ANDREW
33: The best of Andrew (Hanky Panky Records CD)
     Andrew Sandoval is best known as an industry insider. He is an archivist for reissue labels like Rhino and has a formidable track record in this context (see his website listed below). He is also a singer / songwriter with an immense knowledge of 60s music and trivia. He has also recorded four albums from which the cuts on this best of are derived. As an artist, for my money, what he has done so well is to demonstrate how the orchestrated pop song can be reinvented. Listening to this collection right through, there is a pronounced stylistic balance between melodically inclined guitar led power pop and the orchestrated pop numbers like 'Dream About You', 'Where I Want To Be' and 'Hightower' (drawn from his Beautiful Story, What's It All About, and Happy To Be There albums respectively). The all but lost musical genre of the orchestrated pop song provides (for me anyway) the real sparkle. The late 60s were awash with these sort of songs, but too few were widely heard. It's perhaps one of the few 60s genres that has never really enjoyed a real renaissance, not least I imagine, because of the cost of hiring string sections and the preference of the bean counters for synthesizers instead. I can only say that anyone who digs soft pop a la Fading Yellow or Soft Sounds For Gentle People ought to investigate Andrew's canon of work. That isn't to downplay the more overtly guitar led numbers, far from     it, they also benefit from a light touch in their melody. This 20 track collection is an aural delight, just listen to 'High Tower' for instance and you'll almost believe you're back in 1969 in the 'Town of Tuxley' or strolling down 'Maypole Mews'.
http://www.hankypankyrecords.com/cgi-vel/hankypankyrecords/index.pro
http://www.andrewsandoval.com/
 Paul Martin

DAN ARBORISE
Around In Circles (Just Music; CD)
     This album sits nicely with the recently reviewed Spotlight, by Joe Wilkes. Both artists are influenced by the classic British acoustic guitar folk tradition. Both are really accomplished guitar stylists and maturing song writers. Both prefer a simple, stripped down yet sophisticated sound. In Dan's case his guitar and vocals are augmented sparsely by producer Jon Hopkins' keyboards, with occasional backing vocals and electric guitar.
     Dan Arborise is a subtle guitarist whose songs create a warm, rural atmosphere. The sinuous instrumental passages in the long 'Everything That You've Been Taught To Love Is A Lie' and 'To The Sea' are particularly tasty. The tasteful cover photos (taken by Dan) support the music, featuring striking trees in silhouette, estuaries, fields and sunsets. The songs and vocals come from a foundation of Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and John Martyn, but that's not to imply that they are unoriginal or derivative. Delicate, positive love songs like 'Beauty Through Her Eyes' stand on their own considerable merits. Like many gentle acoustic albums, the sum is greater than the parts, however. Mood and atmosphere are built up over the course of the CD. Around in Circles is perfect Sunday morning music.
www.justmusic.co.uk
Phil Suggitt

CROWN VICS
Crown Vics (Maduro; CD)
     The promo material mentions Zevon, Son Volt and The Pretenders. To me a host of good, largely unheralded bands spring to mind. I think early Giant Sand, The Rough Situation, The Downsiders, True West, Nonfiction, Rich Hopkins, The Skeletons, early REM and a host of others. Minneapolis four-piece The Crown Vics come from a distinguished line of US 80's indie guitar pop, championed in the UK by Jon Storey and Bucketful of Brains. This isn't to imply that The Crown Vics are consciously derivative imitators, it's just that, like the aforementioned bands, they have blended a similar bunch of influences into an idiosyncratic whole. Heck, they may not have even heard of some of the bands cited.     However, if you like most of the acts mentioned, there is a fairly strong chance that you will enjoy this album. Classic 50's and 60's pop and rock, country, R&B and roots have all been assimilated and blended together, and aspects of any or all of these genres might appear in the same song.
     Overall there are lots of good hooks, vocals and decent harmonies. The lead vocals are sometimes a little nasal but this is more a quirk than a problem. Lead guitarist Mike Brown adds lots of inventive and deft touches. Songwriter and guitarist Nate Gardner creates a warm mood that builds up and draws you in over the length of the album, although the songs are all individually strong.
www.crown-vics.com
www.madurorecords.com
Phil Suggitt

