The four-piece Christopher Cash Band is a tight, fun-loving band of veterans from Southern California. Cash’s “Invisible” starts with the swirling psychedelic organ and sitar on the opening track “Morning Star.” It’s a great pop-psyche tune similar to The Grip Weeds with a vocal style similar to Pat DiNizio (The Smithereens) mixed with Neil Diamond. The following song “Not Going Back” has a haunting melody and subtle guitar work. The jangle and overall songwriting of the title track “Invisible” owes to the eighties (think an acoustic version of Psychedelic Furs) a little. Things get a bit heavier on the rock/blues “Empathy” with it’s simplistic anti-war message with a smokin’ guitar solo mid way in the song. “Blistering Velvet” is a catchy rock gem similar to The Smithereens and “Tangled in Wire” has some excellent metaphorical lyrics (“You’ll never fly with both feet on the ground/ You struggle and twist the more you resist”). Plenty of ballads are on the disc, like “Old Photograph” or the folky “Three Minutes Late” – they are decent, but not as compelling as the bluesier mid-tempo songs. “Coming Home” is similar to the Eagles or Tom Petty with an immediate hook in the chorus and my favorite song here. This is really good adult oriented pop/rock that has enough hooks and well crafted songwriting to make it a worthy purchase.

Christopher Cash Website | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

Okay so you take Debbie Harry of Blondie and you make her the lead singer for The Knack. That’s it — you’ve basically got Vibeke. That’s pronounced Vee-Becca. Vibeke Saugestad, is a veteran of several bands, originally part of EMI-signed Weld, she hopped around and landed in the Norwegian group, The Yum Yums playing keyboard. In her new solo album, she brings smart classic pop with a sultry strong vocal and an angelic sigh, starting with the bouncy “He’s Peculiar.” The next song “Keep on Dreaming” marries the skinny tie guitar styles to Vibeke’s multi-tracked vocals. The songs then take a soulful journey – “Close The Door” is an excellent ballad with a hint of Chrissie Hynde here. Most of the tracks have a great accompanying guitar riff and drum beat, and like in “Meant To Be With You” it sounds like a great lost Rubinoos song. After a few listens, it’s not hard to get caught up with those choruses running in your head. More standouts here are “Know You Now” and the magical chord changes of  “Until the Sun Comes Out.” This last one is my favorite on the album here and on my ipod’s playlist. And the ballads, though not as memorable, are beautifully executed here. Even the albums closer “You Don’t Go Away” resemble an Aimee Mann song. And next to Mrs. Michael Penn, Vibeke has the best female pop vocal I’ve heard all year.

Pop Detective Website | My Space | CD Baby

Listen to “He’s Peculiar”

So Brian McClelland of power poppers The Maxtone Four is part of this favorite St. Louis band. The album collects tunes written and recorded between 2004 and 2007 with different styles of rock and pop sounds. The band has mastered the art of the perfect pop song here and even though the band is lead by songwriter guitarist Tom Stephens — everybody sings on the album. Starting with the group harmonies on “Your Buzz is Safe with Me Tonight” it soars and the hook sticks like glue. Sung by female lead Marcia Pandolfi, “Oh Keith” and “Cocksure” give us a very nice pair of Liz Phair-styled pop songs, but my favorite here is the irresistible jangle on “Your Love is Hot” with a Monkees meets Byrds melodic chorus. Each song has multiple layers of pop hooks, more highlights being “Dear Former Baby” and “Cool Bad Cherry” which bring to mind the best efforts of The Minus Five and The DB’s. And I dare you not to sing along with the fist pumping anthem “F___king A Right!” Also I was super impressed by the albums closer “Suburban Girl” which lets the groups Beatlesque flag fly high. Most of the total fourteen tracks here are true rock and pop bliss. Enjoy!

My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

Truly different lo-fi disco indie-pop in the tradition of Apples in Stereo and Of Montreal. A Soft Kill is the third full-length album by the the one man band (Mario Hernandez) known as From Bubblegum To Sky. The hook-laden pop that may take three or four listens to stick. Using elements of Peggy March’s “I Will Follow Him” on the song “Say Goodbye” is a highlight here and then if you didn’t know better you’d swear that it’s Robert Schneider singing on “My Je M’appelle.” The Beach Boys production style meets Rubinoos guitar parts is all over “Even The Sunbeams.” So what’s with that name? As Mario puts it, “I chose the name From Bubblegum to Sky, because I didn’t want it to be like a “Mario Hernandez” thing. It would feel odd for me to see my name on a record like that. The things that people are doing to me, or I’m doing to them, or whatever experiences I’m having-that’s the band.” The smooth acoustic bounce of “Guest Relations” is a good tune, but the best song here is “The Flash” with it’s fuzz guitar melody and “ba ba ba” chorus. But other songs clearly miss the mark, notably “Captian Tennille,” “A Soft Kill” and “Flies on The King Of Failed.” The more it moves into twee shoegazer mode and away from pop melodies, it falls flat. Listen to the the entire Bubblegum To Sky album here. Want something different — check this out. Only the previous album is on CDBaby, but I expect this one to show up any day now.

MySpace | Eenie Meenie | CD Baby (last album) | E-Music

Listen to “I always fall apart”