Category: Power Pop Review

In January, multi-talented instrumentalist David Vandervelde was on alot of indie playlists as the reincarnation of Marc Bolan and T.Rex. And they are not kidding folks. If you love early 70s glam rock then consider this a musical treat. “Jacket” is a great example of this, full of pounding downbeats and reverb guitar. “Nothin’ No” continues this style with a slow methodical guitar and drifts into classic Big Star territory (it’s a great track). The remaining tracks are okay – nothing to get too excited over. “Feet of a Liar” goes a bit overboard on the vocal reverb and would be much better as a simple acoustic ballad. The same problem occurs on “Can’t see your face anymore” but the chorus is much stronger and reminds me of the Hollies a little. It hurts that there is only eight tracks here and one of them is an instrumental. You can hear the entire album streaming on Vandervelde’s home page and purchase tracks on emusic. It’s worth it for your Glam fix.

MySpace | Emusic | David Vandervelde Homepage

David Vandervelde To ‘Moon’ The World

A few years ago Fountains Of Wayne looked ready to explode with the hit record Stacy’s Mom from Welcome Interstate Mangers. Collingswood and Schlesinger are no doubt the current “face” of modern power pop to most people who don’t follow the genre, and this album was it’s most anticipated. Using late 60s and 70s styled musical harmonies with typical perfection and guitars, Traffic and Weather continues the tradition. What is lost here is some of the dead-on sense of satire that was so prevelant in earlier efforts. “Yolanda Hayes” and “Michael and Heather At The Baggage Claim” comes the closest to this slice of life lyrical genius. If you are looking for a song that’s better than “Red Dragon Tattoo” or “Fire Island” you have come with expectations too high. That said, the production and songs are all flawless. This time around they even show evidence of being influenced by 70s AOR groups like the Eagles (on “’92 Subaru” and “Fire In The Canyon”) and America (on “Michael And Heather At The Baggage Claim” and “I-95”). The good news here is the influences again help and don’t hurt the songs in any way. “I-95” is one of my favorite ballads here and “Stapped For Cash” is a great single with cool horns that is my favorite song on th album. Another fave is the tune “Traffic And Weather” in which one TV anchor turns to the other and proposes (“We belong together like traffic and weather”) which would sound good in a Target commercial. And maybe that is the problem here. Although this will please power pop fans, it is not a breakout release — and maybe it just feels like the group has started to run out of ideas. That said, even filler tunes like “Revolving Dora” are much better than almost anything other contemporary pop groups churn out. You can get this release almost anywhere.

MySpace | NotLame | Fountains of Wayne Homepage

From the opening track “Tomorrow’s Maybe” Simon Morel wastes no time with a great power pop guitar track. The Australian based Simon Morel has produced a real gem of an album. “As time goes by” is excellent song, and my favorite here – sounds like a a great lost Glen Tilbrook track. No filler is found here – and with a bit of backing from power pop fave Michael Carpenter, this is sure to be a repeat listener. However a few of the ballads, like “No comin’ round” and “Saving Grace” although well made – don’t have the hook power of the more energetic tracks like “Sadness is a small town” which have a bit of a Smithereens echo. The exception here is the pleasant country-sounding song “Place for us” which recalls the best of Toad The Wet Sprocket and The Jayhawks. I really would’ve liked Record#2 to have a tiny bit more grittiness, but this still a excellent album worthy of purchase.

MySpace | CDBaby | Simon Morel Homepage

The name conjures up nothing more than a 70’s sitcom dad with bright polyester leisure suits. But Mr. Brady sounds like a mix of Godley & Creme and UK power pop band Modesty Blaise. Rather than taking care of of six growing kids, Mr. Brady is an Aussie trying to get his name out here in the states. His songs aren’t quick little pop numbers, but ambitious songs that expand on some nice chord progressions. His EP “She’s Relatively Sexy” has 5 songs that display his quirky pop talents. The vocals could be a bit stronger but, you definitely see a major talent developing here. And for those power popaholics who liked the latest Cloud Eleven, you’ll enjoy this. His CD is self produced (he’s looking for a label here, folks) and available only through his site. A full length album is in the works so stay tuned! He may even do a version of “The Brady Bunch” theme song (just kidding)! To get the CD visit Mr. Brady’s site and to hear some samples and a video or two.

Listen to “Prime Time Princess”

Visit Mr. Brady’s Myspace Page for more samples.