THE DOLLY ROCKER MOVEMENT
Electric Sunshine (Off The Hip CD)
     Yes, I've decided, I like this. It's taken me several plays to get inside it, but it's a good album. There's a sense of distance in this set in the way it's recorded that I found rather a bar to its immediate embrace. However, you don't have to listen to tracks like the psychy     'Falling Home Again' or the fuzzing 'The Light Ride' many times before you surrender. Essentially, an 11 track album, it also includes two semi-acoustic outtakes form the 'Yellow moon Highway' sessions in the form of 'Call All Angels' and 'Walk In The Light' as bonuses. These are pleasant enough, but like album closer 'Sorry', I found their lightness rather anti-climatic. Elsewhere, 'What's That Sound' is a manic rhino charge of a song, but again the production I found rather got in the way when I wanted it right up front. Nonetheless, a great song.     The rest of the album is mid-paced and melodic and each song (e.g. 'Go-Go Getter') has a layering effect in the way it entices your attention which I found     quite interesting. Anyway, I guess I would say, this is certainly a worthwhile album but be prepared to give it a lot of ear time before it fully clicks.    
http://www.offthehip.com.au/index.htm
Paul Martin

THE GUYS
Live The Party (Friendship; CD)
     Many great tunes have been recorded with really loud drums, usually to emphasise a particularly rhythmic song. No problem with that. The trouble is that The Guys have done this on every song. The drums and percussion are so loud and upfront in the mix that they drown out virtually everything else. On some songs only the drums and vocals are audible. The credits list the various instruments the three piece Canadian band play, but most of them are buried in the mix.
     The Guys seem to be going for a '70's pop party' approach, and even dress like early 70's cool street dudes, but they are all sound and fury, the songs themselves not amounting to a great deal if you take away those drums. It's a strange sound, but not one that does anything for me.
www.theguysmusic.com
Phil Suggitt

MONDO TOPLESS
Take It Slow (Get Hip;CD)
     The booklet photos and liner notes show that Mondo Topless have a good sense of humour and don't take themselves too seriously. The cover and middle photos show a babe driving a chrome'n'fins monster convertible. On the back cover she has reversed into the band's equipment. The amusing song notes bear no relation to the actual tunes. It's a shame that the band can't show a similarly light touch in the studio. To be fair, all their albums have a couple of really strong tunes, in this case the punchy title tune and an energetic arrangement of 'Louise', with good vocals. The cover of 'Stupidity' shows it is possible to breathe life into the oldest of chestnuts, but everything else is 80's garage-punk-by-numbers, with worthy but largely uninspired, predictable song writing. In the last song, 'Crawl', the vocals become a horrible growl and the lyrics are unpleasantly misogynistic. C'mon, guys, you can do better than this! I have always admired bands like Mondo Topless for sticking to the fuzz'n'farfisa style they love, and for existing far longer than most of the bands that originally inspired them, but they need to hone their tunes until they have a whole album of 'all-killer-no-filler' material.
www.gethip.com
Phil Suggitt

JEFFREY SIMMONS
Farewell My Sweet Alibi (KoolKat; CD)
     One of the difficulties of crafting songs in the gentle, somewhat understated piano-based singer-songwriter tradition is that there is often a fine line between producing soporific MOR or the restrained elegance of, say, Emitt Rhodes.    
     Jeffrey Simmons is developing his skills as a singer-songwriter who sometimes falls on either side of the fine line. On this CD the songs are successful about half of the time. Jeffrey has a sweet and pleasant voice. The weaker songs are not bad, but somewhat bland and polite. Tunes like 'Blueprints' 'Tall Tales'     and 'Disguise' are slow paced, instrumentally unexciting and stray too close to MOR. On the other hand, Simmons is also capable of creating more interesting and memorable fare such as 'Glad To Be Here', which has a good guitar part and an interesting ending. The gentle 'Paperweight' and 'See Saw Heart' also possess attractive and delicate melodies. Jeffrey's songs are an acquired taste – after several plays, they grow on you if you give them a chance.
www.jeffreysimmons.com
Phil Suggitt

