Boston's Allen Devine has been around for a while - this is his fourth solo release - but he's mostly focused on the instrumental side of guitar rock. Fortunately for us he's decided to go the power pop route, and the results are one of the year's more pleasant surprises. Poportunity (love those titles with the "pop" play on "op-" words - when do we get Poperation or Poptimist or Poptometry?) is classic power pop in the vein of The Goldbergs, Marshall Crenshaw, the recent Galaxies release and others that just have "that" sound.
"What In The World" starts things off with some meat-and-potatoes power pop with a few neat flourishes, such as the Del Shannon-like guitar bits and some rock 'n' roll piano. "It's on the Way" (now playing over to your right) has a mellow-but-jangly vibe that recalls Bobby Sutliff; "Tonight" really does sound like a track from one of the Goldbergs discs; the 1:53 "Janine" has a 60s feel, and "My Baby Sezz" throws a bit of a curveball, a country-ish honky tonk number with sax. Elsewhere, "I Never Really Said Goodbye" sounds like a Big Star-era Alex Chilton ballad, and "Change" rocks with abandon. In keeping with the best traditions of power pop, the whole affair consists of 10 tracks clocking in at just under 25 minutes, so Poportunity never comes close to wearing out its welcome. If you're starved for vintage power pop, this disc may be your best "poption".
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