Bravo Johnson falls into a Tom Petty-styled Americana Pop vein. His album “Aimlessly Drifting” features awesome guitar work, much like Joe Walsh and the already mentioned Mr. Petty. We can stretch the term power pop here, because it still has great melody and hooks that won’t quit. Alot like early Joe Walsh LPs, the vocals take a bit of a backseat to the guitarwork and occassional organ. It makes for very pleasant listening in any case, although many of the ten tracks on the album could use a bit of trim, most being over 4 minutes long and the epic track “Change Your Ways” which sounds like a Carlos Santana-rip on “Evil Ways” clocking in at a whopping 8:17 . This jamming style is great in concert, but a bit heavy for a studio album. This is the reason I stopped listening to the Doors back in Jr. High School. Overall the album is a strong one with mass appeal. Best of all you can hear the entire album streaming on Bravo’s website. You can purchase the CD at NotLame for a mere ten bucks! Very nice.

A great example of mid 60s Sunshine pop lost to the ages. The Peppermint Tolley Company were best known for singing the themes to “The Brady Bunch” and “Love American Style” TV shows. Signed to the Acta label in 1967 and vanished from the scene soon after. I have not been able to find a re-issue anywhere and hopefully this video will start some interest in this long forgotten band.

If you love sophisticated lyrics and gorgeous melody you can appreciate The Sheers. Singer/Songwriter Danny DeLaMatyr sounds alot like Roger Manning, doing mid tempo power pop along the lines of Doug Powell and The Posies. The album also does a bit of McCartney balladry with “It is what it is” and then rocks all out for “You’re just Lonely” a nice slice of hooks and chorus. Bill Shupp and Luke Adams round out the band and with great drum work and excellent guitar playing. “Take That” continues The Posies-styled awesomeness. The song “Shakedown” has a great epic rock bridge and a melody line that was made for an arena event. I have to say this is another CD without a weak track on it. Listen to the track below “Goodbye World” for a taste of this great album. For more music to hear, go to the myspace page. You can get this album at CD Baby, Not Lame or KoolKat Music or itunes.

The blog world is always evolving. And really wanted to make the music available to people immediately, instead of just a nice description of the music and a link. So I wanted to add a small music player to the site. So now, I’m able to post a great example of an album and do it with a minimum of fuss. My first choice for this is The Rutles. And based on the song I am posting Dirk is not Deaf!

Enjoy the tune, “Let’s Be Natural” – one of my favorites of the Pre-Fab Four. Thanks alot to the Little Hits blog for the link to get this music player. More reviews are coming… I have a huge backlog of CDs to listen to and post. Stay tuned!

After a five-year absence, Apples in Stereo have returned with a big comeback album. Robert Schneider’s songs have always been influenced by the pop aesthetic of The Beach Boys and ELO. Tthis DIY approach to those sounds are what made the Elephant Six so much fun to listen to. New Magnetic Wonder offers the listener a catchy, bouncy pop sound with all the modern electronica influences and techniques. The album starts out with the defiant “Can you Feel it?” a really nice guitar driven number, that then leads into “Skyway” another Apples’ classic. The Rundgren-styled keyboard-based pop of “Same Old Drag,” has a fantastic groove and ends much too soon. There is a bit too much vocoder and experimental tracks here that throws off the albums pacing. In fact I noticed alot of songs almost seem cut off. When we get to “Mellotron 2” the tone of the album begins to change. “Sunndal Song” and “Sunday Sounds” both sung by drummer Hilarie Sidney are also highlights that would be very comfortable on an Ivy album. It is unfortunate I hear she is no longer part of the band at this time. By the time we get to “Beautiful Machine Parts 3-4” the album resembles some emo-core band, like Taking back Sunday. Overall, The Apples in Stereo have always been one of the most talented bands in indie power pop. Here the tradition continues. Rather than post tracks, I posted the video “Energy” below. You can get this album at emusic and you have no excuses.

“Energy”

Want to see another Apples in Stereo video? Listen to “Same Old Drag”