Category: Power Pop (Page 10 of 17)

The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You

October 7, 2009 /


RIYL: Hem, The Weepies, Rilo Kiley

It’s that rare album that can be listened to repeatedly and each time offer a new experience, opening the door to discovery on each successive hearing. Likewise, there’s a hint of something significant when an album provides its listeners with a stunning display of prowess and ingenuity that not only elevates the artist’s profile but also marks a new benchmark in their career trajectory. It’s telling that if, in attempting to evaluate it, adjectives alone don’t do it justice.

That, then, is the best way to sum up I and Love and You, the remarkable major label debut from the Avett Brothers, the North Carolina trio whose indie career crested with Emotionalism two years ago. A disc that brought them full circle, Emotionalism earned the right to be labeled 2007’s indie album of the year. Like its predecessor, I and Love and You, is rich in gut-level appeal, a concept album revolving around simple truths that revel in honesty, heartbreak and humanity. The mission statement that adorns the back cover offers their insights into the essential three words – and the sentiments that express them – betraying so many intentions and such special significance.

One of the things that distinguish the Avetts from their like-minded peers is their ability to combine a wistful and plaintive approach with the irresistible urgency of cascading choruses that seep into the consciousness and steadfastly maintain their grasp. The tender yet impassioned pleas of “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” the title track and “The Perfect Space” illuminate that premise succinctly. “I want to have friends that I can trust / For the man I’ve become and not the man I was,” they convincingly croon in the latter. Producer Rick Rubin, clearly no slouch when it comes to illuminating the dark recesses of his clients’ souls, maintains the Avetts’ unfettered style, but subtlety fleshes it out along the way, adding jaunty piano interludes, the occasional fiddle, and sudden shifts in rhythm that add distinction to the effort overall. Consequently, a stunner of a song like the sprightly “Kick Drum Heart” or the heart-wrenching “Laundry Room” morph into a tour de force, exceptional examples of the band’s duality to shift the dynamic and alter the mood accordingly.

Suffice it to say that I and Love and You is not only a contender for album of the year, but also an album for the ages. And like those three words in the title, it resonates long and hard. (Sony 2009)

Avett Brothers MySpace page

Americana, CD Reviews, Emo, Folk, Melodramatic, Power Pop, Progressive, Rock

Pugwash: Giddy

October 7, 2009 /


RIYL: XTC, The Kinks, The Beach Boys

It’s hard to believe that a band as talented as Dublin’s Pugwash could have such a low profile in a post-MySpace world – though if we’re being honest, that band name is doing them no favors whatsoever – but expect that to change post haste. Thomas Walsh, lead singer and songwriter for Pugwash, was recently showered with accolades for his work in the Duckworth Lewis Method, a concept album about cricket that Walsh assembled with Divine Comedy singer Neil Hannon. Leave it to the band’s new label head Andy Partridge to strike while the iron is hot with Giddy, a collection of the finest moments from Pugwash’s first four albums. You can tell what Partridge sees in the band – namely, himself. “Song for You” is a dead ringer for Apple Venus-era XTC, and “Apples” is about as perfect a pop song as you’ll find. The unstoppably sunny “It’s Nice to Be Nice” will make Brian Wilson shed tears of joy, but the band isn’t stuck mining ’60s pop gold; “Monorail” out-Beck’s Beck, and look for Kelly Jones and the Stereophonics to cover “Finer Things in Life” in the near future.

Even better, Giddy features material from the band’s forthcoming album Eleven Modern Antiquities, and if the groovy “My Genius” is any indication (that has to be Hannon on backing vocals), it looks as though Pugwash are just getting warmed up. Pardon the cliché, but this is the best pop band you’ve never heard. (Ape House 2009)

