Scroll down for the latest from Kevin Tihista, the Possibilities and The Mark Kleiner Power Trio. Click here for the latest from The Doleful Lions, Anna Waronker, Pere Ubu, Do the Pop and The Chevelles.

Tommy Keene
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down

(Spin Art)

tommykeene.com

While not prolific, the reason that Tommy Keene is such a beloved figure amongst power pop fans is his remarkable consistency. Simply put, Keene has never released a recording that was less than good. This is all the more remarkable due to the fact that Keene has doggedly adhered to a single style, managing to work within relatively narrow musical confines without ever getting stale. There are three particular things that earmark a Keene recording:

1. Superior backing bands. Though Keene has worked with a variety of musicians over the years, he always finds colleagues who are not only top notch players, but players who are utterly sympathetic to Keene's style. This is not nearly as easy as it sounds.

2. Keene's unique vocals. Keene has a thin range and his voice is a bit reedy, but this has never constrained the scope of his melodies. So many power pop singers have ‘prettier' voices, which is understandable, when your vocal role models are guys like Paul McCartney. Keene's vocals not only fit the musical dictates of his compositions, they also are critical for the emotional effects he is trying to achieve. While Keene takes on tales of longing and heartbreak, standard pop fare, he often goes beyond wistful or sad and really cuts to the bone emotionally. Many power pop artists will sing of ‘suicide' with a wink, more often because it fits a rhyme scheme. If Keene alludes to or sings of suicide, the song's protagonist really means it.

3. Keene's guitar playing. The closest comparisons I can make to Keene's fretboard work would be Pete Townshend (which Keene acknowledged in his fufkin.com interview last month) and Bob Mould – two other players who are superb lead guitarists, yet make most of their hay with superior rhythm guitar sounds – thick, rich sounds that not only shape the songs, but provide the context for the feeling expressed therein. With just a riff, Tommy Keene's guitar playing says more than a thousand jam bands taking their respective turns at the Grateful Dead catalogue.

These three signature aspects of Keene's music coalesce on one of his ultimate statements, "The Final Hour". This epic track actually has distinctive movements, making it a true power pop symphony. The song chronicles a relationship that had its ups and downs, taking a tragic turn when Tommy's lover dies in a plane crash. The song works variations on some basic melodic structures, with essentially seven different mini-songs within. Keene uses his guitar masterfully, varying the type of sound he uses to match the mood – jangly, monolithic, tremolo, you name it. Twice, the song explodes with gargantuan instrumental breaks, coming off as powerfully as The Who or Cheap Trick ever have. Drummer John Richardson really shines hear, simply beating his kit into submission. The emotional climax of the song comes when Keene contemplates suicide, but realizes he must go on, as it would do nothing to bring her back. This is utterly gut-wrenching. Keene has hinted at such explosiveness, most notably on his excellent covers of Lou Reed's "Kill Your Sons" and Mission Of Burma's "Einstein's Day", but this exceeds anything he has done. This daring song works.

Nothing else on the album comes close to being so risky, but Keene tries some other new tricks. His use of horns is delightful. On "The World Where I Still Live", Peter Roubal's saxophone provides a new texture, while being absolutely in tune with Tommy's characteristic melancholy. Roubal teams up with Jeff Helgeson (trumpet and flugel horn) to add to the old fashioned rock and roll of "The Man Without a Soul" (which, by the way, is not about Mike Love). The horns just add to the traditional ‘50s flair, supported by Jay (ex-Wilco, ex-Titanic Love Affair) Bennett's boogie-woogie pianner.
There is one other number than hits as hard as "The Final Hour" -- the closing track, "The Fog Has Lifted", where Keene's guitar is crispity and crunchity, every chord and note stinging, all in service of a seething tune. Just when the song seems to be fading away, Keene unleashes a blistering guitar solo that brings the song to a boil.

Don't fret, pure pop fans, as Keene still has plenty of basic power pop charmers to spare, and songs like "Technicolor", "Begin Where We End" and "How Do You Really Say Hello" are on par with anything on his prior records. Trying to determine where this fits into Keene's pantheon is probably a fruitless task, as his records are of such a uniformly high quality. That this fits right in is enough of a recommendation anyway.

