Author: powerpopaholic

What did I miss? The Elbow Patches, The Goods, Ryan Allen

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The days have gotten away from me, and I need to review some 2026 stuff this weekend. But here is another look at some of last year’s great music I did not review in time. 

The Elbow Patches

The Elbow Patches “Achingly Familiar”

John Dunbar was working on a new LP for his band, The John Sally Ride but with the sudden passing of legendary bass player, Sal Maida, earlier in the year he vowed to end that band and The Elbow Patches was formed. The jangle and melodic fuzz of the opener “You Can’t Kid Yourself” is a great start. Next the Byrdsian strums of “The Day Got Away From Me” is just comfort food for my ears. Dunbar’s sardonic side is kept in check, aside from tracks like “Who Doesn’t Hate Each Other?” Although there seems to me a sense of resignation in his songwriting. With its retro late 60s style, each track resonates, and like his other musical projects it’s certainly highly recommended.

Amazon


The Goods

The Goods “Don’t Spoil The Fun”

This should have been a bit higher on my list, Oakland band The Goods have a mellow melodicism on the opener “April Fools” akin to late period Monkees. You’ll hear that magic on “Sunday Morning Out of The Blue.” They also have a dense chiming jangle akin to Dropkick on many songs. But add those harmonies and you’ve got something special, like on “Raining” and “Me and My Ghost.” The album is also consistent with its style and quality songwriting. No filler here at all.  After a few spins, this will stick with you. Super Highly Recommended.

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Tulpa

Ryan Allen “Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge”

Ryan Allen came out with 2 albums in 2025. Both are excellent and Allen just continues to get better and sounds like he’s having fun doing it.  ‘One Week Off’ is like an experiment in churning out demos, like Robert Pollard on a 4-track. Great as this album is, ‘Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge’ feels more deliberate and the songwriting feels more thought out. It also allows thoughtful moments like “Anxious All The Time” and punkier excursions like “Devil’s Juice.” Some tune are just fun like “Spider Sally” while others are driving pop jams like “So What Who Cares.” It’s a very well rounded album that really showcases Allen’s talent. Highly Recommended.

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What did I miss? Fortitude Valley, Liquid Mike, The Vapors

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Yeah, I will spend this week reviewing a few albums I missed in 2025.

Fortitude Valley

Fortitude Valley “Part Of The Problem, Baby”

Fortitude Valley’s album “Part Of The Problem, Baby” has received praise for its infectious power-pop sound, which features melodic and catchy hooks throughout its ten tracks. The album explores personal themes of growth and distance, with lead vocalist Laura Kovic drawing similarities to Rachel Sweet and Karla Kane (Corner Laughers). The musicianship here is tight and supports Kovic’s lead effectively. This was added to my Top 25 list, so check out the popular singles “Totally” and “Don’t You Wanna Be Near Me” Highly recommended!

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“Liquid

Liquid Mike “Hell is an Airport”

Marquette, Michigan heavy power pop band returns and Liquid Mike’s “Hell Is An Airport” keeps things moving along with short songs loaded with hooks, which makes them stick in your head right away. Like early Green Day, tunes like “Double Dutch” just grab you with its energy and driving riffs. Other great tunes include “Groucho Marx” and “Claws.” The album’s humorous theme is about feeling stuck in life and how everyday stuff just drags on, in a monotonous way. The lyrics are self deprecating, like the band poking fun at themselves, and that goes with their energetic sound really well. It all feels relatable, but overall some songs tend to sound a bit too similar to each other. Still, pound for pound one of the best heavy guitar bands with melody out there. Highly Recommended.

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The Vapors

The Vapors “Wasp In A Jar”

“Wasp in a Jar,” released early in the year, veteran indie rockers The Vapors’ album showcases their signature punk-pop sound with energetic tracks like “Hit the Ground Running” and “Nonstop Radio.” These guys still can rock pretty hard, and the social commentary of “The Human Race” blends the hooks well. David Fenton is the lead singer, and he probably will not hit those big pop moments from “Turning Japanese” anymore. Still, he writes solid hooks, I feel like on “Forever & Ever” and “The Words” especially. This is another album that just charms you with its songs. Overall, a strong return for the band that has always been criminally under-rated. Check it out!

