a-ha

Lifelines

WEA

Yes, them.

The ones who did "Take On Me."

If you really stretch your memory, you might recall that they’re also the ones who did “The Sun Always Shines On TV,” “Cry Wolf,” and the theme song to one of the (arguably) lesser James Bond movies, “The Living Daylights.” Folks who were listening to adult contemporary radio around 1991 may even remember their cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Crying In The Rain,” which made a minor dent on that particular format.

But to the general US public, they’re just the ones who did “Take On Me.”

Which would explain why the band’s last album, Minor Earth | Major Sky, and their current album, Lifelines, haven’t received Stateside release.

Prior to Minor Earth | Major Sky being released in 2000, the band hadn’t put out an album since 1993’s Memorial Beach. In those seven years, lead singer Morten Harket released a solo album or two, Pal Waaktaar became Paul Waakataar-Savoy and released a few albums as Savoy, and Magne “Mags” Furuholmen…well, he left the world of music altogether and took up painting.

It’s a shame that the band disintegrated immediately after Memorial Beach, because, with that album, a-ha had finally found a new voice.

The band found itself with a teenybopper following after debuting with Hunting High and Low and scoring the hit single that remains the albatross around their neck to this day. Perhaps in an attempt to prove that they were really more about moody, melancholy pop tracks, their sophomore effort, Scoundrel Days, was decidedly more downbeat, with less in the way of obvious hit singles. Predictably, it soared nowhere near the chart heights of its predecessor…and, by nothing resembling coincidence, the next record, Stay on These Roads, sounded like a desperate attempt at remaining commercially viable.

It failed.

When the next disc, East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon, emerged, opening as it did with a cover song (the aforementioned “Crying In The Rain”), skeptics immediately said, “Pft. A-ha is REALLY done NOW, if they have to resort to a cover song for the first single off a new album!” In fact, however, East Of The Sun was the first album where a-ha began to play to their strengths; the music was more mellow, less about hit singles and more about smooth tunes that win you over with sheer emotion.

When Memorial Beach appeared two years later, the evolution was complete. a-ha had mastered their new sound.

As such, it is the last a-ha album to date to be released in the US.

Too bad. Minor Earth | Major Sky was arguably the best album of the band’s career, and Lifelines, while not quite as stellar, is still mighty darned good.

As with its predecessor, Lifelines leads off with its Stephen Hague-produced title track, and, also like its predecessor, it’s one of the strongest tracks on the album. The production throughout the album is crisp and clean; in addition to Hague, ‘80s music fans will also immediately note that Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley man the boards on a few tracks as well. (Other producers include Martin Landquist, Ian Caple, Tore Johansson, and even Paul Waaktaar-Savoy himself.) “Forever Not Yours,” wasn’t a bad choice for the album’s first single, but “Lifelines,” which proved to be the second track released to radio overseas, would’ve been better.

“Afternoon High” is a breezy pop track that sounds like just flew in from a ‘70s AM radio compilation somewhere. “Did Anyone Approach You?,” with its bleeps and bloops, could surely be remixed into a dance club favorite. “Oranges on Appletrees” has a semi-psychedelic feel to it, which was no doubt intended, given a chorus including phrases like, “Oranges on appletrees/Birds that mate with bumblebees/Multigender wannabes/Endless possibilities.” “Dragonfly” includes keyboards that bring to mind the Stranglers’ “Golden Brown.”

“Turn The Lights Down” is arguably the best track on the album. A duet with Anneli Drecker (best known for her work with Bel Canto), it’s a swaying, romantic number, with lovely harmonizing between Harket and Drecker, Harket promising a swift return home, Drecker reminding him that “I cannot help you/You yourself must see/Decide now what you want to be.” By the end, they’re both crooing to each other how “I want to sleep by your side/It makes me feel so alive.”

There are a few tracks which aren’t necessarily up to snuff, one of which comes pretty early on in the festivities (“You Wanted More” is the second track), but there isn’t a legitimately duff track in the bunch.

`Let’s recap, then, shall we?

a-ha. Not dead. Not even resting. Still very much a viable commodity. Just ask anyone in Norway, Germany, or, really, any European country. Or, better yet, pick up Lifelines and hear for yourself.

---originally written for PopMatters.

