Category: Power Pop Review

This is the first in a series. I love obscure pop relics from the height of the late sixties to the start of the disco era (1967 – 1976) and finding out more about them. This was surely the golden era of novelty and bubblegum hits. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

In 1970, this was probably the silliest pop song to crack the top ten ever. Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood wrote this for a childrens show. Some other hit songs they wrote include “The Air That I Breathe,” “Free Electric Band” and “It Never Rains In Southern California,” which was a hit for Hammond. Later, it the became background tune used on The Benny Hill show. Also used on the Ally McBeal show, for John Cage (played by Peter MacNicol) to do his “Angry Dance.”

The lyrics are really dopey, but it’s the music that makes this song work. The Pipkins were not even a real group, but the song was recorded by producer Roger Greenaway and session singer Tony Burrows.

Herb Eimerman was the other half of the power pop duo, the Nerk Twins. His collaboration with former Shoes bandmate Jeff Murphy created an excellent album in the late 90s. On his own he has shown his skills on several solo albums, the latest being “Just Barely Famous.” Like Dwight Twilley, Herb has a fine easy going vocal – perfect for romantic pop rock. The expansive clean production, similar to Frank Royster’s “Thru The Years” with a slight echo across all tracks. Some tracks here are true hidden gems – like the George Harrison cover “Stuck Inside a Cloud” and the Byrdsian “Unbreakable.” In the opener “Inside Joke” lyric and melody recalls The Shoes tight pop arrangements. “The Attraction” is another cool song with great hooks. However the album is missing a hard edge – the closest we get is the haunting “Our Fate Was Signed” but most of the tunes here are light. Herb does it all here, writing every song, multi-tracking his voice and playing all instruments. Other classic hook-filled influences come up all over the album. “Make a Wish” has a Beach Boys vibe and “Vanished Shadows” has the Beatlesque vocal touches that make it memorable. Lots of Gene Clark-like guitar mid-tempo ballads like “Be Home Tonight” do an very good job. Others like “I leave it all up to you” didn’t really work for me, but there is enough in the 16 tracks to enjoy for most power pop fans.

MySpace | CD Baby | Emusic | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik

Radiohead fans waiting patiently for the band’s next album will not have to wait too much longer. “In Rainbows” comes out October 10. So what, you say? What makes this event amazing is the fact that YOU the user can set the price. If you order the download only, you can pay what ever you want for it. Much like a free museum with a donation box at the front door. This is only available through the Radiohead website.

A special “discbox” will be released on December 3, 2007, and will contain the physical album on both CD and two 12″ heavyweight vinyl record with artwork and lyric booklets. The discbox will also include a bonus Enhanced CD which contains 8 bonus tracks, as well as digital photos & artwork. The overall set will be packaged in a hardcover book and slipcase. But this will cost about $82 — for the hard core fans only.

I guess this is the first free self-released LP by a major label alternative band. Pay-what-you-want is a pretty common for unknown artists trying to get their name out. Jonathan Coulton has been really sucessful at self promotion with free music. Read his opinion about this on his site. Or you can listen to Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Rezor talk about record company greed. It reflects many artists’ own conflict between wanting the listening public to hear their work and needing to earn enough money to continue making music for a living.

Radiohead album download

The Thrills third album is sure to please fans of it’s laid back alternative California style. The songs are nice three minute jangle gems with lead vocalist Conor Deasy warbling away. The Beach Boys inspiration from the first album has been replaced by a mash up of the Cure and the Byrds. “The Midnight Choir” is a good example of this, with a killer hook in the chorus. The following tune “This Year” is a great little jangle number and the catchy “Nothing Changes ‘Round Here” will have you bobbing your head up and down to the beat. They also recall the poppier moments of Limbeck here as well. If you love jangle pop you’ll be perfectly happy with this album. For some, it takes time to get used to Deasy’s vocal style that sounds like the bastard child of Nick Drake and Kim Carnes. Unlike the last effort of the Thrills, the melodies here are very sharp and the band sounds tighter than ever before. It seems like this is a push for more commercial success and “I Came All This Way” sums up what the band feels at this point “I came all this way just to say that’s not what I want… now I know I’ll never be someone else.” It’s a subtle statement of defiance that rings true in the harmonies here. The album has three ballads all toward the end, and the sweeping “I’m So Sorry” does an excellent job wringing out the emotion. So far this is the strongest effort from a major label I’ve heard in months, so give it a chance.

The Thrills | MySpace | itunes

Listen to “Nothing Changes ‘Round Here”

Hot off the blog press! I recently interviewed both Ken Sharp, hot from release of his newest “Sonic Crayons” and The Grip Weeds lead guitar Kristin Pinell and band leader, Kurt Reil (shown on the right) hot from their release “House of Vibes Revisited”. Visit these interview links for Ken Sharp or The Grip Weeds, or click on the blue button to the right.

We now have a downloadable widget for your site with all the latest reviews from Powerpopaholic.com – just scroll down to the bottom of this page and look to the right column side. There is a free mini powerpopaholic blog to add your homepage or site! Enjoy!