Scroll down for capsule reviews of the latest from Duvall, Herb Eimermann, Mark Eitzel, Sukilove, Supremium, The Tea Sea, The Boris Flats and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts.

The All Golden – A Long Good Friday (Microtone): Atomospheric music that has some elements of the shoegazer scene and the more recent dreamy pop efforts of groups like Flaming Lips and Sparklehorse, without following either muse specifically. Opening tracks "Your Bad Wires" and "Bright" cascade guitars and yearning keyboards on big songs that envelope and captivate. The latter has an awesome big guitar melody -- it's making me think of classic Who or Kinks, at their most inspiring, or more recent bands like The Lassie Foundation who can lift you off your feet with a great song/texture combo. After this great welcome, the band can almost do no wrong. There are some more rockers similar to the aforementioned tunes, some lighter atmospheric pieces (like "Northern Lights", with its stately presence and low key harmonies, the world weary acoustic "The Water is Rising", "Sleepwalking", which fans of early R.E.M. will appreciate, though R.E.M. never utilized keyboards like this), and the insistent mid-tempo "Smoking's the Last Sin", which is as great as its title. Scott Bennett and Chris Sheehan split the songwriting duties and they clearly share a sensibility that gives this band a distinct sound. This is the type of record that college radio stations should be going apeshit over. theallgolden.com

Duvall – Standing At The Door (Double Zero): The Smoking Popes fell apart after three albums, undone by excessive pot smoking, which pushed singer Josh Caterer to Christ (really!). Three-quarters of the band is back together, healthier, happier and picking up where The Popes final album (Destination Failure) left off. That disc found The Popes moving away from their unique punk-pop (Ramonesy hooks married to Josh's near crooning vocals) to more straightforward power-pop. The four tunes on this EP are classic guitar pop. Caterer still underplays his vocals, but heads to the top of range more often – he never strains, so the cool vocals still provide a strong contrast to the peppy music. The title cut has a nifty guitar riff that doubles back on itself, while Caterer carries the melody on his own, and the chorus has two big hooks rolled into one. "The Game Is Up" is chugging mid-tempo tune in the vein of Cheap Trick or E'Nuff Z'Nuff – familiar but executed perfectly. The other two tracks are just as good. I anxiously await a full length album. smokingpopes.net

Herb Eimmerman – Same Wish (Under The Dome): Whoo-hoo! This disc has one sexy cover. No offense to Mr. Eimerman, but the sweet pop music inside does not match up with the packaging. Eimerman is best known as one half of The Nerk Twins, a collaboration with Jeff Murphy of Shoes. This disc is consistent with that work. He opens with a song that is reminiscent of Brian Wilson's post-Pet Sounds work – "Love Always Surrounds" is simple and sincere with a splendid sentiment starting the song off: "When you step inside my song/I'll protect you from what feels wrong". In addition to that classic melodic vibe, you can also hear echoes of Shoes, the dB's and, I swear, LMNOP (only to the extent that a couple melodies have the same drawly quality that LMNOP's do). This is soothing acoustic pop, Eimerman's gentle voice relaxing you and the tunes engaging you. At 15 tracks, perhaps a bit of pruning could be done, not because there are any flat out stinkers, but Eimerman's consistency makes things blur a bit in spots. Emanbmi@aol.com

Mark Eitzel – Music For Courage And Confidence (New West): Eitzel takes a break from penning tunes to do a covers album. The disc is pretty much what you'd expect, combining his wounded melancholy style, that is, his low key aching voice that makes up for the occasional flat note with pure emotion, with his subtle characteristic wit. Some songs are clear influences on his American Music Club and solo material, like Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and a superlative take on Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine". Some are goofy, and none of those are awful, but only live set favorite "More, More, More" (Andrea True Connection) really pays off in full, while Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and Anne Murray's "Snowbird" are just curiosities. Eitzel pulls off a surprisingly effective take on Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up", with his typical cool vocal contrasting with some great ‘70s soul backing – this must be how The Style Council sounded in Paul Westerberg's head. Covers of Glen Campbell's "Gentle on My Mind" (written by John Hartford) and Phil Ochs' "Rehearsal for Retirement" are also highlights. The backing tracks for this project were sitting in the can since 1998, with Eitzel finally recording the vocals last year. While, like most such collections, this isn't an out-an-out winner, it's a fun album, and a nice stop gap until Eitzel's next original LP. Newwestrecords.com

Sukilove – Talking In The Dark (Hidden Agenda): If you were charmed by Pascal Deweze's outstanding work with Carol Van Dyk (Bette Serveert) on the Chitlin' Fooks project, doing light country tuneage, you will be equally, if not more, charmed on this seven song collection of acoustic pop tunes. At times, Deweze reminds of Roddy Frame in Aztec Camera's peak days, his voice and songs bursting with sunshine. The title cut opens the proceedings, and it's a miniature pop symphony, glistening strings, each movement a wonder unto itself. Fans of the Fooks disc will instantly dig the twang enhanced melodies of songs like "Make Sure My Grave Is Kept Clean" and "White Boy Blues". Great opening couplet: "You never sleep where I want you to/because you never read my mind correctly" from "We'll Sleep Together" with a late period Beatles melody. "Too Dark to Dream" is centered around a piano part out of the Procol Harum School of Large Sounds, which sets up a sweet ballad. Fabulous disc. Parasol.com

