Maple Mars and Brady Harris

Maple Mars “Galaxyland”
A welcome return from Maple Mars frontman Rick Hromadka greets us on Galaxyland. The spacey concept album starts with “The Excursion” filled with detailed rhythms, guitar melodies and expansive psyche pop touches that compare well with Lynne-era Move. Following this is “Starting Over (Again)” which has a gorgeous 70’s styled big rock guitar sound, fans of the band Boston will love this. Give credit to Rick and his band: Steve Berns (guitar), Ron Pak (drums) and Trevor Zimmerman (bass) for the fantastic production and memorable melodies. “Big Imagination” has a heavy gloss that combines Steely Dan with Klaatu, and it’s a real keeper. And the band brings on the prog pop heavy guns with Mark Radice’s “Prelude: New Day” and it continues with the acoustic “New Day.” It starts to get bit preachy with “Citizen Roger” like an early Yes and Pink Floyd hybrid. The lyrical message works better on “Borrowed Sunshine” an excellent song that speaks to today’s recent lack of faith in institutions, and the “struggle to see things through.”  It ends on a high note with the bouncy gem “Somewhere back there” full of layered harmonies. I feel Rick has taken Maple Mars to the next level here. Kool Kat is now offering the album with a bonus disc with five additional tracks. Highly recommended indeed!

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Brady Harris “Year Of The Pug”
Texas native Brady Harris plays a strong Beatles-styled roots pop with a detailed and nuanced approach. With a soft echo Harris puts together a wonderful album filled with laid back tunes that are easy on the ears. Starting with the light strum and minor chords of “Floating,” Brady even has a bit of John Lennon’s cadence similar to “Happiness is a Warm Gun.” Highlights for me are the fantastic “Little Miss Mouring” and the “Julia” styled guitar rhythm on “Stars Shine Bright.” The country side is a bit more pronounced with some nice pedal steel guitar touches on “Drunk In The House” and the defiant piano and guitar solo breaks on “Slipping By” make it another standout. “That’s All You Need” is a fine melodic showcase along the lines of “Hey Jude.” No filler here either, which makes it an extra strong album. Songs here are all very good and fans of both alt. country and Beatlesque styles will find plenty to enjoy.

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