David Bash’s Top Ten Power Pop Albums and more

DavidBashAs you might know, International Pop Overthrow CEO and Founder David Bash has an extensive list of the years best power pop music in several categories. I will only showcase his “top ten” on this post, but you can read the entire list of his Top 125 albums here.

He also gets into the Top EPs, Top Live albums,  Top Compilations, Tributes, Re-issues, etc.  so definitely check out that list. I found many on my year end list also part of his. Here is David’s top ten:

  1. Spirit Kid-Is Happening (EZ Beats)
  2. Linus Of Hollywood-Something Good (Magic Beach)
  3. The See See-Once, Forever and Again (Dell’Orso)
  4. The Paul & John-Inner Sunset (Mystery Lawn)
  5. Mothboxer-Sand and The Rain  (Self-Released)
  6. The Bobbleheads-Make Yourself Happy (Poppop)
  7. The Wicked Whispers-Maps Of The Mystic (Electone)
  8. Temples-Sun Structures (Fat Possum)
  9. The Dowling Poole-Bleak Strategies  (Sugarbush)
  10. The Jigsaw Seen-Old Man Reverb (Vibro-Phonic)
    (continue to the rest of the list…)

Concert Connection: IPO and Roger Hodgson

It’s that busy time of year and IPO is in New York this week. It started Wednesday and continues on this weekend at Bar Matchless, 57 Manhattan Ave @ Driggs Ave, Brooklyn. Don’t miss the fun and fellowship of like minded power pop bands: Eric Frisch, George Usher and Lisa Burns, Bubble, The Modulators, The GO-NY, The Pomps, Milkshake Jones, Joey Kelly (of Buddy Love), Adam Randy, Gianni Paci, The Thigh Highs, Tim Lee 3, Tenterhooks, Josh Fix, Morty Shallman, Gail George, Dave Rave, Sonny Lee & The Layovers, The Lannie Flowers Band, London Egg, Rorie Kelly, Zombies Of The Stratosphere, Oberon Rose, The Turnback, The Peaces, Joe Caravella (of The Reign), Jana Peri, The Rousers, The Anderson Council, and The Q. For showtimes visit the IPO Facebook page — we will review the concerts next week.

Roger Hodgson (Supertramp)  returns to New York!

Accompanied by a four-piece band, Roger Hodgson continues to perform all his hits he wrote and later recorded with Supertramp. Enduring rock standards such as “Breakfast in America,” “Give a Little Bit,” “Take the Long Way Home,” “The Logical Song,” “Dreamer,” “It’s Raining Again,” “School,” and “Fool’s Overture” are all part of the show. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of “Crime of the Century,” released in September 1974 and Hodgson’s song, “Dreamer,” became Supertramp’s first international runaway hit, driving the album to the top of the charts. Roger will be at The Paramount in Huntington, NY on Tuesday, November 11. For more info visit the Paramount!

David Bash’s Top 100 List!

David Bash reviews a ton of bands for his International Pop Overthrow festival across the USA and overseas. So he’s the big kahuna when it comes to discovering power pop bands. He recently posted his top 100, so here it is re-posted. Our lists overlap in areas and many of these artists I did review (just search).

