Taking a little time off...

Longtime readers of PPO will likely recall that I take a vacation every now and then. That time is now. No Secret Saturdays, no posts, no music, no nothing for a while. Sorry!

Look through the archives while I am away, I bet there is something you missed. Also feel free to leave comments suggestions or what ever comes to mind.

Feel free to email me but I will be slow to respond to all of your e-mail questions so please have patience.

As always, thanks to everyone out there. Without all of you, I wouldn't still be here.

See ya!

Bill Lloyd - Feeling the Elephant - 1987

Bill Lloyd's first solo album was actually released in 1987, predating the Nashville native's association with Radney Foster in the mainstream country act Foster and Lloyd. However, at that time, it appeared on the tiny Boston indie Throbbing Lobster, just as that label was breathing its last. Thoughtfully, Atlanta's DB Records picked up Feeling the Elephant after Foster and Lloyd's commercial breakthrough and reissued it in a new cover with slightly improved sound. Good thing, too, because Feeling the Elephant beats the pants off of Foster and Lloyd's fine but annoyingly slick albums. Recorded as (mostly) one-man band demos between 1983 and 1986, the ten songs on Feeling the Elephant range from Big Star wistful jangle ("This Very Second") to Marshall Crenshaw roots pop ("Lisa Anne"), with side trips into the funky rock of "I Wanna Sit and Watch the Credits Roll" and the ghostly psychedelia of "Everything's Closing Down." It's hard to believe that this wasn't originally recorded as an album, because there's a flow and organic unity to these well-sequenced songs that makes Feeling the Elephant a more satisfying listen than most power pop albums. The slightly new wavish, Let's Active-like title track and the ultra-catchy jangle popper "Nothing Comes Close" are particular highlights, but this is a power pop joy from start to finish. -AMG

Review: Tommy Flake @ The Flatiron, Greensboro NC - You can't make this stuff up

Photo by Allen Martin

They had to twist my arm. I heard about Tommy Flake (aka Randy Seals) performing at a local bar and, while I loved his latest CD, Second Skin, it was Friday night as I was tired from a rough week's work.

Some friends dragged me downtown to The Flatiron, a local watering hole and dive bar. I hadn't been there in a while and soon discovered that, despite my friends' assurances, it was still pretty much the dump I had remembered.

They'd made the whole thing up.

Photo by Allen Martin

Standing alone with his guitar, Seals started the evening off right with an excellent cover of Cheap Trick's "Auf Wiedersehen". Any reservation I had about dragging myself out on a Friday night were now completely gone. A little rough around the edges by design, their buzz-saw guitars and driving
rhythms took the crowd through some favorites like "Just Where They Want To You", "Life Remains", "Miles From Over", and "Collapse", all from his latest LP, Second Skin. Matty Sheets' bass helped drive things along with David Pike's drums and Mikey Roohan's (aka "Driveway") harmonica flourishes. Imagine combining Cheap Trick's pop sensibilities with the edginess of Foo Fighters and you've got the idea of what Tommy Flake are all about.

While I enjoy hearing stuff I'm familiar with, it was the brand new material that was most impressive. I imagine we'll hear "Dream Being", "The Mend", and "Please (Don't Wake Me)" on a forthcoming release. They were some of the better songs in a very impressive set, so let's hope so.

There is something great about dive bars, something that makes the experience special. Everyone kept referring to "Driveway". As it turns out, that's the name band member Mikey Roohan has gone by most of his life. And so I had to ask. "What self respecting adult goes through life with the name Driveway?" I got my answer from someone at the bar, and it was one I hadn't expected.

A veteran of the local music scene and former band mate of Roohan's had quite a story. Apparently, back in the day when Greensboro was as at it's musical peak in the 80's, Roohan and the band would play a few sets and retire to a one of the guys' homes to have a few too many drinks and celebrate a successful show. One morning they woke up to find Roohan missing. Not knowing where he could be, they wandered out into the front yard only to find Mikey face down in the driveway, passed out from having overdone it the night before. From that moment on he was referred to as "Driveway".

You can't make this stuff up. But I digress...

