The qualitative differences among the top five are nugatory.  One could easily choose any of them as the record of the year. 

–

#1: The Shazam – Meteor

These big-hearted stadium rockers have been building toward this titanic yawp of iconic anthems for years.

“So Awesome” opens the record with a twenty-one guitar salute to the joy of living, lead guitar as hard and elegant as the Golden Gate Bridge.  “Don’t Look Down” is a power ballad with every lick carved in stone.  You could climb the notes like a staircase.  Hans Rotenberry’s vocals are winsome and masterful, going from cooed aside to anthemic bellow in a heartbeat.  “Disco at the Fairground” is the best Move song the Move never recorded.  Alternating sinister, earth-chewing minor chords with drunken sailor music hall choruses it crunches euphorically.  Zappa would approve.

“A Little Better” is a self-improvement song that might have come off Workingman’s Dead with a harder rock edge.  “Always Tomorrow” is one of those bittersweet masterpieces built around a simple repeating guitar motif overlaid with Rotenberry’s pliant vocals filled with inchoate longing as is all great pop.

“Let it Fly” is an emotionally potent paean to hope harking back to “Squeeze the Day” from Tomorrow the World.  The hushed beginning telegraphs its hortatory heart before that heavy bass cuts in.  The chorus with its muffled kettledrums sends chills down your spine.  This is life affirming rock that will have you grabbing an invisible Telecaster and yelling “YEAH!”

“Hey Mom I Got the Bomb” contains the lyric:

I got The Bomb, yeah I got The Bomb
If you don’t think I’ll use it you’re ridiculously wrong 

You have to hear this to get the full effect.

“Time For Pie” is a distillation of every great arena rock solo you ever heard.

As far as I know you can only order the record from www.theshazam.com and www.notlame.com.  Should be available from cdbaby.com shortly.  You won’t hear about the Shazam in Rolling Stone or Spin.  You won’t hear them on Big Radio, certainly not on MTV or VH-1.  The Shazam are merely the tip of the iceberg.  And the hardest part of the iceberg too. 

***

#2: Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder –  Makes Your Ears Smile 

One man band Andy Morten conducts a clinic in power pop dynamics dancing unerringly from hook to bridge to chorus with the grace of a psychedelic Fred Astaire.  “Track One” opens in off-hand manner but within the space of a heartbeat transforms into the first of many thrilling anthems.  Morten does everything well.  Aside from the obvious songwriting and singing his drums are propulsive and mellifluous and his guitar playing is melodically spot on.

“She Looks Good in the Sun” nods to the Beach Boys but Morten’s style is as unique in its own way as Brian Wilson’s.  His songs take unexpected but wholly appropriate turns.  The one note wah-wah adds a delicious tension.  “Tony Hazzard” is a goof on the disposable nature of pop music but the melody and dynamics are anything but.  Like the other songs on this record they will echo in your skull.

With its McCartney-esque bass pops and progression of elegantly thrilling chords “Mrs. Bumble” is an instant classic, a mini-suite reminiscent of “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” or any number of Beatles-esque freak-outs.  A bridge as delicate as spun sugar segues into a chorus that’s all get up and go.  Simply sublime.

“Everybody Loves the Good Times” is another insanely ambitious pop saga reminiscent of XTC without the clash of class warfare.  Pitch perfect guitar adds poignant piquancy to a song with more changes than the second side of Abbey Road.  This guy’s a pop Tchaikovsky.

“Feel the Sunshine” is merely the fifth astonishing song on one of the best records of the year.  Any year. 

***

#3: Fun –  Aim and Ignite 

Highly original orchestral rock with elements of Broadway musicals, Beach Boys, Sly and the Family Stone, Van Morrison, Dexys’ Midnight Runners, and Dylan.  A song like “Benson Hedges” with its soaring harmonies and spectacular lead vocal performance lends weight to an eloquent, incoherent rant about the singer’s fucked-up life.

“All the Pretty Girls” could have come off Mika’s new CD, an irresistible dance ditty to a standoffish girl who threatens to leave.  Very effective use of strings.  “I Wanna be the One” matches Sly in its clever use of nursery-rhyme melodies incorporated into a larger structure.  Fun is three guys: Jack Antonoff, Andrew Dost, and Nate Ruess.  Doesn’t say who does what, but whoever sings lead has a commanding voice reminiscent of Freddie Mercury.

“At Least I’m Not as Sad” incorporates children chanting an elemental tune embellishing a horn chooglin’ reggae that grabs your attention like a desperate meth freak with vocal pyrotechnics and myriad rhythmic changes.

