A while ago I reviewed Fugu’s first album. Well e-music has picked up his entire catalog including “As Found” and it’s a wonderful follow up. This French power pop genius mines the Rundgren-McCarntey sound just perfectly here. The opener “Here Today” is similar to Emmit Rhodes with a classic Rundgren-styled mid-tempo chorus. “You Pick Me Up” is another bouncy piano melody with a great hook that reminds me of classic Left Banke. In fact, the following songs “Blackwall” and “Back to The City” comes even closer to The Stories, a later incarnation of The Left Banke’s driving force Michael Brown. The ballads here are pretty good, but come up a bit short compared to the other songs. “I Give Up” is a stronger effort mid way through and uses organ, guitar and shimmering harmonies to move the song along. One exceptional ballad here is “Parking Lots” which seems to end just as it gets good. “The Flow” is a great nod to John Lennon, but sometimes the vocals get lost behind the guitars. “She’s coming Over” has the right amount of baroque rock that it could fit fine on an Andrew Sandoval album. Then the pace picks up with “People” – a Jason Falkner styled rocker, complete with handclaps and layered vocals. Overall, this is an excellent album and if you have an e-music account, it’s a “no brainer” — included is a new single “Morning Sun” a great Beatlesque tune with drumming that would make Ringo proud.
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Listen to “Here Today”