Exploding Flowers and Dolour

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Exploding Flowers

Exploding Flowers “Stumbling Blocks”

The LA quartet Exploding Flowers bursts forth with influences from the ‘60s and ‘80s. Fans of The Soft Boys, early XTC, and The Three O’Clock will enjoy this. Those echoing Paisley Underground harmonies highlight the opener “A Daunting Thought” with its neon-psychedelic rhythm. The title track weaves together jangling guitar and power-pop chords brilliantly, and “I Need Your Devotion” adds a mesmerizing angular riff prior to the melody.

Singer-songwriter Sharif Dumani’s echoing lead vocals occasionally get overshadowed by the shoegazer-styled instrumentation, but when the beat and vocals are front and center on songs like “My Poor Heart” its simply great stuff. Other standouts include “Imagine All Possibilities,” and the spacey “Amongst Burnt Out Stars” which has a touch of Big Star in its DNA. What makes this album so special is it takes those influences and forms something both unique and familiar. Highly Recommended.

Amazon | Kool Kat Musik


Dolour

Dolour “The Royal We”

Nashville musician Shane Tutmarc had many great pop varied influences, but his songwriting has always been impressive and after a 15-year layoff (while working on other projects) he gathered years of unfinished songs and recorded the best of them in The Royal We. This is top-shelf adult-oriented pop that starts very strong and mellows nicely by the album’s mid-point.

“Yes and No” is a brilliant single with a killer hook and “The Snake Eye” quietly burrows into your brain, in a manner like Gilbert O’Sullivan. “Drunk Dial,” tells a catchy story about those late-night calls, and the Bossanova flavored, “Wake Up The Sun” is a nice change of pace. “I Can Quit At Any Time” is a compelling narrative about his musical addiction. The bold pop of “Words I Thought You Said” contrasts with the smooth casual of “I’m Over It” and “Chasing the Summer Sun.” No real duds here and each song grows on you the more you listen to it. Highly Recommended.

Amazon | Kool Kat Musik

Singles, Previews, and Freebies… Oh My! Brad Brooks, Geoff Palmer & Lucy Ellis, Lava Fangs, Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts, Persian Leaps

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When you’re feeling down on yourself, do you ever put on music to lift your spirits? Music has the power to brighten our mood, reduce stress, and improve your health and overall well-being. Here are some new singles, previews, and freebies for the end of summer.

Brad Brooks‘s new album God Save The City is let for October release. This preview track is loosely based on Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators) mental issues. Have you thanked your local postal worker?

Geoff Palmer & Lucy Ellis cover John Prine’s track “In Spite of Ourselves” – it’s a great cover, check it out!

This is a new Melbourne band Lava Fangs recalls late 80s rock with a catchy chorus in “Line Up For A Broken Heart”

Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts have a new LP set to release next month. “Can I Get An Amen” is a rocker that reminds me of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”

New Persian Leaps! The band sounds really tight here. New EP set for September release.

The trio of Nick Bertling, Scott, and Kevin Robertson try a modern update of the classic Kinks LP. Very faithfully rendered and wonderfully performed. FREEBIE!

Rum Bar Records artists deliver a boatload of tracks; enjoy Brad Marino, The Laissez Fairs, Tom Baker and the Snakes, Justine and the Unclean, The Dirty Truckers, Spanking Charlene, and many more! It’s all at a “name-your-price.” Enjoy!



Szuters and Lisa Mychols & Super 8

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The Szuters “Sugar”

The Szuter brothers; Mike and CJ were always guitar heads that played melodic rock, much like The Lund Brothers. In the late ’90s they formed The Szuters and let loose a great rare LP in Japan, but then changed the band to heavy alt-rock and their name to Magna-Fi. They ended up at Ozzfest in 2004 supporting Sevendust, but the band faded from view six years later.

Coming back to their power-pop roots, “Sugar” is everything we missed from The Szuters, and it lives up to the title. Opening with the Beatlesque “Two We Will Always Be” its a super catchy melody with sticky sweet harmonies. The piano-based “Don’t Lie To Me” is another winner, with a wild psyche-pop riff mid-break. Fans of  The Raspberries and Cheap Trick will love “Baby Don’t You Be So Blue,” and “She’s Coming Home With Me.” The Beatlesque gems return with “If You Only Knew” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” They turn up the amps for the heavier “Good Thing,” and not a note of filler anywhere. It’s a perfect balance of melodic sweetness and guitar crunch. Easily gets a top ten nomination for my year-end list. Highly Recommended.

