At the moment, I'm going through the 2008 releases I've listened to so far to prepare the top 25 of the first quarter of 2008 list I've been promising for a while now (ETA: tomorrow). And as I started compiling the list, I noticed that one of the discs that's going to end up near the top is one that I have yet to feature on the site. So to remedy that oversight, I bring you an LA band that has popped up out of nowhere to give us one of the most infectious, fun, melodic and just-plain-great releases of the year, The Galaxies, with Here We Go!
The mood is set within about 10 seconds with a great opening guitar riff and frontman Bobby Cox's yelped-out "whoo" getting sort-of-title track "Here We Go Again" underway. It's a near-perfect exemplar of power pop, a kind of cross between the driving energy of the new Ike disc and the melodicism of Eugene Edwards. "You Promised" follows with a sweeter, jangly, almost Swedish-pop sound, and "Baby I Believe" has the classic pop sound down in the manner of The Goldbergs. Other standouts include "Love Has Found Me", the poppy bossanova of "Lost and Lonely" and "We Go On". With only 9 no-filler tracks, Here We Go! proves the adage that brevity is the soul of a good power pop disc.
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