The Grip Weeds and Andy Reed + Brandon Schott

powerpopaholic

The Grip Weeds “Inner Grooves”
So you already know and love The Grip Weeds, and they are working on a new album as you read this. But Kurt Reil isn’t about to let your stockings empty this season, so he’s compiled a group of “Rare and Under-released Tracks” for you in Inner Grooves. As one of the best classic Byrdsian rock bands ever, its impossible to find even “throw-away” tracks, so that makes this an essential listen. Starting with the power pop perfection of “Rainy Day #1&2” it moves to the Merseyside flavored “Nothing Lasts,” an outtake from Strange Change Machine.

“She Don’t Care About Time” is a faithful Gene Clark cover (frankly, they could cover his entire discography perfectly.) “Sight Unseen” boasts some nice clean harmonies and fuzzy guitar solos. And if you wanted the long version of “Sun Ra Ga,” here is all 11+ minutes of that sprawling psychedelic jam. Thoughtfully mastered, it doesn’t feel like a collection of odd singles, but a cohesive album that was rescued from the cutting room floor.


Amazon
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American Underdog & Brandon Schott “The AB EP”
Brandon Schott and Andy Reed (An American Underdog) team up to release 2 songs each off of their respective forthcoming records. This tandem throws us 4 excellent singles and it’s a brilliant idea.

As competitive musicians they bring their “A” game starting with Schott’s “Henry” its a similar style to his last album 13 Satellites. Then Reed’s American Underdog “The Show Goes On” has a yearning romantic quality. This also helps both musicians promote themselves and helps build anticipation for those new albums. Yes, this is a big tease… but a good one that fans will appreciate.

Bandcamp

Magic Eight Ball “Sorry We’re Late But We’re Worth the Wait”

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Magic Eight Ball are an energetic trio from the south of England led by musician Baz Francis. After several EPs and singles, the band brings us its first LP (with the appropriate title). One thing you get immediately from the opener, “Something Better Has Come Along,” Baz is a big fan of Jellyfish and Enuff Znuff. His vocals are amazingly similar to Andy Sturmer here and Jellyfish fans will just feed off that and the swirling guitar riffs. It continues throughout this fast-paced album. The sweet “Baby, Is It So?” slows the pace a little just to let us know everything is fine, and its highlighted by an amazing guitar solo at the break. The band also pays tribute with the song “Big Star,” delivering the jangle and harmonies similar to the classic “September Gurls.”

Every song on this album has a compelling big hook and melody from the heavy crunch guitars (“Before It Was Murder” featuring Donnie Vie) to the gentle ballads (“Monkey Bars.”) A great mix of the crunchy-sweet is found in the standout “Russian Ballet” (reminded me of Ice Cream Hands as well) and it deserves a spot as a contender for my 2013 top ten list. Better late than never.
power pop review score 9

Amazon | Itunes

Free Music Monday (okay, mostly free): Dot Dash, Jasko, Ballard and Rocket and The Ghost

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Dot Dash are really on the cusp of greatness here – “Hands of Time” from their third album, Half-Remembered Dream, released a few months back is a gem, and here is the single as a free Bandcamp download.

Jasko. That’s all. I don’t have any other info on Todd Jasko, only that he did this free album, in the spirit of DIY power pop. Enjoy!

Ballard. Cool Lo-fi indie pop. The debut was kinda rough around the edges, but this band has improved quite a bit. And to make it worth your time they have added two free albums. The band still has that a garage punk pop ethic, kinda like The Eels.

Rocket and The Ghost. Okay this isn’t free, but it’s damn awesome indie power pop by what could be “the next big thing.”  Yes they have an EP out on iTunes, so be ambitious and get this.

Arthur Nasson and The Well Wishers

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Arthur Nasson “West Cambridge Cowboys”
Nasson just finished playing IPO Boston, and I was shocked not to have heard him before. Clearly a lover of melodic pop in the Beatles meets Joe Jackson vein, starting with “She Was Never Really There,” the piano chords are accompanied by Nasson’s Lennonesque harmonies. “Watch Your Back Now” and “Phil’s Pony” are also great catchy songs with the unmistakeable Todd Rundgren influence. “Blind To Reason” is a bass heavy slice of electric guitar with a catchy beat.

“I’ve Got A Flanger In My Heart” is another dense guitar tune filled with echoing riffs and synths. Stylistically he keeps to the 60s through the 80s on most songs. He also has an inventive use of sound effects on the textured mid-tempo “From A Window On A Train.” At times the sonic experiments feel more like an indulgence, (“Robot Trouble” and “Auntie-Matter”) but they are mercifully short. Enough great tunes here to make this highly recommended listening.

CD Baby | Amazon

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The Well Wishers “Dunwoody” EP
The brand new EP from San Francisco’s Jeff Shelton (aka The Well Wishers) encapsulates five acoustic styled vignettes of some mythical folk in Dunwoody, Georgia – a real suburb of Atlanta. In a change from the heavy rock of his other project  Hot Nun, this Well Wishers EP comes from a mellower melodic place.

“Peel Away” starts off with gentle acoustic and electric guitars to a bouncy pastoral melody. This style continues on “Good Luck” another optimistic love song with some a gentle harmonies in the chorus. Next “Real Today” and “Open Up Your Eyes” are more standard Well Wishers jangle-pop. Overall, the wonderful melodic compositions without any filler, makes a great holiday gift. Highly Recommended.

Well Wishers Direct (with bonus CD) | CD Baby

Fest for Beatle Fans 2014 in NYC

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Cbeatles10boming to New York City on February 7 – 9, 2014. It was 50 years ago that The Beatles first came to America, and The Fest For Beatles Fans is a huge celebration of all things Fab. You’ll see many close associates of the Beatles, including Donovan (“Mellow Yellow”), Peter Asher (Peter & Gordon “World Without Love” and former A&R at Apple Records), Billy J. Kramer (“Bad To Me”), Chad & Jeremy (“Yesterday’s Gone”), and former UK head of the Beatles Fan Club, Freda Kelly who is profiled in the recent documentary Good Ol’ Freda.

The Fest started in 1974 as the brainchild of a Beatles fan Mark Lapidos. In 1974 he was a 26-year-old manager of a Sam Goody record store. As a Beatles devotee, he simply wanted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the year in which the Beatles first came to America. So he decided to create a weekend convention in Manhattan for fellow Beatles fans. Now its officially the longest running Beatles convention in the country. Buy advance Tickets!