Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Cheap Cassettes and Bloodthirsty Virgins

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The Cheap Cassettes

The Cheap Cassettes “All Anxious, All The Time”

Seattle rockers The Cheap Cassettes come out of the gate with guitars blazing on the title track “All Anxious, All The Time” with a garage styled power pop that recalls The Buzzcocks, Redd Kross and The Jam. Lead vocalist Chaz Matthews has the proper attitude on “My Little Twin” as it charms with a tight melody and thick hook.

The anthemic guitar lines on “Reckless” and “Good And Shitty” almost flirts with punk, but they stay in melodic territory. “Get Low” is a working class love song that sticks just fine, and “Disappear With You” has a bigger jangle component than the other tunes. “Black Vinyl” has the classic boogie rhythm that is tailor made for a live show at The Cavern. Overall its unrefined rock and roll that deserves to be heard. Highly Recommended.

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Bloodthirsty Virgins

Bloodthirsty Virgins “Bloodthirsty Virgins”

Like a lost soundtrack to a vintage movie unearthed, Bloodthirsty Virgins isn’t power pop but a rock guitar added to a jazzy lounge sound. The 5-minute opener “In The End” features fuzzy reverb and the silky vocals of Nikki Wonder.

“The Want Of You” and “Fire” showcase the cinematic and torch song stylings of Wonder, who’s is both subtle and seductive here. “So Wicked” is another highlight that emphasizes these qualities. Overall the guitar texture recalls The Jefferson Airplane without all the psychedelic coverings. This is all thanks to talented guitarist Scott Gorsuch (Lollipop Factory). No real filler and it’s definitely a grower for a quiet night, so turn the lights low and give it a listen.

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Brent Cash and Dana Countryman

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Brent Cash

Brent Cash “The New High”

Brent Cash has been very carefully releasing finely crafted pop albums every ten years or so. On his third album, The New High Brent goes for a very sophisticated softness, on the title track it recalls Van Dyke Parks or Burt Bacharach with its orchestral strings. The great piano melody “Out for Blood” brings to mind a classic Todd Rundgren ballad, and its my favorite here. The lighter “The Wrong Thing” and “Dim Light” break up the heaviness of the earlier tracks. “The Way You Were” has a bit of McCartney mixed into its Wilsonesque melancholy.

While this is all beautiful pop, it has a downbeat and serious theme.”I’m Looking Up” is another gem with swirling chord combinations and harmonies and “Edge Of Autumn” flirts with ELO’s classical style. Highly Recommend.

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Girlville

Dana Countryman “Girlville”

Songwriter/Producer Dana Countryman has written and recorded three albums of his particular brand of “retro-pop” but now he’s taken his high-gloss template to girl groups of the early ’60s. Using a variety of vocalists he sets the mood perfectly with Lisa Mychols, Molly Felder, Kathy Hettel, Tricia Countryman, Julie Johnson Sand, Andrea Perry, Kelly Harland, and Lisa Jenio.

Some brilliant songwriting is found among the gems here, “I’ve Run All Out Of Tears (To Cry Over You)” gets the spirit and its catchy chorus stays with you. In the best tradition of these ballads, all songs are strictly from the girl’s point-of-view.  It also hits the bubble-gum style of “How Do You Know When You Love A Boy?” and “Bom Sh’Bom Sh’Bom.” Audiophiles will have a ball picking up each Brill Building cue and reference. However, with 19 tracks it could have used a bit of editing – my guess is Dana was having too much fun here. Fans of the early girl-band era must get this one.

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The Jigsaw Seen and Thorcraft Cobra

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The Jigsaw Seen

The Jigsaw Seen “For The Discriminating Completist”

For The Jigsaw Seen, this career-spanning retrospective encompasses tracks originally released over their entire career that was previously unavailable. Out of the gate is the fuzz guitar version of Sinatra’s “The Best Is Yet To Come,” sure to please. The catchy gem “Celebrity Interview” has a great riff in the chorus, and the dense instrumentation on a cover of the Bee Gees “Melody Fair” make these songs stick in your head.

