So while it may have appeared to be a slow quarter around these parts, we do have a few things cooking. Six Hours From Milwaukee is set to appear on the RPM 2008 rock sampler, along with some of our favorite RPM acts including Angie Fights Crime, Sister Savage, and Broken Promise Keeper. I guess that’ll be happening in January, and I’ll probably grab a few discs in case anyone is interested.

I should also point out that you can find all this music in its entirely on the RPM Challenge Jukebox.

Artist: Broken Promise Keeper

Album: The Avocado Age of Radio

Rob Stuart, aka Broken Promise Keeper, first caught my attention with his 2007 RPM album, Songs of Hyprocrisy and Hippos. Minimal and tentative in a way that we can totally relate to based on our experience recording our own RPM debut, Hippos‘ combined copious standout riffs and hooks with a restlessness of sorts; if he could do something this catchy with drums, bass, and a couple guitar parts, one got the impression that, RPM tradeoffs notwithstanding, Stuart had a knack for this stuff and could well be about to unleash a more epic work.

His 2008 effort, The Avocado Age of Radio, does not disappoint in this regard. The instrumental opener, Welcome to The Circus hits you with the good right away; as a simple piano riff yields to simple yet thickly-layered guitar melody and dense vocal harmony are pushed along by driving drums and cut of by clattering animal and circus noises. The album whizzes by with one pop gem after another; Avocado is meticulous with its arrangements and performances as Stuart eschews guitar pyrotechnics in favor of serious pop appeal; the rhythm section, occasionally grooving and occasionally driving, offers a solid (surprisingly so for not-real drums) foundation for an array of rocking electric guitars (No Choice), bouncy twelve-string acoustic riffs (the Byrds-esque And Life Goes On), and playful backing keyboards (Innocent). Stuart sticks to what he knows, but the rockabilly-infused Done Everything and and the Bruce Hornsby-esque St. Simons offer listeners the occasional change-up.

Why you might like it: It’s catchy, thought-out, and polished. You will not listen to this and instantly forget all the songs. And I mean that in a good way, not like that stupid I Kissed a Girl song that has infected, like, everyone I know at some point.

Why you might not: It’s power-pop through and through, and even the more psychedelic tracks stick to the tried-and-true formula entrenched in popular culture from the British Invasion through the Weezers and Fountains of Waynes of the world. Not your thing? Sucks to be you.

My (additional) two cents: The BPK Web site has comprehensive notes for all this stuff that made me want to keep this review short, since it itself tells you what you need to know. Stuart has also been quite the media darling of RPM, having gotten press coverage on the PowerPopulist blog, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I should also point out that you can find all this music in its entirely on the RPM Challenge Jukebox.

Artist: Mike Kosec

Album: Run Devil Bridge

“Folk” generally brings to mind the image of a dude and a guitar, or perhaps some other formulaic group of instrumentation. But despite describing himself as such, New Jersey’s Mike Kosec isn’t afraid to use his four-track and a variety of sounds, instrumental and otherwise, to explore interesting sonic territory. The album’s opener, 1969, begins by pretty clearly evoking its namesake with acoustic guitar and reminiscing about various idiosyncratic hippie types, but gives us a glimpse of something more as the song ends with eerie backwards guitar. The poppier fare of Baby, You Don’t Love Me Anymore brings things into focus for a bit before we hear the processed and instrumental Ice Under Water, where processed xylophone chatters back and forth with birds as water flows and…is that a typewriter? The Sparklehorse-esque Water Under Ice unexpectedly features a driving Casio keyboard rhythm and haunting double-tracked vocals, and the closer, To Dance, approximates a straight-up pop song until an entirely different song emerges unexpectedly and the album ends much more mysteriously than it began.
Why you might like it: This is a powerful record that combines strong songwriting with adventurous production value and a strong thematic link, the latter being all the more amazing given the time constraint that is the RPM Challenge.

