Top 20 Best Power Pop albums of 2009

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Rather than have a strict top ten, I wanted to bring you my personal top twenty albums this year. Many have been nominated, but these just stuck with me this year strictly in the “power pop” genre. I look forward to the top ten lists of many other music blogs, so hopefully we’ll see many more before the year ends.
  1. Roger Joseph Manning Jr. “Catnip Dynamite” *
    and Plasticsoul “Peacock Swagger”
  2. Roger Klug “More Help For Your Nerves”
  3. Lamar Holley “Confessions of a College Student”
  4. Michael Carpenter “Redemption #39”
  5. The Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder “Makes Your Ears Smile”
  6. The Webstirs “So Long”
  7. Jeff Litman “Postscript”
  8. Curtains For You “What A Lovely Surprise To Wake Up Here”
  9. L’Avventura “Your Star Was Shining”

  10. The Simple Carnival “Girls Aliens Food”
  11. The Shazam “Meteor”
  12. Dennis Diken with Bell Sound “Late Music”
  13. Jeff Larson “Heart Of The Valley”
  14. Bleu “A Watched Pot”
  15. The Secret Powers and The Electric Family Choir
  16. Chris Richards and The Subtractions “Sad Sounds of Summer”
  17. Thowback Suburbia “s/t”
  18. The Wigs “File Under: Pop Vocal”
  19. Valley Lodge “Semester at Sea”
  20. The Resonars “That Evil Drone”
Coming up next: My top EPs of 2009


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Please Do Not Fight and Hollands

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Please Do Not Fight “Move” EP

The four piece band Please Do Not Fight have an quirky indie rock sound with heartfelt emotion, not unlike Death Cab For Cutie. Lead singer Zen Zenith has a tortured vocal that resembles Adam Marsland or Ben Folds. No pissed off angst here, just a calming presence when needed for most of the album. Highlights include the well constructed “I Will Not Forget” and the subtle zen ballad “BAMF.” The addition of synth and violin adds to the infectious atmosphere here. Another gem is “Up Up Up” where it resembles a great straight up alt. pop single and Zen rises to the occasion here. “Hard To Tell” is a solid narrative that starts out “I think I’m drunk, but I’m behind the wheel again…” and it’s another excellent tune that ends a solid EP.

MySpace | CD Baby


Hollands “Mother” EP

This Brooklyn band mixes rock, punk, folk a bit like Radiohead meeting 10cc in a bar and jamming to Phish. It’s not that accessible on first listen. But give it a chance. The ELO-like touches and electric bass lines add to the majesty of the opener “Air Conditioned Heart.” It’s a big sound that pushes lots of buttons and the follow up is the slower “Cheerio!” that approaches greatness with it’s Pink Floyd reverb dirge and again that great bass rhythm. The next song, “Just Like Them” is a study in contrasts: John-Paul Norpoth’s vocal resembles a Ray Davies ballad, now add a loud punk noise break in the middle. It’s jarring and unpredictable, as is much of the album. “Jackie” is the EP’s highlight, with a well played guitar lead, chorus/verse combo and a laid back hook. If these guys decided to focus on the melody more often like in “Jackie” it would have worked better. What we get are flashes of brilliance that surface every now and then. I would keep my ears open for more.

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Coconut Records "Davy"

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This was released in January but I wanted to include it in my top ten list. Three years after his departure from Phantom Planet, musician/actor Jason Schwartzman returned to L.A.’s pop-loving circles with the solo project Coconut Records in 2003. Schwartzman is one of those rare breeds: an actor with musical talent that translates well. Sometimes this works (Zooey Deschanel) and sometimes it doesn’t (Scarlett Johansson). Well here on his sophomore effort Davy, it works really well. These are instantly catchy pop nuggets that recall Elliot Smith, The Beatles and Magnetic Fields. The relaxed “Microphone” highlights the hook filled and instrumental mini-symphony. The mid tempo “Any Fun” borders on Weezer like quirkiness with a Phil Spector touch. Schwartzman’s wavering vocals fit well into each composition, like the Ben Kweller flavored “Wandering Around”. My favorite here is the McCartney meets Brian Wilson bedroom melody “Saint Jerome” that floats through your head like “A Day In The Life.” Even a simple melancholy pop cut like “Courtyard” becomes a timeless daydreaming ballad. This is great pop song craft here and, it has found a spot on my ipod rotation that I can’t bring myself to remove. The Bonus: for a limited time it’s only five bucks at Aimee Street.

My Space | Aimee St | Amazon

Davy – Coconut Records

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Family of The Year. The Powerpopaholic interview.

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With an excellent debut and some luck, Family of The Year got to share the stage this past October with Ben Folds and The Boston Pops. I spoke to lead vocalist Vanessa Jeanne Long and talk about how the band got started and other cool things. Check out the interview on The Rock And Roll Report.

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Research Turtles "s/t"

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Born on the bayou of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Research Turtles are a band with buzzing British Invasion styled guitars layered on top of Foo Fighters styled grunge pop. It’s a natural mix that takes elements of the past guitar greats (Beatles, The Who) and fits it into chunky rock melodies that grow on you like moss on a tree. Founders Jud and Joe Norman channel the melodic magic on the opener “Let’s Get Carried Away.” The heavy guitars plunge listeners into the Green Day-styled “Damn” full of both distorted guitar solos and harmonic choruses. “Mission” is a great straight ahead power pop single that should garner attention from a few radio stations that value good music. The southern style of the band emerges on the power ballad “Kiss Her Goodbye” and aggressive guitars race ahead on the excellent “Cement Floor.” It tends to bog down on “The Riff Song” into a Led Zeppelin-esque gumbo of riffs and vocal distortions. The sweet “Into A Hole” is another highlight, with both melody and riffs on equal footing. The musical hooks tend to take a back seat on the albums second half, but for a debut this is more than enough to get excited about. Fans of Teenage Fanclub, You Am I and Bowling For Soup will also find a lot to like about these Turtles.

CD Baby | MySpace | Itunes

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