Scroll down for capsule reviews of releases by The Coral, Various Artists: Shake Your Boomerang, The Like Young, Stratocruiser, Randerlin, John Hiatt, Jasmine Minks, The Suggestions, Lisa Mychols and The Nice Device.

Deniz Tek and The Golden Breed -- Glass Eye World (Career): Kindred spirits from Australia and America come together quite well on the Golden Breed's debut disc. Tek, as many of you know, is the guitarist of the legendary proto-punk band Radio Birdman. Steve and Art Godoy (drums and bass respectively) are veterans of various loud bands and numerous skateboarding competitions. They all do some writing, sharing a goal of creating songs that carry on in prime Birdman style, mixing primal Detroit slam with agile surf guitar leads. The band also retains one of the characteristics that distinguished Birdman from many of the ‘77-era punk bands, a rhythmic fluidity that meant their tunes weren't just amped up stomping football chants. The Godoys are a fabulous rhythm section, particularly Steve, whose drumming is hard with out being unduly heavy handed. This allows Deniz (joined by Steve on guitar) to engage in some creative shredding (see "Flight 18", for example). Deniz and Art each take their turn on lead vocals, and neither is up to Birdman singer Rob Younger's high standard (and Art's voice is a bit thin at times), but it's not an impediment. Tek and Ronald (Donovan's Brain) Sanchez handle the production and opt for what seems to be a basic live sound. You can't go wrong with that, but I could also hear these guys benefitting from a more stylized approach (like Vic Maile used to use with Screaming Blue Messiahs and The Godfathers) which would pile on even more guitars. Basically, these songs play like good Birdman album cuts, though nothing quite equals Birdman's best. Yet it comes stunningly close, and that's counts as a recommendation in these here parts. This fuckin' rocks. careerrecords.com

Various Artists -- Shake Yer Popboomerang (Popboomerang): If the world's oil supply were as plentiful as the number of Australian band's doing rocking, melodic and instantly appealing pop music, they'd be giving away gasoline (or do you say petrol?) for free. The first full length disc on this fledgling label mixes a few familiar names with a whole bunch of talented artists who will join them has fave raves. The legendary Dom (The Stems, DM3) Mariani appears at about the midpoint of the disc, standing as a testimony how enduring the Aussie pop scene is. His song, "Brothers and Sisters" is a characteristically warm slice of jangle. Other name acts included The Dreamdayers (a breathless "I Will Listen" that hearkens back to some British indie pop of the ‘80s), the sing-a-long fun of The Stoneage Hearts on this comp's title track, Joe (Jack and the Beanstalk) Algeri & Danny (ex-P76) McDonald waxing dreamily on pretty "Til the End" and Starky showing what acts like Frisbie and The Scooters already know -- a well placed horn part can give a nice melody an extra tug of resonance (on the superb "Yesterday I Drove Your Girlfriend Home"). This disc is awash in highlights. Let me turn your attention to Never Loved Elvis, who do a chirpier take on Replacements/Buzzcocks pithiness on "Rodney Smart", which leads to a powerful chorus that sounds like This Year's Model-era Elvis Costello, but more rocking. There are some perkier sounds on Sarah Sarah's "Ignorance & Arrogance" (wistful and cheeky like early Everything But The Girl, but more caffienated and R & B oriented) and The Decembers' "Saving Everything", with Julie Paschke's awesome yearning vocals in the chorus. Fans of You Am I will find some things to like, such as Her Majesty's Finest's ringing "Peggy Wednesday". Tim Reid's "Dancing Girl" is a great folk-pop waltz that has a resonance on par with Paul McCartney and Neil Finn. The Genes' "Peeling from the Ceiling" has a chorus that sounds like it came from some blue-eyed soul hit from the early-‘70s. This is a top notch compilation that should turn anyone on to some new favorite artists. popboomerang.com.

The Coral -- The Coral (Columbia): Best-selling U.K. band incorporates a lot of elements into their psych-garage pop stew. However, a lack of consistent songwriting and arch and poofy execution undermine their laudable intentions. This album seems more of a cabaret take on psychedelia. This wouldn't be so bad, if the band had the flair of early Roxy Music or Sparks. However, the band only sparingly seems to do more than fuss around with its material -- like the brief head of steam they build up during the instrumental section of "Badman". You get bits of cod-reggae ("Shadows Fall") and cod-Captain Beefheart ("Skeleton Key") that get As for effort but are contrived and lack the organic musical feel necessary to work. Likewise, their attempt at a psych-pop character study, "Simon Diamond", comes off more as an affectation than a sincere expression of anything in particular. The band certainly has it's moments. "Dreaming of You" has a perky rhythm that comes across like Holland-Kurt Weill-Holland and just enough of a melody to work quite well. Even better is "Waiting for the Heartaches", which mixes the spooky romantic tension of The Zombies with a chorus more in line with The Seeds and their garage rock peers. It's the hallmark tune here. These songs show promise, but are overwhelmed by the whiffs of prog and blues jam band that come across -- the latter direction would be disastrous, as they simply lack the musical gifts to do that effectively. Columbiarecords.com

The Like Young -- "Looked Up" Plus Four (Kittridge): Wolfie is no more, but their pop rockin' charm lives on in this band. Pared down to spouses Joe and Amanda Ziemba, this project likewise strips down the songs to a hooky essence. Joe gets a nice slightly dirty but clean guitar sound (vestiges of Cheap Trick and Redd Kross hang in the air), while he and Amanda master the difficult feat of meshing winsome cute voices (which are precious in a good way solo, and sublime when they harmonize) that seem more suited for twee-pop with a bracing indie take on power pop. The title cut will appear on their debut LP. The four ‘outtakes' are all albumworthy, making me anticipate the full length all the more. "Bad Excuse" takes a riff that somehow Pixies and Guided By Voice hadn't used, and gets maximum mileage out of it, alternating post-new wave cool with Amanda's wispy interludes. "Threshold Person" sounds like a cross between Spoon and Off Broadway -- the chords are close to "Bully Bully", but the rhythm is more in the Spoon mode. The title song has an interesting opening: "I am taking all my clothes off/I'm cutting all my hair off/so you can see my scalp". The song has the type of big hook that keeps Weezer's accountant happy. Ultra fun. thelikeyoung.com

Stratocruiser -- Stratocruiser (Neon Pie): Jangly power pop record masterminded by Mike Nicholson, a North Carolina stalwart who has played with lots of folks (for indie cred's sake, let me mention Doleful Lions) and has put on the beloved music festival Sparklefest for the past few years. Nicholson handles the bulk of the guitar chores and writes or co-writes every song on this timeless disc. I presume that these songs were written with vocalist Ronald Tucker in mind. He has a drawling neo-Dylanesque timbre to his voice – a quality he shares with singers like Tom Petty and Roger McGuinn. And while the opener "Wallflower" has some deft Byrdsy lead guitar in the chorus, the song has Scruffs-like verses and a crunchy riff that surrounds the main hook. I couldn't identify the main hook in "Thinking" – there's too much to choose from. The track is a slinky neo-Zombies song that is full of nifty little bits that enhance the cheery-yet-spooky mood, from the requisite stabs of organ to one lead guitar part that seems to come from another song. It is so out of place it fits perfectly in this musical equivalent of walking through the House of Mirrors. One thing that comes through loud and clear on track after track is that these guys are rock and roll through and through -- this isn't a band showing off their record collection, but skilled musicians working with a really large toolbox and having loads of fun doing it. So when they veer into a psychedelic guitar instrumental break it works just as well as when they go all new wavey on the playful and endearing "Brave the Storm". Other highlights include "Superstar of Cool" and "Not So Humble Pie", a hippy hippy shake of a tune, if you know what I mean. neonpie.com

Ronderlin -- Wave Another Day Goodbye (Hidden Agenda): Every time I think I have had my fill of melancholy Scandinavian guitar rock, another artist comes along who offers enough quality to keep me interested. The majority of Ronderlin's songs wrap acid sentiments in pleasant acoustic guitar packages. The pithy "Black Eyebrows" is a candidate for the best Belle and Sebastian song not by Belle and Sebastian, with a simple lyric about a young beauty who has gotten old, is no longer alluring and can't get her youth back: "She looks weary and worn/her beauty broke men's hearts through no fault of her own". Belle and Sebastian are just one reference point -- Nick Drake and Al Stewart are others. This is warm and intimate. The band has a knack for coming up with distinctive lead guitar parts that fuel the songs and then hitting on the type of chord changes that cast a spell. This is best exemplified on "Wave Another Day Goodbye", which packs two minutes and thirty-seven seconds with gripping music and world weary observations from singer Kalle Grahm: "leave behind your tears you say/and sometimes I do/but my love to love itself/seems to wither without you". While this is not a rocking band, they are capable of great power, in full evidence on the dramatic "Sweet Nothings". If it is possible be dignified while seething, Ronderlin has captured such a feeling on an album where all beauty is flawed, all love is doomed, and yet there is always a new day on the horizon. parasol.com

John Hiatt & The Goners -- Beneath The Gruff Exterior (New West): Hiatt is a great songwriter who has never really made a great album, though he's come close on efforts like Riding With The King and Bring The Family. The latter album shifted Hiatt into the territory he's explored for the past 15 years -- pure rootsy rock, mixing country charm with some occasional blues rock moves. The dud-to-good ratio has always weighted towards the good part of the scale. This album is no exception. Playing with his hot touring band, this sometimes has a nice back porch intimacy. Hiatt generally fronts with his charm and cleverness -- sometimes the cleverness leads to truth, sometimes it's just for temporary amusement. Two notable things about the disc – Sonny Landreth is simply one of the best lead guitarists around, and has a few smoking solos, and Hiatt's voice really seems to be straining on the high notes now, and maybe he should try to move lower in his range (stay away from "How Bad's the Coffee"). Gems include the chugging "Nagging Dark" with a wonderfully soaring chorus, the funky blues of "The Last Time", and the swinging "Almost Fed Up with the Blues". Hiatt's aging gracefully, yet he still can kick a little shit now and then. Newwestrecords.com

