Heads up, power poppers! Portland's Throwback Suburbia returns with the followup to their fine 2006 release Eight Tracks, and has taken a great leap forward. Their self-titled second album is an instant contender for the upper reaches of year-end lists, and truly represents what most people think of as "power pop".
Their influences range from Jellyfish to The Tories to Velvet Crush as well as Cheap Trick, and they get your attention right away with "Private Oasis"; this track has it all, from clever lyrics to crunchy guitars to some nice piano fills (think The 88's "Hide Another Mistake"). "Asking Why" recalls The Raspberries, "Rewind" The Tories, and with its sprightly piano and quirky melody, "Head Over Heels" is straight out of the Jellyfish playbook.
Elsewhere, with its manic beat and sweet harmonies, "Say When" could be mistaken for solo Jason Falkner; "Perfectly Okay" adds sitars and snyths to the mix a la Fountains of Wayne, and "You'll Never Know" is a power ballad that pulls out all the stops (solo piano, strings, plaintive slide guitar solos) and builds to a satisfying crescendo that would make Rick Nielsen proud. The bottom line is that this disc features one killer track after another, and deserves to be right up there with other classics of the genre.
CD Baby | MySpace
(Not in digital distribution yet - another apparent victim of the CD Baby website changeover fiasco - so listen to the tracks on MySpace and get the CD itself)
Agreed, top 5 for sure for the year. A must have.
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