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The Melismatics and Breaking Laces
The Melismatics “Rising Tide”
Produced by Jon Auer (The Posies, Big Star) The Melismatics are a maturing alt. rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The opening track “Crawl, Baby, Crawl” is a combination of solid male-female vocals (husband/wife team of Ryan and Pony Smith,) guitar riffs and synth chords. It’s the catchy chorus that keeps things interesting, then on “Halo” the synths increase and dance beat reminds me of The Orion Experience.
In fact, the next few songs bring a new wave vibe to the melodic “Cocoon” and “Close 2 The Vest” that make a good impression. But some of the remaining tracks just aren’t that memorable, even though the guitar riffs are more prominent. The wonderful falsetto that opens “Rising” gets closer to what this band could be and the vocal harmonies are perfect here. Give it a chance to win you over.
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Breaking Laces “Come Get Some”
It’s really frustrating to finally discover a great band only to find out they’ve just broken up. The Brooklyn-based trio of Willem Hartong (singer/guitarist), Rob Chojnacki (bass), and Seth Masarsky (drums) have somehow managed to play for over ten years under my radar (my bad.) The band’s style of melodic alt-rock falls somewhere between The Gin Blossoms, Soul Coughing and The Lemonheads.
The ringing guitars and epic hooks on “Better Than Me” easily qualifies as an A-side single that should’ve taken off. Then in a tonal shift “Be Hammer” uses Foo Fighters riffage in the sing along chorus, another shift as the church organ opens the reflective “When The Lightning Comes.” The semi-serious rock ballad “Before You Down” hooks you early and the Jellyfish-like “Extra Time” is another welcome gem. The band doesn’t take much that seriously on “Mr. Curry Is A Cop,” a funny tune – very much in the Fountains of Wayne mode. Lyrics are free flowing irony and full of attitude, especially the Beck-like rap “I used To Be A Boy Scout.” No real filler here, so now I highly recommend you get this and work your way backwards through the discography.
International Pop Overthrow “Volume 16”
It’s always been essential that I get the new IPO compilation, because each year IPO guru David Bash knows what makes great power pop. And once again we get a bountiful 68 song, 3 CD set of bands who have played IPO festivals from all over the world. We’ll do a disc-by-disc review:
Disk 1: Dave always finds gems I’ve missed and the first track is a perfect example with Mothboxer “Shame It Always Rains,” and its nods to ’60s garage pop. Beatlesque David Minchin is another find with “Please Don’t Go,” and the crisp guitars of The Maladaptive Solution “Abacus” impressed me too. More notable newcomers include Irene Pena, Cronin Tierney Band and Stephen Bunovsky.
Disk 2: The definition of power pop isn’t strict, and we get dabbling in melodic folk pop with Mustache Fable (“Two Truths One Lie,”) and punk pop with The Baghdaddios (“No Big Deal”). Lisa Mychols new trio does a great tribute to another power popper “Bruce Foxton.” Nostalgia buffs will love The JAC’s “Record Store” and the bubble gum garage of The Cool Whips “Boom-Shang-a-Lang.” This disc’s pleasant Anglo-styled surprises includes Warm Morning Brothers, Logan Squares and The Newds.
Disk 3: Swim Atlantic does a masterful job with harmonies on “Seam To Seam” and Jared Lekites gives us a the catchy “Too Far Gone.” More gems include “Look At The Girl” by Dan Markell, and Gooey’s “Watch Out” which brings to mind the late great Lou Reed. This disc has plenty of quirky pop like John McMullan (“Mrs. Reginald”) and the Blake Jones & The Trike Shop tribute to Frank Zappa. Its the most eclectic disc in the collection, and it ends with a standout song, “Destination Unknown” by Private Jets.
As usual, this compilation is essential listening, and a perfect addition to your IPO collection. If you don’t have an IPO collection, get this one and work your way backwards. Don’t forget that the International Pop Overthrow festival continues year-round, and is expected in New York on Wednesday, November 13 through the 17th. As always I will be there, soaking in all the musical goodness.
Kool Kat Music | Jam Recordings | Pop Geek Heaven | Amazon
Agony Aunts “Big Cinnamon”
It’s been too long, but the Bay Area supergroup returns after 2010’s Greater Miranda, with even more harmony-laden psych-pop. The band is basically The Corner Laughers; KC Bowman, Karla Kane , Khoi Huynh, and Charlie Crabtree. Add to this many guest stars including Gil Ray (The Loud Family), Anton Barbeau and Allen Clapp (The Orange Peels). So can all those cooks spoil this brew? Not likely.
Opening with the kaleidoscopic “Twenty-four Mergansers” it’s a lot like the Laughers with a bit more Magical Mystery Tour thrown in. Then it follows up seamlessly with “Family Drugs,” the lyrics repeating over with crisp harmonies on the “bottle it up” backing chorus. The psychedelic sheen on everything is comparable to The Pillbugs on the title track. And if you ever wondered what a modern day Mamas and Papas would sound like, listen to “Back To Back Bills.”
The second half is more rock oriented, those dual tracked guitars stand out on the perfect “We Got The Jekyll.” Raspberries fans will flip for the intro on “Uranium My Love,” a riff heavy melody full of hooks about science. Its not predictable either, “You’re So Vague” is like a combo of Todd Rundgren and The Explorers Club. It ends with the mysterious story behind “Cool Fresh Nights” and Barbeau’s quirky country “Trouble Was Born.” Not trace of filler to be found, production is clean and sounds great through headphones, so its hard to not love this album. Multiple listens make it better and it makes my top ten for 2013 easily. Get it now!
The Perms and Jonathan Friedman
The Perms “The Aberdeen EP”
The Perms are back with their traditional punk pop sound on this short 4 song EP. “It’s Mania” starts us off with fuzz guitar riffs and catchy backing chants of “whoa-oh.” The title track is a bit more like Green Day fused with a slick studio production and expansive backing harmonies. My favorite here is the ear-worm “The Parent Thing” which reminds me of Adam Marsland or Bowling For Soup a little, and then it closes with the churning guitar rhythm of “Walk Away.” Overall a really good EP from a veteran band.
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Jonathan Friedman “Pop Rock Overflow”
Seattle singer/songwriter Friedman must have really loved the ’80s pop scene. On the opener “Alseep At The Wheel” he gives us a strong Hall and Oates vibe with echoing drums and dense production in the chorus. The synths are bathed all over “Jake Ryan” with all kinds of ’80s movie references in the lyrics. Friedman croons very much like Corey Hart on “Crazy Beautiful,” its one of the better songs here.”Live or Memorex” is another cultural reference from that day-glo decade.
Having lived through it, my recollections of that era’s pop were not my favorites, and every musical cliche is on display here. My tastes were more Elvis Costello, The Smithereens and The Romantics at the time. There is no denying Friedmans got talent, but it either comes together (“Everyone Knows You’re A Star”) or it really doesn’t work (“Too Early For Love”). Fans of this of this style will appreciate it more than I did.
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