The Swedes are Chris Edwards (keyboards), Phil Crain(bass), Phil Harbut (drums), Tony Dilella (guitar), and Jon Gray (guitar & vocals). The style is best described as eclectic rock. The first track
“Julie Walker” has the 70s glam vibe that brings to mind Imperial Drag, and this is a great stunner of a track with Brian May-like guitars and matching keyboard riffs. “Making Up Words” is a bit quirkier with toy piano and heavy bass line leading the way to a Queen-like melodic composition. Sometimes the vocals of Jon Gray are closer to Mika than T-Rex, with a warbling falsetto and it works on best “Patriot” a song that does a perfect Robert Pollard meets Bowie glamfest. It’s my favorite here, and a really catchy one at that. Up next, “Lava Lamp” has so many mini-melodies and different time signatures, it resembles Bryan Scary and The Shedding Tears a little bit. “Stretched Too Tight” is another marvelous melange of Queen, T-Rex and The Move. “Burning Fever” continues this formula with an added pysch-pop chorus that’s closer to Roy Wood’s Move than Jeff Lynne’s version. Things get a bit tamer later on the album, with the guitar anthem “Brixton” but no less impressive. If you liked any of the above mentioned groups, you will enjoy this music. Like Bryan Scary, a quick listen does not do it justice — it takes a few listens to appreciated the craftwork here. It’s also obvious that The Swedes are having fun with this. And I think most of you will too.

Swedes Web Site | My Space | CD Baby

Michael Garbriele is a veteran songwriter from Providence, Rhode Island with a serious Beatles fixation. His music has a DIY quality to each production, similar to Chris Breetveld (“The Breetles”). Things start off with “Another Girl ” a sweet McCartney styled tune with keyboards. The soft acoustic strum of “Better Do It Right” is a nice even mid-tempo number. The quiet is jarred with the glam sounding “A Candle Burning” which has echos of Sweet. “Getaway” has great angular guitar riffs, like a Badfinger ballad from the “Airwaves” period. But the Beatles influence keeps coming back, in “Hi”, “What I wouldn’t Give” and my favorite here, “Imagine what this Girl Could Do” a great melodic song with a neat jangle hook. However, Michael has a good song in “My Corner of the World” -but the overdubs and vocals don’t do such a good job with it. This would be a great song for Cheap Trick to cover. But that is the only misstep I hear with this well done album. Enjoy it, powerpopaholics!

Michael’s Web Site | My Space | CD Baby

Listen to “Imagine what this Girl Could Do”

This NYC band has been around since 2002 with creative guitar work and a melodic rock sound that compares well with The Strokes, The Get Up Kids, Foo Fighters and The Marvelous 3. The Moore brothers lead a bouncy beat over the opener “Better than Suicide” full of hard rock hooks. These are the happiest songs about misery I’ve heard in a while. “Die” continues the formula and is another gem. “Black is Black” has shades of Fountains of Wayne, with it’s solid chord structure and guitar solo breaks. There is pop perfect harmony on “Emotional Scar” with driving riffs, that almost comes across like Cheap Trick – and my favorite song on the album. “No Life” is as good as anything Dave Grohl could ever write and builds to a satisfying chorus of “It’s alright, it takes time, there’s a life for me if you want.” So overall, the theme of the music is hope (I think). Things lighten up for “Maybe You Win” with casual strum and those great harmonies again, this is another highlight of the album. The entire album is consistently good with no filler here. Although, the epic five minutes of “December’s Gone” borders on old style arena rock. Orange Park is definitely a band you should take a chance on – your ipod has room for this.

Orange Park Web Site | My Space | CD Baby | Itunes

This video is from the previous album, but it’s a good representative of what they sound like.