Mid April Roundup.

Eric Barao-Obsolete EP. The long wait is over as Eric Barao returns with his first new music since 2013. You might be forgiven if you've forgotten about him in the meantime but his self-titled debut was #4 on my year-end list then, and once again the ex-Cautions frontman has enlisted the help of the Boston power pop mafia with Mike Viola and Ducky Carlisle playing on the record among others. Also appearing is Roger Joseph Manning, Jr., the self-styled "Prince of Power Pop" who's become as ubiquitous on indie power pop releases these days as Michael McDonald was on the soft rock scene of the late 70s/early 80s. But enough of the CV, how are the songs? "Nothing to See" kicks things off in grand Beatlesque fashion with an melodica/wordless vocal opening before settling into swirling psychedelia and some fine keyboard work. The title track is a piano-based pop/rocker with vocals from Viola and would have fit nicely into one of his Candy Butchers albums, "Unhappy Ending" rocks steady, and the goofily-titled "My Pussy-Puss" finds Manning joining Barao on vocals in a Queen homage while closer "New Lifestyle" is breezy, melodic pop. This one's going to be tough to beat for EP of the year.

Bandcamp



Nick Eng-Long Shot. The polar opposite of Eric Barao when it comes to time between releases, Nick Eng is back with his second alubm in a little over a year. His early 2018 self-titled debut placed at #15 on my year-end list, and Long Shot recaptures its 60s-influenced pop sound. The difference here is that the lyrical content is a little less feel-good than the debut but you'll likely be too busy humming along with the catchy tunes to notice. Top tracks: "For Tonight", "Too Good for Anyone", "Between You and Me" (which jangles like nobody's business) and "Maybe Tomorrow". No sophomore jinx here.

iTunes



Supraluxe-Sweet and Sticky. Also back is Supraluxe, the band whose debut inspired me to start this blog back in 2006. They've been a bit up and down in my estimation over the years but I enjoyed their previous release and their latest captures their classic Big Star-meets-Elliott Smith classic sound quite often here. "The Answer", "Over the Sun" and "Rainbow on My Shoulder" in particular make me want to party like it's 2006 and bring the "sweet", while other "sticky" tracks like "You Got the Jam", "Honey Attraction" and "Chocolate Gravy" find themselves stretching out a bit (with the latter almost downright funky) to fine effect. If you want something different but still with sweet melodies, the 'luxe will make a fine dessert.

iTunes

What I've been enjoying lately.

A quick look at some of my favorite releases over the last month or so:

Steve Robinson & Ed Woltil-Cycle. Tampa Bay's premier folk-poppers team up for one of 2015's best, a graceful and melodic collection of tunes that bring the pastoral side of XTC to mind. ["Love Somebody"; "Hello, Hello (We're Back Again)]. iTunes



Phil Yates & The Affiliates-No Need to Beg. Top-notch power pop that reminds me of Ken Stringfellow ("Burn it Down, Bernadette; "The Grass is Always Greener") (P.S. That's Lizzie Borden on the cover) iTunes



Stereo Tiger-Two Weeks. More great power pop from Michigan, like Mike Viola fronting Rooney. ("Magic Balloon", "Runaway")



The Weightlifers-St. Paul EP. Adam McLaughlin & Co's third EP (and first in seven years), and it's of a piece with the first two - thoughtful, moody, and melodic. ("High Drama"; "Man of Constant Sorrow"). iTunes | Spotify

Supraluxe-Morphine Creek. This is their best since the 2006 debut, the record which helped inspire me to start this blog. Lives up to their self-description of Elliott-Smith-meets-Big-Star. ("Circles"; "La La L.A.") iTunes



Jimmy Haber-Joy Acid Pact. Orlando rocker Haber delivers the goods with his shiny, vaguely psych power pop with a populist edge to it. ("Once I Strung 'em Up"; "Bad Day to Be Me") iTunes

Learn how to get your song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

New EPs from old friends.

Supraluxe-Fuzz. The band which indirectly led to the creation of this site is back with a brand new EP after last year's return to form of The Super Sounds of Supraluxe. This one's called "Fuzz", which was the band's name in its original incarnation, and bassist Rich Pearson told me it was an intentional attempt to sound more consistent after the sonic adventures of Super Sounds. It certainly does have that classic Elliott Smith-meets-Big Star Supraluxe sound, with "A Little Radiation" and "Heavy Mustang" both dense and melodic. "Absinthe on the Beach" is another standout, a bright pop song that fits the mold of their sound. Great to see them back so soon, and word is that they have another 13 or songs lined up for their next full-length.

