Exploding Flowers “Stumbling Blocks”
The LA quartet Exploding Flowers bursts forth with influences from the ‘60s and ‘80s. Fans of The Soft Boys, early XTC, and The Three O’Clock will enjoy this. Those echoing Paisley Underground harmonies highlight the opener “A Daunting Thought” with its neon-psychedelic rhythm. The title track weaves together jangling guitar and power-pop chords brilliantly, and “I Need Your Devotion” adds a mesmerizing angular riff prior to the melody.
Singer-songwriter Sharif Dumani’s echoing lead vocals occasionally get overshadowed by the shoegazer-styled instrumentation, but when the beat and vocals are front and center on songs like “My Poor Heart” its simply great stuff. Other standouts include “Imagine All Possibilities,” and the spacey “Amongst Burnt Out Stars” which has a touch of Big Star in its DNA. What makes this album so special is it takes those influences and forms something both unique and familiar. Highly Recommended.
Dolour “The Royal We”
Nashville musician Shane Tutmarc had many great pop varied influences, but his songwriting has always been impressive and after a 15-year layoff (while working on other projects) he gathered years of unfinished songs and recorded the best of them in The Royal We. This is top-shelf adult-oriented pop that starts very strong and mellows nicely by the album’s mid-point.
“Yes and No” is a brilliant single with a killer hook and “The Snake Eye” quietly burrows into your brain, in a manner like Gilbert O’Sullivan. “Drunk Dial,” tells a catchy story about those late-night calls, and the Bossanova flavored, “Wake Up The Sun” is a nice change of pace. “I Can Quit At Any Time” is a compelling narrative about his musical addiction. The bold pop of “Words I Thought You Said” contrasts with the smooth casual of “I’m Over It” and “Chasing the Summer Sun.” No real duds here and each song grows on you the more you listen to it. Highly Recommended.