Late August Roundup.

The Great Affairs-Ten & 2. Denny Smith returns again with The Great Affairs and their latest is a harder-rocking, crunchier-sounding affair that reminds me more of Smith's former band, fORMER. No longer content to play in the Gin Blossoms' sandbox, Ten & 2 owes more to Cheap Trick, KISS and maybe even Bon Jovi. This is vintage 80s/90s AOR with the standouts being "What You Get is Gone", "Unfound" and "Back to Boston", which could become a Fenway Park anthem in the near future. Rock on!

iTunes | Kool Kat



Bird Streets-Bird Streets. It's been quite a while since we heard from John Brodeur and in that time the New York popster has hooked up with Jason Falkner, who co-writes and produces this new Brodeur joint under the name Bird Streets. And damned if it doesn't sound like a Jason Falkner album, which is always a good thing. This is apparent on the chorus of opener "Carry Me" which has that Jellyfish feel, while the other highlights are the anthemic "Stop to Breathe", the angular mid-tempo rocker "Direction" and the trippy "Heel". A first-rate collection of tunes which will appeal to Brodeur fans as well as Falkner/Jellyfish fans.

iTunes



V Sparks-Moderne Life EP. This Chicago 5-piece got on my radar last year with their fine EP New Sensation, but they've taken a leap forward here with the followup. These guys specialize in high-energy pop with manic tempos, synths and pianos, and high-register vocals that recall Bryan Scary, The Format/Nate Ruess and Queen. The latter band is clearly the influence on "The Game of Everybody Knows It's You", which is the best Queen rip I've heard in ages, drawing on A Night at the Opera's "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon". The frenetic "Remodel" and "Hollywood" are also standouts. This is high octane-fun that's perfectly suited to an EP because frankly 10-12 tracks like this would be exhausting.

Bandcamp (out on the 28th)

Mid-November Roundup.

The Nines-Alejandro's Visions And now for something completely different. OK maybe not completely different, but Steve Eggers & Co. (with help from The Foreign Films' Bill Majoros) have returned in the space of a year with the "soundtrack" to Alejandro's Visions, a fictional 50s/early 60s movie that has allowed them to branch into 50s rock-and-roll, doo-wop, early Beach Boys, and other sounds that were the rage among the cool kids of that era. Additionally, many of the songs open with radio jingles or dialogue from the "movie" to add to the mise-en-scène. So from the pre-rock era "I Have Found You" and "My Sweet Marie" to the Beach Boys-ish "Escape from a Small Town" to the Phil Spector-influenced "Operator (Coming Home to You)" the album is a tour-de-force of early rock era pop styles. Throw in a couple of classic Eggers ballads in "And Suddenly" and "When Our Love Was in Bloom" and you have one of 2016's most interesting, if not best, releases.

iTunes



Denny Smith-An Overnight Low. The frontman of The Great Affairs and fORMER finally put his own name on the cover with his solo debut. Unlike the harder-edged pop of fORMER, his solo excursion is more a piece with his other band; in other words, classic mid-tempo pop/rock that's radio-ready (90s radio that is). "Silver Lining" opens the album in fine fashion with just the right dose of melancholy to go along with a winning melody, while the more uptempo "Hard Stop" finds the golden mean between Butch Walker and The Gin Blossoms. "All in the Livin'" is an upbeat, acoustic number that's quite ingratiating, and the power ballad "Missing You" is another delight. Smith isn't going to reinvent the wheel, but that doesn't mean the ride isn't still smooth.

iTunes



Preston Cochran-Sunshine EP. Preston Cochran's Sunshine is one of the best EPs of 2016, but I have to dock him points for not releasing this until the fall, so what could have been the soundtrack of the summer will instead have to brighten your day as the leaves fall and the temperatures drop. As its name implies, the title track is a jangly delight of 12-string guitars, a pretty melody and a catchy chorus, while the buoyant "Superstars" does nothing to kill the buzz of its predecessor track. Elsewhere "Ocean Drifting" boasts a Beatlesque sheen and the carefree "Sunday Poetry" captures the sunny, pastoral vibe of the album cover.

iTunes

Friday Roundup.

The Die Youngs-Nothing's Broken. Denny Smith's been supplying a lot of the music I've written about on the pages over the last several years, either through his roots-rockin' band The Great Affairs or his harder-rockin' band fORMER. Through that time, he's collected a fair number of tunes that didn't make the albums for one band or the other, and had some other songs kicking around, so why not create a third project? Teaming up with fellow Nashvillian Kenny Wright, Smith gives an album that may not be as cohesive as his other releases, but in my book 13 quality tunes are cohesion enough. So you get some fine Butch Walker-styled "hard power pop" in "As Fine as You Are" and "Dirty on the Stereo", rootsier moments like "Some Things Never Change" and "Crawl", and straight up power pop in "That's My Girl" and the title track. The common denominator here is Smith's radio-friendly sound, even if in this case we're talking about different radio formats.

CD Baby | iTunes

Phonograph (UK)-Phonograph Vol.1. Phonograph (I added the "UK" to their name since there's an American alt-country/roots rock band I'm fond of with the same name) is a 4-piece out of London who've made an auspicious debut that David Bash sent in my direction. They have a timeless sound that recalls many of the leading power pop touchstones, and "She Knows It" opens things in grand fashion, a Big Star-influenced number that's quite catchy, while the Beatlesque, midtempo "Waiting for the Sun" and it's "la da da da" chorus make for an instant earworm. Speaking of Beatlesque, "Don't You Bring Me Down" has a real Merseyside 1965 sound and "Fading into You" would fit nicely on one of Badfinger's first few albums. This is probably the most accomplished "classic power pop" debut since Cirrone a few years ago, and could be a year-end best-of contender. Right now, it's download-only from Bandcamp, and you'll have to convert pounds to dollars if you're in the USA, but it's worth it.

