Powerpopholic

Ned Brower "Great To Say Hello"

January 18, 2011January 5, 2025 powerpopaholic

Rooney drummer Ned Brower knew what he was doing when he hired Ducky Carlisle to record and Mike Viola to co-produce his debut. The mix of pop styles are spread all over the map here. It’s cool that Ned explores these areas and mines his favorite influences. He thrills on the starting track “Underneath Your Spell” with harmonies and handclaps weaved together. The guitar riffs lead you into “Hide Your Secrets Away” and the chorus hooks you instantly (it’s the best track here).

“The New Lonely Fool” has a T-Rex style to it’s beat and is the most Rooney-like of the tracks here. An easy listening 70’s pop feel to “Mine and Mine Alone” slows things down a bit, and then the warm “Father To Son” bounces along like an updated version of Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World.” On “The Alleyway” Ned seems to channel Thin Lizzy lead by Warren Zevon. Considering Rooney bandmate Taylor Locke has two albums out, Brower should get started on the next one while we enjoy the variety his debut offers.

My Space | Ned Brower’s Site | Amazon

More Top 10 Lists

January 16, 2011July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic

Matt Whitby at The Pop Underground has these power pop albums ranked in order:

Position Artist // Album
1 Belle & Sebastian // Write About Love
2 Seth Swirsky // Watercolor Day
3 Teenage Fanclub // Shadows
4 Field Music // Measure
5 The Posies // Blood/Candy
6 Agony Aunts // Greater Miranda
7 Bleu // Four
8 The Grip Weeds // Strange Change Machine
9 Mark Bacino // Queens English
10 Farrah // Farrah

Much of the albums we picked are similar, the full list of 300 artists are on display here. In case you missed my 2010 picks, it is in YouTube format with about 30 seconds of each artist.

Of course, Steve at Absolute Power Pop had his picks posted during the holiday week and now he’s got Dave Bash’s picks as well. Not to be overlooked, Curty Ray has several lists posted (including mine) at Power Pop Overdose. The blog Pop Fair had it’s top 25 posted recently and last but never least, Mike Barron’s Top Ten list.

Redondo Beat and Sterling Loons

January 16, 2011July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic

Redondo Beat “Meet Redondo Beat”
Hailing from a little village in Germany, Roman Aul had a talent for pure pop with a classic early 60’s style. With the help of backing vocalist Katrin Meinert and drummer Max Schneider they formed Redondo Beat. The solid retro pop sounds like a collection of lost 45s by Dion & The Belmonts, Bobby Fuller and Eric Burdon. The opener “The Sweetest Sound” has great guitar opening and bouncy beat like The Dave Clark Five.”The Spell I’m Under” is clearly influenced by early 60’s icon Del Shannon, and so goes our trip down memory lane.

While this is a very solid nostalgic exercise, some song compositions just aren’t that memorable, with the exception of where they inject some R&B influence like on “Break-a-Heart” and the very catchy “My Baby (Knows How To Have A Good Time).” Toward the albums second half we seem to hit the late fifties with Duane Eddy (“Full Moon Child”) and Danny & The Juniors (“Shoop Shoop”). This is certainly a lot of fun, so fans of those moldy oldies can rejoice here. The rest of you young’uns can get off my lawn!

My Space | Bomp Records | Amazon

The Sterling Loons “March To The Tune”
If you mixed Hendrix, The Kinks and Syd Barrett in a blender you could get The Sterling Loons. Lead by guitarist Eamon Nordquist, he belts out the opener “Old Nick” and then we are treated to loose concept album, similar to Shnauser with multiple melody lines and finely crafted guitar solos. “Morning Sunshine” is a trippy delight, and “March To The Tune” brings to mind The Kinks classic period. Another highlight is the strong composition and harmonies on “Hope She’ll Get Away Part 1.” It gets better with the impressive Steve Howe-like guitar work on “Beauty Eyeing The Beholder” but Eamon’s vocals don’t always hit the mark here. The absurdist “She’s Happy” and “All Aboard” are warped Who styled tunes and other highlights include “Spaceman” and “Half Of All The People.” The mix of mod pop and heavy prog may not sit well with some, but there is much here to savor and appreciate.

MySpace | Kool Kat Musik | Amazon

The Davenports "Why The Great Gallop?"

January 13, 2011September 5, 2024 powerpopaholic

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from Brooklyn’s The Davenports. But the new album finally arrives and it’s worth the wait. Lead by frontman Scott Klass he deftly filled the album with terrific hooks and clever lyrical stories, similar in style to Fountains of Wayne. The guitar heaviness of the past albums have given way to quirky character studies and great percussion. “Christopher Starts” has a generous helping of inner monologue and infectious beat. Lots of fast paced tunes are at the albums start, and they don’t seem to be related at first. By time I got to the handclaps and tambourine chorus in “Don’t Cry Mary” a story begins to emerge.

This is an excellent album, where every song advances the narrative point of view. Anxiety and paranoia are on display on “Something’s Gonna Get Us” with typewriter sound effects and “You Can’t Drink Anymore” has an impressive guitar lead. The crux of the album seems to be “Figure Me Out,” a strong piano melody with full strings backing Scott’s vocal. The confessional tone of the story is framed out by each song. For me it took a few listens to appreciate the details in each melodic track, not everything here is instantly sticky and the tempo on a few tunes are too similar. But there’s no filler here either, overall it’s not too early to add this to my “best of 2011” list.

Band’s Site | Amazon

Hardcore Lounge, The Villas and The Rocketboys

January 12, 2011July 7, 2024 powerpopaholic

Hardcore Lounge “Dance Of My Life”

Some bands just don’t fit neatly into a music category. Chris and Wes Johnson from Charlotte, NC have a background with The Johnson Family Singers. The band plays in a classical pop ensemble, with a variety of instruments and players including Mary Massie (flute, keyboards), Marco Heeter (bass) and Marlon Young (drums). The clean production work showcases what could be lounge pop with an avant guarde twist. I liked the brassy “Holiday” and quirky “Super Sized” – not power pop for sure, but you may enjoy it if labels aren’t that important to your musical experience.

MySpace | CD Baby

The Villas “Jamie” EP

This Austin band’s got spunk and loves loud melodic pop, in the Weezer vein. Lead singer Jonathan Berry snarles out every tune, with a crunchy guitar by Bryan Winter. But as much as they try, the band still has a long way to go and the rough harmonies don’t quiet cut it. The acoustic “Fading In My Mind” brings to mind those old Stones ballads, and I liked this tune the best.

Villas Music | Bandcamp

The Rocketboys “Wellwisher” EP

Another Austin, TX band creates moody pop with anthemic arrangements, lead singer Brandon Kinder kind of recalls Sting if he was part of Coldplay. “Narrow Space” opens with strong drum fills, floating synth strings and Kinder’s strong croon takes over. The band has already begun writing its second full-length, which will be out by summer 2011 and feature a bucket of brand new songs from the six-piece group.

MySpace | Amazon