Eleni Mandell – Afternoon (Zedtone): Veteran left coast singer-songwriter with an appealing dusky voice and an even more appealing intelligence and wit. She underpins her songs with classic structures -- you can hear some jazzy bits, some old rock and roll (ballad division) and other tricks that show off the torchy and romantic aspects of her voice to its best advantage. For example, "Fall Away" is a swoony shuffle in the vein of The Drifters. Lead guitarist Joshua Grange keys the song with his pretty accents while Mandell revels in a dream of running away with her lover, while she feels on top of her game: "Look at me, I'm everything/the sun, the moon, the stars/I'm razor sharp/I'm burning up/setting off the fire alarms." (This is a typical no-fat Mandell lyric, by the way). On the mid-tempo rocker "Easy On Your Way Out", Mandell is calling out a slimeball who left her, but her vulnerability is palpable when she sings "I'm honest and true/I still feel the same/why don't you?" It's hard for a lot of singers to convey one emotion adequately, while Mandell often layers hers, giving her songs added depth. Mandell has a keen understanding of how the heart and brain are often at odds, causing people to do things they know cause them pain, like the woman in "Can't You See I'm Soulful". She wants this guy to see her as she sees herself. He clearly doesn't want any part of her -- and she knows it, yet she's still lingering. Ouch. Although she's coming from both a different place lyrically and musically, Mandell is on par with the great Ron Sexsmith, in that both she and Sexsmith have mastered the ability of boiling down a song to its essence, making music that sticks with you long after the disc has come out of the player. zedtone.com

Major -- The Bliss Domestic (Laughing Outlaw): Someone must have slipped me a mickey right before I listened to this disc the first time, because it made no impression on me. I can't conceive of any other reason for my initial indifferent reaction. Thankfully, I put the record back in my review stack and can only scratch my head on how I didn't find this instantly likeable. Australia is teeming with great power pop, and Major belongs near the front of the line. The band shows an ability to go from a cheery and ingratiating melody to something dazzling or explosive. Two bands that easily come to mind when listening to Major are Crowded House and Teenage Fanclub, but neither of those bands could come up with something as giddy as "Smart Casual". This is a song that soars in support of a defiant statement of purpose -- music is both a legitimate career and a way of life. Another big winner is "Without Love", an adult power pop song that mixes the smarts and soulfulness of a band like Semisonic with a super smooth hook that sounds like a cross between Smithereens and Shoes, but better. On the bouncy "Choosing No. 5", the band manages to pay homage to Joe Jackson's biggest (and first) hit, while telling the tale of a man who is fine with being anonymous. He sounds kind of happy about it. The band brings out the heavy guitars on "Shake", which cements my Crowded House comparison, as they always seemed to have a couple of tracks on every album that seethed while still being catchy. Major's lyrics are sometimes a bit obtuse. At their best, they integrate some intelligent wordsmithing into their tales of love (good and bad), such as "Nervous kisses and whiskey breath/I love you my love ‘til death/and into the years we'll run/our kids will ignore us some" (from "The Time Honoured Way"). Plain and simple, this is one of the best power pop records of the past four or five years. laughingoutlaw.com.au

New Planet Trampoline -- The Curse Of The Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone): Another fine modern psychedelic disc that can stand proudly with recent efforts from Telepathic Butterflies, The Pillbugs and The Orange Allabaster Mushroom. Matt Cassidy leads this crew through a nice mix of sounds from the peace-and-love era, with the requisite squiggly organ, droning ambiance and even a basic folk-blues rocker ("Northwestern Woodpecker"), which explodes into a freak out guitar fest. On "Gimmie a Moment", a delicious mix of a cool riff and a walking lead guitar make for a constant hook, and working off that, more elements are thrown into the mix to make this a true psych-pop winner. The band can pull off spooky as well as hooky, as illustrated by "Fake-Ass Moon", which has a bit of an early Pink Floyd feel, mixed in with a great use what sounds like a Farfisa organ. The organ also augments the pastoral "Mr. and Mrs. Watterson". There are a couple of sublime melodic twists on this track that show that Cassidy has some real songwriting smarts. I can't get enough of this stuff, when it's done right like this. elephantstonerecords.com

