Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Rooftop Screamers and Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors

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Rooftop Screamers

Rooftop Screamers “Vol.1”

Throwback Suburbia drummer and songwriter Mike Collins gathers a great cabal of pop talent for this pet project. Kyle Vincent sings lead on the opener “Sign Me Up” a dramatic rocker with a ringing guitar hook in the chorus. Not all of these artists are famous names, but they all do a great job singing Collins’ songs.

Geoff Metts cranks up the twang and his grizzled vocal on “Have Mercy” and Ken Stringfellow (The Posies) delivers the wistful ballad “Roses Again.” Andrew Paul Woodworth adds some reverb to the superb “Get Outta Your Way,” full of layered Beatlesque jangle. Kim Wayman’s “Your Ghost” makes great use of spooky slide guitar and her smokey whisper. The remaining tracks don’t hit as high, but come darn close. Highly Recommended.

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Ryan Hamilton and The Traitors

Ryan Hamilton and The Traitors “The Devil’s in the Detail”

Fresh-faced Ryan Hamilton burst on the scene with his impressive “Hell Of A Day” and then recently changed his entire look (George Harrison?) and teamed up with his new band The Traitors for this LP I missed last year. Thankfully, his fast-paced rocking style hasn’t changed much, as “Smarter” chugs along on its heavy riffs, as he’s “a little bit smarter and a whole lot older.”

“We Never Should Have Moved To LA” is a solid story-themed song with a slick sound, and “Anywhere”  utilizes a quick rhyming lyric to contrast the rhythm. “Scottish Mud” turns up the guitars again, with another great hook. The slower songs have a slight country twang to them, “Back In Time” and “Cheaters Never Change” and they are a good break from the hard rockers we heard earlier. Once again, Ryan doesn’t display any filler and other highlights include; “The Gulf of Mexico” and “Strength In Numbers.” A wonderfully balanced album with a profanity-laced rocker hidden at the end. Highly Recommended. And a live EP followed that up. Keep it coming, Ryan!

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The Shellye Valauskas Experience and Anchor & Bear

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The Shellye Valauskas Experience

The Shellye Valauskas Experience “History of Panic”

In 1999, power pop veteran Dean Falcone (The Excerpts with Jon Brion) paired up with singer-guitarist Shellye Valauskas. As the Shellye Valauskas Experience, the debut album The History of Panic has been in the works for many years, and it sounds worth the wait. They are aided by Jon Auer (The Posies, Big Star) and drummer Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention, XTC, Nick Drake, Paul McCartney).

The opener “Do Over” is a rich, meticulously multi-layered single anchored by Shellye’s crisp vocal style and some great chord changes. “Gravity” has a sweetly smooth chorus, very much like Aimee Mann but with a lot less detached angst. I could not find a bit of filler here, as the style varies from the bouncy “Cracked Up” to a quiet folky version of Cheap Trick’s “Mandocello.” And the band rocks out on the grand “Leftover Mistake,” one of the best songs here. Highlights include “Cheap Shot” and the final track “Tuck Me In,” which is brimming with good feeling. Highly Recommended.

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Anchor and Bear

Anchor & Bear “Raincoats and Gold”

Remember Paul Starling? Well, this year Paul (aka Brian Bringelson) has paired up with Katy Pearson to form Anchor & Bear. The strong guitars contrast well with Katy’s high tenor on the opener “Hard To Say You’re Sorry.” Next the jangling goodness of “Green Shoe Girl” make it a big highlight here, with its catchy duet and guitar arpeggio. The solid “Singer Out of Work” has Katy doing a deeper vocal, with a descriptive lyric full of contrasts “I’m a lover /I’m a sinner /I’m a straight shot in reverse.”

The music feels along the lines of Belle & Sebastian, with forceful melodies like “Started To Leave” and “Walking Around” which uses some nice Motown-like rhythms. Brian’s introspective solo songs work well like “Words,” but the more dramatic setups like “Here Comes The Night” are less memorable. Some songs just meander around like “Gunfight” without much structure, but when it comes together like on “Blueprints” it’s pretty good. Check it out!

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The Blank Pages and Mark Lane

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The Blank Pages

The Blank Pages “Before The Summer Fades”

New Jersey native Greg Potter and bandmates have been making great music for over 25 years. It’s the perspective of middle age that drives the lyric here, “Take The Stage” shows both eager enthusiasm and the trepidation that a band on the stage won’t be playing forever, so leave your mark. “She’s Got The Knack” is a great song with the bouncing melody, with some wonderful guitar work on the edges of the chorus. Blank Pages’ sound is a unique blend of old school (Big Star) and modern pop (Sloan) highlighted by clean harmonies and sharp guitars.

Potter’s self-doubts are put to music on “It Is What It Is” and “Make Up Your Mind.” The jangling guitars are prominent on “High Flyer,” but a lyrical narrative takes a while to reach the chorus. Other themes are about losing friends, lovers, and memories to father time. “That’s Too Bad” has a great Andy Partridge vibe to it. Not everything resonates but most of it does, making it one of The Blank Pages best efforts. Highly Recommended.