1. Mothboxer-Three (Self-Released)
2. Ben Jones & The Rifle Volunteers-Shangri La (Rifle Tone)
3. Nick Piunti-13 In My Head (Self-Released)
4. The Maureens-The Maureens (Self-Released)
5. The Grapes Of Wrath-High Road (Aporia)
6. Lee And The Lovedaddies-Lee And The Lovedaddies (Self-Released) *
7. The Resonars-Crummy Desert Sound (Burger) *
8. Neighbours-Prime Numbers (Get Hip)
9. Shake Some Action!-Full Fathom Five (Sattelite 451)
10. Alfa 9-Gone To Ground (Blow Up)
11. The Nines-The Nines (TAS Gold)
12. Glenn Case-Throw Money (Self-Released)
13. Wiretree-Get Up (Self-Released)
14. Miles Kane-Don’t Forget Who You Are (Sony)
15. Phenomenal Cat-Postcards From The British Empire (Self-Released)
16. Greg Pope-Pop Motion Animation (Octoberville)
17. Liar’s Club-Come And Go (Charlatan)
18. Surf School Dropouts-Summer Is A State Of Mind (Sunny Day) *
19. Eureka Machines-Remain In Hope (Wrath)
20. Ulysses-Kill You Again (Black Glove)
21. Agony Aunts-Big Cinnamon (Mystery Lawn Music)
22. The Cherry Bluestorms-Bad Penny Opera (Roundhouse)
23. Groovy Uncle featuring Suzi Chunk-One Vowel Away From The Truth (Trouserphonic)
24. Mikal Cronin-MC II (Merge)
25. The Sun Sawed In ½-Elephants Into Swans (Self-Released)
26. King Washington-The Overload (Self-Released)
27. The Connection-Let It Rock! (King Yum)
28. Brendan Benson-You Were Right (Readymade)
29. The Most-Auto Destructive Art (CopaseDisques)
30. Eric Barao-Eric Barao (Self-Released)
31. The Popdogs-Cool Cats For Pop Dogs (Self-Released)
32. Radio Days-Get Some Action (Rock Indiana)
33. Adam Marsland-The Owl And The Full Moon (Karma Frog)
34. London Egg-If It Takes Forever (Self-Released)
35. Michael Mazzarella-Love In Laureltide Green (Angelica)
36. The Bottle Kids-Such A Thrill (Kool Kat)
37. Vegas With Randolph-Rings Around The Sun (Caged Giant)
38. Dynamo Bliss-Poplar Music (Self-Released)
39. The Cherry Drops-Everything’s Groovy (Musick)
40. Jacco Gardner-Cabinet Of Curiosities (Trouble In Mind)
41.Stephen Lawrenson-Obscuriosity (Kool Kat)
42. Harper Simon-Division Street (PIAS)
43. The Orange Peels-Sun Moon (Mystery Lawn)
44. The Playmates-Soul Cookin’ (Green River)
45. Wyatt Funderburk-Novel And Profane (JollyRonnie)
46. Phil Angotti-Life And Rhymes (ouR House)
47. Lisa Mychols-Above, Beyond & In Between (Vandalay)
48. Paul Bertolino-Where The Buildings Hit The Sky (Self-Released)
49. Raymond Meade-Fables And Follies (Self-Released)
50. Schnauser-Where Business Meets Fashion (Self-Released)
51. Maxi Dunn-Edmund & Leo (Dabooboo)
52. Scissors & The Cuts-3 July (Trashy Creatures)
53. Gleeson-Gleeson II (Almost There)
54. Andy Klingensmith-Pictures Of (Futureman) **
55. The Mergers-Monkey See Monkey Do! (Soundflat)
56. David Brookings-The Maze (Byar)
57. Laurie Biagini-Sanctuary Of Sound (Self-Released)
58. Colleen Green-Sock In To Me (Hardly Art)
59. 8×8-Azalia’s Room (Self-Released)
60. Dana Countryman-Pop! The Incredible, Fantastic Retro Pop World Of… (Self-Released)
61. The Yum Yums-…Play Good Music (Screaming Apple) *
62. The Histrionics-Cannon (Self-Released)
63. Third Of Never-Downrising (Jam)
64. John LT-Suburban Superstar (Mother West)
65. Secret Friend-Time Machine (Odd Tunes)
66. Jackdaw4-Dissecticide (Too Many Robots)
67. Bubblegum Orchestra-The Discovery (Out Of This World)
68. Of Montreal-Lousy With Sylvianbriar (Polyvinylrecords)
69. Chris Degnore and The Black Drops-Cinema (Self-Released)
70. The Junior League-You Should Be Happy (Greenleaves)
71. Corin Ashley-New Lion Terraces (Murray Hill)
72. Sugar Stems-Can’t Wait (Screaming Apple) *
73. Smith Westerns-Soft Will (Mom & Pop)
74. The Temponauts-The Canticle Of The Temponauts (Other Eyes)
75. The Bye Bye Blackbirds-We Need The Rain (Self-Released)
76. Tudor Lodge-Stay (Cast Iron)
77. The Tor Guides-Lots Of The Pops! Volume 1: Caught In A Sweet Refrain (Digit)
78. Adam Daniel-Pop Baby (Self-Released)
79. Andrea Perry-Four (Self-Released)
80. Beachwood Sparks-Desert Skies (Alive)
81. Paul McCartney-New (Concord)
82. Fonda-Sell Your Memories (Minty Fresh)
83. Beady Eye-Be (Sony)
84. The 88-Fortune Teller (Self-Released)
85. The Beat Rats-Have Mersey! (Cavern/Kool Kat)
86. Magic Eight Ball-Sorry We’re Late But We’re Worth The Wait (Magic Cat)
87. The American Professionals-We Make It Our Business (Charlie In The Box)
88. Et Tu Brucé-Suburban Sunshine (Worldwide)
89. Joe Symes & The Loving Kind-Joe Symes & The Loving Kind (Truly Independent)
90. Esa Linna-This Is Who I Am (Teosto)
91. Richard X. Heyman-Richard X. Heyman (Turn-Up)
92. The Bamboo Trading Co.-The Bamboo Trading Co. (Self-Released)
93. The Contrast-A Sinister Flick (Angel Air)
94. Nektar-Time Machine (Purple Pyramid)
95. Goodfellows-The Name Of These Girls (Self-Released)
96. Blue Cartoon-Are You Getting On? (Aardvark)
97. JoDee Purkeypile-Messenger (Self-Released)
98. NRWY-Negatives (Self-Released) *
99. Mount Pressmore-Enjoy (Self-Released)
100. Pete MacLeod-Rolling Stone (359 Music)

