Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Campbell Apartment and The Maureens

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The Campbell Apartment

The Campbell Apartment “Under The Influence Of Love”

San Francisco band The Campbell Apartment is back after a several-year break, and they try some new things here. The opener, “Sand and Glue,” is a solid indie punk track with a compelling chorus of “What I do,” with plenty of Kinks-like verses in between.

“Bay Area Robot Farm” is almost like a lost Bill Lloyd tune, but the band breaks out on “PATH Train of Least Resistance.” This is the type of pop song in which the band excels, with a touch of jangle and a descriptive lyric of a certain time and place. Then “Boys Like Driving” is another winner, playing with gender stereotypes, and it seems like it stepped out of last summer’s Barbie movie. “Fun In The Sun” is a perfect follow-up, with flowing harmonies everywhere. The “sublime” ballad “452 Square Feet” feels like an epic album closer. Overall, plenty of interesting and unpredictable songs round out this album. Highly Recommended.

Amazon


The Maureens

The Maureens “Everyone Smiles”

The Dutch band The Maureens are back with a new record. The harmonies and instrumentation are still reminiscent of the early Beatles, but this band has expanded their sound with the jangling opener “Stand Up!” The compositions are all originals; “Lost & Found” boasts a catchy rhythm, and “Sunday Driver” is an aching ballad with a great chorus.

“Fell in Love” recalls Sloan or The Posies with a lighter pop touch, and “Rainy Day” is another highlight, which sounds a bit like Teenage Fanclub, with a quiet opening then the harmonies crash in. Another great tune is “Only Child,” with its slow-building, rich composition. Not all the songs are as memorable, and my biggest issue with the album is that the style and cadence don’t vary much, and the lead guitar on most songs takes a back seat to the harmonies. Overall, this is a really beautiful album that deserves to be heard.

Amazon

February singles are here: Flying Underground, Late Cambrian, Extra Arms, Real Estate, Willie Dowling, François Premiers

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I am still finding lots of great music that shouldn’t be swept under the rug because it’s a new year. Flying Underground is a terrific Cincinnati, Ohio band that deserves your attention with its debut album. The video above has really good sound and showcases Kelly McCracken’s great lead vocal. My friends, Late Cambrian have modified their sound on “Late Bloomer” to have a more melodic vibe, and I love it. Extra Arms is back with a bunch of strong riffs on its new single, “Gates of Steel.” The band Real Estate has a new album coming out, and what I hear so far is excellent songwriting. We still have a freebie for you with Willie Dowling‘s “The Simpleton,” a cool narrative of a protagonist, and dig that piano solo midway through! French band François Premiers has a glammy gem with the “Salamander Shuffle,” and that riff just sticks in your head. Great music continues!



Emperor Penguin and Nick Frater

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Emperor Penguin

Emperor Penguin “Gentlemen Thieves”

Emperor Penguin has successfully channeled a very anglophilic psychedelic pop style in Gentlemen Thieves. Following the template set in Sunday Carvery, they start out the door with the catchy “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” It’s loaded with echo, reverb, dense melody, and lots of fuzzy energy. Lisa Mychols adds a whole new dimension to the band with her duet on the XTC-like “I Wouldn’t Put It Like That.”

Each song is a carefully constructed gem; “Silver Apples” is another dazzling example of this band’s talent, while “Driving Blind” brings the rocking riffs up front. “Sonnez Les Matines” opens with a few notes that recall Pink Floyd but quickly becomes a Middle Eastern dance track. The nursery rhyme-like “Pipistrelle” with its toy piano also sticks fast. One of the best songs here is “You Are My Atmosphere,” and Mychols adds her stamp to this one too. Almost everything here is great. My only issue is the album’s overly compressed mix. The melodies are so good, but sometimes they seem buried in white noise. I wish they gave it the Giles Martin treatment, but despite this, it’s highly recommended.

Kool Kat Musik


The Rebuttles

Nick Frater “Nick Frater presents The Rebutles 1967​-​1970”

A collection of original songs by Nick Frater, written in tribute to the pre-Fab Four, The Rutles. So it’s music written in the Beatlesque style, with just a touch of sarcastic wit. While Frater doesn’t quite measure up to Neil Innes when it comes to humor, musically, he’s spot on. “The Devil You Know” showcases duality, with John Lennon’s gloomy tendencies and a sunny McCartney-like bridge stuck in the middle because he had to “get back from the grave in 1966,” a reference to the “Paul is Dead” Beatle rumor. Fans of The Rutles and The Beatles will find Easter eggs like this scattered in the lyrics.

