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

Early October Roundup.

Brandon Schott-Crayons & Angels. This introspective SoCal singer/songwriter is back with another collection of pop gems, featuring a sound that's a blend of Joe Pernice, Elliott Smith and Jon Brion. There's a lot to like here, from the bouncy, Beatlesque "Henry" (which first appeared on a split EP with Andy Reed's An American Underdog) to the baroque "Verdugo Park" to the lovely "Every Little Song", a duet with Kelly Jones. Also of note are the power-popping "Seeing You in Stereo" and a cover of Elvis Costello's "Riot Act". So in what may be my worst pun yet, I'd recommend you give this one a Schott.

iTunes



Marco Rea-Wallpaper Music. Italian (by way of Glasgow) singer-songwriter Marco Rea is one of my favorite finds this year, as his debut album is a McCartney-esque delight. The catchy "Someone's Picture" is pure piano pop, while "Time" is the kind of ballad Macca would have put on Side 2 of the White Album. "Sunday" is another uptempo piano pop pleaser, and the epic ballad "To" recalls a lower-key "Maybe I'm Amazed". Impressive stuff. This is available on limited-edition cassette (together with digital download) from Bandcamp.

Bandcamp



William Bradford-William Bradford. William Bradford might be the first artist from Arizona I've featured in all my years here (although power pop luminaries Gin Blossoms hail from the state as well), and his debut disc is a fine collection of Wilco/Tom Petty-influenced pop/rock. Standouts include the jangly "Hear Your Heart", the 70s-styled singalong pop of "The Pier", and the Lennonesque "Just Like Yesterday". Don't overlook this one.

iTunes

Mid-September Roundup.

The Junior League-Also Rans. Joe Adragna is back as The Junior League with his latest opus, but the title is false advertising (or false modesty) as these tracks are anything but "also-rans". Like last time out (2013's You Should Be Happy), Scott McCaughey helps out, and this time Sloan's Jay Ferguson contributes keyboards and vocals on "On Off", one of the album's top tracks. Other standouts include "A Dagger and a Kiss" with its insistent guitar hook, and the bright power pop of "Before You Go". You can pre-order the CD from Kool Kat as well.

Kool Kat | iTunes



Static in Verona-Odd Anthem. Another returnee to this pages is Rob Merz's Static in Verona. With each passing release, Merz has gone with a more ethereal, dream-pop sound, and Odd Anthem continues the progression. Still, opener "Anyone Anymore" could pass for traditional power pop while tracks like "Future Ghosts" and "Blink" marry Merz' experimentalism and traditional pop structures. The highlight here is "Then a Hush", which melds psychedelia and shoegaze pop into an intoxicating mix.

iTunes



John Dunbar-From Expectation to Surrender. Despite being a New Yorker, John Dunbar always registers in my mind as a Brit, no doubt thanks to his British-sounding pop which recalls Ray Davies, Glenn Tilbrook and the like (in fact, Dunbar even released a Rutles-like parody of The Kinks as "The Kunks" back in 2007). His latest (and to my surprise, the first I've featured on this site) is another example of his sardonic, wry look at life and its many characters, and titles like "Two is the Second Loneliest Number", "I Love the Girl You Won't Leave Your Life For" and "The Charlie Brown of Love" should give you an idea of Dunbar's perspective. Of course being wry and clever is all well and good, but the tunes need to keep up with the wordplay and here they do. So make sure to check out Mr. Dunbar if you haven't already.

iTunes

Summer's Over...

...but in the land of power pop, it always sounds like summer. Here are three new releases to get you by as the calendar changes to September (plus you can still celebrate like it's summer through next week's Labor Day).