CD Baby | iTunes



Heap-Defriended. NYC rockers Heap are back with their first release since 2008's Oddball, and with these seven new high-energy melodic tracks it's like they never left. "Finger of Fate" rocks with swagger, "I Bet You Could" has a Rockpile pub-rock feel to it, "Noel Ford" continues their tradition of character stories going back to Oddball's "Running With Roosevelt Colson" and "Idiot Lust" channels 80s hair/glam metal. Fans of Cheap Trick, The Replacements and The Figgs will want to click the "like" button on this one.

iTunes

CD of the Day, 4/27/11: Supraluxe-The Super Sounds of Supraluxe

Things always get a little sentimental at Absolute Powerpop when Supraluxe is concerned, since they were the first band reviewed on the site and had an impact on the the creation of the site as well, all of which is well-chronicled here if you want to check out the archives. More pertinent to you the reader is the fact they've released their third disc, The Super Sounds of Supraluxe. While their first album was a pop masterpiece, they made their AOR move with the followup, Wake Leave Home Sleep, which had its moments but didn't sound very much like the debut. The message here for those who loved the first album is "come on in, the water's fine" as Super Sounds marks a return to the Elliott Smith meets Brendan Benson sound we've known them for.

Things start off strongly with the gentle "Every Little Piece", which namechecks Fleetwood Mac and has a feel of solo Lindsay Buckingham, and the catchy mid-tempo rocker "Setting Sun". But they really hit their stride with "Lester Bangs", not quite a paean to the legendary rock critic but a celebration of the love of playing music that hews to his spirit. The song may be a bit meta, but it's a gem and captures that "Supraluxe sound" we all came to appreciate on the debut.

There are plenty of other quality tracks here as well: "Go Nowhere" has a loose-limbed vaguely-country vibe that makes it sound like came off Wilco's Summerteeth; "Sunday's Not So Bad", a leftover from the sessions for the debut, has that E.Smith feel, and "New York City's Not Alright" finds them in rock-noir mode. And not to be overlooked are the 70s SoCal-sound homage "Back to the Land" and the strange but lovely "Nail Biter" which runs with its title metaphor and some spry synths. All in all, a welcome return to form for this Minneapolis band and a must for those who fell for the debut.

CD Baby | Bandcamp | iTunes | eMusic

CD of the Day, 11/5/09: Supraluxe-Wake Leave Home Sleep

Without Supraluxe, there wouldn't be an Absolute Powerpop. OK, I probably would have found another disc to hype that inspired me to start the blog, but it was in January 2006 that I touted their debut disc to the Audities list, which got them noticed in the power pop community, and which made me think "there are a lot of other deserving artists out there like Supraluxe, and nobody else is really doing a power pop blog". The rest is history, and here we are, the better part of four years later. And so it's come full circle, as the cliche goes, with Supraluxe at long last releasing the followup to their debut.

Wake Leave Home Sleep finds Supraluxe with a more unified sound. Obviously in my view the debut was brilliant, as they veered from propulsive pop tracks like "Blue Sky", "Love Sweet Love", rockers like "Tokyo" and "Run Rabbit Run", and moody melodic numbers that came in somewhere between like "Summer Chalet" and "The Big Comedown". I guess the best way to analogize things is that if we were in the 70s, the first album would be their stab at AM Radio, and this album is their AOR move. It's a markedly different album than the debut, but one that stands worthy on its own. The title track kicks thing off, starting with a gentle, acoustic bent not unlike their hero, Elliott Smith, but steadily builds into a biting rocker as the song's protagonist seems through the humdrum of everyday life. Immediately you know they're on to something more ambitious.

Another touchstone for the band is Steely Dan, and although they don't mimic that band's jazz/rock fusion, they meld some of the Dan's time signatures and sardonic suffer-no-fools attitude into their sound, and the tough-rocking "On the Coast" incorporates some of that late 70s SoCal sound into it. Perhaps the best way to describe it is "free-form pop/rock". Many of the tracks such as "Data Control" and "Oh December" manage to shift within themselves from straight-up rock to a kind of jazzy pop to pure powerpop, not necessarily always in that order. Meanwhile, "Hey Lordy" and "Slow Ephedrine" have the more "traditional" Supraluxe sound of the first album. And "The Big Come On" works as sort of a sequel (or prequel) to the debut's "The Big Comedown".