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The Power Popaholic Top 25 EPs of 2025

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Each year I need to explain that an EP to me is more than 2 songs and less than 10 songs. Many great EPs came out last year, and a late entry that literally “slipped under my radar” was Robert Harrison’s return as Future Clouds and Radar. As part of the memorable power pop juggernaut Cotton Mather, he has always been a special talent. He ranks high this year, and also of note; the band Shake Some Action appears in both my album and EP list.

    1. The Vibeke Saugestad Band “The Sun Sessions”
    2. Future Clouds and Radar “Big Weather”
    3. Peter Baldrachi “Nothing’s Promised”
    4. The Glad Machine “All the Pretty Things”
    5. Flutter “When You Love Somebody”
    6. Shake Some Action “Running Out of Places to Run”
    7. Autos “Autos”
    8. Hexham Heads “Hexham Heads”
    9. The Rallies “Rallies ’25 (The Singles EP)”
    10. Mikayla Geier “HOT POT”
    11. Friends of Cesar Romero “All Goodbyes Aren’t Bad Cause This Goodbye Is For Good”
    12. Randy Klaxon “Sunday’s Child”
    13. The Jacks “Box”
    14. Doublevee “Periscope at Midnight”
    15. The Photocopies “Treacherous”
    16. Geoff Palmer “Kodak Flash”
    17. Clean Lines “Nuisance”
    18. Corin Ashley “EP #1”
    19. Skeleton Staff “Hepto-Altruism”
    20. Svenssen “The Making of Art”
    21. Moonspin “When You’re Around”
    22. J. Fla “Moon Eater”
    23. The Needmores “Side X Side”
    24. King Hüsky “King Hüsky”
    25. Elena Rogers “Songs About Me”

 

The Power Popaholic Top 25 albums of 2025 + More

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Power pop in 2025 sits in a strange place. While power pop encourages exploration, streaming platforms prioritize familiarity. When you go beyond algorithms and follow authors, labels, live performances, and reliable listeners, you discover the best tunes. The music is still driven by short hooks, crisp melodies, and emotional clarity, but the voices seem more expansive than before.

This list exists to point you toward new bands, overlooked records, and albums you missed while relying on algorithms. You will disagree with the order, and you should. If you find one new artist you love, the list did its job.

The audience is also constantly evolving. Songs that recreate the excitement they had decades ago are what devoted listeners crave. New listeners want energy without excess and lyrics that feel human. Power pop meets both needs by staying focused on craft. A great chorus still matters. And as always… strong melody still wins.

This year I actually had to cut more albums out off my list to keep it at 75, and I did not want to expand it to 100 this year (that may change next year.) Anything I did not directly review that is on my list (a few) I will highlight in the next 2 weeks as part of the “albums I missed.” Overall, more music has been flooding my inbox and “separating the wheat from the chaff” becomes more important each year.