“Walking the Dog” also has reggae in the riddum and singing, a joyous paean to a woman who’s thinking of leaving, with a hook big enough to snag Moby Dick.  “Barlights” has an almost gospel feel.

”The Gambler” is one of the most emotionally powerful songs I’ve ever heard.  This is one of those great sui generis records like Dexys’ Too-Rye-Aye or Bryan Scary’s Flight of the Knife. 

***

#4: Broken Promise Keeper – Ice Cold Pop 

Straight-ahead pop rock as addictive as crack.  Rob Stuart sounds effortless in everything he does, difficult to do when you’re providing your own rhythm section.  Not only does he sound effortless he sounds unique in a way I haven’t heard since the first Marshall Crenshaw album.  He defines his territory—the half acoustic straight ahead rocker (Tom Petty, Crenshaw, Billy Joel) and hits you with a triple combination that leaves you dazed and wanting more.

“Directions,” Worship From Afar,” and “Kristine” constitute three of the most killer first songs I’ve heard in years.  BPK is instantly likable and instantly identifiable.  Some bands play their entire careers without forging an identifiable sound.  All those “American Idol” winners.

“I Blame James,” call-checks James Kirk, James Bond, and James West as it speaks to the power of TV.  Stuart’s take on “spy guitar” is pretty funny.  The songs run one into another without breaks which I always like especially when they keep turning up the heat as they do here.  Dig Stuart’s crazy bass line on “Look Out Hollywood.”

Effortless ass-kickin’ mastery. 

***

#5: Throwback Suburbia – Throwback Suburbia

Instantly memorable series of great songs reminiscent of a thousand bands and yet unique.  Craftsmanship is old school—distinctive melodies, powerful choruses, and  satisfying hooks.  These guys have studied their Brill Building.

Keyboards give them country vibes, big guitars give them drama and tension.  Jimi Evans’ honeyed tones sell everything from power ballads to lawn mowers and most songs feature three part harmonies.  “Rewind” is a power ballad with guitar like the leaf spring off a Chevy truck smacking you in the head.  I mean that in the best possible way.  “Head Over Heels” is a joyful hand-clapper with sing along chorus.  “Same Mistake” is a deliriously sweet castanet clappin’ dirge to self-destruction.  I can almost see Lou Christie belting this at the Flamingo Lounge.

“All About Me” is a pitiless self-examination of narcissism that ought to be the official anthem of the Y Generation.

There’s more, much more and every one is a gem.  The whole CD is a home run. 

***

#6: Roger Klug — More Help For Your Nerves 

‘Nother (mostly) damned one-man band.  This is a mammoth selection of songs showing off Klug’s writing skills and musicianship.  Every song has a chorus and a hook which we take for granted but you’d be surprised how many Billboard and EW hits get by on one chord or less.  “Tinnitus” is an opening guitar blast that leads into the exuberant “Dump Me Hard,” among the most upbeat of failed relationship songs.

“I’m So Worried About Time” is an all-out rock onslaught that slides into a bluegrass break in the middle, then back to the avalanche.  “For the Kids” is a heart breaker about a young woman geared toward motherhood.  It’s not so much what Klug says but how he says it in elegiac chords that scream irony.  Strong contender for Song of the Year.

“The Day I Had My Brain Removed” jolts with an unexpected but deliriously sweet hook, then marches off to a Scottish breakdown.  A guitar duel highlights “Hi-Hat” which features one of Klug’s more unexpected hooks containing the memorable phrase, “Bored as Ohio.”

“When Dreams Dry Up” is another oxymoronic celebration of sadness alternating whispy Victorian regret with surprising vocal and instrumental vehemence.  Klug is a clever wordsmith with unexpected rhymes, shifts, and dodges.

And so it goes, one great song after another. 

***

#7: Curtains for You –  What a Lovely Surprise to Wake up Here

Lilting melodies, soaring harmonies, and a liquid lead guitar that strokes the hypothalamus producing waves of pure pleasure land this Seattle quintet in the Top Ten.  Like Explorers Club they mine the Beach Boys for inspiration but have a unique sound built around killer songs and Mikey Gervais’ sinewy guitar.  I wish they’d mixed the vocals a little more upfront.  Some lyrics remain opaque.  Mikey and Matt Gervais with Nick Holman (b) and Peter Fedofsky (k) have an undeniable Everly Brothers vibe. 

The first four songs are joyous celebrations of all things hooky, building one on another into an stoppable locomotive of power pop which barely slows for the plaintive “Chain Link Fence.”  “Dumb Angel” is an instant classic, as is this record.  

