Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Krayolas and Pop Interludes

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Krayolas

The Krayolas “Canicas/Marbles”
 Once again the San Antonio power pop of Hector Saldana returns, and each time the band impresses me. Canicas starts with “Tony Tormenta” a simple guitar ballad about a drug lord no one will mourn. Both “Canicas” and “Lala la Lala” boast bright hum along melodies with organ and accordion, full of childhood nostalgia followed by a great cover of  The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” The T-Rex bass line of  “La Inundacion de Piedras Negras” creeps along making it a cool highlight. The slow “Lazy Afternoon” sounds exactly like it’s supposed to, and best of all this album is a FREE download from Amazon. If you don’t get it, you are truly loco, mi amigo.

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Pop Interludes “Manhattan Charade”
Pop Interludes is a collaboration between songwriter/musician Dino De Angelis and lyricist Peter Morley. Simple synth keyboard pop with little melodic hooks. De Angelis is a man of many talents, a biomedical researcher, culinary teacher and talented musician – but vocally he is merely passable here, doing a flat kind of speak-singing.  The bands’ sound is not unlike Jeff Boller’s project The Simple Carnival or XTC’s Colin Moulding, with its dynamic compositions. The bouncy “It’s Over” adds a guitar as harmonies overlay with the main melody. “Talkin’ About Sunshine” has a spacey echo with its sugary lyric. Morley’s narrative fits the music well, but occasionally feels forced (“This Masquerade”). Some tunes take a few verses to build, but are worth it – recommended tracks are “Addition,”  “Invisible,” and “Transforming.”

CD Baby | Amazon

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Freebie Fridays! Keith and The Dead Girls

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Keith Klingensmith and the TM Collective “Free!”
Keith runs Futureman Records, a collection of awesome power pop gems from the past, and he’s a pretty fine musician to boot. With his band the TM Collective, he will feed your need for free music. Yes this collection of covers is 100% free to download and the nineteen song run from the easily recognizable Beach Boys “Let Him Run Wild” to the more obscure “Jesus Follows Lisa Home” by the What Gives. My fave is the rarely covered Rutles tune “Cheese and Onions.” Enjoy this collection and check out all the releases Keith curates.


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The Dead Girls “Fade In/Fade Out”
I was impressed with the Dead Girls EP last year, so this full length LP builds on it. Lead singer Cameron Hawk has a sound a bit like Wire mixed with Weezer on “Never Erased.” The terrific riffs and harmonies on “Naysayer” kicks it up a notch and the band builds a good atmosphere on the slow building “Find Your Way Back To Me (Oh My Soul)”  – it will have you missing Alex Chilton all over again. No filler here, each track is quality, more highlights include “Under Siege,”  the amazing “Scare You”  and epic “I Feel You”  which is equal parts Led Zeppelin and Oasis. I hear a lot of stuff, and this is the best free album I’ve heard all year. Get it!

French Power Pop? Oui! Mondrian and Julien Pras

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Mondrian “Isn’t It Fun”
Melodic alt. pop from France starts out pretty unassuming with the light harmonies on “Paris,” but the “Last Breakfast On Planet Surf” delves into classic Kinks styled narrative and beat. The quirky electro folk of “LHG” and “Rise and Fall of A Golden Boy” show a willingness to experiment, and lead singer Roman Oswald sounds similar to Pete Brewis of Field Music. You have some terrific compositions, like the dual tracked banjos and flute on “Love, A Collision” and the synth textured “A Kiss A Day.” Itunes only has the band’s EP, but that has the exclusive tracks “Whippersnapper” and a live collaboration with the legendary Van Dyke Parks “Sail Away Lady.”

Bandcamp | Itunes | Facebook


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Julien Pras “Shady Hollow Circus”
Julien Pras is one of those gifted French songwriters, singing in perfect English with a striking similarity to Elliott Smith especially on the opener “Seven More Hours.” The intricate guitar and melancholy of “Angel of Mercy” is positively mesmerizing.

Pras’ soft and melodious voice drifts through each tune effortlessly. It fades into the psychedelic “Radio Silence” and the next several tracks have highly stylized arrangements with orchestral touches, much like 10cc’s Original Soundtrack or Dynamo Bliss’ debut. But with many tracks over the four minute mark the LP starts to lose its immediacy. A final highlight is “Join The Dots” before it once again jumps into the abyss of the slow progressive melodies of “Daily Battles” and “Watchman Blues.” Although at this point the LP will only reward patient listeners, you should find a darkened room with some good headphones and just enjoy the trip.

Amazon  | Facebook | Bandcamp

The Pencils “Anthology”

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A huge “thank you” goes out to Ray Gianchetti of Kool Kat Musik for finding this “lost” UK power pop band from the 80’s. They issued a few singles including the well received “Watching The Tears,” but the full LP recorded in 1984 was never released. Ray tracked down the master tapes of all the bands complete recordings, and there you have it.

The band has a sound in between The Hooters and The Toms, and fans of The Romantics, Squeeze and early Elvis Costello will find a treasure trove on each CD of this 2 disc set. Much of the songwriting is solid and highlights include the catchy “If You Really Want To Hurt Somebody,” “You Say You,” and “Til Your Luck Runs Out.” But many of the other songs are great too, had this LP released at the right time everyone would’ve known The Pencils. Highly Recommended!

Kool Kat Musik | Amazon

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Hey it’s still here! Kool Kat Musik is also selling copies of Powerpopaholic Fest Volume One, our 18-song “soundtrack” to last years music fest. We are still raising money for The Red Cross with each sale, and hope to send them another check soon! 

Raymond Meade and Tipsy in Chelsea

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Raymond Meade “Fables and Follies”
Glasgow, UK based Meade was in the band The Ronelles back in 2006, and here he makes an amazing debut with guest spots from Jon Fratelli (Fratellis) and Philip Chevron (The Pogues).

The album is just flawless – the strong beat and guitar riffs open “The Hardest Part” and the hooks are huge on the chorus of “Don’t Say You’re Sorry.” His sound is unique, but if you can imagine Rick Springfield playing for The Velvet Crush (I guess) that’s close enough. “Tracing Air” has a beautiful multi-tracked guitar opening, layered vocals and rhythms, and it also slows with fine harmonies on “Waiting For Lucy.” Each song is great, I’m not even gonna touch on “Carnivore” with a mid-song narrative by Iain Banks, and the epic anthem of the title track. This is an album that gets better with each listen, and should’ve been in my top ten list for 2012. Simply brilliant guitar pop.

Artists Website | Amazon
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Tipsy in Chelsea “Tipsy in Chelsea”
The duo of Dean Falcone and Trish Thompson creates lovely 70’s lounge pop in the style of Burt Bacharach. Thompson’s approach on “I Wouldn’t Mind The Wait” is very much in the mold of Dusty Springfield, with soft hushed tones. “You Don’t Care” is another intimate ballad that describes heartbreak perfectly. Falcone’s instrumentation and arrangements are right on target. What is missing is a spirited increase in Ms. Thompson’s vocal range, which is more like Astrud Gilberto than Marilyn McCoo. After all, singing The 5th Dimension’s “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All” is an okay cover, but listening made me want to hear the original.

CD Baby | Amazon