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Mark Lane

Mark Lane “New Memory”

It’s been almost five years since LA artist Mark Lane has delivered a new album. Unlike his early works, these are longer and more fleshed out. ”Takin’ That Ride” has a dense 80’s style guitar hook, then the piano-based “Something Grand” is a slow-burning gem with great guitar flourishes like Steely Dan mixed with Harry Nilsson. “After The Comma” keeps this style as it all leads to more brilliant riffs. A more traditional power pop guitar is up-front on “Too Far Into You,” with a steady bass rhythm.

“Greet The Day” is another solid tune that resembles Tom Petty a bit with a sing-along chorus. The stylistic changes here are subtle from song to song but so smooth as not to distract from the listening experience. In an album full of standouts “Bend the Strings” and “Open Road” have an epic folk-rock feel, but overall there is no filler here. Happy to say this is my first top ten album for 2018, so savor it.

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The Foreign Films and The Tonighters

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The Record Collector

The Foreign Films “The Record Collector”

Commanded by Bill Majoros and assisted by a collection of musicians like Steve Eggers (The Nines), Carl Jennings, and the late Wim Oudijk to name a few, The Record Collector is an expansive box set.

Like Robert Harrison’s (Cotton Mather) recent I-Ching song cycle, the music is varied in style and touches several themes. There are six sides to the entire project and many songs can be heard on Bandcamp. The vinyl version includes 3 records and a 12 page booklet with a short story “Emily Blue and The Star on The Moon.” The songs all relate to the story of a lonely star-struck girl and her adventures.

Starting With “Shadow in The Light” it builds to a solid chorus, with lots of energy, but then we hit the ELO-like epic “The Sun Will Shine Again” as it slowly wraps around you with its harmonies and guitar solos, it feel like an album finale in “Let It Be” fashion, not a second song. “Junior Astronomer’s Club” has a swirling psyche-pop feel, Majors vocals are soft and brimming with earnestness. The harmonies are extraordinary, for example on “Cinematic Kiss (in Dreams).”

At points the psychedelics approach Pink Floyd proportions like on “Emily Blue,” and “Emily’s Dream Sequence” but its the power pop gems here that will ring your bell. Some great ones early on are “Broken Dreams,” and “Lucky Streak.” There are a few outlier pop songs like “Land of 1000 Goodbyes” with guest Kori Pop delivering with her silken vocals. Kori and Bill make a great duet on “State of The Art.” There are elements of Bowie-like glam, folk-pop, and blues sprinkled throughout, but with 31 tracks it’s a lot to take in. As a passion project, this succeeds because Majoros puts a lot of craftsmanship into each musical phrase and the overall story. A concept album can be like a large meal, you take in each morsel and savor it. Highly Recommended.

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The Tonighters “Kathleen Rose” EP

A new UK band from Newcastle that has a great power pop sound. Check out the opener “Kathleen Rose” and the acoustic “Flower.” Lead singer Billy G does a crackerjack job. I can’t wait to hear more — someone sign this guy to a label! Listen and hope downloads are coming soon.

They Might Be Giants and Daniel McGeever

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They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants “I Like Fun”

Over the course of their 30-plus year career, prolific pop experimentalists John Flansburgh and John Linnell have always been a little obsessed with death and the macabre, but on I Like Fun, it’s an overt theme – and every track touches it. Starting with “Let’s Get This Over With” a piano rhythm and pounding bass drum, sets up the bouncy lyric ”Even when you’re out of work/you still have a job to do.” It then jumps into the big single “I Left My Body” which is classic TMBG (the album was even recorded in the same Manhattan location as their classic 1990 LP Flood,) with its harmonies and catchy melody.

The band can still rock out “An Insult To The Fact Checkers” and the power pop of “The Bright Side” proves the guitar riffs still belongs on a TMBG album. But there is plenty of weirdness here, from the classical piano stylings of “Mrs. Bluebeard” to the nerdy dance pop “Push Back The Hands.” And while some of it sounds gimmicky (“The Greatest”) there are more than enough memorable songs like the “Last Wave,” a final statement on the subject; “We die alone, we die afraid… and the grave is the loneliest place.” In another artists hands, this album could sound like a funeral dirge, but with the Johns you get a lively party.

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Daniel McGeever

Daniel McGeever “Cross The Water”

McGeever is a pop singer/songwriter who builds perfect dramatic song structures using classic tools of the trade: guitar and piano. The opener “Julia” builds a mid-tempo love song that recalls Elton John or Paul McCartney with a chorus brimming with sweet harmonies. The emotional appeal of McGeever’s music also reminds me of Graham Gouldman or Gilbert O’ Sullivan. The album starts out hopeful, “Life’s A Game” has McGeever belt out the chorus, and it leads to the wistful “Wedding Day,” with its nostalgic feel.

On tracks like “Return” the piano takes on a slight baroque quality, but as the album continues the compositions are more classical folk like “For Violet.” Most of the album is love balladry, but the best romantic gem here is “Our Love Will Remain” and McGeever’s double-tracked harmonies are especially good. “It’s Not Over All Yet” finishes our story with a six-minute epic Billy Joel meets David Gates flourish, dramatically stating “in the face of adversity there is always a little hope.” A great romantic album that stands up to multiple listens, and highly recommended.

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