When Night Meets Day Price: $14.00 Artist: Erk Description: RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL!! The label and CD debut (previously a vinyl/download-only release) from a terrific pop record from 2019 that was just TOO GOOD NOT TO BE ON CD! Erk? “That’s not a name, that's a sound!“ This is what everybody told Erk Wiemer wherever he travelled. So if people thought of his name as a sound – why not put a soundtrack to the person behind? So he did! “Piano, bass and drums – I don’t think I really need any other instruments!” said Erk when he started back in 2003. Since then he has evolved his sound and music, but still keeps it simple! “When Night Meers Day” contains a great bundle of 12 catchy tunes that are just impossible to resist. Known to be Beatlesque, an admirer of Brian Wilson's vocal arrangements, and fan of even the latest ELO songs, this album is a must for everyone who likes to indulge his or her passions with respect to this style of music. “He stands up with those great piano playing singer songwriters of the 70's and although the record certainly offers up reminders of those great pop rock albums that graced the 70’s, there are indicators before and after that decade, in both style and content. The arrangements are very up, but are equally Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson as much as Gilbert O'Sullivan or John Howard. Indeed comparisons could be made to Ben Folds and there is definitely a Jellyfish vibe here and it's strong. There's a lot to compare to Roger Manning Jr. The arrangements are great, the harmonies meticulous and the whole thing is just a joyful listen. ‘Walk Like Charly Brown’ is lounge jazz, ‘Living My Life Without You’ is 60's revue, big sounding pop. ‘Rhapsody Of You’ is a Skellern/O'Sullivan piano ballad that is beautifully arranged. ‘Better Sad Than Dead’ has a Randy Newman beat that is almost Manilow. It's the jaunty piano pop that pleases these ears most, it gives off such a fantastic vibe. ‘Chilly Winds Ahead’ and ‘Malibu Beach's In Berlin’ are great examples. ‘Taking My Time’ is a poptastic duet with Diane Weigmann that works beautifully. ‘When Night Meets Day’ is superb piano pop with a series of darts into other genres. It's a corking listen.” – IDontHearASingle.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

No Weapon But Love Price: $17.00 Artist: Icecream Hands Description: “No Weapon But Love” is the seventh full-length studio album from these Aussie power poppers. The album explores the idea of love as a powerful force; love lost, love unrealized, love gained, love forgotten and remembered and the uplifting kind as well – an antidote for the struggles of 2020. Here are 13 songs dripping with the irresistible hooks and harmonies that have gained the band critical praise around the world since 1992. “For a masterclass in not just the art of songwriting but the joy of it, you can start with this record. Icecream Hands are not just a melodic guitar band, although for close to 30 years they have been delivering rich, melodic guitar-driven tunes that lift the listener up and steer them through the dark times and the good. They are not just a harmonies band, although for most of that time they have been writing songs where massed harmony vocals are not just something tacked on but central to the core. There is a reason we don’t hear much great vocal harmony work in rock music any more, the kind of thing which so elevated the music of bands from The Beatles and Beach Boys to the Mamas and Papas and Fleetwood Mac. That’s because it is hard to do, especially if you are playing an instrument on stage at the same time. These guys are masters of it.” – MusicTrust.com.au “What? They’ve been away? I don’t mean the songs sound the same after a break of more than a dozen years, but rather that the Icecream Hands principles are unchanged. And those principles are solid. As easy to understand as they are to recognize. Here are a few. Keep not just the songs but the people in them human-scale; melodies are your friend, not the first hurdle to clear; if you’ve got fine harmony singers in the band, use them; just because you’ve got fine harmony singers doesn’t mean you use them at every opportunity; yes, you’re a guitar band, but make the guitars work for you, not lead you; don’t be scared of the pretty or the amusing, embrace them; if you’ve got a chorus with a hook that grabs, why wait to get to it?; did I mention melodies?” – Bernard Zeul GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Better From Here Price: $14.00 Artist: Joe Giddings Description: RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT