Baby Scream - Secret Place (2011)

On their 8th album Secret Place Baby Scream have taken some fairly common power pop influences and either by design or by accident they've managed to create something entirely unexpected. Most of that originality stems from Juan Pablo Mazzola's vocals, which occasionally resemble John Lennon at his most hushed but more often than not remind me of the Promise Ring's Davey von Bohlen (circa their moody Wood/Water album). There's a yearning fragility to his voice, a sense of impending heartbreak that colors every song, so even when the band stretches its muscles (like on the comparatively rockin' opener "The Last Call") there exists an appealingly odd melancholy to the proceedings. Guitars may jangle and buzz, a bit of Garth Hudson organ might flit in and out of the mix, but Mazzola anchors it all with that distinctive frailty.

Elsewhere, Mazzola toughens up a little on "Cold Weather Reggae", which slips in actual reggae without forsaking the mellow pop ambiance, and power chords pop up in "London Sun", but mostly this album is rich with delicately Lennon-esque gems like "Hit and Run" and "Eating My Face," songs of a singular mood that might go far deeper than a casual listen would suggest. The b-side of their "Hit and Run" single is a cover of a posthumously-released T. Rex demo, "20th Century Baby", and that choice (Marc Bolan, the elfin coke-ravaged man-child, stripped of all glam trappings and hippie optimism, playing it straight from the heart) seems an obvious key to Baby Scream's intentions on Secret Place.

Baby Scream at CD Baby

Crash Street Kids - Sweet Creatures (2011)

Not to be confused with the '80s power poppers of the same name (whose lone album, Little Girls, is a classic of the genre), these Kids were born in the 2000s. Sonically, they reach back even further than their titular predecessors and clutch convincingly at '70s glam. There are definite echoes of Bowie, T. Rex, and Alice Cooper, but the main muse here seems to be entirely Mott the Hoople. The band name openly derives from a Mott song, and Ryan McKay's vocals are often unmistakably a dead ringer for Ian Hunter, but it goes deeper than that. Mott was a complex band that never fit comfortably into the genre they're most known for. Always at war with itself, Mott followed seemingly incompatible influences (Jerry Lee Lewis, the Stones, and Dylan) that, when combined with David Bowie's fey glam cabaret, created one of the more truly odd hybrids of their era. Amazingly, the Crash Street Kids hit that same ambiguous point, so you get a similar war between '50s rock 'n' roll, Exile guitar sleaze, swirling Blonde on Blonde organ, pounding piano, glam androgyny, honking sax, melodramatic balladry, handclaps, and an earnestly poetic intellectualization of junkie streetlife, all while delivering something of a concept album about a teen hooker. The band may not yet have the knack for a killer hook like Ian Hunter, but songs like "Sad Julia", "Bang Bang (You're Beautiful)", and, especially, "Mary, Queen of the Rock" come remarkably close. Somewhere out there, Ariel Bender's ears are perking up.

Sweet Creatures on Amazon

Grouplove - Never Trust a Happy Song (2011)

Although an occasional tune bubbles to the surface, this reeks of what L.A. major label music executives must think "the kids" are listening to these days. Jump rope singalongs, schoolyard backing vocals, plus arrangements that borrow cliches from both rock and electronica. It's like some exec called for the next Foster the People, even while we're still not sure if we want the first one. Ultimately, I suspect "the kids" won't be all that interested in this, but TV commercials will lap it up.

Top 30 Albums of 2011

1. The Breakdowns - The Kids Don't Wanna Bop Anymore
2. The Booze - At Maximum Volume
3. Biters - It's All Chewed Up, OK?
4. The Meows - All You Can Eat
5. Yep - Once
6. The Dum Dum Girls - Only In Dreams
7. Meyerman - Who Do You Think You Are?
8. Oh Mercy - Great Barrier Grief
9. Van Buren Boys - Up All Night
10. Watts - On The Dial

11. Barreracudas - Nocturnal Missions

12. The Kills - Blood Pressures

13. Redondo Beat - Meet Redondo Beat

14. Marvelous Darlings - Single Life 

15. Apex Manor - The Year of Magical Drinking

16. Locksley - Locksley

17. Daniel Tashian - Arthur

18. The Weight - Nowhere Now

19. Ryan Allen - Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms

20. The Postelles - The Postelles

21. Butch Walker & the Black Widows - The Spade

22. Black Rabbits - Hypno Switch

23. Warren Zanes - I Want To Move Into The Daylight

24. Giuda - Racey Roller

25. The CRY! - The CRY!

26. Sun Wizard - Positively 4th Avenue

27. Bare Wires - Cheap Perfume

28. King Louie's Missing Monuments - Paint It White

29. The ACBs - Stona Rosa

30. Tommy Keene - Behind the Parade

more about each release here

Dirty Wings - 30th Avenue Heartache (2011)

