodeo-This Town
The Breakup Society-13th Angry Man
Bryan Scary & The Shedding Tears-Imitation of the Sky
Buttercup-In Love
Canadians-Summer Teenage Girl
The Chevelles-Get It On
Jason Collett-Out of Time
The Deadbeat Poets-Ernest T.
Deadstring Brothers-Heavy Load (great song)
The Dimes-Delilah
Dr. Dog-The Girl
The Golden Dogs-Construction Worker
Great Lakes Myth Society-Heydays
Brendan James-Green
The Krayolas-Little Fox (Spanish)
Limbeck-Let's Get Crazy
Minipop-Like I Do
Patty Hurst Shifter-Life Is Mostly Waiting
Paul Collins Beat-Don't Wait Up For Me
The Playing Favorites-Indigenous
The Presidents of the United States of America-Lump
The Redwalls-Modern Diet
Ari Shine-Cooler Than Me
The Singles-Summer
The Steps-Belle
Tammany Hall Machine-Unknown Song

If there are any other artists I missed that you think would be of interest, please note them in the comments.