Too Much Saturn and Anny Celsi

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Too Much Saturn “Moving Forward Sideways”
This band played at Chicago’s IPO this year, consisting of Mark Hoffman (guitar/vocals), Chris Cerasoli (keys/vocals), Russ Spice (guitar/vocals), Guy Sheldon (bass/vocals), and Dave Franco (drums). The debut is full of spunky attitude and melodic hooks, with a sound somewhere in between The Lemonheads and The Barenaked Ladies.

“Photogenic” is a first rate power pop single, along the lines of The Rubinoos with an emphasis on guitars and fun. “Walter Cronkite” and “What is Your Plan?” gives us jerky synth and riff combos that recall The Cars, but the standout for me is “Funny” with its inventive arrangement and great guitar solo midway through. It ends well with a bright cover of The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer.” Lots of talent and potential here, so give it a chance.

CD Baby | Amazon
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Anny Celsi “January”
After his Celsi blew me away with her last album,  she takes a step back and delivers a more polished adult oriented album. With a gallery of  talented friends (Adam Marsland, Rich McCulley, Nelson Bragg, etc.) Annys’ talent shines through each track. The light bouncy melody of “Au Revoir, My Darling” owes much to the classic 60’s hits, like “You Can’t Hurry Love.” The breezy “Travelogue” is a soothing bit of folk pop as we search for “music to take us home,” the soft harmonies are really sweet. “Ghosts In The Room” has a country feel, and the slow ballad “Oh Baby, Is The Circus In Town” is beautifully descriptive, as it sets the mood perfectly. As finely crafted as it is, some of the songs didn’t stick with me. The last several tracks are more winter themed, like the orchestrated ballad “Wait” and the lap steel beauty of  “Christmas in The Pines.” Fans of Paul Simon, or Norah Jones will also love much of this pop mellowness.

CD Baby

Attic Lights and Strangely Alright

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Attic Lights “Super De Luxe”
The Scottish band Attic Lights makes good on its sophomore LP, produced by Teenage Fanclub’s Francis Macdonald. Starting with “Say You Love Me”it  enjoying both heavy guitar riffs and shouts of “Hey Hey Hey!” and swooning backing harmonies, its a great catchy opener. “Future Bound” is more disco pop with a funky rhythm and a solid hook in the chorus. The Scottish accent really comes out in the verses of the sophisticated mid-tempo ballad “Mona Lisa.” Other highlights include “Hit and Miss,” “Gabrielle” and the most rock oriented tune “Orbison.” Only a few pedestrian song here, but overall a great album full of modern power pop.

Amazon | Itunes
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Strangely Alright “The Time Machine Is Broken”
Lead by singer/songwriter Regan Lane, Strangely Alright is a five piece power pop group from Tacoma, Washington. Although the album starts pretty conventionally with the expansive rock song “Train To Nowhere,” Lane’s stylized vocal, the hand claps and warbling backing vocals all keep it compelling. The fuzzy rich chorus on “So Right It Can’t Be Wrong” has brilliantly quirky touches similar to Jackdaw4 with swooning “ahhs” in the chorus.

The lyrics are a complex and downbeat for most of the album’s first half, especially “Crying Shame.” The combo of John Lennon meeting Pink Floyd is felt on ““If I Don’t Laugh I’m Only Going to Cry,” the jangle and psyche-pop combo are awesome, it’s the highlight of the LP. While the albums second half doesn’t reach those highs, the mood lightens and some standouts include “Love” and “Direction Home.” A grower, that does most things right.

CD Baby | Amazon

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London Egg and The Silver Liners

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London Egg “If It Takes Forever”
After a pretty retro-flavored debut, London Egg switches gears slightly to add more modern influences. Starting out with a dedication to INXS singer Michael Hutchence, “On Fire” has charging riffs and lead singer Egg channels Mick Jagger with his bluesy snarl.”Touching Eternity” is a little 90’s styled pop-rock gem with a nice shift in chords during the melody.

Production is hugely improved thanks to The Grip Weeds, Kurt Reil. “And Address It To Me” adds an updated Beatles style to the mix with some great harmonies. The jarring “Dance Of Life” is a strange mix of styles; Dylan, Stones and The Grip Weeds. The variety of stylistic approaches may appeal to some, but I found the band succeeds with the pure guitar power pop of “You Get What You Give,” but not with the psyche-lite “Gun.” Fortunately, most of the album is driven by those powerful riffs and simpler rockers like “Our Luv Dance” and the title track. The band has to strike a delicate balance and it accomplishes this on “Boy Do I Remember” reminiscent of  The Small Faces (as if they did Sgt. Peppers). Highly Recommended.

Amazon | CD Baby

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The Silver Liners “Bliss”
The Silver Liners have moved away from guitar based rock of its debut towards a more synth based alternative pop. After hearing “Criminal,” it has more in common with Coldplay than anything else. The vocals are overly smoothed and the echoing stadium style is more something I would hear in my gym than listen to at home.

“Scars” attempts to add the deep drum beat similar to Depeche Mode, it still has a chorus buried amongst the heavy gloss with a female vocal also in the mix. All this tells me is that the band has “sold out” and is pandering to major label “taste-makers.” Not bad for what it is, but it vanishes in a sea of other top 40 electronica pop acts.

Amazon | Artist Website

The Three O’Clock “The Hidden World Revealed”

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Back in the 80s, the sub-genre of power pop known as “Paisley Underground” movement took shape from the idle comments of  Three O’Clock’s bassist/lead vocalist Michael Quercio. They all belonged to a clique of musicians including The Bangles, Rain Parade and Dream Syndicate who were influenced strongly by the sixties’ psychedelic sound and the jangle of The Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn.

The band (Quercio, drummer Danny Benair, and guitarist/vocalist Louis Gutierrez) only made four albums. The last one on Prince’s Paisley Park label Vermillion included future Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner and is a fascinating story unto itself. Well fast-forward to now and the band reunited to play Coachella last April and then released this 20 track retrospective on Omnivore Records.

It’s a bright shiny revelation to hear the hit “With A Cantaloupe Girlfriend,” with digital clarity and “Jet Fighter” the catchiest of the early hits. What makes The Three O’Clock special and not a retro band, is that they embraced new wave synthesizers and rich production techniques to go with those classic melodies. About 8 tracks have never been heard before and they blend in well with the original material. The fuzzy garage influence is felt only on the earlier demo material like “Jennifer Only” (as the band was originally called The Salvation Army, the best of this material is found here.)

More highlights include the brilliant “Stupid Einstein,” and the hymn turned into a acid trip “Regina Caeli.” They even do a cover of The Byrds “Feel A Whole Lot Better.” This disc does concentrate on the first two LPs, Sixteen Tamborines and Baroque Hoedown – so I expect a second volume is in the works. Overall this is a great intro for new fans and the long time Paisley Underground followers have plenty of alternates and demos to enjoy.