Category: Power Pop Review

Sean Ashby is one of Toronto’s most successful musicians, being a leading member for the band Jack Tripper and also as a long-time guitarist in Sarah McLachlan’s band. His new solo “Brass and Gold” is produced with help of Todd Fancey (member of The New Pornographers) and several others. The opening riff of “Dreamin” has the melodic riffs and guitar overdubs that remind one of Brian Ray playing the guitar with John Cougar Mellencamp doing the vocals. Stylistically, Sean jumps around from muscular rock of “This Machine” to gentle ballads (“Brass And Gold,” “Nova Girl”). But the big hooks here in “Star 98” and “Gone” are so thick, they beg to be played loud, with a cutting buzz saw sound like Heart’s “Barracuda”.  The song “Baby Yes” takes the same style down a notch. Not all the ballads work for me (“All I Need” tries to be Coldplay a bit too much) but when they hit the mark, with “Paper Tiger” it’s like the second coming of Mark Oliver Everett. The album finale “Come to Me” evokes a Lou Reed ballad and fades out. This is a strong eclectic debut that would be welcome in your collection.

Sean Ashby’s Site | My Space | Itunes

A nice overview article on one of the classic Swedish power pop bands –The Merrymakers. It’s also chock full of embedded Mp3s to listen to in case you’ve never heard of them (Shame on you!) Good job, Will.

Andy Lehman begins “Landline” with the haunting “I Don’t Think of Love” which utilizes a heavy echo and synths, emulating the Doves a bit. The melodic multi-tracked chorus tells you this isn’t the usual pop rock. The vocal stylings are closest to a young Lindsey Buckingham with a bit of Weezer thrown in. “Time to Go” is a better representation of Andy’s unique style of power pop. The layered vocals flow together in a stream of self-conscious lyrics. His humor and simple melodic sense makes “Summertime” a lot of fun to listen to – I almost expected more goofiness here to match the melody. Things get mellower as the album continues forward and although beautiful, “Lovely and Magic” almost lulls you to sleep. Some of the other ballads don’t do much either however, a good epic ballad here is “Lightning Fell” with a dramatic ending worthy of Oasis, and is my favorite track here. If you like your wall of sound with a bit of melancholy,”Ghost” fits the bill nicely as well. Overall a good debut with some ipod worthy tunes.

My Space | CD Baby

The Backroom started when long time friends Keith von Kaenel and Matt Greenfield met up with drummer, Matt Jankowiak and they started jamming in the “back room” of Keith’s garage. This is a quality release with a radio-friendly sound and smooth psyche-lite touches. The opener “Lost Without You” is really a good pop tune with clean harmonies and violin accents. The rhythm guitar leads the way with the mid-tempo “Flat Lined @ Zero” and has a Weezer-like quality. Much of the remaining tracks, although flawlessly produced don’t always hook you. The exceptions to this are “Loads Of Love” with a great dual vocal harmonic, excellent lyrics and “The World That Revolves Around Me” with a catchy chorus and piano that is similar to the group, Field Music. That dual harmonic of Keith and Matt is also present on “Deserve”,”One Night Stand” and “Better Time Than Now” – in most cases it works beautifully. This is a promising debut worth checking out. Enjoy it!

The Backroom Site | My Space | CD Baby | Kool Kat Musik | E-music

I seriously debated even reviewing this, but c’mon the guy was a Beatle and deserves some props for still popping out an album now and then. When stacked against his previous work, “Liverpool 8” is actually a very pleasant listen and compares favorably to anything done after 1992’s “Time takes Time.” Once again Mark Hudson surrounds Ringo with enough Beatlesque arrangements and references to keep it from being boring. However, he was booted in favor of former Eurythmic David A. Stewart who was hired to finish the album off. It’s slick enough to compete with former bandmate Paul’s last one. Both albums look at mortality, nostalgia and love – hell, what else are guys over 64 years old gonna sing about nowadays? For Beatles fans, it’s a passable time waster. For Ringo fans, it’s a joy most of you already own.

Itunes | Ringo’s Official Site