Lately, there has been so much good music in my inbox that I simply can’t put both singles and EPs together in a single post so…. here are my favorite EPs for September.
Late Cambrian have always been a unique blend of pop, dance, and experimental rock without sounding artificial. Future Snacks starts with the synth-blended “The Last Wave,” but comes up with a plenty of compelling melodies, like the bouncy “Its Always Something” and multi-tracked harmonies of “Sydney Sweeney.”
MichaelSimmons, the super talent behind Sparkle*Jets U.K. has a lot on his plate. He has a massive group of covers called Singing In My Heart, but even better is his musical versions of rare Dutch power pop band Darryl-Ann’s singles. Each track of Happy Traum is a winner. Pure magic, so don’t miss it.
The Glad Machine goes full throttle on power pop, and fans of The Posies, Jellyfish, and Velvet Crush will appreciate the catchy “San Francisco” and the looser guitar on “Baby It’s You.” Not a bad track here, swirling guitar riffs of “Virginia” rule the day. One of the best EPs of the year among a crop of treasures.
UK-based Mom has been pumping out catchy 70’s inspired guitar nuggets every few months, and fans of The Ramones, The Cars, and The Rubinoos will dig this one. Highlight here is “To The Beat” and “Now Until Forever.”
Buenos Aires-based Los Andes has the formula down, and “Julie” featuring Xoel Lopez will hook you even if you don’t “hablar español”. The band also pulls the talents of legendary musicians Lukah Boo, Star Trip, and Hank Idory. No filler and gorgeous musicianship that proves power pop is much loved beyond the borders of the USA. Bravo!
Your token FREEBIE, The Legal Matters give you a Trapper Keeper stuffed with beautiful covers of their favorite tunes. Big Star’s “When My Baby’s Beside Me” and Teenage Fanclub’s “Don’t Look Back” are my faves here.
There are very few artists I know that consistently come out with great music (Nick Piunti and Sloan are good examples) and The Legal Matters is one of them. The Legal Matters is essentially a supergroup, featuring Andy Reed, Chris Richards, and Keith Klingensmith. In Chapter Three, the band’s songwriting takes center stage, as the sound is pretty nailed down with crisp, perfect harmonies akin to America or late-era Beach Boys. At their most dynamic, the melodic “Light Up The Sky” is everything that makes The Legal Matters a power-pop powerhouse. “Independence Well Spent” is a Jellyfish-like study in contrast of light and dark moments in the instrumentation, and “The Painter” is about creativity and inspiration within the mind of the artist and it features some great hooks in the chorus.
Brilliant uplifting music is the band’s stock-in-trade, but they don’t stay in that lane. “Pain” is a challenging ballad, written from a unique point of view where “I need the pain to know I’m alive.” Another highlight is the bouncy “Please Make a Sound,” with a compelling, urgent chorus. They go off-script again for “The World Is Mine” and it plays like a perfect stage villain theme, it’s not overtly political but you get all the clues in the lyrics. Not a note of filler, but the challenging nature of some songs further expands the band’s stylistic range. The songwriting process itself is the subject of “A Memory of Sound” chock full of sonic goodies, and it ends with the angelic harmonies of “Passing Chord.” Highly Recommended and another predictable top ten pick for best album of 2021.
Jonny Norris, bassist for Memphis power-pop band Crash into June reconnected with guitarist Chris Gafford and drummer Dan Shumake, both of whom were spending time with the most recent reincarnation of The Scruffs. After agreeing to play together again they recruited lead singer Brandon McGovern, who recently toured with Dwight Twilley. Guitarist Adam Hill, a bandmate of Brandon and Big Star Archivist joined as the final member of the group. Their goal was nothing less than the resurrection of Memphis power pop glory.
