The wait is over. And now US residents can finally get Roger Joseph Manning Jr.’s “Catnip Dynamite” on February 3rd. Most are familiar with Roger’s work through such original group endeavors as Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook and TV Eyes. Roger has also assisted artists like Beck and Air both in the studio and in live performances. He has worked as a keyboardist, vocalist, arranger and songwriter in a more behind the scenes capacity with hundreds of other artists. Since his first album “Land Of Pure Imagination” 2 years ago, all of power pop fandom has been hanging onto Roger’s every note. Let’s face it, this is an easy review for me. Without trying to fall over myself in praise — it’s pretty much what fans have come to expect from Roger. Highly detailed pop compositions that hook into your brain from the opening riffs on “The Quickening” to the Moog keyboards on the bouncy single “Down In Front.” Unlike the last effort, there is more of an effort to rock here and approach each pop song with surgical precision that lasts longer than 3 minutes. There is also less flowery pop (a la Carpenters) and more groovy psyche rock with lot of progressive organ flourishes peeking out behind the melodies. You can hear Strawberry Alarm Clock all over “Imaginary Friend” for example. Every track has it’s own unique flavor, and that’s part of the joy in exploring this album. The storytelling element is expanded here on most tracks (i.e. ” Haunted Henry” and “Drive Thru Girl”) with the sound effects adding to the atmosphere too. Toward the albums end, it gets very proggy and preachy a la Tony Banks-era Genesis on “Survival Machine.” The album ends with several live tracks from Japan. Listen to the entire album streaming from Oglio Records. Right now Newbury Comics has a pre-order special with autographed CDs. I expect other vendors (Not Lame, Kool Kat Musik, etc.) will shortly follow in February. If you couldn’t afford the Japanese CD last year, you have no excuse now. This is a “must have” for any music collection.
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