Bandcamp

Wednesday Roundup.

The Sun Sawed in 1/2-Elephants into Swans. The big news for 2013 so far is the return of The Sun Sawed in 1/2, Tim Rose's psych-tinged power pop group that ruled the 90s as one of the genre's top artists (1997's Fizzy Lift made John Borack's Top 200 Power Pop albums of all-time in his Shake Some Action! book). But after their fourth album, 2000's Bewilderbeast, all we heard from Rose was his Fresh Mowed Lawn project, which put out a fine 2006 album. The good news is that the new album is like they've never been away. "You're the Something" continues their big, brash, melodic sound, complete with horns; the title track recalls Jellyfish with its keyboards-based melody, and "Brittle Star" is a gleeful power-pop number. And the mark of a great power pop band is the ability to handle the slower material with facility; here, tracks like the McCartneyesque "Ocean" and "Nowhere Fast" are as strong as the rockers. A triumphant return.

CD Baby | iTunes | Bandcamp

The Great Affairs-4. For a few years now Denny Smith has been alternating between the hard power pop of fORMER and the roots rock of The Great Affairs, but now that he's retired the, uh, fORMER it almost seems as if he's merged the two sounds on this new 7-track EP from the latter. This is apparent right off the bat- while "Rock 'n' Roll Heart" rocks as hard as anything released under The Great Affairs name, it isn't exactly hard. "Shame on You", on the other hand, does rock fairly hard in the classic rock sense as its bluesy underpinning means it wouldn't sound of place on a Black Crowes record. For those who liked the traditional roots/country-rock sound of The Great Affairs, "The Ring" is a midtempo gem and "Gone" is a wonderful, primarily-acoustic ballad with an indelible melody. But "Fits & Guitars" is as loud and brash as its title implies, meaning that his, uh, former band isn't quite dead and gone.

CD Baby | iTunes | Kool Kat (with bonus disc and alternate artwork)

Catcing up with some more old friends.

Here's another round of artists previously featured here who have new material out:

Artist: The Great Affairs
Last Seen on AbPow: November 2010 with Ricky Took the Wheels.
New release: Happy Ender EP.
A few words: fORMER's Denny Smith is back with the third Great Affairs release in about 18 months time, and this EP is more of their laid-back, tuneful best. Happy Ender was recorded over two days in the studio and it has a loose-limbed feel, with the peppy "Bird on a Wire" the highlight. Smith also advises there's a new fORMER album in the works, always welcome news.
Links: CD Baby | iTunes | ReverbNation

Artist: Michael Gross & The Statuettes
Last Seen on AbPow: August 2010 with Telepath.
New release: Imaginary Signs EP.
A few words: Gross & Co. have been quite busy these days, and the new EP is a continuation of their heartland rock sound. The one departure here is "A Revelation", which reminds me of Bends-era Radiohead.
Links: Bandcamp | iTunes



Artist: The Brigadier
Last Seen on AbPow: November 2010 with The Secret of No Success.
New release: Holiday Special EP.
A few words: Matt Williams returns again with a seasonally-themed EP, this one summer-related. The standout here is the leadoff track "When the Sun Comes Out", which captures summer's optimistic, carefree nature while being a damn catchy tune.
Links: CD Baby | Bandcamp | iTunes



Artist: Radio Days
Last Seen on AbPow: October 2008 with Midnight Cemetery Rendezvous.
New release: C'est La Vie.
A few words: This Italian band is back with another disc of their Paul Collins Beat (with whom they shared a 7" release)-styled power pop. The followup to their debut EP is an excellent one, from the Beatlesque "Sleep it Off" to the Teenage Fanclub-influenced "Enemies for Friends" to the jangle pop of "Sweetest Lullaby".
Links: Bandcamp (two tracks) | iTunes

Two for Tuesday, 11/2/10

Buva-Not Scary! Friendly. Tom Wolfe a/k/a Buva is back with the followup to 2006's All This Humming, and Not Scary! Friendly builds on the mellow strengths of that disc and the punchier pop of his debut EP Daydream to give us his most fully realized collection to date. There's a lot to like here, from the ambling Beatlesque shuffle of "Smoke into the Sky" to the bright Dan Bryk-like power pop of "Can't Stop Thinking" to the lovely "Hide Away" to the Badfinger pop of "Funny Faces". And the one-two punch of "Too Tired to Fight" and "You" about midway through tops them all. Best of all, if you pick this up from Not Lame you'll get All This Humming thrown in as well - a Buvariffic deal!

Not Lame | MySpace |

The Great Affairs-Ricky Took the Wheels. The Great Affairs are led by Denny Smith, formerly of fORMER, whose "loud" power pop we reviewed here last year. Unlike fORMER, though, The Great Affairs have a more laid-back "Popicana" sound not unlike The Meadows, or the poppier side of Paul Westerberg. Ricky Took the Wheels is actually their second album, with their self-titled debut out late last year, and like the fine debut this has plenty to offer. "Feels Like Home" is as good as this style of pop gets, featuring jangly guitars and hooks and melodies galore, while "So Damn High" and "You're Not Funny" rock in the Tom Petty vein. Smith and crew know their way around a ballad, too, as "My Apologies" and "A Hundred Other Things" demonstrate clearly. And "Last Good Memory" closes the disc as it began, with an excellent roots rocker.

Kool Kat | MySpace | iTunes