MUSIK LABEL!! Over two years in the making (not the record, but Joe’s decision to finally release it after remixing and tweaking it) after we first spoke, ”Better From Here” - here comes the cliché – is a power pop gem that truly was worth waiting for! “This is top notch power pop rock from one of the genre’s best exponents over the past two decades. His vocals are enhanced in a wall of sound. Brimming with melodic from start to finish, it’s an outstanding album from not only a major talent, but a real unheralded gem.” – IDontHearASingle.com "Power pop with real power. Well-crafted tunes delivered with panache and drenched in melody, sounding like a less ornate, harder rocking Jellyfish. Meaty guitar licks flying all over the place. A year-end top 10 contender, for sure!" - John Borack “While there’s a Beatles influence evident throughout, it is amazingly diverse. The melding of a variety of pop influences and brilliant, radio friendly production sensibilities make it really shine. Maybe it’s the guitar crunch of ‘Amity Horror’ that’ll grab you, or the spot-on harmonies of ‘Gone So Far’, or the FOW/Cars approach to ‘Tin Foil Crush’ that’ll hook you. Could it be the muscular guitar of ‘Rock and Roll’? For me, it was ‘Irrelevant’, with guitar muscle out front, production and arrangement reminiscent of The Sweet or T-Rex, where everything is boiled down to its most impactful ingredients. It’s all hook, swagger and smarts. Did I mention that he can really, really sing? Every once in a while I hear someone say ‘they just don’t make ‘em like they used to’. Next time you hear that, hand them a copy of ‘Better From Here’!” – Rich Rossi/PowerPopNews.com “Joe tells us right away ‘I don’t want to sing like the Beatles again, but I’m gonna do it anyway’ on the title track. His songwriting skills are in top form, evidenced by ‘Always Raining Somewhere”. His guitar can shred with anyone, as he plays with a post-punk sprightliness and a less overtly British Invasion-inspired melodic sense that's closer to the power pop greats of the 90’s. Fans of Velvet Crush and Fountains of Wayne will enjoy ‘Amity Horror’ and ‘Rock and Roll.’ The high harmonies just burst in on ‘If I Don’t Have Love.’ This is looking to be in my top 10 of 2020!” – Powerpopaholic.com “Joe Giddings’ pop world is a place where fans of Jellyfish and Redd Kross gather in animated huddles to discuss late-era Beatles. It is also a place where the go-to guitarist is Brian May. Lyrically, Giddings tries to eschew thoughts of stardom but simply comes across as self-effacing, he tells us it’s ‘always raining somewhere’ but also why we should still be all smiles. Musically, he is full-throttle but always inventive, he can deliver a heavy crunch when needed but then rounds things off by creating a slow burning, bright full glow.” – John Bottomley/BucketfullofBrains.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Lisa Mychols & Super 8 Price: $11.00 Artist: Lisa Mychols & Super 8 Description: Very cool, pop-drenched collaboration from “the first lady of pop” Lisa Mychols and Paul Ryan (trainspotters know Paul as the man behind Super 8)! “The sheer vibrant warmth of this album and the way in which the expected 'sounds' of each of the collaborators are allowed to breathe and congregate, immediately avoids that dreaded sense of sods law and anti-climax. At the very start, the first few chords/seconds of ‘What Will Be’ suggest how this album 'might' excel and tracks such as ‘You & Me, Me & You’, ‘Honey Bee’ and ‘Your Summer Theme’ confirms just how right you are. Such tracks contain the guiding light and vibrancy of Mychols’ glaring 'made for pop sunshine' vocals, which seem to invite Paul Ryan to 'play', as he appears to grab whatever is in his immediate surrounds and make bouncing melodies in a way that suggests the cobbled aesthetic of ‘Backers and Maracas’ rather than the fully shaped ones of his ‘Head Sounds’. It's this disparate union of perfectly sweet and deliberated ramshackle, that gives the whole album a sense of sumptuous innate. Of course, at varying levels beneath the surface, both parts of this collaboration have big beating 'pop hearts' and the album was never going to be devoid of pops most pretty side. As such the quite incredible stand out of ‘Trip & Ellie's Music Factory’, ‘Flying Close to the Sun’ and ‘Timebomb’ provide the more immediate moments of beauty that we perhaps all expected and tuned in for. I am not sure where this duo are going from here. Lisa seems to be the busiest vocalist in America and Paul is a walking song writing machine. Whether they get it together again, remains to be seen...but you just feel they kind of 'have too' somehow.” – JanglePopHub.com We sure hope so! GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