Alfie

A Word In Your Ear

Twisted Nerve/XL

http://www.twistednerve.co.uk/alfie

Alfie’s lead singer, Lee Gorton has said of the group, “We are a punk band. Why? We do exactly what we want. We don’t sound like anyone else.” Well, he’s got it at least half right. Alfie do manage to go from a Bacharach-styled horn sound (“Bends For 72 Miles”) to some of the whitest rap this side of Vanilla Ice (“The Reverse Midas Touch”) before even the first half of their sophomore album, A Word In Your Ear, is over. But the other half of the time, they sound suspiciously like a combination of Coldplay, Badly Drawn Boy (whose label they share), and, most noticeably, Belle & Sebastian. (It’s particularly noticeable on “Halfway Home.”) This is far from a bad combination for fans of those bands, as you might well have already thought if you belong to that particular camp. “Cloudy Lemonade,” which has been part of the band’s live repertoire for some time now, is the first track that really grabs you, but the previously-referenced tracks “Bends For 72 Miles” and “Halfway Home” are also quite excellent. It may tend toward the mellow side of things at times, but A Word In Your Ear is definitely good listening for people who like their twee with a more expansive sound.

---originally written for Amplifier

Almost Always

self-released

http://www.almost-always.com

There’s something about a local writer offering up a rave review of a local band’s new CD that makes the writer feel as though he’s standing right on the edge of the credibility precipice, teetering desperately. Whether the band’s actually rave-worthy or not, there’s always that suspicion in some people’s minds that the enthusiasm is being created as much to help the local boys make good as because it’s legitimately warranted.

Therefore, a proclamation of some sort should be made to preserve this writer’s integrity in the public’s eye; as such, I hereby swear to you on my pile of Weezer CDs...and that includes Pinkerton, mind you...that this 5-song, self-titled EP from the Smithfield-based Almost Always is excellent emo-flavored, melodic punk-pop.

While the sound isn’t necessarily sparkling with major-label gloss, the songs are all quite catchy, easily accessible to a mainstream audience but still well-constructed enough for the discerning music fan; the enthusiasm of this power trio shines through on each track.

May a full-length album from Almost Always emerge sooner than later.

By the way, should you doubt the contents of this review, the MP3s available on the band’s website (http://www.almost-always.com) assure me that they have my back.

---originally written for NineVolt

The Anniversary / Superdrag

Vagrant / Heroes & Villains

www.vagrant.com

When this split EP came out a few months ago, there were two easily-discernable purposes for its existence: to whet one’s appetite for the impending sophomore full-length from the Anniversary, and to serve as a stop-gap measure until the next Superdrag album. That, of course, was a few months ago. Since then, not only has that Anniversary full-length (Your Majesty) made it into stores, it’s already been reviewed by Amplifier! As such, it seems only fair to start off by tackling discussion of the Superdrag tracks. While their lead-off, “Take Your Spectre Away,” is no great shakes, “The Emotional Kind” is a chunky power pop nugget with a riff straight out of the Cheap Trick songbook. It’s followed by “I Guess It’s American,” the guitar work of which handily proves that Superdrag can hold their own against such folks as Lit, Sugarcult, or Tsar, to name but three. Jumping back to the Anniversary’s contributions, “O’ Lady Butterfly” is practically an epic at almost 6 minutes long; Adrianne Pope’s keyboards keep the song moving, thankfully. “Anais” has a Kinks feel to it, and the last of their trio of tracks, “Up In The Sky,” has a Beatle-y tempo change that makes it the best of the Anniversary’s selections.

---originally written for Amplifier

Angie Aparo

Weapon of Mass Construction

Self-released

http://www.angieaparo.com

Angie Aparo first popped up on the radar of most folks with the release of his Arista Records debut, The American, back in 2000; the distinction of being Aparo’s first-ever album, however, belongs to the 1995 indie release, Out Of The Everywhere. (Note to completists: the two albums share only one song: “Wonderland.”) Tours with folks ranging from Matchbox20 and Edwin McCain to Evan and Jaron and Athenaeum helped raise his profile to a certain extent, but he still didn’t end up as anything resembling a household name. That having been said, however, he still managed to end up with a cult following in the Southeast that trade tapes of his live performances as if he were a one-man Grateful Dead.

It’s hard to determine from online sources if Aparo has been released from the Arista roster or not, but, at the very least, he’s taken the indie route once more with his latest album, Weapon Of Mass Construction. (Let’s be realistic, though; if he’s releasing the follow-up to his major-label debut independently, then said debut was probably also his major-label swan song.)

