The Clique - Self Preservation Society - 2008

The Clique's only album proper is an enjoyable experience with authentic 60's production values and some very cool tunes. Unfortunately the 11th hour replacement of guitar virtuoso Jon-Paul Harper during recording sessions effectively scuppered what could have been an outstanding 5-star album. Mark Lamaar made it 'Album of the Week' but anyone familiar with the band live will attest to the fact that it could have packed a harder punch. Well worth investigating.



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The Canary Sect - Shake It But Don`t Break It - 2006

Spanish import, originally released on vinyl only in 2006 on the great German label ,Screaming Apple. The band, led by singer and harmonica man Manolo Navarro, have also returned to the stage with new energies after their triumphal performances in the main sixties festivals all over Europe during the past two years. It`s the sound of Mersey circa `65 with a strong, bold does of R&B pulp. Think The Downliners Sect, Small Faces and The High Numbers. A few songs reminds us a few tunes on the first album from The Rooks with their spunky Beatley spirit. Fans of this style will not be disappointed! power pop, independent music  -Not Lame




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Rhett Miller - Mythologies - 1989

Mythologies finds young Texan Rhett Miller sounding curiously British at times during a collection of bare, acoustic folk tracks. Erroneous accent aside, the 1989 offering gives fans an opportunity to observe the early stages of development in the career of a great young songwriter. Miller's longtime partner in crime Murry Hammond, who would later join Miller in Sleepy Heroes and finally the Old 97s, produces all 13 tracks and performs on ten of them as well. Though nothing on Mythologies quite reaches the level of quality of later Miller/Hammond collaborations, there is some strong material here. "Iron Child," "Song for Truman Capote," "Redbird Song," and "I'm Coming Home" show the potential that would be realized on later releases, while the playful "Candy Apple Corkscrew Hair" is more fun than anything you'd expect to find on a folk album. As to be expected given the young age at which Miller wrote these songs, there are some awkward moments like the unfortunate "Honey in My Tea," but for the most part Mythologies is not only a great find for curious Old 97s fans but is also an album that can stand alone on their own merit. -AMG



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The Miracle Men - They're Coming... - 2006

The Miracle Men’s debut full length has arrived. Released by Teen Sound out of Italy, everybody has now the chance to hear their great skills. Ever since I got a promo copy, somewhere in October, it’s one of my most played ceedees. Opener ‘Stop pushin’ me’ featuring EJ, the producer, on harmonica sees them inspired by the Remains. The Seeds get their tribute on ‘Won’t you try’, even our Firebirds sound through in a song as ‘Cry cry cry’. But that ain’t all. Ripping of titles, ‘Down today’ based on the Teenage Shutdown compilation or ‘Who what where!? taken loosely from ‘Anyway anyhow anywhere’ by the Who. It’s clear where they get their ideas from, but excellent songs they can write. Listen for instance to the other hits included here, ‘Misplaced’ and personal favourite’s ‘I said girl’ and ‘World in danger’. The Miracle Men give us on their debut eleven strongly sixties inspired tracks that never sounds jaded or too style bound and simply deliver the goods, good songs that is. -Gerben Kuurman - City Trash

Phantom Planet - Phantom Planet Is Missing - 1998

For a debut album from a relatively young band (most of the members are still teenagers), Phantom Planet Is Missing is very accomplished and appealing. While the hooks aren't particularly strong, the band makes up for it with youthful exuberance and very colorful instrumentation -- the music is upbeat and synthesized flourishes abound. Instead of taking the route that many other younger alternative rock bands take (Silverchair's grunge or Eve 6's punk), Phantom Planet walk the line between pop and alternative and manage to carve out their own unique sound -- a rarity for younger alternative bands. Unfortunately, the album didn't sell nearly as well as albums by Silverchair or Eve 6, but it did manage to build a cult following and the single "So I Fall Again" was featured on the soundtrack to the TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch. "Down in a Second" and "I Was Better Off" are also highlights on this promising debut -AMG




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The Jupiter Affect - The Restoration of Culture After Genghis Khan - 2003

