Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Brooklyn, NY continues to churn out great bands, and The Rollo Treadway are a prime example. The entire album fills a story arc about the kidnapping of two children and the songs are told from different characters point of view. It’s all very clever, from the story to the band’s name (Buster Keaton’s character from “The Navigator”). The opener “Kidnapped” is a stunner – opening with a mix of Donovan, The Lilys and The Wondermints. “You Laugh, I Cry” has the hushed vocal stylings of Chad & Jeremy or The Association. The instrumentation is clean with just the right amount of guitar jangle, percussion and orchestration. “Dear Mr. Doe” and the remaining tracks sounds closer to the sunshine pop of Harpers Bizarre, perfectly done. The big organ’s sound in “Friday’s Child” build a swirling pysche-pop carousel. The baroque stylings of “Coast’s Clear” are almost too understated, and mesmerize you, like a sermon at the church of Brian Wilson, resembling Smile’s “Wonderful.” This continues through several songs, including “Charlie,” so light it floats like a cloud through your head. Some added heavy guitar of “She’s Got Me” and “Avenue X” bring back the psyche element, leading up to the Doors meets The Free Design of “The Children of Table 34.” Although nothing tops the great opening track, the A capella finale of “Time to Dream” is a beautiful ending that will make Beach Boys fans smile. Lovers of baroque pop, can’t miss this one. In fact, neither should anyone else.

Rolo Treadway Site | My Space | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame

Seattle singer songwriter Andy Liotta (aka The Billie Burke Estate) has been fine tuning the art of piano pop for decades, and it comes out in here on “Let Your Heart Break.” Beginning with the opener “99 Liberty Lane,” it’s a sweet McCartney slice of sparse piano pop with manic lyric and energy. “I Want U” is a great throwback to the early 1970’s and Michael Brown’s Stories or Todd Rundgren’s early solo period. The awesome bridge and hook are powerful and draw you into the music deeper with each listen. “Everybody’s Gonna Die” has both optimism and pessimism in the same catchy song. “Perky Muscle Girl” has a lyric and harmonic acrobatics worthy of Andy Partridge, but seems to beg for a bigger production than just bass and organ. The richness of the songs continue to amaze throughout the album, “I Can Float” has a fullness in melody with synth touches that reminds me of Nik Kershaw. The ballads here have a theatrical quality, evidenced by “Dreams Come True” – you can almost picture the dancers moving to this in a full musical production. Another influence here you’ll spot is Billy Joel (“Goodbye” and “Skin”) and only on “Little Maisy” does the balladry get too maudlin. It also would’ve been nice to hear a few songs in more of a denser wall of sound, but this is a minor flaw – the song arrangements are flawless and production is superb here. I highly recommend this release.

Billie Burke Estate Site | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

I’ve been reviewing a lot of retro-power pop lately, so here is another one. Richard Snow is a 33-year-old singer-songwriter from Nottingham, UK who sings, plays guitar, keyboards, bass and percussion. This album is a re-mastered release of his original 2002 UK release. The album is bookended by two wonderful Beach Boys-styled songs (“The Sweetest”, “Coming Soon”) that have that Wilsonesque touch and details worthy of “Pet Sounds.” The we are treated to the wonderful jangle and melody of “Real” that takes cues from R.E.M.’s energetic bounce. Snow’s soft vocals are similar in approach to Richard X. Heyman or maybe Elvis Costello. In some tunes, his vocals do get a bit pushed too far in the background. Things pick up to almost a new wave frenzy with the “Girls on the Tube” and echos of Elvis Costello are definitely on “Hand Me Down My Sunglasses.” The gorgeous guitar lead on “Pretty Picture” take over the song much like Jamie Hoover’s material. The Byrdisan chime continues on “Spiral” and it’s another winner. The haunting “Haphazard” suffers from a bit of over-production and too much echo-effects and is the only misstep here. Overall this is a classic power pop release, Richard uses his influences to form beautifully crafted, catchy original songs. What more could you ask for? Don’t miss it.

Richard Snow Website | My Space | Not Lame | CD Baby | Kool Kat

Justin Levinson burst on the scene with “1175 Boylston” and this is his 7-song follow up. “Bury Your Love” is a bit more mature and his opener “Heavy Weight” is compared to Elton John’s early period favorably. The remaining album takes more of an alt-country lean, like the very Jayhawks-like “Home” and “Bury your Love.” A catchy bit of piano pop in “Daisy May” follows the Ben Folds mold nicely. The remaining songs are classic folk pop. It’s no wonder he will be writing soundtrack musical themes soon. A full departure from the Beatle-isms of this debut, Justin expands his range and the closer “Middlebrook Road” even sounds a little like a young Randy Newman with a much better voice. My biggest peeve is that it’s only seven songs (not quite an album, but too big for an EP). I like this side of him, let’s hope for more in the future.

Justin’s Website | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame