Two for Tuesday, 9/18/12

Sitcom Neighbor-Charm. LA's Sitcom Neighbor is a three-piece band led by John Murphy, and their second release (I missed 2007's eponymous debut) is a power pop delight that falls somewhere between The Posies and XTC. Opener "Amphetamine" belies its title with a languid pop melody and featuring a memorable acoustic guitar hook, "The Satisfaction of Love" comes across as a less quirky Colin Moulding XTC tune, and the midtempo "Let it Go" makes great use of its wordless backing vocals and twisting melody to recall Abbey Road-era Beatles. Elsewhere "Buy Your Farm" and closer "Darlene" find the band in a more rocking mode without sacrificing melody. An impressive record, and now I need to seek out the debut.

CD Baby | iTunes

Los Angelfish-Welcome to Los Angelfish. Last year Tim Culling had my second favorite EP of 2011 with Goodbye Western Sun, and here he returns with Michael Fink as Los Angelfish, serving up more of the roots-inflected pop/rock we enjoyed last time around. Opener "Winning Score" recalls vintage Paul Westerberg, while the piano-based "You Can Only Try So Hard" has a Wilco feel to it. Other standouts include are the bluesy "You'll Fly Away" and the Tom Petty-style closing rocker "Every One Knows". If Culling caught your ear last year, you'll definitely want to grab this one.

CD Baby | Soundcloud (all tracks)

Three for Thursday, 5/19/11

Since posting has been light lately, we're going with three for Thursday today instead of the usual two.

John Amadon-Seven Stars. At long last, here is the Elliott Smith album you've all been waiting for and thought you'd never get. Hailing from Smith's hometown of Portland, Oregon, Amadon channels that late singer-songwriter's XO/Figure 8 period, which means things lean to the Beatlesque side of Smith's sound than his earlier, folkier releases. And that's a good thing around here. The standout tracks here are "Let's Talk Without Talking", the soft/heavy dynamic of "All Patched Up" and the lovely "Bitter Tears". A real treat.

CD Baby | Bandcamp

Tim Culling-Goodbye Western Sun. It's hard to pigeonhole singer-songwriter Tim Culling's sound without resorting to generic categories like "adult alternative pop/rock" as he offers up a little bit of pop, a little bit of rock, a little bit of soul and a little bit of alt-country in his sound. It all adds up to a winning mixture on this 7-track EP, led by the outstanding title track, which has an insistent piano hook that will bury itself in your subconscious, "So With That Aside", its bookend, is another brilliant number with an upbeat melody, and in between the Wilco-esque "This Much I Can See" and the bluesy "I Got a Friend" are the highlights. Possibly 2011's top EP to date.

CD Baby | MySpace | eMusic

Khalid Quesada-On the Verge of Context. New Jersey's Khalid Quesada is a singer-songwriter sound who has a way with a pop hook, and he demonstrates that clearly on his debut EP. Coming in somewhere between the aforementioned Elliott Smith and Rivers Cuomo, Quesada is equally at home with both the power pop ("Radio Silence", "Proverbial Knives") and more introspective numbers ("Angel in the Dark", "World Without"). It's all melodic, and has me looking forward to his full-length debut promised for later this year.

CD Baby | MySpace