Power pop
PREMIERE: Matthew & the Mainstream lament the one that got away on ‘Can’t Believe (You’re Living With Him)’
He probably had to sit on that car for a bit to get the right shot (see above), but the LA-based Matthew Lurie has been sitting on his second album as Matthew & the Mainstream for far longer. For context: the initial seeds that bloomed into the 10-track record were planted back in 2017 at …
Track: The blistering power pop of The Deenys sees the release of the hyperkinetic ‘Lonely Paradise’ with a vibrant anthemic stomp. Plus launch date announced.
From the current home of power pop in Perth, the most isolated city in the world, bursts the vibrant rock and roll thunder of The Deenys with their punky new single ‘Lonely Paradise’. With an undeniable genetic connection to the cheeky chappie rock of Supergrass through to the attitude and swagger of the Arctic Monkeys …
Track: Western Australian power pop maestros Rinehearts release the electrifying chiming sounds of ‘Powerlines’ ahead of new album and live gigs.
Resplendent in a coat of many chimes, the new single ‘Powerlines’ from Western Australian band Rinehearts positively bursts through the speakers and showers you in sunshine and joy. With a chorus that’s as towering and awe inspiring as the trees in the Valley of the Giants and a wall of jangling shimmering guitars, there is …
Track: The Prize Release Single Off Upcoming Debut EP
The Prize Don’t Want To Take ‘The Easy Way Out’
News: Indie power pop royalty Sunnyboys announce Australian tour in July.
The appropriately named Sunnyboys – the band that possibly did more to bring indie guitar music in a power pop guise into the mainstream in the eighties in Australia than other band – have announced an Australia wide tour. They will be supported by the venerable Even in Sydney and Melbourne while former Screaming Tribesman …
Album Review: Luke Seymoup’s ‘Tales of Suburban Angst’ is an effervescent collection of power pop punk gems.
We met Luke Seymoup with the release of the single ‘Paint’ – a gloriously hyperactive piece of power pop – and he has now released the album ‘Tales of Suburban Angst’. Seymoup has continued with what he started out with: a collection of danceable, anthemic pop gems that glisten and sparkle with a self-deprecating sense …
Track: Sydney’s power pop maestros The Nature Strip return to the fray with a bit of essential ‘Surgery’ and a launch gig.
It’s been a while since The Nature Strip brightened our world with their brand of quirky, intelligent power pop (last seen back in 2018 with the EP ‘Past Pacific’, reviewed by me here). In the intervening time, however, they haven’t really left us at all – John Encarnacao’s Warmer project and Pete Marley’s Marveline project …
Track: New Zealand power popsters The Beths unveil ebullient fizzy single with a dark message ‘A Real Thing’, and announce signing to Ivy League Records.
New Zealand band The Beths‘ ability to delivery frenetic ebullient pop is never more evident than in their endearing new single ‘A Real Thing’: a powerhouse of a track that bubbles and sparkles like an opened bottle of shaken fizz. There is an almost naïve delivery, certainly a low-fi blitz and a dash of yearning …
Live Review: Pastiche / T A D H G – Upstairs at Whelans, Dublin 11.11.2021, plus galleries
In the intimate upstairs at Whelans, two future pop stars peddled their significant wares to a enthusiastic sold out crowd. Opening up was singer-songwriter T A D H G, who played a half hour set on the piano, sounding and performing a bit like Elton John, as if there were ever a better compliment. T …
See: Novelty Island invites you to his Mersey archipelago for the baroque piano pop of ‘Listen’
NOVELTY ISLAND, much like Coral Island but not so much Hilbre Island, though that’s weird in its own way, is part of the mythical archipelago of offshore Liverpudlian islands of the musical mind. Castaway under a solitary palm on this particular shore, with a whole Bond-villain musical laboratory accessible through a hidden hatch, is the …