IPO Fall 2013 Report

[slideshow gallery_id=”4″]

 

Following our own Power Popaholic Fest lead, the International Pop Overthrow came back to New York in the borough of Brooklyn last week. The venue was easy to get to, plus Matchless boasts a good sound system and plenty of room for patrons to get up close and personal with the IPO artists.

The music was uniformly very good, and special kudos goes to Cliff Hillis who played with both Corin Ashley and Starbelly. I was impressed with several bands; The Modulators brought a roaring audience with them, and the Rousers are another tight combo that didn’t miss a note. Guest Kurt Reil joined London Egg on stage,  Meyerman rocked loudly and Jana Peri had a full band backing her great voice. Like the spring IPO in NYC, power pop veterans Starbelly mesmerized the crowd. An excellent time was had by all, thank you David Bash for another successful concert series!

International Pop Overthrow, Vol. 15

After you’ve stuffed yourself full of turkey and cranberry sauce, it’s nice to know you can satisfy your musical hunger with IPO. Another year, another 67 tracks spread over 3 CDs from a variety of bands known and unknown, as selected by power pop guru David Bash.  As always, a great way to discover new sounds at a great price!

Disc 1: The immortal Shoes begins our journey with “Head vs. Heart,”  and it’s matched by the Byrdsian guitars on Fireking’s “So You Say You Lost Your Baby.” Old favorites are on hand like Lisa Mychols (“Taken,”)  Private Jets (“Speed Of Sound,”) and the recently reviewed Condors (“Queer Fascination.”) But what I look for are the rookies, like the playfully seductive “Crush On A Girl” by The Jooles, and the frantic punk-pop “Square Pegs” by The Issue and “Yesterday” by The Secrets.

Disc 2: King Washington‘s epic “The Gears” starts us off. The Afternoons “Wait Til You See Her” has a bit of Oasis’ echoing beat and the new track from The Sunchymes “Revelations In Her Mind” adds its light 60’s pop touch. My favorite track from the new Spygenius LP is here (“K is Menatlly ill”) and Nushu’s cover of The Cars “My Best Friend’s Girl” is a blast. A new Vegas with Randolph track here “Nikki’s Plan/Broadway” and Robin Stanley’s “Make Up Your Mind” are also highlights.

Disc 3: Strong tracks are all over this one. I really liked the harmony filled opener “Summer’s Green” by The Tor Guides, and “Never Stop Wooing You” by Sweet Diss and The Comebacks is a perfect follow up. “Get Her Off My Mind” from Throwback Suburbia thrills, and even Japan’s Mayflower is on here with “Cat’s Boro Blues!” The bluesy rock of The Pengwins (with Lannie Flowers) leads on “Naive” and The Pozers “My Maze” add a Beatles-ELO influenced gem. Overall, you’ll be coming back for repeat listens on this compilation… I guarantee it!

Pop Geek Heaven | Amazon | Kool Kat Musik
One disk 3 is Ashbury Keys “Wake Up” – This performance was filmed at IPO Liverpool 2012.