Allen Clapp and The Jayhawks

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Allen Clapp

Allen Clapp “Six Seasons” EP

Allen Clapp (The Orange Peels) brings us a solo EP that compares the California weather to his emotional states, and its an impressive musical motif. The catchy start “Moss Falls Like Rain” is classic Clapp with guitar jangle underneath its keyboard melody. “Friend Collector” is another winner combining flowing piano chords and charismatic synthesizers. The album weighs more on sonic textures than melodies for its second half, “Seasons 5 & 6” is a magical two part instrumental. Overall a great little EP that deserves to be heard and is highly recommended.

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Jayhawks

The Jayhawks “Paging Mr. Proust”
While The Jayhawks have yet to top Rainy Day Music, this is a decent album that’ll keep fans satisfied. “Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces” has that classic Byrdsian jangle and relaxed sound you expect from a Jayhawks album, while “Lost The Summer” is a fuzzy mess that sounds forced. “Lover of The Sun” is a tight Gary Louris gem with a memorable middle eight that stands with his best tunes.

Both “Pretty Roses In Your Hair” and “Leaving The Monsters Behind” have good composition, the latter having a great guitar solo break. The trouble starts when they try Wilco-like experimentation on “Ace,” however “Comeback Kids” has some great storytelling and “The Dust of Long-Dead Stars” cranks up the tempo and energy. As usual the instrumentation is top notch and its a solid addition to the Jayhawks catalog.

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Mike Brunacini and The Grand Undoing

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Mike Brunacini “Cherry Springs”

Mike “Bruno” Brunacini is a new face on the indie power pop scene, and “Cherry Springs” is his first full length album. “Beginning” shows that he knows a thing or two about harmonies, and a earnest approach about fearlessly doing what you love. The simple guitar melody of “Carousel’s Song” is a highlight here, very similar to Jeff Boller (The Simple Carnival).

The piano melodies of the title track and “Departed Light” feel influenced by Ben Folds, and Brunacini’s vocals are excellent here. He gets a bit poppier on “Hiding The Storm Out” and “Living Electronic Emotions” tells an android’s story that’s just infectious. While not everything here hits the mark, most of it does. Mike’s songwriting skills are impressive on the duet “Shooting Stars” and the catchy “White Noise.” Worth checking out and I expect we’ll see more of Mr. Brunacini.

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The Grand Undoing

The Grand Undoing “Sparks Rain Down From The Lights Of Love”

Review by Mike Olinger: Boston-based Seth Goodman, who travels the space-time continuum under The Grand Undoing moniker, released his newest post-punk oeuvre this past September – a richly orchestrated, dynamic record that recalls the seminal work of Warren Zevon.

Goodman, a known sparkling wine connoisseur, often sounds intoxicated on record and his psychedelic album title, Sparks Rain Down From The Lights Of Love, leads one to believe this unorthodox loquacity is bound to spill into the material. Yet the actual songs attest to his sharp sense of pop brevity and punchy musicianship. Key tracks like “Key Biscayne” are both lyrically satisfying and gloriously retro while ballads like “Falling From A Plane” exhibit a world-class knack for expressionistic balladry.

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Black Friday Videos: OK GO, Vegas With Randolph and The Pozers

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Check out some new videos I came across from some of my favorite bands:

It’s always an internet event when OK GO releases a innovative video. Even though its harder than ever to break through the clutter, one is pretty cool.

Earlier this year, videographer and musician Todd Stanton put together a video of Vegas With Randolph doing our version of his song “New Leaf.”

For all you retro enthusiasts “All She Wrote” is the third video from The Pozers’ CD, The Sun’s Going Down. Another good song from this album is “The Fascination.”

The Weeklings and Steve Somerset’s Shadow Kabinet

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The Weeklings

The Weeklings “Studio 2”

Looking for pure unadulterated Beatlesque fun? The Weeklings are a great choice, with the sound and spirit of the legendary moptops circa 1965. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, in the very same studio as The Beatles themselves. Musicians Glen Burtnik, Bob Burger, John Merjave and Joe Bellia are not your average cover band, as the band members have years of experience. Some have played with McCartney, Styx, Marshall Crenshaw and others. Some have even performed in Beatlemania on Broadway.

