Brent Bourgeois first LP in 20 years “Don’t Look Back” releases

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Brent Bourgeois and Julian Lennon

 

Brent Bourgeois will on June 2nd release his first album in 20 years, “Don’t Look Back”. The record features a ton of amazing collaborations, including Julian Lennon, Todd Rundgren, Charlie Peacock, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Rachael Lampa, Chris Rodriguez, and the first reunion in the studio of Bourgeois Tagg in 25 years. After reviewing his son’s LP earlier this year, its great to see Brent doing some unique marketing for this album.

Brent’s website offers snippets of the new songs (along with a commentary) and you can listen to past albums from Bourgeois Tagg or solo albums. He’s involved with Julian Lennon’s White Feather Foundation, which helps deliver clean, safe drinking water to those in need in Africa. You can buy the album here.

The Legal Matters “The Legal Matters”

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The Legal Matters have a pretty impressive pedigree. Consisting of Chris Richards (of Chris Richards and the Subtractions), Andy Reed (An American Underdog) and Keith Klingensmith (The Phenomenal Cats), they have made an album that easily makes my top-ten year end list.

Starting with “Rites of Spring” it shimmers with perfect vocal harmonies and smooth melody similar to The Wondermints. It is the kind of song that guitars were invented for, and will be going around your head for hours after you hear it. There is a subtle soft rock undercurrent to many of the tunes that may put off rockers who prefer a harder edge, but it actually works great here. It doesn’t let up with “Stubborn,” another great song with perfect riffs, and touches all around. “Have You Changed Your Mind” is a softer, mid-tempo track, fans of The Eagles and The Agony Aunts will appreciate.

The hits keep coming, “The Legend Of Walter Wright” is a supremely hummable tune with a sweet balance of harmonies and guitar crunchiness. Even when the band gets stylistically mellow for “So Long Sunny Days” it plays like a lost Beach Boys/Poco track. And just in time for summer, it grabs you and doesn’t let go.

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The Power Popaholic Interview: Phil Ajjarapu

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It’s an inspirational story of Phil almost dying to get this album made. I reviewed his album If It Makes You Feel Better back in March. And in case you forgot what it sounded like I embeded the favorite track below. But if you really want to know about Phil and this album… Here is his full story.

Sunrise Highway and Rob Cantor

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Sunrise Highway “Windows”
The familiar guitar jangle and harmonies return from Sunrise Highway on the title track “Windows.” Very much like America or Jeff Larson on the opener, but the band then takes a harder turn after this. “Breathe” gets crunchier, and more psychedelic – a good comparison would be The Pillbugs. “Peter Pan” takes this further with heavy chords leading the way about never growing old, and the follow up “Foreverland” fits in perfectly with those Rickenbacker riffs “join me in Foreverland and leave your worries behind.” The dense shimmering guitars here also remind me of the Orange Peels, with its layered combination of melody and sound.

Lead singer Jerry Rio doesn’t shy away from controversial subjects either. The band describes the life of a musician in “Giving It All Away” from building a website for the band, promoting your music and figuring out “who’s gonna have to pay.” Note that some of these tracks a have been living as singles on YouTube for a while. There is a serious rant in “QE Forever,” a mid-tempo ballad about Federal Reserve monetary policy. Not everything here sticks, but this is a solid sophomore LP with a big 14 tracks. Highly recommended.

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Rob Cantor “Not A Trampoline”
Remember Tally Hall? The band has been inactive for a couple years, but vocalist Rob Cantor has returned to create a catchy album that shares some of that Tally Hall magic. While the lead track “Ghost” is low key dance pop, it leads to the wonderful “Old Bike” with a slow build to harmony drenched chorus. Then the catchy single “Garden of Eden” mixes a solid riff and synth rhythm. It kinda goes all over the map with modern pop, salsa, ballads and such, keeping things unpredictable.

The electronic pop of “The Rendezvous” includes a duet with Madi Diaz, and the quirky melody of “I’m Gonna Win” features monster guitar riffs. Hip hop beats contrast the subdued vocals on “Flamingo” and the delicate melody of “Perfect” with its building three-part harmonies push this into highly recommended territory.

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Album Previews: Skeleton Staff and The Dowling Pool

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It’s been a long wait, but we finally get a new track from Skeleton Staff. The main message is this: Stop worrying about imperfections we can’t change and just get on with enjoying life. Buy it on Bandcamp for a buck. Likely this is the first single to a new album on the way. I guess this can tide me over.

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I wondered what would become of Willie Dowling after the break-up of Jackdaw4, but I didn’t have to wait very long. The Dowling Poole is a new band formed by singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Willie Dowling (ex Honeycrack/Jackdaw4) and Jon Poole (ex Cardiacs). Influenced by pop masters such as XTC, Blur, 10CC, The Kinks, The Beatles and more, The Dowling Poole debut album Bleak Strategies will be released this summer. You can pre-order this one from Pledge Music.