Nanook Of The North -- The Taby Tapes (Hidden Agenda): Nanook has a way with the ladies. By that, I mean that he has lined up a fine array of female vocalists as duet partners on a series of textured keyboard dominated soft pop songs. So far, so good, but what distinguishes this from a number of like minded pop efforts coming from Sweden? Well, it's the loopy lyrics that aren't so much humorous, as they are devices to put this normal music into the oddball world of Nanook. The first song, "Karin Boye's Grave" sets the tone. This is an ode to a recently dearly departed, with Camela Leierth singing Karin's thoughts as Nanook let's the decedent know that had she lived "you could have played in our band/we could have spread revolution through this land." The next song is "Israel and Palestine -- a Solution", and the music and vocals emanate good intentions, though I don't think Nanook's take on things will garner him a Nobel nomination. Again, this isn't funny, intentionally or not, but it's amusing in its oddity, with pretty pop support (including strings). "St. George and the Dragon" distinguishes itself from some of the other songs by actually being somewhat straightforward -- as straightforward as a song about sending out a youngster to slay a dragon can be. This is sublime synth-pop, with a chorus that is so easy to sing along with. "Hey Fragile" is also straightforward, as Nanook talks about dumping on a friend to make himself feel better when the chips are down, over a backing track that includes steel guitar and what sounds like bubbles bursting, while he sings things like: "‘living is easy', my ass!/it's a warzone". I wonder what Nanook's therapy bill is. So this is an album of quality (and normal) pop with an extremely eccentric interior. parasol.com

The Like Young -- So Serious (Parasol): The title of the second Like Young album could be a nod to the late period Electric Light Orchestra tune, or it could be a reference to this band's unwavering commitment to concise power pop tunes that perfectly balance Joe Ziemba's meaty guitar riffs with sugary melodies (and, concurrently, the blend of Joe's sharp voice with the ultra-girly backing vocals of his wife, drummer Amanda Ziemba). The two former members of Wolfie do not deviate from the ground rules that they laid down on their 2003 debut album, instead choosing to refine their approach. So the differences are merely incremental, while the results are, yet again, extremely entertaining. A couple of songs here remind me of Buzzcocks, but leavened with a certain extra pop sweetness. In fact, on the finale, "Really Up to You", the Buzzcocks comparison comes from melody Joe plays on his guitar -- it's a riff in the tradition of songs like "Ever Fallen in Love" and "Everybody's Happy Nowadays", simultaneously jaunty and slightly sad. A great track. As is the other Shelley-esque number, "Sabine & Me" which smokes, though Joe and Amanda throw in some cooing backing vocals. The band works in a new wavey lead guitar line on "Worry a Lot", with Amanda and Joe trading some call and response vocals -- it's as if The Human League rocked. There is one slow song, Joe multi-tracking his guitars on "Don't Know When to Stop". This is pulled off so well that it really shows what the next step is for The Like Young -- adding more variety to their albums, since they have so clearly perfected their basic craft. I'm sure that as good as they are now, things are only going to get better. parasol.com

The Jellybricks -- Power This (Kool Kat): The latest Jellybricks disc is reliable power pop. Indeed, the band lets you know where its loyalties lie right away, as "Can't Be Wrong" includes a guitar part that sounds related to the classic "Starry Eyes" by The Records. Critically, that part is just a part of this swell mid-tempo opener that is at turns jocular and muscular. Working with producer Cliff Hillis, the band certainly shares some qualities with Mr. Hillis but they also like to throw on just a bit of ornamentation (usually in the form of strong lead guitar parts) that would please fans of artists like The Tories and Jason Falkner. Or maybe Cheap Trick, at least in the case of the smoking "Higher Than", a tune infused with drama. Here, the ‘bricks show off all their talents to their best advantage, from the insistent lead guitar part to the urgent chorus, with a strong lead vocal and great backing vocals -- the harmonies are the only thing that leaven this track, which ranks up there with classic tracks from Material Issue and Dirty Looks. I think this band is best went it goes for the gusto, in part because drummer Tom Kristich can bring it. He really lifts "Bad Time", with his disciplined abandon. Even though I think that they are at their best when in full rock mode, they certainly have plenty of charm, as shown on songs like "Takes Too Long", which has a nice hangdog chorus and a Matthew Sweet-worthy middle eight. I also hear a little Matthew Sweet in the verses of "Over Now", a crisp jangle rocker. I'd probably snip a couple of tracks from the 14 on the disc, but otherwise, this is fine stuff. koolkatmusik.com

