Have hooks, will travel: Phantogram and Real Estate

Pop Music has always had a shapeshifter like quality to it. There's the timeless, insanely awesome harmonies of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds or Big Star's Radio City. Punk, generally associated with the uber-snotty side of rock, has proven to have a knack for hook-filled tunes starting at almost at day 1 with the Buzzcocks and continuing to this day with bands like Bad Religion and Green Day. As with all things, you must take good with the bad. That's no different with Pop as proven with over-produced sludge like Katy Perry that has all the depth of a piece of notebook paper. On the really good side, a couple of recent releases have stoked the pop flames in a huge way.

New York's Phantogram just released a new EP called Nightlife that runs the spectrum of electro-pop. It's lead-off track "16 Years" reminds me a bit of School of Seven Bells with it's swirling style guitar and processed beats with Sarah Barthel's dreamy vocals pulling it all together. Don't Move - the lead off single, has a Portishead feel to it with a variety of little sounds coming in and out. The second half of the EP also features vocals from guitarist Josh Carter. This one - two punch culminates in the final track "A Dark Tunnel" that intertwines a harder head section driven by his vocals with a dreamy bridge and chorus from Barthel whose vocals sound just a bit like the Cocteau Twin's Elizabeth Fraser on this one.

The flip side of Phantogram, Brooklyn's Real Estate taken a much more low key approach with their second, very addictive album "Days". It's a mix of loose, very dreamy guitars that occasionally bring back memories of REM's "Reckoning" with soft, airy vocals that drift along with the song. Two out of the first three songs "Easy" and "It's Real" are pop classics in the making. "It's Real" in particular has a slightly up-tempo power pop with great loose sounding guitar parts and a simple but addictive chorus. The rest of the album features really solid, totally dreamy pop that brings back memories of Luna, the Posies, and tons of other great dream pop bands.

Despite their different approaches, both of these albums are doing quite the job fulfilling my pop fix. Who knows what's next on Norwegian Black Metal maybe?? It's anyone's guess but for now - Viva Le Pop

The Rock Fiend's Current Playlist

While I'm working on the next post,  here's what's currently getting uber-heavy rotation on the iPod:

1.  Real Estate - "Days":  A brand new addiction.  Slow rolling, dream-pop that sucks you in from the first chord.   Their single, "It's Real", is available as free download from iTunes.  It is strongly, strongly recommended.  

2.  The Joy Formidable - "The Big Roar":  My favorite album of the year.  A combo of shoegaze and dream-pop delivered with the force of a bulldozer.  "Whirring" is the centerpiece of this amazing record.  Hopefully, we get hear many more albums from this English trio..

3.  Anthrax - "Worship Music":  With an 8 year gap between albums, NYC's finest won't be accused of being the most efficient band around but when they do deliver, there are no half measures.  Another blistering release marking the return of Joey Belladonna.  And if it wasn't cool enough, they add a cover of Refused's New Noise as the "hidden track".  

4.  Machine Head - "Unto the Locust":  When your last album is highly regarded as a masterpiece, anything you do afterwards is almost guaranteed to fall short of expectations.  Fortunately, Machine Head dodged conventional wisdom and delivered handsomely.  While not reaching the hallowed ground of "the Blackening",  this is a great, old school thrash album.

5.  TV on the Radio - "Nine Types of Light":  Cannot get this enough of this album.  A bit mellower than past releases but every song takes you on a different kind of trip.  Please come back to Chicago soon guys. 

And a few others that are also getting some love on the iPod:

Jah Wobble and the Modern Jazz Ensemble - "7"

Gang Gang Dance - "Eye Contact"

The Dismemberment Plan - "Change"

Kylesa - "Spiral Shadow

Steely Dan - "Aja"