Texas Flashbacks - Volume 2

Probably the best collection of sixties garage music out there, this compilation features some excellent songs....some?  No.  They are all excellent!  Enjoy, very loudly!

 1. The Jades - I'm All Right
2. The Oxford Circus - 4th Street Carnival
3. The Bluethings - Twist And Shout
4. Jimmy Rabbit With Ron & Dea - Pushover
5. Wally & The Rights - Hey Now Little Girl
6. The Boys - You Deceived Me
7. The One Way Street - Joy And Sorrow
8. The Twilighters - Nothing Can Bring Me Down
9. The Outcasts - I'm In Pittsburgh (And It's Raining)
10. S.J. & The Crossroads - Get Out Of My Life Woman
11. The Iguanas - I Can Only Give You Everything
13. The Runaways - 18th Floor Girl
14. The Chevelle V - Come Back Bird
14. The Six Pents - She Lied
15. The Knight's Bridge - C.J. Smith
16. The Knight's Bridge - Make Me Some Love

Get it: HERE

Esa Linna featuring Roger Joseph Manning Jr. - She's Not a Human Being

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. features on Finnish artist Esa Linna's just released solo single and upcoming debut album "She's Not a Human Being" ready to listen to at:
http://soundcloud.com/esalinna/shesnotahumanbeing

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (of The Jellyfish, Moog Cookbook, TV Eyes, Imperial Drag) sings backing vocals and plays keyboards on both the debut album and debut single "She's Not a Human Being" by Esa Linna, from Finland.

"She's Not A Human Being" is a straight-forward power pop song, like a combination of The Buzzcocks and The Beatles. The single is released as digital download, and will be released in CD format next year. The song is mastered by Ty Tabor of King's X.


Link to iTunes (released 15th Dec 2011):
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/shes-not-human-be
ing-feat./id489719753?i=489719758&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

http://www.emvg.net/esa

news in One Chord to Another: http://www.onechord.net/2011/11/20/roger-joseph-manning-jr-appears-on-the-upcoming-esa-linna-single/

More information: esa@emvg.net

Number Six in the "12 Most Groovy Power Pop Websites"

Ice Cream Man Power Pop and More was placed at Number 6 in this list, which really is a great honour, especially as the blog has only been going for 3 months!   Please take a look at the list and visit some of the other great sites that are listed as they all have some really excellent content and are well worth a visit.  I would also like to suggest a visit to Powerpop Overdose which isn't on the list but is an absolute goldmine of Power Pop and one of my inspirations for starting a blog.

Can't say I minded being Number 6!  Be seeing you!

12 MOST GROOVY POWER POP WEBSITES!

Cotton Mather - Kon Tiki

Kon-Tiki is one can't-get-it-out-of-your-skull pop song after another, interspersed with bursts of tape collage and random studio noise. "Vegetable Row," for example, sounds like a hard-candy circa-'66 Dylan outtake before it ends with a few seconds' splice of a completely different song, which is rudely chopped off in time for the organ-driven "Aurora Bori Alice." Variety is the watchword on Kon-Tiki. The wildly overdriven feedback-fest "Church of Wilson" leads straight into the gently swirling keyboards and acoustic guitars of "Lily Dreams On," which immediately makes way for the classic harmony-filled jangle pop "Password." The amazing thing is that, despite the wild mood and style shifts, the album doesn't sound fragmentary in the least; the pieces all fall into place. Brad Jones' production features studio chatter, audible edits, remarkably loud clicks, and yet the overall sound is enormous, filled with amazing sonic depth. Lo-fi this ain't. Song titles like "Camp Hill Rail Operator" or "Animal Show Drinking Song" might recall Guided By Voices, and the audio-verite "Prophecy for the Golden Age" wouldn't have sounded out of place on Pavement's Westing (By Musket and Sextant), but neither band could possibly come up with a song like the instant classic "My Before and After," three minutes worth of non-stop hooks grounded with a percussive low-register piano part that makes it sound like a lost outtake from Revolver. In an album's worth of non-stop pop delights, "My Before and After" is a clear masterpiece. -AMG

Get it: HERE

STANLEY ROAD - CLASH CITY COOTERS EP.

I have been informed that copies of this single have nearly run out, so if you want to get your hands on one.............

You can contact the band by e mail at: stanleyroadband@gmail.com to buy a single or tshirt, or both, and you can listen to the great tunes at stanleyroadoriginal@myspace.com you can also find them on facebook.

Fantastic Stanley Road T - Shirt

THE SOLARFLARES - Look What I Made Out of My Head

Third album from The Solarflares who feature ex The Prisoners and Prime Movers members. Recorded and mixed on the band's own eight-track machine in vocalist / guitarist Graham Day's garage.
Everything you would expect from music that has anything to do with Graham Day, the man with the golden touch when it comes to writing and delivering a classic piece of pop!

A web review:
This is the third offering The Solarflares, now with Parsley full time on organ duty and where the first album (Psychadelic Tantrum) was brilliant, the second (That was then and so is this) even better, this belter blows them both out of the water.
The album kicks off with 'State of mind', think of the Fleur de Lys or Fire and you approach the power of this song, superb! This is followed by 'Feet the wrong way round' a wry look at one mans feelings about the embarrasment of trying to dance. The other highlight on side 1 (I have the vinyl copy not c.d.!) is Girl In A Briefcase (think Man in a Suitcase and you'll get it) an excellent instrumental for a 60's spy show which never existed outside Graham Days mind.
Side 2 starts with 'You Want Blood', the current single, again the power of the vocals and musicans shines through, these really are men on top of their game. Highlights on this side include You Hear Drums & Reflections. There really isn't a poor song on this album. No fans of the Prisoners or Prime Movers who are unfamiliar with The Solarflares will be disappointed. The same musical influences are there, The Who, Small Faces, Doors and a plethora of 60's punk outfits, even Pink Floyds Piper at the Gates of Dawn album can be sensed in a couple of numbers. Big Beat could've given a money back guarantee on this. My advice buy two copies in case you lose one!

Get it:here

THE SHAZAM - GOD SPEED THE SHAZAM

Taking cues primarily from early Cheap Trick and Electric Light Orchestra, The Shazam mold hard rock that, initially, sounds out of place on the Not Lame label, which focuses entirely on power pop. However, on repeat listens it becomes obvious why this group is so often lumped in with fine pop acts; their hooks are remarkably strong and melodic. While they're clearly out of step with the times (The music here is entirely steeped in the late '70s, and while it may have sold millions then, it is unlikely to go past "cult" status now), Godspeed the Shazam is an excellent hard rock pleasure. Many of these songs sound like lost classics, especially the excellent "Super Tuesday" (an anthemic rocker on the lament of the loser of a presidential election) and "Gonna Miss Yer Train." The Shazam also occasionally dip into glam, especially on "Sunshine Tonight" and "The Stranded Stars" and, not surprisingly, they make that work too. It all amounts to yet another gem on the Not Lame label.
Jason Damas

01. Super Tuesday
02. Sunshine Tonight
03. The Stranded Stars
04. Sparkleroom
05. Some Other Time
06. RU Receiving
07. Chipper Cherry Daylily
08. Calling Sydney
09. City Smasher
10. Sweet Bitch
11. A Better World
12. Gonna Miss Your Train

Get it: SHAZAM