While not everything is a gem, there are enough unique melodies here, from the psyche-pop of “When You’re Pretty” to the twisted guitar lead on Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk” to make this a “must hear” collection. Highly Recommended.

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Thorcraft Cobra

Thorcraft Cobra “The Distance”

Despite the colorful name (after a vintage amp), this band is the songwriting duo Billy Zimmer (Brown Eyed Susans) and Tammy Glover (Sparks). No surprise here, the songwriting is excellent and the openers “Carolina” and “Uncoupling” have a mellow start but build to pop perfection with great chords.

“Killing Time” is comparable to a next-generation Fleetwood Mac song, and “No One Believes Her” has a great classic rock energy. It takes a bit more patience for the four-minute-plus songs like “Fade To White” and “It’s OK” but they are infused with a sincerity and thoughtfulness many other artists lack. Check these guys out and you won’t regret it.

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Owen Sartori and John Holk & The Sequins

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Owen Sartori

Owen Sartori “Nobody Gives A Damn”

Nine years ago I reviewed Owen Sartori’s debut Another Beautiful Day In The Cube, and completely missed his follow up. Luckily, Owen has kept busy working as a music producer – and his sophomore LP still holds all the emotion and catchiness of his earlier work. After a moody instrumental intro, we get the Jellyfish-like “Cool” full of pop culture references and a great hook in the chorus.

The dramatic ballads “Banking On It” and “All Of This Rain” recall Ben Folds (without the keyboards) with plenty of punch. Another gem shines out with “Digging On You” as the joyful melody sticks in your head. The more aggressive rockers like the title track and “Let It Go” feel a bit forced here, but overall this a neat little album that deserves to be heard.

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John Holk

John Holk & The Sequins “Where You Going”

Another band coming back is John Holk & The Sequins. It’s rare that a country artist finds a review here, but Holk’s brand of country jangle pop and power pop keeps me coming back. “Walkin Talkin” is an irresistible opener with its fast tempo and harmonies. “First Man Fall” is a sweet ballad with guitar effects rounding out the atmosphere. The title track and “She Don’t Remember” are pure pop midtempo charmers that sound like a different band altogether. “See” gets absolutely psychedelic with Isabel Mervak’s vocal harmonies floating above the fuzz guitars.

But eventually, the country sound creeps back on “Firelight” and the honky tonk “Another Glass of Wine.” Like Wilco or The Jayhawks, Holk shows lots of range, and the band can effortlessly cross between the genres. While this can be jarring for some, the music is consistently excellent and it makes the variety work. Highly Recommended.

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Sadler Vaden and Keegan

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Sadler Vaden

Sadler Vaden “Sadler Vaden”

Sadler Vaden is mostly known as the guitarist for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and Drivin’ N Cryin’ but this LP is sure to put his own name on the map. Vaden’s music is a trove of anthems that recall the late 70’s Zeppelin and 80’s heyday of Southern-rock.  The brilliant riffs and soaring harmonies of “You Can’t Have it All” and “Get You High,” will hook you immediately.

Influences of Tom Petty, the Black Crowes and Neil Young permeate most of the album, as “Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore” has a rich jangle and expert delivery. The production is also very polished on the album’s first half, as it continues on to the more acoustic led second half, you get little treats like the Eagles-like chorus on “Into The Woods” or the slide guitar solo on “Broken Home.” Highly Recommended.

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Keegan

Keegan “Famous Last Words”

Keegan is a true international band with a British singer, German guitarist, French bass player and Austrian drummer – based in the multicultural surroundings of Cologne, Germany. Famous Last Words gives us a very straight on rock album, with a heavier rhythm guitar than expected, “Cross” has a decent hook, falling somewhere in between REM’s “Monster” era and Extreme’s metal pop tendencies.

Unfortunately this band fails to break past the conventional, and with 16 tracks could’ve used an edit. However at the mid-point there are some good power pop tunes shown in “End Of The Century,” “Poison”, “Tongue Tied” and the solid “Go Down In Flames.” 

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