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Kevin Tihista's Red Terror
Judo

(Parasol)

parasol.com

There are follow up albums that are so close to their predecessors that the artist might as well have released a two disc set. That is especially true here, since the material here was recorded during the same sessions as Tihista's fine debut album, Don't Breathe A Word (of course, Radiohead's last two albums were both done at the same time – but that would have made for a boring double disc set – the ‘coulda been a double' principle should only apply to GOOD records – if it applied to bad records, there a lot of artists who could have saved us all a lot of time by releasing box sets of utter crap).
Mind you, this is not a carbon copy. Tihista is firmly ensconced in a style that adds some ‘70s pop influences to a mellow rock base that is somewhere between Elliot Smith and The Chamber Strings, and this album shows that he can find variables to keep the sound fresh. Like the horn section on the white R & B pop of "Oh No, not Again" -- the main horn riff that carries the second half of the song sounds like Chicago trying to imitate Tower of Power, with a trumpet blast at the end that is so Herb Alpert. This song shows a more rocking sound, as Tihista's rides his painted pony and let's his spinning wheel ride. Tihista needs to show this side more often (even the brief disco drumbeat part works).

That trumpet (specifically, Tom Fox's trumpet) shows up again on "I'm in Love with Girls", a lilting summer breeze of track, where the melody moves in one direction and then seems to fold back upon itself in a slightly higher key. It's a simple twist and very, very effective. All of this style is the substance with Tihista, since lyrics are his Achilles heel. While I appreciate his directness and lack of pretense, the words barely say enough to convey an idea.

Granted, when you can come up with a charming slice of pop like "You're Making Other Plans" (and Tihista notes, "and I'm getting thrown out with the old ones."), creating a tune that mixes music hall ‘60s Brit pop with a classic California soft-pop swoon, just the wee bit of cleverness in the words makes all the difference. Likewise, when just a few words and an insinuating groove convey the singer's desperation, poetry is not necessary – hence, the excellence of the slinky "One More Day", which is excellent cover fodder for Bryan Ferry.
The lack of substance is not a drawback so far, since Tihista has so much style. Moreover, this is a man who is still a neophyte in the songwriting department (Tihista never wrote a complete song until well after his tenure in Triple Fast Action in the early ‘90s), and if his prolific pen is any indication, he should have a sufficient learning curve to imbue his compositions with more weight. And even if Tihista never gets to that point, he certainly could just be the King of Late Summer Evening platters.

The best thing about this album is that it is more diverse than the debut. Had this been Kevin's debut, then Don't Breathe A Word would have been a slight disappointment. Instead, this effort instills confidence that Tihista's bulging songbook has plenty more ‘hits' inside. And having seen recent live performances, Tihista is gaining more vocal confidence (while his whispery style is alright, the more variety in his vocals will give him even more melodic avenues to explore). I presume, as you are reading this, he's got the follow up just about ready.

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The Possibilities
Way Out

(Parasol)

parasol.com

This band has backed up Jack Logan on tour, but don't let that bit of information sway you one way or another. Only slight remnants of Logan's rustic muse are apparent on this record. Instead, The Possibilities have a style that plants one foot in updating ‘60s pop conventions in a manner similar to The Shins and The New Pornographers, while planting the other foot in more traditional Southern power pop, with a little bit of country lurking near the back. This wonderfully produced disc is a showcase for the mastery of both these styles (of course, my categorization is quite general), with the band's execution remaining consistent throughout.
The first half of the disc has the more decided ‘60s jones. The lead off track, "Invisible", is simply brilliant and sets the tone for what follows. The production is echoey, all five members sing in harmony – their harmonies are together but not utterly pristine, and all the more beautiful as a result. The yearning melody seems as vast as a canyon, and Jason Gonzalez escorts the song to the fade with some fine work on the organ.

