Valley Lodge and Mario Soutschka

Valley Lodge-Fog Machine. The Dave Hill musical assault continues with the fourth Valley Lodge album and first since 2013's Use Your Weapons. That album made Hill's music a household item as it spawned "Go", the theme to Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. And the band's self-titled 2005 debut remains one of my favorite power pop records of all time while Hill's Painted Doll project brought us some serious rawk earlier this year. So what does he do for an encore? He serves up 14 power-poppin', catchy-as-hell tracks is what he does. "Stars Won't Fall" kicks things off in classic VL form (melodies, call-and-response falsetto vocals and rocking guitars) just like "Go" and "If it Takes All Night" were the lynchpins of the previous efforts. "Stand" is a frenetic, almost danceable number in the manner of "Go" ready-made for another late-night talker to adopt, while "Come Back to Bed" is a rocker with attitude. Other standouts include the soulful "I'm Gone" (the chimes in the chorus give it a Philly soul feel), the Slade-esque glam rock of "It's Alright", which hearkens back to 2009's Semester at Sea, the mid-tempo power pop of "Fire", and "Days of Our Lives" which starts off with (gasp!) an acoustic guitar before settling into another of Hill's melodic numbers. So crank up the Fog Machine and get ready to rock (and pop).

iTunes




Mario Soutschka-Long Stories Short. While Dave Hill and Valley Lodge are undoubtedly familiar to AbPow readers, I'm quite certain German singer/songwriter Mario Soutschka isn't. His second full-length caught my ear with its bright tuneful power pop in the vein of Butch Walker and Cliff Hillis. "Right Back to Me" comes out of the blocks with guitars and melodies from the Badfinger playbook, and "Do" is a catchy number with a shuffling melody. "Facebook Mom" recalls Fountains of Wayne both spiritually and sonically, "Flying Away" is a lovely, largely acoustic duet with Melanie Hirsch, and "One in a Row" is a fine rocker.

iTunes

Fall Singles Collection

Quite a few power poppers of note have singles out, so it's time to round them all up in one place.

Bleu-Love You So. Bleu McAuley has proven to be a pop polymath over the years and his latest is an ultra-catchy slice of pop in the true sense. In fact "Love You So" is so catchy it's been featured in a ubiquitous eBay commercial you've probably heard. iTunes



Bryan Estepa-No Ordinary. Great to have new music from one of power pop's most reliable performers over the last decade-plus, and while I want to say "No Ordinary" is no ordinary Bryan Estepa track, it kinda isn't but that's a good thing. iTunes



Andy Reed-Truth to My Love. Andy Reed's been busy making music with The Legal Matters and brother act The Reed Brothers so this is the first release under his own name in some time and it's another example of his fine pop songcraft. iTunes



Downstate Darlings-King James/Ordinary Kind. While the name Downstate Darlings may not have a familiar ring, it's the new project from New York rocker Chris Abad, featured here before. This double-sided single is a great introduction for the project. "King James" is a Fountains of Wayne-type tune with crunchy guitars and synths, and "Ordinary Kind" is a melodic rocker. iTunes



Timmy Sean-In California. After his exhaustive 52-track Song of the Week project in 2015, Timmy Sean is back with some new music and "In California" has all the big hooks and big guitars you remember from his previous work. iTunes



Michael Simmons-This is Most Certainly True. Simmons has been a standout over the years in bands such as sparkle*jets u.k. and The Yorktown Lads, and his recent solo work. His latest applies his knack for melody with political protest as he takes on our increasingly toxic political culture.