The Ravines-Everything's Fine. This UK power pop band led by Chris Corney (who's put some fine solo albums out in the last few years) had one of the genre's lost classics in 2005's Manifesto of a Broken Heart, and they've regrouped in 2015 to give us one of the year's best releases. The title track is bright, catchy power pop that falls somewhere between Gin Blossoms and Fountains of Wayne, the jangly "Blue Eyes" and "Dead Letters" could have been hits in the 90s, and what "Tambareen" lacks in accurate spelling it more than makes up for in tunefulness. Plus, the acoustic "Queen Bee" makes a lovely closer. Everything's fine, indeed.

iTunes



The Allrightniks-Two Places at One Time. Our favorite Virginia rockers are back with their first full-length, having released 3 EPs over the past few years. So this time around you get twice as much of their Spongetones/Janglemen-styled pop. Opener "Nice to Know" has a bit of Rockpile in its DNA as well, "I Can't Wait" has an early Beatles feel, and "200 Milligrams" is just the right dose of power pop. Elsewhere, they even add horns to the mix on "Today is the Day" to fine effect, and the title track would fit right in on a Red Button album.

iTunes



Jeff Litman-Primetime EP. Primetime is something NYC singer-songwriter Jeff Litman is ready for, as his latest EP is another compact collection of quality tunes. "That's on You" is a killer opening track, sounding like a lost 80s hit with its insistent beat and relentless guitar hook (which later becomes a great guitar solo), while the cynical-yet-tuneful "Debutante" allows Litman to get his Elvis Costello on, and "Nothing" (previously released as a single) finds him in his mid-tempo element. Just have a listen below and you'll be hooked.

iTunes

Mid-August Roundup.

Caddy-The Better End. Swede Tomas Dohl is back for his first album in several years as Caddy, and it's another glorious collection of Teenage Fanclub-by-way-of-Brian-Wilson-inspired power pop. Choice cuts: "Here it Comes Again", "Something About Carina".

Kool Kat | iTunes



The Labradors-Hate Summer EP. Italy has been the home of some power pop we've featured here before, most notably Radio Days, and here are Milan's The Labradors with a rocking 4-song EP that recalls Superdrag as well as their aforementioned compatriots. The whole thing's only 12 minutes so instead of reading me writing about, just give it a listen below.

iTunes



The Key Frames-Monophone Heart EP. This Toronto band is known for its Big Star-meets-Blue Rodeo sound, and most of the tracks on this EP are quality rootsy tunes. But then there's "Tidal Wave", one of my favorite songs of the year and a dead ringer for a lost Sloan track from Patrick Murphy.

iTunes



Andy Bopp-21213 EP. The erstwhile frontman of Myracle Brah returns with another solo EP, which unlike some of his previous EPs that delved in genres like 50s rockabilly, is more in line with his former's band contemporary power pop sound. The rollicking "Broken Ties" is a standout, as is the bright pop of "Hello". Bopp til you drop with this one.

iTunes

They're back!

Two power pop artists who were big in the previous decade but haven't been heard from in ages are back this week.

Cloud Eleven-Record Collection. Rick Gallego returns for his first record as Cloud Eleven since 2006's Sweet Happy Life. And listening to Record Collection, you'll never know nine years passed by as it's another collection of Gallego's diverse pop stylings. In fact, the title is apt as it sounds like Gallego mined his record collection for inspiration here, from the Beatlesque title track (with a "Penny Lane"-style horn opening) to "The Mystic's Mistake" and "As You Are" (the kind of dreamy pop found on Sweet Happy Life) as well as Bacarach-ian "Too Soon Was Yesterday" and the more traditional power pop of "High as the Rising Sun". And there's a track titled "Indian Guru" that sounds exactly like you think it would. You'll definitely want to add this to your, um, record collection.

iTunes | CD Baby



The Small Square-The Small Square. While Cloud Eleven may be a recognizable name in the power pop community, you may not know The Small Square. But you probably do know the guys who make up the band, Paul Chastain, the primary creative force behind Velvet Crush, and John L. Richardson who's played and worked with Tommy Keene, Gin Blossoms, and Joey Molland/Badfinger. It's been over a decade since the last Velvet Crush album but this album will fill the VC-sized hole in your collection, if not your heart. There's plenty to enjoy here: The melodic midtempo opener "So Low", the Velvet Crush-like power pop of "Dream Faker (Open Your Heart)" and "Otherwhile", and the dreamy psych-pop of "Enough to Know". An excellent collection, and another power popper back in the fold.

iTunes | Bandcamp

Weekend Roundup.