Weapon is a collection of covers, with two new, original songs thrown in for good measure. Now, to be offering up a covers album this early in his career…well, let’s just say that it doesn’t exactly bode well for regular releases from Aparo in the future. The Covers Album Gambit is generally a maneuver pulled by artists who are in the autumn of their careers. It’s a move usually performed either to stall their label while trying to find their creative muse, or it’s done simply as a way to put out new product and avoid hearing someone say, “…and that’s the full fifteen minutes, then! Time, please!”

In this case, it may be a little bit of both.

Still, it’s best to at least make an attempt at avoiding thoughts like, “Oh, dear, it’s Duran Duran’s Thank You all over again,” or perhaps, “Has Simple Minds’ Neon Lights taught us nothing?” (Please feel free to insert a comment about your own least-favorite covers album here as well; God knows these aren’t the only two out there.)

On the Aware Records website, Aparo takes precisely two sentences to sum up Weapon, explaining that "some (of the songs on the album) I have performed over the last few years and have become attached to; others are songs that have kept me company when times got lonely. The opportunity to record them, as well as two new original songs, has been a moving experience."

Aparo’s choices in covers range from the popular to the obscure to the slightly surreal, with the occasional foray into territory where, when you see the song title and contemplate it for a moment, you can sort of imagine him pulling off a credible cover…but not really.

The album’s leadoff track is definitely one of those you’re not quite sure about: Alice in Chains’ “Man in the Box.” Aparo chooses not to rock out with the song but, rather, to slow it down a bit and make it more of a dirge, offering a dark croon rather than Layne Stanley’s growl from the original version.

Aparo has a natural vocal range that varies remarkably, and, with the help of vocoders and other studio tools, he manages to adjust and expand it even farther. On “Nature’s Way,” originally done by Spirit, Aparo handily makes the track his own. Perhaps it’s because the song is one of the less instantly recognizable numbers on the album, but if someone suggested that it was an outtake from The American, there’d be no particular reason to disbelieve them.

Elton John’s “Rocket Man” is a track Aparo has regularly covered in concert, and, when he wraps his voice around it, shorn of all vocal effects and accompanied only by acoustic guitar, it’s like Elton and Bernie wrote it for Aparo to sing all along. The effect remains the same on this studio version.

“Nazis on My Radio” is one of the two originals on the album; despite the almost-punk-sounding title, it’s a bouncy little two-and-a-half minutes of pop. It’s promptly followed by a cover of Neil Young’s “Don’t Let it Bring You Down,” which is surely one of the more ironically-titled songs of all time; from a sequencing standpoint, this is the biggest flaw of the album. Aparo does a fine Young impression on the track, and it’s a strong cover…so strong, in fact, that virtually any memory of “Nazis on My Radio” is lost in its wake; it took several spins of Weapon to even be able to remember what the song sounded like.

John Lennon’s “Imagine” has been covered so many times, not to mention the fact that the original version has been played ad nauseum, that you wouldn’t think the world would particularly need another take on the track. You’d pretty much be right. Aparo’s version is straightforward, but, nice though it is, it doesn’t add a thing to the song.

The mere concept of following a John Lennon cover with a song by a bunch of Beatle wannabes is a bit whimsical, but, y’know, damned if it doesn’t work absolutely perfectly. This placement makes Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova” seem positively epic in nature and brings out a surprising feeling of depth to the song…despite its mostly nonsensical lyrics

Next up is Aparo’s version of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right to Party,” with musical backing seemingly courtesy of Casio. Aparo’s vocals are reminiscent of John Mayer and Dave Matthews on the cover, and, though it’s worth a laugh or two, it holds up surprisingly well on repeat listenings.

“Rotten,” the album’s only other original, is, despite the company it keeps, arguably the best track on the album, with slide guitar from the George Harrison School of Licks, a soaring chorus, and as fine a spotlight for Aparo’s range as anything else on the disc. It bodes well for the future…if Aparo can manage to put out an album’s worth of tracks like this one.

Weapon Of Mass Construction comes to a close with an obviously home-recorded duet between Aparo and his mother on the folk standard, “The Water Is Wide.” Call me a softie, but there’s something very real and touching about this track. It’s nothing to do with the quality of recording (which isn’t up to the rest of the album’s standards) or even the quality of the performance (which is just okay). No, it’s merely the idea of picturing Angie Aparo and his mother, huddled around a microphone, Aparo strumming the guitar and harmonizing with his mom.

You just can’t help but smile.

---originally written for PopMatters.

The Apples In Stereo

Velocity of Sound

SpinART

http://www.applesinstereo.com

The Apples in Stereo’s new album, Velocity of Sound, comes on the heels of the greatest commercial exposure of their career.

Yes, that’s right, they had the video for their song, “Signal In The Sky (Let’s Go)” played in semi-regular rotation on the Cartoon Network, courtesy of its appearance on the Power Puff girls compilation disc, Heroes & Villains.

For better or worse, Velocity of Sound isn’t likely to score the band a huge pre-teen following; it’s just as catchy and power-poppy as the band’s previous albums, but it’s also just as fuzz-laden. It might thrill the indie kids, but the under-12 set will probably cry, “Mommy, it hurts my ears!” That having been said, however, this could be the perfect time for the band’s blending of ‘60’s hooks with garage production techniques, with bands like the Strokes and the Hives scoring major chart action.

Even with a bonus track (“She’s Telling Lies” [BRYCE’S MIX], which sounds like it could’ve been taken from an early Beach Boys album), Velocity of Sound clocks in at under a half-hour and feels like it goes by even faster. This being the case, the listener shouldn’t feel bad about hitting “play” again right away.

Asia

Anthologia: The 25^th Anniversary / Geffen Years Collection (1982-1990)

Geffen

http://www.asiaworld.org

The opening line of this 2-disc set’s liner notes sums up the band’s origins in simple recipe form: “Take one part Yes, one part Emerson, Lake & Palmer, add in sprinkles of King Crimson/U.K., and a dash of Buggles, and you have Asia.”

Ah, good old Asia. They’re always such fun to review.

Despite the fact that they’ve never been the trendiest of bands, not even when they were at the height of their popularity, they’re nonetheless among the best of the album rock artists of the ‘80s. Their songs were catchy and just pompous enough to catch the ear of the prog-rock fans without being as pretentious as, say, pretty much every band that the members of Asia came from originally.

When I reminisce about Asia and the part they’ve played in my journalistic past (and they have, indeed, played a part, albeit a small one), two memories consistently leap to the forefront.

The first revolves around their 1982 hit, “Heat of the Moment.”

When I first started at Averett College, in Danville, Virginia, I was flipping through back issues of the school newspaper, The Chanticleer, trying to get a feel for the publication, and I happened upon an article on teen pregnancy. What particularly caught my eye was the fact that, in bold type, a song lyric was quoted, and it was attributed to…Asia.

“Huh?” I thought. “Exactly when did Asia tackle teen pregnancy?”

The article solemnly quoted the following lyric: “So now you find yourself eating for two.”

Wow. Heavy, man. And just so darned appropriate, don’t you think? What an exemplary choice of lyric for the writer to spotlight.

Only one problem.

The lyric in question is actually, “So now you find yourself in ’82.”

Still makes me laugh to this day.

My other journalistic memory of Asia was of my own making…and, as such, it’s possible that I’m the only one who thought it was funny. But you can be the judge.

I reviewed Aqua, Asia’s 1992 “comeback” album and their first without John Wetton as lead singer. These were the opening lines: “Bad Pick-Up Line #145398: ‘Hey, baby, how’s about you come back to my place and we listen to a little Asia?’ Hmmm. This could very well explain my lack of success on the dating scene.”

Oh, well. I thought it was funny.

Maybe it’s just gotten a little stale. After all, the review IS 10 years old.

Which, frighteningly, means that Asia themselves are 20 years old…and which apparently also means that it’s time for Geffen to release yet another collection of the band’s best work…the third such collection, if you’re keeping count.

Anthologia, however, is decidedly different from its predecessors.

First, there was 1990’s Then & Now. The “Then” was “Only Time Will Tell,” “Heat of the Moment,” and “Wildest Dreams,” from the band’s self-titled debut album, and “Don’t Cry” and “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes,” from their sophomore effort, Alpha. The “Now” was four new tracks, as well as one track from the band’s 1985 album, Astra. (Apparently, “Now” in Asia-Speak means “anytime in the last five years.”)

