Category: video

Fresh September video singles: Airport 77s, The Thirsty Curses, Ines South, Madison Cunningham, TAM

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I get a variety of different bands contributing to my inbox, and some are just too good to ignore. Firstly, a heads up on what I think will be a great album; The Airport 77s are set to release We Realize You Have A Choice on JEM Records, and the opening single simply rocks. Review coming soon, but this was too good a video to pass unpromoted. The Thirsty Curses do a puppet version of Natural Born Killers with a compelling melody. Ines South looks like she’s having fun here, and the song “Sun’s Son” is a fun single too. Another up-and-coming star is Madison Cunningham, her LP is out this week and she reminds me a little of Sheryl Crow. Finally, TAM is LA artist Tommy Mai, and he gives us a cool “mental souvenir” with its late 1970s vibe.





Mid July singles, freebies, and more: Johnathan Pushkar, Wesley David, Neal Mehta, Fernando Perdomo, Vitsa Blue, The Amplifier Heads

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Nashville singer-songwriter Johnathan Pushkar was inspired by the new Thor movie to make a song about everyone’s favorite Asgardian hero. While it doesn’t mesh well with the Guns N’ Roses music the movie used, it’s a pretty cool song on its own (and who doesn’t love Legos?) Old Town Crier does a damn good job with its new EP “You,”especially that guitar break in the title track. Also, check out “Coal River Mountain.” Wesley David is a recent discovery, and count me impressed with his songwriting ability – check out “I’ll Be Damned!” Another potential star Neal Mehta has a rich harmony and dense instrumentation on “Lonely Cloud.” Guitarist extraordinaire Fernando Perdomo has “greatest hits” of sorts with Jangle, and if you aren’t familiar with him — this is a perfect primer. Everything here is great, I love “Girl With A Record Collection” and “This Can Be You.” If you want a dose of Ramones-like rock, then you can’t do better than Vista Blue. Stay Gold is a FREEBIE made for blasting out the car stereo with the windows down on “Friday Night.” Finally, Sal Baglio of The Amplifier Heads wrote the single “Space Cadette” for the Nashville show They Came To Rock. Woo! Enjoy the summer!






More September Singles and EPs: The Amplifier Heads, Shake Some Action!, The Nobility, The Cheap Cassettes, Alex Dominish, Richard Turgeon, On The Runway, Meyverlin

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September isn’t over yet, and neither are the new singles and EPs from great power pop artists. The Amplifier Heads signed with Rum Bar Records and  Sal “Shag 72” Baglio (The Stompers & The Peppermint Kicks) rocks out with this new Glamtastic single “SaturmalienS”. It’s also so nice to hear Shake Some Action! again and “Break It Down” mixes psych-pop and jangling rhythms to perfection. Nashville’s The Nobility gives us “The Sweetest Sound” and it is indeed a great tune — let’s hear more of this! With the end of the season, The Cheap Cassettes make it official with the slow R&B rocker “Endless Summer Ends.”

A few EPs here are also worth a download; Richard Turgeon gets reflective with a series of Campfire Songs. The buzzing anthem of “Be Who You Really Want To Be” and “Line of Sight (Tahoe Song)” recall classic-era REM. Memphis-based On The Runway is a new band created by Randy Norris and John “Boz” Boswell (Crash into June) with help from Neilson Hubbard, and Will Kimbrough. The easy-going mood of “This Charade,” and “Stuck On You” lifts you up and sticks with you. Alex Dominish is the guitarist for the Showboat Branson Belle (Branson, Missouri) and he’s got a bouncy, poppy sound guaranteed to put a smile on your face; be it first romance (“Rockin’ Steady”) or first job (“Desk Job”). Finally, a video from the upcoming band Meyverlin is here. The LP is out next month, they have a distinct ’80s influence, fans of the Cure will like this one.








New Singles: LMNOP, Geoff Palmer, Tommy Sistak, Jonny Polonsky, The Reflectors, Drew Beskin

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The one-man band LMNOP has a new album coming called whatNOP dONW7 on July 16, 2021. “The song ‘Nuclear Trust’ doesn’t have anything to do with anything nuclear, just liked the way those two words sounded together. The line “Now I’ve found I don’t know what I’ve found” kinda sums up where I’m at in 2021.” says LMNOP mastermind Stephen Fievet. I agree. Look for an LP review soon!

Geoff Palmer is back with a catchy punk answer to that query when you forget the name of that band. You know, the one that goes…

Canadian Tommy Sistak is back with a new retro-harmony-covered tune. Fans of The Beatles and Monkees will enjoy this comforting music.

Jonny Polonsky is back and he’s sounding much more like himself on this hook-filled single. He certainly has a pulse on the public’s anxiety with COVID. Favorite lyric; “To make me feel like Felix Unger – I have to set myself on fire”

Speaking of retro – The Reflectors are a brilliant 80s-90s styled power pop combo that rocks! Explore last year’s debut for more.

Finally, we have Late Night with Drew Vandenberg introing Drew Beskin singing “Going Alright For You” from his upcoming third full-length solo album, Problematic for the People. It’s a damn good power-pop tune with its crunchy riffs, handclaps, and a killer hook. Enjoy!

December Videos: Bleu, Matthew Sweet, Taylor Locke, Richard X. Heyman

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Bleu McAuley, is an award-winning songwriter, producer, and recording artist who’s done great power pop in the past and recently helped with the new Dear Stella EP. His new song “I Wanna Write You a Symphony” is supported by the above video work of filmmaker Graeme Wilson who started following Bleu’s career in 2008 and decided to contact him after Bleu casually mentioned in an email newsletter that he was puzzled about how to put his pile of new songs out in the world. He is planning the release of his sixth solo album.


Matthew Sweet is back! “Give a Little” is the new single from his upcoming album Catspaw. Sweet mentions, “It has a lot of elements I like both lyrically and musically. I think this one came to me all at once—music and words together. I really like the start and stop riffs that underpin the chorus; they give it quite a kick.” Yes, it does! I can’t wait to review this new LP.

I kind of lost track of Taylor Locke (Rooney) since his early solo work. But he has been very busy collaborating with artists such as Linda Thompson, the New Pornographers, Sloan and composing music for TV and streaming shows. Plus, he did 40 dates as a touring guitarist for L.A. legends Sparks.“Dying Up Here,” a hooky charmer that was co-written with Bleu McAuley and appears on Locke’s new EP “The Bitter End”

Choices We Make is a timely new song from Richard X. Heyman‘s upcoming album. An amalgam of folk-pop with Memphis soul, the song is anchored as always by Richard’s drumming, guitar and organ, and piano, and festooned with a lush vocal arrangement. He is joined in this effort by wife Nancy Leigh on bass, Probyn Gregory (of the Brian Wilson band) on trombone and trumpet, and jazz saxophonist Duke Guillaume.