Doug Gillard’s formidable body of recordings is as impressive as it is voluminous, encompassing his work as a key member of such notable combos as Guided by Voices, Nada Surf, Death of Samantha, Cobra Verde, and Gem, as well as an array of noted collaborations with the likes of Richard Buckner, Neko Case, Bill Fox, and The Hold Steady. Parallel Stride is the Ohio-bred, New York-based singer/songwriter/multi- instrumentalist’s fourth official solo album.
Although he’s well established as a luminary of the American indie-rock community, Gillard’s musical sensibility is firmly rooted in the time-honored old-school virtues of catchy melodic craft, emotionally resonant lyrics and emotion-charged performances. Parallel Stride standouts…
Category: power-pop
…With his highly influential band Shoes, Gary Klebe’s been a veteran of the power pop scene since the 1970s. But now, in his 60s, he’s putting out his debut solo record. And it is truly solo: Klebe performs all the vocals, plays most of the instruments, and produced and mixed the album, largely in his basement.
The result is a refreshingly mature take on the genre. Klebe’s hooks and melodies are as bright as ever, but that contrast between music and lyrics is more pronounced and complicated. Gone is idealism; in its place, lived experience. Klebe’s distinct tenor remains robust, but now there’s also a soulful weariness to it on songs like “Invading My Space,” akin to how Brian Wilson sounded on his later solo work. It adds a gravitas to…
Los Angeles power-pop specialists The Pretty Flowers are back with a grand return, and there is a reinforced edge to the melodic pop sound that marks Never Felt Bitter as the group’s transition into exceptional new territory.
The opening salvo of “Thief of Time” and “To Be So Cool” set the picture out for what this group are all about, both tracks are a complete bolt from the blue, endless ringing guitar and the drumming from Sean Johnson is absolute perfection, who keeps the entire album searing forward in a relentless pace. Never Felt Bitter marks the group’s debut on Forge Again Records and was written in the aftermath of guitarist and vocalist Noah Green’s change of surroundings, making the switch from the bright lights of Los Angeles to…
The very first release on Frontier Records in March 1980 was an EP by Pasadena’s Flyboys – a power pop/punk band that began in 1977 with singer/songwriter John Curry and Jim “Trash” Decker from The Crowd (and tangentially, Jay from The Simpletones, who would later sign to Posh Boy). Flyboys gigged all over the Southland, paying their dues opening for every national and local punk band from Huntington Beach to Hollywood. They were anything but typical punks with their day-glo clothes, Cuban heels, and maddeningly catchy songs. Infectious hooks and John Curry’s bleached-blonde pompadour were the band’s trademarks.
Lisa Fancher interviewed Flyboys when she was a rock scribe at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. The band’s lack of traction…
There’s often a fine line between homage and pastiche, between influence and theft. And all too often, bands fall on the wrong side of that line. Not, however Middleman. The London-based four-piece, who formed just a few years ago, certainly don’t hide who and what their influences are, but rather than crafting a watered-down version of them, they use those influences as a foundation and stepping stone to bring them into now with youthful exuberance and energy.
Caught between power-pop and punk rock, Following the Ghost is the band’s debut LP, and comes off the back of two acclaimed EPs, December 2022’s ‘Cut Out the Middleman’, and 2024’s ‘John Dillinger Died for You’. Raucously unhinged yet simultaneously full of catchy hooks,…
On their first two albums Uni Boys shoehorned together New York Dolls-y swagger, punky attitude, glam rock glitter, and power pop hooks. The fit was close to being right on, but it felt like maybe the band hadn’t quite figured out what they wanted to be and the group’s two songwriters, Reza Matin and guitarist Noah Nash, maybe had different ideas where they wanted to go.
On their third album, usefully self-titled like many an album where the band undertakes a revamp, Matin and Nash are on the same page, the band have landed on a unified approach, and sound better than ever. This time around they’ve jettisoned almost all of the punk and Dolls-y hard rock in favor of a sprightly brand of power pop that’s reminiscent of the tight…
Damon Albarn’s perspective seems to be firmly placed on Gorillaz, so the arrival of Uncommon Side Effects fills a gap in the market of rapier-sharp and kinetic pop. The album, fronted by Marc Valentine, could easily have been released in 1996, given its bouncy choruses and soaring guitars. Bassist Richie Poynton unveils his inner Alex James, especially on the hybrid art piece “High in the Underground”. Valentine’s imprints are unapologetically British, splashing and dabbling about London nights based on youthful reverie.
