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Nothingeveris
Price: $14.00
Artist:
Armchair Oracles
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL! “Nothingeveris” is Norway’s Armchair Oracles’ fourth overall release and their second on the Kool Kat label. It’s already garnered some advance rave reviews! “Each outing from the Armchair Oracles unveils another glorious facet of their versatile and adaptable style. Whether it be an added layer of harmony, a punk rock approach to the rhythm, or a heavier vibe with the groove, this Norwegian powerhouse have it all covered. Indeed, ‘Nothingeveris’ is the sound of a band who know their strengths in and out but are also not afraid to leap in new directions, their quintessential offering so far.” – Tom Hilton/Aldora Britain Records “Another superb album from a band whose qualities should be more widely recognized if this was a fair world. Armchair Oracles battle on with a constant in every record: the utmost care they take in creating melodies that Harry Nilsson and Brian Wilson, two of their main sources of inspiration, would be proud of (check their homage to both artists on the song ‘Nilsson Wilson’.” – Pop Phil/RateYourMusic “Although centered around the 90’s pop rock explosion, the band can be anything that you want them to be from 70’s gentleness to Teenage Fanclub 90’s. From The Posies to AOR and with large slabs of power pop, everything is so damn catchy. ‘Nothingeveris’ is an album to listen through from start to finish and then to start again. It is a fantastic example of how uplifting pop rock can be. Completely Outstanding!” – I Don’t Hear A Single ‘‘Nilsson Wilson’ is a lush pop-rock offering...the vibe is very Rogue Wave meets Al Stewart.” - Pop Rock Record GREAT!!
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Look Into It
Price: $16.00
Artist:
Bill Lloyd
Description:
“Look Into It” is Bill Lloyd’s first release since 2018’s “Working The Long Game”! “‘Working The Long Game’ was evidence that Bill Lloyd hasn’t lost a thing. In fact, he’s gotten better with time. That brings us to his new one entitled ‘Look Into It’. In Bill’s words’ ‘On this new record I let myself kinda explore…..there’s actually a reggae song on this new record. I love that reggae, trance – what do they call it, rub-a-dub style.’ The track ‘Don’t Watch Me (Watch Yourself)’ is one of several diversions from the norm on the record. ‘Game Show Stars of the 70’s’ is a spoken word recollection of the genre’s TV characters. ‘In The Wind’ is a piece Lloyd wrote with The Cars’ Elliot Easton during covid. ‘Aroma Dollarhead’ can best be described as (using Lloyd’s own words) ‘a Shel Silverstein on acid kinda thing…it’s a big rock sound on it’. Not many excel at hanging clever, memorable lyrical content on truly engaging, sing along melodies. With ‘Keep The Place Clean’, ‘Half Mast’ and “The After Party Party”, he reminds us that he’s one of those few who can. Written years ago with Pete and Maura Kennedy, it’s a song about a stalker who isn’t looking for a victim but rather someone to clean house for him. As for ‘Half Mast’, “That song was written this past spring….I had some time in the hotel room. That’s what that came out of. John Prine had passed at that point. He’s always been a big influence. That was a nod to John’. Highly recommended” - Power Pop News EXCELLENT!!
