Category: Power Pop Review

Sometimes I hear some new talent worthy of some attention. Stealing Jane is a alternative rock/pop/ska band with more than a passing resemblance to Maroon 5. It’s got the latin beats, impressive vocals from Bryce Larsen and a sharp horn section that moves things along. The energy of this band is excellent and will carry it a long way. However, I feel some of the lyrical content and melodies are not always that catchy, and the horns and Larsens voice often compete for your ears attention span. But on the mid tempo number “Take it Easy” – it all jells together and the song is excellent. Check it out.

Stealing Jane Website | MySpace

Ian Walsh is a new stand-out singer/songwriter in the the alternative rock genre. Similar in vocal stylings to Tonic frontman, Emerson Hart, mixed with Goo Goo Dolls Johnny Rzeznick, Ian’s got the chops and the melodic sense to do great things. The songs are strictly by-the-numbers alternative rock, but some great guitar work makes itself evident in “Supposed to Be” and the excellent ballad “Goodbye” is well written and performed with gusto. The other standout song is another ballad “Familiar Place” with some interesting melodic turns in the chorus. This song really shows great potential. I look forward to more songs with a harder edge from Ian. This is a perfect example of real talent that goes unheard and those clowns on American Idol don’t deserve all that PR exposure. Ian Walsh does.

Ian Walsh Website | My Space

Jason Brown and Jeremy Grites make up the Swivel Chairs, a low key indie-pop group with some Wilco influences. If you like you power pop sweet and mellow, the Swivel Chairs new album “The Slow Transmission” will do it for you, like hot tea on a winter’s night. The style of the album is a bit all over the place though. The smooth mellowness of “Here Out of Reach” and “Easy Now” is interrupted by the Replacements-like songs “All at Once” and “Breaking Up” Then we settle back into the nice Jayhawks-ish “Just a Little Girl.” This kind of sonic diversity will win over some fans, but may annoy others. Some songs feel like they belong on a different album, like the experimental “Clockwise” and dreamy “December Ghosts.” Most of the tunes are great mid-tempo alt. pop – especially real keepers like “Breaking Up” and the song “Afterthought” bears a striking similarity to the UK band Field Music. The end of the album starts to resemble Belle and Sebastian with precious melodies on “Caloused Hands” and “Let’s Get Down to it.” Like Matt Pond PA or The Trollyvox, it’s easy to listen to and enjoy. However the final track “Wasting Time” seems designed to put you to sleep. This group of songs definitely takes a bit more time to digest than others out this year, but most of it is a very satisfying listen.

Swivel Chairs website | My Space | Not Lame | Transit of Venus

Listen to “All at Once”

Enjoy a wonderful video from Brad Brooks album “Spill Collateral Love” – see the album review here.

Imitation is often called the most sincere form of flattery. Marty Rudnick’s “More Songs about cars and girls” is a gushing love letter to Brian, Carl, Dennis Mike and Al (them Beach Boys). This is a power pop guilty pleasure, given even more credence from the supporting cast here. It’s produced by fan fave Michael Carpenter and includes backing vocals from Tommy Dunbar and Al Chan of the Rubinoos. This is a first class treatment of the material and Rudnick’s tunes are original enough, that you are not busy playing “spot the stolen riff or bassline” and just enjoying the music. Much like contemporaries, Jeffrey Foskett and Jeff Larson he makes this album perfect beach music. Without any bad vibes, all the tunes are light and sunny without a hint of depression to be found (unless you count a cover of Wilson’s “Until I Die”). This is a perfect album to lift your spirits if you’re down, from the light pop of “Lucky Day” to the gorgeous ballad “Only Heaven Knows.” Even a nice group of bonus tracks including vocal versions of the main tune, “Some Summer” and the Beatles “Yes It Is.” And the only thing I can find to be critical about is that it’s not so deep. Even the brothers Wilson added “In My Room” to an album of surf music to give it a small bit of introspection. But that’s being picky here.

MySpace | CD Baby | Moontown Productions | Not Lame | Kool Kat

Instead of making this a segment of one-hit wonders, I also felt “forgotten” hits could be featured. And Todd Rundgren’s songs fit right into that category. By the 1980s Todd and Utopia joined the New Wave bandwagon and while mainstream chart success eluded the group, they were a primary influence on many 90s bands and helped bring synths into power pop during the 80s. Always with a cult following, the masses might remember him from a minor hit called “Bang the Drum All Day” (peaked at #63 on the charts). “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” peaked at #82 and “Crybaby” and “Something To Fall Back On” did not chart.

Here is a small sampling of Utopia tracks from the 80s. Enjoy!

Listen to “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now”

Listen to “Something to Fall Back On”

Listen to “Crybaby”