Category: Power Pop Review

Attic Lights and Strangely Alright

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Attic Lights “Super De Luxe”
The Scottish band Attic Lights makes good on its sophomore LP, produced by Teenage Fanclub’s Francis Macdonald. Starting with “Say You Love Me”it  enjoying both heavy guitar riffs and shouts of “Hey Hey Hey!” and swooning backing harmonies, its a great catchy opener. “Future Bound” is more disco pop with a funky rhythm and a solid hook in the chorus. The Scottish accent really comes out in the verses of the sophisticated mid-tempo ballad “Mona Lisa.” Other highlights include “Hit and Miss,” “Gabrielle” and the most rock oriented tune “Orbison.” Only a few pedestrian song here, but overall a great album full of modern power pop.

Strangely Alright “The Time Machine Is Broken”
Lead by singer/songwriter Regan Lane, Strangely Alright is a five piece power pop group from Tacoma, Washington. Although the album starts pretty conventionally with the expansive rock song “Train To Nowhere,” Lane’s stylized vocal, the hand claps and warbling backing vocals all keep it compelling. The fuzzy rich chorus on “So Right It Can’t Be Wrong” has brilliantly quirky touches similar to Jackdaw4 with swooning “ahhs” in the chorus.

The lyrics are a complex and downbeat for most of the album’s first half, especially “Crying Shame.” The combo of John Lennon meeting Pink Floyd is felt on ““If I Don’t Laugh I’m Only Going to Cry,” the jangle and psyche-pop combo are awesome, it’s the highlight of the LP. While the albums second half doesn’t reach those highs, the mood lightens and some standouts include “Love” and “Direction Home.” A grower, that does most things right.

CD Baby | Amazon

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London Egg and The Silver Liners

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London Egg “If It Takes Forever”
After a pretty retro-flavored debut, London Egg switches gears slightly to add more modern influences. Starting out with a dedication to INXS singer Michael Hutchence, “On Fire” has charging riffs and lead singer Egg channels Mick Jagger with his bluesy snarl.”Touching Eternity” is a little 90’s styled pop-rock gem with a nice shift in chords during the melody.

Production is hugely improved thanks to The Grip Weeds, Kurt Reil. “And Address It To Me” adds an updated Beatles style to the mix with some great harmonies. The jarring “Dance Of Life” is a strange mix of styles; Dylan, Stones and The Grip Weeds. The variety of stylistic approaches may appeal to some, but I found the band succeeds with the pure guitar power pop of “You Get What You Give,” but not with the psyche-lite “Gun.” Fortunately, most of the album is driven by those powerful riffs and simpler rockers like “Our Luv Dance” and the title track. The band has to strike a delicate balance and it accomplishes this on “Boy Do I Remember” reminiscent of  The Small Faces (as if they did Sgt. Peppers). Highly Recommended.

Amazon | CD Baby

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The Silver Liners “Bliss”
The Silver Liners have moved away from guitar based rock of its debut towards a more synth based alternative pop. After hearing “Criminal,” it has more in common with Coldplay than anything else. The vocals are overly smoothed and the echoing stadium style is more something I would hear in my gym than listen to at home.

“Scars” attempts to add the deep drum beat similar to Depeche Mode, it still has a chorus buried amongst the heavy gloss with a female vocal also in the mix. All this tells me is that the band has “sold out” and is pandering to major label “taste-makers.” Not bad for what it is, but it vanishes in a sea of other top 40 electronica pop acts.

The Three O’Clock “The Hidden World Revealed”

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Back in the 80s, the sub-genre of power pop known as “Paisley Underground” movement took shape from the idle comments of  Three O’Clock’s bassist/lead vocalist Michael Quercio. They all belonged to a clique of musicians including The Bangles, Rain Parade and Dream Syndicate who were influenced strongly by the sixties’ psychedelic sound and the jangle of The Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn.

The band (Quercio, drummer Danny Benair, and guitarist/vocalist Louis Gutierrez) only made four albums. The last one on Prince’s Paisley Park label Vermillion included future Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner and is a fascinating story unto itself. Well fast-forward to now and the band reunited to play Coachella last April and then released this 20 track retrospective on Omnivore Records.

