Mitch Easter "Dynamico"

I got several e-mails mentioning this as a year-end contender, and to be fair, it passed me by last month. So I will open the new year with this review. Most respected powerpopaholics knows who Mitch Easter is, but for the others, here is the skinny: Mitch is best known for producing R.E.M. during their rise to fame and as front man for the 80’s new wave pop band Let’s Active as well as a member of the Chris Stamey proto-Db’s band, Sneakers. In addition, he’s produced albums for The Velvet Crush, Ken Stringfellow (The Posies) and others. But I recognize him as one of the originators of the “jangle pop” movement. After almost twenty years later, the urge to release a solo record emerges.

“Dynamico” is a hell of debut. The same energy that typified the best of Let’s Active is here in spades. It mixes the classic jangle pop with heavy prog rock influences throughout. “Time Warping” opens things well with subtle hooks and hard driving rhythms. “You/Me” shows a bit of the heavier prog guitars with head banging drum work. Considering his hiatus from performing, he sounds great and carries all the tunes here. Another gem here is “Ton of Bricks” that starts off soft and roars to a cool guitar bridge. Every song is good, if not great and fans of Camper Van Beethoven will love the lyrical twists with the melodic assault. “Why is it so Hard?” has that familiar R.E.M. jangle and multi-tracked hooky goodness. “Glazed” adds a Beatlesque touch as well, and you begin to notice this isn’t some “mid-life crisis” for an active producer in the music business, but a true work of pop craftsmanship. A brilliant album without a doubt. This would have made my top ten, had I heard it earlier in 2007.

Mitch Easter site | My Space | eMusic

Listen to “Time Warping”