Wow - a nice holiday gift for everyone: the new Greg Pope album Blue Ocean Sky, and it's free for the downloading until December 20th. I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but unless he's now into death metal or Yoko Ono-like screeching, it should be great.
Greg Pope-Pete. It's Greg Pope's power pop world, and we're all just living in it. That's the only conclusion to be made after he's followed up last year's Absolute Powerpop #1-rated album Popmonster with this brilliant 7-song EP. Pope's sound is a compendium of power pop through the ages - from British Invasion to the "mod" sound of The Who to straight-up 70s styled Badfinger/Raspberries pop to the today's modern power pop. The seven tracks here clock in just under 18 minutes, with "Fall Into Your Arms" a blast of an opener like Popmonster's "Sky Burn Down", while the slinky "How Do You Do It" has a....oh hell, all 7 tracks are great, just go listen to them below for yourself. All I can say is "Jeez Greg, give someone else a chance for the top of the year-end lists some time".
Pop Archeology Transmission-Welcome to the New Improved Dark Ages. Another act that released a fine 2008 album is back with an EP of new material, as this Portland band releases the followup to It Is What It Is. They're kind of a mix of Derby, Guided by Voices, and The Shins with some Milk & Honey Band thrown in, with no filler among these four tracks. And one can almost hear a little early Elton John on the title track and a bit of Alan Parsons on "Rain on Your Window". Good stuff.
Rob Holub-Stranger on 2nd Avenue. OK, here's someone who isn't following up a 2008 release. This is the debut EP from NYC's Rob Holub, who serves up six quality tracks of piano pop, as you might have guessed from the cover. Holub leans to the softer side of pop here, in the manner of the recent Brian Dilts EP. Opener "Pick Me Up" has a Coldplay feel to it, while "Just a Pop Song" boasts a fine chorus. Meanwhile, "Miss Face Book" might be the first Web 2.0 social media-themed track I've come across (perhaps there'll be a Twitter-themed track on the full-length). Go ahead and add him as a friend. CD Baby | iTunes
One of the more underrated power pop bands of the last several years has been Edmund's Crown, whose Regrets of a Company Man was one of my favorite releases of 2006. The Tennessee band has been one of the leaders of "southern power pop", along with artists like The Luxury Liners (whose frontman David Dewese has ironically just released a solo disc of his own), The Rewinds and Bill Lloyd. The man behind the Crown is Greg Pope, and he's out with his solo debut that not only continues the Edmund's Crown sound but expands upon it (and which sports pretty cool album art to boot). Popmonster is a true solo debut as well, with Pope writing, singing and playing all the instruments on each track.
Freed to do his own thing, Pope lets loose a total of 16 tracks here but there really isn't any filler. Opener "Sky Burn Down" lets you know you're not in Kansas (or at least Tennessee) any more as he revs up a Robert Pollard-style rocker in both sound and length (2:08). "I Got a Life" is another infectious barnburner which recalls both Matthew Sweet and The Who in places, while "Lost My Friend" and "Playing Nashville" travel in more familiar Edmund's Crown territory. "The Only Thing I've Got" also clocks in around 2 minutes, and has a definite Alex-Chilton-by-way-of-Paul-Westerberg vibe. Other standouts include the aching Jon Brionesque pop of "Only One You", the jangly "Footpath", the bright Americana-influenced "Little Things", and "Reason With You", another track that would have fit on nicely on Regrets of a Company Man.
A real tour-de-force and with Halloween approaching, this Popmonster will be scaring its way up my year-end list.
Greg Pope-Pete. It's Greg Pope's power pop world, and we're all just living in it. That's the only conclusion to be made after he's followed up last year's Absolute Powerpop #1-rated album Popmonster with this brilliant 7-song EP. Pope's sound is a compendium of power pop through the ages - from British Invasion to the "mod" sound of The Who to straight-up 70s styled Badfinger/Raspberries pop to the today's modern power pop. The seven tracks here clock in just under 18 minutes, with "Fall Into Your Arms" a blast of an opener like Popmonster's "Sky Burn Down", while the slinky "How Do You Do It" has a....oh hell, all 7 tracks are great, just go listen to them below for yourself. All I can say is "Jeez Greg, give someone else a chance for the top of the year-end lists some time".
Pop Archeology Transmission-Welcome to the New Improved Dark Ages. Another act that released a fine 2008 album is back with an EP of new material, as this Portland band releases the followup to It Is What It Is. They're kind of a mix of Derby, Guided by Voices, and The Shins with some Milk & Honey Band thrown in, with no filler among these four tracks. And one can almost hear a little early Elton John on the title track and a bit of Alan Parsons on "Rain on Your Window". Good stuff.
Rob Holub-Stranger on 2nd Avenue. OK, here's someone who isn't following up a 2008 release. This is the debut EP from NYC's Rob Holub, who serves up six quality tracks of piano pop, as you might have guessed from the cover. Holub leans to the softer side of pop here, in the manner of the recent Brian Dilts EP. Opener "Pick Me Up" has a Coldplay feel to it, while "Just a Pop Song" boasts a fine chorus. Meanwhile, "Miss Face Book" might be the first Web 2.0 social media-themed track I've come across (perhaps there'll be a Twitter-themed track on the full-length). Go ahead and add him as a friend.