Then, there was The Very Best of Asia: Heat of the Moment (1982-1990), released in 2000. It was decidedly more comprehensive than its predecessor. It provided a nice summary of the band’s three studio albums, including three B-sides that hadn’t previously been available on CD, and even threw on “Days Like These,” the most popular of the new tracks from Then & Now.

But, now, to celebrate the band’s 20^th anniversary, Geffen has decided to put all its cards on the table and release Anthologia. It’s a 2-disc set that includes everything the band has ever recorded for the label.

Yes, everything.

All three studio albums. All four of the “new” tracks from Then & Now. Even the B-sides that had been one of the selling points of The Very Best of Asia.

So, basically, if you don’t have anything by Asia from the Geffen years, then you can just pick up Anthologia, and, bam, you’ve got EVERYTHING from the Geffen years.

Pretty handy, huh?

Well, yes…but only if you actually WANT everything Asia released during their time on Geffen Records. And, even as a longtime Asia fan, one has to wonder exactly how substantial their sales figures really are, and if they really warrant so much reissuing and repackaging of their material.

Sure, they certainly had their moments on the singles chart…but, for the casual fan, most of those moments were on Then & Now. If you wanted to argue that a few of the band’s radio hits were omitted from that collection, then, okay, maybe The Very Best of Asia is a better bet.

But with Anthologia, what kind of marketing campaign is Geffen planning?

“Hey, we know that, if you’re a fan, you already have every single thing on this collection…but, now, instead of five discs, it’s been condensed so that it now only spans two discs! And, on top of that, due to advances in CD case technology, it now only takes up the space of a single disc…and we’re bringing the space savings to you, the Geffen consumer!”

Has the band’s catalog really been reissued so many times that, now, the only real reason for fans to buy Anthologia is spacial concerns?

Uh, possibly, yes.

---originally written for PopMatters.

A*Teens

Pop ‘Til You Drop

MCA/Stockholm

If nothing else, you have to at least give the A*Teens credit for one smart move: if you’re going to commit commercial suicide at some point during your recording career, you might as well do it with the first album and get it over with.

Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly commercial suicide to put out a CD full of nothing but ABBA covers and call it your first album. I mean, after all, the album wasn’t exactly a flop; a couple of the tracks scored some airplay on major stations, and I’m led to understand that the A*Teens were in regular rotation on Radio Disney.

Nonetheless, how do you follow up an album like that?

Do you follow the Swedish pop motif and begin selecting tracks from the collected works of Roxette to re-record? Or maybe you switch from ‘70s pop to ‘60s pop and do an album’s worth of Lennon – McCartney numbers?

Surely switching from covers to original material isn’t a wise move; when you’re a teen-pop band, the odds of producing anything even remotely comparable to the compositions of Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, well, they’re not exactly stellar.

Nonetheless, A*Teens gave original material a try with Teen Spirit, which didn’t include any ABBA covers (nor, despite the album title, any Nirvana covers, thank heavens for small favors)...and, as a result, wasn’t nearly as much of a commercial success.

So, now, they’re back with Pop ‘Til You Drop, which, last I checked, wasn’t really setting the charts on fire, either. The group’s cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” continued their desperate flirtation with the Disney demographic by appearing on the soundtrack to “Lilo & Stitch,” but, even by cow-towing to the under-12 crowd, there’s no report of platinum album sales making the music trades.

Still, as a whole, Pop ‘Til You Drop doesn’t sound any worse than anything else being released by prefabricated teenybopper bands nowadays; in particular, the lead track, “Floorfiller,” could be remixed into an instant dance classic with very little trouble. A lot of the material has a very ‘80s sound to it, but, hey, it’s cool to like the ‘80s...or, at least, that’s what VH-1 keeps telling me. And for one of the guiltiest pleasures I’ve experienced in recent memory, I feel obligated to nominate the album closer, a cover of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” which features not only a few lines sung through a vocoder but, honest to God, there are even freshly-recorded guest vocals from our man Alice himself!

So my question is this: given that the general record-buying public has a tendency to purchase pretty much any old piece of crap that’s given even a halfway-decent publicity budget, why has Pop ‘Til You Drop slipped so far underneath the commercial radar of the American public?

Maybe MCA spent their advertising dollars on hyping the group to the under-12 set, not realizing that the kids didn’t have enough allowance to buy the album. Or maybe S Club 7 cornered the market on teen pop groups with both males and females in their line-up.

