Monday, December 22, 2008

The Absolute Powerpop Top 125 of 2008, #26-50.

26. Frisbee-ReDISCOVERY
27. Waz-The Sweet Bye and Bye
28. Hotel Lights-Firecracker People
29. The Well Wishers-Jigsaw Days
30. The Baseball Project-Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails, Vol. 1
31. Tom Fuller Band-Abstract Man
32. Roger Joseph Manning Jr-Catnip Dynamite
33. Jeff Bruckner-Take Me to the West Coast
34. Three Hour Tour-B Side Oblivion
35. Foxboro Hot Tubs-Stop, Drop & Roll!
36. Shake Some Action!-Sunny Days Ahead
37. Jim Boggia-Misadventures in Stereo
38. Ted Lukas-Misled
39. Patrick Leonard-Being the Beginning
40. Poplord-Full/Filled
41. Attic Lights-Friday Night Lights
42. Smash Palace-Everybody Comes and Goes
43. Class Three Overbite-Horses for Courses
44. The Explorers Club-Freedom Wind
45. American Mars-Western Sides
46. Butch Walker-Sycamore Meadows
47. Brent Cash-How Will I Know If I'm Awake?
48. The Respectables-Sibley Gardens
49. Kevin Bents-The Means
50. In Elvis Garage-Winning by Cheating

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna replay basball project i must be missing something-I never managed to get through it yet

Mike Baron said...

A good list, a strong list, but Josh Fix, Bryan Scary, and Explorers Club are in my top five.

Anonymous said...

Loads of time put into this - thanks
All about your own opinion and I'm with you Mike

Terry UK

Unknown said...

Thanks for the list. A great reference point for the few that I want and do not have. Us pop fans seems to think alike. The only comment I will add is that the Bryan Scary album is the year's major disappointment for me. After his debut, he put out this noodling mess. A terrible album in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Zumpp, what on earth were you looking for from the Scary album??

It cracks me up when anyone who claims to be a fan of power pop says they were inexplicably disappointed with such an insanely catchy, fascinating and diverse pastiche of an album.

Now, if you want to rip on their live show, I won't quibble with that.

Cheers,
Larry

Anonymous said...

1. Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears: Flight of the Knife. Bryan Scary’s eponymous debut last year was a high point with his grandiloquent keyboard constructions and music hall zeal. Add a very intense band and the Shredding Tears don the mantle of Queen proudly, producing the type of music Freddie Mercury might have written if he’d worked with Ben Folds. The title song is an instant classic, beginning with a typically rococo operatic intro to a chunk of art rock that rolls over you like an Abrams tank. What it’s about? The lyrics are intriguing but extremely personal, encouraging listeners to find their own meaning.
“Imitation of the Sky” may have more hooks per square inch than any song ever written. By the time Graham Norwood busts loose with an enormous Brian May-like chorus, you cannot drag yourself away. The secret to great pop is in the dynamics, how the artist tricks you into running, slipping, falling forward, breathless with anticipation. In this regard Bryan Scary is without peer.
Too many highlights to list, but the double whammy of “The Purple Rocket,” which blends elements of children’s sing-alongs with King Crimson-like art rock and surf music, and “The Zero Light,” with its reggae rhythm and haunting chorus, will leave you gasping on the floor like a beached catfish.

Unknown said...

Larry,

How could I be so stupid? You are right. I do like this great platter. It is brilliant. You have shown me the light!

Okay, not really. It is not a good album in my opinion (re-read my post where I said "...for me" and "in my opinion") and I do love his first. I don't care if others like it and you shouldn't care that I don't. As for your personal attack on me (It cracks me up...so-called power pop fans), my power pop fan-dom is unassailable and goes back to when I played my "Go All the Way" 45 to death and long before the late 70s when the term Power Pop was actually used as a genre name. I clearly don't need to justify myself though 2251 albums that I have correctly labeled as "Power Pop" in my iTunes library should further put that thought to bed. In my nearly 50 years of existence, I have learned that a reaction like yours to anothers insignificant opinion is a clear sign of emotional insecurity. As if you need others to validate your existence by agreeing with you.

Of course, you could have stated that YOU BELIEVE I am wrong instead of insulting me. I would have respected that because like most well-grounded adults, I don't care what you think and neither should you care what i think. Too bad you are not grown up enough to avoid a personal attack.

Anonymous said...

Zumpp,

First of all, my apologies. I didn't mean to insult you personally, and I'm sorry you took it as a slight. The online power pop community is small enough as it is, that I don't need to go around alienating the few people who actually appreciate the genre.

That being said, I was moreso hoping to foster some discussion, i.e. the "what were you expecting from the album" part of my comment. I suppose I could have rephrased the question to sound less combative, so again, I apologize for the semi-caustic tone.

In any event, as we've seen from Steve's tremendous lists, power pop fans have pretty varying tastes, which is great - how boring would it be if we all liked the same exact albums?

I guess I was primarily surprised at your dislike for the Scary album because you said you enjoyed the first one -- also a phenomenal record -- and "Flight of the Knife" seemed to take a lot of the potential Scary showed on the debut and harness it into a fully realized vision. Love it or hate it, I think Scary has shown that he's an artist to be reckoned with on "Flight of the Kinfe," and I'm looking forward to seeing him grow even further.

Anonymous said...

Good call on the Jim Boggia record. For me, Misadventures In Stereo was THE pop album of the 2008.