Watts and Brain Circus

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Watts

Watts “The Black Heart of Rock-N-Roll”

Watts is back again with The Black Heart of Rock-N-Roll, as lead vocalist John Blout and the band starts to resemble AC/DC on the title track. “She’s So Electric” is closer to Watt’s Stones-like origins, and its got a fantastic beat with a wicked guitar solo mid-way through. The riff attack that is “Strut (Like A Champ)” is a high powered and leads into a heavy rock chorus, very much a highlight. Then “Stage Fright” has a minor key change that has a late ’70s rocker feel, think Thin Lizzy with more layered guitar arpeggios.

The band seems even more comfortable and less rigid than their last LP, as both “Fast & Loose” and “The B Side” are both tight compositions with a relaxed easy going feel, and the latter is likely the best Watts song I’ve heard to date. Watts has definitely taken the next leap forward to greatness here, This is music meant to be cranked up to “11.” Super Highly Recommended.

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Brain Circus

Brain Circus “Brain Circus”

Virginian singer-songwriter Brian Curtis (The Oohs) delivers a wonderful solo album, and Brain Circus is a bit like The Turtles albums of the late sixties, these songs are carefully crafted pop symphonies. You’ll hear the familiar influences of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, Beach Boys and Jellyfish. “Forget All About It” is pure ear candy, with a sophisticated structure and awesome chord shifts. The jangling melody on “If You Only Knew” is a bit like Klaatu with sweet woodwinds and layered harmonies throughout.

Like Dana Countryman, Brian has mastered glossy studio technique and sophisticated pop composition, as evidenced by “Try To Ignore Me” and the Wilsonesque “Keep My Hands To Yourself.” Even the jazzy “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” has charms here. There is so much to absorb, and occasionally too much melodrama (“I Accept The Blame”) but when it hits the emotional mark (“Finally Found The One”) it’s a beautiful thing. Highly Recommended and it makes my top ten list.

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Freebies: The Legal Matters and The Ice Cream Man

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The Legal Matters “An Intro”
The Legal Matters are a power pop supergroup based out of Detroit, Mi. Andy Reed, Chris Richards and Keith Klingensmith joined forces in 2014 to make their awesome debut. Mixing big guitars with big harmonies, their recorded output has one foot in the classic pop era of the 60’s and 70’s (Beatles, Beach Boys, Nilsson, Big Star) and one foot with the current era of classic pop (Nada Surf, The Autumn Defense.) This EP features a new song, “Anything”, from the upcoming Omnivore Recordings release Conrad, along with a brand new and unreleased cover of the Teenage Fanclub classic “Don’t Look Back.” Rounding it off are 2 songs from the Legal Matters self-titled debut.

Assorted Artists “Power Popsicle Brain Freeze” 

Wayne Lundqvist Ford (Ice Cream Man Power Pop) delivers a boatload of music in this new compilation that he personally selected. It’s a massive collection of 139 tracks that’s a quick update to the state of power pop artistry today. Surely you find a great mix tape from all these riches.

Get the FREE download at Futureman Records

 

Maps and His Mothball Fleet and The Jeremy Band

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Maps and his Mothball Fleet “Fighting Season”

Maps & His Mothball Fleet is the musical alias of Philadelphia musician Matt Wanamaker. After being deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, he wrote and recorded the rough demos of 50 songs to send back and forth home to friends. Then it was cropped down to 15 where it became the album Fighting Season with indie folk pop at its core, starting with the Belle & Sebastian-like “Trust The Teahouse.” But the best track here is “A Lot Becomes A Little” with its catchy call-and-response chorus.

“Walk With Me Madeline” is a comforting pedal steel guitar melody, you hear the echos of Matt’s war experiences in “Great Game Fields” and “From A Closing FOB.” Unfortunately these songs are pretty forgettable, the tempo comes back on the rhythmic gem “Private Planes Of The Old West” with some nice harmonies. Other standouts include “Blue-Eyed Jesus” and “Nothing Against Dover.” Check it out.

