Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Sitcom Neighbor and Hot Freak Nation

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Sitcom Neighbor “Charm”
Led by singer/songwriter/guitarist John Murphy, Sitcom Neighbor recorded Charm over a two year period with bassist Pat Mitchell (The Records) and drummer Eddie Cleland. Producer Steve Refling (Seth Swirsky, Nelson Bragg, Nushu, etc.) added his talents as well. Opening with “Amphetamine” you know right away you’ve got a winner with simple acoustic strum and harmonious dual tracked vocal similar to Teenage Fanclub. “Vaseline Water Balloon” is a XTC meets Kinks styled collection of metaphors with nice cello accents.

My favorite is the majestic Badfinger-like “Let It Go” with its awesome hook. “Darlene” is another fine rocker, with a strong melody. The songs continue to evoke late period Beatles, especially in the ballads like “True Love and Medication.” No filler anywhere, it figures to be high on my year end top ten list.

CD Baby | Amazon

 

Hot Freak Nation “Lifetime To Lifetime”
Hot Freak Nation is led by the songwriting team of Greg Roberson (Tiger High, Reigning Sound, Arthur Lee’s Love) and Don Main (The Late Show).

The jangle anthem “(You Are) The Best Kind Of Poison” starts us off, sounding a bit like Superdrag. It moves quickly to pysche-pop and garage on “Nothing Stays The Same” and “All The Right Things” but it also has subtle hooks that slowly sink in after repeat listens. The ballads like “Sunshine From The Heart” have an Alex Chilton styled resignation and the march “Everything Is Everything Else” is a great party song. The band settles into the retro vibe comfortably so fans of both The Clash and Terry Anderson’s OAKT will really love everything here. A rock solid debut.

Amazon | Kool Kat Musik

Grahame Steinberg and The 1840s

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Grahame Steinberg “Grahame Steinberg“
Wow. Who expected that Lane Steinberg and David Grahame grew up knowing each other? Lane finished the masterful 8×8 album early this year, and now this gem. For those of you who don’t know David Grahame, he’s a bit of a legend in power pop circles and this is his first collaboration with Lane.

The album has a series of great songs, starting with the “Big Blue Ocean” and its sweet hook filled melody. Next comes a series of girl songs, Lane’s “Carmen” paints a vivid portrait of a murdering couple, but only the guy seems haunted by guilt. “Denied Tonight” is one of the best ear worms this year, both men have love of the McCartney/Emmit Rhodes style and its magic really shows up here. “Girl’s Gone Deaf” and “Aquila” are bouncy up tempo songs similar to Squeeze, and other than few slow tunes in the middle most of them are sparsely arranged melodic gold. More highlights include “Crazy Maise” and “Italian Where It Hurts.” Essential listening that also makes my top ten.

The 1840s  “Pushing Squares Down Back to Size” EP
This Israeli power pop trio has a hard rock heart and singer/songwriter Avishai Efrat gives a solid performance on his debut. “Rainbow” is part Creedence-part Strokes and “Nobody Knows Me” has a brooding attitude and nice guitar work by Efrat and bassist Eviatar Oren. You’ll hear echos of Led Zepplin on “Sirens” and nothing else here really breaks the mold, but its solid rock and roll. Best of all, you can name your own price on Bandcamp.

The Wellingtons and The Bolts

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The Wellingtons “Hey Hey” EP
Once again Aussie Zac Anthony is back with a new The Wellingtons EP. “Devil In A Cardigan” starts us off with a warning about his clingy ex-girlfriend. It’s a pitch perfect song with a dense middle eight, designed to induce goosebumps. It’s easy to keep gushing over a band that made it to #2 in the top ten list last year. But the quality power pop just keeps coming, from the light bouncy “Hey, Hey” and IKE-like heavy guitar riffs of “Under The Power Of A Girl” both full of hooks and ending with “Another Drummer Down,” a casual ballad about losing a drummer to pick on, where he asks “Am I the problem?”  No Zac… not at all, now get a drummer and make another LP.