Maybe the A*Teens need their own TV show. Perhaps that would help.

Probably couldn’t hurt.

If you’re a parent looking for something to keep your young’uns entertaining without being concerned about disconcerting lyrical content, rest assured, you’re safe with the A*Teens. It’s hard to enthusiastically recommend the entire album to anyone over the age of 12, but if you see singles for either “Floorfiller” or “School’s Out,” and they’re not too pricey, you might take a chance.

If nothing else, they’re good, clean fun.

---originally written for PopMatters.

ABC

Lexicon Of Live

Blatant

When listening to Lexicon Of Live, the first-ever live album by ‘80’s hitmakers ABC, the biggest question is, “Why?” There seems to be little point to its existence, except to trot out the big hits one more time without resorting to putting out another studio best-of collection.

Martin Fry is pretty much the only constant to ABC these days, but since he’s not only the vocalist but one of the band’s songwriters, few other members would matter to the casual listener, anyway

It’s interesting to hear songs from the band’s most recent studio album, the criminally ignored Skyscraping, in a live setting; they translate well. Fry’s voice is a bit gruffer than it was on the original versions of the songs, but it’s still quite serviceable; what does prove an annoyance, however, is the intrusive nature of the female back-up singers on far too many occasions.

Overall, not bad, but instantly disposable to all but the band’s die-hard fans.

Absinthe

A Good Day To Die

Absinthe

When an album's first lyrics are, "It was a good day to die," it's almost a certainty that you're not in for the happiest of listens.

Absinthe is Llanas's side project from the BoDeans, and it features lyrics based on events far too personal to include in that band's songs, most notably the suicide of his brother. Llanas tackles the suicide directly in the album's title cut, claims "It Don't Bother Me" on another, then bases the song "Dying In My Dreams" on the aftereffects of the suicide.

The album's tone is consistently dark. The opener, "Bully On The Corner" has Sammy speaking as himself when he was five years old, facing the wrath of a neighborhood punk. With additional titles like "Messed Up Likes Of Us," "What I Don't Feel," and "A Little Bit Of Hell," the record is perpetually morose.

A Good Day to Die was undoubtedly cathartic, but it's a tough ride for the listener.

a-ha

Minor Earth | Major Sky

Warner Music Europe

Damn you, “Take On Me”! Damn you all to Hell!

Actually, there’s technically nothing wrong with a-ha’s signature hit; it’s arguably one of the most memorable songs of the ‘80’s, and unquestionably a defining moment in music video. The unfortunate bit is that, after the band struggled through the next two albums by trying and failing to maintain their place on the singles chart, they decided to be true to themselves and began producing records consisting of beautifully melodic, melancholic pop with more than occasional moments of sheer brilliance.

Suffice to say that a-ha doesn’t even have a record contract in the US these days; since they probably can’t stand to have another music exec telling them, “Boys, y’know, I just don’t hear another ‘Take On Me’ here,” perhaps they never will.

Nonetheless, Morten Harket’s voice is as lovely on Minor Earth | Major Sky as ever, and songs like the title cut, “Summer Moved On,” “The Sun Never Shone That Day,” and “Barely Hanging On” are quite good, indeed…and well worth the import price.

Marc Almond

Open All Night

Instinct

Marc Almond’s US career can be pretty much be summed up in four words: Soft Cell, “Tainted Love.” Oh, sure, Soft Cell had a couple of other near-hits. Almond even had one top-40 solo hit here: “Tears Run Rings.” But “Tainted Love” is the albatross around his neck.

There is no “Tainted Love” on Open All Night. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But, as such, the mainstream will likely opt out of embracing the record.

Too bad.

Songs like the title track, “Tragedy (Take a Look And See),” “Scarlet Bedroom,” and “Sleepwalker” easily stand among Almond’s best work. There are also two duets: “Almost Diamonds,” with Kelly Dayton of the Sneaker Pimps, and “Threat Of Love,” with Siouxsie Sioux, the latter a definite highlight of the disc.

Unfortunately, so many slow, languid songs back to back, no matter their quality, proves difficult listening over the duration of an entire album.

Arch Stanton

Arch Stanton

Arch Empire

The self-titled sophomore effort from Christian band Arch Stanton finds the band abandoning the more mellow sound of their debut and producing a straightahead power pop disc.