Zugzwang Netural-The Faded Promise of a Rise and Rally. A "zugzwang" is a situation in a game (typically chess) in which you're put at a disadvantage regardless of which available move you make. In the case of the new EP from Zugzwang Neutral, the only zugzwang move would be NOT giving their sophisticated pop a listen. The sound here is a blend of Michael Penn, Rob Laufer and a less-British-sounding Pugwash, from the graceful opener "Broken Wings" to the midtempo gem "Less to Say" through the standout closing track "Ghost Town".

iTunes | Stream EP here

Mark Pountney-Mark II. Liverpudlian Mark Pountney's second album is his first that caught my attention, and it's a fine, tuneful collection of various Britpop styles. Leadoff track "Tell Me Why" isn't a cover of the Beatles classic, but embodies their sound and spirit, as does "Time to Find Her" which channels the mid-period Fab Four with a subtle "I Feel Fine" guitar lick. "Just Can't Seem to Get You Off My Mind" is a piano ballad that's Hollies-esque, and the also-piano-based "Love in the Morning" has a solo Lennon feel while the trippy closer "Dream" owes a debt to Oasis.

iTunes | Listen at Spotify

July 4 Roundup.

Some quick hitters on this Independence Day (ironically they're mostly Britpop):

Michael Collins-Last Laugh. He hails from NYC, but Collins sounds like he's from London with this album of bouyant Britpop, and "What Does it Take to Walk Away?" might be the catchiest, most joyous song I've heard this year. Definitely summer-appropriate. iTunes



Chris Cole & The Circus-Still Rolling With the Times. Speaking of Britpop, here's Britpop from an actual Brit. Cole's sound here belongs in a mix with the latest Noel Gallagher album, and highlights include the anthemic "To Find Peace in This Place", the fine "Got to Let Her Go" and the title track which recalls Oasis' epic "All Around the World" if it hadn't been stretched out to seven minutes. CD Baby

Gordon Weiss-It's About Time. After a 7-year absence (perhaps referenced in the album title), Gordon Weiss is back with the followup to Sum of its Parts, another collection of sophisticated, intelligent pop in the vein of Elvis Costello and Wilco. The standout tracks here are "The Ugly Inside", the theatrical "The Great Imitator" and the rocking "Thanks I Get". Bandcamp



Zach Vinson-How We Spend Our Days EP. Nashvillian Zach Vinson's sound is high energy piano pop in the vein of Bens Folds and Kweller, while vocally he resembles fun's Nate Ruess but without that Ruess's bombast. Or in other words, it's very reminiscent of Ruess's old band, The Format, especially on tracks like "You're the One", "Home" and "Something About the Way". iTunes

CD of the Day, 6/25/15: Reno Bo-Lessons from a Shooting Star.

Reno Bo returns with his first album since 2009's Happenings and Other Things, and it's a gem. While Happenings just made the top half of my best of 2009 list at #47, Lessons from a Shooting Star will easily eclipse that ranking come the end of the year as the ex-Mooney Suzuki and Albert Hammond Jr. guitarist has crafted one ringing power pop anthem after another this time around. "Sweetheart Deal", the first single (as singles go in 2015), is a shoo-in for a best-tracks-of-2015 list, coming off like Brendan Benson fronting Cheap Trick. "How Do You Do" follows with no letup in quality as Bo throws some keyboards in the mix and some excellent slide guitar work from Sadler Veden for a track that reminds me of the ones Jeff Lynne once produced for Dave Edmunds, and the driving melodic rocker "Just Say Go" lives up to its title. Next up, the midtempo "Strange Maps" gives the listener a chance to catch his/her breath without sacrificing any melody, and the melancholy "And I Know She Did" captures the classic Big Star sound. These five tracks would be worth the price of admission alone, but then you have "The Brighter Side" (co-written with the aforementioned Benson) which is another melodic marvel, the Beatlesque rocker "Sleeping Sun", the classic rock of the title track and the Oasis-like closer "Somewhere There's Something". Power pop doesn't get much better than this.

