With the help of Stephen Butler (Smash Palace) on guitar and Anthony Bezich on drums, Jeff Bruckner’s debut is a combination of Raspberries and Cheap Trick-styled power pop sure to please. The opening tracks of “Chicago” and “Not Feelin’ It,” are rocking songs with meaty hooks, big enough to catch you quickly and not let you go. The more laid back tone of “Point of View” has a bit of Wilco’s early touch. The Posies-like “Murdering Man” is another standout here with Butler’s great guitar work and the playful lyrics (“Well I shot a man with spray on tan/With a shotgun/No, a rubber band”). Behind it all is Bruckner’s earnest and well thought out stories. This is an excellent power pop album and the hits keep coming with Pezband-like “Song To Pay For You” and the forceful “Quarterback Lover.” Even the power  ballad “Love Me Now” is a well executed like torch song, without venturing into cheesiness – a bit like Lindsey Buckingham. Even the jangle filled ending track “Envy Of All Our Friends” is a wonderful mid-tempo song that would fit well on a modern movie soundtrack. No filler here either, so the whole album worth some heavy ipod rotation too. It’ll be on mine.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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