Why you might not: This record comes across as self-sabotaging, as deft instrumental work and powerful lyrical imagery repeatedly come together only to fall apart into odd rhythms and abstract sound manipulations (or another song altogether) that suit the album’s evoking of nature and time, and the loss and renewal that they invariably bring. Pop perfection, this is not.

My (additional) two cents: The two influences that came to mind as I listened were Sparklehorse and Tom Waits, but Kosec’s own RPM profile claims The Beatles as his only explicit influence. I’m not really a huge Beatles fan, but I suppose it does evoke the four-track wizardry of Sgt. Pepper and the what-the-fuck-ness of Revolver at times.

Note: I know I said I was going to do a different album this time, but don’t worry, I’ll get to that one, too.

I should also point out that you can find all this music in its entirely on the RPM Challenge Jukebox.

Artist: The Triptones

Album: Make Room For The Triptones

The Triptones are a New England-based trio making their first appearance in the RPM Challenge this year with Make Room For The Triptones, a disc that offers straight-up singalong classic rock with the occasional touch of psychadelia. The opener, Lift Me Up, makes no apologies about what is to come as it combines a driving rhythm section with smoking guitar work and a piano that sounds like it’s had its share of beers spilled upon it. Shadows gets a little trippy, mixing dissonant guitars and soaring, screaming synthesizers with distant sounding vocals. M.D.M.A. splits the difference, starting off as a bar rocker and finishing with staticky programmed drums and beatboxing as it accompanies a lyrical account of a descent into drug-induced psychosis.

All three members share singing and songwriting duties, so there’s a fair amount of changing things up from song to song despite the pretty consistent heavy reliance on classic rock influences (read: Stones and Zeppelin). These songs and this band are dedicated to upapologetically rocking and celebrating the themes that have powered music for time immemorial. As singer/guitarist Tom Boudreau wishes in Mountain Song, “I want to get on a bus called Happiness and ride to the very last stop.”
Why you might like it: You like the stuff they like and solid musicianship, and/or get a kick out of unironically drinking cheap beer at dive bars.

Why you might not: You agree with Pitchfork when they call Wilco “dad-rock” and wonder what that makes this. You feel as though the cover art comprises physical abuse of motorcycles.

My (additional) two cents: This disc was recorded at Bonehead Studios in Connecticut, which would appear to be the fanciest recording setup of any of the discs I’ve received thus far. Perhaps this level of fidelity is perfect for the rowdy bunch-of-guys background vocal sound, which is much better here than on The Killers’ Sam’s Town.

Next up: Broken Promise Keeper’s The Avocado Age Of Radio.

First up is Endicott Road‘s 2007 RPM entry, Old Fashioned Love Affair.

Artist: Endicott Road

Album: Old Fashioned Love Affair

Recorded for the 2007 RPM Challenge, this record showcases Columbus, Ohio resident Terry Beckett’s range as a songwriter as he navigates a number of genres, giving particular thought to melody and lyrical content. The opener, “We Are All Children“, offers a catchy keyboard riff and chorus melody that brings to mind an 80s mid-tempo radio cut sung by a barbershop quartet. Other notable tracks include “Motorbike Mike“, which brings to mind what Daniel Johnston’s “Speeding Motorcycle” might have sounded like had it been sung for an infant rather than imaginary demons; “Don’t Stay With Me,” a more energetic and modern-sounding rocker than one would expect after the series of 70s- and 80s-inspired ballads that follow that first track, and is followed up with the pop-funk “I’m Gone“, which could easily become a radio-friendly jam in the hands of a Rob Thomas or Maroon 5.

Why you might like it: The songs are well thought-out: simple and catchy, yet lyrically interesting and personal.

Why you might not: The recording fidelity and song arrangements make this record feel more like a solo songwriter demo than a polished product, meaning that the record lives and dies by its songs. If they’re not your bag of chips, there’s not a lot else to keep you interested.

My (additional) two cents: Beckett’s Virb site states that he’s looking for singers to work with, but I think that these songs would benefit more from more rich and live-sounding instrumentation than a different singer. Dude needs to start a band!

So, there you go. I’ll post another one later this week!