Supremium – Tales (Smile): Second album from power pop vets, who know all the moves. This is often a good thing, as illustrated by "What She Needs", which features a great vocal from Bruce Witkin (whose voice has a little bit of grit) and is full of delightful melodic tricks. This is the type of stuff that bands like The Sighs and The Gin Blossoms would have sold their souls for, with a heartland vibe and a hook as big as the Mississippi River. Likewise, "I Am Alive" (with great bouncy drumming from Rob Klonel) and "If Not for You" (fans of Candy Butchers will like this a lot) also show how savvy combined with inspired performances can make for delightful listening. However, sometimes that experience can be a hindrance, as the band is prone to cliche in spots, using time worn musical devices that their superior execution cannot overcome. Diehard fans of the aforementioned bands and other likeminded acts (Firetown and Fastball) may go nuts for this, but others may want to proceed a bit more cautiously. Supremium.net

The Tea Sea – Steep (Multiphonic): Low key pop from ingratiating New Orleans quartet. This shows some subtle Anglophile leanings, as sources like The Beatles (OK, the cover of George Harrison's early composition "Don't Bother Me" doesn't hide influences) and Squeeze and other Brits surface. I didn't realize how much this grabbed me until I was brushing my teeth one night and the piano part and lead guitar figure from opener "The General Arrives at Just Before Dawn" started spontaneously running through my head (and it has no brushing or flossing references that would have triggered this). Inventive arrangements and basic melodies that are given little twists make this a hidden gem. Facets of the gem include the early ‘60s Merseybeat of "When Ends Meet", the LMNOP-ish, both in its melody and Kevin Radecker's vocal "Margaret, I Found You All Alone in Your Room", Bert Smith's quietly uneasy vocals on the Zombies-meet-Squeeze "Zeroes and Exes", and Radecker's composition "I've Been Kissing All the Wrong People", which is just a classic pop ditty, that you could just as easily imagine a ‘30s pop singer warbling to ukelele accompaniment – the Bacharach horns are a great touch. This is post-modern pub-pop and a great find. TeaSea.homestead.com

The Boris Flats – 'Dinlo' The Original Soundtrack (Boris-Tones): This has been out for a while, but deserves some attention. A British band who combines a talent for lush arrangements akin to High Llamas with an occasional yen for dance music styles like Pulp circa 1995, grounded in strong melodies that fans of Squeeze, Dodgy and other pop classicists will dig. Add to this musical mix sharp lyrics ("You can say what you like/I will hear just what I need" from "My Little Ways", for example) and the strong vocals and instrumental talents of auteur Van Norris-Jones – well, this disc will take you on a splendid journey. When the steel drums kick in on "Rubber Arthur" and Norris-Jones distorts his voice Chipmunks-style, it's silly and audacious and captures the overall fizziness. "Little Ways" is simply a classic – a pumping dance track that sounds like a Nick Heyward/Madonna collaboration, the song moves your ass, but has more than enough melody. Other songs hearken back to either ‘60s Britpop, or the ‘80s version, when bands like Aztec Camera and The Housemartins thrived. And sprinkled throughout are Wilsonian moments of loveliness. A veritable pop banquet. dugoutstudios.co.uk

The Pine Valley Cosmonauts – The Executioner's Last Songs (Bloodshot): An ambitious compilation from the group led by Jon (Mekons, The Waco Brothers) Langford. The proceeds from this disc go to the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project, who are fighting the death penalty in a state where, since the reinstitution of the death penalty, more men on Death Row have been exonerated than executed. What makes this ambitious is that rather than a series of political rants on why the death penalty is wrong, the Cosmonauts, aided by a bevy of alt-country all-stars, take on many songs dealing with "murder, mob-law & cruel, cruel punishment" as the liner notes state. Certainly, classic songs like the murder ballad "Knoxville Girl" (done by Brett Sparks of The Handsome Family), "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" (Dean Schlabowski of The Wacos twanging up The Adverts' punk rock peak), and Lonesome Bob's version of the Johnny Paycheck standard "Pardon Me (I've Got Someone to Kill)" will not immediately elicit sympathy for the cause. But they provide context – a death penalty abolitionist who fails to acknowledge the sting of murder is rhetorically shooting himself in the foot. No one seriously engaged in this issue denies that unjustified killing is unimportant. Once that is off the table, the actual reasons can be put on the table (in this case, visual artist Tony Fitzpatrick, the guy who does Steve Earle's album art, gets up on his soapbox on "Idiot Whistle"). So the album succeeds at the conceptual level. Other songs do deal with the specific issue, such as Janet (Freakwater, Eleventh Dream Day) Bean's take on "The Snakes Crawl at Night" and Rick Cookin' Sherry on "Hanged Man". Putting aside the politics, the performances are almost uniformly outstanding, particularly Diane Izzo ("Oh Death"), Johnny Dowd and Jon Langford ("Judgement Day"), Steve Earle ("Tom Dooley"), Jenny (ex-Tsunami) Toomey (Cole Porter's "Miss Otis Regrets") and the standout, Rosie Flores nailing Hank Williams' "I'll Never Get Out of this World Alive". bloodshotrecords.com

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