It's singles time!

Normally I don't write about singles, as often they're just teasers for albums I'll review later or just because I'd rather spend my time on an artist who puts out a full album rather than merely a single. But recently several artists I've featured here before have new singles out, so it's time to round them up in one post in case many of you have missed one or more of them.

David Myhr-Spellbound. While we're still waiting on the full-length followup to 2012's great Soundshine, the ex-Merrymaker regales us with this brilliant ELO-and-70s-pop-inspired single from the soundtrack of Flykten till Framtiden, a Swedish time travel movie likely not coming to a theater near you. If only Myhr himself could master time travel, he could have released this in 1974 and knocked "Hooked on a Feeling" off the top of the charts.

iTunes



The Tories-We Still Shine. Yes, you read that right - it's The Tories, reunited for their first new music in 15 years. While Steve Bertrand and James Guffee have given us some fine solo albums over this time, it's great to see them back together and hopefully this single is the forerunner of a new full-length album. The new song captures the pop style that allowed them to break out of the "power pop ghetto" around the turn of the century and is worth your time.

iTunes



Michael Carpenter and Allan Caswell-Back When I Was Older. For someone who was supposedly retired when he announced that last year's The Big Radio would be his final solo album, Michael Carpenter sure has been busy in 2016. First, he released a new album with The Cuban Heels and now he's teamed with Australian country music legend Allan Caswell for this fine single. The song shares a theme with Dylan's "My Back Pages" ("I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now") and is an enjoyable, catchy country rock tune that's of a piece with Carpenter's Cuban Heels work.

iTunes



Mark Bacino-Not That Guy. NYC popster Mark Bacino re-emerges for the first time since 2010's Queens English with a wonderful new single that finds him at his melodic best. It's a jaunty, McCartney-esque track that reminds us of how much we've missed new music from him.

iTunes



John Faye-Miss America. Ex-Ike guitarist John Faye comes to us just in time for this contentious election season with a track that isn't about a beauty queen but about the state of nation as he small-m miss(es) America. Although the lyrics are social commentary, they're not particularly preachy, and the sound itself is classic Faye - crunchy, loud guitars and a hooky melody. In other words, classic power pop.

iTunes

CD of the Day, 5/9/13: VA-Drink a Toast to Innocence: A Tribute to Lite Rock

Perhaps the most anticipated release of 2013 to date has been Andrew Curry's "Monsters of Lite Rock" project, funded by Kickstarter, to assemble a compilation of those sort-of-cheesy "lite rock" (also known as "yacht rock") hits of the late 70s and early 80s covered by today's power pop artists. The Kickstarter was successful, and the fruits of Curry's (and the artists') labor is here with the double-disc, 28-track Drink a Toast to Innocence. The lineup Curry has assembled is impressive, featuring the likes of Bleu, Mike Viola, Willie Wisely, David Myhr, Michael Carpenter, Linus of Hollywood, Seth Swirsky and so many more of my (and your) favorite artists.

As with most covers compilations, Toast features the usual mix of faithful re-creations and bold re-imaginings. To what degree you prefer either is always affected by the level of your fondness for the original and the covering artist, but there are plenty of each to choose from here. To me, however, my favorite covers have fallen into a third category: covers that sound like they could have originals by the covering artist. In other words, they make the cover their own. The two here that stand out in that regard are Greg Pope's cover of Poco's "Crazy Love" and Lannie Flowers' version of the Orleans staple "Dance With Me". In Pope's case, it's a great match of cover and artist; by taking the original and speeding it up just a microsopic bit it sounds like one of his typical slightly off-kilter pop gems, while Flowers turns "Dance With Me" into one of his usual rollicking (and rocking) power pop numbers by adding a honky-tonk piano to the mix in contrast to the highly laid-back original.

In the re-imagining department, there are several standouts. The Davenports turn Randy Van Warmer's borderline treacly "Just When I Needed You Most" into a driving power pop track, Lisa Mychols speeds up the David Soul (of Starsky & Hutch fame) ballad "Don't Give Up on Us" and gives it the full-band treatment, while Willie Wisely takes the sexual subtext of The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You" and makes it the text, complete with moaning female vocals in the outro. Also rocking things up a bit is Vegas With Randolph and their version of Little River Band's "Cool Change". Plus I give them credit for keeping a straight face while singing lines like "The albatross and the whales/they are my brother".

