Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic Archives - Page 325 of 339

Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears "Flight of The Knife"

March 9, 2008July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic 2 Comments

After slowly downloading single tracks, the time has come to reveal the new Bryan Scary album. After roaring out of the gate last year with the debut album, Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears are ready to really spread their wings. The group has a flair for drama and here it produces a concept album worthy of comparison with mid 70’s Genesis “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.” By throwing in everything and the kitchen sink in The “Flight of the Knife” it mixes the cinematic elements of Queen and XTC with the lyrical wordplay full of third-person narrative. This is evidenced on the opener “Flight of The Knife” with a variety of prog keyboards that recalls Tony Banks of Genesis. The story is something about a famous airship that visits planets and stuff, just read the lengthy libretto on the site. “Venus Ambassador” is a glowing mid-tempo song that adds classical piano catchiness with cool chord changes. The obvious single here is “Imitation of The Sky” with an amazing combination of piano, guitar riffs and rolling drums that will hook your ear faster than the “Ceiling on the Wall,” complete with a variety of harmonies and overlapping vocals. The supporting songs follow this theme and tell the story. “The Curious Disappearance of The Sky Ship Thunder Man” is the most operatic and is almost a musical show tune – it compares to 10cc’s “I’m Mandy Fly Me” with dazzling musicianship, and sparkling melodies. Then we get “The Purple Rocket” – a Sufaris meets Pink Floyd psyche-pop confection that has echos of Zappa all over it. “Mama Waits” almost sounds like a carryover from the debut album with a rousing circus organ solo. After a prog-rock intro, “Son of Stab” turns into a mashup of The Archies and Syd Barrett. The graceful piano work is awesome on the ballad “Heaven on A Bird” which includes a pysche-pop chorus Jellyfish fans will flip over. Like the last album, Scary uses so many influences, it can’t be pinned down on one type of style. Fans of early Genesis, ELO, Yes, Beatles and Frank Zappa will play this over and over. A truly excellent album that is an easy nominee for best of 2008 so far. Purchase direct from the label here.

Bryan Scary web site | My Space | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame

Listen to “Son of Stab”

Lolas "Like The Sun"

March 8, 2008April 1, 2018 powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Power pop maestro Tim Boykin has done it again. The Lolas are a band that just keeps getting better with age. “Like The Sun” takes some tracks from 2006’s “Doctor Apache” and added a few newer songs to give the listener a whopping 20 tracks. So it’s almost like a double album. It opens with “Eye Eye” a touch of ELO, Byrds and Beatles that will ring through your head, and stay there. This is followed by the title track, which adds the right about of jangle and harmonies that lead you up the next song “The Laurie Song” – an awesome “Rain”-inspired psyche-pop masterpiece. And the relentless hooks keep on comin’ with the roaring guitars of “Me and Barbara Stanwyck” Fans of their previous incarnation,The Shame Idols will enjoy the great guitar work and indie power on “Going all the Way” – the solo is just awesome. The song “Blue Shadows” has a Beatlesque charm and “Watch The Movie” has Weezers innocent pop sweetness with Brian May styled guitar. Some songs get a bit more rough and garage-y, like “Action Woman” and “Ramon Ghetto Chef.” Toward the ends of album it even has a Sweet cover (“Wig Wham Bam”) and a very Mod-sounding Rolling Stones meet Early Who tune with “I Can Only Give Everything.” The songs go through every incarnation of great power pop from ballad to high powered riff machine and everything in between. With so much here and barely a miscue, it’s an easy choice to nominate this album for my Top Ten of 2008 so far. This album is essential listening – so don’t miss this one. Thanks for the music, Tim.

The Lolas site | My Space | Jam Recordings | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame

Listen to “Eye Eye”

Listen to “Me and Barbara Stanwyck”

Listen to “Sticker”

Martin Gordon "How Am I Doing So Far?"

