Hellogoodbye have announced that their forthcoming record will be called Would It Kill You? and comes out November 10th. This California band made waves with 2006’s Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! and knows a good hook or two, so I expect if it has more tracks like this one – it’ll be worth getting.
Monday’s Mini Reviews
This is a collection of non-power pop stuff that I listened to last week, it’s pretty eclectic– from experimental to metal, if you wanna be daring give these a try…
Secret Message Machine “Orphanville”
Musician Michael Barrett has made a tour-de-force of lo-fi bedroom pop in the spirit of GBV, Zappa and Beck. Tons of diverse influences from mod and classic rock often with two contrasting rhythms and a melody sandwiched between them. Like an audio version of those old stereoscopic “Magic Eye” posters – when you stare (listen) at it long enough you’ll see a picture emerge. Nice trippy stuff on “Wilson Street” and “Drug Store Burns.” I’m not big on experimental DIY pop – but this one was worth diving into.
MySpace | Amazon
Worst Case Ontario “Smallcraft” EP
It turns out this NYC band which I kinda enjoyed has officially broken up. Led by Sam Weisberg on guitar it emulates the early nineties club scene a bit, with a fuzz guitar and distorted vocal covering a solid wall of sound on “The Complainer,” which seems to explain why the band imploded. This is basic shoegazer rock and if you’d like to get this one you’ll have to e-mail Sam himself on the band’s MySpace page.
Ben Montague “Overcome”
With so much “idol wannabe” crap out there it takes a bit more for a good pop vocalist to get noticed. I only heard a few songs from Ben Montague, but you can hear that pure talent and excellent pop songwriting on first listen. Like a mix of Seal and John Mayer, Ben’s golden tones will definitely charm you. The inspirational and infectious singles are all over this debut, like “Rainy Day,””Can’t Hold Me Down” and “Weight of Love.” My favorite is the Lenny Kravitz-like soul on “Yeah Yeah.” This may be the best straight pop debut of the year that you missed.
MySpace | Amazon
The New Czars”Doomsday Revolution”
So how hardcore metal can you go and still have a recognizable melodic sound? Lead by rock guitarist and producer Greg Hampton, and including the legendary Adrian Belew, the New Czars answers that question with plenty of shredding. The band bangs away not unlike Metallica on the opener “Keep On Goin'” with a thick baseline and Hampton’s wailing vocal. The compositions are melodic with progressive elements on some tracks. Overall a good hybrid that reins in some metal excess and focuses on quality musicianship and song craft. Fans of Joe Satriani or Queensrÿche will like this one too. Highlights include “Why Do You Have 2 Lie” and the fast paced “Confessions.”
The Power Popaholic interview with Joe Satriani
As promised earlier this week — my full audio interview with guitar god Joe Satriani. I will be posting all audio interviews with Power Popaholic on YouTube at some point.
Radio Days "C’est La Vie"
Radio Days are probably the best power pop band in Italy. Their 2008 EP “Midnight Cemetery Rendezvous” was a real stunner and they refined the sound and songwriting for this awesome full length release. Based in Milan, frontman Dario Persi combines the punk energy of Weezer with Beatlesque melodies and tight hook-filled choruses. “Spinning Round The Wheel” opens with breakneck speed, fans of The Knack and The Velvet Crush will connect with it immediately. This continues with the excellent “So Far So Close” chock full of impressive chord shifts and guitar riffs. The Weezer-like “Sleep It Off” makes listening to this collection of songs a true power pop pleasure. The first three songs are so great, the other tracks have a tougher time sticking, but they are by no means filler. “Elizabeth” has a Raspberries feel to it and “The Meaning Of Fire” has an easy listening style that grows on you pretty quickly, but no slow ballads are part of this album. The sound of the tracks tend to get homogenous, but that’s the only fault I can find here. Another highlight “Sweetest Lullaby” starts with a fantastic jangling intro, it’s a mid tempo guitar gem about looking back on past experiences that really resonates.
My Space | Tannen Records | Itunes | Amazon
Synchronicity in action: Stoney Curtis
Two milestones occurred today – Actor Tony Curtis passed away at age 85 and The Flintstones celebrate it’s 50th anniversary.
Google dedicated it’s home page to the modern stone age family, so today my post will honor both. Even though the actor is best known in movies like “Sweet Smell of Success” and “Some Like It Hot,” he also did a cameo on the cartoon shows sixth season in 1965 as “Stoney Curtis.” Be a good “slave boy” and get the episode here.
What has any of this to do with music? Not that much actually, but the cartoon show did feature many classic musical episodes with “The Way Outs” and “The Bedrock Twitch” and even Pebbles & Bamm Bamm harmonize. My favorite has been the music of “The Beau Brummelstones.”