iTunes

Two for Thursday, 6/18/15

Wade Jackson-Whiskey Alpha Delta Echo. Both a nod to Wilco's famous album as well as the spelling of the artist's first name in the phonetic alphabet, Whiskey Alpha Delta Echo is the second album from Aussie musician Wade Jackson, and it's quite simply one of 2015's best so far. The allusion in the title is apt, as the sound here is Big Star-meets-Wilco with its melodic minor-key rockers with a twinge of Americana (Austrliana?). After the moody opener "Dark Mirror" (which answers the question "What would The Smithereens sound like as a folk-rock band?"), we're treated to the jangly "Valentine's Day" and the trio of "Catch My Eye", "Coming Back" and "Carolina", all of which invoke #1 Record-era Big Star, with "Coming Back" perhaps my favorite track of the year. This album really hits the sweet spot between power pop and Americana, and my next step is checking out Jackson's back catalog.

iTunes



Brian Jay Cline-Trick Photography. Trad-rock-popper Brian Jay Cline is back with his first album since 2009's Nashville Tracks, and fans of Marshall Crenshaw, Walter Clevenger and Bill Lloyd are going to want to check this one out. Leadoff track "Zoo York City" is Cline's tribute to the Big Apple and sounds like a lost Willie Nile track, while "New Tattoo" has the pub-rock feel of a Nick Lowe or Graham Parker. Elsewhere tracks like "High Horse" and "Counterclockwise" are classic Cline and if you have any of his other albums in your collection, this one's a must-add. (Incidentally, the ReverbNation playlist embedded below includes Cline's entire catalog as the first ten songs are from Trick Photography and the rest are his other songs in alphabetical order)

iTunes

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What I've been enjoying lately.

A quick look at some of my favorite releases over the last month or so:

Steve Robinson & Ed Woltil-Cycle. Tampa Bay's premier folk-poppers team up for one of 2015's best, a graceful and melodic collection of tunes that bring the pastoral side of XTC to mind. ["Love Somebody"; "Hello, Hello (We're Back Again)]. iTunes



Phil Yates & The Affiliates-No Need to Beg. Top-notch power pop that reminds me of Ken Stringfellow ("Burn it Down, Bernadette; "The Grass is Always Greener") (P.S. That's Lizzie Borden on the cover) iTunes



Stereo Tiger-Two Weeks. More great power pop from Michigan, like Mike Viola fronting Rooney. ("Magic Balloon", "Runaway")



The Weightlifers-St. Paul EP. Adam McLaughlin & Co's third EP (and first in seven years), and it's of a piece with the first two - thoughtful, moody, and melodic. ("High Drama"; "Man of Constant Sorrow"). iTunes | Spotify

Supraluxe-Morphine Creek. This is their best since the 2006 debut, the record which helped inspire me to start this blog. Lives up to their self-description of Elliott-Smith-meets-Big-Star. ("Circles"; "La La L.A.") iTunes



Jimmy Haber-Joy Acid Pact. Orlando rocker Haber delivers the goods with his shiny, vaguely psych power pop with a populist edge to it. ("Once I Strung 'em Up"; "Bad Day to Be Me") iTunes

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We have (a) new Pope!

Greg Pope-Fanboy. The Pope of Power Pop is back! I'm speaking of course of Greg Pope, one of the genre's best and most prolific artists of the last decade-plus, be it in Edmund's Crown or as a solo artist (Popmonster was my #1 album of 2008). And for those who remember Edmund's Crown, you might be interested in knowing drummer David Sprouse joined Pope on the most of the tracks here, and the opener "New Beginning" wouldn't have sounded out of place on their last release, Regrets of a Company Man. Pope also takes a page from Jeff Tweedy, involving his sons in the album as 17-year-old Asher Pope co-wrote "Pretend it's Yesterday" (a lovely acoustic ballad) and plays acoustic guitar on several tracks, while 15-year-old Noah plays drums on "How it Ends". Meanwhile, quality numbers like the title track (which speaks to us obsessives of all stripes) and "Greater Threat" will end up on that best of Greg Pope playlist you'll undoubtedly compile someday soon. When it comes to Greg Pope, I can't help but be a bit of a "fanboy" myself here, and at his site he's offering up a 23-track deluxe edition of the album that includes acoustic work tapes, demos and the like of the main tracks.