March 3, 2008July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic

Best remembered as the bassist for the Californian pop band Sparks, Martin Gordon has built a stellar reputation for himself as a solo artist since 2003. “How Am I Doing So Far?” is a kind-of greatest hits record with tracks from Gordon’s first three solo releases and a good starting point for the noivce. There are Beatles, ELO, Todd Rundgren and ABBA influences here and there. My first thoughts were “Where has this guy been hiding? ” The production is highly polished and the guitars riff away on “Oh no, What shall we do?” remind me of “Baby’s in Black” by way of 10cc. The hooks and new wave-y keyboards in “Love Power” are so catchy, you almost are required to listen again to hear the wacky lyrics. You’ve got to give Martin credit for doing a glam version of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Captain of the Pinafore” – a tough song, done right (Todd would be proud). Even the quirkiness of his early Sparks records show up in “Land of Nod.” The attention to sonic details are very impressive here as well, “Plug and Play” resembles a Cars meets The Move mix. “Anyway Goodbye” lists a pile of health advice you should ignore. The Euro-centric humor and melodies will draw the listener in. With a track titled “Her Daddy was a Dalek, Her Mummy was a non-stick flying pan” how can you not? Also one notices that this is a massive 20-track collection. The Pysche-pop that surrounds songs like “Bad Light Stops Play” is top notch, and fans of The Pillbugs should pay attention too. The subject matter is also about rock star self-awareness (“Next Big Thing” and “Girls Fight Over Me”). There are few miscues here, and occasionally the production gloss is a bit too thick, but if you like good power pop this will encourage you to explore more of Gordon’s amazing work. Maybe my next review will be his current album “The World is Your Lobster.”

Martin Gordon’s website | My Space | I-tunes

P. Hux "Kiss The Monster"

March 1, 2008September 5, 2024 powerpopaholic

P. Hux hunkered down in L.A. studios with drummer Gordon Townsend and bassist Dan Rothchild, the same lineup that brought you “Purgatory Falls” and put together this “Monster” of an album. “Perfect” is the classic jangle opener, complete with cathcy choruses in the REM vein. P. Hux vocal multi-tracking on “Yet To Say” is snappy and filled with great energy and use both acoustic and electric guitars. “Wear My Ring” has a slow meaty electric guitar strum with a laid back chorus which is exactly what I look for in a P.Hux album and it stands out as a great single. The next song “Bones” is a slower, melodic song with gentle horns and strings that reveal itself to be the best song on the album. It reminds me of McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” in it’s epic balladry. “My Friend Hates Me” has some nice crunchy guitar before we get to a very Jason Falkner-like pop tune, complete with musical break and blistering solo that inspires air guitar moments. The rest of the album has a harder time meeting the quality of the first half, as a pleasant cover of The Beatles’ “I’m Looking Through You” seems extraneous, but “Better Than Good” has a wonderful melody and great guitar riffs that makes it an instant classic. The closing track “Everything’s Different Now” is a sweet John Lennon-like ballad with some great lyrics that lament the life changes after a baby’s arrival. True to the promo materials, these tracks are all “ear-tingling” and may be the best P. Hux album ever.

P. Hux Store | My Space | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame

Listen to “Perfect”

Listen to “Wear My Ring”

The Third Men "Boost"

February 28, 2008April 1, 2018 powerpopaholic

The Third Men are a tough and abrasive yet soft and cuddly band from Omaha, Nebraska. Fans of jangle-pop will feel warm fuzzies with “Boost.” Bassist Mike Tulis gathered the band together in 2004 and has produced a stellar effort this year. Lead singer Matt Rutledge has a distinct vocal cadence, similar to Bob Mould or Peter Holsapple. The album opens with the Pysch-rock “High” a song that has elements of Myracle Brah and bits of The Minus 5. The goofy humor in the lyrics of “Happy as Larry” along with rich keyboards and guitar rhythms is a real toe tapper here. The first half of the album has that mid 1980’s Chapel Hill, NC rich pop sound – “What A Day” even references the Miami Vice TV show in the lyric. Then the tone shifts to a perfect Who meets Jan & Dean in “G.A.S.” It’s a perfect mid 70’s era power rocker (more cowbell fellas). My favorite song here, “Come on Home” is a standout where the style and melodic hooks come together just right. It would be great to here more of this type of song. But instead, we venture into Van Halen meets Bob Mould of “Visigoths.” Still a good song though and it takes a turn toward the DB’s style of guitar playing. It gets really interesting with “Evelyn” a cool story song with a blistering guitar solo. The remaining songs mine this style and do a pretty good job with cool pop jangle throughout. “Pink Cheerleader” is another power pop song where the break allow more guitar virtuosity, and you gotta love the “Ooh, la, las” here. Fans of the above mentioned bands, Chris Stamey, Let’s Active, Mitch Easter will love this. So give it a listen.

The Third Men | My Space | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame | I-tunes