(this short note below is repeated each day for those missed previous days)
I’m getting ready to release the latest installment in the “Best Power Pop” CD compilation yearly series in about a month. Each year I do something different and hopefully fun, adding an element of discovery to the process of the promotion of the latest in the series. Regardless of whether one decides to purchase the CD(and all its crazy, over-the-top bonuses), I try set up each day to be an experience, a pleasure rabbit hole to go down and encounter new music from the present and past that you might have missed – or just were not aware of.
By the end of the 7 days, you’ll have some great new discoveries and you will have been able to check out some of the 61 artists appearing on this year’s 3-CD set. You’ll hear about ordering it and the extra special package connected to it at the end of these seven days. But leave that all aside…let’s have some fun below!
So, to summarize – Three Sections. THE PRESENT and THE PAST and THE VIDEOS.
Scroll on and let’s continue on this journey with Day Three!
(if you missed, Day One – click HERE)
(if you missed, Day Two – click HERE)
Each day I’ll be spotlighting 4 bands that are appearing on the upcoming “Best Power Pop of 2018” release coming out in next month(October). Step right in, get to know some of the finer power pop artists of the last few years. Here’s the next batch of featured artists.
BILL LLOYD
Official Bio Which Everyone Should Know: Bill Lloyd is a Nashville based songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer who is most often remembered as half of the late ‘80’s RCA country-rock duo, Foster and Lloyd. Lloyd’s diverse musical activities include working as a producer (ranging from Carl Perkins to MTV reality show indie-rockers, The Secret), a session player (from Brit-pop icons like Ray Davies of The Kinks and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze to country legends like Buck Owens and Steve Earle), a sideman (Poco, Marshall Crenshaw and with Cheap Trick when they perform The Beatles Sgt. Pepper with orchestra) and as a songwriter (with songs cut by Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Keith Anderson, Hootie and the Blowfish and many more). He has recorded a string of critically acclaimed solo records that blend his melodic power pop sensibility with finely tuned song craft. During his three-year stint as the Stringed Instrument Curator at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, he created the quarterly series Nashville Cats, that he continues to host. He’s the music director for the First Amendment Center in Nashville. He also organized and plays in Nashville’s high concept cover band, The Long Players recently profiled on NPR’s All Things Considered.
A Personal Note From Bill: Hmmm. A paragraph or two about me..okay then! Fans of power pop might know some of my records as I’ve made a bunch of them over the years..and I’ve had a surge of output in just the last few years. I’ve lived in Nashville since 1982. It’s a town that values songs of all kinds which as led my career in a crooked path but I love the bends in the road. Music has been my job and that’s a dream come true. There are aspects of the power-pop sound in some of the music I’ve done in the country format and there’s a kind of singer-songwriter aspect to what I do that’s not always a part of a lot of power pop I hear so I guess that’s where I land in the “name that genre game”. I
My discography goes back to the mid-80’s so there are a lot of records I’ve made. Many songs written for others, appearances on compilations, appearances with other artists as a player or singer (Cheap Trick/Ray Davies/Marshall Crenshaw and Ringo are some of my favorites to quote). Please check it out if you feel like going down the rabbit hole! My most recent records have been on the Spyderpop Records label and on my own Whole In One records label. I urge you to check out the music. It’s a joy for me and I hope for you too.
https://www.facebook.com/billlloydmusic/
http://www.petschemusic.com/store/label/spyderpop-records/
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/bill-lloyd/253823
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THE GENUINE FAKES
“The Genuine Fakes are proof of Sweden’s seemingly inexhaustible font of pop genius. Hitting all the right marks, they walk you thru the major required classes in the school of pop — chime, harmony, sparkle, and melody 101… surely these guys are on their way to being tenured professors in pop’s university.” – Ken Stringfellow, The Posies
Powerpopaholic rated Issues 9/10:
“Even With You” is a very good start with its quick tempo melody, requisite guitar rhythm and harmonies. The positive vibes of “Everywhere and All Around” recall The Wellingtons or David Myhr, as the band stretches its emotional and musical range. The band works on both the soft and hard sides of the power pop spectrum, “Wither Away” is a lovely flowing melody and a highlight that will have you singing along. On “I Won’t Be Home Tonight” Johan offers a very Jellyfish-like a bit of contrarian advice, about going out to see your favorite band and it’s brilliant. “In Color” gets a little heavier with bombastic riffs in the arena-like chorus, all about a soldier looking at a black and white photo as his thoughts drift. “My Very Best,” “In It For The Chase” and “Sorry” are additional highlights that hit the mark. Hard to argue that this shouldn’t fit somewhere on my top ten list. Super highly recommended.
Also, a bit of news for next year from the band – ‘Work has begun on a third album, so look for more music in 2020″
https://thegenuinefakes.bandcamp.com/
http://thegenuinefakes.com
https://facebook.com/thegenuinefakes
https://www.youtube.com/thegenuinefakes
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HOT NUN
Imagine you’re at a weekend kegger and Judas Priest and The Archies are jammin out to some Cheap Trick while Bob Mould and the McDonald brothers from Redd Kross chime in. Yeah….something like that.