When you consider where Tommy Flake aka Seals came from, his new music is particularly  impressive. Having started his career as the drummer who replaced Brad Elvis in The Elvis Brothers, a
late 80's radio ready power pop band signed signed to Portrait, he cut his teeth on polished melody driven pop. His next band, The Beatifics, were of similar ilk and equally impressive for their ability to write melodies that work their way into your psyche. After a few more stops, musical and otherwise, Seals has come out the other end of the tunnel with a unique blend of his learned pop sensibilities and an edgy anxiety that gives his sound an urgency. Its well thought out and yet spontaneous.

The latest CD from Tommy Flake, Second Skin, is available as a download  here. Check out the Tommy  Flake website and find out if their coming to a dive bar near you. And, if the new music isn't a good enough reason to get out to seethem at a venue near you, then...

I'll make something up.

This guest post is written by Richard Rossi, a blogger, illustrator and joke writer from Greensboro NC. You can find his childrens books at amazon.com and on his website, orangemen44.com.

New Baby Woodrose single and video out today

Baby Woodrose will release their new album Third Eye Surgery April 16th. Dandelion has been chosen as the second single from the album and it’s quite different from the spaced out sounds otherwise found on the album. Dandelion is a sweet psychedelic pop song and it is also a duet between Lorenzo Woodrose and the beautiful young Danish singer Emma Acs who released her debut album Champagne in 2011.

Dandelion is released online via iTunes, Spotify, TDCplay, Amazon as well as all the other usual suspects, today March 19th. Check out the new video out for the song. The video is made by Adam Olsson.

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The La's - Timeless Melody from deleted vinyl

This is the deleted version of Timeless Melody ripped straight from the vinyl test pressing acetate in 1988. It got pulled from release.

Most articles, books etc. list this as being produced by Jeremy Allom but the producer is in fact Mike Hedges.

A later, differently mixed version appeared in 2010's Callin' All box set.

This has never seen a formal release.

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The Orgone Box - Orgone Box - 2001

Sheffield based multi instrumentalist and songwriter/producer Rick Corcoran, who plays nearly every instrument here, is the only member of the Orgone Box. He reportedly used four eight-track tape machines, a 32-channel mixing desk, three guitar amps, a half-dozen effects-laden guitars, and laid down guide drums to a click-track during the initial home-recording sessions. Later, during four days of overdubbing at a mansion called "the House in the Woods," Corcoran was aided by a couple of friends, drummer Tam Johnstone (ex-the Green Tambourines, the General Store) and bassist/keyboardist Tim McTighe, who provided "orchestral arrangements" on a Roland MC300. The result, of course, is that the Orgone Box has that identifiable studio sheen that low-budget self-produced solo efforts of this ilk often have, where the drum/bass rhythm tracks are purposefully simplified in the early stages of recording to easily allow for sonic layers to be added above. Even so, unlike most albums that are built this way, brick by brick, from the foundation to the penthouse, the more you listen this CD, the more you realize the Orgone Box is a stylish triumph of substance over simple revisionist psych-pop. Corcoran was evidently inspired by listening to his favorites from the original 1967 era -- the Fabs, Butterfly-era Hollies, early Pink Floyd are a few that come to mind -- and "informed" by later albums released by the Dukes of Stratosphear, Robyn Hitchcock, and Oasis, but he doesn't seem to be too interested in ripping off any of his precursors. On the second track, "Anaesthesia," Corcoran even lets listeners know that he's "not into psychedelia/I've got a psychedelic mind...whatever," probably meaning that his music simply pours out of him whenever he hits "record," without him having to "psychedelicize" to get into the mood. Each track abounds with effective Lennon-esque vocals, ringing Byrds-ian 12-strings, phase-shifting guitar solos, and mellifluous multi-tracked vocal harmonies, all swirling amid confectionery pop melodies. The collective result resembles a fantastic Baroque pop construct of Sgt. Pepper-y proportions, the kind of record that headphones were invented for. -AMG

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David Myhr - Soundshine Pre-order now at Kool Kat!!

