Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic Archives - Page 304 of 339

Adam Marsland "Daylight Kissing Night"

November 6, 2008August 14, 2024 powerpopaholic

Earlier this year Adam Marsland’s “Daylight Kissing Night” aka “Adam Marsland’s Greatest Hits” came out for mere pennies ($6), and I pre-ordered it. This review is long overdue, and for the record, you cannot call yourself a power pop fan if you don’t own this CD. Marslands songs are both smart and literate, as well as insightful and raw along the lines of Ben Folds or Joe Jackson. However, the musical influences are much more than that. Adam channels a number of diverse rock/pop elements into his songs; Brian Wilson, Elton John, Pete Townshend, Matthew Sweet and even Green Day. Most of his best work is autobiographical, and chronicles the life of a kid who wants to be a successful rock musician (“My Kickass Life”) and all the pain and pleasure along the way. A lot of his lyrics also point to being a music geek in every way, like on “Other Than Me” where he’s “glad he never dated Aimee Mann.” Much piss and vinegar goes into his experiences with this band Cockeyed Ghost and his roller coaster ride with the “music industry” that gives us great tracks like, “Big, Big Yeah,” “Burning Me Out (of the Record Store),” “I Can’t Do This Anymore” and my personal favorite “The Fates Cry Foul.” Marsland really revels in the “glorious futility of playing in a band” and the listener will too. This compilation has something for everyone and a lot of his revelations resonate with me personally. I can easily declare this the best “Greatest Hits” package of songs this year and you can get it almost anywhere.

My Space | Adam’s Site

International Pop Overthrow "Vol.11"

November 5, 2008April 4, 2018 powerpopaholic

At International Pop Overthrow every year, event founder David Bash releases a generous three-disc collection featuring many of the artists who perform at the power pop fest. This massive collection has 66 bands spread out on 3 discs. Like other previous collections, it’s a mixed bag of familiar artists and some new artists, but the high quality of songs compared to other compilations is what makes it special.

Disc 1: The ELO shine of Daisy’s “Go!” starts off nicely and moves across to the jangle and harmonies of The Ken Kase Group’s “Shiner” to The Private Jets “Extraordinary Sensations.” Another standout Roger Joseph Manning Jr. track (“American Affluenza”), as well is Laurie Biagini’s dreamy “That Feeling Inside.” Assorted Beatlesque qualities find there way on excellent tracks by Leave, 302 and The Shamus Twins.

Disc 2: More Fab stuff from old stalwarts Twenty Cent Crush and even Peter & The Penguins’ laments in “There goes Pete Best.. the unluckiest bastard in the world.” It gets a power pick-up with The Dirty Royals “Josephine” and the Rolling Stones-like “Charged by The Minute” by The Respectables. More standout tracks here include, Preoccupied Pipers, The Romeros and Steve Caraway.

Disc 3: You would expect fatigue to set in, but it doesn’t as The Afternoons give us the Kinks-ian “Don’t Turn Back” with flowing guitars and harmonies. All Right Tokyo’s “Jessica, Jessica” and The Issue’s “All Or Nothing” have a bit of punk mixed into the lead guitar riff and it stands out here (The Ramones’ spirit lives on!). Garfield’s Birthday’s recent albums best track “Molly” is here too. Fan favorite Chris Brown adds his “Ordinary Day” to this collection, and a retro sounding gem comes from Black Jones & The Trike Shop. Not to be forgotten, Fireking does a great job with the heavy guitars on “A Sentimental Education.”

There are a few mediocre tracks on the third disc, but for the most part you are getting an “instant” power pop collection that would normally cost a pile of money, all here for a small pittance. Always well worth the investment, I reap the dividends of following a few groups here to great full length albums in the near future.

