International Pop Overthrow "Vol.11"

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At International Pop Overthrow every year, event founder David Bash releases a generous three-disc collection featuring many of the artists who perform at the power pop fest. This massive collection has 66 bands spread out on 3 discs. Like other previous collections, it’s a mixed bag of familiar artists and some new artists, but the high quality of songs compared to other compilations is what makes it special.

Disc 1: The ELO shine of Daisy’s “Go!” starts off nicely and moves across to the jangle and harmonies of The Ken Kase Group’s “Shiner” to The Private Jets “Extraordinary Sensations.” Another standout Roger Joseph Manning Jr. track (“American Affluenza”), as well is Laurie Biagini’s dreamy “That Feeling Inside.” Assorted Beatlesque qualities find there way on excellent tracks by Leave, 302 and The Shamus Twins.

Disc 2: More Fab stuff from old stalwarts Twenty Cent Crush and even Peter & The Penguins’ laments in “There goes Pete Best.. the unluckiest bastard in the world.” It gets a power pick-up with The Dirty Royals “Josephine” and the Rolling Stones-like “Charged by The Minute” by The Respectables. More standout tracks here include, Preoccupied Pipers, The Romeros and Steve Caraway.

Disc 3: You would expect fatigue to set in, but it doesn’t as The Afternoons give us the Kinks-ian “Don’t Turn Back” with flowing guitars and harmonies. All Right Tokyo’s “Jessica, Jessica” and The Issue’s “All Or Nothing” have a bit of punk mixed into the lead guitar riff and it stands out here (The Ramones’ spirit lives on!). Garfield’s Birthday’s recent albums best track “Molly” is here too. Fan favorite Chris Brown adds his “Ordinary Day” to this collection, and a retro sounding gem comes from Black Jones & The Trike Shop. Not to be forgotten, Fireking does a great job with the heavy guitars on “A Sentimental Education.”

There are a few mediocre tracks on the third disc, but for the most part you are getting an “instant” power pop collection that would normally cost a pile of money, all here for a small pittance. Always well worth the investment, I reap the dividends of following a few groups here to great full length albums in the near future.

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Chris Scanlon "U-Turn"

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Northampton, MA based Chris Scanlon is a pop guitarist with a knack for both pop and folk that he displays on his debut “U-Turn.” The theme here is re-visiting your past and if you are a New Jersey native like Scanlon, that’s just a bonus to the plot line here. Opening up with the acoustic guitar strum of “Marianas Trench” it brings to mind a little bit of Bruce Hornsby’s rhythm. This leads to the playful “Fish Daddy” which draws you in with fiddle and hand claps, and Scanlon’s vocals approach the chorus with great enthusiasm, like a campfire hoedown. Another standout, “Jersey Boy” is a pretty cool autobiographical song with some nice guitar and horn work.The slower ballads are also well done (“Matawan” and “This House”) and have a passing resemblance to another Jersey boy, Bruce Springsteen (they actually met up a few times). Scanlon gets pretty inventive on “My Name is Chaka” with it’s scat and funky bass, and it’s my favorite song on the album. The next few songs, “Punk Rock Girl” and “Cousin Stinky” have an eighties power pop sound, like 20/20 or Paul Collins’ Beat. These are decent songs, but don’t have the energy and spirit of the earlier tracks, and the latter tracks on the album “My Mother’s House” and title track slow things down again, it showcases Scanlon’s soulful croon. Fans of adult contemporary singer/songwriter pop will enjoy this one quite a bit.

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Future Clouds & Radar "Peoria"

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Austin-based Future Clouds and Radar, lead by multi-instrumental ensemble led by Robert Harrison (formerly of Cotton Mather) releases this very short album (only 8 tracks) and jumps from folk pop to pastoral art rock. Last year’s debut was one of the best albums of 2007. This year’s “Peoria” opens with the expansive arrangements of electric guitar and strings in “The Epcot View” would fit nicely on the last album. Harrison then channels Neil Young on “Old Edmund Ruff” before picking up the pace with “Feet On Grass,” a psyche-organ romp worthy of Mike Pinder. Both frustrating and mesmerizing is the wonderful opening to “Mummified” that plays like an Supertramp epic that devolves into The Beatles “Revolution #9” it is one of the best tracks here. The use of fuzz box guitar and ghostly vocals give the entire album the feel of kaleidoscopic smoke.The later tracks sound good but seem to be unfocused (“Eighteen Months”) or trying for a more epic psyche-orchestral mood than anything else (“The Mortal” and “Mortal 926”). Missing a very strong power pop tune may turn off some Cotton Mather fans, but if you’re willing to explore Harrison’s acid trip you will be not be disappointed.

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The story of 10cc’s "I’m Not in Love"

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The song most identified with mid 1975 – “I’m not in Love ” was a huge hit that put 10cc on the map in the USA. This is from a Japanese documentary about 10cc (with band members today). Using now revealed “secret” recording techniques that created sounds years ahead of it’s time (before synthesizers were common). To me it was fascinating, but you’ll need to know Japanese to understand the narration.

listen to Part 1

Part 2
Part 3

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Luke Jackson "…And Then Some"

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“…And Then Some” is the new release from Luke Jackson that has the best of Swedish pop all rolled into one release. The great opening single “Come Tomorrow” has a lot of Merrymakers and Beagle in it’s soul. It’s got an instantly catchy chorus and plenty of dreamy harmonies. That single is contrasted with the softer “This Life” which recalls both ELO and even Chilliwack, with it’s upbeat “Day by day we pass the time away” chorus and orchestral details. “Goodbye London” is great balance between pop sense and brit-rock. The song illustrates a series of life’s obstacles and Luke’s troubles when stricken by a period of writer’s block during the summer of 2006. The arrangements here are flawless, and they run from quick paced hot to the cool and soulful ballad “A Little Voice.” Jackson gathered a great crew here, including Brianpool/Roxette producer and multi-instrumentalist Christoffer Lundqvist and Brainpool bandmate Jens Jansson on drums and the legendary Magnus Borjeson (Beagle, Favorita, Metro Jets, Cardigans) on bass. “Half a World Away” is a smooth and dense production that combines these wonderful influences. The piano theatrics and sweeping strings of “All I Can Do” sound like a latter day Klaatu song (it just has a very Canadian feel about it). This is a expressive album that wears it’s heart on it’s sleeve with “Longest Day” like Oasis meeting Kansas (love that organ solo bridge) Fans of Bleu, Jeff Lynne, Canadian or Swedish power pop will flip for Luke Jackson. Just an excellent album that touches the spectrum of emotions.

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Listen to “Come Tomorrow”

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