Various Artists -- Tracks And Fields (Kill Rock Stars): This two disc, 41 track compilation is really just the tip of the tip of the indie rock iceberg, but if you want to get a handle on what's going on underground in 2004, this is an excellent and inexpensive way to do so. A few big names rub shoulders with less heralded artists. So you can revel in the angular beauty of the recently reformed Antietam ("This Lush Life"), with Tara Key in fine form, hear Swede garage girls Sahara Hotnights take a bash at Ramones' "Rockaway Beach", get a line on the delicate pop of The Decemberists ("Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right"), and rock out, in a mid-tempo kinda way, with Superchunk on "Everyone Gets Crushed". Speaking of rock, Sweet Heat's "Oh Johnny" mixes greasy guitar with a come hither vocal. In a totally different realm, Devendra Banhart provides a demo of "Poughkeepsie", which casts him as the Leon Redbone of indie singer-songwriterdom. Tres nasal. The Legend! checks in from Australia with "I'm Not Like That", which combines a loopy eccentric vocal that I'd normally associate with Brits like Robyn Hitchcock and Martin Newell with a light garage rock feel. Radio Berlin's "Bright Things" is a rumbling caterwaul, with an vaguely industrial pop music sound (for some reason, Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry comes to mind), with an over the top vocal. The Paper Chase's "I'm Your Doctor Now" with its weird disembodied moaning sounds leading into a foreboding modern psych-rock track is simply awesome -- a bit of Devo, a bit of Wire and an excuse to make a WCKR SPGT comparison. Other top tracks include Xiu Xiu's "Clowne Towne", Gravy Train's "Ghost Boobs", dos's "Make Her Me"and Need New Body's "ggaannkk", which is entertaining sound collage. While there are a few tracks that are skippable, this is a pretty listenable collection that is perfect for music fans who want to dabble in some challenging tunes. killrockstars.com

Bad Religion -- The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph): The second album since Brett Gurewitz returned to the fold, and, in many ways, his presence is even less noticeable than on the band's last album. That being said, while the bulk of this disc is pretty much typical Bad Religion -- crisp, clean hardcore with Greg Graffin's muscular voice spouting out words that you might need an Oxford English Dictionary to comprehend -- the current political climate has pissed them off, and so they are just a wee bit more righteous and angry than usual. So while Bad Religion is yet again susceptible to the accusations that they are musically pretty much doing the same thing again, I think that the album benefits from this anger and the more specific targets at which it lobs anthemic punk bombs at. While the band has always espoused a concrete ideology, it has often done so in general terms. Here, the Bush Administration and the Iraq war are clearly focused in the band's crosshairs, and it inspires some particularly sharp lyrics. So you get "Let Them Eat War", which notes that war can be used to inspire patriotism from the working class, though it doesn't economically benefit the working class, or the title cut, which contains lyrical gems like "We strike first and we're unrehearsed." A nice summation. Moreover, when the band slows down things a tad, they sometimes display an awesome melodic sense for which most punk-pop bands would trade their piercings and Suicide Girls groupies. Songs like "Live Again (The Fall of Man)" and "Los Angeles Is Burning" are rousing and passionate, and fun to sing along with. Yet, the caveat, as it has been since The Grey Race, is that this band could explore so much more and more than two decades into their career they still have large reservoirs of untapped potential. epitaph.com