Lead singer Brian Larson’s voice comes across as a blend between John Faye (of the Caulfields) and Matthew Sweet; clearly, there are far worse combinations to the pop aficionado’s ear. As it happens, the music matches up with these similarities, meaning that the sound of Arch Stanton lands squarely between 100% Pure Fun and Whirligig.

There’s a semi-unlisted bonus track on the disc (the term “semi-unlisted” coming into play because, although its lyrics are contained in the disc’s booklet, the song itself isn’t listed on on the back cover) that’s worth the price of admission: a cover of “Cheer Up Charlie,” from “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.” Arch Stanton’s version of the song transforms its tone from the sad and slow style of the original into an upbeat power pop nugget. It begs to be part of a double A-side with the Smoking Popes’ version of “Pure Imagination.”

Produced by Mark Nash (late of PFR, now with Sixpence None The Richer), Arch Stanton...both the band and the album...deserve to break out of the cult status afforded to most Christian artists and head straight into the upper reaches of the mainstream charts.

--originally written for Amplifier

Astropop 3

Allies And Stepping Stones

Planting Seeds

http://www.astropop3.com

Boy, does it suck to be an indie-pop band in Virginia Beach, VA.

Of late, the Hampton Roads area of Virginia has become notable for producing such artists as Missy Elliot, Timbaland, the Clipse, N.E.R.D., and the Neptunes...and before that, it was notable for being the site of Teddy Riley’s Future recording studio.

It has not, however, been what you’d call a hot spot for the independent pop scene; no commercial radio station is willing to play local music with any regularity (if at all), and small venues are few and far between.

As noted in their bio, Astropop 3 have been “persistently trudging through the dingy dive bars of the underground music scene in Hampton Roads, performing their own mixed bag of original music, and relentlessly promoting themselves.” Over the course of a career that began in 1995, the band has continued to be fiercely independent, however, clawing their way up the ladder of success on their own terms.

After several cassette releases (some under the moniker Our Starblazers), Astropop 3 formed their own label, Planting Seeds Records, and released their self-titled debut CD in 1998. Since then, they’re scored inclusion on a CMJ Certain Damage compilation, appeared alongside such as Alkaline Trio and the Smoking Popes on various other discs, and, in 2001, released their sophomore effort, Eclipsing Binary Star. In fact, two songs from the album, “Revenge” and “Same Old Story,” could be heard on MTV’s “The Real World” and “Road Rules.”

Now, in 2004, Planting Seeds has distribution through Parasol Records and their releases can be purchased through Amazon.com, which means that Allies and Stepping Stones, Astropop 3’s latest release, may well be positioned to be the group’s breakthrough album.

Astropop 3’s general musical style hasn’t changed dramatically over the course of their career. Frontman / songwriter Dan Villanueva has always worn his influences on his sleeve: a bit of ‘60s British pop, rather a lot of late ‘80s / early ‘90s British pop, and, as of late, a fair amount of today’s rock / emo sound. What has changed, however, is the sound of the band’s albums.

Villanueva co-produced Allies and Stepping Stones with Brad Rosenberg, and it’s remarkable how much more crisp and clear the album sounds when compared to its predecessor. Admittedly, some of the light, breezy charm of the last album is lost with this slightly harder-edged release (there is no “Lost In A Dream” here), but the songwriting is as strong as ever.

Villanueva has clearly learned much from reading the lyrics from his Smiths album. “Fade On Your Own” contains the very Morrissey-like couplet, “And if it hurts just like before / Our condolences once more / After settling the score / We’re still bored.” Still, he isn’t permanently lost in melancholy; the album opener, “Forget Tomorrow,” gently reminds, “No regrets / Don’t forget / Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet.”

While occasional vocalist (though full-fledged band member) Angelique Everett doesn’t seem to get as much opportunity to shine on this album, the jangly “Bubble Gum Breakup” is certainly the perfect spotlight. “Fade On Your Own,” her other moment in the sun, is also fine, but it’s “Breakup” where she best shows the goods.

There was a time when it would’ve been hard to imagine Astropop 3 breaking through to mainstream success, but times have changed considerably since the band first emerged. In a world where the White Stripes are nominated for Grammy awards, they’ve got just as much chance as any other indie band if they catch the ear of the right label executive.

Fortunately for Astropop 3, with Allies and Stepping Stones, there’s lot of ear-catching material to be had.

(originally appeared on PopMatters.com)