Most Seattle music bloggers have been going ga-ga for this debut album from Dept. of Energy. Following closer to west coast indie rock than power pop “Held by Waits” boast strong vocal performances from leader Robb Benson. Like a mix of The Shins and Mother Hips with strong elements of Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jane’s Addiction. The instrumentation from keyboardist Ty Bailie is powerful and matches Benson’s vocal perfectly. “Story” is a great example of all these styles and influences merging into something new and original. “Carnival” emerges as an epic track that starts slowly and builds to a roaring triumph, in true Coldplay fashion. However, Benson has a better voice than Chris Martin and sounds closer to Roger Waters with his earnest delivery. Other tracks take more effort to enjoy, like “Emote” (is this 80s chic?) and “Sifted Blues,” with its David Bowie meets The Cure guitar and funk you can actually dance to. It ends with an excellent ballad “Stereo Embers” that laments lost musical youth in Ohio. Overall a very good album with moments of true greatness. It’s on sale almost everywhere.

My Space | CD Baby | Amazon | Itunes

Listen to Dept. of Energy “Story”

Devlin Murphy is a not just a singer songwriter. He’s an entertainment personality waiting to show up on the zeitgeist radar. He’s got a lot of videos up on his own you tube profile. But top it all off, Devlin is an excellent musician, having grown up amongst the artists at Track Records studio. Like Cliff Hillis, Michael Carpenter and Jeremy Morris he produces some refreshingly original pop songs. “Today” is an inspiring opener with great hooks, and this is followed by “Jesus” a great sunny proclamation that “I don’t want to be a Jesus and you don’t have to pray” with an excellent melody and overdubbed harmonies. “99 Cent” almost sounds like a jingle, and is a cute diversion. “Another Day” showcases some nice piano melody and reminds me of the Jellyfish. A few heavy ballads sneak in here, and they’re also well done. “Alright” is an Owlsey-styled inspirational guitar pop song with a killer chorus. “Hey Hello” is a nice tune with a bit of Ween or Smashmouth flavor to it with it’s foreground drum beat. “Real One” is a single featured on National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2 soundtrack and is slick enough, but in my opinion the weakest track here. The CD is for sale on his website and a few indie labels listed below and itunes. At $10 it is a real treat to encourage an artist with his talents.

Devlin Murphy homepage | CD Baby | Not Lame | MySpace | Itunes | Kool Kat

Listen to Devlin’s YouTube Commercial and “The Luckiest”

Music veteran Frank Royster has been a member of The Fire Apes and The Hed Shop Boys. This guy has real melodic guitar chops. If you took Randy Newman and Elvis Costello and spiced together the DNA with The Smithereens, you’d get Frank. His new solo album is called “Thru The Years” and like a Pinata, it contains lots of musical treats. The album starts with “I’m so Glad” a Beatlesque tune with a fantastic wall of sound production that would make the Spongetones blush. The DIY ethic is all over this album and I haven’t heard a better example of this since The Breetles. It’s followed by “You Don’t Understand” a really nice rocker that could’ve fallen off the Elvis Costello “Armed Forces” album. The vocals here really emulate Elvis C. nicely. The raspy rock voice on “Mr. Wiggins” recalls Ian Hunter a bit, with great guitar riffs here. Along with the great guitar playing is truly great songwriting ability. The chord changes on these tunes are akin to Marshall Crenshaw and other great writers of power pop. Frank puts his guitar melody in the forefront of the sound. Granted it sounds brilliant, but I think the vocal echo effects are a bit too much on some tracks and would’ve liked it mixed a bit more evenly. “Lullaby” gets into some Emitt Rhodes acoustic territory. “I Don’t Want To Lose You” is a terrific song in the Enuff Znuff mode. Some of the other songs here reminded me of The Oohs excellent “Llamalamp” album. If you like any of the artists I mentioned in this review you’ll enjoy Frank Royster. This is essential listening for power pop fans.

Frank’s Website | My Space | Kool Kat | Itunes | Not Lame | Musicishere.com