Bruce's NEW AT NOT LAME Update for late Sept. 2008!!!

Straight from the boss, here's Bruce's list of what's new at NOT LAME...

Here are the Top New Releases on the Not Lame web site for September. There are many new releases on da 'ole home page, but for the time starved, these are the ones worth of your precious time. Click on the links for full mini-reviews on each CD and listen 'n sample lots of soundbites, as well. Have Fun!

MONKEEMAN - LIFE IN THE BACKSEAT
GERMAN IMPORT - third album of Not Lame fave!
This one delivers on all fronts. He still mines classic power pop influences here and gives them a bit more modern edge on LIFE IN THE BACKSEAT but there is no sacrificing meaty, tasty, melodious hooks. Fans of Swedish pop greats like the Grass Show and the Merrymakers will notice those stylings dotted around the corners of the material on the CD, but more modern faves Brit-Pop faves like Silver Sun, the Switches and Supergrass .
The CD combines raw guitars and gyration-worthy grooves with sharp lyrics and the kind of pop hooks that get lodged in your head in that kind of way where you`ll just be brushing your teeth or something and you`ll notice a song playing over and over again in your head until finally your brush grinds to halt. EXTREMELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

THE JELLYBRICKS - GOODNIGHT TO EVERYONE
A Tour-De-Force From The Jellybricks! GOODNIGHT TO EVERYONE showcases the Jellybricks` ever-maturing songwriting skills and studio sensibilities. The songs here reflect the ensuing maturity that fives since their past one bring into the light and you`ll be hard press to find more easily enjoyable power pop to digest because it`s all filled with mesmerizing, hummable melodies, earthy jangle, relaxed, layered vocal harmonies and an adrenalized band vibe.

"Bringing us power pop with a capital 'P', they bring to mind statemates Ike (former Ike Cliff Hillis produced 'Power This'), as well as Matthew Sweet and The Tories. Saul Zonana co-produced, played on and mixed several of the tracks, and his fans should enjoy this one as well. This is classic power pop at its finest." -Absolute PowerPop Blog

READYMADE BREAKUP - ALIVE ON THE VINE
Fans who like the idea of classic Squeeze, do not miss Readymade Breakup – that simple. If sweet, intensely rich vocals, hard driving guitar hooks, a amplified guitar sound and whalloped back choruses are your bag, open Readymade Breakup, right now!

"Asbury Park's kings of power-pop revisit the lush, harmony-filled ballads of their earlier releases, as well as a new energy that frees vocalist Paul Rosevear to release his inner McCartney. Revel in the Beatlesque melodies, exquisite soulful falsetto, and some crunchy rock on this self-released gem." -Jersey Beat

Crafting silky-smooth, melodic crooning melodies is what this band is all about, so go with the flow and smile away. Simply, not to be missed! Crystal-clear production, crackling passion, unrelenting, rewarding and breathtaking choruses, great ballads `n rockers standing bside each other - it`s the full pop package.

SAUL ZONANA - BLUE MONKEY
A mixture of Jason Falkner alongside Adrian Belew’s more wiley, proggy-pop - absolute KILLER! Amazing guitar work, all over BLUE MONKEY. Filled w/ the splendorous guitar, high energy hooks and expressive vocals found, the music falls into the schooling of such artists like Matthew Sweet, Todd Rundgren, Rick Altizer, Michael Penn, Candy Butchers, Doug Powell , the Dotted Line and Greenberry Woods.
It`s the type of power pop that would be right at home on most FM rock-oriented radio stations if radio played decent music. But it`s highly intelligent music at all corners.

"Strikes the balance between punchy pop and crunchy rock is borne of Zonana`s broad musical experience." -Amplifier


ORANGE PARK - REVELATIONS OF FUTURE PREDICTIONS
Reminds us of Fountains Of Wayne, Rooney, Superdrag, the Posies, the Elms, Copperpot, Butch Walker and Not Lame`s True Love. "Songs From The Unknown" is a striking parade of heart-warming, mouth-salivating pop songs with more hooks than a ship full of pirates. Insistent hooks, clever choruses and really great sounding rhythm guitars.
Always an interesting twist at every turn on all the material here--high impact, dead center, fastball melodies and clean, catchy guitar sounds with just the slightest edge to make it completely modern and fresh.

"They have a default setting of earnest, the songs constantly pummel with bonhomie, melody and effects, there’s little space for reflection, everything is so up, so much on the surface and is so glossy that you can skate across the top of it enjoying this beautiful bright shiny pop noise without ever having to think of the sheer effort that goes into it." -Americana UK


THE BLACK MOLLYS - IGNORANCE IS BLISS
This smokes huge billows of rocking power pop roll out of the rusty stacks of present day power pop, folks! If you like crunchy sweet'n'loud guitars with your pop, it does not go down more smoothly or easy than with the Black Mollys. Fans of Fuzzbubble, Enuff Z`Nuff`s poppy stuff, the Fags, True Love, Supermint, Cheap Trick (lots of that!), the Millions, really melodic King's X and Marvelous 3/Butch Walker.
The Black Mollys is a power-pop packed rock and roll rollercoaster! This is the kind of band that aches for an "11" on the volume knob! The grade-A production is only eclipsed by the hook filled songwriting and playing by this power trio.
Raucous, yet stylistic as they blunt their way along. This is loud, catchy grinding power pop. The hooks are monsters - simply massive. Sharp, shredding guitars, strong doses of melodic fury.

BROADFIELD MARCHERS - THE INEVITABLE CONTINUING
Heads up fans of SHOES: the Broadfield Marchers may be the most Shoes inspired band I’ve heard since the Spinning Jennies, but add slices of other classic pop influences like Guided By Voices(at their very finest, pop-wise), SELL OUT-era Who, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, Alex Chilton, early Pink Floyd and others.
These short and succinct songs (many under two minutes) are ethereal, sophisticated, and filled with pop craftsmanship. It appears that the members of Broadfield Marchers have been quietly writing and recording power-pop gems for several years.

"Totally addictive lo-fi power pop trio from Louisville with lotsa moves lifted from the Wilson brothers and SELL OUT-era Who." -Arthur Magazine

DOUG DEREK & THE HOAX - WHO THE HELL IS DOUG DEREK?
Fans of late 70s/early 80s classic(and I mean ‘classic’!) power-pop, Doug Derek is a huge find the way that the Deal reissue five years ago was for many serious pop geeks. Fans of Paul Collins’ Beat and the Plimsouls break out the napkins as you’ll need something to wipe off the drool.
Doug Derek & The Hoax, simply, were a very, very good and very short-lived edgy and unpretentious American Alternative Power Pop from New Haven, CT - a quartet with lots of energy, catchy melodic hooks and memorable songs who could rock with the best of them live. In other words, "Pop With A Lot Of Balls"! OLD SCHOOL POWER POPPIN' FUN!


MONO Y MONO- THE 5 SONG EP
Not only are all five of these songs killer but their early Elvis Costello new wavey charms are insidiously seductive and, yes, bear repeated listens. Occasionally, there's a bit of Cars-y skinnny tie but it's evocations of a time long gone sounds vibrant, new and fresh.
The five songs here are so damn GOOD (arguably, great!) that hearing the momentum created by the 5 songs here and - then having it - END - is a drag. In terms of EPs in 2008, this is my favorite, for sure. Some folks won't bite down on EPs as they find them, ahem, 'frustrating' for the reasons above. If that is you, I encourage you to give the samples below a try and see if you opinion can be modified. Let's get the full-length DONE - more, encore!