Every song stems from an Anglo-centric mindset. The jangly “NY UAP” is the commentary from an outsider looking at the American landmark. “You Are the Jet” – a celebration, perhaps, of Paul McCartney‘s superlative Wings – forms…
The Outfit present a career defining new album, Preservers of the Pearl, asserting themselves as messengers of the new wave of underground rock and roll, pushing the movement forward alongside fellow trailblazers Mystery Lights, Sheer Mag, Shadow Show, Uni Boys…
Everything has been leading here. Daniel Romano shifts from his position as sole writer, opening the floor to Outfit stalwarts Ian Romano and Carson McHone, and welcoming into the fold longtime friend and legendary Canadian rock-n-roller, Tommy Major. The band is functioning as a true collective – multiple voices and perspectives – all serving one creative pulse. The result is both a new beginning and a homecoming, a complete and fearless statement.
“Power pop” can be a troubling genre label for musicians. Though Elliott Smith, who earned the label in the ‘90s, was celebrated early on in his career, and ‘70s Big Star, in retrospect, have gotten more than their fair share of flowers, there were — and still are — many that, after their brief flicker in the spotlight, have largely been forgotten. Despite this, we now seem to be in another renaissance of the genre, and acts like Bory represent the upper echelon. The project name of Portland’s Brenden Ramirez, with one LP (Who’s a Good Boy) and an EP (Sidelined) to his name, has released his sophomore follow-up, Never Turns to Night. The 10-track album is a significant step up from his previous output.
That, of course, doesn’t mean that 2023’s…
The Michigan power pop trio’s fourth album Lost at Sea is their first to be written together and this sense of camaraderie and togetherness has led to their most consistent sounding record yet, their simmering outrage at the state of the world also led to a little bit more angst in the lyrics and noise in the guitars. A couple of the songs here really tilt the scales toward the power side of the power pop equation, and that’s a good thing. “It Doesn’t Matter” is a fiery blast of hard rocking guitar pop that bursts out of the speakers in the might verses, “The Message” unspools in a haze of blazing overdriven guitar, and a couple of other tracks quietly seethe. Surrounding these moments are plenty of harmony-heavy pop songs that show off their skills as writers of the kind of warm…
CBGB’s was the center of the N.Y.C. punk explosion, as well as a welcoming place to play for all the artists and bands who followed in the wake. CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 is a four-disc set that seeks to paint a picture of the original scene as it burst out into the open as well as detailing the various sounds and movements, like no wave and hardcore, that were born in the ensuing years. All the groups one would hope for are here, represented by slightly deeper cuts — Talking Heads’ sprightly live version of “A Clean Break” for one — along with a ton of lesser-known bands and a healthy dose of super-obscure ones. It’s the kind of collection where even someone with a healthy knowledge of the scene will be constantly surprised. One surprise element…
There is a certain freshness about the sound of New York-based singer-songwriter Jake Winstrom’s third album, RAZZMATAZZ!, his follow-up to 2020’s Circles. The former frontman of Tennessee band Tenderhooks has opted for a more spacious sound for this set, with the stripped-back structures allowing ten tightly written songs to shine.
This is nicely illustrated on the fingerstyle guitar fronted ‘This Blue Note’. A relatively new skill for this musician, Jake’s acoustic picking is neatly restrained here, with the notes sparse enough to frame a lovely little rueful number that is further enhanced by subtle keys and a minor-key second guitar part.
‘Don’t Make the Rules’ is more stadium pop, with strummed electric guitar introducing…
The Necessaries came together in 1978 and in the too-brief lifespan of the band counted among their members, Ed Tomney (Rage to Live, Luka Bloom), Jesse Chamberlain (Red Crayola), Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers), Arthur Russell (The Flying Hearts), Randy Gun (Love of Life Orchestra).
First championed by John Cale on the strength of Tomney’s songs, Cale produced their first single for Spy Records (under the I.R.S. umbrella) which was released in 1979. With the forward momentum brought about by the single, the band set about tracking demos intended for Warner Bros., but The Necessaries ultimately would sign to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records. These rough demo basic tracks lacked overdubs, mixes and any finishing touches that would have made them…
It’s quite a distance from New York City to Water Valley, Mississippi, a small town in the deep south of the USA, not too far from Tupelo. With its thriving music scene, it was here that native New Yorker Pete Mancini chose to record his fourth solo album American Equator. Produced by Drive-By Trucker Matt Patton in his studio, Dial Back Sound, the pair had also collaborated on Mancini’s Killing the Old Ways in 2020.
