The Posies - Amazing Disgrace (1996)

The Posies let their true power pop colors fly but with a tougher edge by steeping the songs on their fourth album in punk rock and '70s metal. "Throwaway" is a big guitar rocker with a harmonious chorus — the kind that became the band's calling card. The band invited Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander to sing along on "Hate Song." Unfortunately, the elder pair's charms were lost in the mix, though "Daily Mutilation" would be a good choice of cover for their own band. "Everybody Is a Fucking Liar" takes a trip back in time with its histrionic guitar parts. Naturally, "Grant Hart" and "Broken Record" are punk rock. "Song #1" and "Will You Ever Ease Your Mind?" are the kind of gorgeous pop songs on which the band grew their reputation. Whether they tackle punk, hard rock, or soft rock, the Posies' brand of songcraft is extraordinary, though, sadly, it would appear this was their swan song. Source: [AMG]

The Posies - Daily Mutilation


Track Listing
1. Daily Mutilation
2. Ontario
3. Throwaway
4. Please Return It
5. Hate Song
6. Precious Moments
7. Fight It (If You Want)
8. Everybody Is a Fucking Liar
9. World
10. Grant Hart
11. Broken Record
12. The Certainity
13. Song #1
14. ¿Will You Ever Ease Your Mind?
15. Terrorized

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DM3 - Road To Rome (1996)

Power pop fans have occasionally pointed to this, Australian outfit DM3's sophomore release, as one of the best pop albums to come out of the mid-'90s and one of the cornerstone albums of the '90s Australian pop movement. Both may be true to varying degrees: Road to Rome is possibly the "classic" disc in the late-'90s Australian power pop scene, which included similarly talented bands like Ice Cream Hands, Even, Challenger 7, and Michael Carpenter. While the debit of Australian power pop is that it often favors slavish imitation over solid songwriting, Dom Mariani's ear for a hook is what makes Road to Rome stand out. Well, that and Mitch Easter's arena-ready production. Sounding like the Plimsouls playing with Badfinger and the Who, Mariani cranks it to ten more than a few times here. It lends songs like the excellent "Please Don't Lie" or the riff-heavy "Soultop" a glossy, almost '80s stadium rock vibe -- in a good way. Sure, sometimes DM3 can get a little derivative and rest on their skinny tie-shaped laurels, but for the most part the chunky riffage and Easter's boomy production will be more than enough to please anyone who is motivated enough to seek this album out in the first place. Source: [AMG]

Dom Mariani & Rippled Souls - Foolish

Track Listing
1. Can't Get What You Want
2. Please Don't Lie
3. Speed Freak
4. Second Floor
5. Pleaze You
6. I Thought That You Were Foolin'
7. Show You
8. Dead Stars
9. Something Heavy
10. Soultop
11. Fairweather Friend
12. T.V. Sound

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The Vandalias - Match V (1995)

The Vandalias, from Minneapolis, play good power-pop with great harmonies, driving guitars and exceptional hooks. Following the single Build This House (Tenpop, 1992), debut album Mach V (Big Deal, 1995) is successful at what it does: copy the originals (Byrds, Big Star, Raspberries, Cheap Trick). Such is the evocative power of the humbly crafted toe-tappers that these popsters deliver.... The Vandalias high concept--a madcap band of cartoony heartthrobs bounce through zany adventures involving muscle vans and mini-skirts--is pure guile. But the music is so smartly composed and cheerfully presented, the whole shebang actually achieves an intoxicating celebration of teen-dom. Plus, it rocks wicked good.



Track Listing
1. In
2. Hey Now (Motor City)
3. Build This House
4. Have You Seen Mine?
5. Mach V
6. I'd Be a Boy
7. Knife
8. Watch My Baby Cry
9. Mighty Song of Joy
10. Fall Girl
11. Cathy's Back
12. Sky High
13. Done for You
14. Wait and See

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The Posies - Frosting On The Beater (1993)

Frosting on the Beater opens with a thick wall of distorted guitars and booming drums kicking up a very melodic fuss behind Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer's creamy-smooth harmonies on the psych-tinged "Dream All Day," and the track's sweet-and-sour blend immediately announces this is going to be a very different affair than the Posies' major label debut, Dear 23. With noisy rock dude Don Fleming in the producer's chair, it came as no great surprise that Frosting on the Beater was a much harder sounding album than the introspective Dear 23, but surprisingly enough, Fleming also knew how to make the most of the band's expert pop songwriting; with the tempos and guitars turned, the tunes gained a needed physical impact that brought the melodies and hooks into the forefront, where they belonged. Just as importantly, the spot-on harmonies that were the highlight of Dear 23 were still very much in evidence, resting atop the piles of fuzzy guitar chords like a dollop of hot fudge poured over a big scoop of ice cream. And prior to this, who knew that Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer could rock out so hard (and so well) on guitars? One could argue that the big guitar attack of Frosting on the Beater was simply the Posies' way of trying to cash in on the grunge sweepstakes that briefly turned their hometown of Seattle into the center of the rock universe. But one listen also reveals that it transformed a smart but overly precious pop outfit into a hard-charging power pop band that gained a wealth of strength without giving up any of their smarts in the process — not a bad bargain. Source: [AMG]

The Posies - Solar Sister


Track Listing
1. Dream All Day
2. Solar Sister
3. Flavor of the Month
4. Love Letter Boxes
5. Definite Door
6. Burn & Shine
7. Earlier Than Expected
8. 20 Questions
9. When Mute Tongues Can Speak
10. Lights Out
11. How She Lied by Living
12. Coming Right Along

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