Deluxe Edition | iTunes



Johnny Stanec-No Horizon. Speaking of prolific, Johnny Stanec seems determined to stay on your music player of choice, with his third solo disc out now hot on the heels of last fall's First in Space album. When solo, Stanec trades in the Replacements-style rock of his band for more of a singer-songwriter vibe in the vein of Jesse Malin or Ryan Adams. "Let it Slip Away" starts off slowly and acoustically, and then builds into a full-band anthem, while "The Trouble With Spies" sounds like a track that could have been heard on the radio in the late-90s heyday of the likes of Semisonic and Third Eye Blind. The standout for me, though, is the folk-rockish "Winter's Song", which recalls peak-era Blue Rodeo. A solid effort.

CD Baby | iTunes

Just a Tad of Honeywagen.

Honeywagen-Jamboree. Mike Penner, Scott Christensen & Co. are back with their followup to 2012's Atomic Cafe and their Midwestern jangle pop/roots rock is better than ever this time around. After starting with the rocking "Angel", they bring us the groovy "She Wants" (which shares some melodic DNA with "I Feel Fine"), while other highlights include the Plimsouls-like "Lose My Mind" and jangly "Another Hour". This one's available exclusively from Kool Kat at the link below.

Kool Kat




Tad Overbaugh-Beauty & Barbed Wire. If the name Tad Overbaugh seems vaguely familiar to you, it's because he was the frontman of roots rockers The Kickbacks, featured on this site back in the day. Beauty & Barbed Wire is Overbaugh's solo debut, and it's one of 2015's best to date. Although Overbaugh hails from the Boston area, he sounds more like heartland rockers Paul Westerberg and Tom Petty, and leadoff track "Lethal Charm" wouldn't have sounded out of place on Full Moon Fever. "Done With This Town" is a infectious alt-country tune that demands to be a theme to a TV show about someone moving to a new city, "End of the Decade" and "Scars Along the Way" show Overbaugh's way with a melody, while "Tip My Girl" laments the fate of being a stripper's boyfriend in classic country-rock fashion. With his tunes mixing the bitter with the sweet, Beauty & Barbed Wire stands as an aptly-named album.

Bandcamp | iTunes

Don't forget the Motor City.

Nick Piunti-Bayond the Static. The premier hotbed for power pop lately has become the Detroit area, with the likes of Chris Richards, Andy Reed, Andy Klingensmith, The Romeo Flynns (and you can go back to bands like The Romantics and The Knack) and the two artists featured today. First up is Nick Piunti (formerly of The Respectables) who returns with the followup to his brilliant 2013 release 13 in My Head, which came in at #2 on my list that year. Beyond the Static is a more-than-worthy successor, as Piunti knocks out the hooks and melodies one after the other in the most classic of power pop styles. "It's a Trap" (Admiral Ackbar finally gets a theme song) and "Heart Stops Beating" draw you in from the start, while "Time Machine" and "Seven Days a Week" (the latter featuring vocals from Richards) are two of the more melodic rockers you'll hear all year. Elsewhere, "Head in the Clouds" incorporates a bouncy Beatle-y melody and "Quicksand" could have been a hit in the 80s. There isn't one "off" track here among the 11, and Piunti might just meet or exceed that #2 ranking this year when it comes to my 2015 list.

Bandcamp



Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms-Heart String Soul. Another member of the Detroit power pop mafia I listed above is Ryan Allen, and he plays on the Piunti album as well. But it's his own second release with the Extra Arms that stands on its own, another collection of top-shelf power pop. "Should Be Me" is a brilliant opener, frenetic and melodic with the refrain "the song on the radio/should be me", and I would not quarrel with that notion one bit. "Born Radical" sounds like Gin Blossoms if they really rocked (and was also the title of an album he released with his previous band The Friendly Foes, although that one had no title track), "Angela '97" traces a relationship over 17 years with rocking aplomb, and "Not Hanging Out" could have fit snugly on Big Star's #1 Record if it weren't for a reference to texting. If albums like Piunti's and Allen's keep coming out I may need a separate "non-Detroit" category to give other releases a fair shake at year's end.

