April Album Reviews: Bloody Red Baron

GUEST POST: Mike Baron

Mike Baron (aka Bloody Red Baron) was the longtime album reviewer for Pop Geek Heaven. With the closure of that legendary power pop newsletter, we are very happy to host his latest round of album reviews here at Remember The Lightning.

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Chris Church—Obsolete Path (Big Stir)

Chris Church is a protean artist with an instantly identifiable sound. He can spread gorgeous hooks as he did on Backwards Compatible. Obsolete Path finds him on his own path. If architecture is frozen music, music is fluid architecture. His songs are modern architecture. Horizontal, designed to blend in with the landscape, with low sloping roofs and flat stoneware as opposed to someone like Gary Giddings or Willie Dowling, who build cathedrals.

The acoustic charmer “She Looks Good In Black” approaches traditional power pop but the next song, “Life On A Trampoline,” has a flattened cosmic vibe reminiscent of The Hush Drops. The radio friendly “Great Divide” has a bridge and a hook without losing Church’s unique vibe. The anthemic “Vice Versa” would rock any stadium. “Like A Sucker” reminds me of Kevin Costner’s writing, a horizon-spanning, spacious song that stretches its notes to infinity. “What Are We Talking About” ends the album with acoustic charm. The album challenges and satisfies.

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Ryan Allen—Livin’ On A Prayer On The Edge (Setterwind)

Another great artist with an instantly identifiable sound, a pleasing drone that includes bridges and hooks. The sifting chords of “Lost In A Daze” grab your interest. Ryan doesn’t go soft then hard. He sets a fast pace that seldom varies, with attention-grabbing chord changes that have little to do with trad rock and roll.

“Anxious All The Time” ebbs and pulses, thickening as it winds through dense forest, racing ahead over the rapids. “When I’m Gone” reminds me of Chris Church with its simple charm and low ceiling. “Company’s Eyes” has the aspirational yearning of the Stars Explode, but again, no one would mistake this for anyone other than Allen. A hint of The Knack in “So What Who Cares” with its thumping bassline. Ending on the elegiac “In The Next Life.”

Allen plays every instrument. He’s gone solo before, as on The Last Rock Band, and worked with other Michigan power poppers such as Nick Piunti and Andy Reed. You can’t tell from listening.

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The Bablers—Like The First Time (Big Stir)

Longtime Finnish quartet kills with this collection of richly romantic songs, previously recorded and released in Japan in 1998. The Bablers have roots in the British invasion and the Brill Building. The swoon begins with the lilting “You Are The One For Me,” Hollies-sweet with a gently rolling beat. It just gets better from there.

“One Of Those Dreams” is reminiscent of Swedish supergroup The Merrymakers with a touch of Neil Sedaka. “Thinking Of You” samples the theme to Peter Gunn and adds a massive hook. “Our Love Will Grow Complete” has ABBA’s smooth contours, but the Bablers have a unique vocal sound. They sing in English with a charming Scandinavian tilt. The languid “Like The First Time” recalls The Beatles’ “Something.”

It’s a long record. It’s like slipping into an animated Disney film from the ’60s or ‘70s. Nonstop bliss. Once again, Big Stir kills it the packaging department, making the most of five and a half inches with a multi-colored cover and fold outs filled with information.

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The Genuine Fakes—3 (Kool Kat)

Twenty years on, The Genuine Fakes stand atop the mountain. Their compositions are fresher, the bridges and hooks more dramatic, with echoes of a thousand bands but grooving to their own sound—The Posies, Fountains of Wayne, Jellyfish, and surprisingly, a relatively new band that’s almost impossible to duplicate, Explorers Club, evident in “Another Way,” with its gorgeous harmonies and rays of sunshine pop.

“Alarming” is the kind of stunning mid-tempo rocker Lannie Flowers does, and the chorus on “Follow Me Now” is a tidal wave of harmony, a heavenly choir that sweeps you away. “Good Enough” combines the brooding tension of Supraluxe with the sweetness of Rob Bonfiglio or The Rascals. “She” has those Explorer Club harmonies and the structure of Grand Hotel, where the Club combined their love of The Beach Boys with Burt Bacharach. This compilation is top ten.

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February Album Reviews: Bloody Red Baron

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