More Kicks Price: $16.00 Artist: More Kicks Description: The London trio fronted by Sulli from Suspect Parts has fully delivered on the "pop explosion" it's been promising all along. The band's self-titled debut was knocked out in just two days, recording everything live to tape. is full of splendid tunes that combine the best elements of '60s pop, '70s punk/new wave, and '90s/00’s Brit-pop. Sulli is a brilliant songwriter who really knows how to turn out a melody. He's formed the ultimate power trio with Paolo on bass and Kris Hood (Speedways/Los Pepes) on drums. “If you asked me to sum up More Kicks' debut album in just one word, I'd simply say pop. Sulli has already demonstrated this with his contributions to Suspect Parts. He really excels at writing songs that sound upbeat but frequently prove to be bitter and hilariously savage if you're paying close attention. Combine that with his knack for turning three-minute pop songs into fully-rounded stories, and you can definitely view him as a songwriter from the Ray Davies/Elvis Costello lineage. Sometimes I ponder what sort of wizardry is involved in making a power pop record sound so, uh, powerful. In this particular instance, I would say it was a case of a tight band coming as close as possible to its live sound. It's a real treat to have a full album of Sulli songs, and his songwriting style becomes clearly defined here. Of course it's great fun when he's cleverly scathing (‘She's A Reaction’ and ‘Rock n Roll Again’ are top-notch), but he also excels at turning that brutal honestly inward. ‘Blame It On The Satellite’ is a brilliant reflection on taking personal responsibility for your own failures. ‘Ain't That Just The Way’ is that rare break-up song that's honestly self-aware. This debut is remarkably strong all the way to the end. You've clearly got a lot of confidence in your material if you can save the ‘hit’ for the track nine position! Heck, it might be the penultimate cut ‘Young Enough’ that boasts the best hook on the entire record. The keyboards on ‘She's A Reaction’ give a fun, party vibe to what might otherwise have been a downer song. I'm absolutely loving the Gary Numan knockoff/homage bass line on ‘What You Thinking’. As a power pop fan, I'd be hard-pressed to find a record more satisfying than this one.” – FasterandLouder.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Fast & Loose Price: $12.00 Artist: Nick Frater Description: RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 19 – ACCEPTING ORDERS NOW!! After four critically acclaimed releases on Kool Kat, Nick’s back with his latest hookfest (and Big Stir Records label debut)! Apropos to its title, it's a full throttle collection brimming with the hooks, harmonies and sophisticated arrangements his fans have come to expect, and bubbling with a freshness and energy that'll captivate new listeners immediately. The record was written and recorded in a burst of creativity in the weeks leading up to and following becoming a dad. “It might sound unexpected, but spending many hours each day rocking and singing to a baby is actually a great way to write songs!” says Nick. The result is a collection of 11 hook-filled power-pop songs. Fans of Jellyfish, Cheap Trick, Todd Rundgren and The Beach Boys will find much to love here, but it's his own personality and mastery of melody and arrangement that'll hook them for good. The record features guest appearances from many of his friends in the pop rock scene including Spygenius, Kool Kat’s The Stan Laurels and Emperor Penguin, Super 8, Do Me Bad Things and a blistering solo from ex-Tokyo Dragons guitarist Steve Lowe. GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Better Days Price: $13.00 Artist: Rick Hromadka Description: The solo album Rick Hromadka (Double Naught Spies/Maple Mars/Ruby Free) has been toiling with for well over a year has been done since before the pandemic, but there was no way he was gonna release it while the world stopped turning. But…Rick states “I finally realized that waiting for the world to get better is like chasing your tail. So here's to ‘Better Days’! Unlike my last solo record, which was very ‘solo’, this time 'round I wanted to include a bunch of my musical friends, many of whom I've admired for years and finally got up the nerve to ask to play on this record. I can't tell you how unbelievable it was to work with so many talents. Receiving recorded tracks from these people was like opening gifts at Christmas!” "Hromadka and a batch of his musical