It’s a bright shiny revelation to hear the hit “With A Cantaloupe Girlfriend,” with digital clarity and “Jet Fighter” the catchiest of the early hits. What makes The Three O’Clock special and not a retro band, is that they embraced new wave synthesizers and rich production techniques to go with those classic melodies. About 8 tracks have never been heard before and they blend in well with the original material. The fuzzy garage influence is felt only on the earlier demo material like “Jennifer Only” (as the band was originally called The Salvation Army, the best of this material is found here.)

More highlights include the brilliant “Stupid Einstein,” and the hymn turned into a acid trip “Regina Caeli.” They even do a cover of The Byrds “Feel A Whole Lot Better.” This disc does concentrate on the first two LPs, Sixteen Tamborines and Baroque Hoedown – so I expect a second volume is in the works. Overall this is a great intro for new fans and the long time Paisley Underground followers have plenty of alternates and demos to enjoy.

Spider72 and Son of Skooshny

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Spider72 “Seven”
Neo-Psychedelic musician Simon Berry is the force behind pop band Beaulieu Porch and Spider72, so for those of you looking to tune in and trip out, you can’t get much better. “Fathermother” oozes sugary pop goodness on par with Olivia Tremor Control or The Pillbugs and each track following gets groovier. “Devolution” sports a layered riff with multiple vocals hitting each region of the speaker. Simon’s vocal isn’t the strongest, a bit too twee with a touch of Lennon but the melodies and guitar rhythms carry each tune. Taken from a variety of influences with lush production, some real standouts include “Thursday Night Revival” which adds a touch of The Who, and the Pepper-ism “It’s Good To Be Bad.” Occasionally the dense composing gets too thick (“Salavador’s Friends”) but if you love 60’s psyche-pop this is a “must buy.”

Bandcamp only

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Son of Skooshny “Mid Cent Mod” EP
Skooshny frontman Mark Breyer with producer–collaborator Steve Reflingby returns with a damn fine example of roots oriented pop. Starting with the REM meets Elms like “Dizzy” it displays a memorable melody with a full rich sound. The title track “Mid Century Modern” has a touch of that SoCal sound that flows beautifully from one verse to another and the slow deliberate jangle on “Sorry” is an ineffectual plea “three strikes you’re out… I’m no good at apologies.” Each tune tells a vivid story,  the production is flawless and that’s about all you need here. I just wish Mark picked a better band name. Highly Recommended.

Bandcamp | Amazon | CD Baby

Lisa Mychols and Travel Lanes

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Lisa Mychols “Above, Beyond & in Between”
If power pop ever crowned a queen, my vote goes to Lisa Mychols.  Originally “discovered” by The Wondermints, Darian Sahanaja and Nick Walusko who helped release her debut in 1991. She has since been in several bands (The Waking Hours, The Masticators and Nushu) and was usually the best part of them, incorporating her love of 60s and 70s classic pop.

Her latest Above, Beyond & in Between continues the tradition of superb power pop with instrumentalist Tom Richards. The bouncy “Heart Beats In Stereo” is a confident song of girl power, with Tom’s terrific guitar solo in the break. “Taken” has a catchy melody that reminds me of ELO’s “Turn To Stone,” but Lisa really knows how to update the sound of those classic 1960s girl groups. “Make Believe,” and “Summertime Dream” both fall into that category. “Foolin’ The World” has an irresistible rockin’ beat, and “She Lied” is an atmospheric theme that wouldn’t sound out of place in a James Bond title sequence. Each tune resonates, fans of other female power pop artists (The Bangles, Kelly Jones, etc.) will want to get this one. Easily one of the best albums this year with “the melodies that kick your ass in stereo.”

Travel Lanes “Hey, Hey, It’s Travel Lanes!” EP
This Philadephia band follows in the footsteps of Tom Petty and Elvis Costello, as evidenced by the energetic opening “Scared of Girls.” Led by Frank Brown (Flight of Mavis, Buzz Zeemer) he has a knack for melodic songcraft and intelligent songwriting. Even a deceptively simple tune like “Rainy Day” is compelling with its tropical rhythm. “Delinquent” is a very much in the Costello /Nick Lowe style and invites repeat listens. “Let You Down” adds a heavier Deep Purple-type of riff to close things out. Overall an excellent EP you need to hear.

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