The Beach Boys “SMiLE Sessions”

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For all you audiophiles, this is the motherlode. On November 1, the original tracks of the legendary Beach Boys SMiLE will be released in a 2 CD set. If you are a really completist, the expanded boxed edition of The SMiLE Sessions will also be released, featuring the main SMiLE album tracks, plus four CDs of additional audio from the legendary sessions, a double vinyl LP set, and two 7″ vinyl singles. The deluxe box also contains a 60-page hardbound book with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia from The Beach Boys’ archive and newly-written essays by Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, and Bruce Johnston, as well as by Beach Boys historian and author Domenic Priore and many other inner-circle participants.

Rhode Island and Ex-Norwegian

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Rhode Island “Light The Windows In These Places Let Through”
Rhode Island are three dudes (Dave Brown, Jeff Johns and Will Turner) from Leeds, UK. They are unsigned and did all the work themselves… its starts with the interesting “War With Iran.” The vocals are a bit muddy, but the composition is solid with a bass driven melody. You’ll hear a little Bowie in “I Lost My Mind,” but the harmonies on “Articulation” are quite impressive, and fans of Queen will really love this. The album gets better as it continues – “A House” is a wonderful pop composition with shifting melody lines that reminds me of bands like Jukebox The Ghost or Field Music. The band plays with atmosphere on the instrumental “Franck’s Plantation,” and check out the album’s latter half with “Alcoholics,” “Good Morning, Captain John Lerro” and the very Apples in Stereo styled “Change In Repetition.” Although not every tune here is great, there are many highlights that make this band an undiscovered gem.

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Ex-Norwegian “Sketch”
Last year the Miami band Ex-Norwegian produced a pretty good pop album that touched many bases and had lots of influences.  On it’s latest LP Sketch it takes a big step forward musically. Opening with “Jet Lag” it almost goes retro-grunge here, but Alice In Chains never had a horn section. The band has solidified it’s sound with the late 90’s and 60’s as basic touch points, and the crunchy riffs of “Smashing Time” showcases the energy and great potential. With singer Roger Houdaille improving his game we get to the best track here,”Sky Diving” with Shazam-like catchy guitars, and grand choruses similar to Sloan. I wish the whole album took this approach – but it then switches to a lo-fi “You’re Elastic Over Me” with bassist Nina Souto doing her best Liz Phair. The melodic gems pop up in spots here, “Seconds” and “Acting On An Island” are excellent psyche-pop tunes and the bleak “Upper Hand” is a proper counterbalance to the raucous Who-styled “Turn Left.” This is a band that is on the cusp of greatness, but they aren’t helped by the throwaway lyrics of “Girl With The Moustache.” But still… this is very worthy of your playlist. Fans of Weezer, Greg Pope and other guitar heavy power pop will definitely want to add this album to the collection.

Mike Viola “Electro De Perfecto”

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There are only a handful of musicians who when they release a new album, I buy prior to hearing it. And Mike Viola is one of them, as he’s earned my trust over the years. This is a highly personal album, and like Matthew Sweet he lays it all out there – the questions of middle age, regret and more. In interviews, Mike mentions comparisons to the TV show Breaking Bad, where normal life drama comes from raw emotional moments.

It starts of with “Columbus Day” showing a shift from NYC to LA that took “all my energy” in the building chorus and with cultural touch points dotting the melody. The tone is sunny and catchy on most of the songs like “Get You Back” and even a “bad day for the whipping boy” on “El Mundo De Perfecto” finds the optimistic side of things. “Soundtrack of My Summer” is another Viola gem of an earworm, you won’t be able to shake off.  “Me and My Drinking” has a wonderful bass line and delicate narrative about screwing things up. Lyrically it does get very dark, especially on “Closet Cutter” where you blame “The Beatles and The Rolling Stones” for a lack of success and “Here’s The Rub” where a breakup leads to addiction. Aside the fact that this is all great ear candy, each song is a thoughtful and detailed scenario that requires repeated listens to really appreciate. Ever since Hang On Mike, he’s performed at such a high level, and Electro De Perfecto continues this tradition, don’t miss it.

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El Mundo De Perfecto by Mike Viola

International Pop Overthrow Vol. 14

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If there is one person I could pick at the forefront of power pop opinion, it’s IPO founder David Bash. The IPO festival is dedicated to bringing to the public the latest bands and unsigned talent, and next week he hits New York City (where I’ll make my annual pilgrimage). The festival’s 14th compilation has been out and it’s loaded (3 CDs worth) so I’ll highlight some of my favorite tracks…

Starting on disc 1 is one of the best new bands this year, The Turnback with the Beatlesque “Beyond Belief” and The Dahlmanns with “I Love You Baby (But I Hate Your Friends).” The latest David Myhr (Merrymakers) shimmering hit “Loveblind” is another highlight. Another great band, Nushu gives us the dreamy harmonies in “Precious To Me.”

On disc 2, the strong riffs of Bastards of Melody on “Dream Jeanine” won me over quickly. It was also nice to hear power pop veteran Jeremy Morris on the jangle-filled “Love Explosion” and the surprisingly strong “Back For More” by Dirty Royals really impressed me. Add to this the pounding beat and energy filled chorus of Fireking’s “Built to Last.”

On disc 3 we get the most eclectic mix of songs from the Hollies-styled pop of The Avenues “Should’ve Been Sarah” and gentle ballad “18 Floors” by Tim Reid. Our favorite Beach Girl Laurie Biagini gives us “One Track Mind” and Billy Idol-styled punk styled pop comes from Modern Day Heroes with “I Want You.” This is an instant power pop library of great new music that is highly recommended, so what are you waiting for? See you at IPO!

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