Gary Ritchie "Pop! Radio"

Although not new, this is a great example of excellent and timeless melodies from Gary Ritchie. Originally from the Chicago band, Loose Lips, Ritchie teamed up with band mate Jeff King to channel his love of those classic jangle bands in Pop! Radio. Fans of Pezband, Fotomaker, The Raspberries, The Rubinoos, and The Spongetones will just love this album. From the opening chord riffs of "I'll Be There" you'll hum along to the beat that has that 70's rock feel. The Beatles-jangle isn't far behind on "You Were Only Using Me" and the hooks just continue to fly by. The excellent rocker "Living On Lies" is a humorous autobiography of a rocker who hasn't gotten "a life" due to his love of rock and roll. Most of the songs are about moments in a relationship and what happened "Last Night" (a great Dwight Twilley reference here) and other odes to the girl of your dreams. The gems here keep coming, and to get into any more tracks here seems superfluous. Not a single scrap of filler here, so if you never heard it do yourself a favor and stop reading. Get a hold of this album.

My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame

The Injured Parties "Fun With A Purpose"

The Injured Parties are Chicago based rock band lead by Larry O. Dean (guitar/vocals) and assisted by Jimmy DeLauriea (bass) and Mike Ebersohl (drums). Opening with chugging and driving guitar on "American Comfort" they remind me of Tom Petty or The Lemonheads if they were lead by Lou Reed. "Been There, Done That" has a weary Neil Young approach that suits the song just fine. The descriptive story of characters inside "Zingerman's Deli" is a lot of fun to listen to, with charging piano and guitar rhythms. The low key vocals in "Dogwalker" are enhanced by the female harmonies in the background and the Ray Davies-styled narrative. Unique subjects include a love song to actress "Linda Fiorentino" and getting so stupid you "Walked into a Wall." Colorful lyrics aside, this will also appeal to fans of Dylan, Roger Waters and The Kinks. Lovers of classic guitar sound will gravitate easily to The Injured Parties.

My Space | itunes | Emusic

Fun With a Purpose - The Injur...

McCartney performs on the marquee

Being a New Yorker has it's advantages. Nearly forty-five years after the Beatles first appeared on American television on the Ed Sullivan show, Sir Paul returned to the Ed Sullivan theater and performed atop the marquee of the Late Show with David Letterman. I think that's Brian Ray on lead guitar here.

Bleu interviewed on Powerpopaholic

This was a good month for me as my second interview was with none other than Bleu McAuley just as his newest album A Watched Pot is about to drop nationally. We get into a history of the album and how some of those tracks have been simmering for over five years. We ask some essential questions, like will there be another L.E.O. album? Click here to read the interview. (or check out the button on the right). You can actually order this long blogged about music now from our favorite places.

Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik | Amazon

Peter & The Penguins "How To Choose A Sweetheart"

Last year on the IPO#11 disc a standout was "There Goes Pete Best," and this year has been chock full of Beatlesque bands making debuts this year. From The Poor Richards, Alan Bernhoft to Pete Best himself - the sound is just timeless and embedded in pop culture. Not even compared to other like-minded bands (The Fore, The Offbeat) this Norwegian band is easily a cut above the rest. That's because they take the template and enhance it - for example, "Barefoot" uses the Rickenbacker riffs, honey sweet Beach Boys choruses and sax touches to make a catchy song, not just imitate what's been done. Lots of highlights here that make them comparable to The Spongetones in quality (they even do a cover of "Here I Go Again"). "The Walk" has a jangle and beat thats just irresistible, and "She Took Me By Surprise" gets the early mop-top songwriting and guitar innocence down perfectly. "There's No Living Here Without You" updates the snappy Beatle ballad with a minor chords aplenty. Not every song is perfect, but with 14 tracks here, you'll find more than enough Mersey-inspired gems to keep your toe tapping. As long as bands like this keep making music, I will happily listen.

