Powerpopholic

Chad Hollister and Nadia Kazmi

June 22, 2010July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic

Chad Hollister “s/t”
Fans of John Mayer, Jack Jonson and Dave Matthews will find Chad Hollister’s casual acoustic style just perfect. Chad has opened or performed for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Blues Traveler, among others. Chad is a Burlington, Vermont native with an infectious rhythmic sound that’s easy to enjoy on a hot summer day. “Grow” is a perfect example of catchy beat and strong roots riffs that recall both Jason Mraz and The Black Crowes. The light coffee house beat of “Change” is another winner here. “The Answer” is another gem that sounds effortless, and there is a killer acoustic version of The Cars “My Best Friend’s Girlfriend.” Every song has a positive message and an energetic groove with bits of rock, funk and reggae thrown in the mix. Not much else to say but… check it out and you won’t be sorry.

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Nadia Kazmi “Arrival”
Once in a while I am sent something that catches my ear on a good day. Nadia Kazmi is a Canadian singer with a good voice and a love of the poetic singer songwriters John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. The lovely piano ballad “Julian” is a nice mix of Beatlesque soul and sweetness. Unfortunately I found the remaining tracks missing that high mark. The vocal approach is similar to Joss Stone with blues influenced ballads taking up most of the album. This works with her best written material on “Volcanos,” “The Blues Always Bleed Red” and “Mother,” but the songwriting on the remaining tracks fail to generate much excitement. Some tracks are just overwrought and cliched (“Arrival,” “Martians”). Nadia is definitely a talented singer, but she should work more on her songwriting before she takes the next step in her career.

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Jackdaw4 "The Eternal Struggle For Justice"

June 21, 2010July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic 2 Comments

Jackdaw4 is considered one of the best modern power pop bands out there, with 2 stellar releases (Gramophone Logic, and Bipolar Diversions) I was prepared for another fantastic production. “Eternal Struggle for Justice” starts out with a lurching organ and dark tone more suited to Bryan Scary, than Jellyfish – although an angelic choral break at the songs middle is more like it. Then the blare of a Motown styled horn section greets us on “Everyone Becomes The Road They Take” and it’s clear the album has a more varied theatrical theme. It isn’t as immediate as it’s predecessors, but there are plenty of great songs here. One gem for sure is the brilliant power ballad “We Sold It All,” starting with a gentle McCartney-like melody that evolves into a rich rock guitar tapestry full of Queen-like touches, you almost expect it to be a finale… but these guys are just getting started. Fans of XTC will love the macabre melodies like “Waiting To Die” and “Wonderful” taking the listener on a compelling journey full of rich imagery. These songs intercut dramatic piano and heavy guitar with contrasting sweet melodic breaks in the chorus, especially in “Wonderful” where it feels like an entire album’s worth of themes are condensed into four minutes. The big melodic jewel in this album’s crown is “Pornography” with a boogie beat piano melody that recalls ELO and cascading harmonies that flourish each verse, all about “Pornography, sweetest of views for a boy like me.” Another gem is the strong anthem “The Great Unknown” full of horns and guitars. The ending song “Baby, I’m a Killer” has a gorgeous chorus in this Brian Wilson influenced gem. So yes, the band comes through in spectacular fashion, in fact it would be easy to picture this album as a hit musical soundtrack.

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The Mike Benign Compulsion "Rollicking Musical"

June 19, 2010July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Milwaukee’s own Mike Benign has a compulsion to play rock and roll that’s not easily dismissed and with the help of guitarist Joe Vent, bassists Brian Wooldridge and Paul Biemann, keyboardists Tyler Traband and Dan Type, and drummer Mike Koch they’ve got a nice debut. “Rollicking Musical” has great songwrititng and production, and the opener “Legendary Superheroes,” gives us a catchy riff in the chorus too. The sound is a pretty good mix of influences from Elvis Costello, The Byrds, Guided By Voices, Crowded House and Squeeze with Benign’s working class vocals leading the way. The lyrics are thick with cynicism in “All The Married People” but the true gem here is “The Soothing Sounds of Seals and Crofts,” with it’s fuzz guitar and awesome hook, describing an insomniac’s rant that “…Sleep is a sign of weakness.” It’s on this album Benign has found his true voice, but it may take a few spins to get used to his Dylan-like cadence. Much of the albums second half don’t quite reach the highs of the earlier tracks, but “Hotel Bar” is a beautiful guitar ballad that is very moving. So repeat after me… I will get this album. The power of Mike Benign compels you!

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Jared Lekites and Leo London

June 17, 2010July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic

Jared Lekites “Looking For Diamonds”
The impressive Beatlesque opener “Love That Lasts” lead by singer /guitarist Jared Lekites comes out and grabs you right away. The follow up is a folksy “Looking For A Diamond” which is made for a late night campfire, complete with handclaps and harmonica solo. Although his style is the familiar retro strums and harmonies, it’s all well written and constructed. “Electric Car Ballet” bounces along and ends with a gorgeous ascending harmonic, and you have your first “must own” track for the stereo in your new Nissan Leaf. It gets a bit Buffalo Spingfield-ish with the moody “Unrequited Love Song” and ending track “Let Your Hair Down Once In A While.” This EP fits in your playlist like a comfortable pair of jeans. Fans of The Beatles, Hollies, Beach Boys and James Taylor will surely love it. So Jared, give us more next time! Excellent debut, what else can I say?

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Leo London “s/t”
Is Oregon native Leo London the next big power pop wunderkind? Similar to Jason Falkner in deep multitracked delivery and melodic approach that evokes both Bryan Scary and Conor Oberst. The slam of piano keys greets you on the opener “I Don’t Know” with honest desperation and a vaudevillian melody. The shuffling rhythm of “Caroline” is just as strong, sung with casual spite about “unravelling” a relationship experience from his memory. The slower songs are also pretty good, the best of the which “Ashes and Wax” tell a strong story and a wonderful baroque harpsichord break occurs midway into the song. The philosophical “Little Girl” is like a David Mead acoustic guitar-based tune that’s rich in imagery and simplicity. “The Single” is a defiant rant that approaches manic proportions, a performance that Ziggy Stardust would approve.”Dial Tone” has the overly dramatic composition and sonic textures in parts can sometimes recall Robert Pollard’s experiments. This is great stuff, highly original and melodic that should earn many fans.

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Goodbye To Tony Peluso

June 16, 2010June 16, 2010 powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Tony Peluso, the lead guitarist with the Carpenters for 12 years has passed away June 5. He is best remembered on the 1972 power ballad “Goodbye to Love,” where he conceived and played the masterful, melodic solo and outro. This has long been my favorite Carpenters song and the solo never fails to bring back those painful teenage breakup memories. More on the songs history here.