Another long time IPO favorite and Brooklynite, Marykate O’Neil releases her new EP “mkULTRA” today. Marykate accurately described this as an “after-the-party” album, with introspective songs that feel very personal. Not so much a happy pop album, but it does have strong melodies and songwriting. “Green Street” describes a moment after a relationship has failed, and the wish for friendship. It’s a good song that evokes Carole King and Aimee Mann and has a nice driving chorus. “Map” has an interesting percussive treatment along with a great vocal performance. “Trouble” is a creepy ballad with a ghostly multi-track “even I knew… trouble” about the substance abuse that builds to a loud guitar crescendo. Included is a cover of Randy Newman’s “Living Without You” and Jill Sobule’s “Happy.” A good follow up to 2006’s critically acclaimed 1-800-Bankrupt.
Jeff Shelton has always been a pop favorite with The Spinning Jennies and his current band, The Well Wishers. The new album “Jigsaw Days” brings Jeff back to his power pop roots, and it’s obvious here that The Well Wishers are the heir apparent to The Posies. “Heroes” is a dead ringer for that classic sound, full of buzzing guitars and sweet hooks. “All The Suckers” continues this template, with Shelton’s vocals anchoring the chiming melody. And there is much more where that came from. The acoustic, folk-pop styled “Florida” has a wonderful jangle and it’s instantly memorable. “Moving Mountains” and “Love Lies” are additional standouts with an upbeat tempo and harder guitar sound. Some tunes get more contemplative, like “Drunk On The Tilt-O-Wheel” which recall Teenage Fanclub’s best ballads. Fans of Matthew Sweet, Nada Surf, Bob Mould will also find a lot to love here. Other than “Poor Old Man” (I felt it was a bit long) every track here shines like a diamond. With only ten tracks here, Shelton has cut the fat from this album and has given us power pop fans the red meat we crave. This is a worthy of top ten album for 2008 as well. A great release that will please fans and casual listeners alike.
This is a great sampler of tracks from our friend Bruce at Not Lame Recordings. New songs from All Day Sucker, The Crash Moderns, Vibeke, Khalid Hanifi, Saul Zonana, The Model Rockets and Readymade Breakup. It’s only around till the end of October Check it out here!
Also get ready next month for International Pop Overthrow coming to New York City November 4th through the 10th this year. The venue this year will be at Kenny’s Castaways and the set list includes The Moptops, Steve Caraway, Readymade Breakup, Maple Mars, Private Jets, The Brixton Riot and The Romeo Flynns, just to name a few. It’s your one stop to see these fantastic new bands in one place.
Holiday treats come early! Tim Anthony (formerly of The Brambles) is enjoying a bit of a resurgence, now that his 2005 album “The Happy Door” has been re-released in the US. Voted the #1 release in Spain that year it’s full of classic power pop that fans of Richard X. Heyman and Dwight Twilley will flip for. Even Amplifier magazine called The Happy Door “40 minutes of melodic magic.” A lot of the music here was crafted for movies and tv for instant catchiness. These are well crafted slices of timeless pop, from the quick snappy melody of “Mary Ellen” to the powerful jangle riffs of “No Words” every song rocks and pops here, with no filler to be found. With the help of power pop guru Ed James on drums, harmonies and strings it effortlessly glides through 12 Beatle influenced songs. Fans of The Toms,The Rubinoos and The Flashcubes will love this as well. And every song here has a great back story that’s described in the liner notes. If you loved the innocence and pop hooks of “That Thing You Do” this is highly recommended.
Fans of The Brambles and Tim Anthony may want to dig deeper into his past, and that is who “Retrofit” is partially made for. These historic recordings were made by Anthony with Tommy Allen and Gary Frenay (The Flashcubes). Included is Anthony’s first local hit “Don’t Forget Me” with his first band, The Agents. As a period piece, this album is fascinating. Fans of The Flashcubes, 20/20 and The Records will appreciate the 80’s style as well as an early version of “Mary Ellen” and listening to Anthony’s style develop. “No One Can” and “She Broke My Heart” sound like legit new wave pop hits. Others may find it hopelessly dated and prefer the more polished album above. But even then, this is worth more than a single listen, and if you loved “The Happy Door” why not?
Soft Targets consist of singer/guitarist Jesse Corry and bassist/keyboardist Nathan Sadler and drummer Steven Gillespie. The debut album of this Tallahassee, Florida band is a blend of The Cure and Aztec Camera in terms of pop sounds. This is not quite power pop, and closer to indie pop with Corry’s vocals almost like Peter Murphy without the baritone. The melodies on the album are appealing in places with “Calm Me Down” being close to the style of the Talking Heads with some great guitar melody. In a funky way the song “The World Looks Bigger Now” is the most fully realized with harmonies and some nice arrangements, crisp guitar playing. The other songs that follow are pretty pedestrian, and don’t have the kind of hooks that stand out much. I was ready to write off the album at that point, but when the song “Skyscraper” took hold with a sharp guitar riff and catchy melody that merits attention. It’s got a glam-like heart with some nice harmonies and proves to be the best song on the album. After this we get the keyboard ballad “Sirens” which almost sound like Eric Matthews or Cardinal and makes a great contrast to the earlier tunes. The album picks up stream toward the end with other notable tracks (“Heavy Rainbow” and “Small Straight”) Overall, this album has several good tracks, and deserves some consideration.
