Two for Tuesday, 8/25/09

Jon Auer & Cheap Star-Two for the Money. A very intriguing split EP between the Posies power pop legend and the upstart French band fresh off their Posie-esque debut Speaking Like an Elephant. Each act contributes one new song and a pair of covers to the mix, and the result is a must-get for Posies fans everywhere. Auer's contributions include the new track "Northern Sky", a fine track that mixes the classic Auer/Posies sound with a bit of Morrissey, and a cover of Say Hi to Your Mom's "Pop Music of the Future", right in Auer's wheelhouse with its insistent acoustic guitar. Cheap Star, meanwhile, gives us the original "Not My Friend", a dense, melodic rocker that fits right in with Auer's work, and a rollicking cover of Gene Clark's "Changing Heart". But the most interesting touch is that each covers the other as well here; Auer tackles Cheap Star's "You Got it All", while Cheap Star gives its take on Auer's "Josephine", making the synergy complete. Just as The Posies seamlessly stepped in for Chris Bell in the reunited Big Star, I could easily see Cheap Star stepping in for Auer or Stringfellow in 10-15 years if either is unwilling or unable to participate in a Posies reunion.

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Alan Windram-10 o'clock in the Morning. Windram describes his sound as "melodic, sun-kissed Scottish Americana" and who am I to argue? Fans of Daniel Wylie, his Cosmic Rough Riders, Teenage Fanclub and The Primary 5 will want to check out this disc. Highlights include the TF-ish "Someday", the catchy "Crazy Girl", the jangly "Under Her Spell", and "Out of My Head", the excellent uptempo rocker which closes out the album. A promising solo debut from the ex-Splendid Scotsman.

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10 O'clock In The Morning - Alan Windram

Monday 3-pack.

I was getting tired of using "roundup" for multi-disc posts, so I made the switch.

Chris Richards & The Subtractions-Sad Sounds of the Summer. Talk about patience paying off. The power pop community has been waiting a good five years for the followup to Chris Richards' Mystery Spot, a power pop disc so well-received that it even managed a 7.3 from Pitchfork. Well, our long national nightmare is over. The Detroit popper has added a backing band and released Sad Sounds of the Summer, and it's just what the doctor ordered - even if the sounds aren't sad and it's springtime. Some tracks jangle more than others (opener "I Can't Quit Her"), some rock harder ("I, Miss July"), and some do both ("Oh Canada"), but all are quite fine. Meanwhile, Richards' backing band really helps him focus his sound here, a clear case of addition by Subtractions. A must-have for classic power poppers.

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Cheap Star-Speaking Like an Elephant. This French band takes its name from two of the long-time titans in our genre but sounds less like either of them and more like Teenage Fanclub and The Posies, which isn't a bad thing at all. Of course, sounding like The Posies isn't a shock here as half of the disc was produced by Ken Stringfellow and the other half by Jon Auer, in what could be considered the production equivalent of their Private Sides EP. Of course it's one thing to sound like a band and another to sound like a band and have great songs of your own. Thankfully, Cheap Star falls into the latter category with gems such as "For Saving Grace", "Sugar & Candy", "Shell" and the all-too-brief "Free to Believe".

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Additional Moog-Endless Air. This UK band's pop/Americana masterpiece Thirty Three & a Third made my top 10 in 2007, and they're back with the followup. While not as immediate or upbeat as its predecessor, it's still a quality laid-back listen in the vein of Autumn Defense or Hotel Lights. The title of the opening track, "Quietly Through the Canyon", is a good indicator of where they're going here, and other standouts include "Harmonica Fuel", "I'm Not Safe in This World" and "Signs on Fifty-Four".

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