Future Clouds and Radar "s/t"

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Future Clouds & Radar is the latest creation of Robert Harrison, of the great band Cotton Mather. Robert has basically evolved beyond the old Cotton Mather sound and what we get is a real gem of an double album here. “Birds of Prey” starts us off with lots of horns and odd drum work that is clearly indie pop friendly. The production work here is just stellar. Robert’s voice has a similar cadence to John Lennon and it helps make even pedestrian songs sound special. There is lots of stuff here, and most of it is excellent. The old Cotton Mather sound comes through on “Hurricane Judy” – a cool single full of nice little Beatle-isms, that makes this tune a joy to listen to. “Quicksilver” channels the ghost of Lennon’s “Oh My Love” just perfectly and makes an excellent ballad. In “Drugstore Bust” Robert uses lots of unique sound techniques and it’s got a great hook as well. This song my favorite on this album. “This is Really A Book” is a song with lots of sonic weirdness that play opposite to the main melody. Look out Robert Pollard, you have some real competition here. “You Will Be Loved” has a little string flourishes that recall the Bee Gees pre-disco glory. “Wake Up and Live” is a Reggae anthem given a cool pop treatment. “Our Time” is also an excellent song with classic jangle guitar riffs and melodic hooks. That mentioned, he tends to over indulge in some sonic weirdness like, “Devil no more” or “Letters to Junius.” On disk 2 “Get Your Boots On” continues with some great fuzz guitar and awesome harmonies. Disk 2 continues to deliver great songs like “Dr.No”, “Back Seat Silver Jet Sighter” and “Altitude” is sure to please old Cotton Mather fans. “Safety Zone” is a beautiful mid-tempo song that makes an excellent ending here. With a bit of editing this could have been a perfect tour de force, as it stands it’s merely really, really good and an album that needs time to be fully absorbed. It’s still one of the best I’ve heard this year so far.

Future Clouds and Radar Website | Amazon | Emusic

Listen to “Drugstore Bust”

Listen to “Quicksilver”

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The Krinkles "The Mordorlorff Collection"

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The Krinkles are a Chicago punk-pop band in the great tradition of Flaming Groovies and Cheap Trick. They do a pretty good job on this, their third album. We have a big emphasis on scorching guitar and rough hewn harmonies. They have a loose playing style that mixes early Beatles energy with Rick Nielsen guitar stylings. “Gimme Gimme” is good tune with choruses that remind me of the early Raspberries. “I want you” is another guitar heavy slice of rock riff heaven and my favorite on this album. “Stay with Me” is a catchy mid-tempo delight with a touch of The Records. More standout tunes include “Friday Night” and “Best Friend” The Mordorlorff Collection is a long sixteen tracks. And unfortunately a few of them should have been left off. When the band tries to be too hardcore or attempt a soft ballad it just doesn’t work as well. The good news here is there are still plenty of good tracks here to make this a recommended album. This is sold only through CDBaby.com, so far. Earlier albums are available on emusic.

My Space | CD Baby | Emusic

Listen to “Stay with Me”

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The Peaces "Is Are Was Were"

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The Peaces are an NYC trio that concentrate on six part harmonies and clean classic pop. Lead singer Brian Halverson and the group do a perfectly pleasant job of weaving melodies and harmony on highlights like “Oasis” and “She Stands So Close.” If you are a fan of the light touch of the Association, Cloud Eleven and The Curiosity Shoppe, you’ll definitely enjoy this album. “Existential Me” is the best track in my opinion. It is a bit faster paced and has a killer hook similar to The Wondermints with nice harpsichord and guitar breaks. The chorus sings “I’m not so different from you…”. But The Peaces are different from you and me — they’ve got real melodic talent here and thank goodness! “Old Anxiety” gets a little bit harder with a great Badfinger-like track. “Nobody Cares” is a pitch perfect Rubinoos-styled tune that continues the gentle jangle of this album. The guitar work is also first rate as “Something Wrong could be right” contains a nice little solo. The last track “From each other’s eyes” mines a bit of the 70’s, with lounge calypso beats and makes a curious ending, but overall a stellar effort! I really look forward to more music from the Peaces. Listen to streaming samples on The Cherry Bomb records site.

Cherry Bomb Records | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

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Kelly’s Heels "Neither Use Nor Ornament"

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You just have to admire Kelly’s Heels. This is a band that has been in the trenchs of post-punk power pop for a long time. Since the first IPO show in 1999, Kelly’s Heels have been a band that was consistently first-rate with Beatles, Records, Kinks inspired guitar pop. They had Not Lame’s theme song written for Hook Heaven vol.2 pop compilation on top of everything else. And now the band has matured gracefully to this new release. Bob Kelly’s vocal approach can best be summed up as a mix of McCartney and Elvis Costello. And let me tell you the music is full of great hooks and melodies that knock you down after the first listen. If you heard any of the earlier albums, this one just raises the quality level to “11” and makes it a near perfect album. Each song follows a tight arrangement and stays under three minutes for the most part. The tracks later on don’t quite reach the great highs at the start of the album, but there is no filler in here. A great track, “For Always” best speaks with the lyrics, “Some may call it growing up, accepting what life all orders up” and other songs talk about reliving the past and it being hard to let go of old dreams. “The Same Mistake” sounds a bit like a lost Squeeze tune and the ballad “Walk Alone” provides a brief pause in the high energy here. Listen to the entire album streaming on Not Lame! If you never listened to Kelly’s Heels yet, this album is a great place to start!

Kelly’s Heel’s Site | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame | Itunes

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The Singles "Start Again"

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The Singles exploded onto the scene in 2003 as a standout with the excellent album Better Than Before. So this past February, The Singles have switched labels and released Start Again. There is plenty of garage rock on display here, with a liberal doses of T Rex worship on the “The Most Beautiful Girl.” This song sounds like a outtake from T Rex’s Electric Warrior. About half the album has that Marc Bolan vibe, with songs like “When will she be mine” and “Summer.” Then on “Annette” try to imagine Bolan fronting for The Dave Clark Five, complete with fuzz guitar and hand claps. They change pace with “Cryin’ over you,” a 50’s styled tribute to Roy Orbison. Lots of Small Faces influenced mod-styled rock is all over this album as well. “Hypnotized” is a good example of this, and remind me of another power pop group – The High Dials. “Goodbye Little Girl” is an awesome radio friendly track, that is a fitting finale. I highly suggest this album for highway driving this summer.

The Single’s Site | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

Listen to “Annette”

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