Drake Bell "It’s Only Time"

Drake Bell is the next big “pop star” from the Disney talent stable. As the star of the TV series Drake and Josh, Bell came out with an album last year. Ever since Britany Spears hit it big years ago, the Disney crew has put out dreck after dreck, that appeals to the tween set and makes the rest of us vomit. Please, I don’t need to hear another “Kidz Bop” album and if I see one I will use it for target practice at the gun range. Nor do I need to hear an Aaron-Carter-Cheetah-Girls-Backstreet-Boys-cloned prepackaged, premarketed piece of crap either.

Now that my rant is over, let me talk about Drake Bell. “It’s Only Time” is a great power pop album. That’s right. Bell takes from all the right influences – Jellyfish and Roger Manning Jr. primarily with a bit of early Taxiride. This album is a refreshing throwback to the kind of freely creative musical roots that are lost on most artists of Drake’s generation. “Rusted Silhoutte” and “Break me Down” has an amazing intensity, as a song that’s melodic and full of amazing production techniques. Not one bad track here. It does all the right things The Click Five should have done. Okay, the last track “End it Good” sounds like a goofy vaudville number, but after 9 great tracks it’s forgiven. It’s hard to believe that fans of traditional Disney fare (Jesse McCartney) will like this stuff though. I can hear them complaining now – “Wahhh! Daddy, this is more like your music!” What else can I say? The boy has good taste and I hope he makes more music like this. Visit his site to hear 2 tracks or visit his myspace page to hear more. Count this as a rare opportunity for power pop to be released on a major label (universal/mowtown).