Guitar Pop For Now People—Part 16
11 Recent Tracks + Music Reviewers/Publications
Hard to believe this series is turning sweet 16.
If you’re new around here, I started compiling Guitar Pop For Now People a year-and-a-half ago as a way to keep up with all the great new music being released.
The other reason I started this series is that I don’t consider myself a reviewer—but I definitely rely on many of them for discovery. Instead of attempting to become one myself, I decided to feature the trusted reviewers (and occasional interviewers) who consistently curate the latest songs and albums for me.
Ten recent rock tracks plus a link to some great music writing?! Everybody wins.
Of course, every once in a while my system fails when I hear a great new song but can’t find a review for it quite yet.
Such is the case with Marc Danzeisen’s latest digital single, “Genevieve.” Normally I would wait until a review popped up and try to include it in the next installment of the series, but I like this track so much that I’m including it here as a bonus. As you know, I’m a sucker for power pop songs with names in the title. (Note to reviewers: Give this song a listen…and some ink.)
If you like what you hear be sure to click, follow and share the writers and bands.
⚡️ What Are A Few Of Your Favorite Tracks Below? 💥
10 Recent Tracks and Music Reviewers/Publications
“Kelley Stoltz, ever the pop chameleon, is back again with a new album on the slate for 2024. On first single “Reni’s Car” Stoltz is slipping into a smeared and sunny vision of indie pop that wouldn’t be out of place on the bill alongside The Reds, Pinks and Purples.”—Rave Sings The Blues
“Lipstick Fire doesn’t exactly let up from there, with ‘Ridicule’ and ‘Devil’ giving ‘Cowboy’ a run for its money in terms of ramshackle, zippy pop music.”—Rosy Overdrive
“Piunti is not just a master tunesmith but also a remarkable lyricist, and here he has given us a couple earworms of tremendous substance. ‘Bottle It’ is truly a song for our times —a defiant call to not allow popular opinion and societal expectations to dictate who you are, how you live your life, and what you love.”—Lord Rutledge, Faster and Louder
“Baseball Bat, a power pop band from Nashville, has recently released two strong, catchy songs, building anticipation for their upcoming EP set to drop in mid-June.”—Patrick Donders, Sweet Sweet Music
“It’s been a long time, but Captain Wilberforce returns with an awesome power pop single, ‘Holding On’ which boasts great hand claps and harmonies.” —Aaron Kupferberg, Powerpopaholic
"With EXACTAMONDO!, the UK’s Rural France exemplify and encapsulate how to combine sugary pop and vinegary rock into a life-affirming concoction—and something altogether more (contextually) scrumptious.”—Chris Coplan, Merry-Go-Round Magazine
“The record starts on the punkier side of things with the jittery ‘Apartment’ bringing up anxious, claustrophobic memories of visiting someone in a new city for the first time. A quick one-minute rager, it’s followed by the poppier ‘Turn Back Over’—a driving song that really feels like it could motivate your hungover ass to get through a few miles of open highway as James laments, ‘traffic doesn’t feel the same when you aren’t on the other side.’”—The Alternative
“This new single, released last week, has all the makings of a great pop song: vocals that soar, guitars that mean business, keyboards that whirr, and a rhythm section playing bouncer and keeping it all together (bruisers they are).”—Tim Hinely, daggerzine
“Irresistibly catchy and gritty Long Beach power poppers Softjaw discuss how their shared love for The Nerves and Big Star sparked them to make music together, their latest five-song EP, and the anticipation of opening for Paul Collins this summer.” —Joseph Massaro, Paperface Zine
“I’ll admit, given the current trends in indie music, I expected something a lot sadder, slower, and more acoustic. What came out the speakers, instead, was one of the most vibrant, exciting records to grace the year 2024!”—Francis Madden, The Big Takeover
On one hand it is depressing, on the other I’m rejoicing. With every post of yours my list of bands and songs to listen to grows and grows. I wonder if I will ever catch up, but I always have new music to explore. The end result is a quandary, a beautiful quandary. Thanks!
Why am I only just finding you now?! Thanks so much for this. Can't wait to check everything out!