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Cool Ghouls

The Jeremy Band “Hit You With A Flower”

Latest LP from Jeremy Morris and company aka The Jeremy Band. “Hit You With A Flower” starts with a rhythm similar to ELO’s “Do Ya” and runs off into a deep jangling chorus. “Get It Right First Time” and “Love is Everywhere” are very typical Jeremy’ jangle pop, but “Big Black Bike” mixes a little prog rock, like The Move’s “Brontosaurus“ and it seriously kicks ass.

The fantastic guitar work continues on “Watch What You’re Doing” with some brilliant fuzz drenched riffs, more Zepplinesque rock than pop. Really hard to come up with more accolades, let’s just quote David Bash of IPO who said “Jeremy Morris is one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met; a Man Of God, a music teacher, label owner, and guitar hero, and his band is made up of family and friends, kinda like a particular legendary band we know. Long may they live, and long may they rock!” Amen, brother.

Jam Records (exclusive)

Note: Song played in the video is not on the album, but you get a good idea of what The Jeremy Band sounds like.

Wesley Fuller and Cool Ghouls

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Cool Ghouls

Wesley Fuller “Melvista” EP

Wesley Fuller is the newest kid on the retro power pop block from Melbourne, Australia with a debut EP.  Full of jangle and 60s influences, the opener “The Dancer” has a glam guitar similar to Sweet and the mid-tempo pop of “Shock Me” is upbeat, but kind of generic.

One of the highlights is the jangling, heavy beat of “Runaway Renee” with its irresistible sing along chorus. The title track is also pretty sweet ear candy with its hand clapped beat and multi-tracked harmonies, and “Change Your Mind” has a that glam beat (think Gary Glitter) and a simple melodic phrase. Check it out.

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Cool Ghouls

Cool Ghouls “Animal Races”

San Francisco’s Cool Ghouls absorb those classic 60’s influences on their third album, Animal Races, produced by pop maestro Kelley Stoltz. The band has a roots-garage psyche rock style and the opening title track is the keeper here with its catchy chorus. “Sundial” has a Byrdsian jangle that combines with the ghostly vocals, also makes it an effective song with a gorgeous “ba-ba-ba” coda.

From there we get even more psychedelic on “Time Capsule” which is a bit like re-filtered Jefferson Airplane. The mood is mellower on “When You Were Gone” and the piano led “Days,” which has a warmth that belies the lyric “Morning through your window gives you no reason to get up.” It gets kind of western with that slide guitar on “Brown Bag,” but for the most part its echoing reverb drenched pop. And despite the dark, paranoid lyrics there is a playfulness to each song. Highly Recommended.

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Museyroom and Papernut Cambridge

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Museyroom

Museyroom “Pearly Whites”

If you like an immersive mix of pop, folk, psychedelia and ambient noise then you’ll need to hear this trio of musicians from Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Jack Donovan (guitar/vocals) and Ben Cohen (bass/keyboards) are joined by drummer Matt Coppola to form Museyroom. Full of lush atmospherics and dream-like harmonies, the opening title track mixes Gregorian-like harmonies with deep-reverb organs. “Three Stones” showcases a gentle falsetto that rises with the chorus, and “Ballad” is the only structured pop gem that uses all these elements.

Museyroom’s music doesn’t linger too long in one style, and like Field Music it weaves a tight cloth of sounds and half-themes. Once in a while a melody pops out in “Ranges” and “Sleeper.” The prog rock-like “Siren” is also very impressive and its hard to find anything here predictable. But its the amazing instrumentation that’ll win you over.

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Papernut Cambridge

Papernut Cambridge “Love the Things Your Lover Loves”

A collective of artists led by Ian Button on Gare Du Nord Records, it has a mix of catchy folk & glam — try to imagine a folk version T-Rex. A slow march beat lays down the album’s title track, with nice electric guitar accents. The laid back theme “The Lady Who Told A Lie” gets you on board, but its the Big Star like “Radio” that won me over with the cowbell and fuzzed out riffs. Then we get the deceptively catchy “Chartreuse” which sounds like Ringo’s “Octopus’ Garden” growing in Syd Barrett’s yard.

More gems are to be found along the album’s theme of communication, like the layered psychedelic “Mirology” and the country fiddle gives “I’m Stranded” a beautiful resonance. “Spell It Out” uses the bass guitar to great effect, and although not every track will stick — enough do to make this LP worth checking out.

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