Pugwash MySpace page
Click to buy Giddy from Amazon

Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Power Pop

Rusty Anderson: Born on Earth

September 29, 2009 /


RIYL: Paul McCartney, Jason Faulkner, ELO

No surprise here. Rusty Anderson, Paul McCartney’s current guitar foil, releases a second solo album that oozes the same vibrant and infectious rock and pop that his boss is so fond of sharing with the masses. However, don’t look for McCartney among the backing crew, although it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he’s lurking in the shadows and maintaining anonymity under an alias. Actually, it’s no matter either way, as Anderson proves more than adept at delivering a set of mostly solid rockers, brimming with fanciful hooks and catchy choruses. Anderson’s approach tends to be rather explosive, as is evident with opening track “Born on Earth” and succeeding entries like “Baggage Claim” and “New Beginning,” but he’s also inclined to flirt with fluffier essence as well, lapsing into mellower terrain with “Timed Exposure,” curbing the tempo with “Where We Would Go?” and attempting some pseudo soul with “Intro.” Anyone looking for Macca comparisons will likely find them in the cuddly “Julia Roberts” and “Under a White Star,” but overall Born on Earth shows that Anderson is comfortably rooted in terra firma all his own. (Oxide Records 2009)

Rusty Anderson MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Power Pop, Rock

Dwight Twilley: Out of the Box

September 28, 2009 /


RIYL: Richard X Heyman, Jason Falkner, The Smithereens

For some artists, an album consisting solely of cover songs would seem a fallback tactic intended to simply buy time. However, coming from Dwight Twilley, the concept finds an appropriate fit with his power pop M.O., reflecting the music that provided his earliest inspiration. And while the majority of his cover choices on this new LP might negate the need for a redo, Twilley manages to impose his indelible imprint on each, making them a good fit with his own catalogue in the process.

Truth be told, Out of the Box doesn’t opt for the obscure. In fact, most of the material is – to say the least – pretty well worn. Songs like “Secret Agent Man,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Stand by Me” and a well-stocked selection of Beatles standards clearly veer towards the obvious. Even the color photo – a psychedelic headshot – offers a retro reference by replicating Richard Avedon’s famous kaleidoscopic portrait of John Lennon.

Happily then, the treatments are anything but ordinary. Aside from the fact that he opts to strip down the arrangements to a basic rock ‘n’ roll motif, Twilley applies his vocals with an angst and intensity that gives these tracks an amped up sense of urgency and desperation. The Bee Gees’ “Holiday” finds a distinct sense of desperation while John Lennon’s “In My Life” echoes with decided remorse. Even the droning “Tomorrow Never Knows” finds an added element of edge and desire.

Inevitably, there will be those who lament the fact that Twilley hasn’t anything original to offer. Indeed, given the recent abundance of rarity collections and other material from his archives, an album of new material would seem long overdue. Suffice it to say, Out of the Box only adds to the anticipation. (Gigatone 2009)

Dwight Twilley MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Power Pop, Rock

Dennis Diken with Bell Sound: Late Music

September 24, 2009 /


RIYL: The Beach Boys, The Who, The Smithereens

Here’s reason why one shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss drummers who opt for solo stardom. Okay, so maybe Keith Moon and Ringo Starr didn’t exactly set a high bar when it came to moving from the drum stool to center stage, but given the right instincts and a simpatico backing crew, a drummer can transform a big beat into a superior set-up. Take Dennis Diken, for example. Long known for laying down the rhythms with the Smithereens, he’s obviously absorbed the pop precepts formulated in his day job and turned out a surprisingly accomplished album packed with retro rock finesse. Like his band mates, Diken is greatly indebted to the rock and pop of the mid to late ‘60s, with special nods to the Who and the Beach Boys in particular. Considering the fact that the Smithereens recently retread Tommy, and covered a smattering of Who staples early on, Dikens’ “The Sun’s Gonna Shine in the Morning” and “Long Lonely Ride” make any comparisons with the aforementioned foursome seem quite intentional. The Brian Wilson references are equally informed, with “Standing in That Line” and “Fall into Your Arms” boasting billowy harmonies and the pensive tone that marked “Surfs Up” and “Til I Die.” Likewise, “Let Your Loved One Sleep” carries the sound of a song that’s been around forever.

Diken’s chief foil here is Pete DiBella, whose multi-instrumental abilities help anchor the duo’s easily accessible melodies. In addition, several power pop veterans lend their expertise and add to the ambiance – Andrew Sandoval, Andy Paley, Brian Wilson sideman Probyn Gregory and the Honeys, the vocal trio that includes the chief Beach Boys’ own onetime honey, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford. How appropriate that with its embrace of nostalgia, Late Music becomes nothing less than a timeless treasure. (Cryptovision 2009)

Dennis Diken MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Power Pop, Rock

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