When you land in Oslo, take the Road to Ruin until you get to The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus. Look for the sign that says “Rum Bar Records”. There, you’ll find The Yum Yums and their new bubblegum-pop-punk LP entitled Poppin’ Up Again.  A follow up to the outstanding For Those About to Pop, Poppin’ Up Again has all the earmarks of its predecessor – high energy, great harmonies and big hooks. Seventeen tracks in all (all pretty much about girls), the boys from Norway never let up on the gas pedal. It’s a great escape from these troubled times. Bubblegum Pop On Speed “Vitamin ..read more

In the mid 70’s, The Shirts could be heard routinely at CBGBs and other NYC clubs. The band’s single “Tell Me Your Plans” would earn them the coveted “big in Japan” label – although in this case, it was The Netherlands. From that initial single through 4 more LPs, including 2006’s The Tiger Must Jump, founding member Arthur Lamonica, was there. Now in 2024, he’s back with his wife Kathy and a new band (sorta). Rome 56’s Paradise Is Free is a collection of a dozen pop songs, one catchier than the next.  Secret Agent Pop With overtones of mystery and international intrigue, The Man Behind ..read more

Our familiarity with Dave Hill and Valley Lodge goes all the way back to 2013’s Use Your Weapons. Hill is a stand up comic and an author, too. With all that, he may be best known as the man who wrote the theme song to This Week Tonight with John Oliver. His band’s latest, Shadows In Paradise is out now on Tee Pee records. With an impressive and diverse body of work, It’s a wonder Hill isn’t better known by now. That is, until you perform an online search for “Valley Lodge”. The first entry is a paid opportunity to book your reservations right now!  The name isn’t exactly seo friendly. Bu ..read more

2023’s The Last Rock Band was in our end of year top 20. Ryan Allen’s What a Rip was our top power pop album of 2021. Needless to say, expectations are high when a new Extra Arms record comes out. And their latest does not disappoint. RADAR has all the requisite punch, big hooks and guitar buzz fans have come to expect from the band. The album starts off with adrenaline soaked “Be Someone Else”, a song that draws its inspiration from the late 70’s punkier side of Elvis Costello. “Everything Disappears” is equally as engaging as it hangs on a great guitar hook and shout along backing vocals. T ..read more

One of Philadelphia’s best is back with his sixth full length album. We liked 2022’s Julee plenty. But Dave Cope’s latest, Hidden From the World, is more of a hooky, power pop effort than the last couple of releases. Not only are the choruses catchy and harmonies engaging but you’ll hear a few things you may never have heard before. Saz’s All, Folks! The opening track, “All Alright”, starts out with a wandering radio dial until suddenly we hear the buzz of a guitar. When the 70’s hair band inspired “All Alright” kicks in (and I do mean KICKS in), we begin a roller coaster ride with Dave at th ..read more

Is there a genre called “extra-terrestrial rock”? If so, Sal Baglio has mastered it. The Amplifierheads’ latest release, They Came to Rock, was created as a soundtrack to a rock opera about an alien invasion. It’s a trip through space and time – emphasis on trip. And it’s outta this world good. The talent involved in the project is a musical “A” list. There’s Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention), Tom West (Peter Wolf), Jen D’Angora and Dan Kopko (Shanghi Los), Barrence Whitfield, Richard Hilton (Nile Rogers Band) and Henley Douglas Jr. (The Henley Douglas Group, HDRnB). The album is a ..read more

The opening track of Wesley Fuller’s new one, All Fuller, No Filler, best expresses its reason for being. His career momentum, accelerated by the release of Inner City Dreams, stalled during the pandemic as he was unable to tour or play locally. Detached from the Melbourne scene and adrift after having ended a relationship, Fuller was indeed “Back To Square One”. This track, like much of the album, has a 70’s retro or psych pop feel to it. Abundant hooks and sing along choruses make All Fuller, No Filler a memorable listening experience. Prime Australian Power Pop Based on a Melbourne train ..read more

People choose to mourn in any number of ways. With the passing of Denny Laine this past December, the guys in Popdudes decided to get together and record a few of his classic songs. “We just thought it would make us feel better about Denny’s recent passing to do some of our favorite Wings songs that featured him. We knocked this out in a few days.”  The end result is The Denny Laine EP, a 5 song selection of covers representing some of Laine’s most enduring work. Performed by music veterans John Borack, Michael Simmons, Addison Love and Stephen Alva, the EP provides us the opportunity to ..read more

Back in 2021, The Decibels’ Brent Seavers released his first solo album. BS Stands For Brent Seavers was so good that it ended up as the #2 album on our end of the year “best of” list. Having mastered the sounds of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s, it seems that Seavers can write a memorable pop hook in his sleep. And his lyrical content is just as strong. His latest, Exhibit B, picks up where BS left off. Fate Gets It Wrong The album busts out of the gate with “Roller Coaster Ride”, a slice of 60’s pop rock that’ll make you hold on tight as he sings his way through this analogy for a rough ..read more

Paul Collins is back with a new one – a retrospective, really. The album takes the title of its opening track, a Nerves song written back in the day by Jack Lee. As such, it’s the perfect name for an album that looks back on a career that has spanned nearly 50 years. Amazingly, his sound never gets old. Paul has always had a keen sense of both marketing and context. He was smart enough to assign himself the moniker “King of Power Pop” a few years back – which is fitting. He is part of power pop royalty having been in The Nerves. And if the King of Power Pop decides to look ..read more