Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Fortune 500 "Flavor of the Year"

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Glad to see the snow starting to melt, and hear the sounds of this kick-ass power pop trio from Washington state. Fortune 500 are a high energy melodic rock band and they are rightly advertised as a “remedy to bland radio rock and cloned pop/punk boy bands.” The opening track “Shake Me” does as advertised with buzzsaw riffs that blast out during the chorus. The next several tracks keep the energy going with a Weezer-Costello-Ramones whirlwind of chords and harmonies. Favorite tracks here include “Hat Trick” and the wild “Freestyle.”

And the band isn’t a one trick pony either, with a nice ska beat on “Sometimes” and the steady melodic march of “Daddy Is A War.” Fans of Harvey Danger, Everclear, and Green Day should also embrace this band heartily. “Liberated” is another gem, part Weezer and part Presidents of The USA with a catchy beat. The album’s tracks are thick with pop hooks and almost no filler is here, although the reggae “Detox” doesn’t quite fit. An impressive album that’s sure to gain attention and new fans.  Listen to the whole album on Facebook.

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Longplayer "Longplayer"

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Following this week’s ELO theme, Swedish natives Göran Hjertstedt and Ulf Holmberg’s new group Longplayer follows Jeff Lynne’s approach to production and songwriting style pretty closely. Combining strings and synths, they start with an impressive instrumental “Space Place Cafe” and dive right into the boogie beat with “Won’t Let You Down” which recalls ELO’s “Hold On Tight.”  And the albums first half brings us some excellent gems like “The Messenger” and “Silicone Sue.” Göran’s vocal sound is closer to Bev Bevan’s ELO Part 2 than the original – but the songwriting is strong and the hooks are plentiful throughout.

The songs begin to loose their catchiness when they veer into “The Traveller”  and “Cool Cat Walk” but the production is still polished and worth repeat listens. The missteps here are “Wild Wild Woman,” a full fifties do-wop ballad and a forgettable “The Power.” It ends on a high note with “Red Wall Of Sound” a nice reworking of “Rock And Roll is King.” This album is great fun and highly recommended to ELO and power pop fans.

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The Secret Powers "What Every Rose Grower Should Know"

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After making the #1 spot on David Bash’s extensive top ten list last year for Lies and Fairy Tales, Ryan “Shmedly” Maynes and crew bang out another top notch power pop album. The opening single “Generation Ship” is a majestic ELO styled gem that conjures images of a Jules Verne inspired zeppelin floating across the clouds. Crunchy guitar riffs and Shmed’s growl on “Tarantula” is a loving tribute to your arachnophobia. The title track has some great instrumentation and the lyrics are literally pulled from a horticulture textbook.

The band stretches a bit on western themed “The Desert” and “It Should Have Been Me.” The tracks at the album’s middle are good, but don’t reach the earlier highs. There are still great standouts here like the sublime “Crocodile” and hand clapping goodness of “In The Way.” Shmed goes back to the Lynne playbook ending things with “Blue Thing,” but overall this music is way better than the piles of other bands, and just the amount of gems here demand it makes my top ten list for 2011 (So far each year Shemd has made my list).

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Marco Joachim and The Seldon Plan

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Marco Joachim “Hidden Symphonies”
Marco Joachim and collaborator Jon Gordon put together this labor of love, stylistically emulating ELO and The Beatles. Hidden Symphonies is a gorgeous album, thick layers of guitars, synths, strings, keyboards and horns are piled on to give us an alternative universe version of Sgt. Pepper. Not an easy task for even a skilled musician, but Marco takes it on with “And When The World” with it’s looping chords, and Lynne styled vocal approach. On “Things You Do” it builds on a piano riff similar to Randy Newman’s “Short People,” but hooks you with a neat slide guitar accompaniment. “Cellophane Sue” is complete with Stones-like horn section, Penny Lane baroque trumpet, and capped with a wacky, exuberant guitar duel. “Nameless”, performed to a string quartet, is an ironic commentary on suburban life that is touching and yet sarcastic, sung in a sincere McCartney style that evokes the Beatles Revolver. I could continue to gush about the flawless pop atmospherics of “Gramercy Park” and play “spot the influence” on every track here but it’s all superfluous. Just get this album, it shouldn’t be “hidden” for long, as it makes my Top Ten for 2011 list.

The Seldon Plan “Coalizione del Volere”
This is a short follow album up to last years Lost and Found And Lost. Listening to the opener “Fractionation” it was a slow indie drone with a subtle chorus, it doesn’t distinguish itself too much. But the sophisticated lyric and angelic backdrop make “Fool’s Gold” a winner. The album’s punch comes later, in the form of “Love Your Way” and “Millennials.” The fast moving guitars and beats of these songs are needed lift to the melodies. However, the percussive elements on many of the other songs here tend to drown out the vocal performances in spots, despite the excellent harmonies. But the biggest sin here is the atmospherics seem to take over and bury just about all the melodic hooks. Although its more musically complex it just didn’t linger in my memory long. Maybe next time the band will stray closer to power pop instead of ambient indie pop.

MySpace | Official Site | CD Baby (older albums)

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Nicole Atkins "Mondo Amore"

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Nicole Atkins has a burning passion to rock. After her successful major label debut Neptune City in 2007, she was inexplicably dropped by Columbia and started rebuilding her musical career. If there was any doubt about her rock cred, Mondo Amore puts them to rest very quickly.

Her sound is like the midway point between Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks, and the rich orchestration in the haunting “Vultures” starts us out.  Her soulful wail supports the excellent instrumentation. And the hooks are sharper than ever on the funky single “Cry, Cry, Cry.” It helps to have lighter moments here, because the album’s focus is bleak sadness best exemplified by “Hotel Plaster” where Nicole bares her soul as her strong vocal builds. Led Zepplin is an obvious influence on  “You Come To Me,” a driving fast-tempo gem. The zydeco flavored “My Baby Don’t Lie” is another winner, and has a nice classical bridge between choruses. “Heavy Boots” booming drum beats and slow organ chords are a melodically gorgeous dirge. Nicole’s focus on struggle, survival, and heartbreak culminates in the epic “Tower.” This is an album that resonates long after the last note. I was also fortunate enough to interview Nicole for the Rock and Roll Report.

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