The Jasmine Minks -- "I Heard I Wish it Would Rain" (Bus Stop): This band was one of the first acts on Creation Records and this EP is part of a 21st Century revival of Minks activity. They have dabbled in many styles in their career. Here, the three songs performed by the sextet are on the pop side of the fence. The title song is one of the better Motown reference tunes I've ever heard (my fave is Billy Bragg's "Levi Stubbs' Tears"), a melancholy song performed in an relatively low key manner, even though the chorus ("Everybody smiles/but nobody's laughing/I heard I Wish it Would Rain") has a soulfulness that could be shouted. Indeed, the melodies on that song and "Blown Away" are rooted in classic R & B, and then made to fit the band's more Britcentric talents. Tom Reid's vocal on "Blown Away" is particularly strong and Kenny Hossick's piano playing is powerful. "Learn to Suffer" is a mild reggae number. It's a decent change of pace, but is a B-side compared to the quality of the other two tracks. busstoplabel.com

The Suggestions -- Mix Tape (self-released): Not just your average melodic guitar pop band, The Suggestions don't fall into one sound. They mix in some classic power pop moves while also showing the skills to make alt-pop that's on par with Superdrag, light hearted rock in the vein of Weezer and some slower material that will grab those who like the more sensitive side of emo. The more I listen to this, the more I think of the aforementioned Superdrag. Listen to "The Art of Dying", which recasts a ‘67-era Beatles melody into a vaguely Eastern motif (more Turk than raga), adds dark lyrics and leads into a vibe that is disquieting and memorable. "Halo" shows off a more rocking side, with an insistent riff and superior use of dynamics. Singer John Brodeur has an incredible voice, but he is much more concerned about serving the song than showing off. He roughs things up during the pretty and haunting verses. The build up into the slightly psych-pop chorus is only a portent of the various movements of the song. A dense, rewarding and entertaining composition. A little bit of R & B insinuates itself (aided by some nice electric piano playing) on "Birthday Girl (into the sun)", which sounds like Ben Kweller getting a bit funky. Brodeur really shows his ability to convey emotion with his strained vocal on the fragile "Masterpiece". There is a lot going on here, but every song here takes no more than two plays to really kick in. This is an outstanding release from a band that will probably get better (and is already terrific). thesuggestions.com

Lisa Mychols -- Lost Winter's Dream (Rev-Ola): It may seem the wrong time to review this reissue of a record that is devoted to the season just passed, but not more than a day or two after I received this disc in the mail, we had a heavy March snow in Chicago. This disc shows that Mychols, best known for fronting the L.A. power pop band The Masticators, has been a major league singer and song writer for more than a decade. In keeping with the outstanding cover shot (Mychols writing out Christmas cards in an early-‘60s living room -- even her clothes are perfect), a lot of the music has a girl-group feel, though not as cutesy. Her mastery of Spectorian songwriting is evident on numerous tracks, and she could not have found a better set of collaborators than Darian and Nick of The Wondermints, not just because of their love of ‘60s music and playing skill, but due to their ability to make this sound like a big budget recording. Songs like the title cut, "We Will Look Away" and "Pure and Simple" are fine examples of drawing upon classic inspiration and making something that is just as good. Lisa rocks out on "Bernie's 3rd Christmas", with a nifty Shangri-Las middle-eight part. "Closer to Jerusalem" is one of the least retro tunes on the record – this song has a funky edge that makes for a nice change of pace. 2003 should see, finally, a second Mychols solo disc, and this reissue is a strong reminder of what brilliance she is capable of. rev-ola.co.uk

The Nice Device -- "Gotta Get It" (self-released): Three song debut from yet another sharp rocking band from Detroit. Each song shows off a different facet of the band's writing, with two constants: 1) this quartet can flat out play -- uber-producer Jim (The Sights, White Stripes, and seemingly every other cool band from the Motor City) Diamond gets a white hot live sound, only accentuating the tightness and well-placed energy that never overwhelms the tunes, and, 2) frontwoman Alicia Gbur's powerful vocals. On the title song, Gbur's voice is robust and shows some R & B heft. The track powers along blending the classic (think MC5) Detroit sound with some sorta surf music vibe, a la Radio Birdman. The chorus is a bit more poppy than either the 5 or Birdman. "Bittersweet" has a similar chorus, seemingly designed to encourage folks to sing along at gigs, though the riffage comes closer to The New York Dolls or Slade. Matt Lannoo's drumming is creative -- laying down a swinging danceable beat with some clever fills, while Zach Shipps throws in some melodic twists into his propulsive bass playing. The putative B-side, "My Little Birdie", might actually be my favorite cut. The opening riff careens kinda like Love's version of "My Little Red Book". Gbur's voice is particularly good here -- she clearly shows that she could pull off country or girl-group material. Sometimes singers with voices this sweet and honeyed can't pull off the rock, but she never strains when the song gets to cooking. Is there more where this came from? thenicedevice.com

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