Category: Top Ten of 2017 Candidate

Plasticsoul and Cotton Mather

powerpopaholic
Plasticsoul

Plasticsoul “Therapy”

Steven Eric Wilson took his sweet time to deliver Plasticsoul’s follow up to Peacock Swagger. The opener “My Heavy Soul” is the calm before the storm, the title track screams out with Wilson’s trademark heavy riffs. “They All Died Pretty” is another melody thick with layered guitars and “In Her Raincoat” adds layered harmonies to the Cheap Trick meets Big Star-like jangle.

For all the greatness of the best Oasis song Noel Gallagher never wrote “Come Down From Your Raincloud,” it takes a few curious twists. The forgettable bossa nova tune “The Girl of Many Tribes,” and the long “King of Hash” resemble Anton Barbeau’s experimental side. Thankfully the fast paced “Monkey On A Stick” brings things back with shades of Led Zepplin, and the fantastic “Keeping A Light On” and “Biff Bang Pow” take it to the next level. Overall, worth the wait and makes my nominee list for best power pop album of 2017. And hopefully, it won’t take another 8 years to deliver another album like this one. Highly Recommended.

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Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather “Wild Kingdom”

Robert Harrison’s mystical songwriting quest to create 64 songs that correspond with the 64 hexagrams of the 3,000-year-old Chinese book “I Ching” continues from last year’s The Death of Cool. The new LP’s opener “The Cotton Mather Pledge” is unapologetically power pop, with a fantastic guitar riff alongside its fuzzy synth and strutting vocals. The songs all vary in style, like the pop hook of “Hide yourself from me…” in the chorus of “Fighting Through” to the brooding, bass-led “High Society” where the instrumentation reaches a blistering piano crescendo.

Overall no real duds, and plenty of great catchy rock in “Better Than A Hit” and “Girl With A Blue Guitar.”  A few songs make an effort to tell a bigger story, like “King William” with its Lennonesque approach or the slow psyche-pop march of “The Army” deserve multiple spins to stick. And that may be the biggest complaint here, as good as it is – no song stands out or digs into your head immediately. Still, a very highly recommended album.

Amazon

James AM Downes and Onesie

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James AM Downes

James AM Downes “Prison Font”

The opener “Bait My Soul” is a sweetly descriptive pop confection, about a girl “with “fuck off” lips and a face so sweet” who gets away with a good hook accented by handclaps. “Not Thinking It Over” is another gem with a jangling rhythm and strong catchy chorus.

The title track has a familiar sounding guitar rhythm (recalling Lennon’s “Mind Games”) but Downes fragile tenor here resembles Mick Hucknall (Simply Red). The strong lyrics and the descending chords in the chorus push the song into “hit” territory. The remaining tracks don’t reach as high, but don’t disappoint either. Overall, James simply has the raw talent that deserves recognition. An impressive debut.

CD Baby | Amazon


Onesie

Onesie “Leos Consume”

Onesie is the musical moniker for Brooklyn-based songwriter Ben Haberland. Stitching together vivid, hooky guitar pop anthems from scraps of Brit pop, punk, and rock, it rocks nicely on its debut Leos Consume. Opening with the terrific gem “Karaoke Killers” full of guitar blasting, hand clapping, hooky goodness. “Credit Score Of 666” has a wicked riff leading the hushed lyric very much like a lost Smash Mouth classic.

And the band doesn’t stick to one style which in this case is a benefit, as it skillfully jumps across genres. “Daytime King” is a little Red Hot Chili Peppers meets Gin Blossoms, and the jangling gem “Hotelekinesis” is sure to encourage dancing. “Husbands in Finance” allows some neat psychedelic instrumentation with its wah-wah guitar lead and climbing bassline.  In fact, it’s impossible to find a bad song here — written with a gusto that even “Ballad Of The Boomerang” struts from its jangly twee roots to a Collective Soul-like power pop. And the frequent guitar breaks just make me love this album more.  A real treat for lovers of melodic rock, it’s both highly recommended and on my list for top ten album of 2017. Don’t miss this one!

Amazon

Cirrone and Curry Cuts’ 007 Tribute

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Cirrone

Cirrone “Kings For A Night” EP

Italy’s Cirrone remains one of Europe’s top power pop bands and it’s great to hear them again. The opening single “All Right All Night” is a dance track that reminded me of 10cc mixed with The Strokes; cool, slick and super catchy. The mid-tempo “Everything’s fine now” is closer to the signature Cirrone sound, and its follow-up “It’s Gonna Be The Right Time” has a smooth bassline and clean backing harmonies with a West Coast rock feel.

The slow building ballad “Unforgotten Dream” again makes a case that the Cirrone brothers are a lost link to the greatness that was Badfinger. It ends on a bouncy note with “Love Comes Again,” and even though the song meanders into bluesy space (a la Pink Floyd) the guitar work is exceptional. What else can I say — another perfect power pop album destined to make my top 10 of 2017.

Amazon


Andy Oliveri and the Mountaineers

Various Artists “Songs, Bond Songs.”

The music of the James Bond movies, like Bond himself, has had a hold on popular culture for over 50 years. The themes of most films have been ingrained into our brain through marketing and repetition over the years — so it makes sense to gather a list of top creative talent to re-interpret them. And like all of Andrew Curry’s compilations over the years, he gets the best power pop artists he can find and they go to work.

