The Third Men are a tough and abrasive yet soft and cuddly band from Omaha, Nebraska. Fans of jangle-pop will feel warm fuzzies with “Boost.” Bassist Mike Tulis gathered the band together in 2004 and has produced a stellar effort this year. Lead singer Matt Rutledge has a distinct vocal cadence, similar to Bob Mould or Peter Holsapple. The album opens with the Pysch-rock “High” a song that has elements of Myracle Brah and bits of The Minus 5. The goofy humor in the lyrics of “Happy as Larry” along with rich keyboards and guitar rhythms is a real toe tapper here. The first half of the album has that mid 1980’s Chapel Hill, NC rich pop sound – “What A Day” even references the Miami Vice TV show in the lyric. Then the tone shifts to a perfect Who meets Jan & Dean in “G.A.S.” It’s a perfect mid 70’s era power rocker (more cowbell fellas). My favorite song here, “Come on Home” is a standout where the style and melodic hooks come together just right. It would be great to here more of this type of song. But instead, we venture into Van Halen meets Bob Mould of “Visigoths.” Still a good song though and it takes a turn toward the DB’s style of guitar playing. It gets really interesting with “Evelyn” a cool story song with a blistering guitar solo. The remaining songs mine this style and do a pretty good job with cool pop jangle throughout. “Pink Cheerleader” is another power pop song where the break allow more guitar virtuosity, and you gotta love the “Ooh, la, las” here. Fans of the above mentioned bands, Chris Stamey, Let’s Active, Mitch Easter will love this. So give it a listen.
The Third Men | My Space | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame | I-tunes
My Brother Woody is the work of a one man band called Michael Cleare and his debut LP while long of title, has a pile of good Californian-styled songs full of clean harmony and understated brass. The opener “Another Wave of Harmony” is an equal mix of Pernice Brothers and Big Star. Teenage Fanclub, Ron Sexsmith and the Beach Boys also spring to mind when listening to “Wish I Was A DJ” with it’s warm soft melody, and sunny arrangements. Michael Cleare, a native of Ireland explains it well on “I only like songs with bops, oohs and aahs”. Well here at Powerpopaholic, we like that too. Cleare’s vocal delivery is similar to Elvis Costello, but with a hushed whisper instead of raspiness as evidenced by “Super Serotonin Girl” (my favorite tune on the album here). A richer production would bring some of these songs from mortal status to divine, and can best be compared with early efforts of pop faves The Davenports. The closest to greatness here is the ballad “Your New Found Taste” which has a bit of soul with your Pet Sounds-like horn section. The songs get better with repeat listenings, especially “I Got A Gurl” and “When Summer Comes Around.” The only misstep I hear is “Shelly” where the Brian Wilson-esque arrangements feel forced. As debut albums go, My Brother Woody is a pleasant diversion that Orchestral/Baroque pop fans will want to get for sure. Keep an eye on this artist, as I expect great things to come.
To say Andrew Sandoval is prolific is the height of understatement. He’s recorded and toured with Dave Davies (of the Kinks) and produced reissues of classic baroque pop and rock artists from The Beach Boys to the Zombies and loads of bands in between. In 2005 he wrote THE book on The Monkees and is a DJ with weekly radio show called “Come To The Sunshine” on www.luxuriamusic.com. So how’s the music he does on his own? I compare him to a modern day Curt Boettcher, using light melody and multi-tracked harmonies that even makes a song titled “I Hate Your Guts” sound like a gentle love poem. Andrew is a baroque pop specialist and has a delicate touch to each song similar to Micheal Penn. A good mix of Beach Boys, Van Dyke Parks and Zombies are influences for Andrew’s own laid back California-styled ballads. “From Me To You” goes through several songs about the cycle of heartbreak (what else). A standout here is the Pet Sounds meets Everly Brothers tune “Something For You.” The lyrics are earnest, if sappy and “Something Warm” brings back memories of The Turtles best ballads. What else can I say? This is truly a perfect album “for a blue afternoon in your lonely room.”