Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Nines “The Nines”

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This is the first major release of new material since the Nines’ critically acclaimed album Gran Jukle’s Field. Amazingly, Steve Eggers has come a long way from his 1998 debut on EMI, to working with a Who’s Who of power pop music gods including Andy Partridge (XTC) and Jason Falkner (Jellyfish). This new self-titled album is another pop masterpiece.

Starting with a disco funk bass (shades of Bleu here) intro, Eggers works magic on “Backseat” into an ultra hooky single. With the crowd noise, you almost feel like you’re attending a revival of Frampton Comes Alive! The piano rocker “Far Away” is a perfect segue full of contradictions like “Leave. Please stay. Doesn’t matter now” with an ELO styled middle eight. “Jackie Smokes” is a tonal shift with a heavy guitar and synth, but full of intricately layered vocals – sounding both modern and classic all at once. A few more songs heap on synths and elctro beats, but Steve’s melodies are underneath it all.

“The Virtuous Man” multi-layers the vocal and acoustic guitar with Andy Partridge, and it’s such a great song it makes me miss XTC even more. A fully orchestrated, slickly produced “Seasons” will please McCartney fans, but Steve feels most at home at the old piano with mid tempo ballads like “On The Slidelines” and “Martin.” No one could sing these songs with more earnest. “Goodbye” is another sweet ear confection that would’ve fit neatly on Macca’s Tug of War. Not a single misstep or filler track, and an easy nominee for my 2013 top ten year end list. Welcome back Nines!

CD Baby | Kool Kat Musik

Richard X. Heyman “X”

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Power Pop veteran Richard X. Heyman returned this year to give us “X,”  aka his tenth album. Starting out similar to the biographical Tiers, “When Denny Dropped Out of the Scene” describes a friend who slowly fades from the friendship. Next “Please Be Mindful” is an orchestrated piano epic and a little bit of The Doughboys garage style rubs off on the rocker “Compass.”

Heyman delivers with his jangling guitar on “Firing Line,” and “Somebody Has Finally Found Me.” The ballads slow things down a bit and it loses some momentum after the mid-point, but then “If You Have To Ask” is a classic melody that compares with the best he’s ever done. More gems include “Hangman Smiles” and the finale “Will To Go On.” Overall, this is a terrific return to form and an essential album for fans. Like other DIY “one-man-bands” (Paul McCartney, Emitt Rhodes or Todd Rundgren) Heyman is a master of melody and he proves it over and over again.

Amazon | richardxheyman.com

Tommy Keene and C.L. Blake

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Tommy Keene “Excitment At Your Feet”
Tommy Keene’s new album, Excitement at Your Feet, is a new and exciting approach to covers. Picking several favorite classic bands (The Who, Rolling Stones, Big Star, etc.) but don’t pick the best known tracks. In fact, these songs are downright obscure, and allow Keene to operate without the original lingering in your head for comparison.

Opening with the exciting Flaming Groovies’ “Have You Seen My Baby?” it really rocks and Keene goes to town. The jangle is heaviest on Echo & The Bunnymen “The Puppet” and even the little known Mink DeVille gets covered. With the skillful arranging it makes them all sound like Keene originals. Highlights include “Choking Tara (Guided By Voices)” and “Out Of The Blue (RoxyMusic).” My only pet peeve is that he doesn’t cover The Who’s “Listening To You,” as its lyric is in the albums title! This is further evidence that if you dig deep into your favorite albums, you’ll find a gem or two that can be re-discovered.

Amazon

 

C.L. Blake “george” EP
C.L. Blake (Ira Katz, lead singer/songwriter of The Greenberry Woods) recently teamed with producer/drummer Ken Coomer (Wilco, Will Hoge) to record this EP last year, and its worth discovering. While it has more in common with Wilco stylistically than his old band, Blake still delivers compelling melodies with “All We Are” and the jangling guitar of “Say What You’re Thinking.” Another gem is “Waiting on a Lover (Tressa).” It makes for a polished and effective showcase for his talents. It would be great to hear more “up” tempo tunes, and hopefully Blake is working on a follow-up.

Amazon | CD Baby

Valley Lodge “Use Your Weapons”

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Dave Hill and Valley Lodge return with a burst of high energy power pop that made their debut such a success. The opener “Go” is a hook-filled slice of catchy hand-clapping goodness and sets the stage for the rest of the tracks. “Sweet Elizabeth” is very much in the mold of The Sweet with an awesome percussion/guitar combo. Hill’s wry humor and vocals on “Kiss Me I’m Drunk” speak volumes with the pathetic pickup lines “I’ll love you till my dying days, or at least until my memory fades.”

The best tune of the album is also the strongest single I’ve heard all year, “Make Up Your Mind” channels Cheap Trick, and fits neatly into your Greg Pope mix. Lots of impressive guitar work all over “Waiting In The Rain,” however the funk-ed up “Gimme Gimme” got on my nerves by the 3rd chorus. A slower tempo tune here would’ve been nice, but overall this album is a fun, air-guitar encouraging listen. Highly Recommended.

CD Baby | Amazon

The Junior League and Gary Ritchie

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The Junior League “You Should Be Happy”
After a few solo projects, Joe Adragna puts his sweat into a new Junior League album. Starting with “Keep It Home,” its an excellent roots rocker, assisted by buddy Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five). “Hey Misery” is a Beatlesque piano tune with Pet Sounds styled bass and horns, and even a sax solo. The next song, “One Step Forward (Another Step Back)” has even more Beach Boys styled instrumentation and harmonies.

Adragna then shifts back to a strumming acoustic guitar on the excellent “Samantha Smile,” with a hook filled chorus that reminds me of The Autumn Defense. The heartache ballad “Charming” has a very distinct Queen-like quality in the guitar and strings coda. In fact, the best written ballads I’ve heard this year are found towards the albums end. No filler here, its exceptional all the way around and makes my top ten of 2013 nominee list.

Bandcamp | Amazon | CD Baby


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Gary Ritchie “Near The Alley”
Chicago based Gary Ritchie gives us a follow-up to Hum, Sing, Repeat from 2011. This time we start with the title track from his last album “Hum, Sing, Repeat,” a loving nostalgic look at rock back in Richie’s childhood. With his partner in crime Jeff King (bass, guitar, keys) they play through a terrific collection of songs. “Victimized” and “Charming Life” are catchy melodies that compare well to The Romantics.

The band takes on early Beatles simplicity for “Hear My Pleas” and then it’s back to the guitar riffs of “Midnight Lovers,” which sounds like a lost Raspberries tune. Clearly Ritchie knows his classic power pop, as “Back To You” has some Badfinger-styled guitar. The quality of tracks vary after the mid point, but standouts include “Invisible Man” and “Pull Your String.” Rock on, Ritchie!

CD Baby | Amazon