Beachfield is a new project for Go-Betweens drummer, vocalist Glenn Thompson, and it will appeal to fans of The Go-Betweens, Aztec Camera and Crowded House. It’s got a casual breezy feel and tempo. The catchy “One Way Ticket” is a great hummable song and most of the album follows that template. Glenn Thompson’s stories range from the weather (“Wintertime Again”) to his Aussie neighbors (“Suburbian Life”). Most enjoyable track for me is the summery “Birds Eye View” complete with a wonderful silent break before the chorus. A lot of the album takes awhile to grow on you, as the tempos are all similar and this can lead to an auditory monotony. The ballads here like, “Demons” and “Danish Kronor” are okay, but nothing to get too excited about. This album is not so easily available in the states, except through Tower Records Online.
Category: Power Pop Review
The Hope Trust "The Incurable Want"
The Hope Trust is the project of Kelly Upshaw, a singer-songwriter from Denton, Texas. Along with Andy Odom (bass), Winston Chapman (drums), Jeremy Butler (guitar) and Michael Upshaw (guitars, vocals) they have a sweet Americana sound similar to The Pernice Brothers earlier efforts and Wilco. After the rollicking “Break You Down” and very Pernice-like “Run It Through” it settles into an indie folk groove, with “Ok Alright” complete with wistful choruses similar to Neil Finn. The musicanship is superb and the production is clean here as well. If you like your alt-country with a bit of melodic melancholy, this is the perfect poison for you. On the other side of the coin, there may be too much gloom here with tracks like “Repent”, “World Without End” and “Mountain I Can’t Climb” – it’s enough to drive a man to drink. The lack of any upbeat songs after the opening tracks is a real downer here. Good job, Hope Trust. After hearing this I have an “incurable want” for some Jack Daniels with Gary Louris. Depressed Alt country lovers unite!
Hope Trust site | My Space | CD Baby | Itunes
Tony Low "Time Across The Page"
Tony Low, a founding member of New York’s renowned garage-psychedelic pop band The Cheepskates, has been writing and recording his songs since the early 1980’s. Like the Kinks Ray Davies, Tony has a good story along with a killer riff that makes listening a pure pop pleasure. Starting with the excellent “Winter of Black Ice” – it’s a real treat for Kinks fans. The next track “This Old House” has a clean pop approach similar to Chris Stamey and the DBs. Needless to say fans of The early REM or The Cheepskates will love all of Tony’s stuff. The music is rich in melody and the jangle in “Spirals” is a catchy example. The autobiographical “In This Life” is a bit depressing, but still not off putting. The ballads here like, “All is Coming” have a pop softness that is not unlike Andrew Gold. Low dosen’t come across too tough, even on the fuzzy “Not the Lucky Ones” – it still approaches music that is best described as “easy listening,” but that label is really maligned and I use the term in the best sense. The album ends with “Brave Michael” a fitting Brian Wilson-styled ballad. This album is most worthy of a jangle pop fans attention.
My Space | Kool Kat Musik | CD Baby | Not Lame
Listen to “Brave Michael”
Best Mainstream Indie (Power Pop) of 2007
Is that all there is? As I mentioned earlier, the genre is more flexible than most (Metal anyone?) and I listened to some great indie/alternative rock this year that deserves to be listed. For the record, my favorite this year of the group has been Silverchair “Young Modern”, what I consider a great crossover album that power pop fans will really enjoy. Anyway, if I get time later this year, I will pull out one of these for further detailed review. For now, if you want a good quality follow up to your power pop music collection this would be a good starting point. Being mostly mainstream albums, you will be able to find these anywhere (Amazon, Itunes, etc.)
- Silverchair “Young Modern”
- Arcade Fire “Neon Bible”
- Fallout Boy “Infinity on High”
- LCD Soundsytem “Sound of Silver”
- Maroon 5 “it won’t be long”
- The National “Boxer”
- Of Montreal “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?”
- The Shins “Wincing The Night Away”
- The Weakerthans “Reunion Tour”
- Hard-Fi “Once Upon A Time in The West””
Ok Go "Father Christmas"
The poll is closed. Results are in — here is a quick video of Ok Go with my favorite holiday song, the Kinks’ “Father Christmas” Enjoy! Awards will be in the next post.