Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

The Turnback is the talents of Todd Giglio (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Kenny Sherman (vocals, guitar, bass) and Barry Nagel (drums, guitars, keyboards). Drawing inspiration from numerous power pop sources, the album is the primary soundtrack for the film “Drawing With Chalk,” an acclaimed independent film by Giglio about the lifelong pursuit of a career in film and music (view trailer here).

The unmistakable jangle and beat opens up “Beyond Belief” and it is very similar to the Spongetones, with crisp harmonies and solid melody lines in a Beatlesque vein.  The next several songs are excellent, “Over and Out of My Head” is full of seamless hooks and the folk-rock harmonies shine on “Outside Again.” Things only slow down a bit with the falsetto-laden “We Become.” But this is a minor hiccup, as the strong timeless compositions make each of these songs memorable. The style isn’t static either, as it gets heavier on “Love Like Bombs,” and lighter on the ballads like “One Day You’ll Be Rich.”

There is no filler here, and all twelve tracks are meticulously crafted to require repeated listens. Also notable is the clean production by Grammy Award winning engineer Jeff Peters (Beach Boys, Brian Setzer, Goldspot) and mastered by Joe Gastwirt (Tom Petty, Talking Heads, Pearl Jam). The album has already won many honors, so to be redundant I am proud to add this to our Top Ten List for 2011.

Canada’s best power pop band Sloan returns with a new album on their twentieth anniversary appropriately titled The Double Cross. This time the Halifax quartet brings out every bag of tricks and stylistic varieties to make this a winning album.

The band’s energy and solid melodies sound as fresh as ever with the opener, “Follow The Leader,” as it plays off of thick organ chords, a heavy bass line and impeccable harmonies. Then we seamlessly transition to the sunny “The Answer Was You.” It’s an instant classic, punctuated by a richly orchestrated chorus and shimmering tambourine. The great thing here is the band’s ability to weave a hook that sticks in your head and won’t let go. “Unkind” is a perfect example, and like the Raspberries with a modern spin, it exemplifies what makes modern power pop so enjoyable.

The Beatlesque jangle and sensibilities are visible in the fast-paced gems “Shadow Of Lobe” and “It’s Plain To See.” Then “She’s Going Down Again” invites comparison to the Turtles’ classics of yesterday. With its folk-pop stirrings, “Green Gardens, Cold Montreal” is a wonderful throwback to Canadian classics like Chilliwack’s “Baby Blue.” Sloan has incorporated all these influences into a style that uniquely suits them, and doesn’t linger on one style (although the classic ’60’s-’70’s era looms large) and can appear like a big, fat mix tape of favorites when all is said and done. Overall I highly recommend this album, and we can only hope Sloan continues along its merry, melodic way.

Article first published as Music Review: Sloan – The Double Cross on Blogcritics.

Sloanmusic.com | Amazon | eMusic

Famous fans of Sloan look back on the bands 20 year history in a 10 part video series featuring members of Broken Social Scene, The Dears,Billy Talent, Jason Falkner, Jason Schwartzmann, The Stills, Buck 65, K-OS, Kids In the Hall and more.

Supraluxe “The Super Sounds of Supraluxe”
After a few albums finding their sound, this Minnesota band has found its sweet spot. The lush melodies and classical influences are on unabashed display from its simple acoustic and xylophone opener “Every Little Piece.” The pastoral chord structures on “Lester Bangs” are just infectious. The soft baroque vocal and arpeggio on “When You’re Down” recall The Left Banke at its most winsome. Fans of the 70’s California sound will really enjoy “Go Nowhere,” it’s a real gem of steady rhythm and twanging guitar.

The band goes retro most of the LPs second half. On “New York City’s Not Alright,” its a tune that recalls both The Animals and The Doors. Every song has an angle, and a solid catchy hook as well. A really great epic tune is “Nail Biter,” with its combination of organ, synths, guitars that lead to a gorgeous instrumental outro. My only critique here is that the vocals seemed pushed too much to the background. But the emotions and lyrics for each song shine through and make this release a huge success.

Alan Hampton “The Moving Sidewalk”
Fans of David Mead should really get a closer look at Mr. Hampton. The lush melodies and a simple acoustic guitar is basically all he needs. “Staring At The Sun” has some light strings to support his sweet voice and sunny rhythm.  A certain single is “Change Your Mind” with its halting strum and cascading chorus. “Loud and Clear” introduces some rock riffs into the chorus, and some nice vocal harmonies too. “Where Did You Go?” has a slow Spectorish hand clapped beat with some nice guitar distortions in the main hook.

A few songs don’t quite make it, but are easy to skip. There are plenty of gems here like “Oh My God” which may be the best Paul Simon song he never wrote. This is sophisticated pop with a slightly jazzy feel that makes it easy to recommend.