Some of these are genuinely fun, like “You’re A Good Egg,” a Magical Mystery breakfast without a hint of symbolism, and “One Lump or Two,” a bit of tea time for Lady Madonna. Unfortunately, they didn’t all stick with me, and once you can identify the song’s origins and intent, there isn’t much else to draw you back to listen again. Nonetheless, this comes highly recommended for Beatles fans, and you should definitely give the music a listen.

Bandcamp only

Top 20 EPs of 2023 and some January gifts

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The 2023 EP list

This year’s top EP list had to grow in several respects. To begin, there has been a marked decline in the release of albums compared to the explosive growth of singles and EPs, and this trend is likely to continue; moreover, the melodies produced by EP performers are often more lively and experimental. BTW, my definition of an EP is an album with 9 songs or less. Most of these have been featured, and a few I just never got around to posting. All are listenable on Bandcamp! Thanks for your patience!

  1. Gizmo “Buddy System”
  2. Half Catholic “Art In Heaven”
  3. The Shang Hi Los “Aces Eights & Heartbreaks”
  4. Råttanson “Trebled Region”
  5. Girl with a Hawk “Keep ‘er Lit”
  6. The Blakes “New Tattoo Outtakes”
  7. House of Jed “House of Jed”
  8. Dazy “Otherbody”
  9. Strange Neighbors “Party of None”
  10. Kid Gulliver “Kiss & Tell”
  11. Einstein’s Sister “Exit Strategies”
  12. Clone “Knock Out Drops Vol. 2”
  13. The Photocopiers – Million Sellers
  14. Jamie Hoover “Top Banana”
  15. Dave Birk “Fool Around”
  16. Julez and The Rollerz “Is There Where The Party Is?”
  17. Andy Bopp “Space Camp”
  18. Ken Kase “Ken Kase”
  19. Peter Hall “About Last Night”
  20. Grand Drifter “Paradise Window” 

As a bonus I have some new freebies! Mostly from 2023 All these albums are “name-your-price” but these are all high quality. I know music fans appreciate this pricing model, and I hope you donate to them so they can continue making great music.






The Weeklings and Carmen Toth

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The Weeklings

The Weeklings “Raspberry Park”

With a medley of cover songs and some fantastic original compositions, the album Raspberry Park is a delightful journey. The fact that the band deviates from Beatlesque songs without drastically altering their sound is something I appreciate. Excellent tracks abound on this album, beginning with the passionate “Like We Used To Do,” with its catchy chorus. While sharing a bassline with “The Beat Goes On,” the infectious “Brian Jones” finds its melodic voice. Perhaps “All the Cash in the World” might serve as their theme song, expressing their lifelong passion for performing. Glen Burtnik (aka Lefty Weekling) and Bob Burger (Zeek Weekling) are in top songwriting form here; additional highlights include the poignant “Fall Down A Flight of Stairs” and the note-perfect rocker “None of Your Business.”

The unconventional arrangements of these cover versions make them stand out from the usual tributes: “She’s Leaving Home” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” The mashup “Mr. Soul Satisfaction” is catchy and fun; it combines The Monkees, Neil Young, and The Rolling Stones seamlessly. The transitional songs here sound like filler, but that could just be my ears being picky. The 20-second interlude of the Sgt. Pepper-ish “Raspberry Park” was too short; I would have preferred a longer rendition. This being said, the excellent music more than compensates. Highly Recommended.

Amazon


Carmen Toth

Carmen Toth “Fix the World”

Carmen Toth is a singer-songwriter from Toronto, and her musical influences are Stevie Nicks, Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush, and I hear a little Susanna Hoffs, too. She has been making independent music since 2003, but Fix the World is my first experience, and she makes a great impression with the catchy opener “Pretty Dresses.” Toth does a good job with the next few songs, as standard indie pop tunes go.

Her unique, Nicks-like cadence works well on the angular riffs of “Struggling,” and there are some nice harmonies in the chorus. Her title track, “Fix the World,” shifts from an acoustic ballad in the verse and bounces into a pop chorus about material girls being too distracted to solve issues. Some good power pop tracks here include “Time Bomb Heart” and “My Ears Are Still Ringing.” The last song, “Looking Forward,” has a hopeful, optimistic chorus that’s sure to put a smile on your face. Overall, this is a good album that deserves to be heard.

Bandcamp