No matter how hard they try some musical sub genres remain firmly under the radar. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a fan base ready to hoover up every morsel offered to them.
Back in 1997 John M Borack published ‘Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide’. Described as “the definitive overview of all things jangly, harmony-drenched and rock” it sold out at least 2 print runs, and last year an updated version appeared. I bought the original back in the days when postage form the USA wasn’t wallet freezingly expensive, and really wish I’d had the cash to buy the new one, but…
60s and 70s influenced pop is bubbling away quite nicely at the moment with some cracking songs available if you know where to look.
Delta High – ‘Let's Go to The Beach’
Neil Jackson describes his band as “indie sunshine pop”, and the bouncy guitar and swooping strings would have made this a fixture on primetime TV in 1975. This is definitive Power Pop, music to make you feel good with no pretensions to anything other than that. They say their influences are Blondie, The Supremes, the Beatles, and The Cure, and yes, they are all in there somewhere, without clashing. The song drifts along like a lazy day at the beach, Cromer beach in tropical Norfolk it seems. If you remember the song ‘Beach Baby’ from the mid-70s, Delta High are living in the same world of high school hops and drive in movies with the girl next door, what’s not to like about that. ‘Let's Go to The Beach’ started life on their 2019 album ‘Superfluity’ which has a number of other delights on it. Find them on Spotify, but don’t forget to pay real money as well please.
Delta High’s website is here. Follow them on the Facebook as well. Another song to pick out on Spotify is ‘Hey Ho Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
Daniel Lerner – ‘There's Something I Wanted to Say’
A more modern take on the Power Pop formula is Daniel Lerner’s debut album. A seven-track release with some wonderfully languid songs, in ‘I’ll Be Patient (If You’ll Be Kind)’ and ‘Young’. Guitar based pop that reflects an earlier age but is very much of the moment. He saves the best song until last with ‘Speakeasy’. Straight out of 1979, you could hear The Knack and 20/20 doing something very similar on college radio all day I’m sure. You might think that coming from New York gives Lerner an unfair advantage but it’s one he plays to great effect. You know when you listen to a song and think “they don’t make them like that anymore”, well Daniel Lerner does, and he’s here to brighten up your summer.
As Daniel is on Bandcamp you can go there to get the album, you know it makes sense. You can follow him on Facebook and Spotify, but if you’ve been reading here for any length of time you know the right choice…
Mark Houston - ‘The Way It Goes’
From Spokane WA, Mark Houston’s new single opens with a Melodica solo, which means it stands out from the guitar crowd straight away. It settles into an easy groove and has that hallmark of a great pop song, it’s too short and you rewind and play it again straight away. Houston says that the song was influenced by listening to Bill Withers, and I’m getting the feel of Withers’ ‘Use Me’ here with the Clavinet replaced by the guitar riff. As with the other songs reviewed here the influences are not worn on his sleeve but are reference points that make this familiar yet new, another sign of a properly great pop song. The words are a bit darker than the average Power Pop song, but that’s another tick in the fab pop song box. This may be my single of the first quarter of 2021.
Another man for Bandcamp. Please bear in mind another of my little mantras: “Name your price doesn’t mean free”. Facebook is here and Spotify if you must.
So, 3 songs to get you set for the summer, which at least in Clevedon seems to start in April these days so, let’s go to the beach, when it’s safe and legal to do so…
