Hey Everyone, Just thought I'd report on some recent releases that have been floating my boat (I know I've already posted about some of these, but didn't think there was any harm in doing it again): Blankety Blank-Is This Your Pill?: This Atlanta combo came out of nowhere as a band who submitted cold for IPO. Yeah, lots of bands these days do modern power pop (especially at IPO), but Blankety Blank is one of the best of the genre I've heard lately. Songs, hooks, good vocals, harmonies, they're all here. www.blanketyblankband.com Chris Church-Let The Echo Decide: Songwriter from North Carolina whose style falls somewhere in between Bill Lloyd and Matthew Sweet. This one definitely snuck up on me, as I kept noticing that all of the hooks were sticking in my head. His backing band is called The Automatic Pilots, I believe. www.jealousy-records.com Jason Falkner-Bliss Descending EP: It's been a long time since the last disc of new Jason Falkner material, but this EP is certainly worth the wait! All the Falkner signatures are here: mind-numbing chord structures, plenty of seamless twists and turns, those strong art rock influences, and that amazing voice. The lead track, "The Neighbor" is definitely my favorite, and probably the most accessible song he's ever done as it utilizes the lost art of constantly repeating the hook line. www.jasonfalkner.com Gail George-Follow Your Bliss EP: Lots of "bliss" going on here! John Borack once described her as sounding a lot like Aimee Mann, and he's not wrong there if you want to leave out all of Mann's vitriol and cursing! Very deep, pretty, heartfelt stuff. Gail wrote all the songs, and had a little help from friends like Tom Richards, Lisa Mychols, and Ricky Tubb of The Waking Hours, and Mike Simmons of Sparkle*jets UK. I would love to hear her do "It's Not Me" acoustically, in a very small room. I guarantee you wouldn't hear a pin drop. www.gailgeorge.com Gingersol-Eastern: Their most beautiful album to date. They always reminded me of a softer Replacements, but on Eastern, Steve Tagliere's vocals take on a worn E kind of feel. www.gingersol.com Hindu Rodeo-Nalladaloobr: A very "80s sounding disc" and, starting with song 2, not unlike the kind of stuff Utopia was doing post Deface The Music, or The Pursuit Of Happiness sans the overtly cheeky lyrics (although Hindu Rodeo is lyrically very interesting, and occasionally very clever). www.hindurodeo.com The Lolas-Something You Oughta Know: Not quite as immediately catchy or filled with as many sudden bursts of unusual chord changes as the first two Lolas albums, but definitely mining some new territory while retaining familiar themes. By the third listen (or maybe the first listen) Lolas fans will probably love it as much as they did the first two discs. Coming out soon on Jam Records. http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/timmeh/lolas_top.html The Privates-S/T: A Nashville band comprised of several members of other Nashville bands, most notably the recently signed Features. Really cool, exciting, manic indie-pop with edgy vocals. It wouldn't suprise me if they follow the fortunes of The Features. They'll be playing IPO Nashville on Monday, March 8. www.theprivates.net Raquel's Boys-Music For The Girl You Love: A wonderfully charming disc on Jam Records, filled with songs that can sort of be characterized as what '60s pop songs would sound like if done by an '80s college radio band; in other words, carefree musical and lyrical themes with somewhat dark overtones. Very cool stuff! I think Beatifics fans will particularly love this one! www.jamrecordings.com RockFour-Nationwide: Many Auditeers know this Israeli band for their unique, dynamic combination of psychedelic-era Byrds meets the haze of early Pink Floyd meets Freakbeat! Probably their most accessible album to date, though don't get me wrong: it's still marked by complex arrangements and like Jason Falkner, is able to mesh disparate structures into seamless wholes. Coming out in March, on Rainbow Quartz. www.rockfour.com www.rainbowquartz.com Rob Smith-Better World Tomorrow: The second solo album by a member of one of the most beloved power pop bands ever to come out of Australia, The Innocents. Like the first one, Better World Tomorrow is unfailingly upbeat, optimistic, and innocent, very much like late '70s Rubinoos albums or Meet Ed James. Suffice it to say that if you like those, you'll love Better World Tomorrow. www.robsmith.com.au Wilshire-New Universe: The latest disc by the duo of Lori and Micah Wilshire. This is a "real guilty" pleasure for me, as it's got so many of those major label trappings I don't connect with, like glossy production, safe, antiseptic melody lines, and that faux angst-ridden tear in Lori Wilshire's voice. But I just can't deny the exquisite harmonies, catchy choruses, and obvious musical chemistry this couple has, not unlike the softer material Roxette used to do. Though they're originally from Nashville they now reside in L.A., and are doing a residency at Hotel Cafe every Wednesday this month. I definitely plan on being there next week. www.wilshiremusic.com Hey! It's A Teenacide Pajama Party!: Compilation of L.A. girl bands organized by Jim Freek, who is definitely in line to carry the torch of *the* L.A. music scenster whenever Rodney Bingeheimer decides to pass it along (as if that's ever going to happen!). Anyone who knows Mr. Freek won't be surprised by the large content of '60s influenced punky pop sounds herein; a lot of these tunes are really good, and ""Feelin' Alright" (not the oft-covered '60s rock tune) by Stimulator is absolutely transcendent. If you're into that kind of sound, you need to check this out! www.teenaciderecords.com Reissues: Bill Fay-From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock: A collection of demos and outtakes circa '66-'70s by a British songwriter who was known for his dark, sometimes disturbing tunes on his two albums. This stuff is more subdued, somewhere in between Dylan and maybe early Cat Stevens, with minimal production. Really pretty stuff, which does serve as a portent of things to come. On the awesome reissue label, Tenth Planet. The Shivvers-Til The Word Gets Out: The Shivvers were a Milwaukee-based band from the early '80s, featuring the great pipes of Jill Kossoris. If you like vintage power pop, this stuff is the sh*t!! Twenty-four would-be hits in all! Their drummer was Jim Richardson, who I believe is the same guy who Shoes used for both of their IPO performances. I've recently contacted the band about doing a reunion show at IPO, and hopefully it can happen someday. Thank you to Chuck Warner of Hyped To Death for sending this to me. www.hyped2death.com Steam-Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye: Yeah, the title song was a #1 hit in 1969, and even if you're not over 40 you've heard it blared at several sporting events, particularly at White Sox games after somebody hit a home run. The success of the title track tended to help obscure the fact that this is a really good pop/bubblegum/soul LP. Unfortunately, they had the annoying habit of starting out several of the tracks with the same opening as the title track, which ain't gonna get you much credibility with the music critics, not that this kind of music ever did, anyway. On Repertoire. Twin Engine-S/T: The duo of former member of The Poor, Randy Naylor, and L.A. musician Constantine Gusias. This is among the sweetest country-rock I've ever heard, kinda similar to the countrier side of Bread or Curt Boettcher, and the fact that Boettcher's co-Millennium member Joey Stec produced this album might explain some of that. One of the songs on the album "The Time Is Now", was also recorded by someone else, and it's really bugging me that I can't think of it. If any of you have actually gotten this far without hating me, and know who else recorded this song, please let me know offlist. www.revola.co.uk -- Lots of pop rules!!!!! Take Care, David