Midweek Roundup.

Goodman-Isn't it Sad. NYC's Goodman is back with his second full-length, following up last year's What We Want. Isn't it Sad is another collection of tuneful indie pop, with the standouts being the power-popping title track, the midtempo "I'll Live Without Your Love", and the 80s-influenced "Like What They Like". A must for fans of AC Newman and Robert Pollard.

Bandcamp only



Evil Arrows-EPs 1 & 2. Evil Arrows is the latest project from Bryan Scary, well-known to readers of this site and the power pop community in general. His early releases were tuneful but suffered from a bit of ADD, but he later dialed it down and now with Evil Arrows he's honed his craft and put out an engaging pair of EPs with more apparently to come. We'll take these first two, released within about a month or so of each other, as one album. From EP1, "Romancer" finds Scary in playful mode, with a rollicking tune festooned with a lot of "la la la"s, "Silver Bird" has a Jellyfish vibe to it with its baroque piano parts, and "The Lovers" reminds me of Queen. On EP2, things take a turn for the cheeky with the frantic "Last Living Doll" and "Putting My Heart on the Pyre" recalling Scary's early work, while "Shadow Lovers" channels the early 70s glam rock of Sweet and Gary Glitter. It's great to have some more Scary power pop again.

iTunes (EP1) | iTunes (EP2)




The Orange Opera-Land of Tall. The Orange Opera is led by Kevin Hambrick, who has written hundred of songs over the years and was even featured in a documentary about being a musician in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His experience shows in his intricate popcraft, which fits in thematically with the two artists featured above as piano-based indie pop. Opener "Coy" is clever and catchy, somewhere in between Ben Folds and The Format, and "Happy" fits that bill as well. And don't miss "We Were Laughing", which is McCartney's "Nineteen Hundred & Eight Five" meets Jellyfish.

CD Baby | iTunes

EP of the Day, 10/19/09-Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears-Mad Valentines.

As kind of a pit stop between full-length releases (2008's Flight of the Knife and a new one planned for 2010), Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears have a new EP out, Mad Valentines. I've stood pretty much alone in the power pop community as being a bit underwhelmed by Scary, feeling his music has been hyperkinetic for hyperkinesis' sake - Jellyfish with A.D.D., if you will. And after hearing the first track on this EP, "Andromeda's Eyes", in which Scary revs it up to Ludicrous Speed, I began to think he was becoming a parody of himself.

But then a funny thing happened with the rest of the EP. He dialed it back about 15%, and the remaining five tracks are the kind of effervescent, joyous Jellyfish-inspired pop that I knew he had in him. "(It's a) Gambler's Whirl" would have fit nicely on ELO's Discovery (a/k/a Disco Very); "The Garden Eleanor" sounds like Jeff Lynne producing Mika (that "I don't care if she cuts off her hair" hook is embedded in my brain); "Maria St. Claire" is the closest Scary gets to a ballad, and it's wonderful; and "Bye Bye Babylon" and "The Red Umbrella" find Scary in full bells-and-whistles mode, but in service of the song, not the sound.

Finally a Bryan Scary release I can get behind. Probably means everyone else who loved the first two finds it a letdown.

(Note: it's available digitally right now, but not on CD until October 27.)

MySpace | iTunes

Bryan Scary.

I'm tempted to merely say "what he said" and link to this fairly scathing review of Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears' Flight of the Knife, which is in today's Pop Matters. That site has been generally sympathetic to power pop (unlike, ahem, this site), so I don't see the review as emblematic of any hostility to the genre on their part.

Now I wouldn't go so far as the reviewer and give it 3 out of 10, but he does hit on why I wasn't bowled over by the disc - it's just too damned busy. Listening to at times is like watching a Michael Bay movie after drinking 6 cups of coffee. I don't remember the exact quote from legendary rock critic Robert Christgau, but in essence he said that rap took songcraft and isolated its essential element, the hook, to the point where rap was all hook and no song. In a way Scary has done likewise here, taking the essential element of bands like Jellyfish, Queen et al (the quirk? the baroque? I'm not sure what exactly to call it) and elevated it over the songs themselves. Scary is a wonderfully talented musician and I'm just a guy with a computer, so keep that in mind here, but that's the way I see it (or more accurately, hear it).

Bryan Scary on eMusic.

Today's interesting addition to eMusic is Bryan Scary's The Shredding Tears. Who is Bryan Scary? I'll let Ray from Kool Kat elaborate:

WOW!!! Where did this guy come from? The scale and level of detail on this project rivals any of the sophisticated rock and pop albums of the past! But it's not just ambitious, it's also fun! These are pop songs in the highest sense of the word, catchy melodies, lots of vocal harmonies and many clever sonic touches! The critics are already gushing about this one! "A kaleidoscopic art pop concept album that harkens back to the days of Sgt. Pepper and its brethren, combining catchy melodies and innovative songcraft with sweeping arrangements and a gloriously eccentric imagination. Recorded alone in his Brooklyn apartment, this is a true original, and essential listening for fans of The Beatles, The Move, XTC, and The Fiery Furnaces!"

I haven't listened to all of this yet, but from what I've heard, it does sound like something special. Dare I say "Scary" good? Other places to check him out: MySpace | Official Site