Ryan Roxie has been an important figure on the hard rock/glam rock scene since the mid eighties. He first became a cult figure as a member of Candy, a power pop band he joined just before their demise and whose sole album – ‘Whatever Happened To Fun’ – was given a belated CD release in 2012 (stick with your vinyl though – the “remastered” CD sounds genuinely horrible). As Candy morphed into the underrated Electric Angels in 1990 he remained as guitarist, before forming the cheekily titled Dad’s Porno Mag – a Cheap Trick/Enuff Z’Nuff hybrid with some great tunes – nearer the end of the decade. A huge chunk of his work in the noughties and beyond has been devoted to his own bands Roxie 77 and Casablanca, as well as time spent with the Alice Cooper band. Following the release of Casablanca’s second album ‘Riding a Black Swan’ – a really solid hard rock affair – Roxie resurrected the long-rested Roxie 77 to record a single. The writing sessions were fruitful and what was intended as a single quickly became a six track EP. ‘Ameriswede’ is the result – and it’s a corker.
Tag Archives: power pop
SUNRISE HIGHWAY – Windows
Sunrise Highway’s self-titled album (independently released in 2010) struck a chord with a few power pop fans. Although not a patch on the sole album from the sadly missed Oranjuly, it had a homespun appeal and some of the tunes (‘Life on Mars’, especially) showed great promise. Four years on, their ‘Windows’ full length was picked up for wider distribution by Kool Kat Musik (home of DIY singer-songwriter Stephen Lawrenson, Cleaners From Venus etc). For those expecting more of the lighter tones of that earlier record – particularly the jauntier Brian Wilson/Jellyfish inspired piano tunes – ‘Windows’ may come as a disappointment.
SHERBERT – 2013 Never Happened
Following a couple of digital downloads, Nashville alt-pop band Sherbert released a five song EP ‘This Never Happened’ in the summer of 2013. With a host of influences taken from the Boston “scene” of the late 80s/early 90s, its shimmering pop qualities meshed with a grubby edge in a way that would surely please the younger Tanya Donelly. A few months later, they dropped a second EP ‘Stupid Hat’, largely constructed of more of the same…choosing not to tinker with what seems, essentially, a perfectly good musical formula.
New Xmas track available from The Connection
To kick off that Christmas spirit, New Hampshire’s premier garage band The Connection (featuring the almost legendary Geoff Useless) have some festive cheer for you. A new track ‘Christmas Time Again’ can be streamed (for free) and/or downloaded (for a measly $1) from the official Connection store, via the link below.
NICK CAPALDI – The Golden Summer EP
On his 2012 full-length LP ‘A Shade of Orange’, Dorset based singer-songwriter Nick Capaldi championed a whole world of sixties pop and rock influences with stunning results. Whether tackling the R&B grit of ‘You Ain’t No Woman To Me’, the hard beating soul of ‘Read Into Me’ or the sun-filled, Hollies-influenced pure pop of ‘You As an Island’, one thing was obvious: he was an artist to watch. His follow up release, the 2013 EP ‘The Golden Summer’ proves that Capaldi is more than just a one-shot deal, its four original songs equally as good as anything on the debut.