Girl in a Coma and The Calico Brothers


Girl in a Coma “Trio B.C.”
This Texas band, composed of sisters Nina and Phanie Diaz (on vocals and guitar and drums, respectively), and bassist Jenn Alva was launched in 2007 with support from Blackheart Records (Joan Jett’s label). The Diaz sisters chose Trio B.C. as the album title because it was the name of their grandfathers tejano band in a the 50s. Nina Diaz vocals really stand out here, like a mix of Jett, Lene Lovich and Chrissie Hynde. The album is full of punk rock energy, great examples of this are “Static Mind” and “Baby Boy.” The soulful songs “Vino” and “El Monte” show a maturing band hitting it’s stride. The highlight of the album hits with “Pleasure and Pain” full of guitar hooks and harmonies through a crunchy guitar buzz. “Joannie In The City,” the is lone track produced by Joan Jett and is full of aggressive and addictive guitar hooks and a driving bassline that drives the song into your brain. The band takes influences from many sources (new wave, punk, rockabilly) and still pushes through it’s Latin identity, most notably on “Ven Cerca.” Keep your eyes on these women — they know how to rock without faking it.


MySpace | Amazon


Calico Brothers “Tell It to the Sun”
In the farway land of Waitakere, New Zealand, the Calico Brothers broke into the modern music scene in 2008 with their debut EP, God Left Town. In the basement studio, Chet O’Connell (guitar), Jimmy Calico(bass) and Robbie Calico(drums) finished their debut full length “Tell It To The Sun.” This is gentle folk pop with a country twist, and it opens with the shimmering title track, complete with harmonica and slide guitar riffs. The wonderful songwriting pulls this album above the ordinary with the Lennonesque “Is There Anyone There?” and “Up For Air.” Fans of Wilco, Jayhawks, America and CSN will surely enjoy the wonderful harmonies and subtle Telecaster sound. The low key ballads are not that exciting, but the mid tempo pop gems more than make up for it. “Tread Carefully” sounds like a Gerry Beckley classic and “Weight Around My Heart” is another well written single. The heavy echo effects on “Always Said I’d Do” distract a little from the melody, but it’s still a keeper. This is a fairly successful album, with perfect rural pop songs for a sunny day.


MySpace | CD Baby

Simon Felton "Failing In Biology"

So I guess Jeremy isn’t the only label exec that can play a tune? Pink Hedgehog Records’ owner Simon Felton has his own debt out now. No stranger to this, he’s also the bass player for the band Garfields Birthday. Simon is assisted by both Anton Barbeau and Alan Strawbridge (Lucky Bishops/Cheese) and that’s considerable pop muscle! The album sounds a bit like The Spongetones “lite”, especially the opener “Mister Magic Eyes” with it’s jangley pop guitar strumming. Some of the songs have a slight psychedelic touch like “Paisley Man” and it reminds me a bit of Gerry and The Pacemakers. Another highlight is the warm and fuzzy “The Latest Thing” which is a subtle dig at newer bands lack of success, done in a Beatlesque style. Another fun observation is the song “(It’s Not) Rocket Science,” which opens with the line: “In the time it takes to sing this song/You could probably write a better one.” The entire album was recorded in six days on a very tight budget. You wouldn’t notice this as the musicianship is excellent, but the hooks aren’t as strong as they could be here. The slower ballads “Wait And See” and “Goodbye” are a bit too placid to be memorable either.  Compared with Garfield’s Birthday, the album is admittedly lightweight. But for fans of jangle pop and soft AM radio classics you will find plenty to like here.

MySpace | Simon Felton.com | Kool Kat Musik

The Resonars "That Evil Drone"

Tucson, Arizona power pop veterans of the retro 60s sound, The Resonars last year put out one of my favorite albums entitled Nonetheless Blue. Their latest release, That Evil Drone, shows that the last album was no fluke. Much like its predecessor, The Resonars sound is focused on psychedelia in the Beatles Revolver-era. The chiming guitars and vocal harmonies of “World Apart” will thrill you. The fast paced fun of “No Black Clouds Float By” builds on the Monkees styled jangle and hyper-guitar solos between the chorus. Leader singer/songwriter Matt Rendon has absorbed every significant guitar style of the sixties era from McGuinn to Hendrix to Clapton. I’m not sure if The Pillbugs continue as a group, but The Resonars are rightly worthy of the crown for retro-pop this year (sorry, El Goodo it was close but they take it). “Run Kodiak Run” is an excellent instrumental with driving fuzz guitars, Rickenback lead and slightly distorted bass. “No Horizon” is another catchy gem, along the lines of New Colony Six and Paul Revere and The Raiders. By mid album, with “Black Breath” and “She Did” it shows more garage roots, similar to The Seeds sound. “Bird Using Bird” has that smokey blues feel that the Yardbirds used to do so well. And another instrumental, “Yes Grosvenor” is simply a masterful guitar exercise. That Evil Drone is an amazing album, considering that their music is technically complicated and spot on accurate to the period.

MySpace | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame

Listen to “No Black Clouds Float By”

Lane Steinberg "Passion & Faith"

Sometimes with Lane Steinberg, it’s a box of chocolates. You’re never really sure what you’ll get. On his third solo album “Passion and Faith”, you mix equal parts John Lennon, Adrian Belew, Anton Barbeau and Brazilian progressive. The juxtaposition of Lane’s pop songs and four covers of songs by the Clube da Esquina songwriters from 70’s era Minas Gerais, Brazil, all sung by Lane in their native Portuguese makes for a strange brew. At one point someone thought I had two different albums playing at once. The Brazilian songs aside, Lane’s echoing vocals and guitar in “What Do I Do With The Rest Of My Life?” works well as a light psyche pop song with strange effects (babies crying) in the background. The sweet sound of “Happy Holidaze” has a bit of hushed XTC anglo-pop, next “How Insensitive” plays like a psychedelic, droning Sisters of Mercy goth pop with a mash-up of two different rhythms. “Christmas In Peru” is a casual, Rundgren-like coffee house ditty. Then we travel to a British music hall in “Why Can’t People Just Talk about the Weather?” But the centerpiece of the album, however, is a 21-minute jam of the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star” with Lane playing all the instruments himself, recreating the Dead’s golden era with uncanny accuracy, yet in his own personal style. This will be a challenge to most listeners expecting clean, familiar power pop and although I appreciate much of the Brazilian songs, they don’t match up well against the anglo-pop stuff here. The parts here work better than the sum, but the musicianship is so absorbing, I wouldn’t pass this one up. 

PASTE Magazine: Don’t stop the presses


Paste Magazine is on the verge of disappearing. This isn’t unique to music magazines. We’ve already seen a handful of great ones disappear recently (Blender, No Depression). On May 14, Decatur-based Paste magazine, dedicated to highlighting “signs of life in music, film and culture,” asked its readers for help in weathering a particularly rough economic patch. Out of all the music publications left, Paste is the last great print refuge for music lovers and I would hate for it to go away. Click on the ad to donate, and you’ll get a 70+ downloads for your trouble.