Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Arthur Nasson “The Emperor’s New Sound” EPs

Massachusetts musician-filmmaker Arthur Nasson is a force of nature on the amazing title track, mixing boogie-rock with catchy pop chorus and brilliant guitar break. A little like Todd Rundgren meets Ben Folds, Arthur follows the beat of his own drum here. “Purple Swan” is another gem that starts with an atonal verse that dovetails into a bright piano chorus. He’s also got his progeny in the act with one son Graham doing drums, and brother Colin on guitar. And they do a great job here too.

“Tiger By The Claws” is another winner, with a layered piano melody and bouncy chorus with nice backing harmonies. “Multiverse” is a trippy, but strong song with rich instrumentation that boasts a fantastic guitar solo. The instrumental “Graham’s Gentlemen’s Club” closes out one of the better EPs I’ve heard in a while. Highly Recommended.

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The Roaring Juniors “Perennials” and “Bomb Pop”

Michigan band The Roaring Juniors have been very busy this year. The band still has some rough edges but makes such fun catchy pop you’ll find it hard to nit-pick. “Sweet Marie” is a fast tempo gem about that first date, “The Lamp Burns Above Him” has plenty of jangle and “Short Sleepover” has twang and drum beats to spare, like The Beatles in the Cavern. When the band tries to shift the style, it labors to keep the listener (“Wicked  Scarecrow Blues”) but most of the tunes rock and stomp like “East Side Tilly.”

The band not only produced its sophomore LP, but put out Bomb Pop! – a FREE compilation featuring select tracks from all of The Roaring Juniors discography, including three previously unreleased songs from the 2015 Perennials sessions! So support these guys; you buy one album and get comp FREE. You can’t beat that for value!

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Dot Dash “Earthquakes & Tidal Waves ”

We’ve followed Dot Dash for years now, and lead singer Terry Banks continues to perfect the melodic dense rock that combines Guided By Voices and The Clash in equal doses. With the legendary Mitch Easter producing you get short sweet power tracks like the anthems “The Winter of Discontent” and the catchy “Flowers” featuring new lead guitarist Steve Hansgen’s clean guitar riffs.

“Rainclouds” is one of the rare conventional rock tunes here, and “Satellite (Far Out)” boasts a dense atmospheric chorus and amazing guitar solo. The band then veers a little heavier with the “Walls Closing In”, but the melodic sense returns with “Transparent Disguise” “Thru the Dark” and “Semaphore.” It finally slows tempo a little for the ender “Sleep, Sleep.” Overall the band sounds great, a tight post-punk power pop that will appeal to indie rock enthusiasts of any age. Highly Recommended. If you order from Kool Kat Musik it includes a bonus CD of demos/live tracks.

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The Doughboys “Hot Beat Stew”

On the band’s fifth album, The Doughboys are still churning out that good ole R&B styled garage rock. And you can tell compared to earlier LPs that the rough barroom sound gets stripped down to it’s essence with minimal production, almost like listening to the band “live” in the studio. “Be My Baby” is a potential hit that sounds so effortless, because Mike Caruso, Gar Francis, Richie Heyman & Myke Scavone play so well together.

The band can still pump out those catchy anthems that sound like lost Rolling Stones classics, as “Shake It Loose” matches Mick and Kieth in their prime. Additional standouts include: “Don’t Come Crying To Me,” “Long Way Down,” “You Can’t Catch Me” and “For Your Love.” The band also explores an acoustic mid-tempo ballad with “Soho Girl” very much in the spirit of The Kinks. And the 3rd person story-song “Travelin’ Salesman” has a southern flavor with a distinctive Bo Diddley influence. You can’t go wrong with this tasty Stew.

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Surf School Dropouts “Second Nature”

Unabashed Brian Wilson love is the whole reason Denmark’s Surf School Dropouts continue to churn out harmony-laden songs of sun, fun and summertime. They are also one of the few modern bands that can pull off the surf harmonies as good as this. All you need is a your woodie and a wave, for the opener “Destination Sunshine.” There are other influences too, as “Should Have Known Better” is a little closer to the sunshine of The Sundays or The Pearlfishers.

You have to give this Copenhagen quartet props as “Where Have You Gone” is lovingly composed and arranged. The soft ukulele ballad “Sarah” is dripping sweetness and “Wonderful Ride” has touch of Motown. The lead vocal changes from song to song, and some are better than others but you have to love the enthusiasm of bouncy tunes like “Coastline Crusin.” Some nice instrumental interludes preface a few songs, and the choral “Ebb & Flow” that ends the album is also very impressive. For Beach Boys fans this is manna from heaven.

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Minky Starshine “Pop Jewelry”

Rob Anastasi’s band Minky Starshine has always done quality power pop, boasting one of my all time favorite songs (“Cinematic Mojo”) on his last record. Rob just loaded this new release with an all-star supporting cast: Ducky Carlisle (Bleu), Ken Stringfellow (Posies), Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish), Brian King (Oranjuly) and Corin Ashley – just to name drop a few. So expectations are high here.

While the production sparkles with great sound and instrumentation, the opener “Lady London” is a pretty subdued mid-tempo song. The next song lives up to the promise, as “Girl” is a classic hook filled gem with a catchy repeatable chorus and “Easier For Everyone” keeps the chiming harmonies front and center. The sound veers to more mainstream pop with “Drive” and the ballad “Wave Her On” feature Phil Aiken’s dreamy synths. “Miss American Girl,” a country flavored duet with Amber Casares is another standout. But I was disappointed that the rest of the album seemed to stay in adult commercial pop realm, without a riff heavy rocker to juice things up. Despite that, Anastasi does a great job here, “Believe” is a richly layered song with an impressive chorus. Worth exploring and sharing with your friends who aren’t power pop fanatics.

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