Keen power pop fans and garage rock aficionados who’ve been following the Rum Bar label since their early days will know how seriously they take their music. For head honcho Malibu Lou, the label has been an ongoing labour of love, and his bands are his family. Those bands, in turn, appear to look out for each other, and their social media often shows musicians hanging out at each others’ shows. The Rum Bar ethos values heart over perfection, and often feels as if its giving something back to the Boston music scene. The aspect of “giving back” is also why the label has never been shy of issuing free downloads: their album length samplers aren’t just a way of attracting new listeners to great, DIY music they might not have otherwise found, they’re also a celebration of the scene as a larger construct. The label’s Summer ’21 download – ‘XOXOXO Volume One’ – was one of the best free downloads ever. By rounding up a lot of the label’s better known bands and previewing things to come, it felt like a complete experience, enjoyable for committed followers and the curious alike, but this even bigger selection of Rum Bar wares – orchestrated by the guys at Knyvet PR – is pretty much its equal.
Tag Archives: power pop
DANNY THE K – Cigarettes & Silhouettes
Guitarist/vocalist Dan Kopko has been an integral part of the Boston music scene for years. Maybe you’re familiar with him and know his work with bar room rockers Watts – makers of the excellent ‘Black Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ LP. Or maybe you stumbled across him in 2022 with his newer band The Shang Hi Los, delivering catchy power pop. Whatever your experience of Dan’s work, you’ve been guaranteed to find some great tunes along the way.
GAVIN BOWLES & THE DISTRACTIONS – Phoning It In
Sometimes appearances can be deceptive. Sometimes, they really aren’t. If you took one look at the artwork of this album from Gavin Bowles & The Distractions and thought it looked like an early 80s power pop record – aside from the copious facial hair – you wouldn’t be far wrong. Despite being geographically distant from bands like The Nerves, The Look and The Romantics, this Aussie band are totally indebted to a similarly retro sound, and ‘Phoning It In’ is a top grade musical love letter to the much-loved genre.
THE SUMMERTIMES – The Summertimes
During the first quarter of 2023, Australian band The Summertimes introduced themselves via a pair of very enjoyable singles. Both ‘The Perfect Wave’ and ‘Inside’ did a great job of selling the still new band’s power pop/guitar based sound, and on the former, a slice of surf rock embellished a very strong jangle, suggesting that these guys could be capable of a whole range of retro sounds.
TEENAGE FANCLUB – Nothing Lasts Forever
Teenage Fanclub have come a long way from their humble beginnings on the fringes of shoegaze, and looking back, it’s interesting to observe their gradual shift towards a more melodic sound as Norman Blake and Gerard Love matured as song writers. A trio of releases adjacent to Britpop – 1993’s ‘Thirteen’, 1995’s ‘Grand Prix’ and 1997’s ‘Songs From Northern Britain’ – brought major success and enthusiastic press, and it’s easy to hear why. On those records, the band added a world of melody to their guitar dominated sound, creating the almost perfect 60s homage for the delight of 90s music fans. Decades on, they are albums that still stand up among the era’s very best.