If liked the punk pop of Brody Dalle’s Spinerette, you’ll love this Norwich, UK 5-piece The Brownies. It’s a female fronted band with plenty of ballsy, loud guitars and it’s not afraid to hurt your feelings. Lead vocalist Sophie Little gets your attention right away with the opener “Dance Romance.” The song kinda trends toward Elastica with punchy riffs and excellent bass work provided by Nathan Pounds, Stevie and Maxie Gedge. The album highlight here is the snarling pop of “Cougar” where Little starts yowling “You mark me like you mark your territory / I’ll ride you and you can claw me/ Slash slash it turns me on” pumping up the sexuality with each knife sharp riff. It’s this hostile combination of feminist aggression and gin soaked sex appeal that makes The Brownies so damn exciting. This is followed by the excellent tandem of “It Kills” and “Fight Night.” These first four tracks are as energetic, fresh and exciting as anything out there. Then it seems the band loses it way a bit as the other tracks can’t seem to ante up until “Cry Yourself To Sleep”which combines a synth dance beat with frantic guitar, drum combos and Little’s bold vocals. Fans of Be Your Own Pet, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Blondie will definitely dig this. So, If you like honest attitude with your power pop, blast this one through the speakers, why don’tcha.
Author: powerpopaholic
The Leftovers "Eager To Please"
Hailing from Portland, Maine, The Leftovers deliver the combination of sun soaked melodies and raw, driving rhythms – power pop in the truest sense of the words. Produced by power pop fave Linus of Hollywood, we get tight arrangements at a dizzying speed. Sounding like the bastard child of Paul Collins Beat and The Ramones on “Telephone Operator” the band goes the extra mile to keep the music upbeat and catchy. The band has a nice platoon of guest stars, including Kim Shattuck of The Muffs, Brett Anderson of The Donnas, Parry Gripp from Nerf Herder, Coz Canler from the Romantics and Jon Rubin of the Rubinoos. So many highlights are here, “Girlfriend” is piece of power pop gold if ever I heard one and much of the other tracks follow in this mold. “Lost and Found” has the simple lyric about getting dumped, and bouncing back with a terrific riff, bells and hand claps. Fans of three-chord 70’s pop will also fall in love with this release, with even a little Beach Boys backing vocal on “Get Out Of My Head,” keeping the music zooming along at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t slow down at any point with a mid-tempo song, or ballad. But it ends well with “Party Till We Die,” which features a vocal duet with Donnas singer Brett Anderson, doing a sweet update on the Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night”. Fans of Elvis Costello, The Queers, and The Romantics will lap this up too. Without a single weak track, this band is eager to please — and you should be eager to pick this album up.
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See the video to “Dance With Me”
The Popfest Podcast returns
With Charlotte Pop Fest getting bigger and better, James Deem has started doing the podcasts again between now and September 24, 2009. Each episode will feature music and interviews with artists performing at Charlotte Pop Fest. Episode 26 features James Deem and Ed James highlight the music of The Knack, The Posies, Jellyfish, and The Spongetones.
It’s FREE – so listen in and you can also download the popcast as a MP3 file on the Charlotte Pop Fest website.
Wild Bores "Wild Bores"
The Wild Bores are neither wild, nor are they boring. Singer/songwriter John Whildin put together a band rooted in traditional Chicago pop with some Nashville influences. It features studio performances and collaborations with Brian Chard (always dependable bassist and guitarist), Glenn Kotche (Wilco) and Dan Leali (Poi Dog Pondering). The laid back opening “Whatever makes you happy” is like a comfortable shoe that just feels right and shuffles along. Whildin combines the lyrical slices of blue collar life similar to Bruce Springsteen with the melodic touch of Fountains of Wayne. Vocally, he reminds me of Chris Stamey a little bit. “My Home Town” has a very Ray Davies feel, where he describes “Sometimes I was a baseball player …sometimes I was a soothsayer.” The simple acoustic arrangements fit perfectly with the electric guitar touches in the chorus. It’s deceptively simple and makes the rebellious rant “Hands on it” amazingly compelling to listen to. Other songs wander along (“Time Wasted,” “Lovely Place”) but always deliver the goods by the time the chorus kicks in. “Chasing A Revelation” is another highlight here with clean riffs and sweet harmonies. This is introspective thinking man’s pop for your ipod’s playlist.
The Seldon Plan "Lost and Found and Lost"
The Seldon Plan are a Baltimore group that specialize in lush indie pop with full arrangements, fans of Death Cab for Cutie, Belle and Sebastian, and Saint Etienne will enjoy this. Lyrically Lost and Found and Lost plays with images of childhood nostalgia to embrace the economic and political pendulum. From the opening chords of “Caldecott” the music relies on sonic textures as much as melody. vocalist Dawn Dineen resembles Liz Phair slightly in approach on “Fire in Day’s Field” with an echoing ghostly chorus lead by strong drumming. A highlight here is the title track with chiming guitars and with the soothing chorus “the heart rides again” followed by handclaps. The danger on some tracks, like “Lullabies For Old Hearts” devolve into a repeating mantra to a beat and it gets tiring quickly. Other highlights include the fast moving “Run, Go!” and the Dineen’s lovely harmonics in the chorus of “See A Word.”The slower tempo of the lovely “There Are Definite Undertones Here” remind me of those wistful Teenage Fanclub ballads. Overall not a bad mix of jangle guitar and soft vocal harmonies. This is pretty good summer music and deserves your attention.