Last year on the IPO#11 disc a standout was “There Goes Pete Best,” and this year has been chock full of Beatlesque bands making debuts this year. From The Poor Richards, Alan Bernhoft to Pete Best himself – the sound is just timeless and embedded in pop culture. Not even compared to other like-minded bands (The Fore, The Offbeat) this Norwegian band is easily a cut above the rest. That’s because they take the template and enhance it – for example, “Barefoot” uses the Rickenbacker riffs, honey sweet Beach Boys choruses and sax touches to make a catchy song, not just imitate what’s been done. Lots of highlights here that make them comparable to The Spongetones in quality (they even do a cover of “Here I Go Again”). “The Walk” has a jangle and beat thats just irresistible, and “She Took Me By Surprise” gets the early mop-top songwriting and guitar innocence down perfectly. “There’s No Living Here Without You” updates the snappy Beatle ballad with a minor chords aplenty. Not every song is perfect, but with 14 tracks here, you’ll find more than enough Mersey-inspired gems to keep your toe tapping. As long as bands like this keep making music, I will happily listen.

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Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, co founders of the dB’s, and collaborators on “Mavericks” 14 years ago have reunited, and they still have that spark. On Here and Now, they fall into a comfortable role as pop’s most under rated duo. Opening with the Beatlesque “My Friend The Sun,” it is a shiny gem of melodic genius with subtle guitar interplay and Peter’s direct earnest vocals. This is adult contemporary rock in the best sense of the term. “Santa Monica” is a classic Stamey ballad full of dreamy sun-soaked guitar textures. “Bird on the Wing” comes closest to that old Mavericks sound, and the collaboration meshes the two artists perfectly. Appropriately, these “old” guys have made some real gems about approaching middle age. The album does tend to wander a bit, getting too reflective and could’ve used a few more upbeat songs. But tracks like “Here and Now”, “Some of the Parts”, and “Long Time Coming” are all great songs that you’ll want to play over and over. “Begin Again” is a somber ode to rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (with the great Branford Marsalis on sax). My favorite ballad here is “Long Time Coming,” about old friendships and it easily brings a lump to my throat. The emotional honesty here says more than tons of other musicians out there, and I would love to hear more from these two.

Holsapplestamey.com | emusic | Itunes