The Hangabouts are a retro-pop trio from Michigan, whose music conveys much love from the mid-late 60s, although often recycled on a smaller budget. Given they’ve got a similar musical mindset to so many great musicians – particularly the acoustic side of Fountains of Wayne and the woozy output of DIY outfit The Paul & John – their 2014 release ‘Illustrated Bird’ should be great. However, due to a limited budget that doesn’t always suit their chosen style, it sometimes falls short of the mark. That’s not to say, however, it doesn’t have some great bits.
Tag Archives: power pop
THE NEW TROCADEROS – Frenzy In The Hips
The New Trocaderos comprises three very gifted cult musicians, all of whom should be familiar to listeners who closely follow the power pop/retro pop scenes. The project brings together Kurt Baker, Geoff Palmer and Brad Marino, the latter both members of British Invasion obsessives The Connection. The New Trocs doesn’t actually mark the first time Palmer and Baker have worked together, of course, since they had also backed The Queers’ Wimpy Rutherford on an excellent EP in 2012.
THE BREAKDOWNS – Rock ‘n’ Roller Skates
The Breakdowns are a four piece power pop combo from Nottingham, but despite their roots, can be heard indulging in some very transatlantic sounds. They’ve released a couple of excellent albums (with 2011’s ‘The Kids Don’t Wanna Bop’ being particularly worth seeking out), they’ve supported Ginger Wildheart and each year increases their cult status. 2014’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roller Skates’ [issued early 2015 in the US under the name Los Breakdowns on Rum Bar Records, sometime home of Kurt Baker] takes their previous musical blueprint and polishes it a little, delivering eleven old-style power pop gems in the process.
KURT BAKER – Brand New B-Sides
Following several EPs, new-wave revivalist Kurt Baker released his first full-length LP ‘Brand New Beat’ at the tail-end of 2012. It’s half hour of tunes recalled strong links with Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello and often felt musically familiar, but was not any the less enjoyable for wearing its influences so obviously. The sessions also yielded a truckload of extra material; ‘Want You Around’, an upbeat number featuring Dan Vapid, provided the lead track of a 7” EP (and also appeared as a bonus track on the French CD pressing of ‘Brand New Beat’), backed with three cover tunes, including a spot-on version of Billy Joel’s ‘Sleeping With The Television On’. Discounting these four recordings, Baker was still in possession of an album’s worth of other tunes, most of which were collected on this 2014 release.
JIM BOGGIA – Fidelity Is The Enemy
Following a stint as a jobbing songwriter and working with and/or supporting well-known singer songwriters Juliana Hatfield and Amanda Marshall, power pop performer Jim Boggia delivered a storming full-length debut in 2001. ‘Fidelity Is The Enemy’ takes in many moods during its old fashioned created- for-two-sides-of-vinyl-length forty two minutes. Every one of those moods is as fully realised as the previous, showing Boggia to not only be a strong songwriter, but an arranger of some confidence.