This is pretty much a straight forward Christmas album with Weezer’s own signature sound attached to all the traditional songs like “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and “O Holy Night”. I kind of expected some original holiday tunes with the standards, but sadly none were there. Rivers Cuomo and team Weezer do just about as good as the average Christian rock band with this material. So if you’re a Weezer fan, this is a nice present under the tree — and it mixes well with other groups holiday music just fine thank you. Personally, I’m tired of “Pork and Beans.”
Graham Day (The Prisoners, Prime Movers, The Solar Flares) and The Gaolers put out great classic garage with a modern punk appeal. They hailed from the Medway Delta in England, and he Gaolers have the Eric Burdon and The Animals sound down pat on “Better Man.” This is pure gold for fans of the blue-eyed soul groups of the ’60s, like The Box Tops, and R&B rock of The Yardbirds. The White Stripes wishes they could sound this authentic and melodic as well. The rocking “Begging You” will get you moving from the opening piano and guitar riff. And the electric sitar/guitar combo of “Pass That Whiskey” is a great intro to a modern Raspberries-like melody. The aggressive “Wanna Smoke” is typical of the tunes here, with a driving beat and a snarl which has been perfectly captured in a simple arrangement. Yet Graham Day’s lyrics are completely legible and his vocals are tough, but not raspy (a common issue with retro beat bands). They also do a great job with the sound here, no overdone fuzztones or sonic distortions. Like in the the tune “Just A Song” Day sings “Don’t judge me/begrudge me, it’s just a song”- well it’s a damn fine song I’ll give you that. Place a copy of this with your early Who albums, or more recent bands like The Cynics and The Ugly Beats as one of the best in the genre.
One of the better songs from the IPO#11 collection was Laurie Biagini’s “That Feeling Inside” so I decided to check out the rest of her music. You can guess from the cover and title exactly what it will sound like. It may be winter, but “Ridin’ The Wave” is a sweet summer album of California sounds similar to The Malibus. In fact it wouldn’t be a stretch to call Laurie the next generation of The Honeys. If you’re not sure who The Honeys are, just imagine if the Beach Boys were Beach Girls instead. Laurie’s voice is very reminiscent of Michelle Phillips and it fits the melodies perfectly here, from the sunshiny title track to the groovy psyche-pop of “Mr. Guru.” Not only are the songs well performed, but Laurie’s songwriting and musical composition do the job right, keeping everything bouncing along with plenty of catchy beats and memorable hooks. “Magical Night” and “Vancouver Rain” starts to enter Karen Carpenter territory with a slightly more serious approach. Obviously the songs suffer a little by being derivative of that past era, but you could do much worse. In fact, every song is enjoyable with no fillers through 16 tracks. Other highlights include “You’re A Dangerous Thing,” and “Doin’ Nothing At All” and for fans of Sunshine pop and Surf pop it’s the perfect wave!
Splitsville will soon be entering the studio to record a new album. I can think of only a handful of bands that best represented power pop in the late nineties, and Splitsville is certainly one of them. Born from the aftermath of The Greenberry Woods, Matt Huseman and his brother Brandt ranted early on “Cause The kids hate power pop… but they need that sugar shock!” This compilation gathers hits across 5 albums that continued to be treasured by loyal fans. The band evolved from the early frenetic energy of Ultrasound with it’s single “Yearbook” and the bouncy “Ponce de Leon” to the louder rebellious Repeater. With tracks like the Beatles meets Jam hit “Manna” and the Fountains of Wayne-like “Big Red Sun”it was a huge leap forward and got more media attention. Then they topped it off with The Complete Pet Soul, a beautifully rendered love letter to both Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney. With this they became power pop gods, and then guitarist Tony Waddy joined the band for 2003’s Incorporated and the evolution continued. The Weezer-like “Headache” is one of my all time favorite songs. These 25 tracks have been hand-picked by the band so, if you have never heard of them, then this is a great way to catch up to the amazing Splitsville sound. I can think of no better holiday gift for the budding power popaholic.
My Space | CD Baby Power Pop Melodic Rock Powerpop
Kai Reiner lives in proximity of Hamburg, Germany. But rather than play the Cavern Club, fans of Teenage Fanclub and Pernice Brothers will find a lot to like in Kai Reiner. The relaxed strum of Rickenbacker melodies that are densely produced and will please plenty of guitar fans. Kai’s vocals are soft and understated, he relies on the jangle to carries the songs here and it works for the most part. Highlights include the opener “Cold Summer” where the chord changes recall an Alan Parsons mid tempo song and the driving melody of “I Don’t Want Your Crown”. While very listenable, many other songs lack the emotional strength to make them distinguishable from each other. A few songs really need a stronger bass line, like “Roll On The Holidays” or a stronger vocal on “Emily” to make these songs truly memorable. Still the musicianship here is superb and the melodies are solid on every single song. And the songwriting is solid too, with a good example of this in the simple romantic “Brown Eyes” where “you said hi/ and i said hey/ and we both knew, there was nothing more to say. I get lost in your brown eyes.” Jangle pop fans will not be disappointed and want to seek this one out.