While Your Academy boasts a lot of talent and a fine pedigree the opener “Why Don’t We?” is fairly generic, sounding like the Gin Blossoms mixed with The Well Wishers. “Heaven Knows” is a better tune, and namedrops a lot of musicians from “Chris Bell” to “Guided By Voices,” plus it’s got a solid hook. The Big Star influence is felt on “Sunrise,” and “Better Alone Together” is about Alex Chilton’s relationship with Lesa Aldridge. The songs seem to check all the boxes (ringing guitars, driving melodies) but they don’t really stick in your head for long. A solid standout; “Talent Party” is a great tune about Memphis garage bands of the 1960s (with more music trivia in the lyric). “Bluff City,” boasts strong guitar work and drumming, and “Our Love Matters (TCB)” is a little pandemic-inspired song with a Lucky Charms reference. Some of the production here also feels a little too compressed and could’ve been expanded more (like on “Sunrise.”) Overall, a good album that deserves to be heard.
On of the most anticipated releases this year was from The Legal Matters (Andy Reed, Chris Richards, and Keith Klingensmith) a power pop supergroup that impressed many 2 years ago. The band has matured into a more cohesive unit and Conrad feels more confident, more buoyant and pushes the boundaries of the term power pop to what I would call “Adult-Oriented Power Pop,” and if you listen to the new Teenage Fanclub album Here, you’ll be in similar territory.
The bands influences have blended into each other, and the sound is now to closer to Crowded House meets Jellyfish meets America. “Anything” is a mid-tempo opener with stunning harmonies in its chorus that’s just brimming with optimism. “I’m Sorry Love” is a Jellyfish-like ballad with multiple shifts in tone and warbling guitar lines. Next, “Minor Key” is a perfect mid-tempo offering and then the band lets loose on “Short Term Memory” about the ephemeral nature of musical hooks and asks “who killed all the rock and roll stars?” Another gem “She Called Me To Say” is a catchy tune with some great bass and shimmering guitar work.
There are also a few acoustic-driven personality sketches like “Pull My String” and “The Cool Kid” that are loaded with authenticity. We also get a very Posies-like power ballad “Hip Hooray” and it ends with the McCartneyesque “Better Days” explaining the dual message that better days are both behind us and in front of us. No filler, and not typical disposable music, this album needs to be digested over several listens. Overall this a meticulously crafted piece of pop that deserves to be somewhere in my top ten and earns my highest rating.
LA singer-songwriter Mason Summit is musically wise beyond his 19 years, as Gunpowder Tracks is a sophisticated slice of chamber pop and American folk. “Cellophane Skin” starts out as a soft piano melody with complex lyrics and a tight arrangement. “Splatterpaint” builds from bare bones pop to a layered gem with light backing harmonies, similar to Elliot Smith.
“When Time Was Mine To Spend” is a great example of Summit’s descriptive lyrics that paint a picture of growing up. What helps is Summit’s detailed approach as he drifts across styles from jazz (“Detour” and the title track) to jangling folk pop (“Particles” “Last Time”). It may be a bit too “coffee house” for some, but he’s well on his way to stardom if he continues this path.
The Legal Matters “An Intro”
The Legal Matters are a power pop supergroup based out of Detroit, Mi. Andy Reed, Chris Richards and Keith Klingensmith joined forces in 2014 to make their awesome debut. Mixing big guitars with big harmonies, their recorded output has one foot in the classic pop era of the 60’s and 70’s (Beatles, Beach Boys, Nilsson, Big Star) and one foot with the current era of classic pop (Nada Surf, The Autumn Defense.) This EP features a new song, “Anything”, from the upcoming Omnivore Recordings release Conrad, along with a brand new and unreleased cover of the Teenage Fanclub classic “Don’t Look Back.” Rounding it off are 2 songs from the Legal Matters self-titled debut.
Assorted Artists “Power Popsicle Brain Freeze”
Wayne Lundqvist Ford (Ice Cream Man Power Pop) delivers a boatload of music in this new compilation that he personally selected. It’s a massive collection of 139 tracks that’s a quick update to the state of power pop artistry today. Surely you find a great mix tape from all these riches.
