Browsing Tag

power-pop

Marcus Liuzzi became the sweetest power pop heartbreaker on the airwaves with ‘You’re Not the One’

Posted on 27 August 2022

Power-pop heartbreaker, Marcus Liuzzi, has released his latest no holds barred single, You’re Not the One. Those words sting even when they’re not about you. But for anyone that knows how it feels to be corrected after they think they found one, there’s a certain solace in knowing you’re not alone on that particular emotional ride, and that painful transition is one step closer to a happy ending.

With the college radio rock vibes coalescing with the garagey 70s rock stripes and plaintive yet playful piano scores, You’re Not the One peddles a fair amount of nostalgia, but there is no disputing that the Boston, Massachusetts singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist brings a certain autonomous je nais sais quoi to the airwaves.

You’re Not the One is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

60s garage rock rides surf rock waves in The MindRide’s latest single, Delta Alpha

Posted on 24 August 2022
The MindRide

Even at half the length of your average pop track, the nostalgia-driven duo, The MindRide created the ultimate LA proto punk bop with their latest single, Delta Alpha, which grooves with nuances of skate punk and surf-rock and comes together as the ultimate genre-fluid earworm.

With The Walkmen-Esque percussion falling slightly below the warm and crunchy overdriven guitar tones and the relentless momentum in the vocals, getting caught up in the punky euphoria of Delta Alpha is non-optional. Especially for fans of The Kinks, The Strokes, and The Sonics. With their 5th album in the pipeline, The MindRide deserve a spot on your radar.

Check out The MindRide on their official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Go Go Gadget Pink Packet shakes it up in his intimate alt-indie hit, Sno Globe

Posted on 14 August 2022

Taken from his sophomore album, Unfinished Art, Go Go Gadget Pink Packet’s standout single, Sno Globe, is an emotion-driven hit of alt-indie, which throws back to the 00s while simultaneously embracing autonomously expressive melodic innovation.

Starting with an almost outtake-y prelude, the zealous lo-fi indie single breathes bedroom pop intimacy, with an extra flavour of sticky-sweet power-pop in the overdriven guitars, which carry as much emotion as the raw yet sugared vocal harmonies.

In his own words, the Sherrill, NY-based solo artist, writes common man blues records, perfectly encapsulating the immediate resonance you find in the dejection.

Sno Globe is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

British Quintessentialism meets riotous pop-punk and post-hardcore in DEFS’ latest single, No Worries If Not

Posted on 7 August 2022

DEFS is a one-man mission to create groove-saturated raucous pop bangers; based on the Sheffield, UK-based songwriter and producer’s latest riotously off-kilter single, No Worries If Not, his endeavour is a resounding success. If you could imagine how Liam Lynch’s United States of Whatever would have unfolded if he was quintessentially British, you’ll get an idea of the animated exuberance.

With his influences ranging from punk rock to nu-metal to 90s indie, DEFS constructed a genre-fluid rancorous mockery of our awkward over-polite tendencies. Through catchy pop-punk choruses, hammering post-hardcore breakdowns (literally and metaphorically), schizophrenic vocal transitions and psychedelically anthemic mayhem, No Worries If Not became the ultimate alt-indie playlist staple. Half-Man Half-Biscuit has nothing on DEFS.

No Worries If Not is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

downers took us down ‘twenty thousand streets’ in their feat of power pop perfection

Posted on 27 July 2022

After launching their debut single, Messages, earlier this year, downers have released another feat of power pop perfection in the form of their EP, twenty thousand streets. The title single carries the same infectiously melodic punch as Placebo while simultaneously throwing nuances of post-punk and proto-punk down your ears; the earworm will undoubtedly linger.

The UK-based outfit didn’t break the wheel with twenty thousand streets; they perceptibly milked out of it an exhilarated sonic signature that won’t fail to get the adrenaline coursing to the tune of their punk nostalgia rousing energy.

I knew the chances of my jaded soul gelling with an artist under the moniker downers was high. What I failed to anticipate was the sticky sweet vocal affability as the witty lyrics are made larger than life around the rhythms, which any fans of The Buzzcocks will undoubtedly get a buzz from.

twenty thousand streets is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Trashy Power Pop Went Nuclear with Continental Lovers’ EP, Dale Arden Vs the World

Posted on 22 July 2022

Articulating thoughts on the UK provocateurs Continental Lovers with any degree of objectivity got shunted out of the realms of possibility with the release of their affably trashy power pop EP, Dale Arden Vs the World.

