Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Sydney’s Bryan Estepa released the classic “All the Bells and Whistles” last year. Although his newest isn’t as chock full of high energy pop goodies, it’s a more mature and even release. Bryan moves beyond his love of AM radio pop on “Sunday Best.” On the opener “Aches and Shakes” you get a good mix of harmonious choruses and melody that fans of Crowded House will appreciate. This is light breezy pop with an adult slant on issues, and a slice of Americana flavor, the next song “Different With You” would not sound out of place on a Jayhawks album. What I like about the geek love of “Carl Wilson” is that it doesn’t try to emulate his hero’s vocal style, it just takes a catchy narrative to piano, mentioning in the lyric “your voice it makes me quiver/ I wish I could have met the younger Wilson”. The song “I’m Going” is my favorite here – it’s got the dramatic phrasing and guitar chorus that makes it a pop classic. “Myself” has that high energy that recalls his last band The Hazey Janes (move over John Faye and IKE). Then it takes it down a few notches with the ballads and mid-tempo alt country at the end of the album (“Skipping Days” and “Worry Me None”) another standout is the title track (“Sunday Best”) with a wonderful combination of guitar and banjo after the chorus. This sophomore release showcases Bryan’s songwriting as well as his melodic pop talents. The most worthy music I’ve listened to this Sunday for sure.

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Lovers of swinging sixties pop will not want to miss The Marmalade Army’s “Johnny Cake and Moonpies” as it’s a loving tribute to the late psychedelic pop era. Sounding a lot like 10cc’s Graham Gouldman singing XTC or Andrew Gold’s Fraternal Order of The All, it’s a really impressive collection of songs. The band member names are a mystery too, some credited as “Lumpy Peppermint” or “Paisley Nash” (A lot like The Dukes of the Stratosphere aka XTC). After a few isolated instrumentals that set the groovy mood, we get the first song “Flower Girl,” a sweet baroque ode with nods to Brian Wilson. The next proper song “She’s My Dream” work late era Beatles (especially the Harrison-styled guitar) to excellent effect. “Garden Of My Mind” takes the strum of “Tequila” and turns it into a 10cc styled romp. The Beach Boys era tribute cira 1977-era “2BW” (yes, it’s really “To Brian Wilson”) is a song that would’ve fit nicely on the BB’s “Love You” album. “Welcome to the Love Machine” is one of those crazy instrumentals that mirror the “I Dream of Jeannie” TV theme song. And yes Andy Partridge fans, “I Nearly Walked Into Traffic” is a perfect “Mummer” track with pastoral guitars and melody. Some of the tunes are so light and psyche-sweet, like “Marigold” it would fit fine on The Pillbugs latest album. The title track brings to mind a Pet Sounds session then morphs to a full swirling sunny pop track with Reggae beats and harmonies. A few tracks do feel too underdeveloped though. “It’s Raining Again” builds to a wonderful melody and then it ends (I would have loved it go on a bit longer). The end result is a fantastic album, that fans of the bands mentioned above will treasure.

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Another group often compared to Sloan, Even has been one of my favorite power pop bands from Australia. Even brings the most consistent Ziggy Stardust meets Badfinger vibe ever on their fifth self-titled album. You gotta love the harmonic chorus and multi-tracked guitar on “I am the Light” which marches with drummer Matthew Cotter’s steady beat. Over two years in the making, the manic guitar of Ashley Naylor struts like mix of T.Rex and Ian Hunter on the excellent “I Walk On.” The sparkling blues guitar follows on “Superstition Blues” and reminds one of a Stevie Ray Vaughn or Bo Diddley tune. The albums themes are of personal resilience and determination in the face of long odds. A bit of Jimi Hendrix-styled funk shows up on the sweet sounding “Which Way To Run” – and these guys could school Lenny Kravitz on how to get back to his roots. “The Fool Who Made You Sad” is a “woe-is-me” country drinking ballad that has effective steel pedal guitar and lazy shuffling beat. A few tracks endulge in long extended solo breaks (“Tangled Up” and “The Pinnacle”) that can get tiresome if you’re not into the melody. More so than fellow Aussie’s “You Am I” Even is unashamedly emulating the lates 60’s and early 70’s hard rock era, but it’s not all wild riffs and jams. The excellent Stones meets Allman Brothers of “Tangled Up” is a example of what makes Even great- Naylor makes sure the song structures all have great hooks and engaging lyrics. In “Keep on Burning” he states the bands motto, “I am a small, small fire but I keep on burning.” As long as we hear music like this, power pop will never die. If you’ve never heard Even before, this is a good place to start.

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Listen to the first single “I am The Light”

Aussie popster Adrian Whitehead has been getting raves from the press and pop bloggers who’ve heard his latest “One Small Stepping Man”. A soft classic pop formula similar to Dave Dill and Brent Cash, Adrian uses simple catchy melodies with a nod to The Beatles and a very smooth clean production style similar to Dave Stephens. The opening track “Caitlin’s 60’s Pop Song” echos Nilsson and Adrian’s vocals are very similar here to Ken Stringfellow of The Posies. It’s got the pop smarts and little details that make a wonderful song. Next, “Saving Caroline” opens with a seventies-styled strum a la Styx, and the bass floats the melody along, but at over six minutes it goes on a bit too long for me. “Radio One” sounds like a Posies mid-tempo guitar song and breaks into an amazing piano ballad. The piano ballads continue with the McCartney-like melodies in “You are The Sun” and “Julia” which are very good and the bright “Spector’s Dead” remind me of Julian Lennon’s “Photograph Smile” album. On the “Ways of Man” we get a very McCartney-like bass line and on “Better Man” the lyrical themes are sharp and the song has a bit more energy, but “Elle” is another long ballad that seems to go on forever. No doubt this is a strong debut and if you like any of the above artists, you’ll enjoy this. An equal measure of credit goes to producer Jak Housden for making these songs sound so good.

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