Any band that titles a song "Scott Walker, Motherfucker" is on my good side right from the get-go. That song, a grim pro-union anthem curdled in righteous anger amongst the recent Republican machinations in Wisconsin, grinds along with the earnestness of an old folk song powered by punk instrumentation. And really, the entire album has the same feel. It's like Springsteen without the arena rock aspirations, or the Gaslight Anthem minus the mall punk mannerisms, or like the Constantines with a slightly more populist sense of melody. Or, to call a spade a spade, it's the Harry Smith Folk Anthology run through a Marshall stack. There isn't a great deal of hooks, humor, or dynamic variation here, although if the band picks its political rallies wisely they'll be getting the intended audience singalongs regardless.

Dirty Wings on Amazon

Daniel Tashian - Arthur (2011)

Daniel Tashian is perhaps better known for his work with the Silver Seas, whose Chateau Revenge made my top 20 last year. Like that album, this solo joint is sleek modern pop, although considerably more mellow and self-reflective. The level of songcraft on display here is extremely high, with each song building to its chorus in a way that's always effective yet never obvious. A few reviews have deemed this '70s AM pop, which is accurate enough as long as you filter out the novelty tunes and unctuous, pandering pap from whichever '70s AM pop universe that description might suggest. Personally, I hope Tashian isn't finished with the Silver Seas, because I miss the uptempo energy the band brings to his compositions, but for what this album is (which seems to be some kind of unofficial companion piece to the movie of the same name) it works better than anything Christopher Cross might have imagined.

Daniel Tashian's "Arthur" on iTunes

Ryan Allen - Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms (2011)

This is something of a one man band effort, with Ryan Allen playing most of the guitars, piano, and drums. The credits also include a small army of collaborators, however, so this isn't quite the insular, introspective affair one might initially fear when faced with that dreaded "one man band" phrase. So instead of Emitt Rhodes, this is more Devin Davis. And, like Devin Davis, Allen isn't afraid to rock while he's sitting by himself in a studio. In fact, a lot of this release conjures up what the Replacements might have sounded like if Tommy Stinson had been their main singer and songwriter: 3 minute (or less) constructs of melodic power pop shot through with a little punk buzz, fortified by a classic rock foundation, and topped off with witty, self-deprecating lyrics. "Heart String Soul" and "Headache Nights", in particular, are gonna spark up many future mixes. And not just mine.

Ryan Allen on bandcamp

Marvelous Darlings - Single Life (2011)

Guitarist Ben Cook takes a working holiday from his gig in Fucked Up, and the end result is this riotous collision of punk noise and pop hooks. Single Life collects a run of eight singles (A sides and B sides), adds a smattering of demos - 21 tracks in all - and might make more than a few people forget all about Cook's main band. Each song is such an over-amped, balls-to-the-wall blast of energy that it's almost exhausting to listen to the album in a single sitting. Imagine a rock encyclopedia's worth of guitar riffs duking it out with a snotty vocalist in some bad drug version of a '50s sock hop - now imagine that whole scenario again as produced by Iggy Pop while nodding off on the same skag that threatened to ruin the Raw Power sessions. It's an absolute mess, but it's the kind of deliriously fun mess that makes you ponder why the word "mess" ever got such negative connotations in the first place.

Marvelous Darlings on Amazon

The Barreracudas - Nocturnal Missions (2011)

As far as I know, these are the men of Gentlemen Jesse & His Men, and the years of honing Jesse's willful collision between Jesus of Cool-era Nick Lowe and Twin Tone-era Replacements have paid off with this adrenalized blast of punky power pop that gets over on its sheer abundance of energy and hooks. Sonically, there's not much here that will surprise anyone, other than just how awesome it is. The first track "Numbers" sounds kinda like Cheap Trick mated with the Dolls, and if that coupling sounds like heaven to you (and, really, how could it not?) then dig in - there's 11 more songs riding that same template. This album won't change the world, but the Barreracudas aren't trying to change the world - they're just making it a better place. Mission accomplished.