***

#8: Paul Steel — MoonRock 

This record begins on such an impossibly high note it would seem impossible to sustain at album length.  And Paul Steel doesn’t quite make it but his sheer pop exuberance coupled with impressive compositional skills makes MoonRock one of the year’s most exciting releases.  “In a Coma” begins with irresistible hand claps, great tonic and a hook that ratchets up the tension.  Steel stacks vocals into towering harmonic wedding cakes.

The coda to “Moon Rock” is so overwrought as to overshadow the song, but the next song, “Oh No! Oh Yeah!” more than makes up for it with pop smarts, soaring harmonies and a honkin’ kazoo section.  “Summer Song” is a bittersweet entry in the languid, end-of-summer blues similar to the Beach Boys’ “The Warmth of the Sun” or Scott Sax’ “I Am the Summer Time.” 

***

#9: Lamar Holley — Confessions of a College Student 

Lamar Holley’s musical-on-a-disc dedicated to the trials and travails of a first year college student contains several jaw-dropping mini-suites.  “Biology” is a twelve course feast in itself, a mid-tempo winner about what the narrator’s really thinking about in a boring biology class.  The record’s mostly about girls—how to get them, how to lose them, their un-obtainability.

Holley’s got that Tin Pan Alley. vibe which yields well-balanced songs.  He never cuts loose or rocks out, but charms with melody and crystalline arrangements.  “Secretly” pines languidly to an oblivious girl, steel pedal guitar echoing the singer’s anguish.

“Madame Shamrock” is so rich in harmonic variation you may wish to consume it in tiny bites, like triple XXX dark chocolate.  Holley has stumbled onto a set of harmonics that affect the lizard brain.  It is difficult to stop listening.  You may play this song all day.  A fire could start and you wouldn’t notice.  While there’s nothing else here that matches “Shamrock,” there is plenty to thrill.

Great production too. 

***

#10: Vinyl Candy – Land 

Land, a “rock opera” about an aspiring musician, presents a compelling narrative through an elegant succession of mini pop masterpieces that segue from one to the next.  “All Along the Way” is typical of Vinyl Candy in that it which eschews the familiar first, fourth and fifth chords in favor of something fresher and more jazz-like.  It’s not jazz—it’s fist-pumping rock with blistering guitars and intricate harmonies.  But Vinyl Candy’s distinctive songwriting skills accompanied by monstrous guitar swirls give them a unique sound, one that does not suggest Jellyfish.  Vinyl Candy sound more homogeneous, more straight-ahead rock without Jellyfish’s charming eccentricity. 

Vinyl Candy occupies a sweet spot all their own, each song an intricate mosaic of brilliant chords, musicianship and singing.  Listened to all at once they tend to blend into each other.  Listened to individually they sparkle.   Vinyl Candy also shows what can be done with album art in a small package, although I would dearly love access to the lyrics, either through an insert on online. 

***

#11: The High Dials — Moon Country 

Insanely ambitious psychedelic twofer from the Montreal quartet incorporating their whole arsenal of buzzing guitars, stacked vocals and Zombie-like song structures.  The guitar riff that opens “(Do the) Memory Lapse” attaches itself to your brain like the Alien face hugger.  With songs like “Killer of Dragons” and “Oison my Bastard Brother” the meaning is sometimes obscure but the breadth and the scope of the music are enormous.

At turns mesmerizing and threatening, Moon Country is as vast and mysterious as an undiscovered continent.  The standing here doesn’t really reflect the quality of the music but the competition this year has been ferocious.  The package is awful—a double cardboard sleeve from which the discs tumble every time you look at it, dark, muddy lettering and a cover painting that looks like a misprint.  Produced “with the participation of the government of Canada (Canada Music Fund.”  At least the Canucks know how to spend their stimulus money. 

***

#12: Jeff Litman – Postscript 

Heartfelt, personal and extremely melodic debut needs no lyric sheet because of the upfront intimacy of Litman’s voice.  Acoustic power through excellent song structure—listen to “Complicate” and “Open Arms,” material that recalls Josh Rouse ca. 1972.

Kelly Jones joins Litman for “Maine.”

I would love to see Adam Lambert join Queen.  I already know all the songs.  And that’s a problem.  Singer/songwriters have been moving off-grid since the nineties.  With the demise of the major music conglomerates, innovative talent understands it’s up to them to record and release their own material.  The internet makes this possible.  No one knows the extent of the effect downloading has had on the music industry, but if we are to judge from the reaction, it has been devastating.  The Recording Institute Association of America has brought suits against parents whose children illegally download songs.

The music press that used to serve a vast range of interests is dying.  No Depression and Blender bit the dust last year.  Paste is asking its readers for financial contributions.  Rolling Stone and Spin long ago gave up covering innovative grass-roots rock in favor of the ever-dwindling supply of “mainstream” acts.  Rolling Stone now resembles an uncomfortable cross between The Nation and Vanity Fair.