SOMERDALE
Friday Nite in America (KoolKat; CD)
     Somerdale's CD begins cleverly with the sounds of someone tuning a radio in search of some decent music. After flipping several stations the first song, 'FM Liberation' bursts across the airwaves. Neat.
     Although Somerdale's musical heart is in the right place, currently they are a couple of degrees short of the frequency they are aiming at. Sometimes they achieve the big, classic power pop sound they are aiming for, but sometimes they fall short of the mark because of the limited and somewhat predictable chord changes and guitar lines used. All three members of the band sing, and the vocal harmonies are confident, beguiling and bright,     and there are some fine hooks, but the instrumental 'Overload It' or the borrowed riff of 'Superstar' suggest that the band do not currently possess the instrumental creativity to match their singing and hooks. Songs like 'She Reminds Me' have decent basic melodies and good vocals which are begging for something a bit more interesting and sophisticated than the usual punk-pop power chords. Some of the quieter songs, like the mostly acoustic ballad 'Oh Nicole' begin with good hooks and choruses, but don't develop as much as you hope over the course of four minutes. 'Sweet Days' and 'Wake Up' promise to be interesting acoustic diversions with fine harmonies, but they only last about 90 seconds, over almost before they have begun.
     I don't want to sound too critical – I'd love to see these guys fully achieve their vision.
www.somerdalemusic.com
Phil Suggitt

THE SPEEDS
Sing It Loud (Kool Kat; CD)
     The Speeds play really good, fast, no-nonsense power-pop. The promo material cites all kinds of influences, mainly classic American power-pop and more recent Britpop bands. If anything, the band sound closer in spirit to a band not mentioned – The Nerves. The guitars are crunchy and punchy, without descending into the dreaded pop-punk clichés. Every song has a bunch of catchy hooks, with really upfront vocals and sweet backing vocals.
     Sometimes you wish bands would experiment more, but The Speeds succeed because they don't get too 'clever'. The songs avoid over-complication and the emphasis is on strong, memorable hooks, as in 'Everywhere I Go' 'Bad News' and ...well, all of them, actually! The band are equally adept at slushy ballads like 'Sunset Drive' and 'Shiver in July'. 'Last Words' deserves special mention for one of the breathiest vocal introductions I have heard.    
www.thespeeds.net
www.koolkatmusic.com
Phil Suggitt

THE STABILISERS
Wanna Do The Wild Plastic Brane Love Thing? (Acid Jazz CD)
     Interesting this. A kind of cross between '77 punk on tracks like 'Plastic Love', 'Taking The Piss'or 'Mental illness Is Good For You' for instance and neo garage, exemplified by opener 'Wanna'or 'Teenage Talent'. There again 'Dead Fish' and 'Latest Obsession', are almost mod revivalist into power pop sounding with their poppy melodies and hooks. My fave track I think though has to be 'Belinda' which is one of those great mid paced, big chorded guitar crushers that gets nicely tempered by the relative prettiness of the vocal melody resulting in the aural equivalent of sucking a rhubarb and custard sweet, all the sweetness and the sourness at once, emmm lovely. Sub-genre's apart (although the group do play on this themselves in 'She's A Goth'), you only need to know that this is a great disc of high energy rock 'n' roll which you have no excuse not to enjoy. A vinyl only 45 (gasp!) 'Do The Brane', a nifty garage novelty, has recently been released, partnered with the high octane and aforementioned 'Wanna', so use that to sample the wider fare on offer here if you like. There's also an animated promo for the single as a bonus on the CD.     The group features Alan Crockford (Prisoners, Solar Flares) and hits all the right spots. For garage heads, punkers and anyone who just loves kick-ass rock'n'roll, this is a winner.
www.acidjazz.co.uk
http://www.thestabilisers.com/news.html
Paul Martin