Barreracudas on Facebook

The Rationales - The Distance In Between (2011)

The Rationales singer/songwriter David Mirabella may be in a permanently depressed state, but fortunately he's managed to keep it a secret from his band, who prop up his introspective songs with the sturdy Americana of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and the chiming jangle of early REM. The resulting hybrid - a rootsy, melancholic power pop - sounds so immediately familiar that it could be easy for some listeners to overlook if they don't take the time to appreciate the finer details in the band's arrangements. Whether it's a contrapuntal keyboard figure in opening track "Real Life" or the arpeggiated lead in the pop perfection of "Jaded", the Rationales aren't afraid to disrupt their own smooth surfaces by forcing the instruments to spar for attention, and it's exactly that aspect that sets this Boston band apart from so many like-minded ultra-melodic moody popsters, from the Gin Blossoms to patron saints Buffalo Tom. Give The Distance In Between some time to sink in, and you'll be rewarded with a magic beyond its obvious hooks - and hey, those hooks by themselves should be strong enough for an army of positive reviews, it's just that there's much more going on here than a casual first listen might suggest.  

The Rationales on Bandcamp
The Rationales on Amazon

The Van Buren Boys - Up All Night (2011)

Very much part of the power pop glam punk whatever-you-wanna-call-it resurgence that's going on out there right now, the Van Buren Boys hit the ground running with "Turn It Up Loud" and never bother to pause for breath. Throughout this album the Exploding Hearts sit like angels on the band's shoulders, probably nodding in encouragement as their cherished day-glo '77 punkophilia meets twangy '50s boogie in a supercharged rush. I probably shouldn't like this as much as I do, but I probably shouldn't drink so much or eat red meat either. But I will. And I do.

Van Buren Boys on bandcamp

The Breakdowns - The Kids Don't Wanna Bop Anymore (2011)

The title track is a thoughtful, introspective elegy to the Ramones, and even though Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy lend a distinct influence to the proceedings this is a much sweeter proposition than one would expect after the armies of one dimensional pop punk bands that have buzzsawed their way to obscurity in the wake of the Brooklyn bruddahs. In the Breakdowns I hear a lot of late '70s power pop, specifically the Plimsouls, as well as occasional girl group harmonies and shards of modern punk, all mated to that timeless Ramones sense of bubblegum melody, and the end result is an album of surprising depth and staying power. In some alternate universe - a better universe, where the Ramones, the Dolls, and the Replacements are all living in luxury and Radiohead never happened - the Breakdowns are about to have thirteen awesome singles hit the top of the charts.

http://www.thebreakdowns.co.uk/

Breakdowns on Amazon

Meyerman - Who Do You Think You Are (2011)

I'm not sure exactly why the smart guys are attracted to power pop, but it's always seemed to be a haven for wise-ass skeptics with an uncontrollable urge to rock. The irony is that these bands are wise enough to be in on the joke right from the get-go: they know their brand of melodic guitar-based teenage-symphonies-to-god is commercially doomed - I mean, there's undeniable historical precedent here - and yet they can't help themselves. And Meyerman, god bless 'em, jump right into the tradition, melding witty lyrics to guitar jangle 'n' fuzz while offering a smart aleck wink to that very specific audience that lives for this stuff (count me in). So amid all the hooks and handclaps - and there's tons of hooks and handclaps - the songs themselves joyfully acknowledge the absurdity of the enterprise. Theo Meyer's vocals recall Nick Cope of the Candyskins, which is an appropriate touchstone if you remember the pre-Oasis brit-pop of the Candyskins, And, yeah, the fact that's such an obscure reference pretty much proves my original point about the commercial prospects for this kind of brainy pop. Therein lies the problem. And the glory.

http://www.meyermanmusic.com/

The Far West - The Far West (2011)

As surely as the Far West conjure up some authentic sour mash Americana on this debut, they do so with a subtle originality that lifts them above any usual expectations of the genre. So while banjo and fiddle twang under the high lonesome whine of the pedal steel, and almost every song is devoted to cry-in-yer-PBR loserdom, the entire enterprise is steered away from straight country by the laid-back drive of the band and the vocals of  Lee Briante. Briante possesses a voice that pleasantly echoes John Prine, although he replaces Prine's wise-ass twang with a jaded L.A. drawl that suits the proceedings perfectly. For sonic touchstones, consider the country side of Exile-era Stones or, to get even more specific, imagine "Far Away Eyes" if Gram Parsons had stuck around long enough to kneel on Jagger's chest until he promised to sing the song like he meant it, without the wink of condescension and the fake accent. Overall, the album might suffer slightly from a sameness of tempo, but stand-out tracks like "Bound to Lose", "Bitter, Drunk, & Cold", and "Best Company Misery Ever Had" sound nothing less than timeless. An impressively strong first album that makes me excited to hear how much further west the Far West are gonna go.

