Mimi Betinis and The Test Dream

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Mimi Betinis “All That Glitters”
As the driving force behind Chicago’s pioneering power-pop group, Pezband in the 70’s – Mimi Betinis offers up his first solo album. “All That Glitters” features classic guitar heavy gems like the opener “Love Is Just A Thin Veneer.” Betinis sounds great and his rhythms and structures are more eclectic and fine tuned than ever.

“Come On Down To My House” is a funky rock treat that almost flirts with hip hop.The production is very dense and layered with multiple guitar lines and beats. Stylistically it goes everywhere as “Blue Sky” has a catchy melody complemented by Chuck Soumar and Dave Stalhberg’s horn bursts. Another winner is the Beatlesque “Romance Me” with Rickenbacker licks and poetic lyrics. It gets a bit difficult to keep the pace past the album’s second half, although the Lennon-like “What’s Your Name” is welcoming diversion. Fans of classic rock and Pezband will want this one for sure.

Mimi Betinis site | CD Baby | Amazon

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The Test Dream “Shades Of Love”
I reviewed the debut of this Long Island band not so long ago.  Lead vocalist Ryan Colt Levy is a bit more understated here on “My Reflection.” The song has the same compelling mix of hooks and slick production that made the debut impressive. “Comeundone” has some nice harmonies here, but the melody is fleeting. The band shifts gears on the overly commercial “Open Wide” and it almost turns into easy listening, but lucky for us things improve with “Oil & Wine” and “Father Time” where the layered melodies work better with the instrumental parts. You’ll hear influences from Maroon 5 to Jellyfish in spots, and most power pop fans will appreciate the nice guitar break on “Game Over.” The album is consistently good but nothing blew me away. Overall its a mature effort by a talented band that continues to grow.

My Space  | CD Baby | Amazon
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The Genuine Fakes "The Striped Album"

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All you need to know about the Geniune Fakes is this quote: “The Genuine Fakes are proof of Sweden’s seemingly inexhaustible font of pop genius. Hitting all the right marks, they walk you thru the major required classes in the school of pop – Ken Stringfellow (The Posies)“ Johan Bergqvist formed the band in Södermalm (part of Stockholm) with like-minded musicians. They start the album with their own theme song! It reminded me of the much loved band, The Merrymakers with it’s optimistic “Have you heard, there’s a brand new band in town!”

The bright shiny tone continues on “The Promise” and fans of Swedish pop will be thrilled by the loud melodic chords and big harmonies. “Something New” and “When Reality Hits You” have classic power pop structures and incredibly catchy choruses. The production is very Jellyfish-like, polished and worth many repeat listens. Although the compositions suffer from a lack of variety in the albums middle, they still manage to belt it out with plenty of thematic energy. Johan even managed to redo the Beyoncé ballad, “Irreplaceable” and make it a power pop song as well. However, the album could have used a ballad as the bombast here might wear down the average listener. That mentioned this is a superior power pop album, that easily gets a Top Ten nomination for 2011. Kool Kat is offering an additional 5-track bonus disc when you order here.

Bandcamp | Amazon | Kool Kat Musik

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The Power Popaholic Interview: Neil Nathan

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Last July I reviewed ‘The Distance Calls’, the debut album of Neil Nathan, and really enjoyed it. I interviewed Neil and the lost the transcript in my ever-growing pile of computer files. I thought it was gone forever, but I recently discovered it and now it’s finally posted in our new and improved interviews section. Read it here or click the navigation on the right.

power pop reviews, power pop and rock and roll opinions. Power pop and even more power pop and rock and roll.