Category: Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic

Deadbeat Poets members — singer-guitarist Terry Hartman (Backdoor Men, Napoleon In Rags, Terry & The Tornadoes), singer-bassist Frank Secich (Blue Ash, Club Wow, Stiv Bators Band), guitarist-singer Pete Drivere (Infidels, Pretty Demons) and drummer John Koury (Infidels, Slackjaw) are a varied group of musical professionals with a common love of a great guitar pop song. A good comparison to other like-minded groups would be Scott McCaughey and The Minus Five. Lots of influences here include The Stones, The Cars, The Who, The Byrds, and Tom Petty. Fans of these bands will enjoy The Deadbeat Poets. The opener “The Truth About Flying Saucers” is a cool guitar centered song, that evokes classic Cars. “The Green Man” cribs a little bit from Pete Townshend’s “Behind Blue Eyes” but is also full of original hooks. My favorite song is the energetic “No Island Like The Mind, No Ship Like Beer” – an excellent hook filled anthem for drunken philosophers. I expect a group of guys named “Bruce” to be singing this with mugs raised (Monty Python fans know what I’m talking about here). Some great guitar twang on “Where Was I When I Needed Me” is alot like typical Southern Culture on The Skids. More Brydsian brilliance is on the amazing song “It’s Nothing.” This is a great album that fits like an old favorite pair of jeans. No filler here either, it’s all great stuff. Listen to some tracks on MySpace and pick up this one.

MySpace | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame | Digistation

Kurt Hagardorn loves to play music. Simple as that. His album “Ten Singles” is a relaxing series of songs that recall the great power pop influences of the past.The production is clean and perfectly done here. On first listen it is a nice Beatlesque Alt. Country album in the early Wilco vein, but after a few listens it really grows on you. It opens with the excellent Beach Boys’ Holland-era single “International Travel Advisory.” Then the Neil Young-ish “You are my Girl” follows. It’s got a wonderful chorus that recalls You Am I’s countrified power pop. “Please Make it Last” is the best song Harry Nillson never wrote and a real standout as well. The Badfinger comparisons are most apt on “Rock Scissors Paper” a rollocking number with awesome riff work. The style takes a more contemporary spin with “Leanne” – a wonderful song with more of an electric sound, and great lyrics about losing the girl. Most every track here is really good, and the stories on even the slower ballads remain interesting. Recorded between 2000 and 2006, Kurt has given us the cream of his crop here. It feels like a carefully handcrafted project and you couldn’t ask for more than that.

MySpace | Itunes | Not Lame | CD Baby

Listen to “You Are My Girl”

Brothers Tom and Alex White of The Electric Soft Parade are really the cream of the Britpop crop nowadays and have successfully taken the mantel left vacant by Oasis and Coldplay. Being the first major label release in the US, the songs follow a dizzy array of musical styles – from Post-Punk, to Psyche-Pop to Power Pop. The slow intro “No Need To Be Down-Hearted (Part 1)” almost plays like Pulp or Death Cab For Cutie, and that leads to the energetic “Life in the Back Seat” – a mix of the Shins and 10cc come to mind here. But a series of great indie-pop classics are buried here in “If That’s The Case, Then I Don’t Know” and “Misunderstanding” – they are excellent and the best I’ve heard since The Field Mice’s last album. “The Shore Song” is a dreamy acoustic song that flows along beautifully and like the lyrics state “you won’t get bored of me this time.” Unlike earlier albums, the focus here is on tight melodic songs, and not obtuse experimentation. “Have You Ever Felt Like It’s Too Late” has amazingly polished riffs and beats with great chord changes like The Beta Band on steriods. It follows with “Come back inside” another dreamy psychedelic mid 70s inspired gem. My favorite here is “Cold World” – a perfect Paul McCartney styled tune that will make you tap your toes for sure. A few tracks like “Secrets” seem more puzzling here and slow the momentum a bit. I can almost guarantee that you’ll be addicted to these guys after one listen, so be sure to pick this album up – it’s everywhere now.

Electric Soft Parade Website | MySpace | E-Music | Itunes | Not Lame | Koot Kat Musik

Listen to “Misunderstanding”

Most Seattle music bloggers have been going ga-ga for this debut album from Dept. of Energy. Following closer to west coast indie rock than power pop “Held by Waits” boast strong vocal performances from leader Robb Benson. Like a mix of The Shins and Mother Hips with strong elements of Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jane’s Addiction. The instrumentation from keyboardist Ty Bailie is powerful and matches Benson’s vocal perfectly. “Story” is a great example of all these styles and influences merging into something new and original. “Carnival” emerges as an epic track that starts slowly and builds to a roaring triumph, in true Coldplay fashion. However, Benson has a better voice than Chris Martin and sounds closer to Roger Waters with his earnest delivery. Other tracks take more effort to enjoy, like “Emote” (is this 80s chic?) and “Sifted Blues,” with its David Bowie meets The Cure guitar and funk you can actually dance to. It ends with an excellent ballad “Stereo Embers” that laments lost musical youth in Ohio. Overall a very good album with moments of true greatness. It’s on sale almost everywhere.

My Space | CD Baby | Amazon | Itunes

Listen to Dept. of Energy “Story”

Devlin Murphy is a not just a singer songwriter. He’s an entertainment personality waiting to show up on the zeitgeist radar. He’s got a lot of videos up on his own you tube profile. But top it all off, Devlin is an excellent musician, having grown up amongst the artists at Track Records studio. Like Cliff Hillis, Michael Carpenter and Jeremy Morris he produces some refreshingly original pop songs. “Today” is an inspiring opener with great hooks, and this is followed by “Jesus” a great sunny proclamation that “I don’t want to be a Jesus and you don’t have to pray” with an excellent melody and overdubbed harmonies. “99 Cent” almost sounds like a jingle, and is a cute diversion. “Another Day” showcases some nice piano melody and reminds me of the Jellyfish. A few heavy ballads sneak in here, and they’re also well done. “Alright” is an Owlsey-styled inspirational guitar pop song with a killer chorus. “Hey Hello” is a nice tune with a bit of Ween or Smashmouth flavor to it with it’s foreground drum beat. “Real One” is a single featured on National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2 soundtrack and is slick enough, but in my opinion the weakest track here. The CD is for sale on his website and a few indie labels listed below and itunes. At $10 it is a real treat to encourage an artist with his talents.

Devlin Murphy homepage | CD Baby | Not Lame | MySpace | Itunes | Kool Kat

Listen to Devlin’s YouTube Commercial and “The Luckiest”