San Francisco power pop veteran Jeff Shelton started HOT NUN in 2012 with former Headslide bandmate Braden McGraw. The two set out to rehearse and record tracks in summer of of that year, and by the release of the band’s eponymous self-titled debut in 2013 the band had solidified as a regular Bay Area live act. While HOT NUN survived only a year as a live band, Shelton continued to write and record new tracks in between stints in his regular studio gig as the Well Wishers and also as a new member of San Francisco band Trip Wire. The result – after a long-anticipated five year wait – is the brand new Born To Blaze EP chock full of even more balls-to-the-wall guitar and break-neck drums than the 2013 debut. Equal parts hard rock and power pop, Born To Blaze packs a serious one-two punch of full throttle guitar rock with ample doses of melodic hooks and pop vocal flourishes that Shelton has become known for in his 25+ year career as a purveyor of hard-driving power pop.
WELL WISHERS – https://thewellwishers.bandcamp.com/
HOT NUN – https://hotnun.bandcamp.com/
*all tracks are streamable at these links
THE SPINDLES
The Chicago-based Spindles “Past and Present” cd features original melodic power pop and classic covers, with guest appearances by members of the Elvis Brothers, the Romantics, and Jay and the Americans. Mixed and mastered by Grammy award winner Blaise Barton. Named to 7 “Best of 2018 Power Pop” lists! Available through Amazon, Apple/ITunes, Bandcamp, CD Baby, Kool Kat Musik, Spotify, and other retailers. Pick up a copy of the Spindles’ new vinyl 45 single through their website: thespindlesband.com!
“The Spindles are here to bring power pop (back) to the people!” – Goldmine
“This has it all: great songs, killer hooks, superb performances!” – Pop Rock Record
“Jangly Goodness!” – International Pop Overthrow
“A great slice of pop/rock!” – Vine Voice
“An entertaining mix of new material and classic covers!” – Broken Hearted Toy
“Glorious melodic entertainment!” – Jangle Pop Hub
“Highly recommended!” – Powerpopaholic
The Spindles Bandcamp link: thespindlesbandchicago.bandcamp.com
The Spindles Spotify link:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3cTcP1BGJGHU21tN24UAOS?nd=1
The Spindles Apple/ITunes link:
itunes.apple.com/gb/album/past-and-present/id1387594291
The Spindles website: thespindlesband.com
The Spindles Facebook page: facebook.com/The-Spindles-347564799410600/
CAR CITY
Car City is a group of poppy punk misfits from WI who came together to churn out a healthy slab of good old Midwestern jangly power pop. Here are 9 cuts to crank up to 11! Car City features plenty of big guitars, soaring organ hooks, and harmonies galore. Like a donut left out in the garage too long. It’s sweet and satisfying but kind of tainted and you wonder if you should be eating it. Rodney Bingenheimer selected the lead off tune “Connecting the Dots” to play on an edition of his “Rodney on the Rock” show on Sirius XM Underground Garage channel which leads one to believe it’s a pretty cool sounding track.
“Front to back, wall to sonic wall power pop goodness…” – Power Pop News
“…Weezer on anti-depressants, a slightly dissonant melody rich concoction that delivers…” Poprock Record
“Steadfastly midtempo poppy rock numbers – melodic but rarely over catchy one supposes this lends them a modicum of soul-felt authenticity…” Razorcake
Get news on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/carcityband/
Stream samples and buy vinyl at http://pmrc.bandcamp.com/album/car-city
Pick up the CD at Kool Kat – Click HERE
There are THREE parts to each day in ‘the past’ section.
The first part is a re-presentation of a promotion from 2 1/2 years ago called ‘the music discovery experience‘(what can I say, it’s a theme for me – ‘discovery‘) Each day there will be one folder for you to download. In each folder, there will be 5/6 songs of different varieties and sub-genres of the power pop genre, spanning the 60s-00s. These songs are truly off the normal track and go deep.
CLICK HERE to download “MDE – Day 3”
(there are six great ‘finds’ in this folder)
The second part is various fun tracks from the (mostly) 70s and 80s that are rare, unreleased and hard to find or completely unavailable. For the next seven days, I’m calling it…DISCOVERY DAYS. The folders that you will see from each day are similar to the ones right above here. These songs, though, I’ve pulled together just this last week, poring over almost a thousand other tracks before arriving at these. Going deep, going good.
Discovery. Let’s begin.
CLICK HERE to download “Discovery Days – Day 3”
The third part is even easier. If you have the time and inclination, just watch some of the videos I’ve pulled in from over the past 8 years of Pop Geek Heaven video activity.
As always, I leave this kind of activity from me with a simple request….ENJOY.
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So you payin’ attention, ‘ole friend?! Going through these posts and enjoying the Discovery Journey? Well, right on! Here’s some extra tuneage, which if you are new to these parts in the last 3 years or so, you’ve not seen. This is from some years back when I was going through the archives of my entire 20+ year music business journey(not even including the years I worked in the music biz in L.A. in the 80s). Not Lame Recordings released over 120 CDs and distributed well over 5,000 indie power pop-oriented artists and small labels in its time(1994-2010). Catch a small bit of that legacy here. There was so much that I was just sharing and giving away for the only reason of ‘keeping the music from these great artists alive’. Keep the Fire Burning, Pop Fans!
(note: this link will only be live during these Discovery Days)
CLICK HERE for even more