Amazon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN9i0UaRZx0

The Yum Yums

Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8 “Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8”

The “Queen of Power Pop” Lisa Mychols joins forces with British psyche-popper Paul “Trip” Ryan to deliver this playful confection for the ears.  Lisa’s light harmonies open thing on “What Will Be?” a hippie-infused psychedelic intro that seamlessly blends into the bouncy “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” and this is where the chemistry of the two artists play to each other’s strengths.

“Time Bomb” is another great example of kaleidoscopic pop. The tone of the music ebbs and flows from romantic (“Honey Bee”) to wry humor (“The Monkee Song”) but never loses momentum. It does mellow significantly towards the album’s second half with “Your Summer Theme” and “Laguna Night To Remember.” Mychols vocals are as lovely as ever, and Trip even adds his vocal lead to the acoustic “Peaceful.” This is music designed to relieve stress, so spin it and snap along to the music. Highly Recommended.

Bandcamp only

Tom Curless & the 46% and The Yum Yums

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Tom Curless & the 46%

Tom Curless & the 46% “Almost Ready for the Future”

Michigan indie musician Tom Curless and his new band the 46% put in 100% effort into this sophomore album. Starting with the garage style of “Always In Between,” it encourages you to turn up the volume. Next, “House on Fire” shows more polish, and its the best album’s song. “I Just Wanna Talk” is a narrative tune with nods to The Cars in the chorus. The more rocking efforts “Fall Like Dominos” and “Unexpected Knock” have an early ’80s vibe, while “Ride Along Wave” recall peak Greg Khin. Overall a very fine album that deserves to be heard.

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The Yum Yums

The Yum Yums “For Those About To Pop!”

If you put power pop, punk, glam, and bubblegum in a blender then Norway’s The Yum Yums would be the result. They are a shoutout to The Ramones, The Beat, and similar bands, and the title track explains it quite nicely; “you’ll always have a friend in your three-chord pop songs.”

The perfectly simple punk song structures of “Baby Baby,” are contrasted by candy-coated chords and harmonies of “She’s Got Everything.” Every song hits the right notes on boy-girl romance. And at two-minutes plus the songs are all short, but still sweet. While stylistically consistent, the sameness of the songs can make things a little predictable. However, they will throw you a curveball like the doo-wop chorus on “Say You’ll Be Mine,” or a sunny pop chorus in “The Kind of Girl.” The terrific riffs and solid hooks still make this an easy choice: Highly Recommended.

Amazon | Kool Kat Musik

EP Reviews: Young Fresh Fellows, Aaron Lee Tasjan, The Cleaners from Venus, Jim Trainor, Fashion Bird Danger Danger

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Young Fresh Fellows are back with the ageless Scott McCaughey leading the way and it’s just as good as you expect. “This Time is Ours” has a rocking guitar rhythm and a catchy chorus. It gets progressively more punk as we move forward. YFF are still trippy with “Alone in a Bus.” Enjoy!

Aaron Lee Tasjan really nails on the opener “Fake Tattoo” a song that warms the heart. “My Bed’s A Mess” is another romantic pop gem, “What A War” has an acoustic folk catchiness with strings that soar. One of the best EPs of the year.

The Cleaners from Venus are back, (and its a FREEBIE) as the brilliant Martin Newell sings about timely subjects on “Statues” and the smokey “Golden Lion of the Sun” are the highlights here.

Idaho power popper Jim Trainor starts with a great Beatlesque melody on “The Only One” and the bouncy “Claire” is another keeper. The fast tempo “Grace & Beauty” keeps you moving. In fact, every song is good. Don’t miss this one.
OK, now we go for something more experimental called Fashion Bird Danger Danger. John Wlaysewski (Late Cambrian) and Matthew Milligan (Wheatus) come together for this oddly compelling pop. “City Island Shaman” is like they tossed Southern Culture On The Skids in a blender with Tears For Fears. I also liked the bleak “Part 5 of Fear” full of angular prog guitars.