Mid-Late October Roundup.

Mooner-Masterpiece. I enjoyed Mooner's previous release, 2012's Unpronounceable Name EP, well enough to feature it on the site. But it didn't prepare me for the big leap in quality they've taken for their first full-length, the not-too-inaccurately titled Masterpiece. They reprise the two best songs from the EP (the angular, Spoon-style rocker "Shapeshifter" and the anthemic, epic "Never Alone") but it's the new material that really shines, from the melodic rocker "Anytime" to the mid-70s-style pop of "Dream", the Sloan-like "I Don't Believe You", and the hyper-catchy Cheap Trick-influenced first single "Alison", possibly the best track written about meeting a girl at church camp. This one's a top ten contender.

iTunes



Sports Fan-Minor Hits in Major Keys. Dion Read and the boys are back again, this time with their full-length followup to 2013's Shallow Water EP. Read has become a master of piano power pop, between his releases with The Afterthoughts and now Sports Fan, and Minor Hits in Major Keys might be the best piano pop album of the year (and this year includes a new Ben Folds release). "This is Goodbye" nails the kind of big-sounding relationship song that Folds regularly knocks out, but without the juvenile rancor, while "Wake Up" is excellent driving pop. Other highlights include the Beatlesque "Shallow Water" and the grand ballad "Social Butterfly", which adds a bit of Queen/Jellyfish to the mix.

iTunes



Tom Rich-American Fantasy. Nova Scotian Tom Rich provides an impressive debut with his American Fantasy (which may or may not involve pouring green paint over a naked woman), a collection of winning power pop tunes. Rich sounds a lot like another artist I've featured often on this site, Justin Kline, and the standouts here are the opener "The Gentleman's Lament", the midtempo synth-aided "American Girl" (not a Tom Petty cover), the lovely "The Circus", and "Over & Over", which reminds me of bit of Robbie Dupree's soft-rock classic "Steal Away". Rich has the pop chops to spare here, so check this one out.

iTunes

Midweek Roundup.

First IN Space-Greatest Hits Vol. III. Since we last left Ohio's First in Space with 2009's Geronimo, frontman Johnny Stanec released a couple of decent solo records which it appears I didn't review on the site but would still recommend. Now he's back with First in Space with the cheekily-titled Greatest Hits Vol. III, the band's third album. Whereas the band's first two albums were more in the vein on Gin Blossoms & R.E.M., Vol. III finds Stanec & Co. in a more rocking mood. The first three song titles ("Downtown War", "Kicking Through the Door", and "Drinking With Enemies") are indicative of their new-found tougher sound, more in line with The Replacements. The first two of these recall the gritty-rock-with-melodies of the 'Mats, while "Drinking With Enemies" has a mature pop-punk sound not unlike Green Day. The overall result is one tight rocker after another (no power ballads, thank you) until the mid-tempo closer "Moonlight Graham", a tribute to the obscure baseball player made famous in Field of Dreams, and which harkens back to the earlier First in Space sound. Maybe they should have titled this "Greatest Rockin' Hits Vol. III". Either way, it's a must for fans of Replacements-style rock.

CD Baby | iTunes

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Sports Fan-Shallow Water EP. Sports Fan is the latest project from Aussie piano popper Dion Read, who gave us a couple of top-notch EPs in the latter half of the previous decade. The title track, featuring guest vocals from Jen Boyce, is a melodic gem that should be a big hit in a just universe, "Little White Lies" sounds like it should have come off the first Ben Folds Five album with its high energy and frat-boy byplay, and "Social Butterfly" is an epic-sounding ballad that's a nice complement to the two tracks before it. This is excellent piano pop, and you can name your price for it at Bandcamp.

Bandcamp | iTunes

Wednesday Roundup.

Dion Read & The Afterthoughts-Be Here Right Now. Last year, Dion Read & Co. had one of the more promising debuts with their Shoes & Gloves EP. Now the Aussie piano power popper is back with his second EP, and it's another treat. Since it's de rigeur to compare piano power poppers to Ben Folds, let me analogize in this fashion: Read's new EP is to his last one what The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner was to Whatever and Ever Amen. For the Folds-unfamiliar, the new EP is more understated affair than the first, which doesn't mean it isn't fine in its own right. The title track is the peppiest of the bunch, while "The Blame" recalls Folds' "Don't Change Your Plans" from Messner. And the closer "Air Balloons" is a wonderful ballad that ranks up there with "Smoke" or "The Luckiest". Don't let this one be an afterthought.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

Willie Nile-House of a Thousand Guitars. Nile is a veteran NYC rocker who could be called a rock'n'roll true believer. Equal parts Springsteen, Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, Nile falls more in the classic rock category than power pop, but he has a sound that should appeal to power poppers in any event (his "Asking Annie Out" from his 2006 comeback album Streets of New York is a power pop gem). I can't recommend all the songs here (especially "Now That The War is Over"), but the highlights are true highs: the stomping "Magdalena", the Beatlesque ballad "Her Love Falls Like Rain", and the rocking "Run" are worth an immediate listen below. And beware: the chorus of the anthemic "Little Light" will stick in your head for hours if you aren't careful.

CD Baby | MySpace | iTunes

Last post of 2007 - New Year's Eve Roundup.

With all of my limited (at this time of year) time for the blog being devoted to assembling the year-end lists, I've started to get a backlog of discs I've been meaning to mention. So before I head out for New Year's Eve (and before I spend tomorrow watching football), here are a few discs to consider while waiting for the big ball to drop:

The Janglemen-Tearjerker & 9 Others. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that this late-year release made the top 125 at #74 yet had no previous mention on the site. That oversight is remedied now, as this New York City band wins the Truth-In-Advertising Award; "jangle" is the operative sound here, and they'll appeal big time to fans of Bobby Sutliff, Walter Clevenger, Roger McGuinn, etc. In other words, Rickenbacker heaven. CD Baby | MySpace

Marco Joachim-Songville. Staying with our theme of NYC artists with a something-other-than-NYC sound, this singer-songwriter will appeal to anyone who loved Bob Dylan's stuff with The Traveling Wilburys. Opener "There" has a real "End of the Line" feel to it, and "Dream Away" will bring to a smile to anyone who enjoyed the Smith & Hayes disc. Great stuff. CD Baby | MySpace

Soft Gong-Pretend You Need Me. These guys hail from the power pop hotspot of Boise, Idaho, and have an interesting origin story. They started out playing cover tunes as the house band for a marketing company, and gradually branched out to doing their own stuff. Perhaps the absurdity of corporate life contributed to the wry lyrical perspective found in tracks like "Night School Sweetheart" and "My Sweet Embraceable Defeat". First-rate power pop here, and maybe David Bash should look into an IPO Idaho. CD Baby | MySpace

Dion Read & The Afterthoughts-The Shoes & Gloves EP. An impressive debut from this piano-based Aussie. He cites the Bens (Folds, Lee, Kweller - and Affleck) as influences, and you can hear certainly hear them (OK, maybe not Affleck). It's only four songs, but it's worth every penny as the quality is high. Had this one come earlier in the year, I'd have found a spot on the top 10 EP list for it. CD Baby | MySpace