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The Crack and The Light
Price: $16.00
Artist:
CMON CMON
Description:
CMON CMON didn't intend to make an album, let alone release it. Why? Because the Belgian trio had been there before, two decades ago as college students. Reformed for fun rather than fame, with a new name and different aims, but with as much love of harmony-soaked, melodic rock as ever, their plan to put the music first is already paying dividends. One listen to the band's addictive, dreamy, storytelling songs shows why. Joyous, jangly lead single “The Summers We Missed”, with its sumptuous harmonies and debt to early Lemonheads, captures both the laid-back spirit of the band and their tales of life experience as opposed to first love. “Say What It Means” is another jangly rocker. “All of the tracks are based on true stories. Their darkness is tempered by hope, starting with the echoing guitars ‘Say What It Means’. There’s a sense of melancholy about it, with pleading, soulful vocals on a bed of psych-folk-rock. ‘My Heroes’ explores the concept of fallen idols and letting yourself down through driving, urgent indie rock. ‘The Summers We Missed’ is infused with bright nostalgia and vibrant storytelling that means it proves to be a highlight. ‘Black Holes’ is dreamy and punctuated with bluesy guitar licks. ‘Sundays’ is soaring indie rock. ‘Way Down’ sits at the heart of the album and brings a reflective opening that quickly melts away into a lively groove. It’s another highlight. ‘Waiting’ is jangly and pacy while ‘Nothing On The Radio’ speaks of the dark side of love, inspired by watching people arguing in cars. ‘Can You Take It?’ plods along with a gentle acoustic arrangement. ‘I Don’t Know’ brims with bright optimism. ‘New Orleans’ closes the album with expansive and atmospheric Americana-infused rock. A charming effort from a band with a sound that is very easy to get into. The joy the trio get from performing music is evident here. Fans of classic melodic rock like The Travelling Wilburys and R.E.M. will find a lot to love about this.” - YorkCalling.co.uk GREAT!!
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Patchwork (Expanded)
Price: $16.00
Artist:
Dropkick
Description:
With the addition of 13(!) previously unreleased tracks, what better time (if you already haven’t) to re-discover this brilliant 2008 release by Edinburgh’s Dropkick! They specialize in the kind of breezy pop melodies that bring to mind the likes of Attic Lights and Teenage Fanclub. “Their alternative-country sound is strewn with sing-alongs and they indulge in vocal harmonies that would make Brian Wilson blush. The prominent use of pedal steel guitars and banjo also lends a strong Americana feel to the record. ‘Nowhere Girl’” opens things at a gentle pace, before the driving power-pop of the excellent ‘Breakdown’ kicks-in. There are pop hooks aplenty and a breezy vibe which is perfect for when the sun’s out. ‘Where I’m From’ revels in folksy sentiments as the banjo plucks away in the background and ‘Listen To You’ has some lovely harmonica flourishes. Title track also works well and has more of a power-pop element to it than, say, the relaxed country of ‘The State That Remains’. ‘Patchwork’ is certainly a strong collection of tunes, which could be down to the fact that the band features three songwriters- brothers Alastair and Andrew Taylor along with the unrelated Roy W Taylor. One of the best things about their sound is the quality of their harmonizing vocals as all the band members possess strong, distinct voices. If you have a penchant for laid-back Americana then Dropkick are your band.” - Is This Music? “With its laid back Crazy Horse-like groove, ‘Making Time To Talk’ would sit quite comfortably alongside Neil Young’s ‘Cowgirl In The Sand’ and ‘Down By The River’, with ‘What’s Going On’ being it’s closest companion, in a more country-fied way. Had Gene Clark been able to overcome his fear of flight and stuck around when Gram Parsons joined, I’m sure ‘Nowhere Girl’ and ‘Where I’m From’ might’ve easily been The Byrds’ tunes with the two of them fronting. Of course, some of their Glaswegian soulmates are pretty hard not to mention, with songs like the title track, track, ‘Breakdown’ or ‘More Pleasant To The Ear’ having the spirits of Francis McDonald, Norman Blake, Daniel Wylie or Duglas T. Stewart flying all around.” - Popdiggers GREAT!!
