Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Andrea Perry and Sam’s Instant Band

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Andrea Perry “Four”
Austin Texas songstress Andrea Perry successfully funded her fourth LP and it highlights her skillful arranging and sugary pop melodies. Playing like a lush twee daydream, “My Lover Said” features Andrea’s willowy vocal as it sails across a bed of acoustic guitars and strings.

It seamlessly transitions into the sweet “Spring,” with its twisting verse, then picks up speed with “Another Bad Idea.” With her delicate harmonies and pastoral imagery, its very familiar territory for fans of Pugwash and XTC.

The mid-tempo ballads here are what you’ll cherish here, “Where Have You Been” is a perfect example with minor chord shifts in each verse. There is an old fashioned sense of love and loss with relationships as a theme throughout the album, and “Flame in My Heart” and “Not A Pretty Pair” were the most articulate for me. Another big standout is the redemptive “Throw Me A Line.” It all leads to the finale “Welcome Home” and the coda “Alight With Me.” Highly recommended.

CD Baby | Itunes | Amazon

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Sam’s Instant Band “Namaste”
There isn’t much on the internet about Will and the Bushmen, an indie college rock band from Mobile, Alabama. The band was founded by Will Kimbrough and Sam Baylor. Influenced by Big Star and Neil Young in the mid 1980’s they made a few albums, got picked up by a major label (EMI), played on MTV and then vanished without a trace. Fast forward about 20 years…

Sam Baylor now returns with The Instant Band. Never mind the crude LP artwork, this is not some kids record, but a thoughtful and personal statement on life. Starting with “Train At The Station” its rich jangling guitar and easy going vocal will please fans of Tom Petty, Neil Young and Warren Zevon. The romantic “Day That We Die” is equally catchy, and profoundly simple in its lyric. The alt. country spin on “Kiss Me I’m Crazy” is charming in a Leonard Cohen meets Wilco sort of way. Equally fascinating is “I Walk Alone,” a depressing ballad with dreamy REM quality. Worth checking out.

CD Baby | Amazon

Darren Sweet and Beady Eye

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Darren Sweet “Pop’s Three Minute Pleasures” EP
If you were around during the Not Lame years in the late 90s, then you remember The Naked Chollas.Led by musician Daren Sweet, his influences ranged from The Knack, The Romantics, The Beat, and Joe Jackson. But just as the band was beginning to catch on, it faded from view. Now Sweet has re-emerged, “I guess I am still carrying the torch for power pop music”, said Sweet. “Pop’s Three Minute Pleasures in my own statement and my own brand of power pop”.

Starting with “Great Big World,” it’s a mint single, jangling verse with a big fat hook in the chorus. Next the homophone filled “Caring More Bout Karen Less” is another energetic gem, and mid-tempo “It’s Not Your Time” has a palpable sense of longing and  a terrific guitar solo in the break. Honestly, almost every song shines here proves Darren hasn’t lost a beat in the past ten years. And even though the last 2 tracks are longer than three minutes, it certainly was a pleasure to listen to.

Get it at CD Baby

 

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Beady Eye “BE ” (Deluxe Edition)
For all you Oasis fans, Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye returns to go through the routine of developing rock anthems on sophomore album BE, starting with the opening horns on “Flick Of The Finger,” which has a plodding verse buildup that feels like Oasis-lite. Not a bad tune, but without a big payoff in the chorus, it fails to generate real excitement. Unlike the enjoyable debut LP Different Gear, Still Speeding, the production here sounds too clean and antiseptic. So the next tune on BE, “Soul Love,” drones on like a long song intro, instead of a fully complete tune. Read the Full review at BlogCritics.org

Get it at Amazon
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Attic Lights and Strangely Alright

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Attic Lights “Super De Luxe”
The Scottish band Attic Lights makes good on its sophomore LP, produced by Teenage Fanclub’s Francis Macdonald. Starting with “Say You Love Me”it  enjoying both heavy guitar riffs and shouts of “Hey Hey Hey!” and swooning backing harmonies, its a great catchy opener. “Future Bound” is more disco pop with a funky rhythm and a solid hook in the chorus. The Scottish accent really comes out in the verses of the sophisticated mid-tempo ballad “Mona Lisa.” Other highlights include “Hit and Miss,” “Gabrielle” and the most rock oriented tune “Orbison.” Only a few pedestrian song here, but overall a great album full of modern power pop.

