Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Brixton Riot “Sudden Fiction”
The Brixton Riot is a gathering of four rock veterans from the New Jersey area (The Christies and Electraluxe) and the debut EP is smooth indie power pop all the way. “Sudden Fiction” as the title suggests deals with the writing process and the opener “Battle of The Band” about the rigors of touring, has jangling guitar riffs that bring to mind REM, The Lemonheads and Wilco. Each song on this EP is a gem – my favorite being a wonderful song “(There’s) Something in The Air” about the Stanley Kubrick movie “The Shining” about a writer who wants to kill. The entire EP is listenable on My Space. I can’t wait for the full length.
My Space | CD Baby

The Smith Brothers “Lost”
The Smith Brothers are not the guys on a box of cough drops. It’s another group featured at Charlotte PopFest, and the Smith Brothers have a great classic power pop sound, very much like Teenage Fanclub or Cheap Trick. Pat Dollenmayer and Mike Clark have a true enthusiasm for the music, and it comes out in the opener “Lost” – a Teenage Fanclub styled slice of greatness. The classic guitar sounds continue on “Way We Know” another melodic fuzz covered gem. The pace slows down a bit for “Ducky” which goes for a classic Elvis Costello meets You Am I sound, with wonderful guitar solos and gentle harmonies. Elements of Fountains of Wayne are found in the songwriting style, and I picked this up on “Blame on You” and mid-tempo “Words Fail Me.” Another classic here is the bouncy “Addicted To You,” with Squeeze-like chordplay and vocal approach. No bad tracks, and you’ll surely get addicted to the music here. I hope these guys get bigger distribution, as this is a great CD that all power pop fans will love. A new disc this year is planned for spring — get this while you wait.
The Smith Bros. home | My Space | Indie Rock

This album comes out of nowhere, and blows me away with amazing songwriting and playing. Brooklyn’s Brandon Wilde has a Paul McCartney meets Elliot Smith musical sensibility. Opening with “Whatever You Want” will remind most listeners of Chris Brown or David Grahame, with delicate strum and irresistible vocals. Even the slow alt country ballads like “Ever After” or “Rag Doll” have an amazingly catchy bridge that keeps you engaged. Most of the album is full of low key ballads, but with those clean Macca-styled hooks and arrangements. The ballad “Highway to The Moon” takes a very Radiohead-like turn with wonderful touches of acoustic folk and multi-tracked harmony. The thickest, stickiest hook and my favorite on this album is “Love in Cars.” This sole mid-tempo song will have you singing and clapping along in no time. It’s been on my ipod all week! The ballad “Cannot Say” evokes a bit of The Small Faces ballads and Brandon’s voice almost morphs into Rod Stewart’s cragginess. He ends the album with “Hollow” – a Beatlesque ballad of “Blackbird” proportions. My only nit pick here is that there is nothing on the album that is faster paced. But Mr. Wilde is an extremely talented musician and his “Songs From The Deep Sleep” are a well executed collection of subtle musical beauty.

My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik

I’m prepared to crown Martin Gordon the clown prince of power pop. His lastest work “The World is Your Lobster” is a maniacal mix of XTC pop genius and Neil Innes/Monty Python humour. Gordon skewers plenty of sacred cows here, with bouncy pop glee. “Pop Goes Bang” is a clear comment on the state of musical taste today, with lines like “Tell me, will this awful racket never stop?” The next song needs no introduction, “What would Jesus Drive?” — it’s not a hotrod folks. The next several songs stylistically recall 10cc and the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour-era quirkiness. The Gilbert & Sullivan musical experiments continue  (“Am I Alone?” and “A Policeman’s Lot is Not A Happy One”) and the influence is clearly leaking through to songs like his own “Mirror, Mirror.” The silliness is also amped up when compared to his previous works (example: an entire song about a joke “My Dog’s Got No Nose” How does he smell? Terrible). The music still has great melodies, and flawless musicianship. Along the way Gordon punctures consumerism (“No Offers At All”), hypocrisy (“Don’t Do As I Do”) and plenty of pithy observations about the mankind’s relationship with his deity (“No More Limbo”). The lyrics demand attention, and even delve into abstract Dadaism (“Just Say Wee”). As with his past works, you get a lot of bang for your buck with 15 tracks. Like me, you’ll be screaming for more. Keep it comin’ Martin!

My Space | E-Music | Itunes

The Waking Hours “How Does It Feel”
Tom Richards (Guitar/Vocals) and his band The Waking Hours have always been a top notch band that we haven’t heard from in a few years. On this new EP, “How Does It Feel” – they kick up the power to “11” and rock a lot harder than you may be used to. “New Revolution” is fine power pop with a punk edge, a la The Jam. The next song “How Does It Feel” is a majestic mid-tempo number lead by Tom’s vocals and Sean Sutphin’s crashing drums that bring to mind Coldplay a bit. “Close To Me” is a Brit pop number with the echo and power chords , the kind Oasis used to chug out, but The Waking Hours make it look easy and it’s got some cool chord changes in the melody. Every song here is a winner, if only it had a few more tracks… Oh well, I’ll take what I can get here. Fans of Tsar, Rooney and Superdrag will love this.
My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

gogoPilot “Armageddon Lullabies”
Straight from Charoltte, NC – the home of this summer’s PopFest, gogoPilot is the band of singer/songwriter Jeffrey Williams. He takes no prisoners in his latest, “Armageddon Lullabies.” The album is full of lush pop arrangements that have varied instrumentation like violin, cello, accordion and lap steel guitar. “Requiem For A Shut-In” starts with a catchy acordian and guitar that unfolds an introspective tale of depression. Likewise, “Electric Chair” has a full jangle sound that remind me of classic Wilco. This continues with “Quiet Town” and “Alcohol,” both haunting tales of the human condition that have great musical hooks. The kind of alt. country pop that Gary Louris and the Jayhawks used to do so well. Every song has a high quality of musicianship and Williams trademark biting commentary about life, divorce and alcoholism. Don’t miss this one.
My Space | CD Baby 

The Swedes are Chris Edwards (keyboards), Phil Crain(bass), Phil Harbut (drums), Tony Dilella (guitar), and Jon Gray (guitar & vocals). The style is best described as eclectic rock. The first track
“Julie Walker” has the 70s glam vibe that brings to mind Imperial Drag, and this is a great stunner of a track with Brian May-like guitars and matching keyboard riffs. “Making Up Words” is a bit quirkier with toy piano and heavy bass line leading the way to a Queen-like melodic composition. Sometimes the vocals of Jon Gray are closer to Mika than T-Rex, with a warbling falsetto and it works on best “Patriot” a song that does a perfect Robert Pollard meets Bowie glamfest. It’s my favorite here, and a really catchy one at that. Up next, “Lava Lamp” has so many mini-melodies and different time signatures, it resembles Bryan Scary and The Shedding Tears a little bit. “Stretched Too Tight” is another marvelous melange of Queen, T-Rex and The Move. “Burning Fever” continues this formula with an added pysch-pop chorus that’s closer to Roy Wood’s Move than Jeff Lynne’s version. Things get a bit tamer later on the album, with the guitar anthem “Brixton” but no less impressive. If you liked any of the above mentioned groups, you will enjoy this music. Like Bryan Scary, a quick listen does not do it justice — it takes a few listens to appreciated the craftwork here. It’s also obvious that The Swedes are having fun with this. And I think most of you will too.

Swedes Web Site | My Space | CD Baby