Lannie Flowers puts some guitar muscle into the “James Bond Theme” with a few other themes weaved into a John Barry medley of sorts. Another highlight of this collection is that many female-led songs are covered by males here, like The Stereo Twins (“From Russia With Love”) and Jason Berk (“Goldfinger”). Most artists are content to stay faithful to the original, some doing a better job than others; Popdudes (“Live and Let Die”) and Zack Jones (“All Time High”) capture the spirit of the songs perfectly.

Occasionally an artist goes off-script and makes the song much better, like Gary Frenay’s amazing take on “Moonraker” or Lisa Mychol’s high octane “Man With The Golden Gun.” A lot of quieter acoustic versions of themes too, like Wyatt Funderburk’s “Look Of Love” or the Mike Viola techno-ballad version of “Nobody Does It Better.” Other favorites include the duos of Jeff Litman and Andi Rae Healy on “You Only Live Twice” and Durga McBroom & Fernando Perdomo on “License To Kill.” Overall a great music value (26 tracks) and another Highly Recommended collection.

Bandcamp | CD Baby

The Wellingtons and Cait Brennan

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The Wellingtons

The Wellingtons “End of The Summer”

The Wellingtons are back, and I consider them one of the best Australian power pop groups when it comes to consistency of over the past 14 years. The densely layered melodies and strong guitar riffs on “Not Getting What I Want” opens this excellent album, with the happiest statement ever about the disappointment of not being a “rock star” in the Bon Jovi tradition. “Over and Done With” has the sharp duel vocals of Zac and Kate and the familiar subject of breaking up. Kate goes lead on the retro girl-bop “Please Be Nice” and “Making Faces in The Mirror,” and Zac brings the soaring power chords to “No Way Could Fail,” both style approaches are unmistakably fresh.

Each tune is distinctive, even the acoustic strums of the title track, a lovelorn ballad that plays like a split-screen musical number. What is especially satisfying is that the song quality doesn’t let up on the album’s second half. “1963” is a jangling gem and my favorite here the sunshine pop “She Rides The Bus” will just linger in your head for days. This is a great album that deserves your full attention, as it makes my year-end top ten list for 2017. Long live The Wellingtons!

Kool Kat Musik


Cait Brennan

Cait Brennan “Third”

Cait Brennan returns with her crew (and producer Fernando Perdomo) with a soulful croon and creates less of a power pop album but more of a rock-soul combination. “Bad At Apologies” and “Stack Overflow” could’ve been done by Tina Turner back in the day, although the overdubbed backing vocals are a bit much for me. The album title is a nod to Big Star (and Cait recorded it at Ardent Studios in Memphis with the same equipment Alex Chilton and Chris Bell used for those iconic albums.) The wonderful “He Knows Too Much” is a big highlight here, full of power and emotion so as the voice-over says “treat her with respect.”

Lyrically Cait has improved considerably, as the sophisticated “A Hard Man To Love” is both retro and modern with a good hook in the chorus. The Prince-Bowie influences come up on “Caitebots Don’t Cry” and the Ziggy-like “Benedict Cumberbatch” (pronounced “Cumber-bitch.”) Some tunes are catchy gems like “Shake Away,” but the album’s second half is a bit shaky – and tries too hard. However, it ends well with the Elton-like ballad “Goodbye Missamerica.” Overall a worthy follow-up to Cait’s debut.

Amazon

Corin Ashley and Ruby Free

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Corin Ashley

Corin Ashley “Broken Biscuits”

Corin Ashley is glad to be here, and we are glad to have him back. He was deep in the recording process when he suffered a stroke last year. Corin fought back to regain the ability to sing and play guitar again, and amazingly play on stage and finish this album in a single year.

There is something about “Little Crumbles” that reminds me of McCartney’s Back to The Egg. Like Macca at the time, its aggressive rock approach is a celebratory jam of rebirth. “Broken Biscuit #3” is a quick psyche-pop pastiche, then it launches into the gem “Wind Up Boy” with assistance from Tanya Donelly (The Breeders, Belly) which chugs along full of sweet strings and catchy couplets. The Beatle-isms are out in full flourish with “Edison’s Medicine” a not so distant cousin of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”

“Broken Biscuits #9” is the personal story of the struggles that left Corin “in tatters, scattered to the wind.” The combo of bouncy and bitterness on “In Appropriate Fashion” is straight out of the Elvis Costello playbook. Towards the end of the album, the songs are more elaborately constructed, “King Hollow” working quite well, while others seem to linger too long. The six-minute “Jellyfish” isn’t a tribute to the famous band (although there are a few musical cues) but the cruel fate that left him partially paralyzed. Overall a highly recommended album.

CD Baby

Ruby Free

Ruby Free “Shades”

Lisa Cavaliere and singer-songwriter Rick Hromadka make up the duo of Ruby Free and they deliver an even better album on their sophomore effort Shades. They are aided by power pop veterans Joe Giddings (Star Collector), Jim Laspesa (Dave Davies, Susanah Hoffs), and Rick Gallego (Cloud Eleven).

“Take A Ride” is a rollicking road tune with the perfect mix of California attitude and a catchy chorus that makes this a great opener. “Walking Along” is fiendish hooky, like a Steve Miller Band classic that won’t leave your head. “Say Goodnight” and “Owe To The Man” are laid back gems that encourage repeat listens. Lisa also does a very capable solo cover of Karen Carpenter’s “Superstar” and Rick ruminates on the state of modern marriage in “Talk To Me.”

Shades allow both artists to shine together and on solo vocal leads. Styles vary enough from the country ballad “Billboards and Buses” to the Tom Pettyesque “It’s Not Your Dream.” Clearly, no duds here as it earns a spot as a nominee for my top ten for 2017 list. Highly Recommended.

Amazon | CD Baby