The remaining music rags seem to be involved in a conspiracy to cover the same artists.  How else to explain the simultaneous cover appearances of such bands as Vampire Weekend, Connor Oberst, and Bat for Lashes?  These are the “official,” industry sanctioned “edgy artists.”  Trouble is, all these music venues are waiting for someone else to sanction an artist before they’re interested.  They are missing the forest for the trees.

The internet and home recording obviate the need for Big Music.  Yes, having some edgy TV show choose a song off your record can be a career-maker (The Fray, anyone?), but somebody has to hear that song first and have the power to use it.  So let me tell you what’s been going on in the pop underground this year.  Like last year and the year before it, 2009 is shaping up as one of the most exciting pop music years ever.  It’s early June and I’ve been stunned with the breadth and quality of releases thus far.

Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder: Makes Your Ears Smile.  Andy Morten, formerly of The Nerve and Bronco Bullfrog has recorded a masterpiece of summer pop that is simultaneously simple and liltingly complex.  Andy Morten made all the sounds himself.  The closest precedent might by the Dukes of Stratosphere (XTC) who donned the mantle of psychedelic warriors to record songs that echoed their inspirations.  Morten is an excellent singer and an inspired composer.

Roger Klug: More Help For Your Nerves. Two years ago power pop aficionados were gob-smacked by Bryan Scary’s debut which displayed superb musicianship, terrific dynamics and strong songwriting.  Last year it was Josh Fix.  This year it’s Roger Klug whose More Help For Your Nerves opens with “Tinnitus,” an ear blast comparable to Greg Pope’s “Sky Burn Down.”  This disc is an embarrassment of riches clocking in at just under an hour with 17 tracks.  None of them are throwaways.  Klug’s mostly a one-man band with inspiration up to his ears and a voice that hints at hidden cabaret chops.

The second song, “Dump Me Hard,” announces that this is an artist who’s got it going on in every department.  Every song is a standout although I would single out “For the Kids” for its bittersweet poignancy.  And it’s not just verse/verse/chorus/verse.  Klug breaks it up as in “About Time” which segues from upbeat pop to exuberant bluegrass before falling back into a hard rock groove.  Mental Giant, his music label, is just Klug.

Broken Promise Keeper: Ice Cold Pop.  Another one man band.  Seldom have I heard such a strong debut of songs.  As powerful and memorable as Marshall Crenshaw.  Rob Stuart possesses an effortless musicality that affords his songs good bones-the changes, choruses and bridges are both surprising and inevitable.  Stuart has a radio friendly voice and the songs segue from one to the next.  Superb dynamics-one listen and you’re hooked.

The opener “Directions” with its insanely catchy hook contains the lyrics: “Change – new scenery sure would be nice/Change – but before we turn, let’s think twice/‘Cause when you take that fork in the road/ It helps to know where you’re trying to go.” Hmmm….

Greg Pope: Pete.  Pete’s an extended play-seven songs-but they hit with the impact of last year’s triumphant Popmonster, which perched at the top of most Ten Best last year.  And here’s something the music dinosaurs can only dream about: Greg recorded these songs in March and April and the CD, with beautiful cover art, came out in May.  This type of inspiration to market in two months occurs because the lone singer/songwriter doesn’t have to wait for the suits’ approval.

Valley Lodge: Semester at Sea Second release from New York-based rock quartet jangles and buzzes its way from start to finish with delicious hooks, unique vocal choruses and great dynamics.  Highly reminiscent of Plimsouls, if slightly more sophisticated.

There is more.  Much more.  These independent releases are coming at the rate of about four or five a day.  That’s over a thousand records a year.  The music is infinitely better than what Big Music seeks to cram down our throats, yet one will search in vain for any mention of the above bands-or the hundreds of others of similar vein-in the traditional music press.  So what’s a pop fan to do?

There are numerous websites devoted to power pop.  My favorites are Absolute Powerpop, popaholic.com, and of course notlame.com, which in addition to being a label (The Toms, The Well Wishers, The Shazam) acts as a clearinghouse for all these great new bands….

Two notes: A lot of these bands are releasing their CDs in simple cardboard sleeves.  You can get all the info you want on the back of one of these, and if the band chooses to print lyrics, such as Fastball, cardboard sleeves come in fold-outs like miniature versions of deluxe LP sleeves, which allow for more art.  This is a big step up from the odious plastic jewel box.  It’s also a big step back.  This is the way 45’s and LPs used to come.

The second note is that if you contact these artists via their websites, most of them will talk to you.  Try e-mailing Gwen Stefani.