Wow! This is what I call “can’t miss” power pop. The Mood is a five-piece band that brings infectious melodies and dance beats. This EP is full of great catchy tunes for a sunny day. Starting with the bouncy “In the Forest” it resembles Death Cab for Cutie on viagra, or The Minders without all the twee stuff. Cousins Marco Argiro and Corinee Callen offer up bright vocal harmonies over thrashing drums and whirring guitars. The next gem is “Masquerade” and the best single on the EP here, with those great harmonic “Ooh la la” choruses and swift chord changes that are heaven and it all leads into the next song “Eskimo Scientist”. A perfect mix of power pop and modern indie pop, even the last track,”Outta Your Mind” crackles with energy like Ok Go’s “Here it Goes Again” . The entire six songs breeze by with their effortless jangle, oh why is this just an EP – well it’s got my vote for best power pop EP of 2008. Don’t miss it.
Nick Pipitone and Peter Batchelder went on a mission. The manifesto for their group “The Rip Off Artists” is pretty straight forward, you can view it here. They follow all the right rules for great pop music. Beatlesque. Costelloesque. Bacharachesque. You get it. “Esque” follows through with an excellent group of songs. The opener “The Present, Tense” is a brainy Partridge-like lush guitar song and very much like the Honeydogs‘ non-country pop displayed recently. It’s followed by the Elvis Costello-like “What Just Happened?” with great orchestral breaks at the songs end point. The wonderful guitar and piano on “The Wishful Thinker” is like an outtake from XTC’s “Nonsuch“. Then the ballad “The Worst News in The World” reminds me of Mike Viola’s latest. The lyrics are playful and light hearted for “The Girl Behind The Bar” – as the author dreams about the bartender. “Sidetracked” uses a steady synth-beat and slide guitar to evoke regret and the crossing harmony will win you over. Lyrically it compares well to Fountains of Wayne’s slice of life absurdities. The album somehow gets even better as it continues, “Without You I’m Something” is a slice of pure pop heaven with chord progressions that rival the best of Bryan Scary. In between each couple of songs is an acted melodrama and it all ends of with the swirling Sqt. Pepper’s melody of “I Thought it Over” – my favorite song here. The themes presented in the lyrics are about contrasts in relationships, examples being lines that follow in “Love and Uncertainty,” “There’s a time and a place for us/ Just not now/ Not here” and it all works wonderfully. A sure top ten album for 2008.
The Young Sportsmen are a Seattle band with a great sound. This is an excellent power pop album with clean well arranged songs and Johnny Sangster’s smooth vocals. The sound is best described as The Lemonheads meets Sloan, indicated by the opener “Marions Nova” with it’s multi-guitar hooks and angular rythyms. Other influences I hear are The Jam, Brenden Benson, and XTC. “If You Want It” has got all the rock edge you need and all the energetic hooks you could want and even those awesome handclaps. Anchored by bassist Richard Davidson the song “Sunday in Dresden” allows the guitars and drums to carry the melodic goodness. Lyrics are a combination of deep broodings and current events, like in “Seasame Street Fightin Man” where the stress of urban living and gang war run through the aggressive lines, “Looks like somebody cut the strings/ all hell has broken loose/ you’re all alone now.” The other topical songs include “Hey Gasoline” about the energy dependency blues. Another song, “Summer Ace” has a constant beat and riffs layered over the vocals that state the end of a summer romance, as the chorus echos “Will I miss you when I’m gone?” My favorite here is the final song , “Long Way Down” with it’s relentless guitar riffs and Brian May like solo break between the chorus and Townshend-like dramatic flair. It actually feels like a finale and not a leftover track other bands end an album with. The album has no filler – as every track is immediate and a perfect balance between melody and manic energy. After a few listens, you’ll consider it a power pop classic.
Jamie Hoover and company are back doing what they do best. One of the finest power pop bands of Beatlesque heritage, The Spongetones have influenced a whole new generation of musicians from James Deem, The Saving Graces, Frank Royster, Cool King Chris, Crisis, Analog Daze, The Dukes of Stratford, Carl Rosen, Lindy Dobbins, The Sammies, and The Everyday Things. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. After we establish the triumphant Rickenbacker jangle of “Invisible Girl” it sets the tone here and then we get to the first great Spongetones classic in “I’d Love You” with it’s “Got To You Into My Life” guitar coda after the chorus. Hoover still has a McCartney-like sense of melody with the easy flowing “Man With No Skin.” And the band has evolved their Fab sound, not unlike the way XTC had done during it’s “Oranges and Lemons” era – the toe tapping “One More Day” is a great example of this. A huge amount of tracks here, eighteen – and it’s almost overwhelming. On the other hand, with a large majority of the music great, you can excuse a bit of indulgence here and there. Sometimes, the earnest romantic vibe strays into maudlin territory, with “Three Kisses For You” sounding like a Frodo Baggins-inspired love ballad. But even among the really good tracks here, you get a true monster hit like “When it’s you” with an amazing hook that never lets go, and includes vocal harmonic gymnastics that would shame Lindsey Buckingham and chord changes guaranteed to give you goosebumps. This is why others bow to the genius of Mr. Hoover. Then again, Hoover tests the limits of the band, and it’s ability to make quirky pop a la Moe Berg or Andy Partridge. It does work well on “She’s Happenin'” and less so on “Easy with You.” Other worthy classics are comments on this crazy music business, “King Ampersand” and “Your Entourage” are wonderful songs that reflect the musicians’ life. Simple pleasures are found in the bossa nova-styled “Stalemates” and the matter of fact lyrics in “Must Be Lust.” You almost want the band to cut loose even more on “Elvis Doctor” with it’s Hound-Dog beat and guitar swing. Needless to say, this is super-recommended to everyone who loves great music.
Matt (The Brigadier) Williams is sure to garner attention this year. His latest, “The Rise and Fall…” is a highly addictive and intelligent pop album. The narrative pop style is rooted in the work of McCartney and Ray Davies, but with soft gentle vocals closer in sound to Sean O’Hagen of The High Llamas. If you enjoy a burst of pop creativity, you’ll flip over the opening track “Growing Up is Hard to Do Part 1” which compares favorably to Bryan Scary. It shoots out a bouncy beat and handclaps to the lyric “One day I’m playin‘ with computer games… watchin‘ your youth go up in flames, so do you say no surrender?” This is an excellent beginning and leads to the dream-like mid tempo love song “When Will I be with You” which evokes a mix of Roger Waters and Aztec Camera with acoustic guitar strum and piano. “The Language of Love” is quirky piano number with a breathy vocal and rich chorus. The theatrical bend to the album not only compares well with Bryan Scary piano work, but also Genesis’ Steve Hackett guitar arrangements. The songs flow easily from the slow heavy organ depression of “Envy” to the music hall style of “Une Soiree” — it’s mesmerizing and the entire album will demand repeat listens. The utterly amazing “This, is why…” has a catchy hook, with a 70s era style similar to early Elton John. “The Box in the back of My Mind” gets in touch with it’s inner Raspberries and is my favorite track. The ending “Growing Up is Hard To Do Part 2” has a Kinks meets Beach Boys vibe. Don’t miss this brilliant album, as I will now want to examine The Brigadier’s past albums. It makes my top ten list too – lots of great pop this year!
