Paul Collins is a true original. With Jack Lee, he formed The Nerves in 1974, whose hit “Hangin’ on the Telephone” became a single for Blondie. He then met up with bass player Steve Huff and formed the Beat in 1977 and has released “The Beat” – one of the greatest power pop albums of the 70s. The Beat has played with The Ramones, Shadows of Knight and Eddie Money. Paul’s latest album is “Flying High” after a 12 year absence. With a mix of up-tempo guitar rockers and slow ballads, the album flows beautifully. And alot like Jeff Murphy or John Wicks, age has only made these guys sound better. “Rock n’ Roll Shoes” is an excellent classic single in the Beat tradition. “Helen” is another great song with a catchy and bouncy melody. Things get a bit spotty toward the middle with lonely sounding acoustic “Bobby.” But this album has plenty of great songs including the Wilco-like “All over Town” and the Byrds-like “More Than Yesterday.” Also amazing is “Silly Love” – which cuts between chorus with awesome guitar solos. “Paco & Juan” sounds alot like Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” with a rich tapestry of characters in the song. If you haven’t heard the The Beat – shame on you! get this album and atone for your sins.

Paul Collins Website | MySpace | Kool Kat | Not lame

Splurge are a pop-folk-rock group from Australia with a laid back approach. They are a little hard to pin down as far as category actually. They have mid-tempo beats and steady rhythm guitars with melodic wailing vocals. The opener “When I Go To Sleep” is a bit like Coldplay meets Aztec Camera. “She’s Not the One” is another good song doing an Echo & The Bunnymen vibe with some synth and guitar. Sometimes the laid back guitar works well – the song “Beautiful” is better than any James Blunt trash. Greg Williams vocals do a serviceable job, but sometimes a bit too breathy for me. “Too much is not enough” is one of the few great rockers here, and the entire album could have used more of this. Several songs toward the end of the album, drift along on a lazy psychedelic vibe and at over four minutes for each track, could put you to sleep. The exception is “Numb” a nice Pulp-styled ballad with dramatic flair. Also the title track “The Cure for the cure” is a good track too, if a bit overindulgent. Overall the melodies are excellent, and this is a highly recommended CD. Listen for yourself on the MySpace site.

Splurge Website | MySpace | Not Lame | Jam Recordings | CD Baby

If you liked “The Go” – who I reviewed last week, you’ll also love The Ugly Beats. This Austin, TX based garage band nails the early Kinks and let’s loose with tons of new Nuggets that would fit with any 60’s inspired collection. Oh those riffs! It starts off with the tune “Take A Stand” with plenty of mod flavor. It continues with the excellent “Bring her down” and “Million Dollar Man” which mines the sound made popular by the early 60’s Who and the Easybeats. If you go for this sound, The Ugly Beats are a “must have” group with great guitar work, and unfortunately for Rainbow Quartz, they are only available on Get Hip Records. “I’m gonna break her heart” reminds me of another similar current favorite – The Gripweeds. “Action Plus” is an awesome instrumental, that is catchy as it is retro. Unlike the Go or The Asteriod Four and other garage revival bands, the vocals are not rough and scratchy, but melodic and clean-sounding, like Colin Blunstone of the Zombies. I do not expect a cover of “Louie Louie” anytime soon, however “Let me through” comes off like a Troggs update. This is a great album for a summer drive and has no filler – even the mid-tempo “Ain’t that old” has a little early Dylan vibe with that farfisa organ.

Ugly Beats Website | MySpace | Get Hip Records

Sounding alot like The Cars meets Enuff Znuff – The Pigs new album “Oink” features Geoff Westen, a dead-ringer vocally for Ric Ocasek. The songwriting and instrumentation are equally good – each song has a tight arrangement that possesses catchy guitar and synth keyboard riffs. “Satyurday Night” sounds like it fell off the Cars’ “Heartbeat City” album. The production is sleek and clean, especially nice is the tune “Heartbreak Street” which sounds like a Todd Rundgren-styled tune that borrows a bit from his “Healing” era. This fits really well, as Todd himself is now the leader of the New Cars and there is an overlap of influences. Alot of nice synth work and guitar on “Doesn’t Anyone?” a catchy tune which asks the listener “Doesn’t anyone love me tonight?” “Beat me up” has a rotating chorus that allows for some nice solo guitar work. The album includes two bonus tracks – alternate versions of “Heartbreak Street” and “Saturday Night” The group is a talented bunch and if you harbor any love of 80’s era rock and roll you will want to pick this album up. There are no real weak tracks on the album and after a few listens this will become a favorite!

The Pigs website | CD Baby | MySpace | Not Lame

If you’d like a fun album, you couldn’t do better than The Orion Experience. It starts off with a bouncy dance pop song “The Queen of White Lies” that mines a bit of the neo disco trend made popular by Mika and Scissor Sisters. It’s also followed by the Reggae-beat tune “Obsessed With You” and I thought this dance-styled pop would continue, but slowly the album begins to transform. At the midpoint the power pop begins to show itself, the tune “Adrianne” is a great little gem with hand claps and vocals from both Orion Simprini and Linda Horwatt that makes this track shine like a long lost B-52’s single. And the entire album starts to get better. The band sounds tighter and the melodies shine right through. “There’s no Love in Februray” and “Your New Boyfriend” are great songs comparable to Fountains of Wayne-styled pop. “We are the Ones” is a classic anthem for the younger generation and it ends off with the amazing “Blood & Money” – a great rant type of song that owes alot to Dire Strait’s “Industrial Disease.” Although the more commercial dance tracks on the albums first half are good, the songs on the second half are worth the purchase and shouldn’t be missed.

The Orion Experience website | CD Baby | MySpace | Not Lame