Amazon | Itunes
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Strangely Alright “The Time Machine Is Broken”
Lead by singer/songwriter Regan Lane, Strangely Alright is a five piece power pop group from Tacoma, Washington. Although the album starts pretty conventionally with the expansive rock song “Train To Nowhere,” Lane’s stylized vocal, the hand claps and warbling backing vocals all keep it compelling. The fuzzy rich chorus on “So Right It Can’t Be Wrong” has brilliantly quirky touches similar to Jackdaw4 with swooning “ahhs” in the chorus.

The lyrics are a complex and downbeat for most of the album’s first half, especially “Crying Shame.” The combo of John Lennon meeting Pink Floyd is felt on ““If I Don’t Laugh I’m Only Going to Cry,” the jangle and psyche-pop combo are awesome, it’s the highlight of the LP. While the albums second half doesn’t reach those highs, the mood lightens and some standouts include “Love” and “Direction Home.” A grower, that does most things right.

CD Baby | Amazon

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London Egg and The Silver Liners

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London Egg “If It Takes Forever”
After a pretty retro-flavored debut, London Egg switches gears slightly to add more modern influences. Starting out with a dedication to INXS singer Michael Hutchence, “On Fire” has charging riffs and lead singer Egg channels Mick Jagger with his bluesy snarl.”Touching Eternity” is a little 90’s styled pop-rock gem with a nice shift in chords during the melody.

Production is hugely improved thanks to The Grip Weeds, Kurt Reil. “And Address It To Me” adds an updated Beatles style to the mix with some great harmonies. The jarring “Dance Of Life” is a strange mix of styles; Dylan, Stones and The Grip Weeds. The variety of stylistic approaches may appeal to some, but I found the band succeeds with the pure guitar power pop of “You Get What You Give,” but not with the psyche-lite “Gun.” Fortunately, most of the album is driven by those powerful riffs and simpler rockers like “Our Luv Dance” and the title track. The band has to strike a delicate balance and it accomplishes this on “Boy Do I Remember” reminiscent of  The Small Faces (as if they did Sgt. Peppers). Highly Recommended.

Amazon | CD Baby

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The Silver Liners “Bliss”
The Silver Liners have moved away from guitar based rock of its debut towards a more synth based alternative pop. After hearing “Criminal,” it has more in common with Coldplay than anything else. The vocals are overly smoothed and the echoing stadium style is more something I would hear in my gym than listen to at home.

“Scars” attempts to add the deep drum beat similar to Depeche Mode, it still has a chorus buried amongst the heavy gloss with a female vocal also in the mix. All this tells me is that the band has “sold out” and is pandering to major label “taste-makers.” Not bad for what it is, but it vanishes in a sea of other top 40 electronica pop acts.

Amazon | Artist Website

The Three O’Clock “The Hidden World Revealed”

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Back in the 80s, the sub-genre of power pop known as “Paisley Underground” movement took shape from the idle comments of  Three O’Clock’s bassist/lead vocalist Michael Quercio. They all belonged to a clique of musicians including The Bangles, Rain Parade and Dream Syndicate who were influenced strongly by the sixties’ psychedelic sound and the jangle of The Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn.

The band (Quercio, drummer Danny Benair, and guitarist/vocalist Louis Gutierrez) only made four albums. The last one on Prince’s Paisley Park label Vermillion included future Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner and is a fascinating story unto itself. Well fast-forward to now and the band reunited to play Coachella last April and then released this 20 track retrospective on Omnivore Records.

It’s a bright shiny revelation to hear the hit “With A Cantaloupe Girlfriend,” with digital clarity and “Jet Fighter” the catchiest of the early hits. What makes The Three O’Clock special and not a retro band, is that they embraced new wave synthesizers and rich production techniques to go with those classic melodies. About 8 tracks have never been heard before and they blend in well with the original material. The fuzzy garage influence is felt only on the earlier demo material like “Jennifer Only” (as the band was originally called The Salvation Army, the best of this material is found here.)

More highlights include the brilliant “Stupid Einstein,” and the hymn turned into a acid trip “Regina Caeli.” They even do a cover of The Byrds “Feel A Whole Lot Better.” This disc does concentrate on the first two LPs, Sixteen Tamborines and Baroque Hoedown – so I expect a second volume is in the works. Overall this is a great intro for new fans and the long time Paisley Underground followers have plenty of alternates and demos to enjoy.

Amazon | Itunes
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This article was originally published at BlogCritics.org