Ryan Lerman and Gumshen

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Ryan Lerman “Pinstripes, The Sky”
Los Angeles musician and guitarist Ryan has worked with Ben Folds, Pomplamoose and several others to hone his craft and this debut defies categorization. After a series of low key numbers, he starts to come out of his shell with the funk pop “Rolling In The Deep,” then we enter a magical place with “Your Own Advice.”

Folds assists on “Do With You” a slow slice of blues pop, with a theatrical twist. Then it really kicks in with the Nilsson-like “This Is My Piano,” and the orchestral ballad “Cellophane” is part Donovan, part Elliot Smith. But Ryan never sticks to a style long, and gets to the warm single “Baby It’ll Be Alight.” Other notable tracks include “Rhymes With Nothing” and “Too Many Songs.” If any album could be called a “pop potpourri” this is it. He’s also got impressive videos for lots of these songs.

Gumshen “Everything What We Recorded”
Described as a fusion of Franz Ferdinand and Pink Floyd with funk is Gumshen. The bouncy “Hammer & Nails” is a great opener, with solid riffs and Ron Hippe’s strong vocals. “Too Much Good Times” almost sounds like a different band, but it’s that unpredictability that thrills you, as “Jag It Up” does a Talking Heads meets Isaac Hayes jam. It’s way out there, but some gems show themselves like “Done” and the electric thumping of “Say What You Want.” Fans of A Band Called Mithras latest will enjoy this.

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Spirit Kid and Khalid Hanifi

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Spirit Kid “Happiness” EP
This is the a solid follow up EP to his 2010 debut, a burst of joyous guitars and dense harmonies on the opening title track is sure to wake you up. This moves seamlessly into “That Kind Of Man” with a bit more muscle, along the lines of The Posies. My favorite track is the “Sir Robert The Brave” it’s bouncy beat and ever shifting chords, that recall Cherry Twister and The Velvet Crush. The Rickenbacker acoustic ballad “Fool To Fall” is another charmer. “Down A River” is also a gem similar in style to Apples in Stereo. Overall, it’s exemplary power pop of the first order and one of the best EPs of the year.

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Khalid Hanifi “A Brief Respite From Shooting Fish In A Barrel”
Hanifi has a melodic gift  and here he makes a political statement. He gives us his take on a military contractor’s bravado on the opener “Free The World To Death” done in slow shuffle, similar to Randy Newman. It’s a political protest of how bringing democracy to Afganistan is a “soul crushing screw” to the natives. Next “The Splendor of Empire” has a relaxed melody that charms, and the biting lyrics “There’s class warfare alright/But it’s the rich that’s making war.”

You may not like his politics, but Hanifi is one of the best weavers of lyric and catchy melody since Andy Partidge. Another gem about the lowly 99% is “Whose idea was that?” and the jangle pop on “Hog Futures” leads to a bouncy chorus. It ends with a garage rocker “Give Them What They Want.” But this is a real serious album dealing with corruption, war and inequality – not really cheery pop stuff. But so well done, you take the medicine with the sweet melody.

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Olivia Tremor Control’s Bill Doss dead at 43

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Next to The Apples in Stereo, no other band from The Elephant Six Collective had as much acclaim as Olivia Tremor Control, and Bill Doss was its driving force (along with Will Hart and Jeff Mangum). The band was at the zenith of neo-psychedelic movement and produced the masterpiece Dusk At Cubist Castle in 2000.  No details are given about his death,  but police so far have found no evidence of foul play.

Surf School Dropouts and Jeff Larson

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Surf School Dropouts “Summer is a State of Mind”
Mid-summer and another Beach Boys clone is revealed by the light of the sun, and the title track says it all. These four guys from Denmark are worshippers of those Wilsonesque harmonies and hooks, Amen.

“Baby, I Long to be Yours” continues the Pet Sounds parade, in fact the compositions and lyrics are so close, only the vocals give away that these aren’t the real Beach Boys. The Dropouts also recall The Zombies on “We’ll Follow The Sun” and those lovely harmonies soak every inch of “Beach Bound.” And things are broken up nicely by the ballad “The Road Ahead Of Me.”  My only critique here is that the vocals are pretty innocuous, the lead singer doesn’t really stand out enough, compared to the others. Highly recommended to fans of First Class, Jan and Dean, The Sunrays and  lovers of 60’s surfer pop.

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Jeff Larson “The World Over”
If you grew up listening to the Southern California soft rock, then Jeff Larson’s newest is pretty essential listening. With willful consistency Larson gets together with his buddies Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America) once again and he records those gentle strums and sun-soaked melodies.

What makes this album stand out is the chemistry between Larson and the backing vocalist Jeddrah Schmit, the daughter of The Eagles bassist Timothy B.Schmit. Her solid assist on “Your Way Back Home” and “One Good Lie” make these laid back tunes extra special. The only curve ball is the country twang on “Point Of Rising.” The songs are all radio friendly for most AOR and even we get a sweet ending in “Reason To Be Near You” with Jeffrey Foskett of Brian Wilson Band doing the backing vocals. A real charmer of an album that engages you, even when you thought you’ve heard it all before.

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