Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Hailed as the “Tex-Mex” Beatles, this San Antonio, Texas band has released a pile of local hits that date back to 1977. This album gathers all the singles between 1977 and 1988, and with assorted band personnel. The sounds are retro perfect Beatlesque of the 1964 – 1966 variety and the production is clean and very similar to The Toms. If you thought that was buried treasure, gobble this one up. The album name comes from a bit of advice that Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds gave the band when they played together in the late ’70s. This is nice hook-filled candy that not only evokes the Fab Four, but also reminds me of The Buckinghams or Knickerbockers. This is evidenced by the note perfect Merseybeat of “All I do is Try” and the perfect “Sunny Day.” More great power pop comes with the Association-styled “Rhymes of Tomorrow.” Then “Alamo Dragway” throws in some early Southern Culture on the Skids reverb guitar instrumental. “Sometime” is a great Byrds styled mid-tempo number. Other tracks seem like they are from other bands because they are so different stylistically. “Roadrunner” flirts with messy R&B and “Dorothy” is pretty cool new wave 1980’s era tune. Sometimes it gets a bit cheesy, “The Sphinx won’t tell” almost sounds like a song parody. Overall though, most of the songs here are interesting, if not excellent. I had to post two different videos here, so you see the two sides of this cool band. If you order from Kool Kat Musik you get a bonus EP of “Little Fox” (in Spanish and English) and three more tracks.

Krayolas Site | My Space | Kool Kat Musik

Listen to “Little Fox”

Listen to “Find a Girl”

The Jellyfish has long been considered an iconic power pop group for the ninties, and each of the groups members have met with varied degrees of success. Fans have slavishly followed the careers of Jason Falkner, Andy Strumer and Roger Manning Jr. over the years. One other member of that group was Eric Dover, guitarist during the “Split Milk” era. After joining Manning in the celebrated group Imperial Drag, Eric has performed with guitar gods: Alice Cooper, Gibly Clarke, Slim Jim Phantom, Brian May, Eddie Van Halen and many others over the years.

Well now Eric’s new persona is simply called “Sextus” and his new album “Stranger than Fiction” is poised to drop in February. The albums complex arrangements took nearly 10 years to complete, with most songs being demo’ed extensively. He has also contributed to the Jellyfish Tribute “Sensory Lullabies” with the tune “That is Why.”

So is it worth the wait? Well mostly yes. The guitar work is outstanding and is reminicent of Imperial Drag for sure. I felt the album builds up a bit too slowly, albeit dramatically. The opening intro, brings to mind heavier guitar rock of Steve Hackett or even Yngwie Malmsteen. The point being, you play this music loud. “Wild To Make You Mine” is the most Imperial Drag-like, full of intricate guitar flourishes and layered solos and vocals. This can backfire a bit on “Mystery of O” which sounds like a mashup of both Queen and The Propellerheads. It’s not bad, but so dense with sonic detail, we lose the vocals and melody at times. Mid way through the album it hits it’s stride with the awesome “On The Freak Side” and becomes a real R-rated adventure with “Tricki Tina.” The gems are sprinkled throughout with “Break of Morning” and the raunchy “Ballmi” (Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is). The lyrical wordplay here would make even Prince blush. So overall, Sextus lives up to his name (don’t play this around the kiddies) and fans of Jellyfish, or Imperial Drag will lick it up. Right now it’s only available as a vinyl, but expect wide distribution next month.

Dramapants Records Homepage | My Space

I still have a pile of reviews to finish before the holidays and then I find this gem. Whoa kids, it doesn’t get any better than legally FREE power pop. And even better if the music is really good. Thank you Paul Kelly for this wonderful gift. The Martial Arts are a Glasglow Scottish band with a very Dbs meets Kinks vibe and the songs have great hooks and guitar work. ‘Your Sinclair’ evokes of 60s pop, 70s new wave and 80s indie – with a few moments of intense guitar abuse thrown in for good measure. The opener “Murry & Audree” has great glam energy and has the early Weezer meets Rubinoos type of feeling. The vocals on “Don’t Want To Talk” remind me a bit of Alex Chilton from his Big Star days. The intensity of “Mod Val” will have you thinking this track was meant for the latest Hives album. The perfect Ray Davies-like storytelling of “Frost” will get your toes tapping and head bobbing. To find such jaw dropping quality is not to be missed- so stop reading this post and get it. UPDATE: The Martial Arts have contacted me and are extending this offer of this free download to Monday January 7th. ENJOY!

My Space | Download album in .rar format or .zip format | alternate link

Listen to “Don’t Want to Talk”

Murry & Audree video, Directed by Gregor Mackay

I got a cool tip a month or two ago about this band when I was finishing reviews about The Mother Hips. Well unfortunately it took too long to get to because it’s a pleasant surprise. Y33BA is a Brooklyn based band that gets to the very roots of great lo-fi pop. Starting with “I took a Deep Breath” lead singer Josh Westfal’s vocals resemble Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground. A ton of indie bands try to emulate the Velvets and often sound horrible. Y33BA not only does the sound right, but they have a unique spin on the approach that bring in powerful melodies and excellent lyrics. Hell, even Rolling Stone’s noticed it as one of David Fricke’s picks. As the album continues, “Psycho On Your Side” is a fun bouncy slice of rock similar to The Mother Hips and Wilco, with complimentary dissonant sounds trailing the main melody. The balladry is also engaging and my favorite track is “Town and Country” which sounds as good as anything Jeff Tweedy could perform, if not better. By the time we get to “Once I Dreamed The Future” it picks up some energy and continues to encourage repeat listens. The ballad “So you say you want love?” channels classic Big Star’s 3rd album as well with a gorgeous melodic chorus including Josh and an uncredited female vocal. The offbeat and semi-instrumental “Every time I see Your Broken Face” is just as compelling as it is unpredictable. All twelve tracks have merit and you can buy the album from them directly off the My Space page.

Your 33 Black Angels Page | My Space

Listen to “Sue”