CD Baby | Bandcamp

Best of 2014 Power Pop Lists, Combined

I've been meaning to do this since early January when David Bash's lists came out, and now I've finally gotten around to it. I wanted to combine the top lists of Bash, myself, and Powerpopaholic into one consensus power pop ranking for 2014. As Powerpopaholic only went with a top 50, I limited myself to my own and Bash's top 50, and to be ranked here a disc had to be in at least two of the three lists. There were two discs that all three of us had almost eerie agreement on. One was at the top (Linus of Hollywood where we all went top six) and one was at the bottom (Rick Hromdaka's Trippin' Dinosuars came in at 40-39-40). There was a lot of diversity with only 11 releases appearing in all three lists, although part of that might be due to David Bash's refusal to rank download-only releases. I had 23 in common with Powerpopaholic and 12 in common with Bash (The Pearlfishers was the only one Bash & I had that Powerpopaholic didn't), while Powerpopaholic had 18 in common with Bash.

To compile the combined list, I averaged the rankings with the lower averages the better. I took a screenshot of my Word doc since I stink at creating tables (click to embiggen). (Legend: PP-Powerpopaholic, DB-David Bash, AP-Absolute Powerpop)

Some quick hitters.

A quick look at several releases I've been enjoying recently:

DC Cardwell-Pop Art. Aussie DC Cardwell returns with the follow-up to 2011's Some Hope, and brings us another round of mild-mannered, Beatlesque pop. Favorites: "In the Cloud" (where you can get this release), "Magic for Everybody" (a piano-pop gem) and "Record Store Day" (an ode to the old-school way of buying music).

CD Baby | iTunes



Greg Hoy-The 21 Day Myth. Greg Hoy has been a pop chameleon throughout the last decade, releasing numerous albums with styles as varied as straight-up power pop, Sun Records-style rockabilly, and near-heavy metal. This time around he's gone with groove, with the results resembling the minimalist-yet-melodic beats of Spoon. "The Talk Goes Stiff" and "Fiend 4 Your Soul" are the standouts here.

CD Baby | iTunes



Antony Plain-Continuing on My Plan. I don't know much about England's Antony Plain, but his newest release caught my ear. It also caught my eye, as Plain looks a bit like John Lennon on his album cover but it's songs that warrant mention here, a mix of 60s and 70s power pop styles from the groovy rocking opener "Invisible Man" to the midtempo "Truth is Closer" to the string-laden "Boy". (Note: the album is streaming in full at the CD Baby link below)

CD Baby

Steve Baskin-Dead Rock Star. This Atlanta-based singer-songwriter is back with his third album, and this one is the best of the lot. It has a "big" sound, with big hooks and big melodies that remind me of fellow Atlantan Butch Walker. The opening 1-2 punch of "Single Thing About You (Chinchilla)" will leap out of your speakers, and Baskin has some facility with a ballad too ("Nobody Died Today"). Plus there's a pretty good cover of "Killer Queen" thrown in the mix. One of 2015's early best.

CD Baby | iTunes

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Back to 2014.

A couple of excellent releases from 2014 that either came out very late in the year or got by me:

Smith & Hayes-People All Over the World. Every four years we have the Olympics, the World Cup and U.S. Presidential Elections to look forward to. OK, maybe not that last one. But the latest four-year tradition seems to be a new Smith & Hayes album. Debuting in 2007 with the great Changed by a Song (my #5 disc of that year), and then following up with Volume II in 2011, they're back again with People All Over the World as 2014 changes to 2015. (I snuck this in at #8 in my 2014 list but I'd have no argument with you if you wanted to view at as a 2015 release especially as it's only gone to CD this week). Once again, the veteran Oregon pair deliver the Beatlesque/Wilburyesque goods with a collection of tunes that rivals their debut. The opening title track even borrows a bit from the similar Oasis tune "All Around the World" (but is mercifully about half that song's length) while "Slow Down" is a real gem with its harmonica and minor-key melody, sounding like a lost George Harrison track. "Waiting for the Wheel" pulls out the Beatle bells and whistles, and the piano-based "Didn't Want to Fall" has McCartney written all over it. And the majestic "Don't Let Your Heart Break" recalls some of Jeff Lynne's classic ballads. I'd say this was a top 10 candidate, but I already put it there, so pick it up if you've missed it especially now that it's available on CD.

