Category: Top Ten of 2011 Candidate

This is the David Mead that I’ve been waiting for. After raising the funds through Kickstarter, David has released one of the most intricately crafted pop albums of the year. We meet a collection of  Dudes through each musical narrative starting with “I Can’t Wait.” The warm melody bubbles with optimism; “I can’t wait to get up/ get out of bed/my mind is filled with words you said.” It then rocks out to the Paul Simon styled bounce of “King Of The Crosswords” and “Bocce Ball.” Both songs have smart, descriptive lyrics that show a whimsical portrait in time. And it wouldn’t be  Mead album without a slow ballad, here “Tell Me What I Gotta Do” just drips with desperation and hopelessness. The theme that wraps each song up is the title track, “Dudes” a celebration of male friendships. The heaviest guitar riffs scream out on the rocker “Happy Birthday, Marty Ryan” and it’s sure feels like bar room party at the chorus. The albums poignant high point comes on “The Smile of Rachael Ray,” where loneliness during the holidays season come into focus.

This is surely the finest Mead album since his debut, not that his discography lacks excellence – but the concept album here is exceptionally cohesive and not a note of filler is visible. On top of all this Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne) produced the album, so the mixing is perfect as well. Overall a great antidote for all that lame holiday music.

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P.S. That is all for my year 2011 album reviews, there were so many good albums this year – I’ll be doing a top 25 On Christmas Day. I will start the New Year with some great albums that I got just a bit too late to add to my year ending list.The remainder of this week’s reviews will focus on my favorite Christmas music! 

Previous albums from Robbers On High Street made comparisons to Spoon, but four years later things have changed. With Hey There Golden Hair, they dive head first into Beatlesque power pop. The opener “Hollow Hill” is a perfect example of taking elements of Fab Four style and crafting something new and wonderful. There is not a single dud on the album, mixing Hammond Organ, fuzz guitar riffs and horns to melodic perfection. Other 60’s and 70’s stylistic touches are sprinkled throughout, as “Crystal Run” and “Electric Eye” are legit hits if they made the radio. And the band does not let up as “Second Chance” chorus bounces along, and the psychedelic “Face In The Fog” has a brilliant hand-clapping rhythm section with organ break.

If anyone ever tells you retro-styled rock is played out, have them listen to this album and specifically the funk beats and staccato guitar riffs of “Hey Unbelievers” or the driving urgency on “Monkey.” Vocalist Ben Trokan has the perfect vocal rasp for the groovy tunes here with some fine songwriting as well. It feels like a band very comfortable in its own skin, letting its hair down. Fans of late sixties rock and pop need this album. It is a rare power pop triumph that earns a nomination to this years top ten.

The debut album of this Sydney Australian band showed promise last year, and now it comes through in a big way. “I Told You I Was Poor” is a dizzying pop number, that starts with harpiscord a la Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” and adds jarring heavy rock riffs in main chorus. The Queen-like guitar touches and hooks are catchy as heck, and the album doesn’t miss a beat with the bouncy “Capsize” with it’s baroque composition and heavenly harmonies.

The highlights keep coming and the sunny melodies of “Gateway To The Stars” are contrasted by the cantata “Rat Poison,” that sounds like it belongs in a Sweeny Todd musical. Nothing predictable here, fans of 10cc will simply love the quirky “Turnstyle” and an evil point of view is expressed on “I Was Drunk,” with our protagonist giving the excuse for rotten behavior. The ballads here are also well written with lead vocal Stanton Marriott giving us the poignant “Becoming My Old Man.” The term Psychomorphism refers to the attribution of feelings to animals and inanimate objects. No filler either and it looks like The Wellingtons are going to have to make room for another Aussie power pop band that gets my top ten of 2011 nomination.