Power Popaholic Fest is coming on June 16, 17 (next week) at Bar Matchless in Brooklyn, NY. Each year we have a soundtrack made with songs by some performers and like-minded artists. Your purchase helps fund the continuation of this long-running music festival dedicated to power pop artists. This year’s soundtrack features Somerdale, The Successful Failures, Lisa Mychols, Lannie Flowers, Cirrone, The Brittanicas, Jose Estragos and The Pop-Coop. Note: Limited time! Some tracks will only be available during the month of June.
Tag: Brandon Schott
Brandon Schott and One Like Son
Brandon Schott “Crayons & Angels”
Brandon Schott has always been an artist who knows better than most how to set the mood. After the great Verdugo Park EP, he’s expanded this into a full album with the help of Andrew Curry, Andy Reed and Jason Wormer. The childlike innocence of the instrumental “Dandelion” leads into the album’s biggest song “Henry,” a richly layered portrait of a boyhood optimism, complete with harmonies, horns and toy piano. “Cerulean Seas” is another like-minded song that sails along, as most compositions here are strongly influenced by Pet Sounds and Sir McCartney. Another gem is “Every Little Song,” a beautiful duet with Kelly Jones, where the melody twists with each key change.
Plenty of instrumental filler is found between many songs, tying the theme together but I suspect they are more snippets that didn’t fit elsewhere (“Sunglow”) and this make the albums middle a bit lightweight. However many strong compositions remain like “Seeing You In Stereo” and “Dear Daisy” is a catchy guitar led melody. The grand “Wisteria” is an exceptionally good atmospheric instrumental, and the wonderful “Dandelion Rain” is the best love song I’ve heard this year. Add to this the Elvis Costello cover “Riot Act” and you’ve got a winner. Highly Recommended.
One Like Son “Classic”
While the novelty of a debut recorded on an iphone has passed, One Like Son (aka Stephen Poff) continues to pump out some great music from his Montgomery, AL studio. “As Seen on TV” has that big repeating riff, and a memorable melody. “Down To Hollywood” follows the Cheap Trick template, and the casual “Summer Days” reminded me of Extreme’s acoustic pop. Overall, the music seems more hard rock oriented than past releases.
“A Praise Song” is like a superhero theme from a Christian rock band, with its buzzsaw sound and an infectious bounce. Not everything flows as smoothly; some metal guitar indulgences are tiresome (“Borderline” and “It Knocks Me Out”) and the lack of any ballads makes this 13 track album a heavy lift. Stephen does sprinkle in some good songs, like the mid-tempo “Five Good Years” and energetic “Whispers” to end things. Give it a try, and you’ll find a favorite tune within.
Amazon
Singles: Brandon Schott, The Well Wishers and The Sensibles
Brandon Schott: Get ready for gorgeous melodies from Brandon, this song is an advance from his new album “Crayons and Angels” which is self-funded through Kickstarter here. This tune “Every Little Song” is full of neat little sonic details and also helped by having the talented Kelly Jones backing Brandon up. Soak it in and please invest in great music like this.
The Well Wishers: Well Wishers frontman Jeff Shelton is at it again. “Build A Life” here is an unmastered demo, but it sounds better than most bands finished singles. Keep making music Jeff, and we’ll keep on listening.
Ransom & The Subset and Brandon Schott
Ransom and the Subset “No Time To Lose”
One of the glossiest power pop debuts this year, the Seattle based band is led by singer-songwriter RanDair Porter, and he’s enlisted heavy hitters Brian E. King (OranJuly, Parks) and Ducky Carlisle (Mike Viola, Major Labels, Taylor Locke) to help play and produce the album. Each song is finely crafted rock, “Anna” is a compelling dramatic melody about an anxious fan and “Leaving With You” is just awesome with its shimmering guitar lead and multi-tracked harmonies. Porter also recruited Mike Musburger (The Posies) on drums and Mike Squires (Harvey Danger) on bass guitar for this track. You’ll hear Ducky’s fingerprints all over “Million Out Of Me” with its Bleu-like arrangement and quick tempo hand-clap rhythm section.
While Porter’s vocal range is limited, his songwriting more than makes up for it, the title track is a narrative about a the plight of a desperate woman. And his style isn’t that easy to categorize; “Sticking Onto You” goes a bit overboard, adding the kitchen sink with Blue Swede’s “Ooga Chaka” in the verse. But its not about arbitrary genre definitions, its about the music… and the music is very good. “Questions” is an emotional piano based melody, and “Girl I’m Not Afraid” has a bit of Rockpile in its DNA. Overall, this is a solid debut with more than enough gems demanding repeat listens.
Brandon Schott “Verdugo Park” EP
As a preview to his next full length, the talented Brandon Schott gives us some sweet melodies with “Verdugo Park.” On the title track he channels Harry Nilsson, and then gives us a mellow Beatlesque sitar instrumental “Lapiz Lazulli” and a cover of Richard & Robert Sherman’s 1962 song “Castaway.”
It’s also worth noting that Schott had a sober single ballad “You Take My Breath Away” last year, the other side being the Beach Boys styled “Now” and proceeds of this A-B single go to support The Benjamin Center in Santa Monica, CA – a branch of the Cancer Support Community. I can’t wait for the new LP and this just increases the anticipation.
The Grip Weeds and Andy Reed + Brandon Schott
The Grip Weeds “Inner Grooves”
So you already know and love The Grip Weeds, and they are working on a new album as you read this. But Kurt Reil isn’t about to let your stockings empty this season, so he’s compiled a group of “Rare and Under-released Tracks” for you in Inner Grooves. As one of the best classic Byrdsian rock bands ever, its impossible to find even “throw-away” tracks, so that makes this an essential listen. Starting with the power pop perfection of “Rainy Day #1&2” it moves to the Merseyside flavored “Nothing Lasts,” an outtake from Strange Change Machine.
“She Don’t Care About Time” is a faithful Gene Clark cover (frankly, they could cover his entire discography perfectly.) “Sight Unseen” boasts some nice clean harmonies and fuzzy guitar solos. And if you wanted the long version of “Sun Ra Ga,” here is all 11+ minutes of that sprawling psychedelic jam. Thoughtfully mastered, it doesn’t feel like a collection of odd singles, but a cohesive album that was rescued from the cutting room floor.
Amazon
American Underdog & Brandon Schott “The AB EP”
Brandon Schott and Andy Reed (An American Underdog) team up to release 2 songs each off of their respective forthcoming records. This tandem throws us 4 excellent singles and it’s a brilliant idea.
As competitive musicians they bring their “A” game starting with Schott’s “Henry” its a similar style to his last album 13 Satellites. Then Reed’s American Underdog “The Show Goes On” has a yearning romantic quality. This also helps both musicians promote themselves and helps build anticipation for those new albums. Yes, this is a big tease… but a good one that fans will appreciate.