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Gentlemen Thieves
Price: $14.00
Artist:
Emperor Penguin
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL! “He’s got a reputation as a gentlemen thief, smashing up the kitchen with a rose between his teeth…” Just as following the Julian, as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar might lead to a difference of opinion on when Christmas Day falls (currently two weeks earlier), you may not know or even agree whether what you will shortly be able to hear is the sixth, or the seventh album release from Emperor Penguin ‘Gentlemen Thieves’. With its four members comprising two representatives of the Yorkshire Irish diaspora, a West Country peasant and the distant scion of a Scottish clan Chieftain, they’ve spent the last six years building on their founding mandate to provide the missing link between The Ramones and XTC. Their records and accompanying gigs have cultivated their reputations as musical and lyrical smart-arses and a searing live band. Their newest release on the Kool Kat Musik label finds them casting themselves in the role of Gentlemen Thieves, a literary and folkloric tradition of “bad boys with charm, and a veneer of manners masking their misdeeds” which runs from the legendary posh and thuggish Elizabethan “Cursed Crew” through the Mohocks and Nickers of Georgian London, via the 20th Century tales of Raffles, to the alleged delusions of grandeur of more recent criminal masterminds. Like all their albums, “Gentlemen Thieves” is an event. It’s wrapped in stunning artwork by their in-house designer, crafted with the assistance of producer Jamie McAvoy, studded with twelve new self-penned jewels, and hallmarked with their meticulous attention to detail, great tunes, rock & roll power, mischief, fun and mayhem. “Driving Blind” targets the menace of spliff-addled delivery drivers clogging the streets of the capital, “Pipistrelle” has Wednesday Addams and other weird kids creeping into your subconscious, “Silver Apples” muses on the fickleness of devotion and the poetry of W B Yeats, “Ladybird” rants against the annoying things in life and “Sonnez Les Matines” leads you through a nightmare dreamscape from a Rice Paper Tea House to the bottom of a freezing harbour. Once again, the genteel felons are abetted by their regular accomplice Lisa Mychols, who sings lead on “You Are My Atmosphere” and duets with Nigel "Stiletto" Winfield on “I Wouldn't Put it Like That”. GREAT!!
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And It's Goodbye From Him
Price: $20.00
Artist:
Duncan Reid and The Big Heads
Description:
“This is the last CD we will ever make. All together now - ‘Ahhh’” - Duncan Reid Yes it’s true! “And It’s Goodbye From Him” is The Big Heads’ very last and, based on reaction of those who bought it so far, very best studio album. It’s a mighty production of the usual magnificent collection of songs, covering self discovery, wild parties, escape, longing to escape, conspiracy theories, politicians and everything else. “I am so sad at the news that Duncan Reid has decided to give up music as the title and beautifully designed artwork of his last album make clear. Indeed, Duncan’s amazing music career spans six decades since his beginnings with The Boys in 1976, a fantastic punk-rock band, Joey Ramone's favourite UK band and my favorite punk band incidentally, in which he was known as ‘Kid Reid’, but the artist seems to think that the time has come to call it quits. The 65-year-old man is leaving the music biz with a bang. ‘And It’s Goodbye From Him’ is his best record ever, which deserves the five stars I granted it here as song after song provide the listener with all sorts of aural pleasure which this British musician has cultivated throughout his life in music.” - Pop Phil “This remarkable album serves as a poignant conclusion to a rich and illustrious career.” - Patrick Donders “Every now and again in your chequered and bumpy journey through life, there are special bands that come along. Ones that help you along that road, helping to smooth the bumps, to make the uphill parts of that journey a bit less exhausting and carry you across the massive potholes and dodge the unexpected sinkholes. Duncan Reid and The Big Heads is one of those bands.” - The Ginger Quiff “One of the most amiable, engaging and harmonious voices in the industry belongs to Duncan Reid, always stress-free, full of life and love, homely, and comforting. Duncan Reid and the Big Heads will always be part of our lives, a soundtrack that uses ordinary musings and opinions and creates an extraordinary listening experience.” - The Last Time GREAT!!