ACCEPTING PRE-ORDERS NOW FOR AUTOGRAPHED COPIES!! WOW!!! David Myhr took his first steps into the music business with power pop legends The Merrymakers. After too many years of silence it was time to make his debut as a solo artist. The songs on "Soundshine" are representative of everything he stands for: melodic, well crafted pop music with a heart. If a thread of timelessness runs through The Beatles, Wings, Crowded House, Jellyfish, Fountains of Wayne, and The Feeling, his music appears at several places along that thread – sometimes even simultaneously. It’s also easy to hear that his music has sprung from the same Northern indie pop soil as bands like Popsicle and The Wannadies. The record is chock-full of fantastic pop songs presenting one masterful melody after the other along the way, delivered with tasty guitars, lovely hooks, gorgeous harmony vocals, and pop lyrics that actually say something. David stands for talented and intelligent and melodic pop music at its purest. This album is centered around the songs – and what songs! ”I love that tingling down the spine when I hear a great song – when superior craftmanship meets the magic. I constantly strive for that that with my own songs”, says David. He writes because he wants to, and because he has to. His goal is to make others feel the way he does when he’s moved by a great song. ”If making music leads to interesting things happening and meeting great people, that’s enough for me. The fact that the record industry has been proclaimed dead is liberating in a way, because everyone is free to make music that they genuinely like!” Although the name of the album is "Soundshine", it could just as well have been titled "For The Love Of Melody". We'll go out on a limb and proclaim that this very well will be a Top 5 (if not #1) contender for 2012's year-end "Best Of" lists!

To pre-order, simply click here

The Hazey Janes - Hotel Radio -2006

A Scottish band that totally lives up the the hype and will amaze many of you. This UK only import is the real deal, a rich and original fusion of traditional folk and country rock, and American power-pop reminiscent of Big Star, The Jayhawks and Velvet Crush but also the UK style of Cosmic Rough Riders, has defined the bands sound as energetic and uplifting. That is all over the place here. Listening to the bands three-part harmonies will bring smiles to Not Lame Land. This one of the best pure pop bands to come off the U.K. Island in the last year (2006), make sure you check this one out! -Not Lame

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Zero Hour Records is going digital

Zero Hour Records has decided to make some releases available on iTunes . So right now you can get the Devin Hill "Star" album with his second album "Wayout Lane" to follow. Both will be on iTunes as they were released. Zero Hour will be releasing a new Devin Hill mini album on iTunes as
well in the coming weeks, WOW!  Also available is the Bleached Black "A Wrist Slashing Restrospective" which hasn't been available since 1985/1987. All the tracks have been remastered and sound great. They have included 12 bonus tracks on iTunes so there's 29 tracks all up. A great listen if you are into Power Pop with an edge. Don't forgetThe Dangtrippers from Iowa, their first album Days Between Stations is a must have and it's on iTunes too! This one  hasn't been available since 1989.

Dw Dunphy - Your Saturday Sins music video

Music video for "Your Saturday Sins" featured on the release Reliquary, coming soon from Secret Decoder Records

Bill Lloyd - Boy King of Tokyo Out now!

Bill Lloyd has a new album available now on ITunes and through his website
billlloydmusic.net.  Just got mine yesterday and I can tell this will be in my rotation for a long time!

From Bill LLoyd:

"Hello friends, fans and followers of my musical endeavors..

As you can see from the video above, Radney Foster and I have reunited to make the first album we've done in twenty years. Here, we are doing the title cut called, "It's Already Tomorrow" and it sure feels that way. Doing another project together came out of a renewed bout of co-writing songs. The process was great fun and the reaction has been overwhelming. We were able to record the album as a combo with Keith Brogdon on drums (who plays with Radney on the road) and Tom Petersson (who plays bass  with Cheap Trick). We got a few other friends like Sam Bush, Lloyd Green and Beth Nielsen Chapman to add their talents in a few spots and we had ourselves a new record!