 

The Bolts “Fall” EP
Irvine, CA band dazzles with its debut EP, a combination of rock and pop that proves you can crank out guitar gems like “Walk Away” along the lines of Extreme and Collective Soul, but still have sunny harmonies on “The Truth” akin to Phantom Planet. Since 2007 the band has been winning local “battle of the bands” competitions, eventually leading them to earn the title of Orange County’s ‘Best Pop Artist’ from the OC Music Awards.

The bands three Farmer brothers (Addam, Heath and Austin) help make those harmonies shine on “This Can’t Be Real” and “We May Fall.” The Bolts have plenty of energy and compare well to The Stokes, Jet and The Killers. By all accounts they are a huge success as evidenced by a ton of commercials using their music. A full length is expected by 2013.

CD Baby | Amazon

Ben Folds Five “The Sound of the Life of The Mind”

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Just when you thought Ben Folds quietly faded away, he roars back with an adult pop album unlike anything he’s done before. The piano melodies and harmonies are still in top form, but those three minute rants like “Brick” are long gone. Closer to The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner, this is the work of a fully mature band. Sure it starts with the rant “Erase Me” but the feeling is more resignation than defiance with its fuzz bass. Some gorgeous musical passages are on “Michael Praytor, Five Years Later” but as a whole it feels too familiar and ultimately doesn’t hook you. Folds still is a master of dramatic choruses, as the title track demonstrates and “On Being Frank” a biographic piano epic of Sinatra’s tour manager, with sweet flourishes after each line.

Like most mature artists, Folds goes for the deep emotion punch and often hits his target, like on “Draw A Crowd” he tells of a has-been musician who knows ““If you can’t draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall.” The closing tune “Thank You For Breaking My Heart” stands as one of the best BF5 ballads, full of the sentiment that closes a Broadway show. Both drummer Darren Jessee and bassist Robert Sledge help flesh out Folds compositions in each tune, but unlike past efforts there isn’t a melody that lingers in your memory after the last note plays. Still an essential LP for fans and lovers of mature pop.

Amazon | Itunes

Sunchymes and Howl Griff

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The Sunchymes “Let Your Free Flag Fly”
After a good debut LP, Aaron Hemmington has fulfilled his promise of making The Sunchymes album that marries the Wondermints/Curt Boettcher like arrangements to hook filled melodies. The intricate techniques of 60’s sunshine pop are on full display with “Revelations In Her Mind” and the solid hook in “Aquarius Summer” make it sweet ear candy. Most of the album fits stylistically within the genre of British psyche pop and 60’s California sound.

The west coast sounds on “Enchanted Girl” are kissed with harmonies along the lines of Cowsills or the Zombies. Then “Astronomical Clock” mixes Brian Wilson Pet Sounds with a swirling psychedelic mellotron.  This playful ambience is also a big part of “Uncle Alfred’s Slide Show.” Fans of Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles will love “Your Disguise” and Beach Boys fans will enjoy “On A Summer Ride.” Most every track here impresses, and my next suggestion would be to expand his harmonious range, but this is pretty incredible and one of the year’s best retro flavored albums.

CD Baby | Amazon | Kool Kat Musik

 

Howl Griff  “Fragile Diamond”
It’s tough to neatly fit Howl Griff in one genre. The music is a combination of new wave guitar, psychedelic mellotron and classic rock rhythms – with multi-part harmony in English or Welsh. Similar to Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci they have a sound that catches up to you after a few listens. The casual strums and vocals of “Fragile Diamond” is a wonderful sing along and the wicked bassline of “Sharkfins in The Sky” make it another winner.

On occasion a song will overstay its welcome (“You Don’t Have To Leave On Your Own”) but you also have flashes of absolute brilliance, like the epic pop story of “Puppet Operation Time” and the spacey “‘FÜßßBÜKKËR.” You’ll hear the echos of The Kinks on “Runaround” and “She Walks On By The Flame,” and this band is more than the sum of its influences. It’s got what few bands have, a genuine competence in a variety of styles. Bravo.