The dopamine rush is as sweet as the visceral vintage bursts of audiophilic guitars creating a nuclear reaction with the infectiously hooky lyrics. Amplifying the dynamic animation between the six tracks to the nth degree is the sheer vocal stridency that does away with the tired clichés and the banal sense of indifferent pretension that somehow ended up in trend.

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Joe Maddox is as intuitively clever with subverting his lyrics for resonance as he is with his guitar solos that bend your mind as much as the strings. As the perfect testament, the concluding single, Dale Arden, unfolds as a raucous whirlwind of empathetic affection for Flash Gordon’s love interest. The celebration of feminine strength, also evident in St. Joan, is enough to make anyone with a functioning soul emotional.

If there was any justice in our clusterfuck music industry, the Dale Arden Vs the World EP would be hot enough in the charts to make Prince Andrew sweat.

Snag it on Bandcamp or add it to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

ATR pushed the boundaries of punk to its limits in It’s Not Enough, featuring Kellii Scott

Posted on 7 July 2022

For their latest volatile slice of off-kilter power-pop, It’s Not Enough, ATR borrowed the percussive flair of Kelli Scott (FAILURE) and used the extra set of hands to push the boundaries of punk further to its limits.

The unsated howl into the void is undoubtedly something that will resonate with many in our new normal, which notably has never known anything of normalcy. The noisy overdriven discord wrapped around the punchy melodies and modernist discontent of doom scrolling as a pacifier and other worrying symptoms of our times provided 3-minutes of the sweetest catharsis I’ve felt all day. We knew it was worth saving a space on our radar for ATR.

It’s Not Enough will officially release on July 7th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Back to the Point brought mindful maturity to pop-punk with their single, YOU!

Posted on 17 April 2022

Just like Neutral Milk Hotel, Back to the Point, make it effortless to fall in love with their punchy sound and quaintly sweet charisma – especially based on their indie power-pop hit, YOU!

The track instantly affirmed that I haven’t left my pop-punk days far behind me for the way I got suckered in by the emotional vulnerability that is cleverly paired against less-than-archetypal instrumentals that bring everything from jangle-pop angular guitars to frenetically chopped synths into the anthemically sugared mix.

Lyrically, YOU! wraps itself around themes of self-acceptance and coming to peace with the past while exploring others’ apprehension and fear around authenticity and ridicule. Quite honestly, my soul needed to hear this matured evolution of the genre. Back to the Point has exactly what it takes to put Suffolk on the pop-punk map.

YOU! is now available to stream on Spotify.

Resonate with the fear in RAIANE.’s woundingly honest indie power-pop single, scared

Posted on 5 April 2022

Rio-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter RAIANE., has recently released her instantly affable indie power-pop track, scared, which unravels as an energised yet intimate exploration of the boundaries between physical and emotional vulnerability.

The searing hot guitar solos blazing around her bubble gum poppy, anthemic vocals make for an electrically alchemic combination. It is only when the short and enrapturing bitter-sweet track fades to a close, you realise just how invested you got in the bop-worthy feat of faultlessly raw pop. By all accounts, it is an exceptionally promising debut.

You can check out scared, along with the rest of the debut LP, shapeshifter, from RAIANE. for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Find the difference between night and day in the US indie-pop artist Hyde Park’s standout single, The Insomniac’s Lament

Posted on 16 March 2022

Few new 2022 releases have resonated with us quite as much as Hyde Park’s composition, The Insomniac’s Lament. After an evocatively loaded neo-classic prelude, the cutting minor-key piano melodies flourish into blossoming progressions and the poetically-titled single transitions into an orchestrally-scored power-pop single that glistens with optimism.

The evolutionary nature of The Insomniac’s Lament marks just how significant the shifts in our psyches can be. It brings brand-new meaning to the expression “it’s like night and day”.

The Insomniac’s Lament is just one of the singles on the indie-pop singer-songwriter’s debut EP This is Just a Simple Song. Even the US-based artist’s humility leaves us excited about his potential for success.

The Insomniac’s Lament is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast