Tag: The Well Wishers

The Well Wishers and Jackie Daytona

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The Well Wishers

The Well Wishers “A View From Above”

Jeff Shelton is back with his 9th album, and while I’ve grown accustomed to solid Well Wishers albums, this time I hear a little more variety in the approach. “Gravity Waits” has all the catchy guitar crunch and infectious chorus that set it as one of Jeff’s best openers. The softer jangle of “In Another Life” has the sound of earlier Well Wishers tunes before the louder riffs return on “I Like You Better,” and the very REM-like “April Is Only A Lie.”

Jeff also included some of the better tracks from last year’s Trip Wire’s LP (“There Goes My Gun” and “I’m Not the Enemy.”) The layered buzz of the guitars on “Come Out And Play” and “Is It Me, Is It You” are also keepers that fans of Bob Mould will appreciate. Overall, another great album without filler that is without a doubt Highly Recommended.

Amazon | Kool Kat Musik

Jackie Daytona

Jackie Daytona “She’s So Hot” EP

Texas-based Jackie Daytona knows how to party, and he fires on all cylinders with the opener “Hot & Sweaty,” a guitar pop gem that was designed to juice up a crowd, Daytona channels Rick Miller in his vocals. “She’s So Hot” is a great follow up, with its slick bass line and rumbling riffs that The Eels don’t really do anymore. “California” is a mid-tempo gem that sounds like a lost Jackson Browne classic.

With these standouts, it’s easy to recommend and it even has a cool cover of The Beach Boys “You’re So Good To Me.” Hopefully, more people get hip to Daytona’s brand of crunchy power pop you can dance to. I would love to hear more on a full-length album. Highly Recommended.

Amazon

Friday Freebies: The Well Wishers, Vegas With Randolph, The Skullers and I Prefer Guitars

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Long-time power pop favorite The Well Wishers (aka Jeff Shelton) give us an album of covers. Many are album tracks and not the big popular hits, which makes this collection even more compelling. Shelton covers Tom Petty, Sloan, ABBA, Bowie and more. Also it’s a totally FREE download.


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Vegas With Randolph flies the friendly skies with this eminently catchy boarding pass of a song that happily charts a sweet flight path for these Washington, D.C. popsters. While it isn’t free, it’s only a buck and this is a quality single that deserves to be heard!

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The Skullers are a new band from New Jersey that are looking for a little exposure. The debut single “Can We Do That Again” is a sharp bit of guitar pop that certainly is worthy of a FREE download. Learn more about these guys at The Skullers.com

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The band I Prefer Guitars is a bit of a mystery. I can’t find any bio information except that this band may be from Hamburg, Stockholm or Warsaw. The music is pretty straight forward modern guitar pop. And it’s also a FREE download, so why not check it out?

The Well Wishers and Dot Dash

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The Well Wishers

The Well Wishers “Comes And Goes”

Jeff Shelton (aka The Well Wishers) is one of the most consistently relaible power pop artists with a sound that is firmly rooted between REM and Bob Mould. On his 8th release Comes and Goes stays the course, it will please followers and earn new fans along the way. “Impossible To Blame” is a great example of what makes Jeff so irresistible; buzzing guitar rhythms, upbeat tempo and a catchy melody. He delves into hard rock and psyche-pop passages through several songs like “It’s On” and “Love Lies Last.” Lisa Mychols adds her vocals to the shimmering “Comes Around.” Its hard to come up with more superlatives for this band, and all I can tell you is pick this album up. Highly Recommended (as usual).

Amazon

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Dot Dash

Dot Dash “Searchlighs”

Washington DC based Dot Dash has gradually shifted its sound over the years from a power pop band on 2011’s spark>flame>ember>ash to the fuzz alt. Brit-rock of Earthquakes & Tidal Waves. The band has now gone to a punk garage sound with Searchlights. There is a wild energy that is attractive on the opener “Dumb Entertainment,” and the PIL meets The Jam approach on “Lonely Serenade” and the title track are also enjoyable. But they careen off the rails on “10,000 Days” where you barely hear Terry Banks melody above the din.

The band still can crank out a classic  — “Wishing Star” is great songwriting, with sweet chord progressions and solos. A few more standouts include “Holly Garland” and “Fading Out.” The rest of the album was a little more challenging to stick through only because the songs tend to blend into each other. Still worth a listen and including on your playlist.

Beautiful Music

Singles: Luke Potter, Ryan Hamilton, The Outryders and The Well Wishers

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https://youtu.be/5TMeG-yje2Y

Luke Potter has been on our radar for a while, this nice Halloween themed video displays “Ready or Not” an original that has plenty of funk, and a catchy chorus that sticks in your head.
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Ryan Hamilton – this video of “Records and Needles” is a sweet tribute to rockers of the past. See how many classic LPs you can name being parodied here (it’s pretty easy). We reviewed Ryan’s debut “Hell Of A Day” earlier this year. Also check out the video for “Four Letter Verb.”

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The Outryders make no apologies for the fact that they are happily stuck in the period of late 80s and early 90s melodic guitar based pop. The band is the duo of Joe Algeri (Jangle Band, The JAC, Britannicas, Jack & the Beanstalk, Summer Suns) and Paul Colombini (Roadstar, Cherrytones) and no tricks here, these singles are a FREE downloadable treat!

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The Well Wishers (aka Jeff Shelton) delivers us an obscure cover of Abba’s “Suzy Hang Around” an album cut from their “Waterloo” LP. This is another goodie for your audio treat bag, being a FREE download.

Singles: Brandon Schott, The Well Wishers and The Sensibles

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Brandon Schott: Get ready for gorgeous melodies from Brandon, this song is an advance from his new album “Crayons and Angels” which is self-funded through Kickstarter here. This tune “Every Little Song” is full of neat little sonic details and also helped by having the talented Kelly Jones backing Brandon up. Soak it in and please invest in great music like this.

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The Well Wishers: Well Wishers frontman Jeff Shelton is at it again. “Build A Life” here is an unmastered demo, but it sounds better than most bands finished singles. Keep making music Jeff, and we’ll keep on listening.

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The Sensibles: This is an Italian band that keeps improving with each release, and this A-B single is full of guitar crunch and Stella’s accented delivery. “Bibi” is a fun punk pop romp, and “Little Girl” has an early ’60s girl group vibe (think Shangri-La’s) with its catchy chorus.