CD Baby | iTunes

The Fraidies-Try it Again. Melding indie rock with a power pop sensibility, this Seattle band has produced an auspicious debut that also came out late last year. Produced by a name some of you may be familiar with (Gary Reynolds of The Brides of Obscurity), Try it Again combines the sound of indie rockers with pop leanings like Portastatic and Dr. Dog with the more straight-up power pop sounds of bands like The Shazam and Cheap Trick. The brilliant "Xs on Your Eyes" opens up in grand melodic fashion, catchy and rocking both. "You've Got a Brand New Calculator" comes off as an off-kilter Badfinger tune, and "The Powers That Be" has that famous stacatto beat that stretches back to the Beatles' "Getting Better" while taking off on a carnival-like bridge. And "Your Mouth is a Radio" just straight-up rocks. So don't be a fraidy cat - give it a listen.

CD Baby | iTunes

First new music of 2015.

Time for the first reviews of 2015, and a couple of familiar names are back.

One Like Son-New American Gothic. This Alabama band made a splash in 2012 with its raucous debut Start the Show, notable because they recorded it on an iPhone. This time around, the boys took part in the 52 Weeks Songwriting Project, and each track was written and recorded within a week. Interesting back stories aside, they've served up another high-energy rocking collection of tunes with some lyrical punch. The opening title track tells the story of a lifelong love with a spin on the classic piece of American art, while "Little Valentine" is a Replacements-style rocker depicting an obsession that comes to a happy end. Elsewhere, we follow a "Punk Rock Prom Queen" while "Sister Mary (Got Her Gun)". And it's all capped off with "A Galaxy Far Away", a 7-minute track that recaps the original Star Wars trilogy, demonstrating that The Force is with them on this disc.

Bandcamp | iTunes



Baby Scream-Fan, Fan, Fan. Juan Pablo Mazolla, our favorite South American power popper, returns with an all-new collection of tunes that are a must if you've enjoyed his music before. This time around, he takes a more sardonic look at the world to accompany his always melodic sound. So we come to learn that "Everybody Sucks", he's "Back to Douche" and of course "Haters Will Hate". All three of these tracks are catchy of course, and he channels the spirit (if not the sound) of Beck in the raved-up "Loner". And the standout track here is the majestic "Human Being on Mars", a midtempo marvel that encapsulates his Lennon-esque sound. Oh and by the way, he also put out another album simultaneous to this, an odds-and-sods collection called the "The Worst of Baby Scream", with 22 more new tracks and five covers that frankly I haven't had a chance to dive into but I'll let you do so by embedding the player for it along with this one.

Bandcamp | iTunes

The Absolute Powerpop Top 10 EPs of 2014.

1. Peter Buzzelle-Sea of White
2. Matthew Shacallis-Reach the Stars
3. Cliff Hillis-Song Machine
4. Myracle Brah-The Peach
5. Smash Palace-Extended Play
6. Evil Arrows-EP 1
7. The Foreign Films-Record Collector
8. Ryan VanDordrecht-Beast of Love
9. Fallon Cush-Tell Me Once
10. Sir Video-Light Years

The Absolute Powerpop Top 75 of 2014.

I was originally set to do a top 100 as I usually do, but as in 2011 I've pared down down the list to 75, as my first run-through of what I listened to last year only yielded 86 titles, and rather than pad it with 14 that I didn't deem "top 100 worthy", I scaled it back to 75. And it's a good thing that the last 3-4 months of the year brought us quite a few excellent discs because this would have been a top 50 around September 1. The top EP list will run tomorrow. Anyway, here's the list - I will annotate it with links as the day goes on:

1. The Tripwires-Get Young
2. Secret Powers-Secret Powers 6
3. Edward O'Connell-Vanishing Act
4. Adrian Bourgeois-Pop/Art
5. Sloan-Commonwealth
6. Linus of Hollywood-Something Good
7. Phonograph (UK)-Phonograph Vol. 1
8. Smith & Hayes-People All Over the World
9. The Well Wishers-A Shattering Sky
10. Latvian Radio-For Love & Spite
11. Marble Party-Plush Up
12. Greg Ieronimo-Bipolar Love
13. Joe Sullivan-Schlock Star
14. Old 97s-Most Messed Up
15. Marshall Holland & The Etceteras-S/T
16. The Ships-The Summer of Our Lives
17. The Dowling Poole-Bleak Strategies
18. Jeremy Messmersmith-Heart Murmurs
19. The Legal Matters-S/T
20. The New Pornographers-Brill Bruisers
21. The Jeanies-S/T
22. The Die Youngs-Nothing's Broken
23. Shake Some Action!-Catch the Sun
24. The Autumn Defense-Fifth
25. The Deathray Saints-S/T
26. Rob Bonfiglio-Freeway
27. The Pearlfishers-Open Up Your Colouring Book
28. First in Space-In the Red
29. The Sleepwalkers-Lost My Mind in Stereo
30. The Orange Opera-Land of Tall
31. Dropkick-Homeward
32. Ransom & The Subset-No Time to Lose
33. David Grahame-Toy Plane II
34. Aerial-Why Don't They Teach Heartbreak at School?
35. The Great Affairs-Dream in Stereo
36. The Rip Off Artists-The Intercontinental
37. The Jellybricks-Youngstown Tune-Up
38. J Scott Bergman-Beautifulordinary
39. Static in Verona-Everything You Knew Before You Knew Everything
40. Rick Hromdaka-Trippin Dinosaurs
41. The Baseball Project-3rd
42. The Tangerines-Turn on the Light
43. Nude Beach-77
44. Goodman-Isn't it Sad
45. Mitch Gettman-Stop Living Like it's the End of the World
46. Damp-S/T
47. The New Mendicants-Into the Lime
48. Sunday Sun-We Let Go
49. The Nines-Nine Lives
50. Jeff Larson-Close Circle
51. Mothboxer-Sand and the Rain
52. Doug Gillard-Parade On
53. Mike Barnett-Everybody Gets to Dream
54. Bubble Gum Orchestra-Beyond Time
55. Eugene Benjamin-Photograph
56. Andy Klingensmith-Bright Again
57. Watts-Flash of White Light
58. Chris Koza-In Real Time
59. The Blood Rush Hour-And Then...The Unthinkable Happened!
60. Wilder Embry-Smolderolderingpictureaid
61. Paul Starling-Suit of Armor
62. Pill Hill-It Tastes a Little Sweeter
63. Magic Eight Ball-Last of the Old Romantics
64. Fernando Perdomo-Girl With a Record Collection (no link, he discontinued this as an album)
65. The Paul & John-Inner Sunset
66. The Mike Benign Compulsion-Here's How it Works
67. Jeffrey Dean Foster-The Arrow
68. The Safes-Record Heat
69. Glenn Case-This Album Has 12 Songs on It
70. Fauna Flora-S/T
71. High on Stress-Leaving MPLS
72. Fremont-Trees to Stone
73. Sunrise Highway-Windows
74. Andy Kentler-No Love Lost
75. Kinematic-Kinecism

Year-end list update.

I had hoped to have the year-end lists up starting yesterday, but they will be delayed to between Christmas and New Year's.

Three Great Debuts.

Matthew Shacallis-Reach the Stars. Aussie power popper Matthew Shacallis has crafted an impressive debut EP, recalling another power popper with the name Matthew S., Mr. Sweet. "Summer Sun" is melodic bliss, buoyed by Shacallis' Brendan Benson-esque vocals, "Tell Me Girl" recalls his "Sweet" namesake as it wouldn't have sounded out of place on Girlfriend, and "Do You Love Me" has a Zombies vibe. Easily one of the top EPs of 2014, and you can count on seeing this in next week's year-end lists.

Bandcamp



The Ships-The Summer of Our Lives. From Australia we travel to Spain, from The Ships sail with another impressive debut. This full-length evokes The Posies and Teenage Fanclub. Standout tracks include the jangly "Want", the uptempo "Second Hand Store" "Hipster"(in which they don't want of any them at their shows) and the relentless "Julia". Spain has always had a healthy power pop scene, and these guys are making it proud.

Amazon | iTunes



The Jeanies-The Jeanies. Rounding out our trio of top-notch debuts is Brooklyn's The Jeanies, who traffic in a more old-school power pop sound reminiscent of Dwight Twilley and The Plimsouls. "I Seen Her Dance" is a rocking gem that will get you in the mood right off the bat, "It's For You" could have been an AM radio hit from the 70s, and "Believe Me Jenny" sounds a decade earlier, almost like a lost La's track. As long as artists like the three featured today keep emerging, power pop will continue to be in good hands.

Bandcamp