Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic Archives - Page 300 of 358

Spygenius "Songs From The Devil’s Typist"

July 7, 2009July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic

Sometimes you get lucky and a great band just pops up, like Spygenius. This electric four piece from London, starts with a Beach Boys a capella opening (“Dumb Angels”) then gets all hippy funky, similar to the 1910 Fruitgum Company with “The Ballad Of Dr T.F. Bundy & His Hirsute Sweetheart.” The next track “I Want That Girl” sounds like Jack Bruce (Cream) fronting for a Doors/Jellyfish hybrid. The band mashes together some diverse 60’s and modern influences, in a very original way. Songwriter Peter Watts does a great job here mixing the psychedelic stew of chords and harmonies on “Gilgamesh” as well. The album highlight here is the quirky masterpiece “Pineapple Drive” where it’s jammed together in a party atmosphere. The humor here is akin to Bonzo Dog Band, without being too over the top silly. Then the album’s serious side appears on “13 Years (May Song)” where they channel Crosby/Stills/Nash. As the album progresses the sixties influences fade. The softness of the “A Bottle Of Reds & Two Good Friends” will remind many of Rick Gallego and Cloud 11. The latter tracks have a more modern feel (“Wintergarden Summertime”) sounding a little like Green and Yellow TV. Overall an outstanding album that is sure to hook you in and keep you humming. I will go out on a limb here and say this eclectic mix deserves a spot on our year end “best-of” list.

My Space | CD Baby | Lala | Spygenius site

Spygenius performs at The Bedford Bandstand with three tracks from a previous album and an interview with Tony Moore.

Scott Brookman "A Song For Me, A Song For You"

July 4, 2009July 6, 2024 powerpopaholic 1 Comment

If you enjoyed the light pop touch of The Simple Carnival then there is a very good chance you’ll like Scott Brookman. Scott writes sweet melodic piano pop in the tradition of the 60’s and 70’s with a Tin Pan Alley touch. The title track is an intro to “This Little Samba” a bossa nova beat driven tune that recalls those light Burt Bacharach songs with a wry humor about a wandering mojo. Todd Rundgren fans will surely appreciate the bouncy “The First Assault Upon My Day” which sounds like it fell off of Something/Anything. Scott’s diverse influences are both immediate and enjoyable. The wonderful “Real Estate” shows off some excellent arrangements that recall mid 70’s McCartney with true affection. Other highlights include “Getting Involved” with subtle harmonies blended in the chorus and the very Steely Dan-ish “Home School,” with some fancy keyboard work. The lyrics are also very emotional stories that fans of Andrew Gold and Randy Newman will gravitate to as well. “Lemon Lane” is a warm and fuzzy pop gem that has a solid hook and even a kazoo solo at the midpoint. Even with the hilarious ending song “Start the Day” you can’t help think of Brain Wilson in the sandbox making up the words as he goes along. The album starts and ends with the crackle of record vinyl and if you ever owned a record collection, this one would be a welcome addition (on CD).

My Space | CD Baby

Chickenfoot vs. Extreme

July 2, 2009April 4, 2018 powerpopaholic 2 Comments

Step right up folks! It’s a battle of the bands — both have heavy guitar cred and both feature vocalists who worked previously with Van Halen. Let’s get it on!

Extreme “Saudades De Rock”
Beyond the fact that this is Extreme’s first album in thirteen years, we have both singer Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt taking this record very seriously. For the band, it’s a welcome return to form on par with the group’s masterwork Three Sides to Every Story as the band proves that they still “got it.” Saudades De Rock boasts Cherone’s forceful vocals and Nuno’s incredible guitar licks on the opener “Star,” about a musical divas fall from grace. Nuno’s guitar brilliance shines on “Take Us Alive” another trademark fast paced rocker full of swagger and bar room funk. The riff on “Comfortably Dumb” sticks in your head, and doesn’t let go either. While the ballad “Interface” won’t make you forget the #1 hit single, “More Than Words”— it does sound melodic and the soulful piano ballad “Ghost” is sincere. And the band is excited to be back together and playing to their collective strengths. And clearly, the accomplishment is not lost on them. “It didn’t take long for us to be reminded of what we were capable of,” Cherone enthuses. “We always knew Extreme was special. We always knew it was a matter of time.” It’s nice to see a reunion that actually works — it’s like they never left.

