Brendan Benson and Glenn Robinson

powerpopaholic

Brendan Benson “You Were Right”
On the tail end of 2013 Raconteur and power pop stalwart Brendan Benson turned in his sixth album, an amalgam of singles and unreleased tracks. Benson turned a corner musically with What Kind Of World the year before and “matured” in a sense but You Were Right shows Benson can still knock out minor chord masterpieces will skill. “It’s Your Choice” and “As of Tonight” are terrific songs that match the best in his catalog. His country roots influences are still apparent on the snappy “Diamond” and “Long Term Goal” speaks to the motivation “Have you got a long term goal? Or is it only Rock and Roll you live for?”

This is a solid album without filler and with enough stylistic variety to merit multiple replays. A lot of fun to listen to in a “not-so-serious” way, including the Kinks-ian “Swallow You Whole” and fatalistic “She’s Trying to Poison Me.” My favorites here are “The Fritz” with its dream-like harmonies, Beatlesque guitar and the Stone-sy “Red White and Blues.” This definitely would’ve placed somewhere in my top ten last year.

Amazon

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Glenn Robinson “Modern Mistakes”
Robinson is a one man wrecking crew from Rhode Island. Opening with a furious riff-tastic melody on “The Worst,” Robinson compares well with Green Day or The Figgs. Its an album meant to played loud, with just enough hooks to keep you humming along.

One of the best power pop songs here is “Wavelength,” its the classic melody/verse combo lead by Robinson’s rough vocal. Other highlights include the punk pop mastery of “Outta My Head” and “Tambourine” could’ve been a track on Kurt Baker’s last album. All the songs are short and sweet; you may get worn out by track ten, but its a sweet ride while it lasts. Fans of Hot Nun and Foo Fighters will also dig this one. Highly Recommended.

Bandcamp | Kool Kat Musik | Amazon

Scott Gagner “Rise & Shine”

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Scott Gagner follows up his acclaimed debut Rhapsody in Blonde LP with this love letter to balladeers of the ’70s. You’ll clearly hear the influences of Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor in the opener “I’ve Taken a Shine to You.” The single “Waterloo” features keys by Ken Stringfellow (The Posies) is a warm sing along with its slow shimmering chorus. The easy listening instrumentation of “Take It Easy On Yourself” becomes a magical Mangione-like pep talk with Rob Dehlinger’s trumpet. Lots of vivid characters are here, from the romantic “Moonlight Dancing” to the lonely drunk on “I’ll Be Drinking This Christmas.”

My favorite track is “Catch My Breath” with its catchy chorus rich with layered harmonies. It also contains a cover of The Ink Spots 1941 classic “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire.” The albums last few tracks are sparse and sorrowful, finishing with “Sentimental Lullaby.” While not a happy album, it certainly is heartfelt. A beautifully appropriate soundtrack to a cold winters night.

Bandcamp | CD Baby

Cheap Star and Dream Boys

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Cheap Star “Rosetta Stone” EP
This musical link to both Big Star and The Posies is lead by French native Remi Vaissiere (vocals/guitars) and his super-star band: Brian Young (Fountains of Wayne) on drums, Jon Auer (Posies) on guitar, and Ken Stringfellow (Posies) on bass/keyboards/vocals.

This third EP is very much like the earlier efforts. The Gram Parsons cover “A Song For You” and country-styled “On The Other Side” are superb low key ballads that don’t draw too much attention, and the energy level pushes up with the catchy chorus of “Kelly Slayer.” The guitars start to crunch on “Live Without It” but are careful not to overwhelm the lead vocal. The instrumentation here is also excellent and nothing here feels like filler. While its very palatable and will please most fans, the music will not make you forget those early Posies hits either. The band dedicated this EP to the  memory of Scott Miller from the Loud Family and Game Theory. Amen.

CD Baby | Kool Kat Musik | Amazon

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Dream Boys “Dream Boys”
Dream Boys is an L.A. band with the right combination of West Coast indie attitude and 80’s jangle pop. Lead by Glasgow born Wallace Meek, his jangle-tastic approach also recalls Paisley Underground greats like The La’s, Three O’Clock and Dream Syndicate. The swirling chords are positively hypnotic on the catchy “Born Yesterday” and “Through and Through.”

Most of the songs here follow that rhythmic pattern, but the vocal harmonies are a highlight on “Holding Pattern” that bring to mind The Ocean Blue. No throwaway tracks here, and the quality of musicianship is consistently excellent. Some may find the lack of stylistic variety a little dull, but the Dream Boys really do craft a psychedelic experience that few bands can match. Highly recommended.

Amazon

Free Music Monday: The Joe Giddings Theme Collection

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Joe Giddings

I must give a big shout out to the talented Joe Giddings (JTG Implosion) for spending the past few years indulging us with his favorite covers. Some tunes are faithful like Badfinger’s “Come and Get It” or creative interpretations like Tears for Fear’s “Head Over Heels” (Volume 3). And Joe will occasionally whip out a cool little known gem, I mean who else has covered the theme to “Nanny and The Professor” (Volume 2)?  Some of my favorite oldies are also included, like The Nazz’s “Open My Eyes” (Volume 1). This is a real treasure trove… Enjoy!