Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Alarms and The Lisa Mychols 3

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The Alarms

The Alarms “Real Tough Love”

The Alarms are a perfect example of modern power pop mixing the classic garage sound of The Seeds with the melodic shine of Oasis. We’ve heard from lead singer and guitarist Robert Gay before, but here the talent is exponentially multiplied across ten deeply impressive cuts.“The Axe” is a rousing start-off, like an American version of Supergrass its dense wall of guitars drives the track along with its echoing beat. “Break It Easy” is a marching ballad, with a driving bass and slow organ, very much like The Doors, but Robert’s vocal is what carries this one.

He does an even better job on “The Only One.” This a gorgeous ballad in the tradition of George Harrison, and it lingers long after it ends. The mood shifts on the nugget “May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone” originally done by The Toys in 1966. This is a great “lost” song that gets revealed by The Alarms chiming guitars and clean harmonies. Another gem “Avalon” is very much like a classic Zombies rock anthem, and then the garage rocker “Famous Kids” keeps the party going. The title track reminds me of The Godfathers, a combination of punk and 60’s psyche-pop. Robert honors the past, but is firmly rooted in the present. The Alarms have been going off in my head, telling me this is one LP that you can’t ignore.

Bandcamp | Itunes

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The Lisa Mychols 3 “The Lisa Mychols 3” EP

Lisa was one of the highlights of Power Popaholic Fest and she played music from this EP as her set. “Getting rid of that old confusion,” Lisa intones on “Back To The Truth” with her bandmates Ricky Tubb (drums) and Tom Richards (guitar). There is no confusion on my part, Lisa wants to rock harder again. And that lead single is a great example, with its killer hook.

And she continues on “Ready For Action” and “The Fool” where a full force driving riff dominates those songs. The harmonies are still there, and Lisa’s lovely vocal is still the focal point for these songs, but Richards guitar is given much more weight and prominence than past Mychols projects. Fans should seek this out and I hope Lisa continues to amaze us with her new trio on future projects.

CD Baby | Amazon

 

Michael Carpenter, The Pengwins and Jack Skuller

powerpopaholic

While I rarely highlight singles, a lot of them have reached my inbox lately.  I wanted to share and even though I didn’t “rate” them, they are most worthy of your attention:

Martin Carr

Michael Carpenter “Too Late/I’ve Been Lovin’ You”

A long-time favorite of this blog, Michael Carpenter has returned to the studio, and he’s taken a break from the covers and delivered some original compositions. “Too Late” is blues-rocker that has a strong pop melody and “I’ve Been Lovin’ You” is a dense guitar chorus that makes most Carpenter songs a joy to listen to.

Bandcamp

The Pengwins “Vol.2”

The legacy of The Pengwins continues to drip out in exclusive box-set singles like last years “Vol.1: Naive/Life After High School”.  This year we have Vol.2 “If U Want 2/Look Around” and its a wonderful new combo. “If U Want 2” was newly recorded and is the real gem here, with echoes of The Shoes and The Beatles it was even recorded in Abbey Road studios.

Lannie Flowers sounds great as always, the second side “Look Around” was originally recorded in the late ’70s and has more of a Cheap Trick vibe. If you order direct from SpyderPop Records, you get a special cardboard box, 7″ single with a bonus CD of the songs, plus guitar picks, photos, and other goodies.

CD Baby

Jack Skuller

Jack Skuller “Can You See Me | Hard To Want”

Jack Skuller is a young modern musician called by some “the anti-Bieber,” or “a mini Jack White.” Skuller cites his influences as Little Walter, Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello. This year he was the recipient of the Holly Prize, an award made possible by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songmasters as a tribute to the legacy of Buddy Holly, a Hall of Fame inductee. One listen to the single, and I was impressed. Check it out.

Amazon Pre-order

Ashbury Keys and Jigsaw Seen

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Ashbury Keys “Do You Know Who You Are” EP

The Texas trio, Ashbury Keys has taken a page from British bands like Coldplay and U2 giving the title track “Do You Know Who You Are” a rich, stadium sized sound. The EP then goes through a logical sequence of events; get the girl, lose the girl (because your a terrible guy) and wallow in self pity. “Hey Girl” is a pleasing melody and character study about a girl “posting her photos while cruising around” with a rich guitar rhythm in the chorus.

