Sunrise Highway "s/t"

powerpopaholic 7 Comments

On this site, we make a big deal about groups that follow the classic power pop influences, like The Beach Boys, Beatles, Todd Rundgren, The Byrds, etc.  However it’s not enough to just have an influence, or be a sound-alike… it’s what you make of it. I am happy to say Marc Silvert has created a great album that honors these past greats with excellent songwriting and brilliant musicianship. He also gets support from a stellar band, including Gary Feldman of Radio City. Opening with “Life On Mars” it has a classic Rundgrenesque storyline and rich arrangement that carries the melodies along, it’s an instant classic. And it’s followed by one of the best Beach songs ever with “Endless Summer” full of soaring harmonies and jangling chords. Lead vocalist Greg Schlotthauer does an excellent job with Silvert, singing in tandem. The Beach Boys cadence continues on several songs here including “Baby Be Good” and “Roundabout.” The style varies enough on songs like “Big Brown Eyes” and “Magic” with it’s shimmering Rickenbacker chords to keep things from getting predictable. Almost every song has a great hook and pop structure similar to those 60’s/70’s adult radio favorites. If you have been looking for an album to lift your spirits with sunshine, then look no further. For fans of Jeff Larson, Jamie Hoover, Richard Snow and Nelson Bragg this truly is manna from heaven, and my first top ten recommendation for 2010.

CD Baby | Digstation | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik

Listen to “Endless Summer”

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.

Daemon Familiar "Dawn of the Albatross"

powerpopaholic

The Illinois band Daemon Familiar has plenty of raw talent here, one listen to the guitars on “Buddha’s Little Helper” and “Oprah” you can’t help think about Cheap Trick or Husker Du. Lead vocalist Pablo Mena has a clean light vocal that really contrasts with the much heavier guitar sound. Some songs are excellent examples of power pop and it works fine on the memorable “Kiss Me”and the catchy baseline on “Barnyard” are just fun to listen to. The song “All’s Forgotten” is wonderfully written and played, but could really use double tracking and stronger group harmonies (you barely here the other band members). Mena’s vocal is much better suited to the mid tempo ballads here like “Gcc”and “So Sad.” I suggest he chew broken glass and add a little more Tom Waits influence before trying to pull off a song like “Tales of Sad Ulysses.” The album also suffers a bit from lack of polish overall, but despite this you will be rewarded by the guitar gems sprinkled here (“Was”) and there (“Walkin’ Away”).

MySpace | CD Baby | Amazon

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.

The Pretty Faces "Another Sound"

powerpopaholic

Canadian trio The Pretty Faces is not just a band, but a family unit with a passion for garage pop and new wave rock. They’ve toured on IPO and cites influences from Elvis Costello to Elliot Smith. The opening track “Right On The Money” pretty much describes the best this band has to offer, with a great tandem of guitars and melody. The follow up “Rib” has a decent rhythm and ringing guitar riffs sure to please. Lead vocal Jeph Thorslund does his best, but can’t mask his limited range on tracks like “Inch by Inch” and “Pistolera.” Hannah Thorslund fairs much better on the excellent “Elephant” – and it’s a shame she is only on one track. The title track gets closer to a full band effort with Jeph’s  Costello-like vocal and strong riffs taking equal credit. A good effort, but the band will need to improve on it. It’s recommended you cherry pick the “hits” here and encourage the band’s future musical development.

MySpace | CD Baby | Amazon

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.

Win the Research Turtles album Giveaway!

powerpopaholic


It’s easy to win a FREE copy of the new Research Turtles CD. Become a fan of Power Popaholic on Facebook. Then leave your comment on the Facebook fan page by Friday (1/22/10). Only three (3) lucky fans will be chosen at random the next day as album winners! (Winners will need to send me a mailing address).

 Read our review of The Research Turtles from last month.

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.

The Sunchymes "Shifting Sands"

powerpopaholic 2 Comments

Leave it to an Englishman like Aaron Hemmington to craft an album full of Californian sunshine pop. Fans of Jellyfish/Wondermints will be drawn to the sunshine fuelled harmonies and intricate harpsichord arrangements. I wanted to give Hemmington props for just getting the sound and spirit of The Beach Boys and Curt Boettcher late sixties era right. The opening track “Greenacre Lanes” gets it rolling with a candy colored melody and catchy chorus. In fact he’s gotten positive feedback from both Jeff Foskett and Nelson Bragg of Brian Wilson’s band for his musical skills. “Free Rider” has a great jangling guitar sound that recalls Gary Zekley’s pop band The Yellow Balloon. And the psychedelic pop on the tunes “Feeling Just Fine” and “Your Smile” are wonderful harmonic diversions. The songs are at once light-and-airy in their atmosphere, and masterfully complex in their construction. There will be plenty of “spot the riff” moments, where it sounds like whole parts of Pet Sounds have been re-used (“Down At Pallisades”). Unfortunately much of the songwriting suffers from a lack of variety, as many songs start with similar piano progressions and rhythms. Unless you’re a huge Brian Wilson fanatic, it wears thin by the albums end. If you can get past that fact, you are in for a real treat. I sincerely hope there is a follow up album, as enjoyable sunshine pop is a rare find nowadays.

MySpace | CD Baby | ReverbNation

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.