The Jupiter Affect boasts a lineup of pop underground veterans. Bassist and vocalist Michael Quercio not only coined the term "Paisley Underground" (to describe the slew of '60s-slanted psychedelic pop bands in L.A.) during an interview in the early '80s, but he was also at the forefront of the scene as a member of the Salvation Army and the Three O' Clock. Quercio joined Permanent Green Light after the Three O'Clock broke up, and in 1997, he formed the Jupiter Affect with PGL drummer Chris Bruckner and guitarists Dan Epstein (ex-Lava Sutra) and Jason Shapiro (ex-Celebrity Skin). Building on the members' roots in ultra-melodic power pop, the group debuted with a self-titled EP on Aerial Flipout in 1998. Instructions for the Two Ways of Becoming Alice saw the re-teaming of Quercio with engineer/producer Earle Mankey, who had worked with him in the Three O'Clock and Permanent Green Light, using their expertise on the production values of classic, late-'60s pop and rock records to full potential. -AMG



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The Scheme - Sunset on a Daydream - 2006

Paisley shirts, little toy men made from apples and gumdrops and toothpicks, dreamy harmonies, crystal clear production, soaring vocals, harpsichords and Mellotron synthesizers create the best Beach Boys album that Brian Wilson didn't have anything to do with. Could almost pass for 'Pet Sounds II', if there were any songs about surfing and hot rods. But, because he concocted this brew of delectable pop in Boston, the songs are about sidewalks, front door keys, and nightclubs in Cambridge's Central Square. And the basic power pop elements are all here, as well: ringing guitars, catchy melodies, and break-up songs! - The Noise 



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The Davenports - Speaking of the Davenports - 2000

Although immediate comparisons to both Fountains of Wayne and Semisonic come to mind, the Davenports have taken subtle college power pop to an infinitely pleasing level. While Speaking of the Davenports may not be quite as immediate and bracing as records by the two aforementioned artists, all the same tools for success are in place; the lyrics are slightly tongue-in-cheek nostalgic fodder, and the songs are hook-filled and infectious. In the disc's twelve tracks, quite a bit is represented; there's rockin' pop songs like the full-throttle "Object in the Mirror" and "Dog Run" (both of which feature excellent lyrical ideas, as well), ballads like "I'll Come Down" and "Girls Night Out," and excellently-written, unconventional pop songs like "Keep Me Far Away From Gary." Speaking of the Davenports is really another fine debut from another fine band who continue to keep power pop an ever-evolving and thriving subgenre. -AMG



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Peachfuzz - About a Bird - 2003

One of the most enjoyable slices of Los Angeles pop-psych this side of Michael Quercio's Jupiter Affect and the revivified Arthur Lee-plus-Baby Lemonade lineup of Love, the debut album by Peachfuzz is janglefuzzy power pop with all of the genre's best attributes -- deliciously whiny high-register vocals with sweet and sour harmonies that threaten to veer offkey but never quite do, an entire Guitar Center's worth of effects pedals, an appealingly retro worldview -- and none of its all-too-common pitfalls: dull songwriting, flat productions, unimaginative arrangements that make the songs sound even more alike than they really are, and a desire to strain out any audible musical influences that postdate the first Raspberries album. The results aren't world-shattering by any stretch of the imagination, but songs like the soaring "So Why Not Now" and the gloriously straight "Save Us Tammy Faye" are incredibly endearing. For those who always wished the Green Pajamas rocked just a little harder. -AMG



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Out today: Dragontears - Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!!

Dragontears is ready to release their 3rd album following 2000 Micrograms From Home from 2007 and Tambourine Freak Machine from 2008. The album is called Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!! and will be released November 1st on Bad Afro Records on LP/CD and Download.

Dragontears is featuring members of Baby Woodrose and On Trial and this will be the final album in the Dragontears triologi. From now on the freakier and more experimenting parts of main man Lorenzo Woodrose´songwriting, which Dragontears very much represents, will be incorborated into the music on future Baby Woodrose albums.

Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!! contains 6 songs of a very diverse nature of which 4 are in English and two are in Danish language. There is “No Salvation” which can be described as groovy doomsday funk (!?) while “My Friend” is purely accustic. “Time Of No Time” is colourful psycedelic rock with fantastic dual vocals that ends in a drone while “William” is drone all the way through and clocks in at almost 14 minutes.

The theme of the album is doomsday and it is the closest Lorenzo Woodrose has ever been to writing a concept album. He has been inspired by various conspiracy theories and the gloomy lyrics and underlying message can be boiled down to one line from “Time Of No Time”: “The raven is coming, end of transmission”.

Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!! will be released as LP/CD and Download November 1st. First print of 500 copies of the LP will include a free 7” featuring the two exclusive tracks “Astral Flash” and “Space Fuck”.

Listen to ”No Salvation”

Dragontears:
http://www.myspace.com/dragontears2000

Bad Afro Records
Halmtorvet 29, Bygn. 12 A, 1
1700 Copenhagen V
Denmark
www.myspace.com/badafrorecords