Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

This Baltimore quartet play plenty of honest punchy rock music. The Frauds remind one of Jet, The Clash, Love and Rockets, but mainly they compare well to Superdrag. The opener “Nothing to Say” has all the swagger of the first Jet album’s “Are you gonna be my Girl”. The bass leads are great in the following tune “Strawberry Soul” and continues the theme of teen defiance. “Pull me Over” is a real standout and combines the sound of Jet and Jane’s Addiction. After these three awesome tracks in a row, it’s hard to believe they can top it, but they do with Superdrag-like “Asphalt Dungeon” an amazing transitional melodic rock ballad. Then it settles into a nice groove with the Bachman-Turner Overdrive lifted bassline from “Takin’ Care of Business” twisted into the song “Days Go By” and then the next few tracks tread a bit harder into Foo Fighters territory, like the meaty “Love Me Don’t.” Later on the band mellows on the Beach Boys-esque laden harmonies of “Palm Tree Baby. The ballads are also pretty good and things never get boring. Overall a great album worth getting if you like melodic rock and roll. This is a great emusic pick as well. Still not convinced? Listen to the whole thing for yourself.

The Frauds website | MySpace | E music | Itunes | Not Lame

A while ago I reviewed Fugu’s first album. Well e-music has picked up his entire catalog including “As Found” and it’s a wonderful follow up. This French power pop genius mines the Rundgren-McCarntey sound just perfectly here. The opener “Here Today” is similar to Emmit Rhodes with a classic Rundgren-styled mid-tempo chorus. “You Pick Me Up” is another bouncy piano melody with a great hook that reminds me of classic Left Banke. In fact, the following songs “Blackwall” and “Back to The City” comes even closer to The Stories, a later incarnation of The Left Banke’s driving force Michael Brown. The ballads here are pretty good, but come up a bit short compared to the other songs. “I Give Up” is a stronger effort mid way through and uses organ, guitar and shimmering harmonies to move the song along. One exceptional ballad here is “Parking Lots” which seems to end just as it gets good. “The Flow” is a great nod to John Lennon, but sometimes the vocals get lost behind the guitars. “She’s coming Over” has the right amount of baroque rock that it could fit fine on an Andrew Sandoval album. Then the pace picks up with “People” – a Jason Falkner styled rocker, complete with handclaps and layered vocals. Overall, this is an excellent album and if you have an e-music account, it’s a “no brainer” — included is a new single “Morning Sun” a great Beatlesque tune with drumming that would make Ringo proud.

MySpace | E music Fugu page | Fugu Homepage

Listen to “Here Today”

The Lodger are a melodic indie-pop group with a knack for throwback 80s guitar pop a la The Smiths and The Housemartins. And the album “Grown Ups” is full of jangly energetic pop nuggets. “Many Thanks for Your Honest Opinion” is the bouncy opener that groups like Belle and Sebastian would kill to have. This is followed by “Kicking Sand” a very Housemartins styled pop tune with all the proper hooks and quick riffs. If you enjoy the band Ok Go, you’ll flip for “Getting Special” which uses a great guitar dance beat. Every song here is catchy and mines the late 80s post-Smiths guitar jangle for all it’s worth. In most cases it’s loads of fun and and makes for excellent listening. “A Free Period” has a U2-styled baseline and clever chorus. The song “Simply left Behind” adds a bit of Squeeze and Zampano here, and is the winning single on this album, that elevates it above the average. Listen to this one first. It slums a bit on the last few tracks, but nothing too bad and it “The Story’s Over” would’ve been a fitting ending track here, but the ballad “Bye Bye” has a bit of Aztec Camera coolness as well. Check this microsite out to hear the entire album streaming.

The Lodger Website | MySpace | E-Music

Listen to “The Story’s Over”

Kicking Sand Video

The Rosewood Thieves originally released this as a 6 song EP last year. It has been reissued with added bonus tracks that qualifies it more as a full album now. With equal parts John Lennon and Dylan, lead singer Erick Jordan serves up a fine collection of tunes here. Staring out with the lazy rock shuffle of “Los Angeles” and then heads “Back Home to Harlem” with an energetic strum that touches on a country-tinged state of restlessness. Then the album really takes on a Beatles White-album era sound on “Cold in the Country” that conveys loneliness in a rich melodic tone. The double tracking of the vocals on “Diamond Ring” really bring this to classic status with the rough organ and carny atmosphere it evokes. The track “The Tale of Gustav Grimes” is a dead ringer for John Lennon, vocaly and melodically and makes it worthy of purchase for this track alone. The remaining tracks sort of mix the influences a bit more, as I hear some Dire Straits, The Thrills and Wilco. This was all created in a spooky old house in upstate Deposit, NY and not unlike the legendary “Music from Big Pink” was for The Band, some awesome stuff was created here. The band being sequestered pay it off here.

MySpace | Kool Kat Musik | Itunes | Amazon

The Saltshakers are a catchy Milwaukee, Wisconsin foursome that has a Replacements meets Cheap Trick style. “Believe” has awesome power riffs and lead singer Chad Curtis has wail that reminds me of The Kinks Ray Davies and The Replacements’ Paul Westerberg. The alt. pop rock side of the band comes out on “NOLA” and it is a commercial ready-made hit. The next tune, “Whiskeytown” is a whiskey soaked tribute to Ryan Adams, but the vocals here sound a bit too inebriated. The title track also has that manic ‘Mats energy with furious pop guitar that just keeps the party goin’ strong. Later on the tracks settle into a nice groove, like “Kick the Can” and are really enjoyable to listen to. “Happy now?” gets lost in a crazed riff that sounds like a punk rock version of Tom Petty. After a few listens the rough edges here fade a bit and you realize this is a really strong debut album. Personally I can’t wait to see them perform live (Come visit NYC, guys). Visit the bands website to hear the entire album streaming.

MySpace | The Saltshakers website | CD Baby

Listen to “Believe”

Listen to “NOLA”