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An Otherwise Negative Situation
Price: $15.00
Artist:
Geoff Palmer
Description:
Geoff Palmer is back! Accompanied by his long-time companions Zack Sprague on drums and Kurt Baker on bass on these 10 brand new songs, he’s seemingly effortlessly and flawlessly bridging the gap between power pop and pop punk again, as only he can. “Anyone familiar with Palmer’s relentless output will know that he is dedicated to keeping the spirit of power pop and punk pop alive, and on that front ‘An Otherwise Negative Situation’ won’t come as a surprise on any level. Palmer knows his strengths and he plays to them, opener ‘Give It Up’ is a prime example, it’s a new wave fuelled hit of power pop, 30 seconds in and you foot is tapping along, you pick the chorus up as you go along and before you know it you’re hooked. This is part of his charm, even though you know roughly what’s headed your way you’re still happy when it arrives. There are moments of pure power pop such as ‘We Run’, ‘Ignite’ and ‘Dark Thoughts’ that goes back to the 70’s roots of the scene, but that’s not the end of the story by any means. ‘Surfing In Nebraska’, ‘Stuck With You’ and ‘In The Grooves’ bring an old school punk element into the mix that’s combined with an overdose of harmonies and melodies, whilst ‘FOMO’ takes us back into the new wave. In contrast you have ‘Backseat Driver’ that takes things slightly, and only slightly, into a 70’s Tom Petty kinda vibe, and there’s the melancholy pop punk of ‘Like A Dove’ to bring things almost up to date. Geoff Palmer relentlessly deals in timeless power pop, new wave and melodic punk, in the oldest of old school senses. He has carved out a very definite niche, this should make him predictable and you’d think interest would wane, but this doesn’t happen. The reason for this is that his songwriting always raises the bar, there is no filler, nothing you feel you should skip or delete, just pure power pop done just as it oughta be. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another album coming out in the near future that carries his fingerprints, although I would be surprised if it was any less than the equal of this one.” - ThePunkSite.com GREAT!!
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Stand Back and Take A Good Look
Price: $16.00
Artist:
Paul Collins
Description:
Paul Collins has been known by many titles - King Of Power Pop, Rock & Roll Icon, Cult Favorite, Multi Instrumentalist, Upper Echelon Songwriter, Author - some true, others quite! Paul spent his pre-teens in Greece, Vietnam, and Europe before heading back to his hometown of New York City. He did some time at the highly respected Juilliard Music School as a composition major in modern and avant-garde music. He reinvented the rules as to what makes a perfect pop song, and inspired countless musicians during the formative years of punk rock, new wave, and whatever comes next. (Rule #1 = 'no- rules'). Paul made his way to San Francisco and in 1974, started The Nerves with Peter Case and Jack Lee, as the drummer/singer. All three were singers and songwriters in an unspoken healthy competition with each other. After releasing a 4 song debut EP, the fellas toured a bit with The Ramones and Mink DeVille, but band dynamics and lack of commercial success took its toll, and The Nerves as they were known, were no more. Paul and Peter continued on for a bit as The Breakaways before Paul left to begin his next phase. He's maybe best remembered for the next band - The Beat, also known as The Paul Collins Beat to avoid confusion with the British ska band. With The Beat, Paul's ducks seemed to be in a row. They released an absolute classic and flawless self-titled debut LP, were constantly touring, and even appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand performing "Don't Wait Up For Me" and "Rock N Roll Girl". The band continued for almost a decade, releasing some timeless pop records that defy space and time - like they were just always there. The Beat split up after the release of their 6th LP in 1989. One beautiful element of Paul's songwriting is his ability to create songs that are so damn catchy. They crawl their way into your brain like earworms, play on repeat, you walk to the beat, you sing the choruses, and it's totally ok, because again - they are so damn catchy! Sounds easy? It ain't! So here we are. Some things never change. Blink. Everything is different. Blink. Paul is still doing what he was meant to do. And he’s joined by pop icons, Michael Mazzarella, Dwight Twilley, Chris von Sneidern, Richard X Heyman, Gary Klebe, Jeff and John Murphy of Shoes along with Ron Flynt and Steve Allen of 20/20! EXCELLENT!!
