Late October Roundup.

The Legal Matters-Conrad. Power pop's Michigan mafia (Andy Reed, Chris Richards, Keith Klingensmith) reunite as The Legal Matters with Conrad, the followup to their excellent 2014 debut. There is a bit of a shift here to a softer pop (as opposed to the classic power pop seen on their individual releases, especially Richards) but it's all very well done. The mid-tempo "Anything" opens the album with aplomb and is featured on a promotional EP the band released on NoiseTrade last month. It's fitting that that EP contained an unreleased cover of a Teenage Fanclub tune since that's the operative sound on this track. "I'm Sorry Love" follows, a slice of baroque pop out of the Jon Brion playbook. Elsewhere, pop gems "Minor Key" and "Short Term Memory" provide a Beatlesque vibe and the plaintive "More Birds Less Bees" recalls Jellyfish when they dialed things back a few notches. Between this album and recent strong releases from Nick Piunti and Ryan Allen, I may have to establish "Michigan" and "non-Michigan" categories for the year-end best-of list.

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John Macom-Unforeseen Circumstances. John Macom has been around the music biz for a while now, having been in the band Binge, which contributed tunes to TV shows such as Dawson’s Creek, Party of Five and Felicity. Here, the New Yorker goes solo for the first time, and his experience shines through in an auspicious debut that's as pure and smooth as pop gets. Working off the basic Lennon-McCartney guitar pop template, Macom churns out one catchy tune after another - "Hi and Goodbye" reminds me of Cliff Hillis at his best, the languid "Think About You" find him crooning "youuuuu" to hooky effect, and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is great Crowded House-styled mid-tempo (but with momentum) pop. And I defy anyone to get the chorus of "Nadia" out of their head. This might be the best debut album I've heard in 2016, and I've embedded the YouTube playlist of the album below so you can confirm for yourself.

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Goodo-Better Than Millions. With their Big Star-influenced sound, Sweden's Goodo obviously takes its name from "The Ballad of El Goodo", but I'm guessing they couldn't use the "El" because that name was already taken. This is 70s-styled power pop with shades of Cheap Trick and Matthew Sweet as well, from the rocking opener "Her Love is a River" to the Raspberries-ish "Jenny" (not the one at 867-5309) to "Line of Fire", which would have fit in snugly on #1 Record. You probably know by now without listening to it if it's up your alley, but if you're still not sure, listen below.

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It's singles time!

Normally I don't write about singles, as often they're just teasers for albums I'll review later or just because I'd rather spend my time on an artist who puts out a full album rather than merely a single. But recently several artists I've featured here before have new singles out, so it's time to round them up in one post in case many of you have missed one or more of them.

David Myhr-Spellbound. While we're still waiting on the full-length followup to 2012's great Soundshine, the ex-Merrymaker regales us with this brilliant ELO-and-70s-pop-inspired single from the soundtrack of Flykten till Framtiden, a Swedish time travel movie likely not coming to a theater near you. If only Myhr himself could master time travel, he could have released this in 1974 and knocked "Hooked on a Feeling" off the top of the charts.

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The Tories-We Still Shine. Yes, you read that right - it's The Tories, reunited for their first new music in 15 years. While Steve Bertrand and James Guffee have given us some fine solo albums over this time, it's great to see them back together and hopefully this single is the forerunner of a new full-length album. The new song captures the pop style that allowed them to break out of the "power pop ghetto" around the turn of the century and is worth your time.

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Michael Carpenter and Allan Caswell-Back When I Was Older. For someone who was supposedly retired when he announced that last year's The Big Radio would be his final solo album, Michael Carpenter sure has been busy in 2016. First, he released a new album with The Cuban Heels and now he's teamed with Australian country music legend Allan Caswell for this fine single. The song shares a theme with Dylan's "My Back Pages" ("I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now") and is an enjoyable, catchy country rock tune that's of a piece with Carpenter's Cuban Heels work.

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Mark Bacino-Not That Guy. NYC popster Mark Bacino re-emerges for the first time since 2010's Queens English with a wonderful new single that finds him at his melodic best. It's a jaunty, McCartney-esque track that reminds us of how much we've missed new music from him.

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John Faye-Miss America. Ex-Ike guitarist John Faye comes to us just in time for this contentious election season with a track that isn't about a beauty queen but about the state of nation as he small-m miss(es) America. Although the lyrics are social commentary, they're not particularly preachy, and the sound itself is classic Faye - crunchy, loud guitars and a hooky melody. In other words, classic power pop.

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