Robin Stanley -- Mad Kingdom (Creative Artists): This is laid back acoustic guitar pop , and it's instantly likeable. Some of the songs have a Byrdsy/Dylanesque hue, underplayed just a tad, which would not work without sufficiently strong melodies. Thankfully, Stanley has that covered, on gems like "King of Nothing" and "Forever is A Long Time" (though he sings that it's actually a "long, long time", which is a tad more accurate). The best of this lot is "Trouble With Love", which has some nifty lead guitar work to augment it's nice ‘60s rock jangle. In the credits, Stanley thanks former Cheepskates member Shane Faubert and Dave Rave. In some respects, Stanley's music shares something with Faubert's tender folk-pop and Rave's traditionally rooted power pop, kind of splitting those styles down the middle. A good example of this is the piano piece "Wayward Angel", which also has a hint of John Lennon in ballad mode. On "Does Your Heart Still Belong to Me", Stanley is tender and romantic -- the song has roots in ‘50s rock and roll (Buddy Holly/Roy Orbison) -- it's interesting how the music that sounded so good for teenage laments, sounds just as good once you grow up -- there's an interesting blend of innocence in the music with the experience that you can hear in Stanley's voice. When it comes to love, everyone ends up like a teenager at one point or another I suppose. This is a friendly, relaxed listen, perfect for a mellow rock and roll mood. robin-stanley.com.

The Legends -- Up Against The Legends (Labrador): If you like what The Raveonettes do with the Jesus And Mary Chain sound, you might want to check out The Legends. This band arguably does an even better job of mixing up a spectacular wall of guitars with poppy melodies inspired by some of the best of the ‘60s. Moreover, to the band's credit, they don't rigidly apply the ultra-Marshall stacks treatment to every song. This is because they know how to serve the song and realize that the big guitar moments are there for texture. In fact, every song shows a keen awareness of how instrumental interplay and textures can take a song from good to great, particularly when you are working with such familiar material. This puts The Legends on par with Caesar's Palace (a/k/a The Caesars and The Twelve Caesars), who The Legends strongly resemble on the excellent "Trouble Loves Me" and "Right On". The Legends might be a tad less rocking, but their intensity is equally strong, making for some compelling stuff. They also do a great job of exploiting their light pop vocal stylings with the buzzing guitars, leading to numbers like "The Kids Just Wanna Have Fun", which is upbeat and downbeat and utterly fascinating. Throw in an opener with a Motown rhythm ("Call It Ours"), a tearjerking ballad ("Your Song"), and a certified slice of melancholy soft pop ("When the Day Is Done"), and you have a band that is much more than the sum of its influences. Terrific. parasol.com

Rainy Day Saints -- Saturday's Haze (Get Hip): This is certainly not the garage rock fare normally associated with Get Hip, and it verges on power pop, but isn't beholden to The Beatles and The Who. It's simply a rock and roll record, with some ascertainable virtues. Dave Swanson is the auteur here. He has a slightly sandpapery voice that sounds good with his compositions. I can gather that Swanson likes psychedelic music, since some of his songs have just a hint of that style. I would also guess that he likes Neil Young, as some of the tracks here evoke Mr. Young's mix of power chords and jangle. This comes across best on "Lost", with Swanson's gifted six-string work being well supported by his bashing drumming. This song also will appeal to fans of the harder side of Dumptruck and Dream Syndicate. He's in a poppier mood on the terrific "Come on Girl", which has an indelible rhythm guitar and a drawling melody, all tied together by a cool "yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain that serves as a killer hook. The best of the psychedelic tinged numbers is "Saturday's Haze", which is another springboard for his lead guitar skills, while the song comes off like a nastier version of The Move, until the splendidly melodic chorus. Another big hook surfaces on "Around in Circles", which could have been a latter day dB's number, though it wouldn't have been as heavy as this. Swanson has balanced some genuinely catchy numbers with a few efforts that are more oriented towards mood and energy. This makes for a very good listen. gethip.com

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