The songs are all originals with a few very rare Beatle covers. Start with the Rickenbacker strums of “Morning, Noon & Night” it is a note perfect melody down to the harmonica flourishes. The big single here is “Little Elvis” which has huge riffs and compares well to “That Thing You Do!” for catchiness. I could continue, but almost every song here kicks ass. This is above and beyond your average Beatlesque effort. Makes my top ten list, and should be in your music collection.

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Steve Somerset's Shadow Kabinet

Steve Somerset’s Shadow Kabinet “Nostalgia For The Future”

The Shadow Kabinet is the personal vehicle of Steve Somerset, talented singer, songwriter, and melodic story-teller. Nostalgia For The Future was recorded in 2013, but only now sees the light on Kool Kat Musik. Somerset’s style is solidly set in the psychedelic pop world and you’ll hear Sgt. Pepperisms everywhere.

The epic title track is a winding tale with sitar, long bending chords and Steve’s vocal is a bit like Lennon at his trippiest or a more sober Anton Barbeau. The guitar of “Angelville” continues the slow tempo with a spacey theme. “The Notebook” is a very English sounding tale about a personal keepsake. The textured “Dust Descends As Light” could have been a lost Pink Floyd track from Wish You Were Here. Additional highlights include “Lame Duck” and “The Glass Half Empty House,” but the ending track “Let It Go” is a perfect Lennoneque mind game sure to amaze. Plug in the headphones and enjoy this one.

Kool Kat Musik

Earwig and Fernando Perdomo

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Earwig

Earwig “Pause For The Jets”

Earwig consists of guitarist and vocalist Lizard McGee, vocalist James McGee-Moore, bassist Costa Hondroulis, and drummer Nick Nocera. The Columbus, Ohio quartet sets the table with rocking, fuzz heavy “Wisdom Teeth;” that’s part Jane’s Addiction and part Bob Mould. The big riffs introduce “Lovers Chords,” a anthemic punk pop gem, all wrapped with layers of synth. Earwig then gets darker with its distorted chords, a great example “Bring Yrself 2 Me” is almost an indie pop version of Alice In Chains, and revisits this wicked guitar work on the instrumental “High Wasps.”

Another great pop gem is the duet with Lydia Loveless “Wasted On You,” a relationship post-mortem about star-crossed lovers. “Shine” is a downright mainstream pop ballad with a sweeping chorus and McGee provides a memorable performance that almost demands you take out your cigarette lighter and sway. Other tracks don’t have the same impact, but the variety of style, and quality musicianship here is worth the price of admission.

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Fernando Perdomo

Fernando Perdomo “Voyeurs”

Review by Mike Olinger: Miami-based Fernando Perdomo elicits a wistful kind of nostalgia with his bittersweet, tremolo drenched folk rock. One part Elvis Costello and two parts ELO, his sound is both melodically familiar and musically challenging. His newest self-produced opus, Voyeurs, is 17 song odyssey that was created through a series of live Facebook streams which allowed fans to watch the music come to life in real time. Their instant feedback influenced every artistic decision that was made, resulting in a collaboration of sorts between the mastermind and his musical voyeurs.

“Home” is one of the many primo cuts where Perdomo’s virtuosic grasp of tasteful arrangements equals his melancholy songwriting. His artful approach to recording rivals’ contemporaries like Richard Swift who mine a similar pop radio (circa. 1970’s) vein, but in the final stretch of the LP Perdomo forgoes this classic rock leaning for moody, jazz-inspired tangents that feel suited for fall weather and wouldn’t feel at all out of place alongside the bouncy instrumentals from the Rushmore soundtrack.

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About Mike Olinger: I am mad about music. Especially music with vision, uniqueness and soul. My record collection consists of over 1,000 minted vinyl which no one can touch except me and my cat.