There are some more Spectoresque delights to follow, such as "Now and Then You Appear", with Matt Lane doing his best Hal Blaine impression on the skins and guitarists Chris Grehan and Kevin Lane starting off with acoustics, then, in the last third of the song, a throughly modern instrumental break, with clanging electric guitar chords doing a call and response with Gonzalez on the keys (playing a stately part), with this break swooping back into the old fashioned melody.
Some Zombies and Beach Boys mixes with the band's collective drawl on "Everywhere I Look", one of a few songs where the chorus manages to have two hooks. "Swing and Sway" is more of a straight Beach Boys-type melody, and is gorgeous and soothing.

These delights are supplemented by some plain ol' rockin', in a manner similar to contemporaries like The Waxwings and Beachwood Sparks. In fact, "Coming in Waves" sounds like a missing track from The Waxwings' debut album. "Would Take You" comes off as earthier, more in the realm of folk-pop, and may have roots in exposure to Christine McVie/Bob Welch-era Fleetwood Mac. The most explosive number, "Downtown Dream", which works on a rollercoaster of ascending and descending chord progressions, is a nod to Brit psych-pop, akin to Photon Band.

The band's Southern tradition really comes to the fore on "Tikki Ball", which sounds like the dB's doing an NRBQ song, or perhaps I mean it the other way around. And "Brain Tree" defies any specific criticism, other than it's can't miss mid-tempo guitar pop, a song that would have sounded great in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and still does in the Aughties.
Of course, you could say that about most of the songs on the record. This is an album where smarts, heart and talent intersect to create something timeless and exciting.

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Mark Kleiner Power Trio
Love To Night

(Mint)

mintrecs.com

Modern power pop the way that it was intended to be played. Kleiner, assisted by Pete Mills on bass and drummer Kurt (The New Pornographers) Dahle, has channeled some of the same melodic excellence that we associate with talents like Jason Falkner and Fountains Of Wayne. Even old school power poppers will find that Kleiner is a worthy successor to Dwight Twilley and Marshall Crenshaw and other luminaries of the easy-rockin' melodic hook.

Falkner is the best comparison, due in part to having a similar effortless vocal style that is both sweet but retains some rough edges. There are also a few songs where Kleiner's melodies are very Jason-ish. The opener "So Good to See You" sounds like Kleiner is really glad to see the girl he's singing to, and has that Falkneresque bounce, with the melody in the bridge sounding so damn Jason, you'll wonder if he snuck into the studio. But the chorus has Kleiner's imprint, ending with Kleiner briefly showing off his falsetto, selling the melody to the hilt. "Love Tonight" is cut from this cloth, but listen carefully and there's something different lurking under the sunny surface: "so pick up/you can trust/your life is more/than malt liquor and angel dust". The song is attempt at motivation, staring reality in the face and telling someone to make good things happen. This song illustrates how a power pop tune can have some substance and still shimmer.

Kleiner also has a more sensitive side too. Thankfully, he knows how to play the piano, the instrument best suited for sensitivity. The use of the 88 keys will garner inevitable Ben Folds comparisons, and while we certainly need more artists like Mr. Folds, Kleiner has a soulfulness, illustrated in spades on "Birth to Blue", that puts him in a different context. This song is more on par with Paul McCartney's piano based ballads, and Elton John also might be a fitting comparison. Kleiner's compositional skill is highlighted by the fact that not only does this song have a strong primary melody, but he provides an additional hook with a lovely piano embellishment. When Mills and Dahle come in for the last third of the song with smooth backing vocals that are heavily influenced by gospel music, the song reaches a peak. In the old days of FM radio, this would have been a massive airplay hit. The finale, "Kindness of Strangers", is another splendid piano ballad. Again, there's a slight whiff of R & B in the chords. Kleiner would do a killer version of Howard Jones's "No One is to Blame", if you get my drift.

The same might be said for "Arrows to Flowers", with Kleiner's guitar ringing away and an anthemic chorus – this would make a splendid medley with Utopia's "One World". This message of peace is delivered with such invigorating cheer, it's a reintroduction to the forgotten concept that things can get better in this world. And it's catchier than hell.
This is a refreshingly succinct and direct record, one that would have sounded as good pressed on vinyl in 1982 as it does coming out of a jewel case 20 years later. There was a day when someone like Kleiner would be hailed as a rising star. Don't know if that day is now, but he should at least be considered a rising cult hero.

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