My Space | CD Baby | Not Lame | Kool Kat Musik

Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey "Here and Now"

Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, co founders of the dB's, and collaborators on "Mavericks" 14 years ago have reunited, and they still have that spark. On Here and Now, they fall into a comfortable role as pop's most under rated duo. Opening with the Beatlesque "My Friend The Sun," it is a shiny gem of melodic genius with subtle guitar interplay and Peter's direct earnest vocals. This is adult contemporary rock in the best sense of the term. "Santa Monica" is a classic Stamey ballad full of dreamy sun-soaked guitar textures. “Bird on the Wing” comes closest to that old Mavericks sound, and the collaboration meshes the two artists perfectly. Appropriately, these "old" guys have made some real gems about approaching middle age. The album does tend to wander a bit, getting too reflective and could've used a few more upbeat songs. But tracks like “Here and Now”, “Some of the Parts”, and “Long Time Coming” are all great songs that you'll want to play over and over. "Begin Again" is a somber ode to rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (with the great Branford Marsalis on sax). My favorite ballad here is "Long Time Coming," about old friendships and it easily brings a lump to my throat. The emotional honesty here says more than tons of other musicians out there, and I would love to hear more from these two.

Holsapplestamey.com | emusic | Itunes

IPO opening in LA with Splitsville!

Splitsville is scheduled to take the center stage at International Pop Overthrow Los Angeles on August 1st. But prior to that a huge array of new and exciting bands will pass through the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. David Bash is covering the entire west coast starting on July 24th. It's been David's passion to offer contemporary pop bands a place to play, gain some much needed exposure, and network with other musicians with the same musical tastes. I've been lucky to review a lot of these bands albums. So now is your chance to see them live! Old favorites include: Sparkle*Jets UK, Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings, Lisa Mychols, Jeremy, Dave Stephens, The Galaxies, J.P. Cregan, The Smith Bros., The Waking Hours, The Tearaways, The Bye Bye Blackbirds, Shplang, Eugene Edwards, Sextus, Maple Mars, The Beat Seekers, Sugar High, Kenny Howes and The Cherry Bluestorms. And that's just a sampling, as the newest up and coming power pop bands take to the stage along with them.

Los Angeles: July 24-August 8
Portland: August 12; 14-16
Seattle: August 19-23
Vancouver: August 25-29

Jeff Lynne "Video" and Electric Dreams of the '80s

“Video!” — 1984, #85 (download)

After my high school reunion, I found something very 80's to feature here. It’s the only charting track for Jeff Lynne (ELO) under his own name. This was only released on the Electric Dreams soundtrack. So the movie was about a love triangle between Miles and Edgar the computer and Madeline, his attractive neighbor. The way she meets Edgar is through a duet. If you'd also like to see the video for the movie's title track, check it out sung by Phil Oakey of The Human League.

Gidgets Ga Ga "The Big Bong Fiasco"

Minneapolis' Gidgets Ga Ga will immediately recognizable to pop fans as hybrid of Oasis and The Replacements. Lead by lead guitar/singer Mickey Flores and assisted by bassist Zac Zidron and drummer Larry Beers, the music is consistently good throughout it's 18 tracks. These loud rocking tracks like "Beki" and "Baby You're A Star" should be played at full volume. This is no frills rock that has plenty of catchy melodies, like the hand claps all over "The Bomb" they will recall some of the early 90's best pre grunge-pop. Some of the mid-tempo songs like "Dreamer" and the country flavored "Ease Your Mind" get a little routine, but the band switches gears with the high powered "Damn!" that recalls The Godfathers, and even the heavy power ballad "Lullaby" sounds like it could've been a Stone Temple Pilots/Nirvana single. The production techniques on a few tracks change, like "Streetwalker" has a rich full sound, and then "9 Ways" almost sounds like garage demo for example. And with the ending track "Belmont (Bone Us)" you barely hear the vocal. It gets a little distracting, but that doesn't diminish the quality of this rousing rock music.

My Space | CD Baby | Gidgets Ga Ga Site