Baby Scream and Great Northern


Baby Scream “Ups and Downs”
Baby Scream is a London based band originally formed by Juan Mazzola in Argentina. Mazzola has an affection for several classic pop influences like The Byrds, John Lennon, and The Replacements. The album goes through many moods, from fast tempo punk guitars of “Everyday (I Die a Little Bit)” to the mid tempo jangle of “Suddenly,”and then the somber Jeff Lynne-like ballad “One More Chance.” All 8 songs are full of great classic hooks and interesting chord changes that I know pop fans will cherish. Juan’s vocals have the same gentle delivery of Lennon and the melodic qualities are excellent here. Lead guitarist Cristian Basualdo does a great job here too, as the duo recall Let It Be-era Lennon-McCartney on a pair of tracks (“The Riots” and “Ups and Downs”). The ending track, “Morning Light” owes much to Big Star and Badfinger, the music coming from a deeply emotional place. I would also encourage you to look for the follow up Monsters EP. This one is a short album, but you won’t be disappointed here — this is highly recommended to power pop fans.

MySpace | CD Baby| Baby Scream site


Great Northern “Remind Me Where the Light Is”
It’s been a while since I last heard from Great Northen. Sharply produced and highly polished, the singer/songwriting duo of Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte sound tighter and more focused on hitting the commercial sweet spot here. The album starts off strong with “Story” and it’s immediately clear that the catchy beats and multi-tracked chorus angles along the lines of Depeche Mode and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Then the track “Houses” hits us with Rachel Stolte’s smooth sensuous delivery, it recalls both Spinerrette and PJ Harvey. Then the album gets even better with “Fingers” full piano-driven, string-laden pop rock – this is the high point. After that arrangements start to get too thick, the track “Mountain” manages to channel both Abba and Enya. Unfortunately, the album doesn’t even stay that consistent. For every good track, like “Warning” you get the snooze-fests like “Driveway” and “Numbers” sounds like forced album filler. The pulsing synths and wails of “33” didn’t work and I found myself going back to the albums’ first half. This would have been an excellent EP.

MySpace | Itunes

Listen to “Houses” or  DOWNLOAD the FREE MP3

Tinted Windows are almost here…


Main stream press has picked up the ball on this group that wowed the crowd at SXSW. Read Tony Sachs article about them here.

“How We Survive”, Grand Atlantic’s new album mixed by Magoo (Midnight Oil, An Horse, Regurgitator) set for release June 2009. These guys had a great debut album, so I expect more greatness to follow. Also the group has released it’s new single and you can download it now. Download “She’s A Dreamer” here.

Concert Review: Splitsville

I had the good fortune to attend a concert sponsored by The New York Power Pop Page and see Splitsville perform some magic on the small stage at Kenny’s Castaways. Unfortunately I missed Joey Salvia’s set, but heard two female pop acts – The Trouble Dolls and Amanda Kaletsky. They kept the crowd mellow and polite for the most part, until the main event: Splitsville. The band took the stage and rocked out with hits like “Headache”, “Ponce DeLeon” and “The Love Song Of B. Douglas Wilson” among others. Matt Huseman sweated out a great performance that included many songs from band’s early Greenberry Woods days. Brandt Huseman lead vocals on a few tunes and plenty of humor between songs. Keyboard/bassist Paul Krysiak also did a great job. Lead Guitarist Tony Waddy made it look effortless, although he confided in me that he was exhausted. A trusted source from the band let it slip that the group are currently writing a sequel to their award-winning “Pet Soul” LP. I can imagine all of you pop fans salivating already, but more information/demos will be reported when I find out.

The Disciplines "Smoking Kills"

I was listening to this new Norwegian glam garage rock band The Disciplines and thinking “it’s pretty good, hard guitar riffs pounding drums and a lead singer that snarls and screams like Henry Rollins in a bad mood..” then I looked at the liner notes and did a double take. Lead Vocals: Ken Stringfellow. The Posies Ken Stringfellow? Holy crap. Well I guess Ken wanted to explore this side of his musical personality, nothing wrong with that. If you are looking for a tougher version of The White Stripes or Jet then you’ve come to the right place. Ken teamed up with the Norwegian band Briskeby consisting of drummer Claus Larsen, bassist Baard Helgeland and guitarist Bjorn Bergene, and they quickly developed this aggressive style. The group struts it’s stuff with the opener “Your For The Taking” and summons some glam goodness with “Get It Right.” After a few listens it reveals Ken’s melodic tendencies underneath all those riffs, on “Best Mistake” and “Falling Knives.” I guess it’s a trend to do harder stuff, after all it seems to work for the recent Superdrag album, but this doesn’t feel forced at all. More highlights include, “Hurricane” and the retro flavored “Like So Many Times Before.” Both the latter song and “No Vacancy” comes closer to The Posies sound that any of the previous tracks. The songwriting here aims for both the head and the heart and succeeds in bringing across the message with a ballsy gusto once reserved for guys like Ian Astbury (The Cult). Kool Kat Musik is having a special on this album, you get an exclusive 13-song “Live in Finland” album with each order. For these tough times, sometimes power pop has to get tough. 

My Space | Second Motion Records | Pre-order from Kool Kat Musik