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Life Of The Party
Price: $14.00
Artist:
Richard Turgeon
Description:
RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL!! “Life of the Party”, Richard Turgeon’s seventh(!) release on the Kool Kat label. contains 11 tracks that showcase his unique spin on everything from relationships (“You’ve Moved On,” “I’ve Got You Now,” “Friend Zone,” “Parasite”) to urban decay (“Our Fair City”) and mortality (“Don’t Forget Me When You’re Gone”). All of these sonic stories soar with Turgeon’s seasoned, light-and-dark take on melodic alternative rock that’s been called “new vintage rock,” “California rock,” and a unique West Coast blend of power pop, indie and classic rock. Since 2017’s “In Between the Spaces”, he’s garnered a steady following in alternative rock and power pop circles. His music has found regular airplay on SiriusXM and other well known podcasts and FM radio stations throughout the world. His sound has been compared to Matthew Sweet, Sloan, Teenage Fanclub, Bob Mould, R.E.M., and Tom Petty, to name a few. The new record has been hailed as his finest to date. “Richard Turgeon has found his niche, and he’s sticking with it. He’s a one-man band that writes, composes, and plays almost everything himself, and these new songs stand out right away. Starting with ‘All Alone’ and ‘You’ve Moved On,’ they are a one-two punch about a final separation. ‘I’ve Got You Now’ is the guitar crunch rooted in mid-90’s power pop (The Gin Blossoms, The Lemonheads, The Posies), and he falls into the category of modern West Coast power poppers like Jeff Shelton (The Well Wishers) and James Hall (Shake Some Action). ‘Our Fair City’ is a commentary on the homeless problem (‘It’s better when you turn a blind eye’). Additional highlights include the solid ‘Friend Zone,’ and ‘Don’t Forget Me When You’re Gone,’ is a well-done ballad in the Billy Joel tradition. Highly Recommended.” - Powerpopaholic.com GREAT!!
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The Secrets*
Price: $12.00
Artist:
The Secrets*
Description:
From 1978-81, the Titan label based in Kansas City, MO issued just eight records, but over the years their “catalog” has crawled to the top of power-pop want lists worldwide building a legacy to rival L.A.’s Bomp! or New York’s Ork. Titan fostered a scene of its own, imported its own skinny ties, and scoured the Missouri valley for its own talent. The label’s Midwest AM bubblegum roots are apparent in the likes of Gary Charlson, The Secrets*, Arlis!, Gems, Millionaire At Midnight, The Boys, J.P. McClain & The Intruders, Bobby Sky and Scott McCarl. “Lots of serious music fans have gotten the bright idea of starting a record company so they can spread the word about their favorite bands, but unlike most of them, Mark Prellberg and Tom Sorrells actually put their money where their mouths were, and in 1978 they launched Titan Records. From a business standpoint, the venture proved to be a noble folly. Prellberg and Sorrells knew next to nothing about promotion, distribution, or marketing, and being based in a town that's never been regarded as a major media center did nothing to help their learning curve. And though power pop is a music that attracts a passionate and endlessly loyal fan base, it doesn't often move a whole lot of units, and since straightforward, energetic pop/rock was Titan's stock in trade, the duo’s lack of know-how became even more of an issue. But let no one say that the guys behind Titan didn't know a great song when they heard it; the label's output sounded like chart-topping hits from an alternate universe where the Raspberries were bigger than the Beatles, Emitt Rhodes ruled the airwaves, and the Scruffs and Dwight Twilley were the hottest new acts on the scene.” - AllMusic.com The Secrets* limited edtion CD was produced in 2019 to celebrate their enshrinement into the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame. Six of the seven tracks here were included in the “Titan: It’s All Pop!” CD/vinyl retrospective (though spread among the discs). The track “Love For The Money” only appeared on the vinyl edition of the retrospective. So, here’s your readymade mixtape of the complete recorded output by The Secrets*! GREAT!!
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