Oberon Rose and The Backpeddlers

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Oberon Rose “Wunjo”
Connecticut’s Tom Oberon leans heavily on classic sixties influences like The Kinks, Beatles, T.Rex and more on his debut, Wunjo. The sweet melody “Young Goodman Brown” flows nicely and the guitar rhythm reminds me of the Zombies a little. The brilliant jangle on “One Man Show Of Sorrow” showcases this gem which compares well to The Posies. With the title track and “Ballad Of The Taller” it goes in a more roots-driven pop direction with simple acoustic strums leading the way, both recall the simplicity of Big Star.

“Buried Alive” is another compelling song with double-tracked harmonies and minor chords. Other songs evoke the golden age of psyche pop without getting cliche, like “Of Life Divine” and the brilliant Beatlesque ender “So is The Flow.” Each track is compelling and overall this album is a real treat for lovers of classic melodic rock.


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The Backpeddlers “Songs of Guilt & Revenge”
Originally known as Mark Norris and The Backpeddlers, this Buffalo band plays foot stompin’ rock and blues done with plenty of gusto. “Turn The Tables” is kinda like Bob Dylan jamming with The Offspring, then the bar room blues “It’s All True” plays out like classic Stones. The band goes into full Kinks meets Who mode on “We Know (Who We Are)” with drummer Jeff Pietrzak doing his best Keith Moon. It also get downright punk pop on “(DoThe) Crying Shame” with Mark almost losing his vocals. “Doctor Friend” is another Kinks-styled tune along the lines of “Dandy.” There is plenty of musical variety here and if you like gritty raw emotion with your tunes… you will feel guilty if you miss this and revenge isn’t even a factor here.

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Throwback Suburbia “Shot Glass Souvenir”

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Its comforting to know that bands like Portland’s Throwback Suburbia “get it.” This third album builds on the band’s consistent sound and musical development. The opener “Give and Take” is an emotional hook-filled gem with a thrilling bridge and jangle filled rhythm. The signature sneering vocals of Jimi Evans and mastery of composition come forward on “Setting Sun.” On “Here Again” the band notes “history’s overrated” through its slow building power ballad.

No filler to be found as each track makes a strong melodic statement. On “Sinking Feeling” the gruff riffs recall Butch Walker and the 50’s styled piano ballad “Side Effects” provide a much needed break from the relentless guitar bounce. The slower groove of “Best Intentions” is another gem that offers some nice slide guitar with Evans best vocal performance. Even the last track “Neither Here Nor There” steps up with some nice group harmonies. It also pushs this album into my top ten for 2012; listen for yourself and see if you don’t agree.

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Chris Alvy Band “Art Noise”

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After a wild debut EP last year, The Chris Alvy Band is back with a more realized full length album. Joined by Fernando Perdomo (who also produced and engineered) it re-does a few of the previous EP tracks and adds several more. Not an easy band to categorize, they have a loose guitar rock style with snappy melodies (sort of like an updated version of The Spin Doctors) but they also have a touch of Badfinger in there too.

The band opens up with the title track, a party styled anthem that reminds me of those 90’s comedy movie soundtracks.  “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” has some great harmonies in the chorus, and Alvy’s strong power chords take over from there. A funky beat starts off “This Summer’s Day” and the middle eight takes the band to the next level, here the guitar solo is just as impressive. Then we get “Something’s Missing,” it’s a wonderful mid-tempo ballad which reminds me of Pete Ham’s “It Had To Be.”  The band certainly knows how to write a sticky chorus, both “Inside Job,” and “The Fall” qualify with swirling hard guitar leads and solid hooks. It takes a delicate balance of guitar theatrics and solid melodic composition to make it all work right. The band does a great job till the last few tracks, where they kind of channel Extreme and the harmonies fade away. Overall, a really excellent album that will appeal to many fans of hard driving melodic rock.

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Son of Skooshny and Cheap Perfume

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Son of Skooshny “Lovers Leap of Faith”
This is the project of Skooshny founder Mark Breyer and its a pretty good combination of power pop and roots based rock and roll. “Another Time” has a touch of Tom Petty and a terrific buzzing guitar riff. Breyer’s vocal cadence also resembles Petty on the wonderfully written “Candy Air.” The multi-tracked harmony of “The Right Idea” and bass driven “You Can’t Love Me” keeps things on a slow but steady course. The nicely melodic “Science Changes Everyone” picks things up and it’s chorus will be humming in your head. Not everything is as compelling, but it’s not boring either and it occasionally throws us a curve, like the crunchy pysche pop of “Kate’s Green Phone.” No filler here and a very worthy album that rewards the patient listener.

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Cheap Perfume “4 By Cheap Perfume” EP
Billed as the first all-female punk band, Cheap Perfume was formed in 1977 by two waitresses working at CBGBs. The girls having boyfriends in the Tuff Darts and The Sorrows, had easy access to equipment and rehearsal time, and they named the band after a Rick Derringer song. They played for many years as a successful opening band at the famous Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs. However not having an album, they were designated as a local sensation and historical footnote. 25 years later the band reunited and plays some of it’s best known work in this EP. Fans of Jana Peri, The Runaways and The Pretenders will love this. Lead guitarist Bunny said ““We believe the spirit of CBGB and the New York punk scene will always live on.” After hearing this, I totally agree.

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