Category: Power Pop Review

The Brambles were a well established power pop trio from 1987 to 1993, consisting of Tim Anthony (vox/guitar), Tom Aureli (drum kit) and Lou Anthony (vox/bass). The band had a string of excellent light pop albums, notably Next Big Thing. Well a pile of old dusty 8-track tapes were recently found from that era. These songs were essentially demos,  and they capture the spirit and energy of The Brambles at the time. Lots of great stuff here, and fans of The Beatles, Elvis Costello and the La’s will be sure to enjoy this. This is straightforward pop full of jangling guitars and harmonies that stick in your head long after the song’s chorus fades. A few tracks here sound dated with some of the synth piano and drum machine beats that were very common in pop music back then. But the melodies come through – especially nice is the minor chords in “Listening Now” and urgency in “Kick Inside.” Other gems include “Girl Next Door” and “If It’s True.” Best of all the band has priced this collection super cheap.  The entire album is only a $1.99 download from CD Baby – for that price it’s not a “lost” recording – it’s found pop treasure!

MySpace | CD Baby

Anton Barbeau is a cult-hero’s cult hero. He is known for combining surreal lyrics with pop melodies, and is often described as being in the songwriting tradition of Robyn Hitchcock, Syd Barrett, and Julian Cope. He is similar to Todd Rundgren, in that his fan base can get frustrated looking for his greatness, and often getting it in eccentric compositions. His last album, In The Village Of The Apple Sun is a trippy Sgt. Pepper influenced pop pastiche, so this one is closer to his White Album I guess. Opening with the psyche-folk pop of “Bending Like A Spoon”and “Plastic Guitar” kind of recalls The Flaming Lips a little and it features strong repeating choruses and dissonant beats. The theme of this album is mortality, pronounced on songs like “Doctor Take Care” and the ballad “Boat Called Home.” Lots of odd percussion starts many songs, like “Dear Miss” and sometimes it goes to a chorus, or like “Raino Disco” it builds into a looping hypnotic melody. “Quorn Fingers” and Banana Song” have that Lennonesque experimental quality that could fit comfortably behind The Beatles “Revolution #9”. The straight pop tune here “Better Drink Your Water” is pretty accessible and you’ll find yourself clapping along. Be warned it’s not for everyone, and entering the universe of Barbeau is sometimes more about the journey than the result.

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The general reaction to the new Ok Go album has been mixed, but there is plenty here that is interesting to listen to. Band leader Damian Kulash goes out of his way here to explore sounds that are nothing like the last two high energy albums. In fact, bassist Tim Nordwind told me the band doesn’t think about the “power pop” label that much at all. Opening with the funky and alien “WTF?” it is very much influenced by Prince. The sound of producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) is stamped on this album as well. Recorded in seclusion it creates a big arena sound from the tinkling piano, buzzing bassline and echoing percussions in “All Is Not Lost.” What is missing here are the melodies that get lost among the reverb and distortion on tracks like “Needing/Getting.” The best tracks here fall into the lonely grooves of “Skyscrapers” and awesome guitar licks on “White Knuckles.” It’s bound to make the purple one envious he didn’t write it first. Also we get a nice Beatlesque dreamscape in “Back From Kathmandu” that’s got these great strings for a juicy effect here. They even try a heavy vocorder tune “Before The Earth Was Round.” Another point is that the bass fuzz on some tracks distorts to the point of annoyance (“In The Glass”). Fans of Beck may also like the heavy funk, but others will like the lighter touch toward the albums end on tracks like “Why You Were Asleep” which is closer to Godley and Creme in style. Overall a good album, but if you wanted a more formulaic sound you’ll be disappointed.

MySpace | Official Site | Amazon

So what does this have to with power pop? Well Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” helped bring Conan to L.A. – maybe his next show will use “I Want You To Want Me?” Anyway, here is a look back at Conan’s tenure on The Tonight Show.

Leave it to an Englishman like Aaron Hemmington to craft an album full of Californian sunshine pop. Fans of Jellyfish/Wondermints will be drawn to the sunshine fuelled harmonies and intricate harpsichord arrangements. I wanted to give Hemmington props for just getting the sound and spirit of The Beach Boys and Curt Boettcher late sixties era right. The opening track “Greenacre Lanes” gets it rolling with a candy colored melody and catchy chorus. In fact he’s gotten positive feedback from both Jeff Foskett and Nelson Bragg of Brian Wilson’s band for his musical skills. “Free Rider” has a great jangling guitar sound that recalls Gary Zekley’s pop band The Yellow Balloon. And the psychedelic pop on the tunes “Feeling Just Fine” and “Your Smile” are wonderful harmonic diversions. The songs are at once light-and-airy in their atmosphere, and masterfully complex in their construction. There will be plenty of “spot the riff” moments, where it sounds like whole parts of Pet Sounds have been re-used (“Down At Pallisades”). Unfortunately much of the songwriting suffers from a lack of variety, as many songs start with similar piano progressions and rhythms. Unless you’re a huge Brian Wilson fanatic, it wears thin by the albums end. If you can get past that fact, you are in for a real treat. I sincerely hope there is a follow up album, as enjoyable sunshine pop is a rare find nowadays.

MySpace | CD Baby | ReverbNation