pals have created an album that is one of the best power pop releases in memory, a surging and artful effort that is bolstered by excellent song craft, experimental flourishes aplenty and nuanced musicianship. It’s the perfect find for those in search of music that is melodic, memorable and expertly crafted. "- Robert Kinsler/Rock 'n Roll Truth "A top-flight collection of wonderfully-realized pop ‘n’ roll songs!" - Alan Haber/Pure Pop Radio "A powerhouse of an album!" - Pseu Braun/WFMU “This is one of the best albums of Rick's career. It’s up there with the magnificent 2010 Maple Mars album, ‘Galaxyland’. Yes, that good.” - Mike Lidskin/Woody Radio GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Lost Price: $14.00 Artist: SLD Description: RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT MUSIK LABEL!! The ultra-melodic, 60’s drenched, 17-song “Lost” represents SLD’s (Sounds Like Digging) sophomore effort (and Kool Kat Musik label debut), a record that Paul Constanza and Tom Parisi have delivered that will immediately appeal to fans of The Beatles, Badfinger, and even more current artists like Cupid’s Carnival! Paul explains “The four years since we completed ‘Indigo Gray’ have been at times tumultuous. I thought we'd have trouble coming up with enough songs for another album but the dam sort of burst towards the end. I'm always tempted to cover the songs I love, but knowing that I'll never outdo my exemplars keeps me in my lane. Instead I'll take a song or an artist I love and try to create something in their style. Songs on ‘Lost’ run from the relatively unknown - Greg Laswell in ‘Fly Away,’ or Del Amitri in ‘You Went Along With It’, to pop icons like Squeeze in ‘Midnight Eyes,’ or XTC in ‘12 to 5, to legends like Stevie Wonder in ‘No Way,’ or Burt Bacharach in ‘She’. Or I might just try to recapture the feel of a certain song I love, where a guilty pleasure like ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’ turned in to ‘Don't Want To Get Over You.’ I'd love to say this one was a labor of love, but it was mostly labor sprinkled with moments of sheer joy. The way Tommy and I work is unique as we're never in the same room when we do our tracks. It adds an element of fun and surprise when we get to hear what the other has done.” “’Lost’ has been on constant repeat in my car’s CD player. Anyone familiar with my ‘The Music Authority’ podcast, knows that the key elements to a GREAT song are melody, harmony, and lyrics that have meaning...jangly guitars, a driving back beat, and a bass line that makes sense. I find myself getting ‘lost’ inside the songs each and every time I play this. Songs of wonder, of joy of life, of snippets of occurrences that do touch us all, that have been captured as sound pictures, and masterfully done, might I add! Influences? I hear touches of Raspberries, Beatles, tinges of Emitt Rhodes and Elliott Smith...yet the sound is strictly theirs.” – Jim Prell “Like a breath of fresh air from the summer of 1975, ‘Lost’ will assuredly help your mind get lost in AM radio nostalgia. It is a testament to the songcraft that the melodies, harmonies, and instrumentation can take a listener back 45 years. You are sure to find a new favorite with each listen. In the true nature of power pop, there is a new twist around every corner.” – Howard Byrne “With 17 tracks, this is like a double album. ‘Fly Away’ is a McCartney-like piano gem, with an upbeat ‘ooh-la-la’ with rhythmic harmonies and wicked guitar break that begs for repeat listens. ‘Don’t Want Get Over You’ is a wonderful jangling pop gem full of great chord changes and Tom's guitar riffs are supported by Paul's bright vocal that defines the SLD sound. There are many other highlights here: ‘12 to 5" has brilliant harmonies across each verse, the titleis smooth pop brilliance and "Last Night" is a polished, atmospheric song with an expansive melody. Using synths and an 80’s slow pop rhythm, "Circles" could've been a Tears For Fears hit. Highly Recommended.” – Powerpopaholic.