My Space | Amazon | Itunes

Chickenfoot “Chickenfoot”
It’s a new “supergroup” featuring Joe Satriani, Chad Smith (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and two former Van Halen members, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. The majority of the Van Halen/Sammy Hagar fan base will enjoy this, as it’s by-the-numbers corporate rock. And let’s face it, Chickenfoot are just slumming it – they are an bunch of aging rockers who used to kick ass, and now they’re just jamming for their own amusement. They aren’t playing poorly, but they aren’t even remotely close to making it sound more than a well-produced garage jam session. Guitar deity Satriani prevents disaster here by adding a few well placed riffs as the skeleton for several songs. “Soap on a Rope” and “Get it Up” prove Satriani and drummer Smith are able to deliver, but the songs simply don’t move beyond a few bars. Anthony’s bass does his best not to upstage, to the point where he’s invisible. The same riff is repeated over and over, while Hagar does his best David Lee Roth impersonations. Most of the music is lifeless and unmemorable – and puts it in the category of generic rock and roll background music.

MySpace | Amazon | Itunes

Winner by a knockdown: Extreme!

The Leftovers "Eager To Please"

July 1, 2009April 4, 2018 powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Hailing from Portland, Maine, The Leftovers deliver the combination of sun soaked melodies and raw, driving rhythms – power pop in the truest sense of the words. Produced by power pop fave Linus of Hollywood, we get tight arrangements at a dizzying speed. Sounding like the bastard child of Paul Collins Beat and The Ramones on “Telephone Operator” the band goes the extra mile to keep the music upbeat and catchy. The band has a nice platoon of guest stars, including Kim Shattuck of The Muffs, Brett Anderson of The Donnas, Parry Gripp from Nerf Herder, Coz Canler from the Romantics and Jon Rubin of the Rubinoos. So many highlights are here, “Girlfriend” is piece of power pop gold if ever I heard one and much of the other tracks follow in this mold. “Lost and Found” has the simple lyric about getting dumped, and bouncing back with a terrific riff, bells and hand claps. Fans of three-chord 70’s pop will also fall in love with this release, with even a little Beach Boys backing vocal on “Get Out Of My Head,” keeping the music zooming along at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t slow down at any point with a mid-tempo song, or ballad. But it ends well with “Party Till We Die,” which features a vocal duet with Donnas singer Brett Anderson, doing a sweet update on the Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night”. Fans of Elvis Costello, The Queers, and The Romantics will lap this up too. Without a single weak track, this band is eager to please — and you should be eager to pick this album up.

My Space | Itunes | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik

See the video to “Dance With Me”

Bleu "A Watched Pot"

June 26, 2009July 13, 2025 powerpopaholic 1 Comment

Over the years Bleu McAuley has become a touchstone for several high profile collaborations with pop’s brightest stars. He’s also been a songwriter and producer for tons of pop artists (Rooney, Ryan Adams and John Mayer). As a driving force behind L.E.O. and The Major Labels, it’s about time we heard a solo – after all Redhead was released in 2003 and due to label problems, only now we get to A Watched Pot. All this pent up creativity can frustrate many artists, just look at what happened to The Smashing Pumpkins or Axl Rose. Fortunately this is worth the wait as this watched pot boils over with passionate melodies and dramatic energy. Opening with the expansive epic “Save Me,” Bleu chronicles his journey through disappointments, it’s a signature tune with a great big sticky hook in the chorus. The production is flawless and is full of uplifting crescendos like in “Come N’ Go” and for you L.E.O. fans a very lovely Lynne-ish “No Such Thing As Love” is as strong as anything The Secret Powers did earlier this year. Bleu’s approaches are very commercial and “Kiss Me” takes a note from vintage George Michael. The demons of a bad relationship, and blues pop take over “I Won’t F**k You Over” and make it another catchy must-listen, as well as the reason it’s got an advisory sticker. Another highlight is the inspirational “One Day” with a soaring melody. It’s not perfect, as the weariness of “What Now?” and “What Kind of Man Am I?”gets a bit overwrought. It doesn’t stay that way as “The Penguin Song” gets so sweet it would make Paul McCartney pucker. For the most part, this album is a strong contender for top ten of 2009 consideration. It comes out July 14th everywhere. Listen below for a sample!

My Space | Bleutopia | Pre-order from Newbury Comics