Category: Power Pop Review

Power Pop Classics: Lisa Mychols and Starbelly

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Lisa Mychols “Sweet Sinsations”
Lisa Mychols (The Masticators) got her influences from both the 60’s and 70’s and got her start with a holiday album produced by The Wondermints. Word of mouth spread fast, and her funky pop beats on “Turn On The Radio” are one of many memorable songs. Her vocals have been compared to Jill Sobule or Gwen Stefani. Not only an accomplished performer, but a great songwriter as well Lisa is one of the few female mega-stars in power pop.

Get the expanded edition on Futureman Records

 

Starbelly “Lemon Fresh “
One of the strongest albums from 1998,  Lemon Fresh is a best of breed in power pop, a trio where each member contributed equally. The band led here by the amazing Cliff Hillis, included bassist Dennis Schocket.  It’s fully stocked with memorable hooks, melodies, and melt-away background vocals. Andy Bopp (Myracle Brah) produced this masterpiece. If you don’t have this in your classic power pop collection – where have you been?

Get the expanded edition on Futureman Records

The Galileo 7 and Amy Gore

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The Galileo 7 “Staring at the Sound“
Opening with crunchy retro riffs on “Anne Hedonia,” its a solid throwback to 60’s British bands like the Kinks, The Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Creation. Fans of The Action and Len Price 3 will also find a lot to like here. The compositions are clean and harmonies crisp on the organ-guitar combo of “Paradise.” Lead guitar Allan Crockford makes it all an easy listen on the ears, the swirling guitars and psychedelic synths that The Moody Blues have mastered are done with equally dazzling effect on “Waiting to Cross.”

The songs seem to get stronger as the album progresses, “Hiding From The Sun” starts winsome, and builds to a rich melodic chorus. “Not Gonna Miss You” and “Don’t Fly Too High” groove pretty hard and I didn’t find a single throw away track on the album. If anything it adheres too close those flower power sounds, and will easily fool anyone under 30 that this wasn’t a classic album from 1968 or part of the Austin Powers soundtrack.

 

Amy Gore  “In Love”
As leader of garage rock darlings The Gore Gore Girls, Amy Gore wears her classic pop influences well. She sounds like a mix of Karla Kane (Corner Laughers) and Chrissy Hynde (Pretenders) with an sharp romantic wit. “Driving Around” is perfect crusin’ music, a hummable melody that sticks in your head for the whole trip. Continuing with The car theme, “Cadillac” has some neat guitar licks and “Just A Dream” is another memorable single. Amy shows us a softer side on “I’m Addicted” but it doesn’t stay that way, as the love obsessed chorus plays on.

Some great guitar work is heard throughout, especially on “Static” and the blistering riffs of “You Won’t Lead Me On.” Overall a solid debut that should put this former Gore-Gore girl from the garage into mainstream pop success without straying far from her rock roots.

 

Sitcom Neighbor and Hot Freak Nation

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Sitcom Neighbor “Charm”
Led by singer/songwriter/guitarist John Murphy, Sitcom Neighbor recorded Charm over a two year period with bassist Pat Mitchell (The Records) and drummer Eddie Cleland. Producer Steve Refling (Seth Swirsky, Nelson Bragg, Nushu, etc.) added his talents as well. Opening with “Amphetamine” you know right away you’ve got a winner with simple acoustic strum and harmonious dual tracked vocal similar to Teenage Fanclub. “Vaseline Water Balloon” is a XTC meets Kinks styled collection of metaphors with nice cello accents.

My favorite is the majestic Badfinger-like “Let It Go” with its awesome hook. “Darlene” is another fine rocker, with a strong melody. The songs continue to evoke late period Beatles, especially in the ballads like “True Love and Medication.” No filler anywhere, it figures to be high on my year end top ten list.

 

Hot Freak Nation “Lifetime To Lifetime”
Hot Freak Nation is led by the songwriting team of Greg Roberson (Tiger High, Reigning Sound, Arthur Lee’s Love) and Don Main (The Late Show).

The jangle anthem “(You Are) The Best Kind Of Poison” starts us off, sounding a bit like Superdrag. It moves quickly to pysche-pop and garage on “Nothing Stays The Same” and “All The Right Things” but it also has subtle hooks that slowly sink in after repeat listens. The ballads like “Sunshine From The Heart” have an Alex Chilton styled resignation and the march “Everything Is Everything Else” is a great party song. The band settles into the retro vibe comfortably so fans of both The Clash and Terry Anderson’s OAKT will really love everything here. A rock solid debut.

Grahame Steinberg and The 1840s

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Grahame Steinberg “Grahame Steinberg“
Wow. Who expected that Lane Steinberg and David Grahame grew up knowing each other? Lane finished the masterful 8×8 album early this year, and now this gem. For those of you who don’t know David Grahame, he’s a bit of a legend in power pop circles and this is his first collaboration with Lane.

The album has a series of great songs, starting with the “Big Blue Ocean” and its sweet hook filled melody. Next comes a series of girl songs, Lane’s “Carmen” paints a vivid portrait of a murdering couple, but only the guy seems haunted by guilt. “Denied Tonight” is one of the best ear worms this year, both men have love of the McCartney/Emmit Rhodes style and its magic really shows up here. “Girl’s Gone Deaf” and “Aquila” are bouncy up tempo songs similar to Squeeze, and other than few slow tunes in the middle most of them are sparsely arranged melodic gold. More highlights include “Crazy Maise” and “Italian Where It Hurts.” Essential listening that also makes my top ten.

The 1840s  “Pushing Squares Down Back to Size” EP
This Israeli power pop trio has a hard rock heart and singer/songwriter Avishai Efrat gives a solid performance on his debut. “Rainbow” is part Creedence-part Strokes and “Nobody Knows Me” has a brooding attitude and nice guitar work by Efrat and bassist Eviatar Oren. You’ll hear echos of Led Zepplin on “Sirens” and nothing else here really breaks the mold, but its solid rock and roll. Best of all, you can name your own price on Bandcamp.

The Wellingtons and The Bolts

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The Wellingtons “Hey Hey” EP
Once again Aussie Zac Anthony is back with a new The Wellingtons EP. “Devil In A Cardigan” starts us off with a warning about his clingy ex-girlfriend. It’s a pitch perfect song with a dense middle eight, designed to induce goosebumps. It’s easy to keep gushing over a band that made it to #2 in the top ten list last year. But the quality power pop just keeps coming, from the light bouncy “Hey, Hey” and IKE-like heavy guitar riffs of “Under The Power Of A Girl” both full of hooks and ending with “Another Drummer Down,” a casual ballad about losing a drummer to pick on, where he asks “Am I the problem?”  No Zac… not at all, now get a drummer and make another LP.

 

The Bolts “Fall” EP
Irvine, CA band dazzles with its debut EP, a combination of rock and pop that proves you can crank out guitar gems like “Walk Away” along the lines of Extreme and Collective Soul, but still have sunny harmonies on “The Truth” akin to Phantom Planet. Since 2007 the band has been winning local “battle of the bands” competitions, eventually leading them to earn the title of Orange County’s ‘Best Pop Artist’ from the OC Music Awards.

The bands three Farmer brothers (Addam, Heath and Austin) help make those harmonies shine on “This Can’t Be Real” and “We May Fall.” The Bolts have plenty of energy and compare well to The Stokes, Jet and The Killers. By all accounts they are a huge success as evidenced by a ton of commercials using their music. A full length is expected by 2013.