February Album Reviews: Bloody Red Baron

GUEST POST: Mike Baron

Feb 23, 2024

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.

Emperor Penguin—Gentlemen Thieves (Kool Kat Musik)

Emperor Penguin swims ashore with a trunk of gorgeous sounds in the tradition of baroque, elegant power pop pioneered by XTC, Bloodrush Hour, The Dowling Poole and Jackdaw 4. Adopting a tongue-in-cheek Victorian style, the Penguin recounts a series of crimes beginning with the theft of the Emerald of the East, singing “I Wouldn’t Put It Like That” in an earnest regular guy vocal that morphs over the course of the album into soaring harmonies, as on the grandiose “Town Called Gone,” with its massive hook.

“Sonnez Les Matines” (ring the morning) is built on minor key spy chords—anyone who listens to the bass intro will understand, and it echoes Django Reinhardt’s “Limehouse Blues.” “Pipistrelle,” which means bats in Italian, starts with a child’s ditty and gathers heft as it rolls, building into a glittering XTC/Jackdaw 4-like structure. “The Persuaders” reminded me of Moby Grape’s “You Are My Atmosphere” with it’s a Who-like vibe and, like most of these songs, builds and builds.

Gentlemen Thieves is sure to be on numerous top ten lists.

Paul Collins—Stand Back and Take A Good Look (Jem)

While the first four tracks reflect Paul Collins’ reputation as the “King of Power Pop,” the rest of the record ventures into previously unexplored territory, at least for Collins, embracing more mature themes. Track six, “Liverpool,” is a lyrical, reflective song that might have been written by Lannie Flowers. “You Can’t Go Back” uses pedal steel and Nashville twang to show an artist in motion, seeking more than a quick sugar fix, although it’s there in the first four songs.

“Under the Spanish Sun” continues the elegiac mood, as does “That’s When I Think Of You,” the type of song only a man with a lot of mileage could write. “One Hill And I’m Home” reflects the wisdom of a Scott Miller or Bob Dylan, and the closer, “Westbound,” sounds like Paul’s been eating grits and drinking shine.

The man on the cover poses unselfconsciously before images of himself in his youth, knowing he has learned a lot, and imparting that experience to his listeners.

The Cyrkle—Revival (Big Stir Records)

Few acts can return from a half century rest with their faculties intact, but The Cyrkle does, beginning with the breezy, cheerful “Goin’ Steady With You.” Not every track is a bullseye, but with fifteen songs—including new versions of their classics “Turn Down Day” and “Red Rubber Ball”—most of these songs are spot on, including the Brill Building, Burt Bacharach-driven “We Can Find It.”

The five vocalists bring a Doo-wop flavor to “Dance With Me Tonight” and break into a sublime a cappella bridge on “Nobody But A Fool.” “We Were There” features a bridge plucked from paradise and their cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Feelin’ Groovy” is spot on. They close with fresh versions of “Turn-Down Day” and “Red Rubber Ball,” which are as infectious and timeless as the day they were born.

The Boolevards—Real Pop Radio (Red Pear Radio)

Like their previous releases, The Boolevards’ latest looks and sounds like a time capsule from K-tel Records circa 1970. The four-man band has refined their early surf pop to a fine polish. The music itself is of that era, with nods to early Beatles but with their own surf-pop spin, characterized by Joe Nowik’s drums which are front and center on every song.

No other band comes to mind in giving the drums such prominence, and it works. Nowik is a musical drummer. Numerous Beatle nods as on “If I Gave My Heart,” which sounds like an early McCartney/Lennon bullseye, to “Dance All Night,” which ends on the Beatle chord, and always, those rolling surf drums. “Last Night” begins with Beatlesque harmonica.

With well-constructed songs and three-part harmonies, Real Pop Radio is a welcome throwback to an earlier time. “Get Out Tonight,” with its rockier, roadhouse guitar, changes the formula.