Pop Geek Heaven

  =================================================== Secret Friend: Sleeper Steven Fox’ trans-Pacific collaboration continues, involving Willie Wisely, Kelly Jones, and Linus of Hollywood. Fox writes and plays most instruments, but what sets this band apart is the unusually rich tapestry of textures and the inventive melodies. There are more hooks in a Secret Friend song than on most bands’ […]

TITANIC “Ballad of a Rock ‘n Roll Loser” [linebreak style=”25.png”]   I am half-Scandinavian. My maternal grandmother was Swedish and my maternal grandfather was Danish. To my knowledge, this has had zero effect on my tastes in pop music—I was raised on American AM radio. Still, though, I have had some curiosity about Scandinavian bands. […]

JANGLE ON! FEBRUARY by Eric Sorsensen Where has the time gone?  It’s hard to believe that I haven’t written this column in over three months.  Thankfully, highly reliable power pop sources (the Powerpopaholic website; Kool Kat Musik; and Ray Verno – who is the Houdini of unearthing jangly music on the INTERNET) have kept my […]

GRAPEFRUIT “Around Grapefruit” [linebreak style=”25.png”] Most pop fans have at least a basic familiarity with the bands that were signed to Apple Records in the late ’60s and no doubt those bands profited greatly from that connection, at least in terms of buzz and profile. Nearly everyone knows Badfinger, Mary Hopkin and Billy Preston and […]

THE HOMBRES “Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)” [linebreak style=”25.png”]   One of my favorite quotes about rock music comes from an interview I heard with Tom Petty. He said, “The important thing to keep in mind about rock ’n’ roll is that none of it was ever meant to be any good.” […]