“Terrible Guy” is a interesting rocker, with lyrics mentioning all the vices he has and “Goodbye” is a power ballad that continues our story where he repeats the apologies to end up with a “Lonely Sunday.” This final ballad starts slow and builds up to a bombastic approach (again the comparison to early U2 works here). While the concept here doesn’t exactly break new ground, the guitar work is impressive as always. The Ashbury Keys continue to be a band to keep your eye on.

CD Baby | Amazon

Martin Carr

Jigsaw Seen “Old Man Reverb”

Veteran LA indie band Jigsaw Seen returns with an excellent new LP.  On the opening track “Let There Be Reverb,”  guitarist Jonathan Lea lets the guitar hook lead and singer Dennis Davison helps guide us along. The influences are from classic bands of the early 70’s blended with their own distinct sound. The next track “Idiots with Guitars” is truly Jigsaw Seen at its finest, like late-era Hollies combining the melody with a sophisticated bridge.

“Understand” is another single with terrific composition and execution. “We Women” is a fast-paced rocker with the fuzz guitar riff and blazing solo between the main verses. The psyche-pop “Madame Whirligig” uses the mellotron to good dreamy effect, and it blends into “Hercules and Sylvia” with orchestral interludes similar to The Moody Blues. The songs are both familiar sounding and highly creative, with a few curves thrown in (like the semi-Western theme “Abide”). Highly Recommended.

Amazon

Here Comes The Reign Again and Ice Cream Man Power Pop

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Martin Carr

Here Comes The Reign Again “The Second British Invasion”

After last year’s Tribute to Lite Rock, producer Andrew Curry moved his attention to 1980’s British pop. You get updated takes on era-defining hits by Duran Duran, Human League, Culture Club, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and more. If there is one thing I remember about many of these songs, was a brashness and optimistic defiance that reflected the 1980’s “New Wave” ethos. In today’s era our collective anxiety yields some mixed results, as the mood of some songs tend to be wistful, if not downright melancholy.

Favorites here include Fountains of Wayne singer Chris Collingwood doing “Life In A Northern Town,” and Cliff Hillis improves on “Wouldn’t It Be Good.” I liked the subtleties of Mike Viola’s take on Tears For Fears “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and Freedy Johnston’s version of Naked Eyes’s “Promises, Promises.” It didn’t quite work for me on Jim Boggia & Pete Donnelly’s “Goody Two Shoes” or Ken Stringfellows’ “Digging Your Scene.” But Rachael Yamagata’s piano ballad of “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” is sung with more pain and emotion than Boy George ever could.

A lot of artists have deliberately gone “low-fi” in direct opposition to the slick production of the past, but there are some faithful approaches featured especially Bleu’s “Don’t You (Forget About Me) and “West End Girls” by Secret Friend. With 27 tracks there is a favorite for everyone, mine included “Dancin’ with Myself” by Taylor Locke and The Corner Laughers “Our House.” Even if some of these songs aren’t as familiar to you, this set is highly recommended.

Bandcamp | CD Baby

Ice Cream Man  “powerpop and more”

IPO

Fellow power pop blogger Wayne Lundqvist Ford has been producing self-contained radio shows for a while now. He has more of a preference for English Mod, Northern Soul and Garage power pop, and he’s got a great ear for the stuff. After 50 shows he’s still going strong, and now he’s gathered samples from a ton of bands and with the help of our friends over at Futureman Records and has made a massive song collection a FREE downloadable treat.

We are talking 64 tracks of music. These are primarily artists who are criminally ignored by  main stream radio stations and deserve to be heard, including some of my favorites (Bryan Estepa, Tommy Lorente, Baby Scream, The Solicitors, The Legal Matters and The Turnback – just to name a few). Bravo Ice Cream Man!

Futureman Records

The Power Popaholic Interview: Linus of Hollywood

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In case you missed it Linus of Hollywood has a new album out called “Something Good,” and we highly recommend it. I had a good long conversational styled interview with Linus about his career in music. He started with the band Size 14, to Nerf Herder, playing with Roger Manning, Jr. and other members of Jellyfish. It’s been over 8 years since his last album so we talk about some of the new songs too. Enjoy!