Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Fans of Rainbow Quartz bands rejoice! The Marmalade Souls are a band that will warm the heart of anyone who loves Beatlesque power pop. Fans of The Spongetones and The Winnerys will gobble this release up. Some critics will attack this kind of power pop as too derivative of late 60’s bands, lacking any originality. That’s like calling all country music derviative of Hank Williams. Coming up with catchy melodies and using this style to do it is not so easy and I appreciate the effort. Many Rickenbacker guitar fans do too. Marmalade Souls add a good female vocal into the mix in Johanna Klemme, and some notable tracks are the excellent single “My Heart Belongs to You” and “Belly Butterfly” – songs which any Beatle fan can relate to. Other songs also are worthy of attention, like the Kinks-like “Fall Into The Sky” and The Byrds meets 10,000 Maniacs in “Daydreams.” Even the faux blues attempt “Baby Come Back” is a welcome track. No duds on this album. A guilty pleasure if ever there was one.

Marmalade Souls Site | My Space | Not Lame | E Music

Listen to “My Heart Belongs To You”

Once in a while, a mainstream album comes along that deserves attention from me. Collective Soul are back with their 7th studio album in 13 years. The public stopped paying attention to this band after “Blender” in 2000 and it’s a damn shame. With “Afterwords” Ed Rolland and the band have come full circle back to the sound and style that put them on the map. It’s those big clean hook-filled rock anthems that they did so well in the late 90s. Things kick off with the blistering “New Vibration”, a powerhouse tour de force that is anchored by new drummer Ryan Hoyle and a killer guitar riff. Next up is “What I Can Give You” a catchy tune with layers of guitars, a pounding backbeat, and smooth vocals. “All That I Know” continues the hit parade, and although it’s very good, it’s nothing new for this band. “I Don’t Need Anymore Friends” tries a new vocal here and Joel Kosche does a decent job. “Good Morning After All” has steady rhythm section and inspiring lyrics (“But you swear there’s always hope/Always hope from above/Now everything starts to fall into place”) and it is my favorite track. If you are a Collective Soul fan, tracks like this feel like a favorite pair of comfortable old sneakers. The next track “Hollywood” is a very Cars inspired track – it’s pretty good, but ultimately sounds like a throwaway tribute track. “Adored” and “Georgia Girl” close the album nicely as inspirational ballads. No tunes here are really throwaways (unless you count “Hollywood”). Overall it’s good, solid power pop that isn’t heard much nowadays. Go to the band’s site to hear the whole album streaming.

Collective Soul’s Main Site | My Space | Itunes

Listen to “New Vibration”

Listen to “Hollywood”

Let me start by saying The Trolleyvox are consistently good. They have produced four albums, each with the smooth professional vocals of Beth Filla, and the Byrdsian guitar work of Andrew Chalfen. And to add to this rarity, we have a double CD album. The discs are musically from different worlds, “Your Secret Safe” is power pop, and “Luzerne” is ambient folk instrumentals. If you’re familiar with this blog, you’ll understand as I will put aside “Luzerne” and talk about “Your Secret Safe.” After the success and positive critical reception of the last album “The Karaoke Meltdowns,” the Trolleyvox have accelerated to the forefront of the Philadelphia indie scene. Chalfen’s songwriting and pacing has only improved with time here. Unlike earlier records, the melodic guitar stylings are more prominent and early Peter Townshend seems a bigger influence than Roger McGuinn. This is evidenced by an awesome cover of “Our Love Was” (from The Who Sell Out). Beginning the album with “I Call on You” it sets the tone as jangle pop similar to REM, Dream Syndicate or especially, The Blake Babies. The band’s combination of moody sixities guitar and free form lyrical approach works well for songs like “Rabbit in the Sun” and “Jean Jacket.” Both are standouts here and with great hooks that warrant repeat listens. Beth’s vocals are hypnotizing and carry every tune along. There are plenty of nods to psych-pop lite with the understated brilliance of “Fume of Sighs” – a gentle mid-tempo song with wonderful harmonies and lyrics, it’s my favorite song on this album. Toward the end of the album it mellows a bit with songs like “Can you find a way down?” and the 11 minute jam of “Cricket in Euphoria” after which you could easily put on the “Luzerne” CD and sip coffee and read a novel in your favorite Starbucks. It beats the “song of the day” any day of the week.

My Space | Emusic | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik | Transit of Venus

Listen to “Jean Jacket” from “Your Secret Safe” CD

Listen to “Call on You” from “Your Secret Safe” CD

Philadelphia’s Milton and the Devils Party is an enjoyable power pop album that’s a combination of literary angst and melodic cheer. The lyrical smarts here are not obvious, but the band was founded by two English professors, Daniel Robinson and Mark Graybill. The opener “Coward of Conscience” is the catchy jangle-filled alt-rock that I grew up with, and resembles the Smiths, The Decembertists or even The Ocean Blue. The lyrics of the angry “I’ve Had Your Wife” are offset by the changing tempos and is a perfect example of pop music with a “wicked” bite. My favorite on this album is the seemingly biographical “Too Old To Die,” a soliloquy by a mid-aged musician complete with a Morrissey reference. “Perdita” is wonderful ballad with dueling electric guitar harmonies. The bouncy “Muse of Mundanity” reminds me of any great Joe Jackson song from his early period, with even more insight into lonely bitterness. Every track here is good, if you can get past wierd lyrical subtext on songs like “The Gods have given up on Immortality” and historical analogies on “Reformation.” Graybill does a fabulous job on guitars here and Robinsons’ vocals are full of longing and rich emotion. And each song tells a distinct message to the listener clearly. For me it’s more than enough to recommend this album.

Transit of Venus Website | My Space | Not Lame | Kool Kat | Emusic

Indie favorite, Greg Summerlin joined producer Ed Ackerson (The Replacements, Golden Smog, Brian Setzer, Juliana Hatfield) in a Minneapolis studio to produce the latest album “All done in good time”. It’s an ambitious and grandiose 50 minute symphonic melodrama that tells a somewhat linear storyline. It comes with a booklet that describes the plot, but I was more interested in the music. Summerlin’s sound is a mix of U2 and The La’s with a dash of Brit-pop thrown in. After a sleepy intro, it rocks hard in the opener “Shine on Where You Want” and really delivers the goods. The hook-laden, ringing guitars here really grow on you. It follows with “Redemption,” a epic of post-punk pop that remind me of The Sundays a little. Ackerson’s guitar work here is amazing throughout the album. Janey Winterbauer’s supporting vocals recall Susanna Hoffs sweetness, and she does an excellent job here. Also helping out is John P. Strohm (The Lemonheads, Blake Babies). Hints of The House Martins meet The Bangles flow through “Just Listen Tonight.” The narrative really works on “Please Don’t Tell” with Greg and Janey’s intertwining chorus, a song that is closer to a real stage musical number than the other tunes here. Almost every track here shines and the problem is that it’s alot to absorb. This would’ve been a truly great 10-track album. But with 14 tracks, trying to follow the story with the tunes may take more effort than you expect. It’s easier here to enjoy great melodies like “Atmosphere” and the epic theme from “Shine on Where You Want” reprises in the closer “The Final Plan.” Summerlin is also the founder and owner of Superphonic Records and has amazing talent that should not be ignored.

Greg Summerlin Website | MySpace | Superphonic Records | Emusic

Listen to “Unlucky in Love”