Category: Power Pop Review

Shimmering pop melodies from Aprilsrain is the result of a collaboration between Roger and Chris Manning (both of Jellyfish) and about ten other musicians. But this is not a Manning album, and it does not resemble Jellyfish. The heavy lifting here is done by Jon Del Arroz, who handles vocals and John Corker, lead guitar. They sound like a clean mix of Death Cab for Cutie and Eric Matthews, with flowing orchestral strings overlayed over phased guitars. “Stumbling” is a highlight with it’s modern piano lead melody and Del Arroz’s strong vocals. “Nova” is another good song, a soothing ballad with the effortless ability to relax the listener. Lots of delicate harmony and baroque chord changes dominate this album which tends to veer toward the mellow side of pop. The pop jangle of “Dagobah” is another standout, similar to The Cosmic Rough Riders, with some memorable guitar work. “Useless Game” is a very contemporary pop song with a reflective playful mood. A pair of sentimental ballads end this ten song album, “Building Up A Wall” is one of them, a sweet duet with Mara Frager complete with violins and acoustic guitar. The Manning brothers production is clean and tight, but not every song has a good hook – so it’s a mixed bag here. Very much like The Pinder Brothers minus the retro spin, baroque and sunshine pop fans may enjoy this. If you are looking for pop angst, go elsewhere.

Aprilsrain site | My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

Dave Milligan’s solo project Penguin Party is sure to appeal to fans of Martin Newell, with it’s very English nostalgic music hall pop. It opens with the quirky “Someone Else’s Turn To Be Me” a swirling mass of organ and cymbals with a smooth bassline driving the song along. The follow up is a reverb heavy ballad “Beaten, Black and Blue” with a bit of “Fool on The Hill” flute it makes a compelling listen. “Just Like A Chorus” is most definitely like a lost Cleaners From Venus track and this is followed by another low key tune “Mirrorball” which reminds me of an Andy Partridge pop ballad. By mid album, some 80’s synth influences creep back in on songs like “Lullaby” and “She Smells” – and it’s a flashback to Modern English! The best fun here is the pub anthem “Goin‘ Back To Grandma’s” with the hummable chorus and foot stompin‘ beat. There are a lot of subtle shifts in mood and genre on the album up to this point. The remaining tracks have a hard time measuring up, but this album has a charming set of pop that will sit well with ye merry anglophile power pop fans.

My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik

Essentially a collection of rarities and outtakes for fans of the Apples and lead Apple, Robert Schneider. The music is classic Elephant Six styled-twee goodness that spans the groups entire career. The trippy pops tracks all seem to fit together, even though it was recorded over 11 years. Some of the acoustic guitar solos (“Hold On To This Day” and “The Oasis”) show Schneider’s songwriting prowess and sound better than other groups finished songs. Brilliant ballads like “The Golden Flower” and fuzz rock pop (“On Your Own”) make this worth the effort to get this alone. This album also includes the funky pop gem “Stephen Stephen” that Robert performed live on The Colbert Report for the host. That being said this is not an essential, but a substantial collection of songs. Apples fans will most definitely want this. Optional for the rest of you. If you are new to the group, start with the “Fun Trick Noisemaker” album.

The Apples in Stereo web site | My Space | YepRoc Store | e-music

Scaeffer’s second offering is a concept album written about an auto accident and its effects on a relationship (as best as I could figure it out). After the epic dramatic opening “i love you with a crash” the album dwells in power ballad territory most of the way. Similar to other modern pop bands like Goo Goo Dolls or Matchbox Twenty, the slick production and intricate arrangements often make each song blend into one another. And with this downer of a theme, other than the transcendent melody in “Tell You I” it gets tedious pretty fast. With most songs topping the four minute mark and lyrics about painful recovery, like “Make Us See” – you expect the TV Show “ER” to use this for a commercial promo. It’s a shame only the CW shows use music like this. As a concept album it raises the bar for other bands that just put out pop fluff. Not a bad album, and I can appreciate the concept narrative here but the lack of stylistic variety hurts this overall. Recommended for fans of Schaeffer or overly melodramatic pop opera.

My Space | Emusic – the first album only | Itunes

A fun mix of Merseybeat and Garage sound straight from Kansas City, MO. The album “That Girl” starts out with a wild hook and “To Be In Love” evokes a Spongetones-styled pop bounce. The next tune “Come Back Home” is another tight gem, with an organ joining in to the rolling chorus and frontman Jamie Searle’s melodic screech. It also has a wicked solo guitar break and is easily the best song here. Then on “Hallelujah” the guitar starts to resemble a bit of McCartney’s Wings circa “Band on The Run” – and all it’s jangle and bass-play, you start to believe the lyric “I’m gonna throw out all my cares today, It’s okay.” After such a good run of Beatlesque songs including the very Monkees-like “Angela” the album takes a looser sound with “My Dear Wife” and it’s Eastern rhythms, similar to Camper Van Beethoven. This easy loose guitar jam style dominates the rest of the album. It gets almost into a pop hoedown with “Swing & Sway” and country-blues of “That Ain’t All.” It’s all good, especially the Elvis Costello-like angry man vitriol on “When the Sun Goes Down” so this is most a worthy addition to your “have a drink and dance in the bar” music collection. Unlike the band’s name, I hope the music isn’t over after one album.

My Space | CDBaby | Itunes

Listen to “To Be In Love”