Youngster: Here Diagonally

This NYC-based power pop band, Youngster, put out an infectious, tuneful slice of bliss that most major label bands in the modern rock idiom would die trying to make, but wouldn’t even come close. It’s one of those low-key, unpretentious, out-of-left-field surprises that writers like me try + find, but never do. Records like this one usually find their way to me instead!!

This charming band (to paraphrase The Smiths) consists of singer/guitarist Marc Dinkin, drummer Jared Nissim, lead guitarist Steve Cannarelli, and female bass player Anne-Marie Stehn, and their songs are infectiously tuneful, yet offbeat enough, that they don’t sound like anybody else. Marc’s singing voice is Read the rest of this entry »

924 Gilman

Graffiti-decorated warehouse space in Berkeley, California, that provides a stage for the area’s punk performers. With minimal promotion and no signage, this collective (founded 1986) only rarely makes the news: Jello Biafra was beaten up in May 1994 because he “sold out” and pop-punk band Green Day incurred the clientele’s wrath because they “went mainstream.”

(February 1994, the San Francisco Chronicle reported a “Destroy Green Day Now” graffito in the club.) 924 Gilman is adamant about its version of punk ethics: Read the rest of this entry »

Her Space Holiday – “Manic Expressive”

It takes talent to combine different styles of music, and make them sound good.  Her Space Holiday can pull this off, and “Manic Expressive” is a testament to that.

HSH is a one man operation, by Mr. Marc Bianchi, and sometime his girlfriend Keely helps him out.  Of the HSH I own, they all are somewhat different in little ways.  On his latest effort, HSH blends dream pop, IDM and other intracies to provide an “artful” sound.

The album opens with the “Manic Expressive Enterance” and closes with “Manic Expressive Exit.”  The former isn’t much to comment on, but Read the rest of this entry »

Natalie Grant – Relentles

Sounds like … Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Nichole Nordeman, and BarlowGirl through an eclectic array of adult contemporary, pop, rock, and R&B.

At a glance … picking up right where Awaken left off, Relentless finds Natalie Grant pushing herself musically and thematically to offer more than the usual Christian pop.

Natalie Grant is a case study in artist development. She started out in 1999 like so many other gifted vocalists in Christian music—performing pleasant-but-forgettable pop songs that failed to leave a lasting impression or distinguish her from her peers. Today, she’s on the A-list, and Read the rest of this entry »

The Fitsners : Applesauce

OK, now THIS is more like it!!

A charming power pop trio from Oakland, California, the Fistners knocked out 12 extremely likable TUNES here, with lyrics and an outlook anybody can relate to, sometimes happy and funny, others sad. Yet, everything on the CD (even the photos and art) seems to generate smiles and laughs. Even tunes like “Jean Doesn’t Like Me” incorporate self-depreciating humor. Read the rest of this entry »