Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Skeleton Staff “Psychomorphism”

powerpopaholic 2 Comments

The debut album of this Sydney Australian band showed promise last year, and now it comes through in a big way. “I Told You I Was Poor” is a dizzying pop number, that starts with harpiscord a la Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” and adds jarring heavy rock riffs in main chorus. The Queen-like guitar touches and hooks are catchy as heck, and the album doesn’t miss a beat with the bouncy “Capsize” with it’s baroque composition and heavenly harmonies.

The highlights keep coming and the sunny melodies of “Gateway To The Stars” are contrasted by the cantata “Rat Poison,” that sounds like it belongs in a Sweeny Todd musical. Nothing predictable here, fans of 10cc will simply love the quirky “Turnstyle” and an evil point of view is expressed on “I Was Drunk,” with our protagonist giving the excuse for rotten behavior. The ballads here are also well written with lead vocal Stanton Marriott giving us the poignant “Becoming My Old Man.” The term Psychomorphism refers to the attribution of feelings to animals and inanimate objects. No filler either and it looks like The Wellingtons are going to have to make room for another Aussie power pop band that gets my top ten of 2011 nomination.

Freebie Monday: Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms + Destroy This Place

powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Ryan Allen is singer and guitarist for the band, The Friendly Foes and he is a wonderfully bi-polar rocker. His power pop debut is “Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms” an excellent selection of terrific guitar pop. Opening with the melodic “Oh Yeah” it showcases his solid songwriting chops and excellent guitar work. Next the handclaps, tambourine and harmonies are all over the amazing “Why Can’t I Sleep?”  The dense production on “That’s How I Came To Be” doesn’t disguise the strong melody. And his frustrations about shyness are fully evident on the ballad “Kids R Dicks” in best Big Star mode. Every song here is impressive — it’s one of the best releases this year easily! This album alone earns a top ten nod, but there is more…

Ryan has a darker side, shown in his second project Destroy This Place with “Resurrect The Mammoth.” Here Ryan gets a bit louder, with the opening thunderous feedback and pounding chords on “Safe To Say” similar in style to Guided By Voices. The music remains catchy here on the solid “All That Glitters” and “Hold Tights” so fans of GBV, Ted Leo and The Eels will find plenty to enjoy here. And as a special holiday gift, Ryan is giving both albums to you all as a FREE download.

Michael Mazzarella “Songwriter”

powerpopaholic

I can think of no better gift this holiday season for the power pop fan than this Michael Mazzarella 4-CDR “Songwriter” collection. The set represents all of Michael’s released material to date, covering his songs with The Broken Hearts, The Rooks and solo albums. Michael is best known as leader of the cult power pop band The Rooks, yet his solo work is full of lovingly crafted melodies and heartfelt lyrics. The discs were purposely not sequenced in order but, as varied compilations to showcase his consistent and different (yet compatible) styles as a songwriter. So what is new here? Exclusively through Kool Kat Musik, Mazzarella is offering a BONUS DISC of 21 previously unreleased demos. Many were written either for The Rooks (“Christine Obscene”, “Shine Your Light On Me”, “To Tell The Truth”, “Crimson Girl”) while others (“Save Me Baby”, “Out Of The Rain And The Thunder”, “Metropolis Mine”, “We’re Gonna Move”) were written for Michael’s current band Sonic Blue Sound Revue.

For fans, the bonus disc is essential listening, my favorites include “A Great Prentender” and “Save Me Baby.” Even IPO founder David Bash called this collection “…the most beautiful and frank songs this side of John Lennon.”

Ben Wilkins “Ben Wilkins”

powerpopaholic 3 Comments

Ben Wilkins “Ben Wilkins”
Ontario-born Ben Wilkins was already a well-rounded musician, having studied classical music at Montreal’s McGill University and spent his post grad studies in Shanghai, China, when he began working with musical producers Pascal Shefteshy and Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright) to put together his debut album. The warm classical pop sound permeates most of this album, but the disjointed “Opening” has a mix of indie jazz percussive effects, piano and classical strings contrasting Ben’s clean vocals. It sounds like he has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into the mix to let us know he’s avant garde.

But what comes next is nothing short of a revelation. “Soup for One” is a perfect amalgam of Ben Folds and George Michael, with a simple piano chord that grows into a lushly orchestrated melody. The arrangement and vocals here are pitch perfect and draw you into his world. “Through to You” leans more to the sound of Ben Folds or Adrian Whitehead, with slick harmonies and clean horns. Read my full review at The Rock and Roll Report. But trust me on this, several songs have found a permanent home on my ipod – a stunning debut!

iconAmazon | Itunes

Annie Dressner and HiFi Superstar

powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Annie Dressner “Strangers Who Knew Each Other’s Names”
Angelic youth is the first impression of Annie Dressner from her vocals on the opening track “Fly,” an wistful song about the fear of failure and the need to “grow some wings and fly.” Fans of Zooey Deschanel (She and Him) and Nataly Dawn (Pomplamoose) will find a kindred spirit in Ms.Dressner. The excellent mid-tempo “Cigarette” has a hint of tambourine and the descriptive lyric ” I smoke a cigarette so I can taste you on my breath.” Guitarist Anthony Rizzo provides a suitable low profile to twanging songs like “Come Back” and the title track. The songs are mostly somber and introspective, although the tempo speeds up with “Hardy Boys” and “Find Me,” with the latter track leaning into alt. rock territory with jangling riffs following the chorus. Overall a solid debut, with each melody a showcase for Annie’s authentic emotions.

icon

HiFi Superstar “One Hit Wonder”
The band formerly known as Brown Line Fiasco has returned with a new name and with a more distinct power pop focus. We start with “Closer” and the Raspberries influence is clear here. But the familiar hit of synth and guitars on “Down Low” bring to mind heavier rock acts like Butch Walker, Rooney and Cheap Trick, but thankfully the band doesn’t take itself too seriously. “Gimme A Try” is a wonderfully hilarious story of an old rocker trying to keep up with today’s musical crowd (“Did I just say “jiggy”? You’ll have to excuse me.”) The band has plenty of polish after a few years on the road, and the songwriting here has definitely improved.

The band does a nice job with the power ballad “Love is Enough.” The title track is certainly catchy, as is the centerpiece “Sunday Afternoon” – but there are a few clunkers here (“CYD” is one glaring example). That’s not to say it doesn’t have it’s moments of greatness,”Knock On Wood” is another keeper that brings to mind The Hudson Brothers, and the last track “It’s Up To You” oozes cool sophistication. There certainly is more than enough here to recommend, it’s tough to give it a just a “7” — it’s more a “7.5” so give it a try. Past albums can be found on CD Baby.