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Ocean Moon (New Songs and Hidden Gems) Price: $14.00 Artist: The Foreign Films Description: NEW RELEASE ON THE KOOL KAT LABEL!! Bill Majoros is a big fan of the melodic pop of the 60’s and 70’s, with echoes of The Beatles, The Zombies, The Beach Boys, CSNY and Big Star penetrating his songs. After completing his magnum opus “The Record Collector”, Bill went back to the drawing board to contemplate his next move for his The Foreign Films project. After some head scratching it’s resulted in “Ocean Moon (New Songs and Hidden Gems)”, a concept album with new songs and a couple of previously released ones about love and a longing for an era before he was born. “’The Record Collector’ was one of my Top 10 albums of 2018, a work of great thought and beauty. Gathering up new songs and hidden gems, ‘Ocean Moon’ features guests such as Steve Eggers of The Nines and three Orchestral Arrangements by the wonderful and much missed, Wim Oudijk, and is a splendid affair. There's a much greater concentration on the Pop here than on previous offerings. The feel is somewhere between 60’s US Pop and UK 70’s Pop Rock, the latter most relevant on the ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ glimpses of ‘Under Your Spell’. ‘A Letter To Our Future Selves’ is simply magnificent with Oudijk's Toytown arrangement complementing the piano lead to fashioned up a memorable slice of Psych Pop. There's the McCartney pop of ‘Stars In Her Eyes’. ‘Birds In A Blue Sky’ could easily fit on XTC's ‘Skylarking’. ‘Dream Another Dream’ is a fine Sedaka-esque arranged teen ballad and ‘Down In The Boulevard’ has a great vocal arrangement on a piano led song that reminds me a lot of heyday John Howard. The stand out song is the title track. Pop rock just doesn't get better than this, it is a gentle masterpiece. Bill Majoros is a major talent, a multi instrumentalist that leads on melody and arrangements.” – IDontHearASingle.com “’Ocean Moon’ is not a stopgap release, but an intricate tapestry of old things and new, a love letter set to music.” – HereComesTheFlood.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Radio Sounds Price: $16.00 Artist: The Speedways Description: "Radio Sounds" is the follow up of their highly acclaimed debut album, 2018’s "Just Another Regular Summer". It is all you need when you love guitar driven infectious pop music with the knack of early punk on Bomp or Stiff Records. Singer Matt Julian is a young Phil Seymour, with his warm, heartbroken, pressed vocals is push this high fidelity melodies fest. Listen to "Good Girls Don´t Break Hearts" - the enthusiasm auto-diagnosis is easy, goosebumps when the song starts, some kind of alert mode about a killjoy, turning to total excitement-clinch-your-first-and-sing-along when the chorus sets in again! The Speedways bring back the AM radio days to your living room. It’s like the sadly missed Exploding Hearts doing The Plimsouls and The Records, it´s a 70’s records cut-out dream, take the, A's out the stash with some island rock ‘n roll of The Jags The Starjets, and The Jetz! “Based on the two singles released in advance of ‘Radio Sounds’, my expectations for this album were sky-high. But somehow this record has actually surpassed what I was hoping for. Singer/guitarist Matt Julian has always excelled at crafting three-minute pop songs in the classic tradition. But having found the perfect band-mates in guitarist Mauro Venegas, bassist Adrian Alfonso, and drummer Kris Hood (see More Kicks), he's made absolute magic on this. While spiritually aligned with their debut, this album is bigger, better, and even more emotionally wrenching than its predecessor. The playing and production are immaculate, and the songs are truly magnificent. Julian is really in his element here, turning out song after song about heartbreak, longing, and the sadness of love lost. He has quite a flair for combining the melodic punch of new wave power pop with the drama and romance of 60’s girl groups and teen idols. Radio Sounds, as the title suggests, draws inspiration from the timeless pop hits of yore. The influence shows not just in the melodies, harmonies, and choruses but also in Julian's lyrics. Of course he can write a catchy song that will have you humming along and hopping merrily around the house. But as enjoyable as these tunes are on the surface, they're also songs that you can really feel. I consider Julian a true soul singer. When he sings of heartache, despair, and bitter disappointments in love and life, every word rings authentic. He's lived his music. And that is the secret formula for great pop - to create joy by making others less alone in their misery. From start to finish, it is packed with remarkable songs. The band worked meticulously to make this the strongest album it could be, and they have succeeded spectacularly. This album rings with the echoes of everyone from Buddy Holly to Phil Spector to Elvis Costello to the Exploding Hearts. It's a classic style pop record that manages to sound fully contemporary in 2020. ‘Radio Sounds’ isn't just the best power pop album of the year. It's the best power pop album in a whole lot of years!” – FasterandLouder.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none