While we're no longer on RCA Records like the old days, we released the cd on our own imprint called "Effin' Ell Records". With so many record stores having closed and major chains decreasing their music sections, we very much appreciate all the folks who found and ordered  "It's Already Tomorrow". You'll be able to find it  right here on my refurbished website:  http://www.billlloydmusic.net. Please take a few minutes to look around. We're also thankful to the stores that continue to carry our record in stock." -Bill Lloyd

Nerk Twins - Either Way - 1997

This obscure jangle-pop duo has made a fine album that is, unfortunately, almost impossible to find, but well worth the effort. Out of thirteen songs, nine are gems. The disc opens with the sublime "What Does It Take?," and an ode to unrequited love that grabs you gently by the scruff of the neck and runs off with your heart. "Either Way" is an ode to actual requited love with a chord progression that Lennon and McCartney would have been proud to write. "2 Women" is a twisted country song about being in love with a schizophrenic, disguised as a song about a menage à trois. The Twins (whose real names are Jeff Murphy and Herb Eimerman) sing with a sweet wistfulness that never gets cloying, even at its sweetest. Everywhere is a cockeyed humor that never rests on mere quirkiness -- it's impossible to detect any irony in the sappy "I Love Jamaica," and "Ugly" features the classic line "If you weren't so ugly I'd ask you out," followed two minutes later by the tag "...is what she said to me." -AMG

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HotSocky - HotSocky - 2003

Formed in 2001 on Manhattan's Lower East Side, HotSocky's mission is to make rock'n roll fun again. By combining infectious melodies, raw guitar-drive and over-the-top stage presence, HotSocky stand out as the premier act in today's New York City rock scene. The band's stripped down power-pop incorporates crunching staccato guitars which give way to big, hooky choruses that inevitably stick in your head for weeks.
Singer/guitarist Lattimer (formerly of Thin Lizard Dawn) creates the group's loud and creamy pop gems. "It's all about capturing beautiful accidents," he claims, flashing a wit and charm that also distinguishes HotSocky from other New York bands. Breathing life into these timeless wonders, Lattimer runs his semi-hollow bodied Gretch guitar through a Marshall stack, smoothly giving his intricate creations the illusion of three-chord pop songs.
Dynamic guitarist, Jerry Stereo, offers a thick layer of tone on his Guild Star-Fire Six and deftly gets the party started. Whether it's jumping, spinning, or just blasting away in his rocker stance, pounding out the power is what Jerry does best, both live and in the studio.
Throw in the booming, steadfast rhythm section of Adam Stahl and Chad Royce, and you've got a colossal rock foundation cradling Lattimer's addictive, soaring melodies. -CD Baby

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Mark Kleiner Power Trio - - 2002

A power pop trio of the highest order, this group is intent on thriving on bubblegum pop riffs and cavity-inducing harmonies, particularly on "Beautiful Slide" and "Tivoli Park." Although this is Mark Kleiner's album in the fact he wrote most of the lyrics, the supporting cast of drummer Kurt Dahle and bassist Pete Mills is just as important in carrying the album's message of good times and fun. Some of the numbers work much better than others, notably "Love Tonight," which throws a slight curveball into the mix by opening with a piano lead and Kleiner's falsetto in the proceedings. "Fell in Love With the Girl" also evokes a British Invasion influence and a Paul McCartney tinge on the vocals. Only on the pretty "Birth to Blue" does the band stray into a soppy, melodic piano hook for its payoff, but it seems to work regardless over the lengthy track despite the lyrics being clichéd. The cover version of "Baby It's You" is another highlight of the album's conclusion. None of the tracks particularly stand out, but the album as a whole has several great gems on it. -AMG

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Ultimate Fakebook - Open up and Say Awesome - 2002

While This Will Be Laughing Week relied on three-chord riffs, Ultimate Fakebook's Open up and Say Awesome switches up the magnitude for a fresh punk-pop approach. The band is tight, far more than they've ever been, and the energy is infectious. Frontman Bill McShane is quick-mouthed, and songs like "Before You Leave" and the twangy cool of "Inside Me, Inside You" mosh around the likes and losses of love. "Wrestling Leap Year" is oddly similar to the riveting guitar rock of Killing Joke while showcasing some of Ultimate Fakebook's best work. Ultimate Fakebook is more like Weezer's second cousin -- not sappy enough to be emo, not angry enough to be post-grunge. Open up and Say Awesome is a pure rock record, decadent in the rawness of it all. -AMG

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Baby Woodrose - New single online today

Baby Woodrose have just finished recording their 6th studio album entitled Third Eye Surgery and release is set for April 16th. All Baby Woodrose albums have a different vibe and with Third Eye Surgery they have made their space rock album. For the first time Lorenzo Woodrose integrate the heavy psych of his side projects Dragontears and Spids Nøgenhat with the fine song writing of Baby Woodrose.