http://thefarwestband.com/

Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams (2011)

As much as the guitar fuzz and surf beat point to the band's roots in 60s garage, this album is a strangely luminescent rumination on mortality that digs much deeper than any of its aural antecedents might first suggest. It all seems to emanate from vocalist Dee Dee (aka Kristen Gundred), whose voice has taken on a slight hint of the young Chrissie Hynde and whose lyrics confront heartbreak in a way that's as direct as it is free of cheap sentimentality. On almost every song she transforms pop songs into pop drama, turning her own tragedy into high art. "Heartbeat", for example, initially gets by due to the effectiveness of its melodic hook, until you realize the "take it away" chorus refers to overwhelming sorrow. "Coming Down" builds to a climax in which Dee Dee repeats "here I go" as if she's incapable of stopping the descent.  Behind her the band creates a jangly, fuzzy sonic swirl that mixes the Ronettes, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Mazzy Star, and most of the Nuggets box set into something that at times still seems to be trying to find itself - but there's very little doubt that we're seeing the birth of a true star here.

Yep - Once (2011)

The gameplan for the debut album by Yep seems straightforward enough. Al Chan (of the Rubinoos) and Mark Caputo (of Belleville) teamed up and cherry-picked some of their favorite songs from all over the pop continuum. They demonstrated great taste and impressive record collections in the process, creating a songwriters' universe in which Don Everly, Ray Davies, Woody Guthrie, and Elton John stand shoulder to shoulder with Joe Pernice, Justin Currie, Teitur Lassen, Richard Buckner and Alan Wauters. The songs (ten covers and one Caputo original) are presented in rich, uncluttered arrangements. Around them guitars twang and jangle, occasionally kick up some distortion but never enough to kill the mellow buzz. Producer John Cuniberti finds the exact right balance between technologically pristine and organically natural.

And then those voices enter the picture, and suddenly nothing seems straightforward anymore. The vocals of Chan and Caputo wind around each other in such stunning harmony that they invoke a sense of utter timelessness. It's like the Everly Brothers smashcut into a new millennium. And that's not to suggest an old-fashioned approach. There's no rose-tinted grasp at the past here, just as there's no auto-tuned plasticity begging for mainstream approval; this is a simple, unadorned flexing of talent that should intimidate other singers and delight everyone else.

Some music just seems to stand outside of time, completely impervious to passing trends and fleeting style. It makes its own rules, defines its own sense of cool. A pantheon of greats already inhabits such rarefied air. Is it possible that Chan and Caputo have joined them? Yep. Yep. A thousand times Yep.

http://www.yepsongs.com/Yep/Yep.html

Yep on Amazon

Watts - On The Dial (2011)

Whenever I start to lament the demise of modern music, a band like this will show up and kick my ass. Watts somehow wedge their tough rock 'n' roll in the same space between punk and power pop that once made the Replacements seem so necessary. Each song on On The Dial comes armed with at least a couple barbed hooks, and the band backs them up with the cool swagger of a 50s street gang. Singer Dan Kopko's rasp holds a similarity to Social Distortion's Mike Ness (but with a more advanced sense of both melody and humor), while guitarist John Blout's muscular, dramatic leads are concise and tuneful, and underneath it all the rhythm section of Craig Lapointe and John Lynch pushes every bar forward with a lurching, inevitable momentum. The band may be named after Rolling Stones drummer Charlie, but I'm going out on a limb and claiming they're paying similar homage to Mott the Hoople bassist Overend, because as much as these songs chug along with the Chuck Berryisms of a punked-up Stones they also revel in the hard-bitten romantic fatalism of the best moments of Mott (and now that I think of it, I may have to start a campaign to get these guys to cover either "Jerkin' Crocus" or "One of the Boys" - it might be a perfect fit). Smart enough to title a song "Sweetheart of the Radio", cool enough to cover Angel City (aka the Angels), and, godbless'em, brave enough to even try at all - Watts is a band after my own heart.

http://watts.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-dial

Watts on Amazon