Category: Top Ten of 2009 Candidate

It’s the welcome return of Jeff Larson. This time rather than just having America’s Gerry Beckley do a few songs, the album is more of a mutual collaboration. The combination of Beckley’s songwriting and Larson’s sweet guitar/vocals are just magic together. The memorable adult contemporary songs are lead by the stellar “Heart of the Valley” – with a catchy hook and lovely Jeff Foskett outro. The collaboration of the Larson/Beckley vocal combo is best shared on the next track “Sudden Soldier” with a rich story and musical experience here. The albums theme is the myriad of stories wrapped around travel, beginning with the “Airport Smiles” mini-intro. My favorite on this album is the guitar rich jangle of “Minus Marci” which starts typically, and then bounces into a chorus that’s as catchy as a TV sitcom theme. “Calling” and “Southern Girl” are laid back pop gems in the style of America, and “One Way Ticket” will appeal to fans of Christopher Cross or Dan Fogelberg. The soulful “One Lit Window” is just “classic” Larson. Simply put, every track is a winner here. I knew Jeff was getting close to his musical sweet spot with each successive album, and I think he’s found it here. It makes my top ten this year… nice job, Jeff.

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Rock geeks, get ready to drool. If you just can’t get enough of rock nostalgia, then Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken has been joined by a group of special guests to make this love letter to the golden age of rock. Oh yeah, those guests include, The Wondermints, Andrew Sandoval, Brian Wilson producer Andy Paley, The Honeys and Jason Falkner. Fellow New Jersey native Pete DiBella collaborated with Dennis to bring these songs to fruition, reflecting their mutual love of classic pop and rock genres. Fans of all the old school greats: The Four Seasons, The Who and The Beach Boys will find this pure ear candy. Each song evokes the spirits of each of these rock gods. The first track “The Sun’s Gonna Shine in the Morning” is a half Monkees and half Dave Clark Five, complete with studio echo. Then the Beach Boys/Four Seasons vibe is all over the gorgeous wall of sound in “Standing in Line.” And the Shel Talmy-era Who is all over “Long Lonely Ride.” Each song sounds like a lost classic! Even on “No One’s Listening” the vocals are almost identical to Howard Kaylan (The Turtles). “Fall into Your Arms” is a dead ringer for a solo Brian Wilson hit. I could go through each song here, but you get the idea. It’s a Diken’s vision to make you a “mix tape” of his favorite influences. Diken’s drumming and vocals are awesome, and even a throwaway instrumental like “Lost Bird” is pleasing in it’s own bossa nova way. Towards the albums end, it gets more experimental, mashing up these “pure” influences, so “No One Does It Like You” is both weird and compelling to listen to. As much as I like derivative music, there are so many potential AM pop “hits” here, you can’t ignore it for our year end top 10. Mark Deming from Allmusic Guide said it best: “An album made by music fans for music fans.”

Listen to “Standing in That Line” at on Bob Brainen’s show
Listen to the clip here!

“If you should find yourself having trouble locating a pulse in today’s music, Throwback Suburbia is the proof of life in power pop.” – these words are posted on the Throwback Suburbia My Space page. Here is an awesome band that wraps itself up in the spirit of the genre. It opens with the pop explosion that is “Private Oasis” full of ringing guitars and strong melody reminiscent of The Rubinoos. The follow up “Asking Why” is a Velvet Crush/Raspberries-like tune full of great chords and impeccable harmonies. The band hits for the fences here and succeeds with the ELO-styled opening piano chords on “Head Over Heels” and it’s one of the albums many standouts. Fans of Jellyfish will appreciate this as well as the “The Same Mistake” which has such a clean pop sound, and smart songwriting that it really deserves to be a radio friendly hit. The first half of the album hits the sweet spot for sure, then it goes for a harder sound on “Say When” for the Tom Petty fans here. But really, there is not a single note of filler here, and plenty of pop gems to soothe hungry ears. “Perfectly Okay” goes all Fountains of Wayne with us and “Halfway To The Stars” is a cool Jellyfish mid-tempo that sounds as good as anything Roger Manning has written, and it’s my favorite song on the album. They’ve already blown the doors off of International Pop Overthrow in Los Angeles this year and I hope to hear more of them in the years to come. This band deserves much accolades for this full length debut – easily one of the best of the year. It’s another “must-get-it-now” slice of music heaven.

The Offbeat “To The Rescue” EP
Fresh off his solo CD, Tony Cox is back with Darren Finlan and Nigel Clark (Dodgy) to follow up the Offbeat’s amazing debut album. The Beatlesque bliss that is the opener “She Can Make The Sunshine” displays the songwriting and dense harmonies that make this EP a welcome addition to your collection. The fast moving rhythm of “Someday Somehow” is a catchy follow up, as is the sweet jangle and ascending melody of “Something About The Girl.” Another highlight here for me is the ringing guitar strums of “Blue Sky,” a kind of mix of Merseybeat and Moody Blues-era pysche-pop. The lovely “You & Me” comes closer to the Magical Mystery Tour era musings on relationships. A toast then to The Offbeats, and I hope they continue to pump out this great music.

Josh Fix “This Town Is Starting To Make Me Angry” EP
Last year’s “Free At Last” was one of the best power pop debut albums ever, and Josh has followed it up with an even better EP. Josh opens thing with the very Jason Falkner-like “This Town Is Starting To Make Me Angry.” A seemingly odd sense of dread permeates the proceedings, although this is one of those “don’t-miss-it” album. The next track, “Dirty Bloody Naked” is simply brilliant. Full of gorgeous piano and pounding rhythm guitar riffs, it melds both Elton John and Queen in a tight Jellyfish-like bow. The driving piano lead in “Ghosts in Your Head” is a dramatic theme for Josh’s state of mind. My only pet peeve here is the confessional prayer of “Dear Lord.” The soulful ballad cries for a Freddy Mercury-like vocal high octave finale, but it never comes. “Barely Insane” rounds out things with a funky Mellotron melody and lasers. This mini-album is a spectacular triumph and gives Greg Pope a run for his money on best EP of the year. It’s available almost everywhere, so stop reading and buy it now.

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