All in all, it's an impressive step in the band's evolution. While there's nothing as instantly catchy as "Blue Sky" or "Love Sweet Love" here, it's a great headphone album that rewards repeated listens and is an impressive testament to the musicianship of Rich Pearson, Bob Burns and Jim Risser. So make your daily routine in the near future Wake Leave Home (Listen to Supraluxe) Sleep.

Not Lame | Kool Kat | MySpace

Absolute Powerpop is 1 today!

Yes, hard as it to believe, this blog celebrates its first birthday today. It's been a fun year, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to get the word out on hundreds of great power pop and related discs.

The early days of the blog seem like eons ago, back when it seemed every third post was about Supraluxe, and "CD of the Day" actually meant a new CD every day, instead of every 2-4 days (hey, I had a backlog then). Anyway, thanks to everyone out there who's been reading, and I hope you all have been able to expand your power pop collection as a result.

Featured on Not Lame, 2/14/06

Well, Not Lame is back in the game with some new featured releases, and together with the CD Baby backlog unleashed today, my head is spinning. (I still have two days of CD Babys to check out). Here's what NL is featuring:

Supraluxe-S/T.

Supraluxe? Never heard of them. Are they some kind of rock band? Seriously, if you still haven't succumbed to the hype, relax and give in. To quote Bruce, "(T)he always tasteful arrangements make sure that this release will not end up being `just another very fine CD` on your shelf and become one you will be forced, at the least, inclined, to tell others about." Gee, I wouldn't know anything about that.

The Roll Ups-Low Dives For Highballs.

We all have our idiosyncracies and little things that bother us, things that sometimes get in the way of properly appreciating something. For example, I know quite a few people that can't get past Bob Dylan's voice and appreciate the genius that he is. In my case, I can't get past this album cover. It creeps me out. Big time. I will note that this is one time that Not Lame has CD Baby beat on the samples. Other than that, it's glam rock, and a reissue, so I took a pass. But that doesn't mean you should, if that type of thing is up your alley. And especially if you can get past the album cover.

Dave Stoops-Spill Your Drink

This one is new to me, but it looks like a great find by Bruce & Co. I've started to listen to it, and I have to concur with this description: "Stoops sounds a lot like Karl Wallinger of World Party (and like Chris Bailey from The Saints), a very good thing and, in fact, much of the material sounds like the long, lost World Party album that fans have been waiting for the last 15 years or so."

And Mr. Stoops has done something very cool for us - he's put the entire album up on his site in mp3 format. So there's no excuse not to be listening to this one, and if you like the album, don't just keep the mp3s, buy it from Not Lame. Stoops has gone out on a limb here, and we should support artists willing to trust us with their music.

The Badways-Leave Us Alone

This one's new to me as well, and my first impression is that it definitely rocks. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Steve Van Zandt couldn't have invented a better band for his Underground Garage channel on Sirius. I'm really digging the second track, "Two Worlds", which I'm hearing for the first time as I type this. I definitely see myself picking this one up.

You can stream "Two Worlds" and three other tracks at their myspace page.

The Clintons-Strange Day In Mexico

This one I am familiar with, having picked it up back around October. The point of reference that immediately came to mind was the Bodingtons I featured yesterday, and I see Bruce mentioned The Badlees in his writeup, so I remembered them correctly. This is the type of cd that's mainstream-sounding enough that you can play it for your non-powerpop-obsessed friends (unless they're perhaps Republicans, although you could always tell them they're named in honor of George Clinton).

They've had several albums out, and there's a variety of stuff you can stream at their site. When you get there, click on the "launch music player" button to get an idea of what they're like. And as usual, there are four streaming tracks on their myspace page.

Breather-One In a Million

Bruce really pulled this one out - it dates back to 2001. Tough to find samples, etc. online (Swedish bands from 2001 usually don't have myspace pages), so hit the Not Lame page linked above and decide for yourself.

The Hazey Janes-Hotel Radio

Listening to as many bands as I do, it isn't easy keeping up with what they're all up to. So it was a pleasant surprise for me to discover tonight that this Scottish band has put out a full-length, as their self-titled EP from last summer was a favorite of mine. And I see that this new one isn't repeating tracks from the EP. Very nice. The HJ's are at the intersection of my two favorite styles of music: power pop and alt-country. The Jayhawks and Cosmic Rough Riders comparisons are most certainly apt.

All of the tracks can be sampled here.

All in all, a lot of good stuff tonight from the good folks at Not Lame.