  1. Sloan “Based on The Best Seller”
  2. The Gnomes “Introducing… The Gnomes”
  3. Joe Giddings “Stories With Guitars”
  4. The High Frequencies “The High Frequencies”
  5. The Grip Weeds “Soul Bender”
  6. Chris Lund “Surveillance”
  7. The Toxhards “Your Neighborhood”
  8. Sharp Pins “Balloon Balloon Balloon”
  9. The Wellingtons “Baby Moon”
  10. Ricky Byrd “NYC Made” 
  11. Nick Frater “Oh Contraire!”
  12. Iain Hornal “Return to the Magic Kingdom”
  13. The Lolas “Big Hits and Freak Disasters”
  14. Sorrows “Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow”
  15. Eureka Machines “Everything”
  16. The Bablers “Like The First Time”
  17. Greg Pope “The Roar of Silence”
  18. The Prize “In The Red”
  19. The Jellybricks “Dreaming in Stereo”
  20. Bird Streets “The Escape Artist”
  21. Cheap Trick “All Washed Up”
  22. Davey Lane “Finally, A Party Record”
  23. Cody Piper “Revealed”
  24. Silk Cut “Corridors of Light”
  25. Beauty “I’d Do Almost Anything For You”
  26. The Modbeats “Ballad of a Starving Artist”
  27. Benny J. Ward “SUPER!”
  28. Enuff Z’nuff  “Xtra Cherries”
  29. The Peppermint Kicks “Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum”
  30. The Honeydogs “Algebra for Broken Hearts”
  31. Eytan Mirsky “All Over the Map”
  32. Danny Ayala “Only Fools Love Again”
  33. The Goods “Don’t Spoil The Fun”
  34. Dom Mariani “Apple of Life”
  35. Humbug “Open Season”
  36. Ryan Allen “Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge”
  37. 20/20 “Back to California”
  38. Small Yards “Small Yards”
  39. Willie Nile “The Great Yellow Light”
  40. Shake Some Action “Top Gear”
  41. Tom Henry “Songs to Sing and Dance To”
  42. Static Jacket “The Grape Lady Falls”
  43. Tristan Armstrong “The Lonely Avenue”
  44. Splitsville “Mobtown”
  45. The Webstirs “High Up In The Trees”
  46. The Nines “Echoes of Past Future”
  47. The Toms “Sound Bytes”
  48. The Minus Five “Oar On, Penelope!”
  49. Vanilla “Cookiewow”
  50. Icecream Hands “Giant Fox Pineapple Tree”
  51. Seth Timbs “Idle Hands”
  52. The Airport 77s “Don’t Let Go”
  53. Shortwaves “Mental Health in the Information Age”
  54. The Black Watch “For All the World”
  55. Dropkick “Primary Colours”
  56. Mary Strand “I Don’t Need Your Permission”
  57. Jim Trainor “Listening To Understand”
  58. Coke Belda “C8ke”
  59. The 1910 Chainsaw Company “Everything’s Better”
  60. Star Collector “Everything Must Go!”
  61. The Davenports “You Could’ve Just Said That”
  62. Fortitude Valley “Part Of The Problem, Baby”
  63. Chris Stamey “Anything Is Possible”
  64. Strange Neighbors “People Pleasers Pleasing People”
  65. Caper Clowns “Without A Safety Net”
  66. Tamar Berk “ocd”
  67. Ok Go “And the Adjacent Possible”
  68. The Campbell Apartment “(510)”
  69. The Dogmatics “Nowheresville”
  70. Vanity Mirror “Super Fluff Forever”
  71. Hidden Pictures “Well Hell”
  72. Rome 56 “Pony Tales”
  73. Glowbox “Bland Ambition”
  74. Them Elephants “Sugar”
  75. The Manic Standstill “Moving”

My favorite “Best of” compilations of 2025

Vegas with Randolph “Drops Of Gold: The Best of Vegas With Randolph”

Nelson Bragg “Mélodie de Nelson: A Pop Anthology”

Jeffrey Foskett “Something There – Remembering Jeffrey Foskett”

Brad Marino “On The Brink”

My favorite Tribute Albums

Various Artists “Play On: A Raspberries Tribute”

Various Artists “Second By Second By Minute By Minute: The Songs of Rick Springfield”

Michael Simmons “Fun Where You Can Find It”

The Well Wishers “Covered II”

Power Popaholic Interview: David Bash

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David Bash (2025)

🎙️ It has been a few years since we last spoke with David Bash, CEO of the International Pop Overthrow Music Festival. In this interview, David looks back on decades of building one of the longest-running indie music festivals anywhere. He also shares where power pop stands heading into 2026 and what artists need to know right now.

You will also hear practical advice for musicians who want to play International Pop Overthrow, from standing out in submissions to understanding what the festival values most. This conversation delivers clear insight from someone who has seen it all.