The State of Samuel "Here Come The Floods"

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Stockholm, Sweden is the home of indie lo-fi artist, State of Samuel. The new album “Here come the Floods” are on first listen, an attempt to recreate the subtle beauty of the Elephant Six Collective bands. With some quirky pop fragments (some lasting under 2 minutes) you really get a sense of early Apples in Stereo or Neural Milk Hotel with a very nasal delivery. Many of the songs have snappy hook filled goodness like “Always Under the Gun” complete with 12-string strum and a nice harmony with Betty-Marie Barnes of Saturday Looks Good To Me. The vocals by Samuel Petersson, will either grow on you (“Square Roots” and “Residence of Gloom”) or annoy you (“Slow Day for UFOs”). Some gems are here, like “The Unholy Ghost” or “Suburbs on The Run” and most other tunes are too short to take hold, in fact the entire album is a only 28 minutes long. I’m conflicted here, because although many tunes are tightly arranged and catchy pop sing-a-longs, the vocals would strain that acceptability beyond a few minutes each. Pick and choose here for best results.

The State of Samuel Page | My Space | eMusic | Itunes | CD Baby

Listen to “Residence of Gloom”

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The Cynics "Here We Are"

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Pittsburgh’s Cynics, are one of America’s longest-running—and greatest—garage bands. Punk Pop done right since 1983 and now they add some power pop into the mix with the newest album “Here We Are.” Like other true garage acts, The Fuzztones, or The Chesterfield Kings, they take a hint from the great bands of the past and keep the punk DIY spirit alive. Like label mates The Ugly Beats, they add just enough pop to the stew to keep me interested. Gregg Kostelich has kept The Cynics a tightly tuned machine here, with the title track opener a nice mid tempo folk rock tune that could’ve fallen off the Nuggets box set. Then the fuzz-toys come out for the Chocolate Watchband-like “Coming Round My Way.” Amazing still is “The Ring” a song that is the Small Faces reincarnated and would fit nicely on “Odgen’s Nut Gone Flake.” A wonderful Byrdsian guitar based “Me Wanting Her” follows that and is the poppiest Cynics track I have ever heard. The track “Slide Over” complete with harmonica accents is like a lost Beau Brummels track. But things then get heavier with “Hard To Please.” The true spirit of power pop punk is in the track “What She Said” and my favorite track here. Michael Kastelic’s vocals are a refined rooty howl and fit the songs perfectly. It ends out nicely with the ballad “Courtney” (a poem about Cortney Love?) and although every song has great energy and are played with swagger, something is missing. Most of the choruses don’t have that neat pop-harmony hook and that’s my only caveat here. On the other hand, most really good punk music doesn’t need it and if you’re looking for tracks to be played loud and with killer rythym and beats look no further.

The Cynics Page | My Space | eMusic | Itunes | Not Lame

Listen to “What She Said”

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Luke Sneyd "All of Us Cities"

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Luke Sneyd is a Toronto singer-songwriter. His debut solo album “All of Us Cities” is full of high energy modern power pop. His big single “The Prisoner” sounds a little like Jason Falkner, complete with muscular guitar melodies and a killer hook. The lyrics are pretty good too, and they take a slightly obtuse approach in “Unknown” for example: “Your love is like a scorpion … when it stings the poison is like heaven.” Luke takes a political shots at Bush with “I’m The Decider.” The production and musicianship is crisp like Brian Ray or Criag Bartock’s albums last year. Sometimes the songs take as turn into U2 territory for example in “Timeless” it’s rythym and driving drum line remind me of Bono’s earlier efforts. “Galileo” also stands out with extra heavy guitar with references to science vs. religion. It sounds like a mix between Rush and The Breetles! It’s not exactly politically correct stuff – it’s just plain cool stuff. Also no real duds here either. A good album and a definite e-music pick-up!

Luke Sneyd’s site | My Space | eMusic | Itunes

Listen to “The Prisoner”

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FREE Adam Miner and Dave Stephens albums!

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Maybe Radiohead has started a trend here? As mentioned first on Absolute Power Pop these albums are being offered to power pop fans absolutely free, so spread the word and enjoy the music this holiday season!

Adam Miner’s desire is to offer these recordings to those who love his music. It’s a great love note to The Beatles and it comes with liner notes and a cool Sgt. Pepper-styled cover.  If you like this album, I would encourage you to get “Dangerous Eyes” from him as well.

Adam Miner’s Playing House


Not to be outdone here, Dave Stephens is releasing two albums for download! Both “Stories for Copper” and “Here We Go…” are available. I reviewed “Stories for Copper” a while ago and it’s perfect stocking stuffer. Spread the word and who knows, there may be a few who never thought they would be considered “power pop fans” until exposed to this music!

Dave Stephens Downloads 

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The Critters "Mr. Dieingly Sad"

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Here is a lost classic for sure. Years ago, I discovered that the super sweet baroque pop of The Critters on Rhino’s “Nuggets” compilation. The song, “Mr. Dieingly Sad” was written by group member Don Ciccone and featured a beautiful melody and some great harmony vocals and unlike most of the garage sounding items from other Nugget bands, this basically makes The Association sound like MC5. The Critters hailed from Westwood, New Jersey, and in 1966 they had their first hit (for the Kapp label) with a cover of the Lovin’ Spoonful’s ‘Younger Girl’. They hit again with ‘Mr. Dieingly Sad’ the next year, and following the departure of vocalist/songwriter Don Ciccone, they recorded a final album and vanished. Ciccone went on to perform with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, playing a key role (on guitar and vocals) in their 1970’s comeback.

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