Bye Bye Blackbirds and The Toms

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Bye Bye Blackbirds “Fixed Hearts”
Rainbow Quartz recent pick up is this Oakland band we reviewed way back, and they sound better than ever. “Elizabeth Park” sounds like Tom Petty playing with The Spongetones, it’s a snappy jangle filled melody that impresses.  The followup. “Open A Light” continues the warm feeling, with some sweet guitar chord shifts on this mid-tempo gem. The country beat makes “Jack Frost” a bit like Gary Louris (Jayhawks) with a Beatlesque twist – its my favorite track here. Another good song is “Every Night At Noon” with a Nilsson-like break between the chorus. Almost every song is decent here, but some just are flat out great like “Through The Clouds” with its harmonies and California rhythms. Overall a highly enjoyable album, listen to it streaming over at the band’s website.

 Amazon | Bye Bye Blackbirds Site

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The Toms “s/t”
This release was previously a true rarity and lost classic that commanded sky high prices on ebay. The album was lost in 1979, and faded away to the cut-out bins in New Jersey record stores. Rediscovered by the power pop crowd later on it got instant fame and acclaim as a cult musical nugget. In an effort to get his old music out, Tom Marolda (aka The Toms) released this album as a download on CD Baby, but if you prefer a hard copy Amazon has a few. For those who don’t know, Marolda made this album in DIY fashion (recording in the basement) using old reel-to-reel equipment. The songs are fun, infectious and some sound like old lost Beatle tunes (“The Door“) for the 70’s New Wave crowd. Not Lame carried this CD for a few years and it would sell out pretty fast, so if you never got it – here it is.

CD Baby | Amazon

Wiretree and The Moorelands Project EP

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Wiretree “Make Up”
After two great albums, Wiretree have continued to dazzle with Make Up. In a departure from their previous efforts, the album was recorded with very few overdubs, capturing a “live” performance feel. The music moves towards a more earnest and raw rock approach, with less indie-pop elements.

With Kevin Peroni’s solid vocal performance on the opening title track, it immediately puts you into a “the zone,”with an equal blends of solid guitar melody and harmony. On “Broken Foot,” the fast paced guitar riffs and a excellent drum beat through the chorus “You better run…” raises the bar again. The band reaches its pop apex with “Tiny Hearts” and “Tonight” will make many feel that the band is the heir to indie rock legacy of The New Pornographers. “The Shore” is a pop gem that channels Green Day and Iggy Pop in equal doses here. The atmospheric and solid songwriting puts “MTH” on the next level of greatness, and at this point I think the band is just too good to remain a “best kept secret” in Austin, TX.

The album ends with the soothing ballad “Josephine,” parts Pernice Brothers and Wilco crooning harmony with nice lap guitar accents.  Overall a brilliant and immensely satisfying album that should not be missed. One of the contenders for power pop album of the year easily!

CD Baby | Amazon | KoolKat Musik

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Moorelands Project “The Trip” EP
The Moorelands Project is the brainchild of production duo Mike “Kraz” Krasnowski and Mike “Greener” Greenwood. The duo describe their sound as Rock Hop and Roll, with a complex melodic spin. This certainly is different, as “The Trip” boasts pastoral elements of XTC or Martin Newell. But the band goes all over the place with tracks like “A Song For P” and the bluesy “Few More Times” and unfortunately the rapping elements on other tracks are practically unlistenable. Pick and choose here, and with an e-mail the album is free, so you can’t really go wrong.

CD Baby | Free Download with e-mail

Army Navy "The Last Place"

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In 2009 this L.A. based band with a very English sound made it’s debut to much acclaim and support among music’s  hoi pollio. With comfortable nods to 80s and 90s power pop, lead singer and songwriter Justin Kennedy impressed many with excellent songwriting and ear pleasing melodies. Now comes the sophomore album, and with so few well-known bands flying the power pop banner, its great to hear that Kennedy and the band are continuing to bring a new generation of fans to the genre.

Read the full review of Army Navy’s “The Last Place” here.

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Freebies: Ben Mason’s Odessey and Alex Keith

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Musician Ben Mason decided to re-record the entire Odessey and Oracle album by the Zombies. Listen to it streaming here (or on Bandcamp). He does a faithful job here, too bad there is no way to buy or download. Oh well at least I can get his other music – a lovely free album Acapulco, and his discography is super cheap ($2.00 an EP).


Alex Keith is real find here. This alt. country gem starts with hand clapping swagger in the opener “Into Love and Out of Luck” and the simple strum of “It’s Good Enough.” As a free download, you don’t always get quality like this everyday with Alexs soothing croon, accompanied by Rachel Hebert backing vocals. Yeah, not power pop but I love this stuff anyway.

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Brian Hoffer and Simon Felton

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Brian Hoffer “Into The Boulevard”
Brian is a singer/songwriter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who takes the DIY route to power pop similar to The Breetles or Jonny Polonsky. The early standout here is “Psychoanalysis” a catchy melodic gem that recalls They Might Be Giants or Lamar Holley. Hoffer’s vocal isn’t quite ready for the ambitious high notes on “Gently Down” but the opening piano tinkle of “Superman Somehow”is a clearly a winner with excellent lyrics and solid composition. “Cats & Birds” is a good meandering melodic loop with an impressive cello and piano duet. The narrative of rejection on “Ancient Explorers” is both endearing and easy to identify with. A few misses, but overall this is a really enjoyable debut from a talented newcomer. I hope to hear more from Brian in the near future.

Amazon | Itunes

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Simon Felton “Surrender Dorothy!”
Pink Hedgehog head honcho, Simon Felton (Garfield’s Birthday) follows up his solo debut with the help of label mates Alan Strawbridge (Schnauser) and cult hero Anton Barbeau. Strawbridge’s psychedelic influence really paints the pop of “Marbles” and other tracks with his distinct reverse guitar and organ touches. Felton’s quintessential casual British vocal keeps things moving along on the groovy “Surprise,”it sounds very much like the pysch-pop of The Pillbugs. A sad croon is present on the mellow “Finally” and fans of sixties “toytown” era pop (The Idle Race, The Mindbenders) will love the ironically titled “Novelty.” The ballads here have never been better, and the brilliant “Slowing Down” is one of the best written songs here. The album devolves into Pink Floyd/Moody Blues styled naval gazing on the last several tracks, but fans of psychedelia will be in nirvana.

Amazon | KoolKat Musik
power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.