No matter how much the fuzz guitar is wailing or the echo machine is tripping, there’s always a good song hiding beneath the rumble. Several of them clocks in at 6 minutes so there are only 9 songs on Third Eye Surgery. Songs like Nothing is Real and Love Like a Flower have an Eastern flavour thanks to the sitar of Vicki Singh while Just a Ride sounds like a trip to India in more than one way.

Even though the central songs on Third Eye Surgery like Waiting for the War, Bullshit Detector and the title song are very spaced out there are also a few tunes that sticks out. Dandelion is a sweet and melancholic psychedelic pop song and is also a duet with Emma Acs while Honalie is a dreamy ballad that makes time stand still. Almost.

Third Eye Surgery has been recorded in the Black Tornado studio in Copenhagen and is engineered by Anders “Evil Jebus” Onsberg and produced by Lorenzo Woodrose. The artwork is made by German artist Kiryk Drewinski who has worked with the band several times before and also did the artwork for the demo collection Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers released in 2011. LP is gatefold as usual.

Nothing is Real has been chosen as the first single and it is available on iTunes today.

The Andersons - Separated at Birth - 1998

The Andersons are somewhat of a late-'90s power pop supergroup; featuring Derrick Anderson of Chewy Marble and Bob Anderson of Martin Luther Lennon, the band gained a substantial cult following with its colorful 1998 debut Separated at Birth. The gag here is that the three bandmembers, or three "Andersons" -- Bill, Bob, and Derrick -- are all brothers despite looking nothing alike. (Bob is pudgy and long-haired, Bill looks like your basic "indie kid," and Derrick, who is the only black member of the group, is pensive and literate.) The Andersons experienced a slow but steady rise to power pop stardom after the release of this album. Following its 1998 release, positive press and the band members' links to other, more familiar power pop acts led to a large curiosity factor that caused many to seek them out. In 2000, the band was one of the headliners at the annual International Pop Overthrow festival, a collection of dozens of like-minded power pop bands. All of this helped propel sales of Separated at Birth, making it more than just a footnote of power pop. Given how many fans warmed to the band in the few years following the album's release, it's not hard to tell why the Andersons became a power pop favorite. Driven in part by two anthemic numbers early in the running order ("The Truth Is Out" and "Retro Girl"), the album sets its claws in immediately and they are rarely loosened throughout. Derrick Anderson is the group's primary singer, and his throaty yet warm vocal is as distinctive as it is inviting. At first the songs contributed by the other two Andersons seem weaker, but the large picture with this release is that the diversity of its 13 tracks is why they are so engaging. There are some pop culture references sprinkled throughout, from Emma Peel's hair in "Retro Girl" to the iconic love of "(I'm in Love With A) TV Girl" and the chronicle of road rage in the album's closer, the rocking "Big Trucks and Old People." At times, the production does seem a bit muddy and too bottom-heavy, but on repeat listens it only seems to sew the album up more and contribute to the warm familiarity of the disc as a whole. -AMG

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The Explorers Club are Checking into "The Grand Hotel"

Imagine if Marc Eric recorded a second album.... Well this is it. The Explorers Club, after a long dry spell, have just released their follow up to Freedom Wind and it is stellar. Rich melodies with intense, dense harmonies and incredible lyrics, The Grand Hotel is a true "Wall of Sound". You have to hear this one for yourself! The production is clean and the arrangements inventive and lush.

For anyone wondering where all the great vocal groups have gone, look no further than The Explorers Club.

The Grand Hotel is available  today at Amazon for the ridiculously low price of $4.99.

The Explorers Club - Run Run Run (Exclusive First Listen!) by expclubmgmt

The Explorers Club
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The Merrymakers - Andrew's Store - 1997

Andrew's Store assembles the Merrymakers' long-out-of-print early singles, dating back to 1992 and 1993; although the group's Swedish retro-pop is still in its formative stages, there's no denying the promising catchiness of songs like "Magic Circles," "Nobody There" and "I Won't Let You Down."  -AMG

New track from The Brigadier

Here's a track from The Brigadier's forthcoming 5th album, 'Do you want me too?' It is pretty sweet. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.

Brigadier official site
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Do you want me too by the brigadier