As for the faithful covers, there are plenty to choose from here. Kyle Vincent, whose style is pretty much 70's lite rock and would be a natural to cover any of the songs featured here, is perfect on Ambrosia's "How Much I Feel"; ex-Merrymaker David Myhr captures the spirit of 10cc with "The Things We Do for Love", and the two halves of The Red Button play to their strengths - Mike Rukeberg with the power poppy "Believe it or Not" (theme from "The Greatest American Hero") and Seth Swirsky's eerily channels Henry Gross almost note-for-note on "Shannon", the ultimate tear-jerking dead dog song. Boston buddies Bleu and Mike Viola take on "Baby Come Back" and "Steal Away", each of which sound exactly you'd hear them in your head singing these tracks, but I'll give Viola kudos for starting to sing "What a Fool Believes" at the end of "Steal Away", since the latter was pretty much a rip-off of the former.

Ironically there's no cover here of "Same Old Lang Syne", the Dan Fogelberg lite rock classic from which the title of the compilation derives. Curry has said it was on the list of songs submitted to the artists to cover, but nobody took it up. Hmmm...sounds like an opening for a Volume 2. The lack of Fogelberg notwithstanding, this is without doubt the best covers compilation since Not Lame's Right to Chews from 2002, which had power poppers covering early 70s' bubblegum classics, and it deserves to be highlighted outside the immediate power pop community.

CD Baby | iTunes | Bandcamp

CD of the Day, 3/16/12: David Myhr-Soundshine

The gauntlet has been thrown down. For the rest of 2012, power pop albums will have to be measured against David Myhr's Soundshine if they want a spot on year-end best-of list as the former Merrymaker has crafted a solo debut that reminds us all again what we love about power pop. About 10-15 years ago, the Merrymakers were the gold standard for power pop and Myhr's solo debut, so long in the making, lives up to that billing. Like the best power pop, his songs are instantly likeable but don't wear out on repeated listens. The piano-based "Never Mine" is a tremendous opener, with its Beatlesque verses and sing-along chorus. "Looking for a Life" recalls his former band with its breezy melody and urgent pace, and the punchy popper "Got You Where He Wanted" is 70s-tastic, featuring female backing vocals in the chorus and a bit of an Andy Kim feel.

Elsewhere, "I Love the Feeling" is pure sunshine pop that reflects its title, replete with a "wooo-oh-oh-wooh" chorus, "Cut to the Chase" is another driving popper that will insert its "come on, come on" refrain into your subconscious and you won't be able to say "no" to "Don't Say No" another pop winner that would have been a guaranteed Billboard #1 in 1976. "Loveblind" is another treat for Merrymakers fans, a buoyant number with another unforgettable chorus. The lovely ballad "The One" gives the listener a chance to catch his/her breath, and then it's back to pop perfection with "Wanderlust" and "Icy Tracks", the latter featuring synths and some fine guitar work. "Ride Along" makes the perfect closer, returning to the piano pop that opened the album and giving the impression of everyone gathering to sing along and waving goodbye as the credits roll.

As you may have figured by now, this one shoots to #1 on my Best of 2012 list to date. Although it will only be released March 29 in Europe and Japan for now, the good news for US-based readers is that it's being made available through Kool Kat and Ray is taking pre-orders for autographed copies. You can also get a free download of an alternate version of "Never Mine" from David Myhr's site (see widget below).

Kool Kat

New single from David Myhr (ex-Merrymakers)

I plan on resuming normal blogging later today, but I didn't want to wait on this one.

After years of absence from the power pop scene, David Myhr (known to most of you as one-half of legendary power poppers The Merrymakers) has released a new single in advance of his forthcoming album Soundshine titled "Got You Where He Wanted", and it's a gem, the kind of track that reminds you why you're a fan of power pop. Here it is:

Got you where he wanted (.mp3) by davidmyhr

Listen to it here, and download it at the link above.