Tag Archives: power pop

Parks & Recreation: Real Gone meets Brian E. King

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In 2010, an unexpected power pop gem appeared in the release schedules by an unknown band named Oranjuly.  The release played almost like a history of power pop, pulling influence from Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, Jellyfish and Weezer on a strong set of songs.  A year or so passed and we hadn’t heard much from the Oranjuly camp at all…until multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter Brian E. King re-appeared in a band named Parks.  In the autumn of 2014, Real Gone caught up with Brian to find out what happened to the Oranjuly project and why they seemed destined to a be a one album deal.

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ABSENT FRIENDS: Mark Bacino

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As part of our “catching up” series, Real Gone caught up with Mark Bacino, last seen in our columns in 2011.

Bacino gained some positive notices in the power pop community with his third full-length release ‘Queen’s English’, a mature album that moved away from his previous bubblegum styles and bought more Billy Joel and Randy Newman influences to the fore.  It was a concept album of sorts about growth and family, the album shared Bacino’s love of New York.  We hoped for a similarly classy follow-up, but the years passed and nothing appeared.  

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ABSENT FRIENDS: Oranjuly

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With Real Gone celebrating its fifth anniversary in November 2014, we thought it would be a good time to catch up with a few faces and bands not featured in our columns for some time.  Bands move on, bands split, bands plough on…  In a first instalment of an ongoing series, we caught up with Brian E. King, mastermind behind Oranjuly to find out about his current activities.

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EDWARD O’CONNELL – Vanishing Act

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Edward O'ConnellSinger-songwriter Edward O’Connell released his debut album  in 2010 to unanimous approval from power pop/retro pop aficionados. As for the world at large, the album did indeed remain ‘Our Little Secret’. While all of the influences were worn blatantly upon his sleeve  – literally, too: the front cover parodied Nick Lowe’s ‘Jesus of Cool’, the rear paid a gentler homage to Tom Petty’s ‘Damn The Torpedoes’ – O’Connell’s gift for melody shone brightly through each of the album’s songs and the love for his forebears couldn’t be any more flattering.

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