Getting in gear with the new year.

Now the list-making is over (although I will share David Bash's exhaustive lists as usual), it's time to get 2018 in gear with a couple of releases, one that came out not long before year's end and one that came out just after and both of which feature artists you may be familiar with releasing records under names you're not.

Daydream Retrievers-Daydream Retrievers. Seeing as I often can't remember what I had for breakfast later that day, it's not a shock that I could have sworn I had this release in my top 100 last week but when I went to look up the rank I noticed it wasn't there. So better late than never to extol the virtues of the latest release from Ian Olvera, formerly of the Ian Olvera Band and Ian Olvera & The Sleepwalkers. Taking his name out of the equation entirely this time, Olvera nevertheless serves up a 9-song collection of catchy heartland power pop influenced by Tom Petty and Wilco. "Ballad of an Exit Strategy" and "Cars Can't Stop" have a bright but rootsy vibe not unlike Gary Louris' version of The Jayhawks, while "New Parade" rocks like Petty's Heartbreakers. Meanwhile, the 3-song run in the middle of the album of "Tuesday Night in America", "Right is Right" and "Hi How Are You's" channels Big Star, both in the rock stylings of the former, and the melacholy balladry of the latter two. And "Learning to Live With the End of the World" with its upbeat piano-based melody is Wilco meets Springsteen. Had I slotted this one on the year-end list, it would have been about #30.

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Rooftop Screamers-Vol. 1. Rooftop Screamers is the new project of former Throwback Suburbia drummer and songwriter Mike Collins, and its 8-track debut is the first top-notch power pop release of 2018. Collins isn't a singer, though, so to bring his compositions to life he's enlisted the help of various friends to sing lead including indie pop luminaries such as Kyle Vincent and Ken Stringfellow. "Sign Me Up" kicks things off, and it's a blast to hear Vincent sing lead on a rocker that's part Queen and part Cheap Trick instead of his typical soft pop. Stringfellow, who it seems lately has guested on more releases than Michael McDonald in the late 70s and early 80s, takes the mic on "Roses Again" and it's a melodic gem with Brian May-like guitars that comes across as a lost Posies/Jellyfish mashup. But even the tracks with the lesser-known Portland-area singers stand with the big names - Geoff Metts sings on "Have Mercy", a heartland rocker, while Andrew Paul Woodworth gives "Get Outta Your Way" a Beatlesque feel. This is a fun project as Collins is a top-notch power pop songwriter, and here's looking forward to Vol. 2.

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Weekend Roundup.

The Sleepwalkers-Lost My Mind in Stereo. The SLeepwalkers are Ian Olvera & company, whose last two records came out as The Ian Olvera Band, and then Ian Olvera & The Sleepwalkers. Along with the subtle shift in band names, there's been a subtle shift in their sound as well. Where once it was Jayhawks-meet-Tom-Petty, now it leans more to the Petty side of things with some slight nods to pop-punk not unlike Archie Powell & The Exports. Opener "My Best Wasn't Good Enough" advertises this change, rocking with attitude and melody, as does the frenetic "Come Around". Other standouts include the rocking and catchy "Talking Out of Turn" and the laid-back nod to their earlier sound in "Chicago". Top-notch stuff with a Saturday night feel to it.

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Static in Verona-Everything You Knew Before You Knew Everything. Also returning to our pages is Rob Merz and his Static in Verona projecc, following up his 2012 EP Some Things You Knew with this appropriately-titled release. Here Merz delves further in dream-pop, opening with the densely melodic "Bitter Branches" and following that with the percussion-heavy, vaguely electronic "Rosemary (Bury Me)" which still sports the hooks. There are still some nods to traditional power pop here, courtesy of "Roman Candle", but the sound here is summed up by the majestic "Friendly Fires" and its pop-friendly soundscapes. If you want to hear something a bit different that the usual power pop, but from an artist we know has the melodic bonafides, this one's a good investment.

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CD of the Day, 9/8/10: Ian Olvera & The Sleepwalkers-The Reckless Kind

After regaling us with his 2007 debut EP Some of Us Dream, Green Bay's Ian Olvera is back with his debut full-length The Reckless Kind, accompanied by his backing band The Sleepwalkers. The Reckless Kind builds on the promise of the EP with its polished Americana-influenced pop that splits the difference between The Jayhawks and Tom Petty.

The stomping "Darkest Weather" opens the album and it has that feeling you get driving the open roads of the Midwest, and it's followed by the poptastic "Sophie Lives Here", a rollicking hook factory. "Don't Want to Talk About It" has a Exile-era Stones/Petty feel to it, a la Wilco's "Monday", and speaking of that Chicago band, "Is This It" also recalls their early heyday with its pedal steel-fueled rock. But the real standout here is the languid "Laundry & Cigarettes", an anthemic ballad that could be a hit in an alternate universe.

Elsewhere, the Wallflowers-esque "Ain't Nobody as Lonely as You" and the lovely, spare "In the Morning" close out the album in fine fashion. The Reckless Kind is a worthy addition to your playlist, and it's always great to see an artist grown from EP to LP.

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