My Space | Not Lame

Luke Jackson "…And Then Some"

October 31, 2008January 5, 2025 powerpopaholic

“…And Then Some” is the new release from Luke Jackson that has the best of Swedish pop all rolled into one release. The great opening single “Come Tomorrow” has a lot of Merrymakers and Beagle in it’s soul. It’s got an instantly catchy chorus and plenty of dreamy harmonies. That single is contrasted with the softer “This Life” which recalls both ELO and even Chilliwack, with it’s upbeat “Day by day we pass the time away” chorus and orchestral details. “Goodbye London” is great balance between pop sense and brit-rock. The song illustrates a series of life’s obstacles and Luke’s troubles when stricken by a period of writer’s block during the summer of 2006. The arrangements here are flawless, and they run from quick paced hot to the cool and soulful ballad “A Little Voice.” Jackson gathered a great crew here, including Brianpool/Roxette producer and multi-instrumentalist Christoffer Lundqvist and Brainpool bandmate Jens Jansson on drums and the legendary Magnus Borjeson (Beagle, Favorita, Metro Jets, Cardigans) on bass. “Half a World Away” is a smooth and dense production that combines these wonderful influences. The piano theatrics and sweeping strings of “All I Can Do” sound like a latter day Klaatu song (it just has a very Canadian feel about it). This is a expressive album that wears it’s heart on it’s sleeve with “Longest Day” like Oasis meeting Kansas (love that organ solo bridge) Fans of Bleu, Jeff Lynne, Canadian or Swedish power pop will flip for Luke Jackson. Just an excellent album that touches the spectrum of emotions.

My Space | Luke Jackson’s Site | Itunes

Listen to “Come Tomorrow”

Julie Ocean "Long Gone And Nearly There"

October 29, 2008July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic 2 Comments

It’s a real shame when you discover a great new group only to find out they are history. This Washington D.C. pop combo is a supergroup of sorts, parts of former bands (Velocity Girl, The Saturday People, Swiz) and then the day job of Jim Spellman (who works for CNN) got in the way when he was relocated to Denver. The group released “Long Gone and Nearly There” in May and now it becomes another legendary one album wonder (like “The La’s”). The short ten song debut is a collection of near flawless two minute power pop gems delivered with an irresistible guitar-pop fizz. “Ten Lonely Words” and “#1 song” borrows from the best of Bob Mould and Sugar, The Undertones, Velvet Crush and Teenage Fanclub. Add to this the Beach Boys harmonies all over each chorus throughout the album. “#1 song” has a good lyric about the disposable nature of power pop singles (I can recall Joe Jackson’s “Pop Single” saying the same thing). Amazingly, it never drags, as every song here is a short, snappy standout from the early Beatles stab of “There’s A Place (In The Back of My Mind),” to the fast tempo beat of “Bright Idea.” Lead singer Spellman’s Evan Dando-esque vocal inflections backed by woo-woo harmonies and those big fat pop hooks don’t get any better. The only drawback here is that it ends way too soon as the entire album is only about 25 minutes long (including the Well Wishers, this looks like a musical trend). Despite this it’s contender in my book for power pop album of the year. I’ll stop writing and just urge you to listen to the song below – it’s a MUST.

My Space | emusic | Itunes | Listen on La La

Listen to the “#1 Song”

Here is the video for “Ten Lonely Words”

Marykate O’Neil "mkULTRA" EP

October 29, 2008July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic

Another long time IPO favorite and Brooklynite, Marykate O’Neil releases her new EP “mkULTRA” today. Marykate accurately described this as an “after-the-party” album, with introspective songs that feel very personal. Not so much a happy pop album, but it does have strong melodies and songwriting. “Green Street” describes a moment after a relationship has failed, and the wish for friendship. It’s a good song that evokes Carole King and Aimee Mann and has a nice driving chorus. “Map” has an interesting percussive treatment along with a great vocal performance. “Trouble” is a creepy ballad with a ghostly multi-track “even I knew… trouble” about the substance abuse that builds to a loud guitar crescendo. Included is a cover of Randy Newman’s “Living Without You” and Jill Sobule’s “Happy.” A good follow up to 2006’s critically acclaimed 1-800-Bankrupt.

Marykate’s web site | CD Baby | Amazon