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.

Two for Thursday, 9/19/13

Chris Abad-Darling Dear. Chris Abad is back with the followup to 2010's No Glory, and it's another fine collection of melodic pop that recalls Squeeze and Matthew Sweet as well as the likes of Cliff Hillis and Michael Carpenter. "Lucky One" kicks off the proceedings with its bright pop and singalong chorus while "Routine" is a midtempo rocker with crunchy guitars that recall Gin Blossoms, with the real standout being the title track - a bouncy number that wouldn't have been out of place on a Jellyfish disc. Other highlights include the country-tinged ballad "Shelter" and the jangly "Wide Awake". Abad has a way with a melody, and these 10 tracks display a real consistency.

CD Baby



The Brigadier-Suburban Incubation. It seems like I've been writing about The Brigadier (a/k/a Matt Williams) since I started this blog seven years ago, and he's back with his sixth album after a little longer interval (his last full-length came out in 2010). Suburban Incubation finds Williams having started a family, and the overall theme here is settling into that kind of life. He still offers the Beach Boys-meets-XTC sunny British pop of previous releases, as "It Needed to Be Sunny" is a bright opener, while "Don't Want to Think Anymore" is an introspective number that has a memorable hook and an Andy Partridge feel to it. Elsewhere, "Do You Want Me Too?" is a breezy slice of power pop right in Williams' wheelhouse, and the quirky piano fills and guitar of "Music Makes the Pain Go Away" make it one of the album's standouts while "The Middle Ages" is a jaunty, Brian Wilson-style tune. It's good to have The Brigadier back.

CD Baby

Two for Tuesday, 1/19/10

Chris Abad-No Glory. This NYC rocker and ex-member of Dough has given us the first great power pop disc of 2010. Mixing in influences from Elvis Costello to Squeeze to Weezer, Abad has cooked up 8 tracks of power pop goodness from the rocking "All in My Head" to the clean midtempo melodies of "Downer". Others standouts in this lean all-killer/no-filler collection include the title track power ballad, the anthemic "Living Without You" and the irresistible "Trouble", perhaps the disc's best track. Stop what you're doing and give it a listen below.

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Anny Celsi-Tangle-Free World. Anny Celsi's new disc may be a "tangle-free world" but it's certainly not a jangle-free one as she evokes a Byrds-by-way-of-Beach-Boys sound here. The LA jangle-pop mafia is out in full force on this, with Nelson Bragg producing and the likes of The Wondermints, Robbie Rist and Adam Marsland contributing. The opening title track captures the sound here, 12-string guitars and sitars galore, with Celsi's voice a perfect match for the proceedings. "Thanksgiving in Hollywood" has just the kind of noir-ish jangle feel that recalls "King of the Hill", Roger McGuinn's team-up with Tom Petty. Bragg steps out from behind the mixing board to contribute vocals to Celsi's tres cool cover of Nancy Sinatra's "One Velvet Morning", making Sweet & Hoffs sound like kids by comparison, and Evie Sands joins for a cover of the 1963 Jaynetts classic "Sally Go Round the Roses" that sounds completely in place here. Retro yet original, this disc is one world in which there's nothing wrong in getting tangled.

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