Category: Power Pop Review

The Seldon Plan are a Baltimore group that specialize in lush indie pop with full arrangements, fans of Death Cab for Cutie, Belle and Sebastian, and Saint Etienne will enjoy this. Lyrically Lost and Found and Lost plays with images of childhood nostalgia to embrace the economic and political pendulum. From the opening chords of “Caldecott” the music relies on sonic textures as much as melody. vocalist Dawn Dineen resembles Liz Phair slightly in approach on “Fire in Day’s Field” with an echoing ghostly chorus lead by strong drumming. A highlight here is the title track with chiming guitars and with the soothing chorus “the heart rides again” followed by handclaps. The danger on some tracks, like “Lullabies For Old Hearts” devolve into a repeating mantra to a beat and it gets tiring quickly. Other highlights include the fast moving “Run, Go!” and the Dineen’s lovely harmonics in the chorus of “See A Word.”The slower tempo of the lovely “There Are Definite Undertones Here” remind me of those wistful Teenage Fanclub ballads. Overall not a bad mix of jangle guitar and soft vocal harmonies. This is pretty good summer music and deserves your attention.

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Gladshot is a New York City band lead by Debbie Andrews and Mike Blaxill, two musicians who’ve gotten together to prove that literate, finely-wrought pop can spring from the combination of two quite distinct musical minds. The opening tune “Fabulous Friends” is packed with charming harmonies in the chorus. Blaxhill’s roots-rock vocal and understated rhythms on “Early Light” leave room for his well played guitar riffs to stand out. Andrews beautiful vocal takes center stage with “He Was Gone” a slow torchy pop song. It’s Andrews’ stage experience here that gives a few tunes a jazzy finish. Much of the album is best exemplified by the duo singing together on “All I Want Is You” which has a sweet innocence that sounds genuine and is loaded with enthusiasm. The Motown-like “Like The Angels Do” offers a contrast of soft keyboard chords and sharp guitar riffs. The music bounces along like a soft breeze and Burn Up & Shine is one of those albums that make for great summer driving.

“Fabulous Friends” conceived and directed by Matthew K, featuring Joe Butler of the Lovin’ Spoonful as infomercial host

From Brooklyn, the creatively named Chariots of Tuna play a lovely baroque alternative pop. The light falsetto vocal harmonies and matching jangle guitars on “War Hero” are just a delight. The Shins flavored “Save Me Maryann” and Beach Boys styled composition “Air” are a nice teaser to this three song EP (so far) which is still in the working stages. The driving force here is Ben Morss (Cake, Wheatus) who blends influences of new and old pretty well. Similarities to Brooklyn-mates The Creaky Boards aside, they are still working on a distribution deal, hopefully we’ll get more tracks soon!

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From Madrid, Spain comes Insanity Wave. They’ve been an indie fixture since 1991 across the pond, but now are making more of an attempt to reach fans here in the USA. Produced by Mitch Easter, the band plays muscular guitar rock that’s similar to Wilco with a touch of Teenage Fanclub pop mixed in. They have also appeared at International Pop Overthrow at Liverpool at 2006. Late Night Shift opens with”Secluded Heart,” a catchy composition with a solid melody and steady guitar work. “This Girl” has echoes of Tom Petty, and “Please Drive Carefully” could have fallen off the last Wilbury’s album. Lead singer Jose Martinez Escriña seems to channel both Petty and Dylan’s vocal phrasing. The apt “Feeling so High” is fully of trippy psychedelic touches. The 60’s garage style works great on “Something To Hide” with strong rhythm backing up the lead guitar and Farfisa organ. The band reverts to Rolling Stones mode on “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt Us Now” with full harmonies to back up Jose’s Jagger impersonation, but the song isn’t that memorable. Insanity Wave is a solid rock group that hopefully we’ll hear more from.

Listen to “Something to Hide” – Wanna see a mini documentary of the band? It includes interviews from Mitch Easter and Peter Holsapple. The beginning is in Spanish, but stick with it.

The Thromboes are Larry Levy (Histrioniks) on vocals/guitar, Dave Powers on bass and Bongo LaHair (?) on drums. The group can be defined as a poppy garage punk style. When the album starts out “Let me touch your junk…” you know you’re in for something different. Unfortunately this clever lyrical approach on “Junk” isn’t on more tracks here. Larry makes the next track a funky beat ride, as “She’s Like A British Car,” resembles The Shadows fronted by Frank Zappa and The Mothers. And the fact that Cat Levy also lends her backing vocal talents to this helps make it the best track here. “Closed Doors and Cigarettes” and “I’m on The Underground” have a wall of sound styled guitar production that is a compelling listen. “Man In The Way” resembles the Cynics a bit with the full echoing reverb sound and aggressive beat. This approach is repeated in several tracks like “Shutter” and the appropriately written tune “Don’t Get Into My Head.” It flirts with a 50’s narrative style on “Back To The (Concrete Pond)” which is a lot of fun, like a garage version of The B-52s. And it ends off with a well played instrumental (“Overture To The Sun”). So, if you’re into this style of retro garage rock, it’s a very good entry in the genre.

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