Greg Pope “Fanboy”
Dubbed “The Pope of Power Pop” by Steve at Absolute Powerpop blog, Greg has made his band a family affair with his sons contributing to the latest album; Asher Pope on guitar and Noah Pope on drums.
Like most of Greg’s work, you get plenty of solid power pop gems including the awesome biographical title track about growing up a fanboy “who’s 47 but still a kid.” A story about the risks of rock stardom is the focus of the catchy “King Of The Scene.” One of the my favorite songs here is the subtle tempo and crunch of “Greater Threat” with its growing menace in the chords. Another highlight is the running verse of “Pretend It’s Yesterday” with its wonderful overdubbed guitar melody and gentle vocal.
On his own site, Greg is offering up a 23-track Fanboy Deluxe Edition of the album that includes acoustic work tapes, and demos. This is a great album that I proudly recommend, so get it!
CD Baby | Amazon | Fanboy Deluxe
Ryan Link “Reverberations” EP
West Coaster Ryan Link was in the Boston power pop band Miss Fortune, when he was bitten by the acting bug and decided to join the Broadway production of Rent in 2003 followed by a revival of Hair in 2009. He returns to music with Reverberations.
Starting with “Under The Rug” its a catchy alt. country theme and “Not Going Anywhere” is a solid biographical story about persistence of the heart. The spacey title track didn’t work for me, but “Maladjusted” is light, shuffling treat. It’s a short (but sweet) sampler, and hopefully we’ll hear more from Ryan in the near future.
Amazon | CD Baby