With Patton again producing and playing terrific bass lines alongside fellow Trucker Jay Gonzalez on keyboards and guitars, comparisons are inevitably made with Drive-By Truckers. While it’s true to say that their many fans will find much to love about this album, there are other influences at work here. With hints of Blondie and…
After an eight-year lay-off from the recording studio, the Smithereens released two albums in 2007. However, it doesn’t bode well for their creative process that the first of those albums was comprised entirely of Beatles covers, and the second was a Christmas disc.
However, Christmas with the Smithereens at least features three original tunes (which is three more than Meet the Smithereens!), and as rock & roll Christmas albums go, this is good fun and admirably eclectic. The Smithereens are pretty broad-minded when it comes to what constitutes a Yuletide melody, given the presence of “Christmas,” a not especially seasonal tune from the Who’s Tommy, and they dig up the Beatles rarity “Christmas Time Is Here Again,” as well as…
Ronnie D’Addario spent years as a professional musician, playing guitar with Tommy Makem for decades among other gigs writing jingles and working in various other bands. Along with all of his other accomplishments, D’Addario consistently wrote and recorded solo material, beginning with a string of three exceptionally good but under-distributed solo albums in the late ’70s and early ’80s which showcased his rich sense of arrangement and gift for Beatles-inspired, motivational power pop.
Somewhere along the way, D’Addario’s sons Brian and Michael also went down a musical path with their band the Lemon Twigs, and with Written By, they’ve curated a selection of their father’s songs to rework, bringing in guest artists…
Salt Collective is a power pop band with a deep rolodex. This second full-length from the Paris-based trio features contributions from many of melodic rock’s best-known artists, including 1980s college rock icons Chris Stamey (who also produced), Mitch Easter (whose North Carolina studio birthed this album) and Let’s Active’s Lynn Blakely who sings lead or back-up on nearly half the tracks. Other bold-faced contributors include Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws, Lemonjelly’s Jason Falkner, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Pat Sansone, Aimee Mann, and Andy Partridge.
The main songwriter, Stéphane Schück seems to be living the dream, building out his own songs with musicians he’s admired for decades. One previous Salt Collective album, Life, was…
You might not recognize the name, but Joel Cusumano has been in a long list of Bay Area power pop bands, including Sob Stories, R.E. Seraphin and Body Double. This is his very first solo album, after an extended career as a sideman, and it’s a good one, brash and self-revealing, rocking out with windmill chords and pinch squalls, but beckoning with melody.
“Two Arrows,” for instance, dives headfirst into the maelstrom, on rocketing drums (that’s Phillip Lantz from Neutrals) and careening guitars. It’s a look askance at romantic love, a recognition that those arrows will likely hurt when they hit, or as Cusumano observes, “The gods will slice the membrane, just for their entertainment.”
Interviews suggest that Cusumano wrote…
What is it about indie pop that makes for such a winning vessel for the introspection and self-deprecation of songwriters? Perhaps it’s just that hooky guitars and catchy choruses are the spoonful of sugar that allows the lyrics of, say, Courtney Barnett or Liz Stokes of The Beths to go down ultra-smooth. Maybe it’s just because it’s one of the more evergreen flavors of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” indie music, one that can still excel without reinventing the wheel. This question comes to mind a lot when listening to Part of the Problem, Baby, the addictive sophomore record by ex-Tigercat Laura Kovic and her band, Fortitude Valley. For 34 minutes, the British four-piece churns out hit after hit, belter after belter, each one doing an immaculate job of softening…
The Raspberries blazed briefly but brightly.
When Eric Carmen and Wally Bryson of Cyrus Eyrie teamed up with Jim Bonfanti and Dave Smalley of The Choir, the result was pure bliss. The Raspberries emerged from the ashes from the two bands, and over the course of four albums originally released between 1972 and 1974 – three with the original line-up, and one with just Carmen and Bryson joined by new members Michael McBride and Scott McCarl – they came to define power pop. Despite placing just one Top 5 single in the U.S. and two more Top 20s, The Raspberries’ influence has happily endured for decades, inspiring countless other groups and setting a joyful standard for impeccably crafted rock with big melodies, crisp guitars, youthful…