50 Words or Less on a bunch of discs.

OK, here are a bunch of discs that I've been enjoying over the recent weeks that are worth further investigation on your part, summarized in 50 words or less:

Baldwin Drive-Orange & Black. Baldwin Drive is Joe Chiofalo (Joey Pajamas to you Howard Stern fans), together with Smash Palace's Stephen Butler and Fran Smith Jr of The Hooters, and will appeal to fans of both of those bands (as well as Smith's solo work). "Berlin" and "When Is It Time" are particular standouts. CD Baby | MySpace

Detlef Zoo-If It Makes You Happy. Hailing from the power pop hotbed of Latvia, this band has essentially re-released its previous album, Skapi, with 100% English-language content. It's hit or miss at times, but when it hits, it really hits, with tracks like "Funny Girl" and "So Sophisticated". Reminds me of Monkeeman. CD Baby | MySpace

Gawker Slowdown-Sturdy Branches. Think of Eric Kalenze as a Midwestern Joe Pernice, with all of the similarity in sound and difference in sensibility that that implies*. Or just check out the samples. CD Baby | Soundclick

Greater Good-Shake Till I Let You Go. New bad comprised of old pros have released one of the more "fun" records of the year. Runs the gamut from power pop to garage to boogie rock; I love "Just Got Robbed" and "Love em or Leave em". Kool Kat | MySpace

Par Basset-In The Summertime. Fine effort by this Norwegian singer-songwriter, especially the title track. Think Tom Petty/Byrds, with a bit of Grapeland. CD Baby | MySpace

Patrick Bloom-Moses. Not really power pop, but high-quality folk-rock, Americana, alt-country, whatever. Known as Patrick Brickel when he released Songs From The Pink Chair in 2004, this followup is even better, and "Million Miles Away" might be the best Jayhawks song Gary Louris or Mark Olson didn't write. CD Baby | MySpace

Spinning Lucy-The Everything Pill. An engaging debut from this Philly band, who remind me at times of their city-mates Ike with a touch of The Posies thrown in. Top tracks: the rocking opener "Starsign" and the mellower "Digging Up Bones". CD Baby | MySpace

Young Sportsmen-If You Want It. I was a bit lukewarm to this Seattle band's previous releases, but this one has won me over. The sound remains the same: moddish power/garage pop, but the songs are better this time around and they compare much more favorably to Superdrag these days. CD Baby | MySpace

*It's always a bit off-putting to see the same word used consecutively, even it makes complete grammatical sense. Brownie points to anyone who can come up with the power pop reference in that turn of phrase.